Sunday's this's and that's.

I've taken to saying to book customers when they leave, "Thanks for reading!"

What do you think?

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You can be two kinds of busy.

The kind where the 20.00 and up trays starts to fill, and you run out of 1.00's.

Or the kind where your 1.00 and 5.00 trays start to fill, and your 20.00 looks skimpy.

You're busy in both cases with customers, but what the customers are spending are totally different.

You'd rather have either kind of busy than no busy at all, I guess.

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There is a high art to 'damning with faint praise.' If you do it right, you can get your point across, but the person can feel unoffended.

Of course, it's best you not point out that it's 'damning with faint praise,' which is why I'm talking about it now -- floating in this random bunch of observations.

I suppose it's a kind of weaselly sort of criticism, but...will it gives a bit of a fig leaf to the target as well as to the praise-er of faint praise....

This blog is just 'fine', don't you think?

Don't you do it....

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There is a kind of instant karma in bad buying decisions. I can't tell you how often I see someone buying the wrong book because they want to save a couple of bucks. Instead of buying the right book for the right price, they buy the wrong book for a lower price.

And I always flash forward and think about what I feel about a book when I finish -- whether I enjoyed it or didn't enjoy it, learned anything or not, etc. etc.

I don't believe the price of the book even enters my thinking once I've read it....

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I think my paltry drinking will become even paltrier.

I skipped N.Y.'s Eve because I was in the middle of a really good book. But decided to drink 3 beers last night.

Had horrible dreams, tossed and turned all night, had an upset stomach. Arrgghhh. Just not worth it.

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Got my first Weekender New York Times today. Christmas present from Linda. I've been hinting about this for --oh, 10 years or so, ever since my Mom forget to renew my New York Times Book Review subscription.

I'm really looking forward to draping myself in a warm blanket and a hot cup of coffee and reading it.

Alone, of course.

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Reading as a social activity?

Nah, uh. No way, Jose. Not doing it. Arrgggghhh. It's my book and I'm reading it and --

NOT happening.

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