13015 Larchmere Blvd.
Shaker Hts., OH 44120
216.795.9800
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COMPUTER IS BACK!Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Harriett
Hurrah, the computer is back from the hospital, and seems to be working fine. I have a lot of catching up to do, though. Thanks for your patience, especially on Stump the Bookseller updates. They're coming!
Oh, except for the time problem and a web publishing glitch. I wondered why Brenda complained about me giving her the wrong time. Computer time was set for one day and one hour ahead, and I had to download java to check the correct time on time.gov. And reboot, etc. So, how long does it take to tell the time? About 20 minutes. No wonder I'm behind schedule.
NEW GLASSES Monday, February 25, 2008
Harriett
Still no computer news. I picked up my new glasses today, though. They're purple, but not shockingly so. If purple is capable of being subtle, these are (small, rectangular, and half-framed, with purple on the sides and black on the front). They are however, a very new thing for me, with (gasp) bifocal (or transitional, as they're now called) lenses. I can't move my head very fast in any direction. But I can say for certain that the distance vision is immediately cleaner, crisper, and brighter than before. Still adjusting to the reading part of the lens.
BIRDFEEDERSSunday, February 24, 2008
Harriett
Here's the bird list on the suet feeder for this sunny and snowy Sunday: finches, black-capped chickadees, starling, tufted titmouse, blue jay, downy woodpecker, fat squirrel, cardinal, and the amazing red-bellied woodpecker (whose name should be red-headed, if that name weren't already taken).
NOBS
FORUMS Friday, February 22, 2008
Harriett
We had a great turn-out for the Charles Chesnutt lecture on Thursday night. Ann Olszewski gave an interesting talk on the archives of Chesnutt held at the Cleveland Public Library, as only an archivist would. She did not talk about Chesnutt's career in Cleveland, or literary criticism of his books, but of his life story as understood through the documents and photographs in the library's collection. It was fascinating to piece things together this way, like an archaelogical dig of a person's life. In the audience, we had some interesting book collectors, hobbyists, professionals, bookbinders and the like, as well as some Rowfant Club members, where Chesnutt was a member himself. It's fun when the audience can contribute to the lecture and bounce off the information given by the lecturer and vice-versa, and this was such a case. Thanks, Ann, for an informative evening in the world of books!
REMAINDERS Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Harriett
Well, just because the computer is dead doesn't mean we're bored around here. We received 12 boxes of remainders from our favorite remainder dealer (Roy Jensen, who specializes in really good art books, and has lots of natural history, cooking, and interesting British titles). That's a lot of unpacking, pricing and shelving to do, but fortunately, there's the new arirvals table. Among the favorite new remainders are James Dean: 50 Years Ago; Great American Glass of the Roaring 20s and Depression Era; Atlas of World History; The Ranch House; Eric Gill: The Sculptures; New Scandanavian Design; The Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe and America; and John William Waterhouse. We also got 2 boxes of new cards to play with (and I love playing with new cards!!).
COMPUTER WOES Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Harriett
This is the day the computer died. I was reading an email, and the screen went black. I panicked that I had just opened some email virus, but checking on the shipping station computer, I knew this was not the case. I tried rebooting several times, in various drastic measures (rebooting the UPS, checking all the power plugs, etc.), and nothing worked. A call to my computer guru brother had me checking various USB ports and checking for lights on the mouse or keyboard to blink while booting. Nothing. He arrived in the evening to check it out himself, thinking the power control was in question, but the pieces were too new to swap with anything else here to test. So he took it home to test. In the morning I heard that wasn't the problem, and my brother had given up and taken it back to MicroCenter for testing and repair. It's barely a month old, so warranties shouldn't be a problem, but you know it's serious when my brother takes it to an official repair shop. We wait with baited breath for news. In the meantime, we cannot post anything to the website or use the database point-of-sales program, compute January sales tax (now due), and of course have other data and documents unavailable for awhile. We can check email and do other internet tasks from the shipping station, however. And so, we wait.
IN MEMORIAM: ROBBE-GRILLETTuesday, February 19, 2008
Harriett
Alain Robbe-Grillet, a "new novelist" and film-maker who rejected conventional storytelling and was one of France's most important avant-garde writers has died at the age of 85.
