What the What?

Christopher Moore is doing a signing at Indigo South Common on April 25th. Who's going with me??

Escape...

I've had the last four days off from work, and it should have been the perfect time to run about getting things done and being ultra-productive, but alas...no such thing has happened. Instead, I went to my sister's basketball game on Saturday morning, where they lost a very close game, but went on to win the next one by a long shot. I then didn't leave the apartment for the next three days. I sat around and read, baked, and slowly made my way through my latest boxed set. Not that I sat on my bum all day, but aside from some yoga, a sculpting dvd, and Wii Fit, I didn't do much. I am quite enjoying the advanced reader's copy of this exciting new release, though!

Thought-Provoking Talk.

I am up way too late, but working late shifts has thrown me back into my night-owl ways. I was catching up on the latest David Usher blog posts, and came across a link that he had posted for a talk given by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard neuroanatomist, in which she describes her experience of having a stroke. It is incredibly thought provoking, and I thought I would share.

The New "Messiah"...

Working in a bookstore is an interesting experience. It allows you to make some observations about society based on the people that come in, and what they buy. One thing that has surfaced is my extreme dislike for Oprah. I never liked her to begin with--I can't say she doesn't do a lot of charity work, but at the same time, she is also prejudiced. I don't agree with a lot of her views, but the thing that bothers me the most is the way that people almost worship her! Oprah says "Jump", and women all over North America squeal, "How high?!" Any author that Oprah features on her show, or through her book club, celebrates instant celebrity, and we can't keep their books in stock. People don't seem to care at all what the content is...they just gobble it up because Oprah says...

Oprah was raving about James Frey's "biography"...until it was revealed that he "embellished"key aspects of it, then she was forced to issue a statement about it, yet people still come in searching for it.

A while ago, a customer came in and told me, "I just read one of the books from Oprah's club, and it was so amazing...I was just wondering when the author is going to put out a new novel?" I asked her what book it was, and she told me that it was Anna Karenina. It was all I could do to keep a straight face as I explained that, since Leo Tolstoy had died in 1910, it would be unlikely that he would be publishing anything new, then directed her towards War And Peace, but explained it was a lot more complex than Anna.

Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious was flying off the shelves at Christmas because she was on Oprah, but the idea that hiding veggies from kids when they should be cultivating tastes for new things is a controversial idea, and not necessarily a good one.

Selection #61 on the book club list is A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, which is a self-help book. We can't keep it in stock. The thing that bothers me is that people are buying two or three copies of this book, without even knowing what it's about! The author bio on the back describes him as a "contemporary spiritual leader", traveling the world, spreading his message. One woman actually asked one of my co-workers where she could find Oprah's new book. He responded with, "The Eckhart Tolle one?" and she said, "No, the one that Oprah just put out--A New Earth." So he explained that it was not WRITTEN by Oprah, but rather, just selected by her. The woman didn't understand...
It's getting to the point where I just don't want to even SEE another copy of this book.

Now don't get me wrong...I really enjoy my job. I love books. I just wish that people would pick out their own books, not what a TV personality tells them to read. I totally get that Oprah is getting people to read when they wouldn't normally choose to do so, and that she is supporting the book industry...but SERIOUSLY!

Okay...That's my rant. I'm putting the soap box away....I feel better now...

SHOCKER!!!

I love my new job. Seriously! No, you didn't read that wrong. (You can re-read it, if you don't believe it...it is in writing after all...) I actually like my job! Think about it. I'm surrounded by thousands of books, I work with other people who love books as much as I do, and who are educated as well, and I get to help customers find books! The type of customer that comes into a bookstore is definitely different than the type of customer that comes into a grocery store, or a coffee shop, or a clothing store. One huge difference is that they actually assume that you KNOW SOMETHING!!! They don't usually try to come off as being smarter than you!!

There are a few drawbacks to working in a bookstore though...one being that you are surrounded by books, shelving books, sorting books and immersed in books...which makes you want to buy LOTS of books with your discount. There also was a slight pay cut from working at the place whose name I shall not utter, but it's also closer to home, accessible via public transit, and DOESN'T SUCK.

Cass is happy.

The Stupidest Angel...

So, in order to get into the spirit of the season, I am reading one of my favorite books: "The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror", by Christopher Moore. It is a great way to get Christmasy, without letting the stress of the season get to you. The author's warning, on the first page:

"If you're buying this book as a gift for your grandma or a kid, you should be aware that it contains cusswords as well as tasteful depictions of cannibalism and people in their forties having sex. Don't blame me. I told you."

The opening line paints a beautiful picture: "Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing egg nog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe." Seriously, a hilarious read...though you can't really read it in public, unless you want strange looks when you burst out laughing....but it somehow makes me feel Christmasy...

Evidently, I am "IT"...

So, I have been "tagged" by Dani, and now I have to reveal five secrets about myself...so here it goes:

1. While I do love a good cerebral read, I have a secret weakness for Brit-chick-lit. I hate chick lit, but I can't resist the British stuff.

