Pezrealian

I miss the boat on everything these days. If the topics boat was loading and the deck hands were on deck letting loose the twine ropes from the bulkheads I wouldn't be there to see it. I would be stuck in traffic still trying to get there. Or even worse I would still be asleep in bed missing the entire ordeal. Several very worthy scenerios have come and gone during the present and past month. The list is as follows:

The first is our first ever visit to a local beer brewery-Saint Arnolds. Who knew public intoxication on a Saturday afternoon was legal?

The second is our first ever visit to see The Lighter Side of the Recession at the Radio Music Theater here in Houston. Tucked tight on the corner of Richmond & Kirby the RMT is a Houston laugh factory spread only by word of mouth.

Pezrealian has gained new ground this week. We're pioneering way west in the age of internet expansion and in so doing Pezrealian has driven a stake on it's very own domain-www.Pezrealian.com.

Let us bask in the glorious sunshine, discover new worlds & break bread together. Whether your in Houston, Brooklyn, LA, Nola or where ever, the season of joy is here so lets soak it all in.

Ms. Anonymous

This is an exciting evening for me: Tomorrow, I am off on a little adventure to New York. Brooklyn, more specifically. I have to wake up in exactly 3 hours and 40 minutes, so I am trying to figure out why I am wanting to stay up writing this instead of sleeping right now. I think perhaps it is because I want to write before I leave, and then again as soon as I come back, to compare the two posts. So, here's what is going on in my world as I prepare for my fall holiday.

I am most definitely looking forward to the cold. I love cold weather clothes. The boots, scarves, hats, coats, I love it all. I find it very classy and sophisticated. I have even decided to sport a new look in preparation for the trip: Riding boots and skinny jeans. When I go for a new look, I tend to get a bit overly excited about it, and that I am. I even decided to wear them today (you can only imagine the looks I got, wearing my new Riding Boots in the Houston 92'F humidity). I don't care though, my calendar tells me it is Fall, so in my closet, Fall it will be.

One thing that sometimes crosses my mind when I think about New York is the Mafia, or "Cosa Nostra," which is a term used to distinguish the Sicilian Mafia from the others. Something about the Mafia has always intrigued me; I find it oddly fascinating. I know I am naive about it and I know that it is not something to be taken lightly. I think what fascinates me, is that it is glamorized in films and productions and I sometimes forget that it really does exist. Then I remember that it is real, and does exist and I want to know as much about it as possible. I was at Barnes and Noble one evening last year, sipping my coffee and strolling around when I saw a book on the bargain table. As soon as I saw it, I knew I would be buying it. It was a book about the history of the Sicilian Mafia. Sad to say, I have not read it cover to cover yet, but it is in my stack of books on my night stand, and whenever I get a little bite from the curiosity bug, I pick it up and read about the infamous Mafioso.

I am worried that my contact solution will not be TSA approved tomorrow morning at the airport and they will make me throw it away. I am only taking carry-on bags so I had to be very precise and specific in what I packed, especially liquids. Everything is well under the limit, except the solution. The box said that it was TSA approved, but when I looked at the ounce size, it was just the slightest bit larger. I hope it will not be a problem. If that is the biggest of my worries right now, then I think I have it pretty good...

What I like about this trip is that it came about spontaneously. About a month ago, I was having coffee with a friend and we decided to go. A week later, we made the reservations and that was that. At the time, it seemed a bit far away, but now here we are. It is not overly-planned or too detail-oriented to where we must stick to a strict itinerary every moment of the trip which is what I like about this. We are just getting away. That is really what I wanted to do when we were having coffee that day; just get away. Just go. I'm sure you have felt that way, right? You just want to pick up and leave your regular routine for a while; take a break from the daily grind. I think I will love New York and one of two things will happen. (1) I will love it, but only as a place to visit and be perfectly content coming back home and going to visit occasionally, or (2) I will picture myself living there as I walk around the streets of Brooklyn, feel it is a perfect fit for me, and be very unsatisfied as I depart to come back home on Monday evening. Either way, I am looking forward to my little adventure; I wonder what tricks life has up its sleeve and what is in store next for me.

I try to shop local as much as possible. When buying books I generally try to be as cheap as possible. I first go to Amazon books and generate a considerable wish list of books that will one day will be mine to be read. But, if the impulsive part of me says I must have this book RIGHT NOW I stop in to Barnes & Noble, Borders or some other big block book store. (Uh..what other like these is there?)

