It's Tough To Own a Bookstore

I snapped this pic just moments after
my visit to Kramerbooks in Dupont
Circle in DC.

Or at least I imagine it has to be tough to own a bookstore. I like to frequent small local bookstores. They always have more character and books piled in weird ways that mean I see more than just bestsellers. One of my favorites is Book Soup in LA. I've been in Washington DC lately and always tend to stay near DuPont Circle so I've hit the Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe a few times. I went in recently to grab one book before my flight so that I had something to read during take off and landing. I'm not really a social flyer so I like to go ahead and kill the hopes and dreams of any seatmates that might want to chat me up. I'm sure they're mightily disappointed, but my type of celebrity is one that leaves me anonymous and sitting in coach, so really it works out for all involved.

I was in the store looking over my options and saw a bunch of books that I wanted. Or at least wanted to add to my reading list. I only had carry-on space for one book, so it was Sophie's Choice all the way. I had to make the tough decisions. Of course, one of the great things about independent bookstores is that they aren't beholden to a corporate mandate on which books get shelved where. So you're more likely to find weird stuff and stuff that staff recommends rather than just what a publisher pays to put on a higher shelf at eye-level, etc. That being said I was finding all kind of books that I wanted to read, so I did what came naturally. I whipped out my iPhone and took a picture of the barcode to add to my GoodReads list.

"I'm sorry but you can't do that in here," said a male clerk about my age or a little younger.

Me: Excuse me? Can't do what in here?

Clerk: Take pictures of the books.

Me: I can't take a picture of this book's barcode to put on my reading list? (Clerk nods) Can I have my cellphone out and type it into my reading list?

Clerk gives me a star and I wonder off because I'm a little ticked and also totally understand. Amazon has made bookstores run for their money because people can go in, find a book they want and in two clicks have bought it--for less money and delivered wirelessly in a minute to their Kindle. It's gotta be hard to sell books. But I'm a book lover and a lover of independent bookstores, so I was still a little sore about this. Then the guy came up to me and said:

Clerk: What reading list are you talking about?

Me: Good reads. It's a website that helps people connect over books, track what they've read and want to read. It's got an app that helps me add books to my reading list.

Clerk: Can you show me? I don't have one of those smartphone thingies. (I chuckled at this because I wasn't expecting that answer from a 30-something male. A 60-something female? maybe).

After I took the time to show him, I ended up buying a book (Anthropology of an American Girl) and the clerk was trying to make me feel better so he through a free t-shirt into my bag. It only made it on my carry-on because it was squishy. So, hey. free workout t-shirt.

Playing Catch Up (Part Two)

I got too frustrated placing the pictures so I needed a second post. Besides, I don't think one picture of cheese and one of my girls in one of my favorite places on earth (the IU campus) are enough to tell of my trip back to Indiana.

Anne and Amanda and our campus visit. I love visiting Bloomington. It's a beautiful place that whet my appetite for places that encompassed different cultures of people--including the ever-annoying hipster. I got to remember what humidity feels like (as it melted off my make-up) and what it feels like to have friendships that are relevant and loving no matter how much time passes between our visits.

I was lucky enough to go to the Capitol and work with a group to brief Congress on the issue of workplace flexibility. I got to listen to how Blackberrys are making us more flexible and more accountable (to our detriment) while obsessively checking my Blackberry for emails. Oh the irony!

I got back in town late Wednesday, but it wasn't until Friday when I was able to go walking around Beverly Hills with Chef that I remembered how beautiful LA is and how great it is to be warm without sweat. I missed my husband and kitties desperately, but was glad that even after spending time in beautiful cities, I still love this beautiful city.

Lazy Sunday: Recharge my batteries

You can't really see the big
snowflakes through this DC
street scene.

I got in from Washington DC last night at about 1 a.m. PST. Which is 4 a.m. EST and frankly my body is still confused. It will be even more confused when I head to Charleston on Wednesday through next Saturday. It's weird to think that at this time yesterday, I was freezing my ass off in DC as big, wet snowflakes came drifting down. I was out and about in it and cursing incessantly at the same time. I'm such a weather wuss now. I was trading texts with Chef saying "So cold!" and he was texting back "So sunny and warm here already". I forget that this thing called "Winter" exists in other places. I think I've tried to block it out of my memories.

Anyway, I got home last night at 1 a.m. and had tried unsuccessfully to get some sleep on the plane. I grabbed my bag and got to listen to the taxi wrangler complain about the LAPD beating him up for "absolutely no reason! Second time in three weeks!". It was the middle of the night and apparently the dude wasn't picking up on my "don't talk to me, just get me a cab" face. I also had to argue with the cab driver to NOT take me through the scary neighborhoods at night to get to my place. I would think that not getting carjacked would be an objective in both of interests, but apparently, I was mistaken.

Yep, that's 85 degrees on October 30th.

Got home. Hugged Chef. Pet a cat. Or four. Unpacked. Went to sleep. Woke to bacon frying. Plopped on the couch. Made a grocery list and logged on to the Colts game while Chef went grocery shopping for us. Which was super awesome of him. Did some writing while trying not to cry in sadness and frustration at being 0-8. Went out for lunch, but was a little disappointed because our first choice was closed on Sundays. But we had lunch outside. Because while I had a freezing day yesterday, today was 85 and sunny. And one of those moments when I said "I love LA!".

Now to lounge on the couch and watch football, the TV shows that I missed all week, and movies. Not too shabby of a Sunday. What are you going to do?