Is there an Astral Mystic in the house?

This is from the Plattsburgh Daily Press, 1941. Clyde Aubrey is my grand-uncle. I'm trying to figure out if I have "the gift."

Star in the making

Bookman's

Bookman's is a used book/music/game/magazine/jewelry/dvd/etc store in Tucson (and other locations in Arizona). I went to the Speedway store during my visit.

It is mostly known as a bookstore. Well, I think of it as a bookstore. They have mostly books...


and magazines...


and some kids books. Lots of kids books and places to sit...


and more places to sit...


Where else can you get some Luther and Billy side by side?


This is the listening pod room. I didn't approach too closely. Pod people.


Well, there's books. Books galore. I didn't hang out in the romance or biography section, so I can't tell you how those are. But I did peruse the Science Fiction and Mystery areas, as well as the Sports and Misc. sections. A nice collection and variety. All of the copies of books were very clean. No mashed up, covers torn copies here.

Plenty of room to move around, good service people, maps and BIG signs.

I didn't look too much in the music section. Edison 'complained' that he couldn't find any Beatles LPs. I tried to explain to him that most of their LPs came out in the 1960s and probably wouldn't be in the open bins at Booksmans. I don't think he quite understood it, but hey, at least he knows what LPs are.

They have a nice selection of magazines. Some rather obscure titles and a boatload of Arizona Highways. Always nice to see.

Music is always playing over the loudspeakers. I guess an employee decides what to play. Some of it I found not to be "Let's get the customers to relax and buy books" music. Even one of the employees I talked to thought the same thing.

The other employees I talked to, actually talked back. Some other bookstores I've been to (no, I won't name names), the employees seem to treat you like you are a nuisance and not the customer that would make the biggest purchase of the day. Bookman's' employees didn't quite go that far, but at least they engaged me in conversation. That means a lot to me.

I'm not sure of their trade-in policy, but I do know that Thursdays is Senior Citizen discount day.
Next time I'm in Tucson, I'll go back.

I'd like to thank the day supervisor (Chris, was it?) for giving me permission to take some photos. And the night supervisor for asking me why I was taking photos and then being cool when I described the day supervisor.

And I'd like to thank Boyd, a knitted interpretation of Cthulhu for its recommendations.


Go visit them just for that. It is worth it.

Books in AZ

I've got about 3 or 4 blog entries I want to write about my recent trip to Arizona. This is one of them.

Being on an airplane for hours on end is not overly fun. Having a book helps pass the time. I took with me Slouching Towards Fargo, a book about, well, a lot of things. Baseball and baseball players, redemption and second (and third) chances, celebrities and life. Some of the situations and language make me put it in the category of, "It was a good read, but I can't recommend it. " I learned some baseball stuff (independent leagues, who played for who, when, etc).

At Ft. Lowell I picked up Only the Echoes: The Life of Howard Bass Cushing, a book about a Civil War man who went on to fight the Indians in the West. I thought that it was more of an extended monograph, but a good read, with lots of detailed research. This one I can recommend. I have been doing it already.

Angie got me a Barnes and Noble gift card for Valentine's Day. I spent it in Tucson. I picked up Bob Newhart's I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This: And Other Things That Strike Me as Funny. I've just read the introduction. Very funny. But I've always like him, so I'm a little biased.

Also at B&N I picked up Somerset Digital Studio magazine. For Angie, but also for me.

At Bookmans, I picked up Ellis Peters' A Morbid Taste for Bones. The first of the Brother Cadfael mystery novels.

I also picked up a used magazine there, Fine Books & Collections. Wow. This is a good magazine if you like stories of book collecting, sales and auctions, anything bibliophilic. Yeah, that's not a word, but you know what I mean.

I'll be doing a separate blog entry on Bookmans. Also on Ft. Lowell, the Rockies/White Sox game, lunch with Edna and probably a smattering of other things that I took photos of but don't really require a whole entry.

She walks...

No, not a line from a 1950's monster movie, or the first works of a poem by Lord Byron, but my mom. Last Wednesday she had knee replacement surgery. Edison and I traveled to Tucson to be with her (and my dad).

We arrived on Monday evening. Long flights, lots of waiting. Tuesday included a spring training game between the Rockies and the White Sox. Wednesday was surgery. More waiting. Thursday was lunch with Edna and a trip to Ft. Lowell. Friday was a check on Mom at the hospital, then to the UofA for museums. Mom was released from the hospital on Friday afternoon and that evening went to Applebee's for dinner. Saturday, we were at the van shuttle to Sky Harbor Airport at 5:45am. Lots of waiting on the way home. But we made it.

Now, there are a lot of little things that happened throughout the week, but I didn't want to start on them until I laid out the fact that Mom is walking. With a walker. But walking. Surgery works and God is good.