Ye Olde "HOLY CRAP"!

Working in the book industry, you tend to get a lot of exposure to different authors you might not otherwise pick up and read. When I worked at Waldenbooks, I got to check books out on a library style system so that employees could gain more product knowledge without actually having to spend all of their money on all of the books they were reading. It was pretty genius, especially for someone like me who was really only familiar with the authors I really liked and was reluctant to spend cash on books I wasn't sure I'd enjoy. So, since I was in charge of our fiction section, I spent day after day after day shelving books with interesting titles or by authors I hadn't heard of before. One day I was shelving books and I came across a title that immediately sparked my interest. It was called Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. I did a quick read of the synopsis on the back of the book and thought it sounded funny. I picked up a copy and took it into the break room with me when I went on my lunch break and read the prologue. I laughed like crazy and decided I had to read this book. So, I did. I read that one and the other two we had in stock by this guy and thought "This is some seriously funny stuff". So, when I finished the book I saw that he puts his e-mail in the "about the author" section of his books and I decided to send him an e-mail saying that I worked for a bookstore and I really enjoyed his books. This sounds creepy, but I should also add in that I e-mail restaurants whenever they give good service, stores when I have received good service from them, so basically whenever anyone goes above and beyond my expectations and I have an opportunity to thank them, I send along a little thank-you note. Anyway, I experienced the unexpected when he actually e-mailed me back and started a conversation. I did not expect that. So, I spent some time on his fan message boards, where there were not a ton of fans at the time, and when he was doing a signing at a Borders in Ann Arbor I asked if he'd mind stopping by my Walden store. So he did. Seriously, coolest guy ever right?

Fast forward to a few years later when I'm working in the corporate offices for Borders and get an e-mail from a co-worker saying Chris is going to be in the office one afternoon. Although having a written dialogue with him for years, I am still a bit reluctant for face to face contact with people I admire and think are totally awesome, so I walk past the room where he's signing books for buyers and inventory analysts and I hear "Fine Becky, just pretend I'm not here. I hate you now" as I walk past the room. So...I go in and we have a chat, which kind of bewildered the buyers in the room because we had pre-existing rapport, and then I got my book signed, left and went to the public signing with some other local people from the message boards that night. We had a good time, and that was that.

Fast forward again to two days ago when I check my Facebook and get a message from my friend British Jeff (I mention that he's British because I know several Jeff's and want to specify which one I'm talking about) saying to check the message boards because I'm needed. What? Right. So, I check the boards and see that Chris is doing a Live at 01 Borders book club taping here in Michigan on the 30th and there's a call out to me, Jeff and Steve (lives in the area as well) specifically to come do this book club discussion, so I'm like "Cool, I'm in!" because it sounds like fun. Well then I check my private messages on Myspace and Chris had sent me a request to attend this and I'm like "Wow, cool, I was specifically requested. I'm all flattered and stuff!" so now I'm going to go to Store 01 on the 30th and chat about his new book (see picture above) with some friends of mine and with Chris and have it taped to stream on the Borders.com website. How freaking cool is that?!

Guilty Pleasures

I can't really lie folks, whenever there's nothing on television worth watching, my TV is always set to HGTV. It's sad, but very very true. Plus, since there hasn't been anything new on TV since before Thanksgiving, that means I've been watching a LOT of HGTV. This wouldn't be a problem, except that it makes me want to do all kinds of crazy interior design junk. I've done renovations and painting etc. in the house we live in now, but I don't really want to do anything else to it because we'll NEVER see any return on it since we're not buying this house and also because there's not really a whole lot you can do to this place to make it not suck. In general, the house is crappy and has the worst layout ever so it's always going to be sucky. So, this of course makes me sit around wanting my own house like...A LOT. Although, there are a lot other reasons I want my own house at the moment, but HGTV isn't helping. I want to go in and like...paint stuff or arrange furniture and actually have some space to have more than 3 or 4 friends over at one time. But, since I don't have that, watching HGTV makes me want to go to other people's houses and paint their stuff for them, which probably wouldn't go over so well since not everyone has my taste. But jeez....it makes me want to make people's ugly stuff pretty.

Damn you HGTV.

