Randomness...

Slooooooow day at work yesterday. It's probably going to be just a slow today, seeing as we're wedged between Christmas and New Years and nothing much is really happening...

Was actually going to take some pics yesterday, when I realized that I didn't have my dang memory card in the camera. But today, I have my memory card. And three novels in my truck... I always try to keep something to read in my truck. What you need is something that will hold your attention, help you pass the time, but is still fairly easy to read. If it's set among people you don't run into everyday of your life, it might actually teach you something, but that's not a big priority. Literature is for reading at home, when you have time to really think... these books are for reading in fast-food joints and parks when you have 20 or 30 minutes to waste.
Murder mysteries are best. Barbara Michaels has found a great balance of spooky mystery, with enough romance to keep the ladies interested without making the guys squirm in their seats, and enough action to keep the guys happy, but not so intense that it makes the ladies disgusted. Jonathan Kellerman writes psychological thrillers that are often based in the Jewish Comunity, Tony Hillerman (who recently passed away) wrote mysteries set in the Southwest involving Native American characters... from both I've learned something about two cultures I wouldn't normally come that much in contact with. Don't get me wrong, I don't know enough to say I really know the cultures, but I know enough to not embarass myself with stupid questions...

Yesterday in the doldrums, I wandered into a thrift store. Particularly looking for jeans. I end up in warehouses all over, and it's a little hard on pants, I'm always looking for jeans. Preferably black denim. They look good with the uniform shirt and don't show the dirt as bad... and I found a bunch of used paperbacks. Start looking through them, and the lady that worked there says... "Oh, those are all black novels... " I say, OK and keep looking.

They're a sub-genre of fiction written for African-Americans by African-Americans. Now I've certainly read black authors before. I'm actually a pretty big Maya Anjelou fan. And I've certainly read novels with black characters, but looking back, they were usually written by white authors. It might be interesting to read these. But I've not read the paperback fiction before. I found two murder mysteries, and a novel about a woman who cleaned up after heroin addiction, married well and is now widowed and trying to raise two children and keep them off the streets... it promises to be a soap opera but it might be interesting.

So I bought 2 pairs of jeans and 3 books, Much to the amazment of the lady working there... I want to send her a letter... rule one in customer service, don't wrinkle your nose at the customer like he might be insane and you're afraid it's catching. I probably won't go back there... but quite frankly, annoying her yesterday really kind of made my day.

And this post is certainly not typical of me... and I don't know exactly what my point is... but I was sitting here typing and this came out, so here we are...