Shopping At Joann...With The Wife

"Oh!" my wife sprung up from her chair as we watched some TV tonight.

"What?" I asked.

"I have to go to the store, tonight!"

"Tonight?" I kind of ask dumb questions, sometimes.

"Yeah--you want to go with me?" Now she asked the question.

"Sure...to Harmons?" She shook her head. "Walmart?" Another no.

"Then where?"

"Joann--I've got a coupon and it expires tonight. And you already said you'd go."

Yes, I did, and I wasn't upset I said I'd go. With me working another part-time job until after Halloween, I don't see the family as much as I did, so when she wants to go shopping, I want to go with her. I grabbed my camera and I thought, I can take some pictures and maybe I'll get a blog post out of the trip.

And so I did.

I don't dislike Joann Fabrics and Crafts. It's a cool place--one of my co-worker's favorite stores. It's a good time of year to go to a craft store with Halloween just around the corner and Thanksgiving and Christmas close behind. So, here's a little of what I saw as I meandered through the aisles and saw all the stuff. Animal and human skeletons, silk flowers, cute scarecrows, some great Christmas ornaments, as well as a sewing machine that operated on its own. And, one framed item really classed up the place. Joann is like a wonderland, if you're crafty like that.

Click Bait...I Wonder How They'll Hook Us In The Future

I had a thought as I did a little web surfing tonight. I was looking at a site on Yahoo's home page that advertised free iPhone apps (I'm very cheap...). I've seen similar ads many times before, but today was much more excessive. Ads lined both sides of the web page beckoning me to answer their siren song. I copied a couple of them. If I had copied each ad I saw, this post would have been forever long.

They seem to keep inventing new phrases to try and get us to click a site. The latest that I've noticed--and they've used it for a while--is the, "You've got to see insert past celebrity here now--You won't believe it!" Or "See the Cast of Gunsmoke Now--They Look Amazing!" Those have always bugged me, especially when more than half of a given cast is dead. And, yes, in the example below--I believe I CAN look away (the fact they didn't use proper pronunciation doesn't help their cause, either...).



The thought that came to me was this: I wonder what phrases and tempting headlines they'll come up with when the ones they're using currently no longer work. I really don't know, and I'm almost afraid to think about it.

But rest assured, as long as the internet operates as it does now--mostly free--we're at the mercy of click bait. I only hope I can continue ignoring those fascinating and engaging headlines.

Alyson Peterson's "The Cursed Dagger"...A Book Review

Several weeks ago I was asked to blog about a upcoming book, Alyson Peterson's The Cursed Dagger, Book Two of the Ian Quicksilver series.

After finishing it, I realized several things. One--I'm not reading enough fantasy, and two--Alyson is a fantastic writer!

The Cursed Dagger tells the continuing story of Ian Quicksilver, an alien prince living on earth. Ian has an assignment and he's running out of time. He must marry Ari, another alien and princess before by his sixteenth birthday.

Which takes place in less than a week.

Peterson's writing style is crisp, sharp, focused. The story hums with good pacing. And even though I have not yet read Book One, I felt I knew the characters from the beginning. That whole "being confused because you joined a conversation halfway in" thing never happened for me.

Ian, his mentor/trainer/friend/fellow alien Corbin, and Ari experience the awkwardness of dating and growing up on earth not quite like everyone else. Books dealing with teenagers many times focus on the difficulties of growing up. This story is no different. Ian, Corbin, and Ari go from dating difficulties to dealing with possessed dragons. There's magic, and deception, painful goodbyes, and incredible escapes. The book does not lack for excitement.

One of the major surprises for me was Peterson's ability to so successfully write from a teenage boy's perspective. So many times she nailed it, the way a boy would react in certain situations was, in my opinion, spot on.

If you like middle grade/young adult fantasy, you will enjoy this book. Thank you  Alyson for letting me into your world.

To Those At The Party...That I Missed

I stopped by my friend's office a few months ago and we were shooting the bull. And, as is wont to happen, we chatted about the old days, high school, summer jobs, college, and one of our personal favorites--the years we spent in the University of Utah A'Cappella Choir, Dr. Ed Thompson, Conductor.

"We should have a reunion," my friend said.

"We should," I agreed.

We picked a date, created a Facebook Event and sent out invites. I awaited the day with anticipation. The day came and has since passed. And because of work commitments, I pretty much missed it.

I arrived more than three hours late and greeted the hearty souls who stayed until the bitter end. We caught up, shared hugs then wished them well on their journeys home. Finally my friend and I--the original event organizers--were the only ones left. He prepared a plate of food for me (complete with delicious pie...) and we sat and shot the bull.

"The party was great," he said. He told me how everyone sat and talked, just talked. He then told me of an experience they all shared, one I won't include here. Oh, how I wish I could have been there, to see those wonderful people and enjoy their company.

