For the third day in a row, I’ve been at the gym and in the pool by 5:30 a.m. (I love getting to and leaving the gym before daylight.) I really like Clarence, who teaches the water aerobics class. He’s a swimmer and a runner and he’s in great shape. I’d get a photo for you, but we’re not allowed to take photos inside the gym. He’s been there all the years I’ve been a member, and he leaves the gym every day and goes to his full-time job. WHERE do people get that kind of energy?
A few days ago, in the pool, I met Trish, who owns a 1926-bungalow in Montrose (but on the opposite side of Westheimer from our 1928-bungalow). Today I met Jerry, who owns a 1920-bungalow in the Heights. We bungalow people like to stick together and badmouth the McMansions and STUPID FREAKING CONDOS that are hurting the character of our neighborhoods and driving up our taxes.
Today, there was an aerobics move that Jerry just could not do. In a flash of inspiration, I gave him something to visualize and suddenly he could do it. It’s nice to be part of the whole spirit of people at the gym in the morning. Everyone is a little quiet but helpful and pleasant. These are morning people, but they aren’t perky. No one should be perky before dawn.
I came home ravenous, ate a good breakfast, did some stuff, then headed for the Galleria. I HATE SHOPPING. But I had things to do, like getting a present to send to one of our nieces. Done. Then there was some other cool stuff.
Just like in SOMEONE LIKE YOU, there were cart people aplenty.
This cart had cool stuff for dogs and made me think of Lisa and Jandy.
This cart made me think of the Great Clog Debate that raged between dooce and blurbomat a few months ago.
But I had no interest in clogs. Fortunately, the ten-year-old guy working at Lady Footlocker completely understood me when I said, “I want the most basic size 7-1/2 or 8 white leather Nikes in existence.” Success.
Then I saw these tropical flowers and thought I’d send a little color to Todd in snowy Wisconsin.
I was meandering toward the Galleria post office to mail the birthday present. That’s when it happened. One of the anchor stores that disappeared? This is what replaced it. HUGE.
It called to me. Here’s what I found.
I didn’t face it out! It was like that. However, I have a feeling that’s because the manager at this new Borders once worked with Tim at another bookstore. I know he read and liked the book, so I guess he’s keeping it in stock and taking care of it for me. Sweet! Thanks, J.
Then I found that Beck and Byrnes are neighbors.
And my short story’s in stock.
Tim’s short story’s in stock, too.
The erotica collection that Tim introduced lives just down the way from Greg Herren (he’s in an Andrew Holleran sandwich) and Trebor Healey.
I left the store, did some more meandering, went down a level and found out…there’s a whole ‘nother floor!
Everyone has a fantasy of one thing they’d like to have if they won the lottery, right? I mean after buying their mother a house. On the way home, in front of me, I saw that indulgence I’ve always said I’d have if I were rich enough.
A chauffeur and a Bentley.
However, humble though The Compound lifestyle may be, there were a couple of nice things here today.
Like the return of the alyssum blooming on the rocks.
And this year’s first azalea buds.
Hope your Wednesday had some cool stuff, too!
Ha… You hate shopping? Maybe if you could go to Drayden’s in the Mall of the Universe you would love it. I am sure Natasha could help you find some nice shoes.
I have to go now….I am knee deep in “Someone Like You” and loving it. (read my reply on Tim’s journal)
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. =)
Gotta love Borders.
And this post! I smiled from beginning to end. 🙂
I’m glad, since you’ve given me so many of those times, too.
i say you can never have enough pet clothes! 😉
the bromeliads are beautiful – one of my most favorite flowers.
nothing like a picture post to make ones day.
I know your pups are pleased to know that there’s a place for them at the Galleria, the shopping mecca of the Southwest.
haha – now if they’d just let us bring them in to shop with us…
i like your shoes too!
Can you sneak them around in one of those carrier things or are they too big for that? Tiny dogs get away with it.
There you have it. Size discrimination affects Canine Americans, too!
they might fit, but they’d be loud mouths and try to get out and touch things. so no, there’s no way we could be subtle about it.
Damn, I just looked at this again and saw the “section” sign that says “Gay Fiction”….I wish I had that section here to browse thru. but the bookstore would probably be shut down by the Christian Right (which is neither Christian nor Right!)
Do y’all have Borders? ‘Cause I’ve actually been surprised in traveling through the Southeast how often I’ve been able to find either sections in the stores or employees knowledgable about GLBT fiction and non-fiction at Borders and Barnes & Noble.