80's Television

So I was sitting around last night when I couldn't sleep because my brain wouldn't shut off (this happens a lot) and I experienced the usual mind wandering that happens when my brain refuses to be quiet and go to sleep. So, while I was lying in bed, I started thinking about telelvision in the 1980's and how weird some of it was. For example, who was in a room pitching Doogie Howser, M.D.? I imagine the pitch going something like this:

"Ok we want to make a show for families, but it's geared mostly toward pre-teen and teen audiences. It's a show about a 14 year old kid, but he's a genius. Not only is he a genius, he's a doctor! That's right, he's a child prodigy who survived childhood lukemia and decided to become a doctor so he graduated from med school when he was 14 and now he works as a doctor in the same hospital as his dad. The brains and responsibility of this kid will be offset by his idiot best friend who will also serve as the comic relief of the show. What do you think?"

Exec: Nah, not interested.

"Did I mention that at the end of each episode he makes a profound and moral statement in a computer journal that will promote values and good morality?"

Exec: SOLD!

I think that might be how a lot of 80's tv shows were pitched. They probably had weird and basically crappy setups and the premise was usually not fantastic, but the minute you threw in "positive moral message" television studios ate it up like it was a snack cake. I think this is particularly true for shows that were aimed at younger audiences. That's probably how we ended up with Doogie. And what the hell kind of a name is Doogie anyway? I'd have changed that crap.

Thank goodness Neil Patrick Harris has been able to move on from his roots in bad 80's television. And admit he's gay. And do another tv show. And do Broadway. And be Dr. Horrible.

All is Calm, All is Bright

This week has been....busy.  Jason's youngest sister came into town with her husband last Sunday and they were here until the day after Christmas.  I should probably preface all of this by saying that our house is not very big.  It looks like it from the outside, but reality is very different.  So, they came to stay and that was fine, but you would be surprised how two people can make a place feel smaller, especially when there are already 3 people, 2 dogs, 3 cats and a bird in there.  Then his sister got a puppy for Christmas.  Add one more creature.  My dogs were NOT pleased with the puppy, so that was interesting.  They mostly stayed downstairs until the puppy left on Friday.  Then, on Friday Jason's other sister, her boyfriend and their 3 year old came to stay with us.  Still, 3 additional creatures in the house, and one of them is LOUD.  My nephew could break glass with the pitches he reaches sometimes.  Again, the dogs were mostly not amused, since he likes to pull on tails and ears and wrestle.  So, there were all of the accouterments that accompany a 3 year old, and the house was a TOTAL disaster because our tiny living room was taken up mostly by the giant Christmas tree.  But, everyone left yesterday and now the house is once again quiet and calm.  My dogs aren't in hiding, my cats haven't evacuated to the high ground where they are safe, and my husband hasn't been slapped in the face by a toddler in like 2 days.  Visits are nice, but getting your house back is nicer. 

Pieces of Me

This morning I woke up to an entire city covered in snow. Not a little bit of snow, a lot-a-bit of snow. According to the radio, just under three inches of snow. I had a doctor's appointment this morning, so I left really early because I figured the roads would be a mess and my doctor is in Milan so I take mostly back roads to get there. I know that everyone around me was probably grumbling about their commute and how it was snowy and slippery and people didn't know how to drive and everything else that you always hear when we get a lot of snow in a short period of time, but all I could think was how beautiful everything was. I was driving at the breakneck speed of 35 mph, but it didn't matter. It was beautiful out. Everything was covered in white, the trees were sagging slightly from the snow that had settled in the branches and everything was so quiet. I was just....I was happy. At about 7:52 this morning, I smiled to myself and thought "Life is good". Sure, that attitude didn't last long because I eventually went to work, but for that 40 minute commute this morning, life was good and everything was beautiful and the world was peaceful.

When I got to the office, which is in a shiny pretty new building now, I was checking in and I could see one of the walls back in the hallway to the exam rooms. Currently, if you were to go into that office, when you open the door from the waiting room into the exam areas, you are greeted by a smiling Santa face made from felt and google eyes with a big yarn beard. My grandma made that. Her doctor was part of the same practice, and she gave him the Santa about 8 years ago, and he still hangs it up every year. So, unexpectedly, my grandma greeted me this morning. She died two years ago, and there are days when I miss her a lot, but it seems like I'm always finding pieces of her everywhere, even in places I don't expect to find her. I hope some day, when I'm gone, there are pieces of me (not literal pieces BOBBIE!) everywhere so that I can unexpectedly greet my loved ones and make them as happy as I was this morning.

