Calling It Like It Is

You may have noticed that I haven't posted anything in a hundred years. Ok, maybe not that long, but definitely not this season. In any case, it's pretty obvious that I don't keep up with this thing. This blog.

I used to keep a journal. I started in fourth grade with things like which boy I liked at any given moment, lists of things/people I liked, loved, and hated. And the occasional list of those that I like-liked. I threw in a little of the general goings-on of my life, if you can call the goings-on of a fourth-grader a life. My writing continued on like that through high school. Only the lists went away. The thing is, there would be days, sometimes weeks between entries. I would spend the first six pages of my next entry with apologies for not writing sooner and updating the journal pages on everything that I had done since the last time I wrote, finally getting to the latest and greatest in my life.

Apparently, my delinquent journaling habit bleeds into the world wide web. What I'm trying to say is that I think it's time to give up the blog.

Something to think about.

Here's a list of books that have been floating around the internet. I don't know what the list is about, but it was interesting none the less. I have read all of the ones that are bolded. Any recommendations from the ones that are left?

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible - most, but not all
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

The Pact

Jodi Picoult is like the J.K. Rowling for adults. Her books are easy to read, require very little brain power and are fun. She is remarkable in the sense that her books are quite well researched and very realistic. (Case in point: "My Sister's Keeper" is basically my job in words. Very true to life.) And yet sometimes I feel as if I am a book whore for reading her, because the literary value is, to me, lower than many books.

The Pact is disturbing. It's about two kids, boy and girl, whose lives are intertwined so much that the line between them blurs beyond reach. There's a thing, then a trial, then the end. Seems simple, huh? Here's the thing that is so cool about Jodi: I read that simple book in two days. I couldn't put it down. Thank the Lord I was working nights so that I could read in between things while the kids were sleeping.

So. The moral of the story: Read Jodi's books in between those heavy lit books for a little breathing room. Because she sucks you in and keeps you to the end.

The Namesake

This book is amazing. Amazing! It's a coming-of-age story about identity and family and growing into one's own. It follows a boy named Gogol (as in Nikolai Gogol the Russian author) growing up with Indian parents in Boston and his struggle for identity. Are you hooked yet? I was so impressed with Jhumpa Lahiri's use of language. Her words flow over you like, hmm, what paltry simile can I use? Like a warm summer breeze on your face, water lapping up on the shore, hot fudge over a bowl of ice cream? None seem right. It's just beautiful. That's enough.

I was especially taken with the tradition of naming babies in the family's culture. The grandmother was going to name the baby. And that each child has a "good" name that is on official documents, and another name that family and friends use. Like a nickname but more important -- a symbol of devotion from loved ones.

At the same time I was reading this book, I was taking care of a little boy from India here for treatment with his parents. I wondered if he had a pet name that his parents called him and we all used his "good" name in the hospital. I wondered if the parents followed the tradition of grandmother naming their child. I wondered what his name means.

Read this book. Read it. You will love it.

Easter

It's not the Easter season until you've had your first Cadbury egg!

(Yes, yes, I know that it's really Lent that is upon us, but the commercial world doesn't know that!)

Baby, It's Cold Outside

I just need to say out loud that people in Western PA do not know how to handle snow! It's snowing here. There is a winter storm watch because the weather people forecast three to five inches. Schools are closing left and right. People are crashing their cars.

Can I just say that WI people are toughter about winter?

Thanks.

A Confederacy of Dunces

I am reading the best book of the year. Granted, it is only day #23 of the new year, but seriously, this is the best book. I guess I'd call it a tragicomedy. I laugh out loud while reading, which is mildly embarassing when you're out in public. (People stare.) The main character's name sets the whole tone of the book: Ignatius J. Reilly. He wears a green felted hat with ear flaps every day and uses it to block out things he doesn't want to hear. Ear flaps up: he's willing to listen. Ear flaps down: he's tuning you out. So funny.