In Becky’s ideal world, bookstores, libraries, schools, and churches would always be places where everyone feels safe and included.
Dare to dream, huh?
As I’ve told you, I work at a Waldenbooksin Ky(a Borders subsidiary) and just this week we got the newest Harworth catalog. When I got to work Tuesday, there was a note attatched, asking me to go through and see what I thought would sell so we could expand out GLBT section. YAY!! Also, a kid came in this last week asking for Brent hartinger’s newest book, which we DIDN’T have, and my manager asked me about him and told me to order some of his stuff as well as Alex Sanchez. Does this make me the token gay? LOL BTW, congrats on the Lamda Lit nom for SLY!! –Gary
It makes you the Gay Go-To Person! I’m so glad your Waldenbooks wants to expand the section, particularly in Young Adult. It’s nice to hear about ANY teens reading, and GLBT teens need to be able to find work that may relate to their lives and unique concerns.
We used to have another Waldenbooks contact (in the Southwest U.S.) and he was diligent about keeping gay-themed titles stocked, including ours. He changed states and careers, I think, but I’ll always be grateful to him. (Hey, Darren, wherever you may be.)
SOMEONE LIKE YOU is nominated? This is what I get for not being obsessive about the Lammys this year, LOL, I hear about it from someone else. I guess our publisher nominated the novel; thanks for mentioning it. Yay!
I agree wholeheartedly about the young adult GLBT books. I soooo wished I had had books like Hartinger and Sanchez, among others, when I was a teen. I would have felt sooo less alone in the world. I’m hoping she’ll let me do an endcap of GLBT teen books, once we get enough in stock. If nothing else, combine it with adult GLBT authors for June.
As for the nom, WAY TO GO!(Pass that on to the others) It was on Advocate.com this morning. Here’s the link to the nominees.
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/current_nominees.html
Greg got two; one for Mardi Gras Mambo and another for Love, Bourbon Street. Go him, too!!
Way back in another life, I worked out before work. It was kind of cool, but I tended to need a pick-me-up around 10:30 or so.
I used to own a Heights bungalow, and even though I live in a condo in your neighborhood, it’s been around for almost 30 years. Can we, pretty please, become an exception to your “bad condo” rule and stay in your good graces? 🙂
You and those who live in homes like yours have never been in my bad graces. I don’t dislike where you live any more than I dislike the different sets of apartments, upscale and otherwise, that go down Commonwealth, for example. When I say condos, I mean those eyesores that happen when:
–a Victorian home or bungalow is razed
–a three-story, two-“family,” fake stucco duplex is put up in a week, called a “condo,” and each unit sells for $475,000
–the people who can afford to buy them move in and start to complain because there are GAY people (gasp) and GAY bars (gasp again) and GAY events (OMG!) in the neighborhood that disturb their universe.
Know what I mean?
Of course, the flip side is that some of the houses that are torn down are crap because they’ve been allowed to fall apart over the decades. I just wish they’d be replaced with single-family homes and that those homes would reflect the era of the neighborhood (doesn’t that have to be true in the Heights?).
Depends on which Heights neighborhood. That is true for the Houston Heights, which was given Historical status. In the Woodland Heights, the civic association simply tries very hard to urge you to do so.
So…there’s a new stucco thingy going up on McDuffie on your side of W. Gray. It’s listing for nearly $950,000. WTF? We can only hope fools will buy them with ARMs and be foreclosed upon in five years. Then someone who appreciates the ‘hood can buy it all will be well with the world. Well…a girl can hope, can’t she?
The costs here are insane. I can see why longtime residents are tempted to sell. As long as I live in Houston, this is where I’m staying put. If I did have to sell, for now at least, I know a buyer for my home who will never give in to the developers. I hope it stays that way.
I hate that, little by little, every ounce of history in this town is going down the drain. They did it in West U. and they’re doing it Bellaire. I would personally stand in front of any bulldozer or backhoe that faced your home!
I tended to need a pick-me-up around 10:30 or so
Not me, I need a nap around 10:30 or so!
Loved the post, you inspire me with your gym work! You lost me for a sec about the hating shopping, but then I looked at your photos, and they were so great! I loved looking at the Borders photos — for me a perfect day includes browsing in a bookstore (and almost always leaving with a stack of books). I worked in bookstores for 14 years, and my heart STILL leaps everytime I see one. Thanks for the photos! (And I always face out your books when I see them — guerrilla marketing!).
guerrilla marketing!
You’re the man!
