Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Tag: paperback (Page 17 of 40)

Heat? Bring it on!

Sunday. Day of rest. Day of rest? No. More like, day of ALL the rest – all the rest of the projects that could not be completed during the regular work week.

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Can’t let the summer heat go to waste. Instead of boiling water to set inside the frosted-over freezer to speed up the melting, that 90+ degree heat outdoors is making for a quick disappearance of all that icy buildup. No boiling water. No drippy mess on the kitchen floor. (I have containers on the sidewalk to catch the run-off, but all the little splashes are evaporating about as quickly as they hit the deck.)

Those of us still living in the defrost age have a decided advantage. Those frost-free freezers and refrigerators don’t have a built-in cleaning reminder. Of course, Dustin and I aren’t dirtying-up the interior by tossing in open pans of spaghetti sauce or some such thing (my son Dustin and I are sharing kitchen duties as of a couple of weeks ago – what a godsend that has been!). We take care to keep up with it, but there are some projects that are out of the regular cycle. Like today’s episode.

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I sprayed and paper-toweled the freezer interior as it became visible from under the layer of frost, but there wasn’t a lot to clean. The defrosting brings about a forced reminder to clean the floor under the freezer, the appliance interior, and the top of the thing.

Sometimes I think we need those sorts of personal-defrosting moments that would allow us to scrub up our life-fringes. But that’s a project for some other Sunday.

While the freezer sits outside drawing the attention of passersby, I’ve taken the opportunity to address a couple of the tables. Attached a metal strap under the wooden top that was damaged in transit and only lately began to become an issue. Added another in a separate area as an insurance measure. Tightened the screws on the legs. Same drill for a second table.

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I’d love to spend more time under this air conditioning vent typing up progress reports, but I’ve got to get that frozen food out of the backup unit and into the freezer.

Here’s one thing that was reinforced already today, as a result of the projects: There is no honest work accomplished without busting a knuckle or two.

I’ve busted one already.

Nine to spare.

Come visit!

McHuston

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

Go forth, 4th!

Ah, the summer air, sunshine, and the smell of onions on the grill! Happy 4th of July!

Having reached the age at which I have gone through my lifetime’s allotment of things to explode, I’ll leave those gunpowder-related things to younger fire-pappies and just stick to admiring the features of the season. I’m at the shop, as usual. This afternoon is devoted to research projects and ignoring the remaining few stacks of books that require pricing and shelving.

Needless to say, the shop is closed, although many of my Rose District neighbors are conducting business as usual. The restaurants are open (with the exception of Romeo’s and Back Creek Deli) and folks are out enjoying the day at the sidewalk tables.

Be safe in your endeavors today and call if you suddenly experience a book emergency.

I’m here to serve.

McHuston

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

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!

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