Time Traveling Book Stores

Like most travelers I know, I have a tendency to love reading while I'm waiting for the plane and so I have a tendency to buy books I don't actually want to read in over priced post-security-screening book stores (which also sell a plethora of traveling "necessities" you didn't know you could possibly ever need).
Needless to say, the purchases from these desperate attempts of entertainment sit on my shelf of books I refer to as the books that "I really, really, truly mean to finish reading soon. Really. I mean it. Soon. After I finish this book series that makes me want to forget how to read."

I've got a lot of traveling to do this winter, and I could really use to have a book that can keep my interest after I land too. So I took advantage of a book shopping opportunity this weekend. It's not often that my brother suggests heading in to a book store with me. I'm not that much of a shopper - I'm more of a get in, find what I need and get out kind of shopper- but a good used book store can keep me entertained for hours. So when my brother suggested the Book House, I prepared for a multi hour excursion with tough decisions. (Oh my gosh! They do have that book I've been putting off buying! Oh and look they have that book I lost last month... oh crap, I think I found $60 worth of books I want. I have bills to pay. UGH!!! What goes back?)

The Book House is just what it says it is. It's a house full of books. Literally. It's a house that is so full of books it can be hard to turn around. Two stories of house converted into a literary hub. In short, it's amazing. It's what I sometimes fear my house will turn into.

So, I picked up a few books as a result of a few hours there. The books I've been meaning to buy for a while, but somehow just didn't. It's hard to pass up $5.00 for a book you've been meaning to read for a year.

Typically, I'm not a big sci-fi fan. I don't do the whole time-traveling / alternate universe / robots / aliens / space thing.  My idea of sci-fi is a group of elves, dwarfs and short people running around a Nordic ideal of earth.  But, with my love of Doctor Who and several years of hearing that Jack Finney is amazing, I'm diving into a new world of sci-fi. I'm buffering myself with Isaac Asimov. I read Asimov forever ago (sixth grade!) and loved him, but didn't care for sci-fi so I never kept up on it.

All in all, it looks like I've found my reading material for the winter. Here's hoping I found well. 

And then there was... today.

I travel fairly regularly, you would think I would have mastered the art of fitting three days of clothes into a cary on bag. You would think I've mastered the art of time zone changes. You'd be wrong. 

This trip hasn't bee a complete sob story.  Some amazing food has been found, and loved.

Like this Oreo Shortcake.

And while I can't support any of Cincinnati's sports teams,  there are some lovely neighborhoods and really unique suprises at every corner. 

 

Like this street light at the corner of Rosslyn and Erie.

I'm on my way home tomorrow, and I get the feeling I'll have to come back to Cincinnati later and find more awesome things around the bend.

Song for the Day: West Coast by Coconut Records

Highways and coffee beans

A lot of October was spent getting ready for Halloween weekend. And that kept me pretty far away from my laptop and too wrapped up in flannel to have much to say. (excuses, excuses, I know.)  But I have to gush about this weekend to everyone I know, and that means you! Shameless bragging alert... well not bragging. I so don't deserve the awesome-ness of this past weekend.

Michelle came down for the weekend and we road tripped it on down to T-Town... Tulsa, Oklahoma. The weather was perfect and as usual, we wound up talking the whole six hours down. In short, she's amazing and people suck - a lot - and we have to be willing to stand up for ourselves when the rest of the world turns their back. The trip was the continuation of the amazing drive, with awesome music, fantastic finds around town  (Blue Rose Cafe, Center of the Universe and hair braiding on the River Walk!) and miracle of miracle, not getting lost even on the highway.


The ultimate cause of the trip was the Hanson Fan Club Member Event (there's some debate and a lot of Hanson fans will call it a MOE - Member's Only Event- I contend that they're wrong but that's another post.)  I won't bore you with all the facts here, but the event included a costume contest, and seeing as I was a Starbucks Caramel Macchiato with Isaac's name misspelled five times and a quote from both Noah Roberts and Taylor, I came in Second only to Charlie Chaplin (Amazing! Truely!) I cleaned up: coffee, the 5of 5 dvd set, and I garnered the look of awe from my favorite band. The show was amazing and was well worth the trip even without the prizes.


The only thing that topped the event was the fact that we also received word of a final date for my niece and nephew's adoption to be officially final. Done, final and forever ours. It's fantastic and underwhelming at the same time. Fantastic because it will make them officially ours. Underwhelming because as far as my heart's concerned, they've been officially ours for a few months now, and they were ours long before that. Underwhelming because regardless of whatever the courts say, Cassia's already claimed Tim and Liz as Mom and Dad long ago, and nothing the courts could ever say would mean more than that.  Still, I can't believe the day is finally come. I'm so excited. And can't wait to get up to see them all.  I can tell you now what I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving: those kids.

Almost too fitting Song for the day: Penny and Me by Hanson "Penny and me like to roll the window down
Turn the radio up push the pedal to the ground
Penny and me like to gaze as starry skies
Close our eyes pretend to fly
It’s always penny and me tonight

Penny likes to get away
And drowned her pain, in lemonade
Penny dreams of rainy days
And coffee cake by the fireplace
And aimless conversations about the better days"