Decades ago we meet every day at a former LDS Institute building and we sang. I looked forward to that class every school day for four years. After everyone left the reunion party, my friend and I talked about how that class changed our lives. We met our spouses through the choir. We've made fast friends through that choir. And both of us shared stories on how we made it into the choir, each could have ended up in another group and so much of our lives would have been different.

To those at the party, I'm sorry I couldn't attend. To my friend who ended up hosting by himself (I'm sure his wonderful wife helped him to make it a fantastic party...), I apologize for making you do all the work. I know I missed an amazing event. But I'm happy my friend and I decided to do it because those who attended had a blast.

I'll just have to go to the next one.

The Old Penny Arcade...Not The Same As It Once Was

"You know," I said to a couple of people the last couple of days. "I used to go in that building every day growing up."

And it was true.

Growing up in Farmington on the edge of the Lagoon Amusement Park, the place was like an endless adventure for me and my friends. Sure, we had our usual summer routines. We got up, probably watched The Price is Right (Good ol' Bob Barker...), then we'd don our swimming suits, roll up a towel, throw it under our arm and hop on our bikes to the, now-extinct, East Gate. From there we'd park the bikes and head straight to the pool.

I'm sure I've written about the pool before. I can't tell you just how fantastic that huge body of water was for us kids. I've never seen anything like it and I feel that even though replacing the forever-old pool with a shiny new water park was a good financial decision, the place has never been the same since.

And what to a gaggle of pre-teens (and teens...) do after a fun morning and afternoon at the pool?

We headed down tho the Penny Arcade. 

The building's famous. It was once a dance floor where some of the biggest names in all of entertainment played. I suppose the proliferation of TV and concert halls--not to mention, Rock & Roll--people just stopped dancing the way they once did.

By the time me and my friends arrived on the scene, the dance hall was now an arcade. If I showed a kid today a picture of the way it looked decades ago, they wouldn't believe it was an arcade. Heck--I wonder if kids nowadays even know what an arcade is or was. Back then the place was lined on all three walls with pinball machines. I suppose they're still around, but I haven't seen one in a long time. Once video games became the thing, the arcade was one of the only places you could actually play quality games. We used to go around checking for free pinball games, or games where novice video game players did not realize they had an extra credit on the game. That was payday for us.

Now, the building houses different attractions. There's games where you can earn tickets. Those tickets can get you prizes. Though there's bells and whistles, lights and inviting sounds, just like the million-gallon swimming pool, it's just not the same.

I know things change, but looking inside the cavernous space, I remember the way it once was and in an instant, decades are erased. Those were good days.

Sewing Machines...For Some, They Can't Get Enough Of Them

I have a co-worker who's obsessed with sewing machines.

How is that possible, you might ask? I mean, many of us are obsessed with different things. Some people collect cars or stamps or comic books. Some people spend thousands of dollars on computer equipment or cameras. Truth is, we all seem to find things we gravitate toward, things that bring us joy.

And for my co-worker, it's sewing machines. We've had discussions about sewing machines many times. If find it fascinating to hear about her collections. She has a sewing room at home (like many people do...) and in that room she has several machines--I believe she said she current has seven, and she is considering buying more. To me, that's a lot, but I'm sure to her, it all makes sense.

I thought of her when I walked passed an old foot pedal machine I saw last night. It's a Singer sewing machine located in the costume shop at Lagoon. Personally, I know absolutely nothing about it--how valuable it is, how important, how rare. When I return to work next week I'll show it to her and get her opinion on it. Even if she doesn't necessarily know about this specific machine, I'll bet she knows what sewing jobs it could handle.

Then again, maybe not, but I'm sure she'll love seeing the picture.

Frightmares...And So It Begins

Tonight my son and I began a part-time job at the local amusement park that's just down the road. Some would say we're lucky to have an amusement park right down the road--not many can say that. I agree with them. It's been very cool to live so close. Many childhood memories, and teenage ones as well, have come from that place.

Last year I returned after a twenty + year absence. That was weird. I worked a show and my son worked with me. It was his first real job. The season passed and the show ended, but they needed people to help them with their Halloween shows. We applied and got the job. We applied for the Halloween shows this year and got the job again.

Tonight was a run-through of the entertainment that patrons will experience beginning tomorrow night. My son and I are house managers at the same stage we worked last year, but last year's show has been replace by chainsaw-wielding dancers. It's a fun show and the people like it. But I had to ask myself, is it really something a fifty-year old father should be doing? I mean, I just quit another part-time job a month ago because they pay stunk and the hours were brutal. 

This job has advantages over the library job. I work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. At the library I worked Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. It was nice having Sundays off, but that only means I had to fit up to twenty hours in six days, not seven.

But even thought the show is fun and the pay is better than the library, the main reason I came back for another Frightmares is because my son wanted to do it. I probably wouldn't have done it if I didn't. And since he has fun doing it and makes pretty good money for a teenager, I decided to do it, too.

The place has provided many good memories for me. Hopefully, my son will be able to say the same one day.