Paperback Swap

I've discovered something called the Paperback Swap. Someone e-mailed me about it after having stumbled upon the "Stump the Bookseller" post on my blog many months ago. (I have a weird feeling you told me about it once, too, Patsy... but I had totally forgotten about it until now!)

What happens is, you put a list of paperbacks up on the site that you're willing to send away, and you can also request books from other members. You get the books sent to you for free. The only thing you pay is the cheap Media Mail postage on whatever books you send out.

I think it's a great idea. I've already requested a couple of books and I'm mailing one out to someone tomorrow.

Whoo hoo! I love the Internet!

Sage's mother must be proud

As my bus rolled into Ypsi yesterday, I noticed the marquee at the Deja Vu strip joint. It proclaims:

CONGRATULATIONS SAGE, 2008 QUEEN OF THE COUCHES!

I thought that was beautiful.

It's one thing to be pole queen, or dance queen, or G-string queen... but to be queen of the couch dance... wow! That's royalty!

:-D

Of course, I shouldn't be giggling. For all I know, Sage is working on her second PhD in astrophysics at U.M. right now and funding her research with her majestically obtained couch-dance riches.

But still. Queen of the Couches.

Wow.

A weekend in Cleveland

Well, despite my being a veritable fountain of phlegm the entire time, which I'm sure everyone enjoyed, we had a groovy little road trip to Cleveland this weekend.

The highlights:

- Going to the baseball game (see hilarious picture below), where we chowed on traditional baseball fare and had a blast, even though the poor old Tigers were staggering through their death throes at this point,

- Dropping in on an interesting exhibit at the Asterisk Gallery,

- Visiting the Literary, which is what a local oughta be,

- Browsing at the quirky and countercultural Visible Voices bookstore, where I would likely spend a huge amount of time if I lived in Tremont,

- Chatting in Evelyn's yard... until her French bulldog Della got up close and personal with an angry skunk, which led to Della getting a frantic scrubbing in the tub. According to the others, there was a distinct and pungent aroma in the air after that. Luckily, my cold precluded me from smelling a thing. Hurray for colds! (Sort of.), and

- Having a glorious breakfast of Hash Lafayette, a signature brunch dish at the Parkview Niteclub, on the morning of our return home. I am determined to go back and have it again when I can actually taste it!

Struttin' with Some Barbecue

When you have a really bad cold like the one I've had the last two days, you want to sleep a lot, and you want to read a book that is engaging but not too challenging, or at least I do. So between bouts of coughing, sneezing, and sleeping, I've been reading Brian Morton's A Window Across the River, which is a glib little New Yorky novel about dissatisfied artists. I wouldn't fall all over myself recommending it to anyone, but it was what I needed.

What made it worth it, though, is one paragraph. I actually giggled when I read it, and that doesn't happen very often.

So I've decided to share it - the paragraph, and hopefully the giggle, too.

It's nice to believe that each of us has one true love. This is a story we all enjoy. When Ingrid Bergman asks Dooley Wilson - Sam - to play "As Time Goes By," and Humphrey Bogart, hearing the song, turns pale, we know it's because the only woman he's ever loved has just come back into his life. We don't want to think that there might have been three or four other women who could have laid him even lower by strolling in after her and asking Sam to play something else - "Begin the Beguine," say, or "Struttin' with Some Barbecue."

The idea of Bogie clutching his head in his hands over "Struttin' with Some Barbecue," while some fabulous damsel shoots triumphant looks across the bar at a confused Ingrid Bergman, is - well, it's funny. In a glib, New Yorky way, I guess. But I'll take it!

Now more tea, and back to bed. After two days of fog, I can feel my various mental and physical systems slowly coming back online. Hurray!

Spondylodiscitisexpialidocious!

My dad wrote an article for the Dansk Pioneer about his recent, scary bout with a rare condition called spondylodiscitis.

Whew! Glad you're feeling better, Dad!

I made my own lolcat!

I found this photo from 2006, when we still had Big Orange... and decided to turn it into a lolcat!

.