The author's story is interesting too. He wrote the book in the mid-sixties, then committed suicide shortly afterwards. His mother found the manuscript among his things, read it, and immediately sent it to a publisher. With it, she sent a letter, saying that although she was his mother, she thought it was a wonderful book. The publisher rejected it, saying that he doesn't take unsolicited manuscripts. But the mother was persistent, she sent it back and asked him to read a little of it anyway. So he was like, fine!, I'll read a bit! And he read it, the whole thing, then read it again, and again. He said it was the best thing he'd read in a very long time. And what a shame, he said, that we are deprived of this author's body of work due to his suicide. The author's name is John Kennedy Toole.

I am only on chapter four, not far enough, usually, to make a sound judgment on a book. This book, however, is excellent from the very first page. You'll laugh and simultaneously cry for this man Ignatius of the Ear Flaps.

New Career?

I have finally found my (third?) calling in life. Selling books on the internet. The Professor's dad did this for a while when we were in high school. He is a very smart man. Too bad eBay stole his idea and ran with it. (I mean, I can't prove that eBay stole his idea. It's just that I never knew Half.com existed when The Prof's dad was doing his thing. In my world, that makes eBay an idea thief. So there.)

No really, Hubby and I have been selling our unwanted books on Half.com. We have made $75 in sales in ten days. That's $7.50 a day in free money. (Even though we haven't actually gotten any of that money yet. But we will! We will!!) Apparently, others find our books cool!

It makes me want to quit my job and read all the time, then sell the nearly pristine books for less... than... what I... paid...

Crap. This is no career.

Tagged! Five Things...

So, I've been tagged by Krista. (I'd give you the link, but there's a crazy person out there that wants to find her website and destroy her love life. Seriously, it IS that dramatic!) My assignment: tell the world five things you didn't know about me.

1. Red wine makes me have to pee. Immediately. I could have just gone to the bathroom, then take a sip of red wine, and Bam! it's back to the bathroom. What is that? An allergy? And what does it say about me that this is the first thing that comes to mind to tell the world?

2. I own exactly four pairs of white socks, two crew-length and two ankle socks. I "run" in them. The italics are important here, because running goes in and out of my life like my boyfriends did in high school. I prefer my socks to have a little personality -- argyles, stripes, polka dots, and the cartoony ones I wear to work (penguins, snowmen, Hello Kitty, etc. I work with kids). Argyles are my favorite. Always a classic.

3. My dad and I have the same feet. I mean, we don't share a pair or anything, our feet look identical. Mine are smaller, of course (thank goodness). I discovered this a few years ago when Dad and I were sitting next to each other on the couch at my parents' house. Our feet were right next to each other and there was no denying. I have Dad-feet genes. We also share strawberry birthmarks; mine is on my back and Dad's is on his neck.

4. I love Coke Classic in a can. It's the best thing ever. It is completely worth the 240 empty, worthless calories. (Better than four teaspoons of Nerds, Brown!)

5. I love M.A.S.H. I think it's an incredibly witty show. It's easy to see why it lasted 100 years on whatever network it was originally on. Actually, maybe I just love Alan Alda. Maybe that's it. Maybe I have a pretend crush on Captain Pierce. Better him than Klinger, I guess.

Whew. Done. That was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I think I'm more of an open book than I realized. I was trying to think of things that people really, truly don't know about me. Should I keep more of me to myself? Nah. I'm good.

Longest Book Ever

Yeah, so I just finished The Rainbow last week. It took me FOR. EVER. I just couldn't keep myself reading.

And I was sooooo disappointed with the ending. I felt like I was being hit upside the head with a symbolism two-by-four.

So, don't read it. Or at least save it for when every other book has burned up. Or if you're extremely bored.

The Rainbow

The Rainbow is the second D.H. Lawrence book that I've read. I absolutely loved Sons and Lovers. I was sucked into the story right away; I couldn't put it down. The Rainbow, however, is not as engaging as the other. I don't know what was going on in Lawrence's life/psyche, but the number of religious references is amazing. I'm in the middle of the book, where Ursula, the second-generation Brangwen girl child, is struggling with her religious self versus her "weekday" self. Boooorrrring. I mean, I understand what he's trying to do, setting her up as the intellectual non-Brangwenian genetic anomaly (I can't explain it, you'll have to just read the book), but he loses the story as he wanders through Religious Character Land. And it's not like I'm against the religion thing. I go to church and stuff.

