AHHAHAAHAHAHA I CAN'T DRAW DAVID BOWIE FOR SHIT! AHAHA!

Wanna see--and hear--that penultimate song in panel numero three? Fast forward to about 1:48 here:

Snapple Real Facts #176: The first bike was called a hobbyhorse.

What kind of magic spell to use
Slime and snails
Or puppy dogs tails
Thunder or lightning
Then baby said
Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance)
- "Magic Dance" by Jareth the Goblin King/David Bowie

Time Out New York has a short mention of the store in this week's issue, and info can of course be found on Idlewild's website. There are photos of the store here. And as an extra bonus, some additional tidbits from my interview with David:

What's In a Name?

Some folks will recognize “Idlewild” as the former name of J.F.K. Airport. David liked the name for its nostalgic connection to New York travel, but also because the word itself evokes two different sides of the travel experience. He explained: “Idle is just sort of about being lazy, travel with no particular destination or agenda in mind; while wild relates to the adventurous aspects. And of course, there are travelers and trips which fall into each category.” (There is a piece of stained glass and some chairs from the old JFK terminal in the store.)

Browsing Geographically:

Here's an example of what I discovered: A quick skim through the store's section for “Naples and the South” illustrates the value of Idlewild’s geographic floorplan: classic titles like D.H. Lawrence’s Sea and Sardinia and Carlo Levi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli share shelf space with contemporary Italian novels like Troubling Love (set in Naples) and Excellent Cadavers, a serious look at the Sicilian mafia. Regional guidebooks, as well as several Italian phrasebooks, appear on neighboring shelves.

David's Travel Experience:

In addition to the travel he did while working for the UN (described in the World Hum interview), David spent most of his 20's living abroad in Europe. He moved from New York to Prague in 1991, where he worked for two years teaching English, and as the editor of a financial newsletter. This was followed by two years in Rome where he worked for a publisher of educational CDs. He then studied in Washington D.C. and Bologna to earn a masters degree in international relations and was next off to Barcelona where he worked as a freelance editor and writer for the World Bank. In 2000 he moved back to New York to work for the United Nations.

They've got a nice collection of off-beat books. Many that the chains don't carry, or even many independents. Particular focus is given to political books, of the lefty variety. Plenty of good fiction. A solid children's section as well. Graphic books are also well represented.

Only one problem: It's not so big. Nevertheless, a nice atmosphere with a nice collection.

Located at 4530 Baltimore Ave, Philadelphia, PA

I was rather shocked, "Sorry?"

"'The Bitch.'"

I didn't understand how he could say it with such a straight face. People are usually rather conservative here
"How do you spell that sir?" I started to type: B - I ...

He gave me a strange look, "You know...the place by the sea..."

"Ohhhhhhh. Beach. Heh heh heh."

"I didn't say a bad word! I don't know what you were thinking tsk tsk," laughed the customer.

My mother was a practicing Catholic, a very traditional woman, a rule follower - a staunch Republican.  Aunt Samantha on the other hand is a Pagan - an Earthy, animal loving, tree-hugging woman who practices yoga and is a vegetarian.  Get the picture?

My mother married young and started right off raising me.  Aunt Samantha has never been married.  She doesn't even believe in the concept of legal marriage.  Her idea of marrying someone includes common vows and some kind of 'stepping over a broom' ritual.  I've not been privy to that so I can't give many details.  But she has lived with the same man - Peter, for twenty years so I guess something is working for her.

Anyway, up until three years ago Aunt Samantha and Peter lived in New England and ran a thriving metaphysical bookstore business.  Not long after my parents died, my aunt and uncle purchased a small store downtown and moved their entire business here.

Aunt Samantha says she was tired of the fast pace and the cold weather, but I think it was more because she was worried about me being alone and wanted to be closer to me.  She's has always been more like an older sister to me than like an aunt.  Either way, I was happy she moved.

