The Mad Book Queue

Just went to Stand this afternoon and went absolutely crazy. I love love love books. But I've gone insane in a bookstore far too many times and now have a queue of books. Since money is not a substance to waste in these troubling times, I need to make good on that which I spent*. Thus, I am making a public proclamation, in order**, of the books I plan to read:

1. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (just started)

2. Then We Came To The End, Joshua Ferris (just started)

3. Let The Great World Spin, Colum McCann (book club book meeting end of February)

4. Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

5. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand (this is huge and I have ADHD, so may read at same time as #6)

6. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson)

7. Sherlock Holmes Vol. 1

8. Sherlock Holmes Vol. 2

This list and its exceptions** should take me quite a while, so I'll stop there.

*Books I've purchased/acquired that sit in my room and haunt me, but I can't seem to add to the list:

a. My Life, Bill Clinton

b. Dreams From My Father, Barack Obama

c. Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond

d. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo

e. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Victor Hugo

f. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

** Book club books, TBD, books my boss occasionally sets on my desk (when she's not mad at me) and Books that sit on my friends shelves that I really want to borrow (isn't coveting a sin?):

i. Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk

ii. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz

iii. Catch-22, Joseph Heller

iv. Choke, Chuck Palahniuk

v. Schooled, Anisha Lakhani

vi. A Million Little Pieces, James Frey

I've got problems, I know.

Beautiful, but . . .

Brunch at The Coffee Shop. Trendy, popular; located in Union Square. Nice Saturday morning outing. Coffee Shop is known for its attractive wait staff. There's eye candy for everyone – myself, my brunch companion. Hell – even the busboys are rocking diesel jeans and a toxic amount of hair product. But . . . but, but, but . . . it is not known for its service. My experience: long wait, small table, menus and silverware on requests and conversation about whether to ask for coffee again.

As for my story:

I went to ask standard, albeit unnecessary questions about items on the menu. I recall clearly asking "how's the French Toast served?" I'm thinking the guy would respond with the type of bread, how it's crusted, if it is crusted; I wanted to hear something about butter because I love butter; I wanted to be sold on the fucking French Toast --- you know, a patron's right to know some thought and love went into the 500 percent mark up. The waiter, Zoolander, kindly responded "it's served on a plate." He wasn't being sarcastic or mean or responding with any sort of mal-intent (not even to me and everyone knows I OVER ANALYZE everything), that was simply his sincere and very truthful, I might add, answer. I held my smirk, avoided eye contact with my friend and replied "I'll take the Denver Omelet."

Would I go again? Good food, great coffee (which is served in an individual pot), my future pre-wife fling… yep, I'll return!

New Year Haiku

Two-thousand and ten
Action, endeavor, success
Living as destined

- JJP (I know... I didn't even author my own Haiku; I contributed and so did the Bordeaux)

Song in my head as I post this entry --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBmwdlBFs1s

I will try not to cry

Was just thinking that when I get fired, which is inevitiable at this point, I want to leave with my head held high and, most importantly, NOT CRY. Then I watched Harry Potter: The Half-Blood Prince and definitely cried a bit when Snape killed Dumbledore. Here is the deal: I (1) knew Dumbledore would die and (2) understand his death as a necessary part of the plan. Yet, I still cried. Ugh, I am in trouble.