There are still many pockets of the USA i have yet to discover. I was lucky enough as a child to have an itinerant set of grandparents who seemed to move all over and spend a year or two in various locales before settling into southern TX. They lived everywhere from Washington DC to Saudi Arabia to the hills of Tennessee. Combine those extended relatives who were scattered like dandelion seeds across the plain states, the desert southwest, Florida, Mexican border towns and California and you had yourself one fine national roster of family-permeated hostels. My childhood memories are filled with those of family roadtrips, backseat license plate bingo, strange rocky coasts, watching my dad talking to locals as they proudly discussed their homesteads, curios shops off the higway, an Indian chief in Oklahoma, a perpetually-carsick little brother and fighting over the music selections.
I am in the midst of planning a trip in a few weeks to visit an aunt, uncle and cousins in the South and am most ecstatically looking forward to discovering a place I have not yet stumbled upon: Savannah, Georgia...
While I don't quite know who reads this blog, if anyone, please do let me know if you have any memories or must-sees to share about Savannah.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
the youngs
so in my usual mix of customers over the past 15+ years i have worked retail i bump into a mentionable here or there.
the magic of keepin' shop is that at any given moment in this big, bad world anyone can just step right in and strike up a conversation, pose a question, demand something, complain, smile, fart and walk away, or try to steal something.
monotony is seldom seen when you deal with a public at large. i would certainly like to be doing something more brain-stimulating each day, or something that i felt made more of a difference in the world. but i am slowly learning to find peace in my career ennui.
celebrities usually make the day interesting, as if you could just lean a bit on the counter, prop your elbows for a second and wonder what life must be like when you've actually got somewhere interesting to go each day. and something interesting to do. and interesting people to meet along the way. i can only imagine it must be better than operating a cash register and merchandising.
the day julia roberts stopped by was like a tornado hit. people were maniacal for DAYS after she stopped in one morning. magazines calling me to see what she bought, buzz buzzzzzzz buzzzzzzz. weird al yankovic, assorted television and radio personalities, greg kinnear, journalists, the mellencamps, musicians. there have been some fun ones over the years.
today's visit, however, was an interesting one in its simplicity. i helped a nice woman find some Rippingtons recordings, brought them and a music theory book over to the counter and pulled up her membership account with a phone number. the name NEIL YOUNG comes up on my computer screen and i politely thanked her, rang the transaction through without prying any further because I am a lady after all, bagged up her purchases and wished her well. She wished me well and off she went. Neil Young, common name right?
I thought a bit about it and mentioned how curious it was to a co-worker, come home to Google God this evening and there it was, the picture of the woman I met today: Pegi Young, Neil Young's wife with a musical life all her own.
Cool, huh.
the magic of keepin' shop is that at any given moment in this big, bad world anyone can just step right in and strike up a conversation, pose a question, demand something, complain, smile, fart and walk away, or try to steal something.
monotony is seldom seen when you deal with a public at large. i would certainly like to be doing something more brain-stimulating each day, or something that i felt made more of a difference in the world. but i am slowly learning to find peace in my career ennui.
celebrities usually make the day interesting, as if you could just lean a bit on the counter, prop your elbows for a second and wonder what life must be like when you've actually got somewhere interesting to go each day. and something interesting to do. and interesting people to meet along the way. i can only imagine it must be better than operating a cash register and merchandising.
the day julia roberts stopped by was like a tornado hit. people were maniacal for DAYS after she stopped in one morning. magazines calling me to see what she bought, buzz buzzzzzzz buzzzzzzz. weird al yankovic, assorted television and radio personalities, greg kinnear, journalists, the mellencamps, musicians. there have been some fun ones over the years.
today's visit, however, was an interesting one in its simplicity. i helped a nice woman find some Rippingtons recordings, brought them and a music theory book over to the counter and pulled up her membership account with a phone number. the name NEIL YOUNG comes up on my computer screen and i politely thanked her, rang the transaction through without prying any further because I am a lady after all, bagged up her purchases and wished her well. She wished me well and off she went. Neil Young, common name right?
I thought a bit about it and mentioned how curious it was to a co-worker, come home to Google God this evening and there it was, the picture of the woman I met today: Pegi Young, Neil Young's wife with a musical life all her own.
Cool, huh.
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