Our town is fairly small - picture the town on the show 'Ghost Whisperer' and you'll have the idea.  The 'Big City' is a good twenty-five minute drive from here.  I didn't think the concept of a metaphysical bookstore would go over well but I was wrong.  It turns out that the 'Big City' has nothing close to what her store offers and quite of our customers make the drive regularly.  Word of mouth brings new customers all of the time too.

The bookstore is two levels.  To accommodate the non-pagan types, my aunt has turned the bottom level of the bookstore into a used book store.  People can trade books and buy them.  And there's a monthly book reading group.  I'm still considering trying that out.

The upper part of the store has two sections.  The front section which has tons of books on all kinds of 'New Age' subjects and items like candles, incense, jewelry, and music etc.  The back part of the top level has a warm, cozy cafe that serves freshly made sandwiches, salads, soups, pastries, and drinks - lots of coffee! 

The bookstore has soft 'New Age' music playing all the time and smells faintly of incense downstairs.  It's a good bit stronger upstairs. 

I don't know if it's because of my love for books, or the effect of the whole environment, but within five minutes of walking in the front door and hearing the little bells tinkling, that announce a customer's arrival, I feel totally relaxed.  I don't care how wound up I am when I walk in, the bookstore always washes away my tension.  I absolutely love it there.

Anyway, I'm taking a well-deserved year off from school before I go back to work on my Doctorate in 2009.  In the interim, I have offered to help Aunt Samantha run the store.  That way she can take some personal time off is she likes, or putter around chatting and directing the customers, or just sit down and read someone's Tarot cards without having to worry about running to the register every five minutes.

My job is to just sit at the register and direct people to books and ring up their purchases.  In between customers I either surf the Net on the bookstore's WiFy or read a bit from whatever novel I currently have my nose burried in.  The coffee shop is free for me and the clientele are interesting to watch.

What else could a girl ask for? 
A hot date maybe...

The Bookstore

Jewels

Bones To Ashes by Kathy Reichs

Temperance Brennan with the discovery of a skeleton in Acadia, Canada, reawakens a traumatic episode. Gripping and fast paced, full of twists and turns, the characters are appealing and the mystery is intriguing.

James Rollins by The Judas Strain

There's a code to crack, a disease to cure, and assassin to outrun, and the words of an angel to translate.  You won't want to put this adventurous thrill ride down.  Another exciting adventure from James Rollins.

We did end up downtown for a little bit and I got to take some pictures, which for me, is one of the most relaxing and rewarding times of my life. I bought a journal at Barnes and Noble and I am hoping to write in it every day. My goal is to write more on here as well.

Well I am off to Chipotle for dinner with Foster. You all have a pleasant evening :)

Almost every bookstore acts as a Cabinet of Curiousities in its own right…but the indies beat the big-box names almost every time One of our favorites in New York? McNally Robinson, a 7,000 square foot offshoot of the Canadian chain, opened in 2004 by Sarah McNally. We’ve counted twenty-seven reasons to come here, but, for brevity’s sake, we’ll mention four: first and foremost, it’s a family business. And we love family. (...Most of the time.) Second, the staff actually knows about the books in the store. (None of this:  “Dickens? Um, I think she’s under contemporary fiction?”) Third, cashiers are entertaining...and sometimes even play pranks, as ours did. “How much do you think your total is?” inquired the cashier. I played along, guessing, “34.56.” The cashier looked relieved, “Nope 35.92!” Had I guessed correctly he would have bought my books for me (something he did for fun), and as his reaction showed too many people had been right on when it came to guessing the total of their books. Fourth, because of the books themselves—titles like Penguin’s Great Journeys Series. Not only are the tomes artfully arranged, with window displays updated daily, but, best of all, they deliver!

The weekend was calm and familiar: card games, long walks, ice cream, and playing guitar on the back porch have long been the staples of my beach vacations. My aunt, who was also down at the beach, noted that it had been awhile since I'd been down here without L and reminded me of the last time we'd all stayed at the beach house together. I had told her, "L and I love the beach so much" yet we never came out of her room or actually visited it that weekend. At that second I looked over at the seat that would have been saved for her, realizing that she wouldn't be socializing with us but hiding in her room... and I didn't miss her.

