six word sunday: the sign was merely a suggestion

---

Join in the fun! Get more information about the Six Word Sunday challenge

photobooth friday

T (she's the best) and i at a wedding in december.

kill your television 2009

it's that time of the year again, folks -- tv turnoff week.

even though i typically watch less than 2 hours of television a week, i like to participate in this event as a reminder that those 2 hours (and sometimes even more if i watch a movie or two) can be better spent doing other things. some advocate making this week a technology turnoff week, but i'm not ready to go that far. i mean, would that i could live without my blackberry. ;)

anyone else up for the challenge?

six word story: leaving took longer than we expected

---

Join in the fun! Get more information about the Six Word Sunday challenge

photobooth friday

this was the day i finally got my friend tara into the booth with me. later, i left for boston on the red-eye. so it was pretty much the perfect day: the beach, my favorite photobooth, and travel.

happy friday!

can you read my mind

I've been a fan of The Killers for a few years now, but as often tends to happen, I didn't act on getting tickets for their upcoming Bay Area show. By the time I realized I should be buying tickets, they were, of course, sold out. Which meant StubHub or craigslist to the rescue!

I decided to try the latter, given that my experience with StubHub, although not unpleasant, meant having to pay lots of additional fees. That's the price of security, I suppose.

As experiences with CL can be, it was a bit frustrating to nail down a time to meet with one of the many sellers I contacted. It's also a challenge to determine which of the sellers have legit tickets. I'm wary of those that just have ticket printouts, even though that seems to be the way most tickets are issued these days.

Yesterday's adventures in craigslisting included a guy that would only communicate via text message (sketch!). I got all the pertinent info down, then asked where/when he could meet. He responded by saying, "you haven't made an offer yet." He was asking $65 OBO per ticket, so of course I offered him $65 per ticket. He said he already had one offer of $65 per ticket, and could I do any better? The bugger was trying to shake me down and get me in a supposed bidding war via text! So I said thanks but no thanks, and moved on to the next seller. (Actually, I didn't even respond to his shakedown attempt. I don't feel it deserved a reply.)

And then the next, and then the next. And even one more.

The chick that I ended meeting up with to buy the tickets from was kinda odd. She sent me funny little texts throughout the evening like we were BFFs, or something.

I'm pleased to say that an afternoon of hunting down tickets was made exceptionally easier with the aid of the BlackBerry. And that I finally have a pair of tickets to Sunday night's show in my hot little hand.

Let's just hope they're real.

flashback

thatbeegirl, circa january 1981, sez:
Have a rockin' Tax Day!

dooce!

a couple of weeks ago i went to a book reading by the one and only heather b. armstrong.

having been to readings before and gotten stuck in the waaay back, i made sure to get there early, and was fortunate enough to snag a seat for me and also one for marcy. it was definitely cool to see heather in person, and even cooler to see that she's just as irreverent in person as she is on her blog -- she mimed giving the microphone a blow job when someone mentioned she should get closer to it to improve the sound quality.

the crowd was amazing! i don't think books, inc. in mountain view expected as many people to show up as did, and among the many people i spotted a chick i went to high school with. (actually, i had to text vanessa to ask what the chick's last name was because it was driving me crazy.)

i didn't buy her book, but i did go up with marcy and say hello, and of course snap a couple of pics.

mixing it up

my family and i went to our cabin for the Easter weekend. on the way there, my sister, her fiance and i decided to stop at one of the only local shopping centers and see what was new. turns out: not much, but i decided i wanted to go into Gottschalks since i'd never been to one, and to scope out their supposed 60% off merchandise liquidation.

what i found there somewhat surprised me.

i imagined Gottschalks to be along the lines of Mervyns and Kohls, which it was, but i wasn't expecting them to carry Lenox and Noritake or have an upscale cosmetics department with lines by Estee Lauder and Lancome. that's where my interest ended, however, as the rest of their merchandise was geared toward an older customer. much, much older, it seemed.

i wanted some new workout sneakers and thought they'd have at least a couple of pairs to choose from, and that perhaps i could score a good deal on something i needed. maybe it was because they were already in liquidation mode, but every single pair of shoes looked like something a grandmother would wear. they had zero even remotely fashionable shoes, much less any sneakers at all. it was puzzling, because apparently liquidation of this store had just begun, which means that they really weren't gearing much merchandise toward a younger consumer at all. sure, they had some apparel by Volcom and O'Neill but that was pretty much it.

this sparked me to comment to my sister (who was even less impressed with the store than i), "this is why they're going under -- they haven't managed to keep up with the times."

unknown to me at the time, others opined the same about Gottschalks skewing toward the older consumer. (sidebar: Labelscar is an awesome site for anyone interested in retail present or history.)

i am sad for those that will lose their jobs due Gottschalks ceasing to exist. most stores are located in already economically depressed areas, and more folks looking for work in a matter of weeks will not help anyone's situation. but it begs the question: could Gottschalks have survived, even just a bit longer, had they modified their merchandise offerings? it's a tough balance to strike, keeping long-term customers while attracting a new base. but for a 105-year-old company, they must have done something right along the way.

spring is in the air

it's one of my most favorite days of the year.

today, that is.

opening day for the giants, and i have an orange shirt on to show my support. (let's hope it doesn't get rained out!)

and guess who's pitching?


my boy timmy


this is the year, guys!

media update: march

this, of course, is more for my own remembrance than anything else. asterisks denote something i particularly enjoyed. follow this advice at your own risk.

MOVIES:
I.M. Pei
The Motel
Memory Keeper's Daughter
Coraline
Goodbye Solo
Rachel Getting Married
Cashback
Lost Skeleton of Cadavra
Definitely, Maybe
Teeth
Bomb It *
Buena Vista Social Club *

BOOKS:
Martha Sherrill, "The Ruins of California" *
John Perkins, "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" *