Now I'm going to have to dig through all my cat pictures!

"She would have been the lipstick"

I have avoided politics so far, but we're officially in an "-ember" month and I'm going to have to throw something out there every now and then. And I just have to comment on this whole muddle of metaphor that's been going on.

Obama dispatched the silly "pig-with-lipstick" business with exemplary cool last night on Letterman, explaining that it is (hello!) simply an expression. "It connotes the idea that if you have a bad idea, in this case I was talking about John McCain’s economic plans, that just calling them change, calling it something different, doesn’t make it better - hence, lipstick on a pig is still a pig."

There. Can we all relax now? But then we all knew all that, didn't we? And yet there have been such exciting fireworks displays of affront and outrage! It was quite the performance. They should have sold tickets.

However, my favorite part was Obama's postscript to the whole thing:

"Keep in mind that, technically, had I meant it that way, she would have been the lipstick, you see? Yeah, the failed policies of John McCain would be the pig. Now, I mean, you know, just following the logic of this illogical situation."

Ha! That's terrific.

I bet my U.M. professor of the first class I took there, "Metaphor and Meaning," is having a field day with this.

Forgot to add the class photo

Back to school!

We recently had a back-to-school event at work, where we were supposed to dress the way we did back in high school.

Thought I'd share.

Sarah and I are all like, Omigod!

Schoolkids of the 70s, 80s, and 90s

That's my original genuwine HyperColor shirt from eleventh grade, by the way. Doesn't work very well any more, but that's probably all for the best.

I also provided this delightful fifth-grade yearbook shot (thanks for finding it, Dad!). I'm told I bear a passing resemblance to Ringo. Who knew?

Ideas, please!

I know it's still summer and this crisp, cool evening is a fluke, but I wish to announce that I am wearing socks! Socks and a hoodie! Hurrah.

I also have my ticket booked to Copenhagen in mid-November. It'll be tourist-free, chilly, and practically Christmas. Can't wait.

Speaking of Christmas, though, let me take this opportunity to ask y'all's advice. (Patsy, forgive me, I know you already gave me many ideas and you are probably wondering why I'm obsessing about this, but I figure the more ideas I can solicit, the better!)

Here's the scenario. Weeks and weeks ago, I agreed to be part of Patsy's terrific "ornament exchange" idea. Basically, I make nine Christmas ornaments by Halloween and so do nine other people, and then we all give them to Patsy, who packages them up in sets and sends them out to everyone who participated. An exciting and fun idea, and I'm pleased to be involved in it.

The problem is that I am completely crafts-impaired! Patsy's skillfully crafted ornaments are already done, by all reports -- and Suky is practicing, for heaven's sake, before she gets going on hers. See, we're not talking about crooked paper stars splattered with glue and glitter. These two really know what they're doing, and I have a feeling the other participants do, too!

What I need is an idea for something that looks fabulous and festive but is supremely easy to do.

I am open to all suggestions. I know I disabled comments on this blog (I kept having to delete weird "comment spam"), but just e-mail me. Or tell me next time you see me.

Just keep in mind I can't sew, solder, engrave, macramé, color inside the lines, or cut in a straight line. ;-)

Catch-up time!

Ooops! Neglected my blog again! Here's what I've been up to:

- Went to see "Iron Man" at the dollar theater with Scott. Scott loved "Iron Man" as a kid, and, well, I love Robert Downey Jr. as an adult. ;-)

- Got to know Barb's new dog, the charming Dottie, who has been slowly coming out of her shell and is now starting to realize that the world is her oyster.

- Enjoyed Labor Day shishkabob picnic dinner with the Hayeses!

- Enjoyed girls' night with Liza, Evelyn, and Barb!

- Finished the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel and was completely blown away by it. What a ride, and what an ending! It was a slow start, but man, did it pay off. (Wendy, you were so right!) I spent an hour on the Internet looking for analysis about the symbolic meaning of the island. Read it and you will, too.

- Scott started the new semester at Washtenaw. Now it's officially fall! Even if it feels like dry, hot, miserable summer. Bring on the fall breezes!