2. My vast CD collection includes such train-wrecks as the Baywatch soundtrack (Jeremy Jackson sings, as does David Hasselhoff!), Effel 65's Europop, and um...Limp Bizkit.

3. I almost got kicked out of a finger eleven concert...I had forgotten my ID in the car, and so had the "underage" arm band. The boy that I was smitten with was in the "cool" section, so Yvonne and I traded arm bands in the bathroom...but security caught us, and so we gave them some line about how my armband had fallen off, and that the woman handing them out hadn't ID'd me, and so eventually, the guy let me go to my car and get my ID, and I got back just in time for the concert to begin.

4. I buy makeup and beauty products compulsively. Seriously, I have about 10 different shades of purple eyeshadow, and justify it by the fact that each one is slightly different...I buy things just because I don't have them. Russ has forbidden me from buying lotions...

5. I pretty much have every episode of Friends memorized.

So now...I guess I'm tagging anyone who reads this and wants to do it?

Jane Austen Rocks.

Jane Austen blows my mind. How one person can write an infinite number of novels, yet have such similar characters, plots, themes...just mind-blowing...I do enjoy a good Jane Austen novel though...I read Pride and Prejudice when I was 10. It made more sense when I re-read it when I was 14 though. The new movie disappoints me and I haven't even seen it yet. They totally hacked the plot, and Kiera Knightley is not right to play Elizabeth Bennett. Besides. Colin Firth is the only man alive meant to play Darcy!

You know what I love? People whom you tell one thing to, so they do something completely different! For example, say I tell you that my work availability is only Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, but I booked one date off, that happens to fall on a Tuesday. Would you ask me if I could work on that particular Tuesday, even though I wrote it down in the book-off book, a note to you, and a note on my permanent availability, even after I told you I had a midterm the next day? No? Would you ask me if I could work the following Wednesday, even though my availability specifically said that I was not available on Wednesdays, EVER!!!?? Would you try to make me feel guilty for not working on a Wednesday when I have school and have told you numerous times that I am not available to work on Wednesdays???? NO????!!!!!!!! Well then what the CRAP is wrong with people!!!!??????!!!!!! Is anyone else as fed up as I am? It's pretty bad when the general manager of three stores quits for a better job...what does that say about a lowly lead agent who hasn't had a raise in 2 years?? Man. I'm pathetic!!!

Oh well...I'll just pretend I'm the heroine of my own modern Austen novel...now if only I can convince Russ to be Colin Firth...

Bad People...

Does it make me a bad person that I think it's hilarious that someone who I used to know, who pretty much screwed me over, is now fat? And has an unattractive boyfriend? Yes. I'm a bad person..but sometimes being a bad person is so good...for example, as a bad person, you have the ability to tell people exactly what you think of them...and they can't get angry, because, well, let's face it, you're a bad person, so what you say is of course going to be bad. It's implied in the title: "Bad Person". It's right there. Yup. I'm not really a bad person...most of the time, although some people (who shall remain nameless...i know who you are....) might say differently. Surprisingly enough, though, I CAN be a good person too. This morning at the bus stop, I let this really elderly old man with a cane on before me, because, well, lots of university students are real jerks about giving the elderly people their seats on the bus. In fact, I really hate that so many people have absolutely no sense of social decency when it comes to basic courtesy! Like those people who sit behind me in one of my lectures and gossip the whole time! Really, just because you whisper does NOT mean that no one else can hear you! Or those really mouthy teens who lip off pretty much anyone and everyone. Or those zombie shoppers who slam into you in the mall and are completely unphased...or those scary stroller mommies who try to plow you down with their stupid gimoungous Mercedes stroller piled up with lulu lemon bags or whatever the crap they buy...I think that everyone needs to learn some manners...I haven't read the book yet, but the author of "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" just came out with a new book on society's lack of manners...
Now, I get to go to work and deal with more people with no manners and the creepy CREEPY sleepers......Also, is it weird that it bothers me that in the new film based on the book "Memoirs of Geisha" has a Chinese girl playing the main, JAPANESE character???

There is a Special Circle of Hell Reserved for You!

I went to the school bookstore to purchase "literature" for my lovely classes...and it gave me an ulcer! The pain started as I elbowed (LITERALLY!) my way down the stairs into the bowels of educational hell. Using tactics usually reserved for slamming people into walls and such, I made my way to the anthropology section. I only had to buy three books for my medical anthropology class...doesn't that make me sound smart?...anyways, since I am still waiting on my stupid loans, I decided that I would only get the books that I need immediately, so I grabbed the rather thin paperback entitled " Understanding Medical Anthropology" and almost vomited when I looked at the barcode. 106.25 frickin' dollars!!!!! Then I had to make my way to the line, surrounded by freaks who don't know the meaning of personal boundaries...then, to top it all off, the cashier was a total cow! ARGH! Stupid U of A! Whatever!