There is still a hole were she used to fit in my life and I feel it everywhere I walk, like an indentation left on a bed long after someone has woken up and left the building. But this weekend as I spent time with my family, my friends, and my self, I looked at that hole and tried to imagine if the time would be enriched if she was there. "Yes," I'd say, "if she was happy." I realized how much of the pleasure I took in her company was conditional. I loved those happy moments and somehow if we were still going to be building those times I think that I would've wanted to be with her. After catching her in her lies, after catching her with him, I just want to move on. The space left behind her has started to fill in finally, slowly, after almost a year of being emptied, filled, and emptied again.

Like stretching a unused muscles, it isn't a completely comfortable process- lunch at our favorite restaurant didn't bring tears or sadness, only sandwiches, but sleeping in the bed I used to share with her did. Ordering ice cream alone was hard but still pleasant- so much so I decided that it had to happen a second time. So much of the beach town landscape has changed- new bookstores open, old restaurants gone or moved- that it helps me to focus on this as a transition, the standard passing of time rather than the end of the world. Like the tides of the ocean, people come in to your life then slowly roll out, leaving the sand of your soul altered.

While shopping I accidentally pulled out the old photograph of her that I kept in my wallet- one she had printed out on cheap paper and given to me almost five years ago. She's smiling, wearing a black dress, and a holding a cat so black that he fades into the dress till his eyes look like buttons on the dress. I stuffed it back inside, avoiding it. Is there something telling in the fact that my latest wallet had no place to put a picture so that it was easily seen- so much so that I had forgotten I'd even had it?

One friend has long pressured me to do something symbolic to address the end of my relationship with L, something firm that would show it. He reminded me of how when he decided to go back and finish college he shaved his head. Everyone noticed something was different and it gave impetus to the change. Tonight was my night for that.

I avoided the beach itself all weekend until last night, focusing on enjoying my favorite relaxing spots around the town. As the sun began to fall I drove out to the ocean, my last chance to see it before leaving in the morning. The air was salty and the tide was rolling out, and a few campfires were lit by lifeguards celebrating the end of the day. I pulled the picture of her out of my wallet and stared it as I approached the beach she had loved so much.

I remembered the first time I brought her here, a winter day too cold to swim- she was in a hooded sweatshirt and sandy blue-jeans. She leapt out of the car excited, jumping up and down like a hyperactive toddler, smiling. We had often talked about going swimming in the ocean and making love in the evening and, though we had almost tried once or twice, our courage had always failed us. Instead we'd eat sandwiches or donuts, depending on the time of day, and play. Playing- innocently, without the pain, was something I don't think we could ever have anymore. The picture, having outlasted two wallets, had now lived beyond the relationship itself.

I bent down as the tide rolled in and pushed it to the bottom of the shallows, I couldn't see it as the water pulled it out to become part of the ocean. I didn't cry, I didn't have time to let that out, but I savored the moment and felt it- the wind, the water, the sadness, the regret, the love for her. It didn't magically change me the way baptisms are supposed to- there is now a hole in my wallet matching the hole in my life where her picture had stayed hidden. But, like my friend shaving his head, it helped somehow- I had done something. Letting her picture drift out to sea- it honored the ocean that I loved so much and it honored the time we spent together, I let her go out of my life like an old dead king- loved, adorned in treasure, dead, and burning- drifting on the oceans and dancing with ghosts.

"So are we going to talk about who you were drooling over the other day?"
"Man, shut up! That's gross."
"Well, you were drooling over her, right?"
"You mean my sister or my cousin?"
"How old is she anyway? Is she 12?"
"No, she's 16."
"She'll be legal in 2 years."
"This is why I look but don't touch."
"Oh well, at least I still have my imaginary girlfriend."

