Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Tag: Books and Bistro (Page 56 of 92)

These dreams.

Sure and you’re darn-tootin’ I did…

That wasn’t the answer give by the fellow being interviewed by the CBS reporter. The singer – getting questioned on TV for his several music award nominations – gave a measured response and was much more articulate. I was glad he didn’t humble himself for the camera.

The question put to him was: Did you ever in your Wildest Dreams think you’d find yourself in this position?

That interviewer-nugget is tossed out on camera way too often, and normally the response is an Aw-shucks-heck-no kind of reply. Why?

Success is rarely an accident. Admittedly, there are lottery beneficiaries – but most winners become that because of dreams.

Wild dreams are the foundations of plans. No apologies are needed for them. Dreams aren’t non-refundable tickets for distant destinations. You can book your course and change it.

Whenever you like.

You might leave your wildest dream for another and later abandon that for the original. Dreams are flexible that way. You can have a dream and realize it may not come to pass – for whatever reason – and continue to harbor it. Of my sleeping dreams, my favorites are the ones in which I can fly; it’s a soaring Superman-with-arms-at-the-sides flight. Talk about goofy fun.

They are exhilarating.

But even knowing those thrilling flights won’t ever happen, I enjoy the dreams all the same.

I’m thinking Danny Manning’s Wildest Dream did not include the head basketball coach’s job at the University of Tulsa. That’s a great job, as evidenced by the many coaches who have gone from there to larger schools, institutions with legacies of winning, and embarrassingly large coach’s paychecks.

That Mr. Manning has opted to leave for Wake Forest reflects on dreams in general, and how can it be wrong to move in that direction? A disappointment for the Golden Hurricane, but hopefully (except for how quickly it happened) not a surprise to anyone.

There was a time when the musician interviewed this morning was a young boy with a guitar in his hand and fingers aching from the practice. At some point, maybe in the back of his mind, there was a dream of performing. Do you think he was imagining standing on the smallest stage in the world?

No way. The dream needs to include a spotlight on the grandest stage, playing for the most important, appreciative audience on the planet.

Did you ever in your Wildest Dreams think you would be where you are today?

I hope not. Dreams ought to be dynamic, evolving, and enjoyed for what they are – wild or not.

That young baller in the picture has that dreamer’s determined look. (Apologies, Big-D, but I ran across the pic this morning and with the basketball it seemed fitting.) Perhaps Danny Manning might have turned down the Wake job if he’d only had this young point guard’s savvy in the lineup. Every boy and girl with a basketball in hand wants to make the winning shot. In today’s game. In the playoff. In the National Championship game.

We should never be humbled by the question.

If you reply, Never in my Wildest Dreams, then you aren’t dreaming wild enough.

Dream wild, my friends.

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow, OK!

Sign O’ Progress

Nothing like a special sale price to spur a little creativity.

Those decal-type letters you see on business windows don’t come cheap. As a result, my front signage project has been on the back burner since getting the front door lettered. In the meantime, I guess I’ve been overlooking the tacky thing I taped up to the inside of the glass.

The artwork for the St. Paddy’s green beer cups looked good enough that it inspired me to replace the computer-paper-printout sign that I hung in the window two years ago. It was supposed to be temporary.

It took a couple of tries at submitting the art. It tends have a different appearance on the computer screen than it does when it’s in your hands and nearly four feet wide.

Luckily, at the sale price, I could afford an error and still come out on the cheap. On the second try, I managed to get a banner that met with approval for inside and a window decal for the front glass.

Of course, I had no sooner peeled the protective backing loose than the Oklahoma winds kicked up and threatened to stick the sticky where it ought not be stuck.

Despite the southerly gusts, it went up pretty well.

The banner is hanging at the front counter for the time being, and inspired one guest to ask if that fellow in the black and white image was me. In my youth, he suggested.

I only wish.

Not for the Bohemian beard or the hairline that is proceeding where mine own is receding. And not for the Victorian-era button-down shirt and cuffed jacket sleeves. Nope.

You see, if I was the gentleman in the black and white image, then I’d be Charles Dickens.

And wouldn’t that be a hoot, after all?

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

Jacked up.

Flat tire.

Not the start to the day off I had planned. Aired it up, hoping it would hold pressure long enough to get to the bookstore.

Naturally I hit every red light. Those stolen minutes might have made the difference. Who knows? The noises started as I crossed through the intersection on Elm.

Blam.

In the side-mirror I spotted a chunk of black sailing upward, immediately followed by the smell of burning rubber. Blown out sidewall.

On the bright side, there have been plenty of days lately that I would not have wanted to be stretched out prone on an asphalt parking lot, cranking the jack to lift the car. The little donut tire was sitting in the compartment, where it had waited all these years for a chance to play the hero.

I would have felt differently if there had been snow on that lot, or a pouring rain soaking me down as I swapped the flat for the drive-able tire. Or if the spare tire was no good.

All those things I had hoped to get done on my day off will have to wait for another day. In the meantime, I’m getting things worked ahead for tomorrow morning when I’ll have to borrow kitchen prep time to visit the tire man.

Hello, carrots. Hello potatoes.

Let’s get busy.

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