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Saturday, October 27, 2012

Bye Bye, Bookstores


I came to the sad conclusion today that I may have made my last big bookstore visit.  I love bookstores, and now they are all pretty much gone.  Years ago when I worked downtown, I used to go to the bookstore on the second level of Midtown Plaza.  I believe it was a Waldenbooks at the time, but it was so long ago now ( around 35 years ago) that I might be mistaken.  I remember everyone buying the Thornbirds (1979), Shanna (1977) and Sacajawea (1978) when those paperbacks first came out.  Midtown also had a second choice for buying books.  There was a Scrantoms stationery store also on the second level.  They sold paperbacks along with gifts and cards.  They were locally owned and couldn’t hold out against the chain stores.




My all-time favorite bookstore had to have been Borders.  It wasn’t just because I worked in Henrietta for 9 years and stopped in there often on lunch breaks.  Even when I was working elsewhere, a trip to Borders was always a treat.  You could go in and browse, and the selection was enormous.  I always knew I’d come out with at least 2 or 3 new books. It broke my heart when they closed.  I still miss them.  When I head out 390 South, I still want to get off at Hylan Drive and go to Borders.  Only they are long gone. I think I am glad I work downtown now and don’t have to see the store sitting unoccupied or being used for other purposes. I don’t know what’s there now.  I don’t have the heart to look.



I went to Barnes and Noble today because I had that “I want a book” feeling.  I am looking for something that I can lose myself in.  I stopped in Pittsford at the biggest Barnes and Noble in the area.  I was so disappointed.  Like the one in Greeceridge Center Mall, it’s becoming skimpy on selection. They’ve pared the selections way down.  Sections of books that used to occupy 2 or 3 rows of shelves now occupy 1 shelf.  They have increased the children’s area with its toys and games and junk.  They have a good-sized Nook area which is great if I wanted another e-Reader.  I have two now that I use infrequently.  They also have a decent-sized used books area.  There are a few “new releases” shelves, but the inventory overall is way down.  They used to be packed with books, and now there’s a lot of open space.  I am afraid they may be going the same route as Borders went.


So it looks like I am probably not going to be spending much time salivating over the selection of books in a big bookstore any more.  Barnes and Noble doesn't carry them, and they are the only big store left. I never really got into libraries like my Mom did. If the book is great, I want to keep it.  I don’t want to have to give it back after a few weeks.  I am still trying to get used to e-books.  I have lots of them downloaded, but I forget I have them.  They are out of sight and out of mind.  I like to be able to flip through the pages of a book and be able to bounce back several chapters to look things up. That’s harder to do electronically.  I also find on an e-Reader that I start a book and don’t finish it.  It doesn’t hold my interest in that format. I would hit more used bookstores, but I also find the selection and the quality of the books there are lacking.  I don’t want to read some stained and dog-eared copy of a book. 

If newer books in a physical format (either hardcover or paperback) ever disappear, I think I will be devastated. For now I will content myself with online purchasing.  There is no immediacy there, though.  Even with Amazon’s quicker shipments, it’s 2 or 3 days before the book arrives.  I miss finding that great book and rushing home to read it. 



SOURCES: 
http://retroclipart.co/design/royalty-free-black-and-white-retro-vector-clip-art-of-a-woman-reading-book-while-sitting-in-a-chair-by-bestvector-2061

Monday, October 8, 2012

Master Status


According to my Sociology textbook, “Most of us occupy a number of positions in our lives (mother, wife, daughter, etc.).  Since we all occupy more than one status in life, we will gravitate toward one that we call a master status.” When I read that, it got me to thinking, “What is my master status?”

Certainly one of my first master statuses was ‘daughter’.  I was the baby in my family and the only girl in the Ford family.  I wasn’t the first daughter, but my sister didn’t survive at birth in 1949. 


I was also a ‘grandchild’ – the fourth out of five.  I was also a ‘granddaughter’ – the second one of three.  


I also am ‘sister’, ‘cousin’ and ‘niece’ within my family.  I still strongly identify with ‘daughter’ even though I haven’t technically been anyone’s daughter for 7 years.

Outside my home, I soon became ‘friend’ and ‘student’.  I was ‘student’ for the same amount of time as everyone else – 13 years.  

CHS Graduation 1977 - nice glasses

I gave up my 'student' status for a long time – 33 years, and then I decided to “occupy” that status for a while again. I’ve been enjoying it rather a lot since I am pretty good at it. 

Another outside-the-home status is ‘employee’ or ‘administrative assistant’.  These last two statuses have put food on the table and a roof over our heads, but most of my jobs have just been a paycheck.  If I am brutally honest, I’d rather be at home.

When I met Eric back in 1988, I became ‘girlfriend’ and then a year and a half later ‘wife’.  


‘Wife’ has to be one of my favorite statuses and it was followed closely by ‘mother’.  ‘Mother’ is the most demanding of my statuses but probably the most rewarding.  As my sons have grown to be men, ‘mother’ is not as important in THEIR lives even though it still means so much to me. In my mind, they will always be my "babies".



