Birdie At the Book Sale

Okay, first the bad news. Stupid NBC canceled my favorite show Who Do You Think You Are? Why am I even surprised?  As soon as any of the networks (with the exception of PBS) picks up anything intelligent they sell out  for mindless trash reality shows that will rake in the big bucks. Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay – I hear you -- no rant today. But I do want to go on record as saying that I am really, really, REALLY disappointed.

Now then, I am also feeling pretty chipper today. Cheryl and I went to Berea yesterday to the book sale which is always a treat due to the drop dead gorgeous lake across the street. This is an urban lake too so check out  what we saw! We think he’s a  great blue heron, but even though he looks grey in the picture, he was pretty white in person, so we’re not entirely sure. We have herons at the lake in our backyard and they DO look like this, but I’ve only seen them from a distance. This guy was certainly impressive though, especially when he picked his way over a couple boulders on those skinny-minnie straw-like legs, then spread wings (that would rival the span of a Piper Cub), and soared off over the water which sparkled in the sun like a million tiny pave diamonds. By the time we tore ourselves away it was almost time for the sale.

This is the library I told you about earlier where you pick a number at random to get in. It’s also the one which is banning scanning after this sale. The natives were all there for one last hurrah I guess, but aside from much moaning and groaning about their numbers, they were at least  reasonably subdued. I pulled a rather high number myself, but it didn’t matter too much even though this time the tiny specials room was JAMMED. I still got a lot of books though, almost all without ISBNs,  and quadrupled what I paid, so what’s to complain about?

After we hauled my several heavy bags out to the car we decided to hit Olive Garden for dinner. Cheryl ordered some cheesy shrimpy pasta thing that looked pretty great and I had Mediterranean chicken. We laughed and talked for hours and then talked some MORE in my driveway which means I didn’t get  in the house until 9:30. When I saw the time on the microwave I thought for sure it was wrong and ran upstairs to double check. That’s when I saw the SALES – amazing, wonderful, over-the-moon happy SALES -- two of which were on my secret site and both for books I just put up (see photos below). 

My favorite is  Paris Cafes, Salons and Studios published in the 20’s when the Lost Generation hung out at Sylvia Beach’s American bookstore, Shakespeare & Co. There’s a great photo in it of Sylvia herself with James Joyce, the Irish author of the much-banned Ulysses. It’s amazing how such an experimental book which is barely accessible to a tenth of the population could create such a red-hot furor! Anyway, the buyer, an Australian, loves this period too so I was happy enough to dance an Irish jig around the office, and might have, if it were possible to step between the piles of books. All the work I’d done this week fell apart when I hauled in three enormous tote bags of books from the Berea sale. But summer can be a tough time for buying inventory, so I’ll be happy later.

Actually, I’m happy NOW. And if NBC would realize what a wrong-headed move it was to cancel Who Do you Think you Are? I’d be downright ecstatic.

P.S. Photo of Birdie by Cheryl Sturgeon who's photos have appeared more than once in theWestfield Insurance Company's annual calendar.