Italian Borders

Had lots of fun this weekend with friends. Spectacular multi-course Italian dinner on Saturday. Forgot to get business cards for the restaurant as suggested to my by GF. Sigh. Speaking of GF, I had to flake on him due to the march and dinner moving my plans earlier in the day. Sorry dude.

"My place has lots of people playing XBox. Do you mind if we walk around Borders?"

I'm very suspicious of our mutual friends, now. Is this suggestion from the book on me? Would they even know that bookstores are like my Kryptonite? I've gushed over their library enough that they must suspect. That Jana is definitely devious enough to make such a suggestion, but perhaps I'm just not crediting chance or creativity enough. It is almost the perfect activity for me. I also didn't have to show how weak my XBox kung-fu is. We must have browsed most of the store including a brief stop by the magazine rack. Lindsey Lohan was on the cover of three different magazines. I remember when I couldn't differentiate her from the three or four of her contempories. A sad day now that that's no longer true.

History section: Lewis and Clark for Dummies? Really?! For dummies?!

Relationship section: What's less appropriate than reading dating books when one's with a gal? I've never read "The Rules," but that moment seemed like a great time to browse it and read the rules out loud. Rule #23: Never date a married man. Really? Rule 23? 23?! Were there really 22 other rules more important than that one?! She hands me "How to Pick Up Girls," a clear message that things are going well. I acknowledge the crackling energy between us by pointing out the Doris Kearns Goodwin book, "Team of Rivals." I defy you to find a more sexually charged object than a historian's take on Abe Lincoln's war cabinet. :-)

Recent Releases: I had to pose pretending to read this LL Cool J book for the better part of a minute before she would turn around and see me with it. Long way to go for a joke. Oh, the joke? Here's the cover:


Bookstores are a great place for me to hang out with friends and make snarky comments. I'm not sure if that translates well to a new friend, but I managed to be entertained. Managed to elicit a giggle-fest with this quick joke. That's a good sign, right? I probably wandered off to explore shelves on my own a few times, but I hate hovering, so that worked out.

Hello, my name is John and I love taking long walks in the bookstore.

Managed to get the second giggle-fest with my in-person recounting of this story.

A bit later, while loading music into iTunes, I asked a fairly impertinent question about LDS, but got a serious, experience-based answer. Usually it's bad to rehash impertinence, but I'd be interested in discussing the topic more at some future date.