Yeah, I’d definitely say bookstores are exempt from my “I hate shopping” attitude.
As for gym work… Whhhhhy does it take so long for it to visibly pay off? I shouldn’t whine, because just going helps me feel better.
Beckeleh, I’m not one to give unsolicited advice about the gym thing, especially when you’re doing the right things. If you want to solicit some, say, anti-discouragement…I have quite a few things to tell you. 🙂
Hit me!
You already have one visible result. You feel better. Yes, that is VISIBLE. When you feel better, you act better…more energetic and happy. You might even find yourself at the Galleria.
As for the obvious: Don’t worry about, or look for, visible results. Don’t bother with the scale. I don’t own one. If you ask me how much I weigh, I couldn’t tell you. You’re doing the good, right thing by exercising regularly and eating better. Stick with the “this makes me feel better” mindset, and you’ll continue going to the gym, because you want to continue feeling better. I’ll bet that, two months after you started this regimen, you’ll notice your clothes might be a little more loose. How much will you have lost? You won’t know, because you are ignoring your scale. You WILL know that not only are you feeling better, but you are visibly losing weight. 🙂
You are right. I am trying to ignore the scale.
You know that back when I started going to the gym and eating differently, I lost 50 pounds. Then along with my lifestyle becoming more sedentary (is that spelled right?) again for various reasons, I also stopped smoking. (Shrieking Alert: NO ONE should congratulate me on “quitting smoking.” I’m not smoking now, but I do this occasionally–stop for years then start back, so I never say that I quit smoking. And if anyone talks to me about it, it just makes me want a cigarette.)
I got over twenty of those pounds back.
I REFUSE to continue in this direction. Thus I am back at the gym. But I have to say that yesterday I had my first Coke in three weeks and I nearly fell on the floor from happiness.
I hate sacrifice.
I am so going to do that from now on! Facing the books out is an idea I have never thought to do. Excellent, excellent idea. I already ask at the desk for Tim and Becky’s books when I do not see them in whatever bookstore I am in, usually when traveling I do this, as all the local bookstores I frequent have listened to me and stock their wonderful creations.
Again, I am so excited about this idea, and will do it from now on when at home or traveling!
You’re so thoughtful, in a million ways.
thank you for thinking of me, and how did you know i have a weakness for any flower in shades of orange!
Oh how wonderful as well to see green things alive and blooming at the Compound. It all makes me smile…thank you my dear!
You are most welcome. =)
You know I used to be one of the dreaded cart people, right? Go easy on the poor cart suckers. — Glad you’re getting back into the Gym routine, could you motivate me to do the same? I know I would generally feel better if I just gave myself a little endorphine kick every now and then. And I can’t believe you’d waste money on a Bently… I never would have pegged you as a Bently lover. Buy a vacation home! Not a car that you’ll barely use!
I want to be driven, dammit, when I am wealthy. Driven to and from my vacation home and also to… uh… the gym? The bookstore? That’s about it.
Ninety percent of former Cart People who don’t go to the gym end up working as a Cart Person again. (Did that work? Are you motivated now?)
Thanks for the pictures, fellow photo whore!
Now, where to start.
At the top! (Sorry, I’m a little punchy right now.)
I have fun looking at the dog stuff. Now when I see dog clothes, I think of Mark’s picture of Joey in his Richard Simmons outfit.
We have lots of those clog carts around here. People at work like to wear them because they’re easy to wash. You have to wear the kind without holes, though, so you don’t have to worry about ‘stuff’ dripping into your socks. I can’t wear them, my feet are too narrow, the clogs flop around on them. I saw some kid wearing them the other day in this near zero degree weather and thought ‘WTF?’ Made my feet cold just looking at him.
I like the shoes you did buy. No dog prints on them yet?
The pictures of the flowers were beautiful, both at the mall and the compound. They made me wish for spring. Oh, wait. I was already doing that. =)
The pictures of/at Borders made me salivate. I keep telling myself I have to quit buying so many books, but can’t seem to stop myself. Those pictures also tempted me to take my camera to our local Barnes and Noble to document what they have there.
Yay for you going to the gym (so damn early). I need to get back on the straight and narrow. It’s too easy right now just to sit wrapped in a blanket. I keep hoping Saints and Sinners will hit me as incentive.
I always wondered if you wore clogs, since nurses are supposedly some of the best customers for them. So far, my shoes are still clean, and I did wear them today. And S&S is definitely part of why I’m going to the gym. I’m so tired of looking like hammered wolf crap.