Half Price Books (HPB) is one of our all time favorite places in the WORLD. Not only can you sell or donate the books you do not want, but you will discover books that you never even dreamed of. Not to mention they saved us over $100 on school books! They have wonderful deals and a huge range of wonderful books, movies, music, and magazines. HPB even has sections dedicated to old and valuable books. Now, no two HPBs are the same. Most books are donated or sold so you never know what you are going to find.

Tips:
- Take your time, browse sections you normally never even look at. You'll be surprised at what you can find.
- Most HPBs do not have records of the books they have but most employees do take the time to help you look for exactly what you need. Never be afraid to ask for some help.
- Sign up for the newsletter. Coupons for books that are already half priced is pretty awesome.

Links:
- Half Price Books

So the shop is in the very competent hands of Thursa and Tim.

By the way, the photo is of our Polzeath branch, NOT Thursa and Tim!
]]> http://temporaryjob.wordpress.com/?p=22 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:25:55 +0000 Super Temp http://temporaryjob.wordpress.com/?p=22 The briefing had extended by fifteen minutes and we were three minutes to opening time; Aria, once again, had monopolized the briefing with her eager stories and comments.

"Anyone else have any other comments to add to the briefing before we open shop?" asked Mr. Liew.
"Yes," answered Juli, "it's about these receipts-"
"Yes!" interrupted Aria, "I have that same problem too! When I blah blah blah...."

"Ugh! So angry! This Kak Aria...keeps on talking and talking," whispered Juli to Yati.
"Be patient. There's a reason she's not married."

Challenge: #4 July 18 11:55 pm

"Hello, may I speak to..." as I looked at the customer enquiry form, "Mr. Lee Ben Woh?"

There was a pause on the other line.

"Yes. This is SHE."

Oops.

Rule #1: Reduce your cooling costs  

So you think the price of a movie ticket is too high? How much does it comparatively cost to heat or cool your house for three hours during peak electricity demand periods? Uh-huh. That’s what I thought. Movie tickets remain a bargain—especially in the South. During August. Save some bucks, adjust your home thermostat, and go to the theater.

You might also consider enrolling in a night class at your local junior college. You can more than cover the tuition with what you’ll save on your utility bills. And you just might learn something—such as how to accurately define a recession, though probably not how to weather one—in the process. If nothing else, you’ll feel wiser simply from being around so many students who are text messaging in class.

Looking for no-cost alternatives? Spend an afternoon or evening at your local library, read all the periodicals for free (while these publishers can afford to remain in business), and use the computers to surf those sites you wouldn’t dare attempt at home. (I’m talking about the ones that scream “VIRUS ATTACK,” not the ones your spouse would object to.)

No library in your community? How about your local bookstore? The store clerks don’t know if you read your last novel in high school. They’ll think you’re there to actually purchase something—like maybe a latte.

Just as I was going to skim through the latest recipe book, "Yes, how may I help you?

"I'm looking for the Oxford Primary Dictionary and the Oxford Primary Thesaurus."

I check the stock. Damn. No stock for the dictionary and only one left for the thesaurus. In the children's section. And knowing my amazing luck, it would be impossible to find.

Realising how the children's section is almost always completely thrashed (due to children of course), it would take me forever to find the book; not only would I upset the customer, I would lead her to nothing-ness. Consequently, with my sheer brilliance, I passed the task to Emi, who was in charge of the children section and just as new as me

With the job off my hands, I made backup phone calls to transfer stock for the thesaurus and dictionary only to find that the system is down in other branches. Brilliant.

"Eh!" Emi called for me, "I couldn't find the book - I think we've stopped ordering Oxford Primary book-lah."

Snap. "Sorry miss, but I've just called the other branches about the books you've requested for and their systems are down."

"Oh," the customer replied in disappointment, "then what to do -ah?

