Friday, August 25, 2006

Duly chastised

Okay, Aisy, I get it. I am not the most consistent of blog writers. It all ebbs and flows with how busy I am at work I think. But I also think it is the same tendency I have with things in general. When I like something, I love it and I go gangbusters for it and want to do it all the time. Then after a bit of time, the love fades a bit not because I don't like it anymore but because there is a new something I now like that is consuming my time.

I have a friend who is trying to get me to join myspace and I am holding out. It will just become one more thing to divide my time and take away from my posting of occasional blog postings. So I am remaining strong and not succumbing.

I will try and be better, I promise. Just no guarantees. Hey, at least I am more frequent than Rebus:-)

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Just some of the reason's I love Portland

Powell's City of Books. I love the place. I cannot lie. But I love it even more when I take in 3 boxes full of books I have been keeping since college and walk out with only 1 box and $110 in cash. It could have been more if I had taken store credit (to the tune of $135, but I want the cash this time). I think walked a couple blocks to Everday Music with another box full of all my cd's and walk out with a near empty box and $90 cash. Luckily I didn't get mugged right then or else they would have gotten about $190 more in cash than I normally ever carry.

But as the guy at Powell's was sorting through my books, we got to talking about simplifying one's life. He said he had to do that when he and his wife moved to England a few years ago. They went because of his wife's work, but he had probably one of the best jobs there is while over there. He was still working for Michael Powell as a book buyer. Instead of waiting for people to bring the books to him, he got to travel around to various book auctions and estate sales and buy antiquarian books.

If you have never been to Portland, Powell's is definitely in the top 10, if not 5, places people insist you see. It is a warehouse on an entire city block with multiple floors just full of books. Best of all, for anyone not from the US, they accept almost every major currency for their books with exchange rates posted.

Back to the topic of selling the stuff. With my proceeds, I was able to buy a 320GB external hard drive so I can back up all my music without needing all of the cd's. More space then I needed, but I am sure in time I will fill it up.