Well I told you so, didn't I? The Palm Trees no longer cast a shadow on the tower in this picture. The sun's light is coming at us from the south now. Did you know that the Earth doesn't actually tilt like a weeble-wobble? For years I thought that the seasons were caused by the tilting of the Earth. But they are caused by a permanent tilt in the Earth and its relation to the orbital plane around the sun. Wikipedia has a real good diagram of it check it out. Enough of that.
I had a kick-but Saturday. I was on a quasi-quest, in search of a book. Last Sunday I lost the work of fiction I was reading, Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. I have been trying to find it all week to no avail. I was ten pages from completing it so I didn't want to purchase another copy. Yesterday I finnally decided to check it out at the library. After about 15 years I renewed my library card. Actually I got a new one at the Glendale Branch. I was excited. Can you beleive they now rent out DVDs for $1 a week? Anyway, I was amazed at how fast I found the fiction section and found the section with the author. Later I further amazed myself by finding a computer book I wanted to look at. I am still capable of using the Dewey Decimal System used to classify and sort books. I have to say I felt a little bit like Burgess Merideth in that classic Twilight Zone episode before he breaks his glasses. Re-discovering the Library has opened up a brand new resource of knowledge and entertainment that has been unduly overlooked for far to long. There was a period in my childhood where every Saturday was spent at the Laffayette Park Library down by the Wilshire District.
Back to my Saturday. I was looking for Breakfast of Champions which is not a sport's story. It was not with the other Vonnegut books so I went to the library's computers to see if it was available at that branch. The library has two copies, both checked out. The one due back the earliest is due on 10/11. So I went to the Help Desk to ask if it was possible to reserve the book once it was returned (I am a super-duper geek!). The librarian was very helpful and went the extra step to see if it was available at any other branch. I was commuting on a bike so I didn't feel inclined to go to another library for the book. But sometimes when someone is going out of their way to help you, out of courtesy, you accept the help. Also, you never know when someone is going to be so helpful again so stock up on kindness from strangers when you can. The Grandview Branch located near the Glendale/Burbank border had a copy in-house. He reserved it for me and I rode my bike four miles first to the Grandview Art/Music library where I was redirected back down the hill (if you don't know the area, I apologize. I hate when writters assume you know what they are talking about) to the Grandview "book" Library. I got my book, end of quest.
Tower Records is going out of business, see story here I am saddened by this cause it is just another indicator of how the world is changing. I am not saying I was a loyal patron of the institution. I remember it as one of the first destinations for my friends and I when we arrived at a driving age. Tower Records on Sunset then Carney's down the street for a burger, fries and that orange soda they had there which really kicked-but. I remember the transition from LP to CD. Now people download their songs, no need for a store to specialize in Albums anymore cause you can always pick it up at Target. That is of course if you are looking forward to the latest by a certain artist. In tribute to music stores everywhere I purchased two albums yesterday during my quest for the book. I bought "Sam's Town" by the Killers and "Under the Iron Sea" by Keane. I was looking forward to the Killers new release. It is good but not as catchy as their first album. It will probably take a few listen-throughs before I really start liking it. I like the fact that it holds itself together as an album though. Keane's album is really, really good. Okay, I admit I am a closet Electric Light Orchestra fan and this album reminds me of that group. But I ask you, who would you be now had you never heard ELO's "Turn to Stone"?
Have a great week. Oh yeah, how surreal is it to watch "Back to the Future" twenty years after it came out?
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