"I'll have to wait for their calls back. It would be easier if you left your name and contact details," I said passing the customer enquiry sheet to her.She scribbles her details quickly while I proceeded to start my other customer service work. However, I then noticed that she still stood next to me and stared blankly.

"Um...miss. I'll call you back when I hear news of your books."
"No worries, I'll wait.

It was getting uncomfortable.

The phone rang and I excitedly picked up the phone. "Oh So you have it?" Finally some good news from the other branch, "Can you transfer it to our branch? Great. Thanks.

"Miss, good news - the other branch has stock for your books so I asked for a transfer. It'll take ten working days for it to arrive, and I'll call you when the book arrives, Miss."
"Great! Thanks so much!"

I happily went back to my other customer enquiries when I realised that she was still hovering around the counter.

"Miss? Can I help?
"When are the books arriving?"
"Two weeks time. We'll call you."
"Oh what about the one here?"
I was getting a bit annoyed, "We don't have it."
"So where are the books?"
"Coming from another branch, Miss."
"When?"
Oh dear. "Two weeks time."

This carried on for another fifteen minutes. When I finally was able to convince her to go home, I decided to check to store room/office to get some tissues out of my locker.

Only to find a copy of the Oxford Primary Dictionary in the store room.

I ask, "Can I help you?"

"Yes," and smiles a very cheeky grin.

My eyebrows furrowed intensely. I was definitely not too keen to help him out. His friends grouped behind him and chuckled. Thus, I pretended to do other work. He continued to hopefully stare a date out of me for the next twenty minutes. His friends continued to tease him about when he was going to make a move. With luck, a colleague of mine was able to pull him away.

And that was the start of my customer service career.

Like I mentioned earlier, I am in Orlando, FL this week. I work as an intern at New Iron Media and we are hitting the International Christian Retail Show hard. What we do is provide the faith based community with a powerful network of relationship brokering that includes companies such as Focus on the Family, Willow Creek Association, and Christian Book Distributors. In fact, we are the exclusive representative to sell outside ads in Focus publications.

Anyways, this Christian Retail Show is hosted by the Christian Bookseller's Association. My family has been involved in the world of Christian business since I was in elementary school. As a consequence of watching, learning, and growing up in this atmosphere, I've become pretty familiar with the way things work inside the industry.

The Christian Bookseller's Association has traditionally been the major connector for small Christian bookstores (mom & pop for the most part) and publishing companies. Now that the internet has taken over the market for booksales (Amazon.com, Christianbook.com, etc.), these booksellers are having a hard time adapting to the changes.

For a couple of years, the established powers-that-be laughed at the internet's business and condemned the "porno-superhighway" that is the world-wide web. Obviously, things changed. Christian booksellers and bookstores alike continued to scoff. The only difference was that they had actually lost business to what would soon be called "new media" and the companies that controlled it.

It's been a slow process, but the problem has actualized itself in a way that is brutally clear. Booksellers have noticed the shift towards online business and adjusted their business models accordingly. The once monstrous ICRS convention has been reduced to approximately 1/3 the size of years past. Several retailers who paid costly registration fees packed up and left after just one day of business. There is hardly any foot traffic at all and the "word on the street" is that CBA is an outdated business model and the ship is going down.

My point is that the age of the Mom & Pop Christian Bookstore is over. There is no way for their industry to be saved. The money just isn't there anymore. It's all online. And none of the old Boomers bothered to listen to the technological cries of the age.

Today was Day One. I'm interested to see where this goes. It's sad to see so many people losing business, but it's what some people refer to as "survival of the fittest."

rainer

But back to the bookstore, and specifically, to their upcoming Artist Books Exhibition, Into the Fold, which will run from August 2 - 30, 2008. By the time I made my visit to Artisan Books last year, their 2007 exhibit, text/txt, had already closed. A year later, and I'm itching to get back there to check out their latest collection, especially since I am currently enrolled in a book art class at The Cooper Union. (More on that to come.)

