A reader writes: “Is it flying you fear, or placing your life in some stranger’s hands? Take some of those big bucks NRO rakes in and learn to fly, maybe a couple of you can do it, and then go in on a group deal for a puddle jumper or a corporate lease, then you could fly yourself to those remote ‘do’s’. Strike a blow for self-reliance and give TSA the finger at the same time, a twofer!”

This dear reader has an inflated idea of what NR makes off…anything. Lest anyone else have that idea, too, these fundraisers are really just efforts to make sure we have a future. Heck, PBS fundraises and they even have taxpayer money. We don’t have that safeguard!

And on the fear of flying thing: I trust strangers for a gazillion things, as we all do. It’s just an irrational fear—but I’d probably fear flying even more if one of us were flying.

Perhaps, though, we should have a contest among NR writers attending—the loser has to sit next to the gal editor screaming at every bump in the air on the flight there and back. The plus though: I’ll be doing shots of tequila the whole way, which means at least two of us will be mighty fun once we hit Atlanta….Come on, you must join this scene!