Spitball Army

Yep, I’ve gone back to shcool to learn how to spel!

But, really…My nephew Nicholas’ 8th grade class in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, is fundraising this weekend by gift-wrapping at their local Barnes & Noble store.

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Speaking of No Depression, I was really sad when they “folded” late last year. Not only was their bi-monthly publication consistently interesting and well-written and filled with good humor and enthusiasm, but the small staff was a joy to deal with, from a retailer’s viewpoint.

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All wrapped up, nowhere to go but the bookstore.

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It is easy to see that this challenge smacks of the dieter’s challenge. “Maybe I’ll have just one extra slice/bite/drink…” Is it truly just a matter of will? How old will I be before I realize that I no longer need that deluxe DVD edition of The Lion King?

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Of course there is powerful literature in all big cultures, but you can’t get away from the fact that Europe still is the center of the literary world … not the United States.

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There was so much vinyl – multiple copies of many titles, and what seemed like endless rows of classical music – that I was overwhelmed. The two guys working the store seemed overwhelmed, too, wedged in behind a small sales counter that was piled high with boxes of new vinyl arrivals.

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Mac would sit in the back reading or would roam about the store chatting with people in English and Spanish.

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The list displays the following 100 books (hopefully in random order – how else to explain Les Miserables at #100, well behind The Da Vinci Code?), with instructions that allow you to take stock of how “well-read” you are (according to their parameters, of course) and allow you to pinpoint some reading goals.

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The subway system no longer takes tokens. They have taken the “branding” approach, as well, as the tickets that you buy from a machine (automation again, as at the airport) are called “Charlie,” as in “Charlie on the MTA!!” It took me awhile to figure out how to buy one. The lines to buy with cash were very, very long, and no one was purchasing at the credit card line, so I did that. It wasn’t easy, at first, all touch screen technology and menus, but I would be a pro a second time.

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Remember the lovely pink-flowered bush we had outside of our cottage door at Mission Beach and the seeds we gathered from it? Well, I just finished planting some of them, and am anxious now to see what they will do. Wouldn’t it be grand to have Calif. flowers in Minn.?

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