It's funny how once you start studying something more closely, you tend to find it everywhere you look. Even outside of my weekly class, I'm finding book artists pop up more often. The most recent discovery came the other night while trolling the web for something completely unrelated to book arts. Somehow I came across the fantastic work of book sculptor Nicholas Jones, who just happens to be a Melbourne-based artist. Not sure if he is participating in the Artisan Books exhibit, but I wouldn't be surprised. This in-depth interview at The Design Files (also a fine Melbourne-based artist) is a good place to learn more about Jones' work and view photos of his creations, like this one:

Artisan Books also showcases exhibits of sculptural knitting and basketry arts. All this, and a divine bookstore as well -- a treat for lovers of books, art and both! Be sure to visit them when in Melbourne.

Few weddings have impacted me as deeply as this one. Part of the impact is too personal to write about here. But there was one moment in particular that I really want to make note of.

Usually, at weddings, I watch the groom as his bride is coming down the aisle. I just love to see his expression--the ridiculously huge grin or the flood of tears.

I've known David for 5 years (a long time in IHOP time) and he is one of my absolute favorite people. So you would ESPECIALLY expect that I would be watching him watch Kristen come down the aisle towards him.

But I hardly even glanced at David in that moment. I did... I glanced. But there was something else that stole my attention.

Kristen was so indescribably beautiful. I couldn't stop watching her... I couldn't stop looking at her as she moved towards David.

On an elementary level, her dress and her hair were perfect. But I don't think that was even it.

I don't know how to describe it. I don't even really know what it was. But it was absolutely beautiful... whatever it was that I saw.

She was herself... perhaps more remarkably and beautifully herself than I have ever seen. Though surely nervous, she seemed to be ultimately at peace. She seemed whole-hearted and resolved.

She was stunning, walking down the aisle with her father... step by step getting closer to the biggest leap of her life.

I am so grateful to have witnessed that moment of beauty.

Buena Vista Park
We took BART into the city and walked to the beautiful Buena Vista Park. We hiked up curving and intersecting paths until we came to the beautiful summit- a panoramic view of San Francisco. It was worth the climb! We made friends with some tourists & they thought Chip was a fantastic photographer (I agree). After resting near a giant basin of sand near the summit we made our way down the other side of the park and ended up on Haight Ashbury’s doorstep.

Haight Ashbury
We first stumbled upon Bound Together Books, a collective operated by volunteers. We enjoyed overhearing some politically charged conversations in the store and even bought a $3 book for ourselves: Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class.

Now, there are two kinds of hippies that we found: the ones the 60s was not good to vs. the ones actually doing something in the form of protest or activism. There were many hippies/ bums on the street, and one even asked for money saying, “I promise I won’t use it on anything but alcohol.” (!! made us sure we were not ever giving out money!) Considering the once vibrant movements sparked in this area, it is a shame there is not more of it going on today (disclaimer: the video does not necessarily represent our views).

We ducked into Amoeba Records & enjoyed poking through sales and new albums. We sampled some great music at the listening stations, such as Zero7. We walked across the street for lunch to Cha Cha Cha’s; they have some wonderful sangria. We hit the top of Golden Gate Park and then walked back through The Haight, taking in more sights and people-watching. The local thrift store (formerly the 'free store'... watch the video) had a $2 sale, and Chip got a great Eddie Bauer button-down. We thought about buying computer speakers (you don’t realize what you really need until you are without!) but decided they would come in the mail soon enough. More on speakers later…

Noe Valley
This neighborhood has tried to keep a very low profile over the years, so it avoided inflated real estate prices during the dot-com boom. It’s an adorable area with flower boxes hanging on many windows, city benches near the sidewalks, and a close-knit feeling of community. We were excited to overhear a discussion of global trade as we walked along the residential streets. There are coffee shops, fresh veggie markets, and bistros lining the center of the neighborhood.

We are trying to learn about the neighborhoods in order to make the best decision about where to live & there are so many places that we like. It’s a huge blessing to have time on our side through the apartment-hunting process!