What I do love about the book is that we follow one family through three generations. We get to know each generation as young people, then see how they grow as they marry, become parents, lose each other, and generally live. I guess I like the legacy of it all.

So, read it if you want. But there are other books out there that are a better use of your time.

First Married Christmas Tree

Hubby and I decorated our Christmas tree tonight. On Monday, we went to a local tree farm and cut it down all by ourselves. Ok, that's not true. I picked it out, but Hubby cut it down and dragged it to the car. I can't say that my part in it all was that difficult, unless you think of the importance of the aesthetics of the tree. I mean, hello, a cute tree is important! It was of vital importance that we find a wild-looking tree. That way, you can nestle the ornaments among the branches, creating depth and the wonder of Christmas. I think we found as wild a tree as could be found on a tree farm full of shaped trees.

Now if only I could get the Christmas shopping done... or really, started. If I could start, that would be a huge step.

Pssst

(I would have given anything -- an organ, a limb -- for Hubby to stay home from work today. I miss him all the time.)

Don't Laugh

I love Little House on the Prairie. I have watched Half-Pint and Mary grow up since the '70s -- over and over again. I swear I have seen every episode at least twice. Like the one where Laura runs away to the top of the mountain and meets that grizzly old mountain man. And she learns huge life lessons from this hairy angel man while her Pa and Mr. Edwards are searching all over creation for little Laura. When the men finally find her, Laura is ok, and well-fed and safe -- but the angel man is gone. Gone! But Laura knows he was real because he left her the bird in the tree. And her heart is full of love for everything.

Yeah, I've seen them all.

And the Hallmark channel runs two episodes back-to-back every weekday morning. I admit it: I have it on in the background (and sometimes the foreground) as I putter around.

(Can a person putter before the age of seventy?)

Queen of No Immune System

Hello World,

Please stay away from me for a little while. I seem to have lost my immune system somewhere, sometime after the wedding. I am currently on my second illness in a month's time. I have battled strep throat with a little help from Mr. Penicillin and now have moved on to the mystery sore throat illness that wakes me up in the night with pain and inability to breathe.

So please. Please. Keep your germs to yourself and let me reclaim my antibodies.

Thank you,
klhp

The Smart Thing the Dumb Dog Did Last Night

We have two dogs. Two big pointer mixes. Eppie is the smart one with big sticky-up ears and a brindle spot around her left eye. She is the one who will try to climb up into my lap if I'm crying, or put herself between me and a stranger while out on a walk. She is sensitive and as intuitive as a dog can be. Maggie is the dumb one with lying-down ears and a black mask over both eyes and ears. She wiggles and wags at anything that moves (unless it's a squirrel or a mailperson -- she tries to eat those) and loves to be pet. If you look at her too long, you risk getting a face full of wet nose.

They couldn't be more different.

Our nighttime routine to puppy-proof the house before bed requires pieces of furniture flipped upside down on the couch, Rob's bag on the chair, and all doors latched tightly, because noses are known to push open doors to find soft places to sleep. Last night, all the puppy-proofing done, we went to bed for the night. Eppie in her bed at the top of the stairs, Maggie in the living room on her bed.

In the morning, Rob got up and went downstairs to check his email, and what did he find? Maggie! On the couch. Behind the cushions. She had climbed up the side of the couch, walked across the back like an acrobat on a tightrope, then wedged herself down behind the back cushions, pushing them out into a 'V.' And the worst part is, when Rob found her, she just looked at him with this (smug!) look that said, "Look! Look what I did!!" I would have expected this type of behavior from Eppie.

Now the couch is blanketed in Maggie hair. Something I loathe more than anything. Aaaaand, she was just in the kennel for Thanksgiving and is a little stinky, even after a bath. Good thing that my grandparents got us a supercool, ultralight vaccuum cleaner than sucks up all allergens known to Man.

