"The aim of life is to live,
and to live means to be aware,
joyously, drunkenly, serenely,
divinely aware."
~ Henry Miller
and to live means to be aware,
joyously, drunkenly, serenely,
divinely aware."
~ Henry Miller
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Going through the change
Every now and then, one of the buyers gets an advance reading copy of some book she thinks I'll like and leaves it in my mailbox. Take a good look at the above book, which is being published in August: a biography of a woman wrestler. Great retro look, an arresting photograph that's been tinted with that period feel. Kind of a cool thing to find in your mailbox, no? Well, this is not actually the book I found. I found this:
Eep! Same book, rejected artwork. I look at this book and I wonder what the buyers think I'm into?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Irony has its limits
I was not amused when I saw a stack of these bags on a cart of new merchandise at my place of employment yesterday. Way to rub consumers' faces in it, I thought. I took one of the bags into my office and showed it to my co-workers."I don't get it," said Patrick.
"I think it's supposed to be funny," said Ali.
I left the bag sitting on the scanner next to my desk and forgot all about it. It was still there when I came in this morning and I got all het up about it all over again. I took the bag into the manager's office.
"Have you seen this?" I asked her. The look on her face was priceless: I could tell she thought it was the tackiest, most in-poor-taste thing she'd seen in ages, but she obviously was trying to appear enthusiastic.
"It's funny, right?" she said.
"I don't think it's funny!" I snapped. "I think it's gross."
"Oh, thank god." She started to laugh. "I saw it sitting next to your desk and I thought you liked it and were going to buy it. I thought, 'Well, if she likes it, there must be something funny about it and maybe I'm just not getting it.'"
She called the gift buyer and told her to return the bags. It made me feel really powerful and I started wondering what else I could hate and make disappear.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Book of the week
Now this is my idea of chick lit -- behind-the-scenes dish on one of the biggest soap operas ever! Lana Turner emoting, Juanita Moore suffering, Sandra Dee flouncing about . . . throw in a bottle of wine and you've got yourself a great afternoon's entertainment.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Countdown to the Oscars
Who will win? I think Kate Winslet will finally take home her little gold man; I'll go out on a limb and predict Mickey Rourke beating Sean Penn in the best actor race; I'm guessing that Slumdog Millionaire, the underdog-turned-900-pound-gorilla, will be deemed the finest picture of 2008. I can't remember a year more devoid of suspense, but you can be sure I'll be there for every minute of the ceremony on Sunday evening (that is, if the cable guy successfully fixes whatever is causing the severe snowstorm on all the channels below 100). My favorite movies of the past year were Iron Man and Let the Right One In. How about you?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Come play with us, Danny
Despite the Shining-ness of this shot, Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel is one of the most beautiful, comfortable, warm and inviting places I've ever visited. No blood-filled elevators. Hardly any hacked-up caretakers at all. Still, quiet moments in the upstairs halls, like the one captured above, could be a bit eerie. For the few people clamoring to know about and see pictures of Sean's and my road trip to Yosemite, you can check out some photos on Flickr.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Book of the week, or, Why I will never, ever be thin
Mama's Fried Chicken. Peanut Butter Pie. One Roasted Pig. Cheesy French Bread. Hush Puppies. Dammit! Even the chapter on varmint cooking sounds intriguing: Fried Cooter, Baked Armadillo, and Stewed Squirrel are all included in this fun book. I've lived most of my life in Los Angeles, but at heart I think I'm a Cracker.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)