mom & daughter consider a TWILIGHT calendar.
Mom: Do they have their shirts off?
Daughter, disappointed: No.
Mom: Awwwww! That wasn't in the movie!
/edit
they bought it anyway.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
grading rant
Dedicated to my pal Adrian, who shortly after sending me a signed copy of Chabon's latest was hit by a car, landed on his face and ended up with a titanium plate & a wired jaw. Get well soon!
First, there's no such classification as "Very Fine".
Fine is the top of the range, there is nothing beyond it. Describing a pristine book as Very Fine is like describing a corpse as Very Dead. They are binary states, you either qualify or you do not. The book, or the comic, or the chair or whatever is being described cannot give 110% on the condition front- it is what it is.
Note that this reality does not preclude lily gilding.
You're fully entitled to express enthusiasm for the intrinsic Fine-ness of your item. I'm fond of the descriptors "glossy", "pretty" and "clean" to emphasize condition.
But not 'Very Fine', or the abominable FINE +, the bastard spawn of a thousand lobotomized Ebay merchants.
Unprofessional language implies that you aren't dealing with a professional. And when it comes to grading objects, this is an air raid siren red alert spinning siren warning of inevitable impending disaster. The running joke here is when a customer says they have books that are in "great" shape, you'll be lucky if they're suitable for lining a birdcage.
Consider this cautionary tale from earlier today:
A lady brings in a large old book which she'd assured me was in "nice" shape on the phone. When she arrives and removes it from a protective grocery bag, I suppressed a sigh. When she asked why I didn't want it, I noted that the hinges were basically detached from the spine and that it was shedding loose pages- it was more a dilapidated folder of ratty newsprint than a book.
"But can't you just sell the pages?" she whined.
Hope springs eternal!
First, there's no such classification as "Very Fine".
Fine is the top of the range, there is nothing beyond it. Describing a pristine book as Very Fine is like describing a corpse as Very Dead. They are binary states, you either qualify or you do not. The book, or the comic, or the chair or whatever is being described cannot give 110% on the condition front- it is what it is.
Note that this reality does not preclude lily gilding.
You're fully entitled to express enthusiasm for the intrinsic Fine-ness of your item. I'm fond of the descriptors "glossy", "pretty" and "clean" to emphasize condition.
But not 'Very Fine', or the abominable FINE +, the bastard spawn of a thousand lobotomized Ebay merchants.
Unprofessional language implies that you aren't dealing with a professional. And when it comes to grading objects, this is an air raid siren red alert spinning siren warning of inevitable impending disaster. The running joke here is when a customer says they have books that are in "great" shape, you'll be lucky if they're suitable for lining a birdcage.
Consider this cautionary tale from earlier today:
A lady brings in a large old book which she'd assured me was in "nice" shape on the phone. When she arrives and removes it from a protective grocery bag, I suppressed a sigh. When she asked why I didn't want it, I noted that the hinges were basically detached from the spine and that it was shedding loose pages- it was more a dilapidated folder of ratty newsprint than a book.
"But can't you just sell the pages?" she whined.
Hope springs eternal!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
lol
In light of our own recent history, I'm having trouble keeping a straight face during NPR's oh so serious report about those dastardly Chinese commies who allegedly kidnap malcontents off the street and store them in off the books detention facilities where they are treated badly and not allowed access to the courts.
I guess it's only a problem when other countries do it?
Or was their mistake not shipping them off to Turkey or Uzbeckistan for the dirty work?
I guess it's only a problem when other countries do it?
Or was their mistake not shipping them off to Turkey or Uzbeckistan for the dirty work?
Monday, November 16, 2009
retro video: Soundgarden
File under tunes I loved, completely forgot about, rediscovered and was surprised to discover still kicked total ass
I scrounged up their first EP from the used bin at Boo Boo's, picked up Louder Than Love when it came out and then sort of lost track of them when they got popular. Some bands I track early and follow forever, but some lose too much glow if you have to share it with the world.
Anyway, this song is just as fantastic as I remember it being, and the nutty video catches them right as they're scrabbling over the top of the mountain, before they tumble down the other side into fame.
I scrounged up their first EP from the used bin at Boo Boo's, picked up Louder Than Love when it came out and then sort of lost track of them when they got popular. Some bands I track early and follow forever, but some lose too much glow if you have to share it with the world.
Anyway, this song is just as fantastic as I remember it being, and the nutty video catches them right as they're scrabbling over the top of the mountain, before they tumble down the other side into fame.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
True Customer Tales
Older couple come up with a stack of books that ring up to $17.94.
The wife comments
"1794...that sounds like the year something happened."
The wife comments
"1794...that sounds like the year something happened."
Saturday, November 14, 2009
True Customer Tales
young fella wearing pink short shorts with a red and black flannel & a blue ballcap:
Excuse me sir, I'm looking for Fitzcarraldo's Great Gatsby?
Excuse me sir, I'm looking for Fitzcarraldo's Great Gatsby?
True Customer Tales
older guy in ski cap:
I'm missing something...where's your non-fiction section?
me:
Well, pretty much the whole store is non-fiction. Everything except literature.
Guy: Oh!
me:
Are you looking for anything in particular?
Guy::
Yeah, Kerouac.
me:
.....well, he would actually belong in fiction.
I'm missing something...where's your non-fiction section?
me:
Well, pretty much the whole store is non-fiction. Everything except literature.
Guy: Oh!
me:
Are you looking for anything in particular?
Guy::
Yeah, Kerouac.
me:
.....well, he would actually belong in fiction.
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