I guess we need to come up with a new puppy-proofing routine. [sigh]

Married

So I'm married now. The wedding and reception were perfect. I am living in PA now, to which I am slooooowwwly adjusting. It is definitely wonderful to get to see the Husband every day. It still feels like we are playing house a little. I am so happy to be in the same time zone, let alone the same house. We've been celebrating First Married Things, like First Married Movie Date, First Married Singing Gig, etc. It makes people around us throw up in their mouths a little, but we like it!

I've been hardly reading since the wedding. I am just so happy to be with Hubby that I don't want to spend my time reading! I am reading "The Rainbow" by D.H. Lawrence. Slowly, slowly, I am getting through it. I absolutely love Lawrence. I love his writing, love the meandering way he goes through a story, I love the way he fleshes out his characters. I don't know when I will finish it, but I'll get there. I have so many piles of books to read, I need to get cracking!

I found this little list on someone's blog. All of the bolded items are things that I have done. Feel free to steal it for your own!

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Four and a Half Weeks

And now it has come to this. I live in a world of appointments and confirmation calls. I never knew how busy this whole prcoess would get in the month before the wedding. My biggest fear is that I am missing something huge. Like remembering to tell everyone what time they need to show up for pictures -- and then I am standing there, alone, with the photographer and we 're staring at each other and he finally says, "Where is everyone?" And I stare blankly, mouth open, probably drooling a little, and reply, "Dunno."

I have dreams that the choir doesn't show up. This is the complete manifestation of my anxiety, because the choir is doing most of the music for the ceremony. We would be absolutely screwed if they didn't come. They'll come, right?

My mom says that my feeling that I have bronchitis is really anxiety. That's why I feel like my lungs are constricted.

I am still sleeping through the night, so I have that going for me.

Let me say out loud, though... this has been totally fun. It has been extremely easy. And it's going to be awesome.

(Am I reading, you ask? Yeah, I guess I am, though I am careful not read anything that I want to remember. I am reading "Saturday" by Ian McEwan.)

Nasty Habits

First of all, I am convinced that people are either Barnes & Noble people or Borders people. I am a B&N girl. When I walk into a B&N, I feel like I'm coming home. I know where everything is, I know where to stake out the best comfortable chairs. I know the beverage list at the cafe. (I also feel this in the Nordstrom shoe department, but that is an entirely different nasty habit.) When I enter a Borders, I am in a foreign land. I don't speak the language. I don't know where anything is. I can't find a translator to help me. Needless to say, I much prefer Barnes and Noble.

Anyway, I was talking about my nasty habits.

I talk to strangers. I always have. I climbed into a police car when I was about four years old and badgered the poor officer who was trying to clock speeders. "Where's your gun?" "What's that thing for?" "Can I try the siren?" "Can I flash the lights?" "Can I try on your hat?" "What are you doing with that thing?" "Can I go for a ride?" (In my memory, the policeman was very polite.) So now, as an adult, when I am in Barnes & Noble, I will give my opinion of the book the person across the display table is looking at. Unannounced. Unsolicited. Usually, the person the person looks up at me, startled, or, worse yet, they jump back. This happened to me today. A woman across the table from me picked up The Time Traveler's Wife and started to read the back. [Remember how I raved about that book? Yeah.] I said, "That's the best book I've read all year." The woman visibly recoils, composes herself and replies, "Really? Thank you for telling me." She was very friendly to this crazy person who verbally assaulted her in a place kin to a library. Thank you, Unassuming Woman at B&N, for putting up with my inability to keep to myself.

The other problem I have is I cannot leave Barnes & Noble empty-handed. Today, I went in with my member's discount prize, ready to find something that I have coveted for a long time but have not bought. Since I am packing my apartment right now, and have too many boxes filled with books, I headed straight for the music section. I knew exactly what I was looking for: Arvo Part's "I am the True Vine" CD. I love his music. It's choral. I am a choral freak. Anyway, it's more expensive than a normal CD (because it's so cool!) so I knew that THIS was the thing on which I would spend my prize. After purchasing the CD from a very funny older man, I proceeded out to the Fiction and Literature section. This is dangerous territory. I browsed and touched things and carried books around with me, I wrote a few titles in my Moleskine that I carry around for just that purpose (read: listmaking), and finally put everything back and left the store with my one CD that I went in to purchase.

I am very brave.