The Burrow

I know the holidays are approaching when the Neiman Marcus Wish Book comes out.  They sell the thing for $15 on-line, but send it to me for some unknown reason.  It's designed for the people who TBG describes as having stupid money .  A friend opined that they might be looking for a bigger and bigger thrill and that involves spending more and more money in order to feel anything at all. It's a problem, I'm sure. I can't look at it as a reflection of the times, as the end of days, as anything other than a guilty pleasure while ignoring football.  Come and dream with me, denizens.  Don't worry what it might say about you. I know just how you feel, because I, too, gasped when I saw this Yes, it's a television that rises, at the touch of a button, from an underground cache . That's an  outdoor, waterproof TV with a 201" screen.   Tell me you don't want it right now. The catalog shows expansive wicker furniture, blankets at the ready, ...

I have been stressed about this post for the past week.  I have absolutely no suggestions to give.  The whole topic is distasteful to me right now. It started when I realized that stores would be open on Thanksgiving Day... and yes, it counts as the day even if the sun has set.  It got me thinking about shopping in general and about a small item on NPR last week.  It seems that Governor Chris Christie revoked New Jersey's Blue Laws, saying that the post-Sandy recovery required it. And here we have a clear division among the denizens.  Those of you old enough to remember Blue Laws, or who live in New Jersey, know exactly what I mean.  Those of you who have always been able to shop on every day except Christmas (and, until this year, Thanksgiving) are scratching your heads.  Blue Laws, children, are regulations enacted to enforce a strict, religious standard. Can't buy alcohol on Sunday in your neighborhood?  That's a blue law.  New Jersey ...

I want to go to each and every one of these places with each and every one of you.  Just look at all the fun we can have in Bloomington, Indiana  buying books at Howard's Bookstore  ( 111 W. Kirkwood)  and used ones at Caveat Emptor ( 112 N. Walnut) . They have no web presence; we'll have to drive 45 miles south of Indianapolis and visit in person  We could buy Little Cuter something wonderful at Goods for Cooks before we stopped for dessert at BluBoy Chocolates Cafe and Cakery .  The name alone has me drooling, and then I saw the pictures of the cakes made with locally sourced ingredients.  Thanks, Little Cheese, for these ideas. Traveling further south, just outside of Dallas we'll come to Flower Mound, Texas and Sole Groove Dance  Fitness.   So many great names, so much fun and excercise.  SEL suggests a class pass for someone who hates traditional exercise classes .  This is so totally within the spirit of the adventures po...

I'm hopeless when it comes to holiday shopping.  I am incapable of exercising restraint.  I see it. I want it. I buy it. I wrap it. I give it. I smile.  I like every single one of those steps.  The thought of holiday shopping starts a special kind of adrenaline coursing through my veins.  I miss it when I have to stop.  Let's parse each section, shall we? I see it.   The whole shopping experience has been bifurcated into going shopping and doing my shopping .  The first requires leaving home and interacting with live humans in public spaces.  The second requires electricity and connectivity and the ability to retype a credit card number and remember a security code.  I decided to go shopping this morning when the cleaning ladies arrived an hour early thereby cutting into my brownie baking time slot.  Tucson Mall is huge and confusing and noisy.  The parking lot has sneaky areas which are accessible by making a series of lef...

I went shopping this afternoon.  I was in a neighborhood with stores containing interesting clothes (there aren't that many) and I had time and energy.  I wasn't hungry or thirsty and I didn't need a bathroom.  No one was waiting for me.  I had no excuses nor reasons to avoid the temptation.  The seasons are changing and my wardrobe needs refurbishing. Let me clear - needs is a relative term.  I, like most of you, could get through the rest of my life without buying anything but replacement underwear.  I have sweaters and t-shirts and long sleeve shirts in a variety of fabrics and styles.  There are corduroy pants and jeans and one remaining pair of black wool slacks where the button and the button hole are actually able to get up-close and personal.  My changing shape has led to an interesting and immediate sense of the power of gravity; my weight is within 5 pounds of where it always is but the sizes have shifted. Oh, my, have they shift...

Walking in Walmart is my new way to make friends, it seems. About a month or so ago, one of the Acquasizers accosted me outside the cereal aisle, up against the Lays Originals on sale at only $2/bag . For 15 minutes, she tried to convince me that I really truly absolutely had to abandon my current work-out plan and follow hers, including Aquatica, of course. I nodded politely at first, since I had no idea who she was when she hugged (with some force, I might add) her hello. Random love in Wally-World...... I'd have been nervous except she greeted me by name so she obviously knew who I was. Had TBG been there, he'd have realized immediately that I didn't remember her name, and he'd have rescued me by sticking out his hand and introducing himself, in the hope that she'd tell him her name in return. But, there I was, all alone by the generic corn flakes, listening to her re-arrange my life. When she'd finished her harangue she moved on while expressing he...