So what IS my master status?  I don’t think I have just one.  ‘Wife’ and ‘mother’ seem to fit the best at the moment although ‘student’ and ‘employee’ take up a great deal of my time these days.


SOURCE:  Carl, John D., 2011. Think Sociology 2011. Prentice Hall: Saddle River, NJ.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Barbie

According to the lid on my Trop*A*Rocka diet Snapple, "Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts."  http://realfacts.snapple.com/whybarbiehatesapril15/



I was a huge Barbie fan growing up.  I think I owned most of them at one time or another.  A few years back I was in a collecting mood and started buying some vintage Barbie dolls off of eBay that I had not owned as a child. I now have a collection of Barbies in my closet.

I remember one of my first Barbies looking like this one.


This is a 1960's era Barbie.  She had short dark hair, blue eye shadow and a thick ridge of plastic eyelashes that also looked like eyeliner.  I believe she had the non-bending legs. Ken at the time had the fuzzy, velvet-like hair.

I had a Francie doll.


I also have Live Action Barbie (yes, I still have the one I got for Christmas @ 1971).  She came with a stage that she "danced" on.  You fastened her onto the stage and flipped a switch and she wiggled and danced.  She came with a 45 rpm record that was her theme song.  She sang, "I'm happy I'm Barbie!"  It drove my family crazy because I played it so many times!


I had a Casey doll - although I can't remember now whether I had the auburn-haired one or the blonde one.


I had a P.J. doll, but I don't remember whether or not she was the talking one.


I had a Ken doll with the hard plastic hair. 


I had several other Barbies - too many to remember.  I even had a Joe Namath doll.  I remember the Namath doll had better clothes than the Barbie dolls! He had a leather coat with a fur collar.  The one I had kept losing his head!  He must've been hit too many times on the football field!



I now have a Twiggy doll, a Skipper doll and several more modern versions of Barbie. Some of the more modern ones are still in the boxes. I have never forgotten that plastic new doll smell.  It brings back Christmas morning to me so vividly.


Maybe it's true that I will never grow up. I hope I have granddaughters some day so that I can pass the dolls along to someone who will love them as much as I did. 



SOURCES:  http://realfacts.snapple.com/whybarbiehatesapril15/
http://www.infinitehollywood.com/2010/08/bret-michaels-diet-snapple-trop-rocka.html
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Factory-Brunette-Silky-Hair-American-Girl-Torso-1960s-Doll-Hospital-Stock-/150915720447?_trksid=p4340.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D2560311338948940875%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D5%26sd%3D251128854442%26
 http://www.fashion-doll-guide.com/Vintage-Francie-Dolls.html
http://www.fashion-stylist.net/blog/2009/01/01/year-of-the-barbie-barbies-50th-birthday-in-2009/
http://www.sodahead.com/fun/ever-have-a-favorite-toy-as-kid/question-2680965/?link=ibaf&q=&imgurl=http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_570xN.252447654.jpg
http://www.fashion-doll-guide.com/PJ-Dolls.html
http://www.etsy.com/listing/74754148/vintage-60s-talking-barbie-ken-doll
http://historical.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1083&lotIdNo=5741
http://cerebralboinkfest.blogspot.com/2011/12/i-always-hated-what-i-looked-like.html

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Health and Wellness


I have had a hectic couple of weeks.  We had the move at work going on last week and all the build-up to that and then all the settling-in after the fact. 

The boys both caught colds.  It was the usual September-back-to-school-someone-gets-sick-and-everyone-gets-sick thing.  Matt was out of work on Monday because he felt so bad.


This week Eric has been sick.  He had inner ear troubles that necessitated my driving to Binghamton from Rochester (a 3 hour drive), picking him up and then driving him back home again (3 more hours) to get to a Doctor’s appointment.  Six hours of non-stop driving was stressful and exhausting for me.  I am not as fond of driving as I used to be.  I was always more of a “cruising” type of driver – not so much a long-distance driver.  I would not make a good trucker.

Then there was the worry over Eric and what is going on with his ear.  He left his big rig at a truck stop in Binghamton, and he’s been home since Monday afternoon.  The Doctor diagnosed Labyrinthitis.  According to ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, “Labyrinthitis is an ear disorder that involves irritation and swelling (inflammation) of the inner ear.”  So until the dizziness goes away, he’s home.  We are hoping and praying that it is indeed something viral and it goes away soon.

On the way to Binghamton, just outside Syracuse, I got behind a Sargento Cheese truck.  I love swiss cheese!  I took a quick photo when traffic slowed to a crawl near one of the construction areas.  There was a LOT of construction on Route 81.  I would make good progress, and then all of a sudden traffic stopped and crawled along.


On our way back from Binghamton, we saw these two trolley-type cars on a flat-bed truck at one of the rest areas.  Matt says they are light rail cars either going to/from Boston.  They were neat.



We also saw the beginnings of the fall colors in the Southern tier.  This shot was near Avoca, New York.


Here’s praying for health and wellness at our house (and at yours).  Get well soon, honey.

SOURCES:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002049/