To me, these two stores or any other like them give me heartache and dread. For example, I avoid Wal-Mart for a reason, I hate the endless supply of stuff when all I need is one or a few things. I also dislike the service big brand stores typically dish out. Another example, I need help looking for what I need since there are thousands of books on every conceivable topic on the shelves. So I go to a store clerk who looks like he can help me but when I ask for help he shoots me a eye of irritation with a sigh implying I'm disturbing his quiet time. Consequently, I limit these annoyances to when I have no other choice.

However, that kink in the chain of acquiring reading material has changed today. These days I'm more fascinated with post-apocalyptic humanity than with anything else so when I came across a particular book entitled "The Road" I knew that book had to be on my bedside table (or cardboard box) by the end of the day. I entered a search for Houston bookshops through a favorite book store I know of online-IndieBound and found they have dealers here in Houston, and in fact, one very close to my house. The shop I found is The Blue Willow Bookshop.



(Image by Eat Sleep Read)

This bookshop is a treasure of West Houston. The room is small, but not too small, cozy, stuffed to the ceilings with good books and draws your searching eye in every direction feeding you a plethora of informative material. I love this shop for it's non-commercial status and also for what it stand's for:

We're a group of opinionated women (and one very brave man). Some of us are
native Houstonians; some of us got here as fast as we could.

We have lived all around the world and all across the country.

We're engineers, ministers, accountants, sisters, daughters, librarians, mothers, editors, musicians, educators, and a drama major.

Try to guess who's done what and who's lived where. What matters most is that, above all, we're readers.

When I walked into the shop my step was greeted with a floor of old varnished hardwood flooring and the smell of fresh books filling the air. I took a minute to breathe it all in as I surveyed
the new experience. To the left are childrens' books telling me they're involved in educating the young minds of their community & to the right were books for the grown ups. It was like walking into a personal library of a person whose read so many books they now proudly display them on a wall-to-wall shelf for all to see. I was hooked.

After no more than five minutes a young clerk asks me if I needed help to which I gave
her my list of somber reads. In another five minutes she found two of the three
of which I choose one-The Road. In about ten minutes I found exactly what I was
looking for and found more than what I expected-Quality Service.

I wanted to look around more but I suspected my time was up but promised I'd be back in the future for the other book. If anyone is in this neighborhood and needs a book, do yourself a favor and support this bookshop.

**Addendum 10/08/09**

The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond will be here in Houston on her recipe book tour. Yes!

Saturday December 5, 2009
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Blue Willow Books
14532 Memorial Dr.
Houston, TX 77079

When a new friends says lets go out and get to know each other that's great. We like to party and get to know new people all the time. However, our idea and definition of getting to know each other means really getting to know each other. Like getting to know the deeper recesses of our psyches and what it is that swims around in our noggins.

Ms. Anonymous

Words are powerful. The written word, even more so. To me, when something is written, it is final, there is no taking it back. It's on paper, it's done. The whole blogging concept, a recent trip to an antique store, and a previous post by Chris (A Stone Thrown by Jeffrey smoking a cigar, May 15, 2009), is what made me start thinking about this. As I have just recently discovered, blogging is a wonderful way to share ones thoughts and ideas. It is quick, almost instant, and in this modern society, can be read globally. However, nothing compares to a handwritten original piece.

In his post, Chris wrote, "The gift is to be a pen because a pen is a gift that literally lasts as long as you, your thoughts and your will to write your thoughts down on paper..." Expanding on that, a pen may not only last as long as you, it can last longer than you. Your thoughts and the work you have created with the pen will be there long after you are not. It is timeless. (By the way, I am confident that whoever was that recipient of the pen has enjoyed it very much indeed.)

While I was at an antique store on Saturday, I had a sudden urge to find an old journal among all of the books, figurines, and salt shakers. Unfortunately, I found none. But I wonder, among old books and magazines, are there any journals someone left behind and somehow was mixed into a rummage pile bought by an antique dealer? And if there are, I would love to get my hands on one. It would be like a front row seat into someone's life. But not just anyone, someone that lived decades ago, experiencing an entirely different world from the one we know today. So I am determined. I want to find a journal and read it. I want it to be handwritten, I want to see the scribble in the margins, recognize the idiosyncrasies in their handwriting, and get lost in the story of their life. I would be fascinated. I wonder if it would make sense though. From my experience, when I am writing something for just me, and not meant to be read by anyone else, it is generally not cohesive to an oblivious outsider. It is almost as if I skip writing things or certain pieces of a story, because I already know them and where they are supposed to go. Since I have no intention of sharing it with anyone else, I write it in a way that makes sense to me, and me alone. However, it may be completely lost on anyone else. Regardless, I am very much excited about my new endeavor.