He was the most prominent of France's "new novelists," a group that emerged in the mid-1950s and whose experimental works tossed aside traditional literary conventions like plot and character development, narrative and chronology, chapters and punctuation. Others included Claude Simon, Michel Butor and Nathalie Sarraute.
Read
by high school and college students the world over, he enjoyed an
international reputation based on the success of his early works.
ACADEMY TAVERNFriday, February 15, 2008
Harriett
It's not everyday a customer sends me random love notes. This one isn't about books. It's about a restaurant across the street, the classic Academy Tavern. It's been there at least 50 years, perhaps longer, and continues to delight a wide assortment of people, both locals and destination-eaters, in its old-time neighborhood-bar ambiance. Thomas is a destination shopper; he travels a good while to Larchmere to enjoy the Academy's Blue Cheese Burger Plate (pictured) as well as Loganberry Books. He liked the food so much, he documented its glory and sent it to me as well as several friends. So don't take it from me, take it from Thomas. The Academy Tavern rocks.
SEDONAWednesday, February 13, 2008
Harriett
Had a wonderful 'though short trip to Arizona. Spent a couple days based in Mesa to the east of Phoenix, and then hit the road east and north. This picture was taken in Sedona, although the bright sunlight washed out the brilliant colors of the sky, rocks, and dirt. Wish we'd had more time to explore more of the red rocks, but our sampler hike was pretty good, and diverse. There was snow and ice at West Fork, clarity at Boynton Canyon (pictured is the beginning of that trail), intimate ruins at Honanki, and a gorgeous sunset at the Old Post Trail looking at the famous Cathedral Rock. Cheers!
NIKITAMonday, February 4, 2008
Harriett
That's Nikita, curled up in the clean laundry basket in the basement. The white thing in the background is Charlotte, the gas boiler that was built into the house in 1929 (my father named her after the famous spider). Nikita likes to hang out near Charlotte in winter, for obvious reasons, and likes it even better when I leave warm fuzzies in which to cuddle. She's not as dumb as she looks.
KINDLE Saturday, February 2, 2008
Harriett
See those little buttons on the bottom of the Amazon Kindle device? They are volume controls. The Kindle, brought out only a month ago, is Amazon's newfangled "paperless reader" that can store hundreds of books and periodicals, receive subscriptions and download new e-books in a flash. Amazon purchased Brilliant Audio last year, and has just announced its purchase of Audible Inc., the digital audiobook company. Ah, so that's what the volume controls are for. Stay tuned, the Kindle is geared up to rival the Apple iPod and other MP3 devices.
ARIZONA Saturday, February 2, 2008
Harriett
Between the sub-zero wind chill and the following freezing rain, is it any wonder that Clevelanders yearn to travel south in February? Today required yaktrax just to navigate the iced-over sidewalks on the way to the store. Brenda's already in South Carolina, and I'm about to venture to Mesa, Arizona.
I've never been to Arizona; New Mexico once, but never Arizona. So I'm open-minded, which is to say, clueless, about all the possibilities and excursions to be had. I ordered some books. I don't have enough time to venture north to the Grand Canyon, but there are other natural sites closer by I'll probably visit. And my partner will be stuck in a training workshop offered by AEE Solar for a couple of days, so I have time to meander by myself first.
Know any good bookstores, sites, hikes, or funky stuff I should know about in driving range of Mesa? Let me know!
VOYAGE TO THE
BUNNY PLANETFriday, February 1, 2008
Harriett
Back in Print alert! The Bunny Planet is back! Rosemary Wells hit stardust with this charming publication in 1992, with three little books in a box. Unfortunately, it quickly went out of print and took awhile for the cult following to clamour it back into print.
Now, for the first time ever, the original Bunny Planet
stories are
available in a single volume with a sexy magnetic closure and
ribbon place marker. This delightful collection includes Island
Light, First Tomato, and Moss Pillows,
with full-color illustrations, and a new poem introducing Janet the
Bunny Queen.
Benjamin Franklin provides the epigraph: "It is the first duty of a flagging spirit to seek renewal in the latitudes of whimsy. I, for one, dream on beyond the five planets to a world without wickedness; verdant, mild, and populated by amiable lapins." This is a must-have for anyone who occasionally needs to be transported from mundane reality to “the day that should have been."
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