So today you get a break from my usual ranting or smart assed commentary. Today life is good. Today I am happy.

I Haven't Been Drinking the Company Kool-Aid

I'm going to praise the company anyway though. This year, due to the fact that my free time is way more limited than it has been in the past (working, drama department AND 5 classes?! I must hate myself!) I've had to resort to making more purchases online than I ever have before. I don't like doing my Christmas shopping online, to be honest. I enjoy going to the crowded mall, I don't mind that there are tons of people in stores or long lines. I really like to go out, be surrounded by other shoppers, and select gifts for my friends and family. Even when I was working retail and had to deal with cranky customers, a packed store and insane hours, I never stopped loving the hustle and bustle of Christmas. Plus, I have an instant gratification complex where I like to have things NOW, not wait for shipping. Anyway, my point is that I don't usually shop online.

Since I had to do online shopping this year, there were a ton of sites I had to visit to acquire all of the gifts I was searching for. Luckily, a lot of people on my list want books and movies, which means I get to take advantage of my Borders discount (And the insane 40% off DVD set coupons that the Borders Rewards members have been getting). But, with no time to make it to a store, I've had to shop our website. Yeah. Because this year we have a website. Oh sure, we said we were going to have one a long time ago, but we ran into obstacles and stuff and that was delayed, but it's been up and running since sometime late this summer. Umm....I'm in love with this site. No joke. I have shopped Amazon in the past, because they were our website affiliate, but I hated shopping there. Sure, I could get books, movies, a digital camera and random toys all in one transaction, but the site isn't my favorite. It's kind of sterile, like "Here's a list of stuff. Please buy it and leave" or something. There was nothing that made me want to search further in the site or spend more time on there than was needed just to complete my transaction. Plus, I didn't get my employee discount from them. Sucks! The new borders.com site is soooo different. I honestly feel like they took one of our stores and dropped it on the internet. I surf that site all the stinking time! There is shopping to do, obviously, but there are also interviews, book clubs, celebrity chef videos and all kinds of other stuff. It's fully interactive. I freaking love it! Plus they offer free shipping on purchases over $25 just like Amazon.com does, and almost all of our Borders Rewards coupons can be redeemed online as well as in store. Prices aren't unreasonable, even without the employee discount, and the selection is huge. I know it sounds like I'm just towing the company line on this one, but I swear I'd be saying this even if I didn't work for them. It's just a really really nice site. Go check it out!

Plus, it wouldn't hurt if you made your online purchases from there instead of Amazon since...you know...our stock price is like $0.63 a share right now and I'd really hate to see the company go out of business, because even if I don't plan on working for them forever I'd really like to be able to shop in the stores when I'm teaching. I'm just sayin'.....

I've Been Unseated

In general, I'm really good at finding bargains. Now, that doesn't mean I will only buy something if it's on super discount, but I do tend to pounce on really good deals when I find them. For example, if I find a $400 down filled comforter on sale for $140, I'm going to buy that sucker. I do this a lot for Christmas gifts, because I have a LOT of people to buy for and I don't want to give everyone a bunch of really crappy gifts, so I look for deals where I can find them. I hit outlet malls, I shop online clearance specials, I pick up books when my company does its 40% off sale for employees. I feel that, in general, when it comes to finding discounts, I'm really successful.

Or at least that's how I felt before about half an hour ago when Jason unceremoniously unseated me from my bargain shopping throne. That is because today, Jason was browsing the internet for potential Christmas gifts for yours truly, and came across this:

This is the Wusthof Classic 23 piece knife and block set that we both have been salivating over for the past six months. I bought one of the Wusthof Santoku knives on super clearance when Linens 'n Things was going out of business and fell in love with it. It was SO nice to use a knife that was well balanced, light weight, super sharp and easy to handle. From that point on Jason and I had our eyes on the entire set of these knives, but with really good quality comes a really big price tag. I'm talking $1500 big. Yeah. That's a lot of coin to drop on some knives. So, we resigned ourselves to salivating over them and dreaming of the "some day" that may never come.

Well...it came today. While browsing macys.com Jason came across this set clearanced for their online one day sale for $299.00. HOLY CRAP!

They'll be at my house in a week. I may piddle.