...a post-Christmas, an eclectic $100 haul...

...ah, Christmas!  A mixed bag for adults, surely.  The glow is not dimmed, however, at the sight of cash and gift cards - bring 'em over, I say.  What to do but go over to Barnes and Noble for an eclectic haul?  A C-note is the budget.  Score?  Had the salt-and-peppered haired clerk squint at me and gave me the 'reward for best taste of that day'.  Choice, right?!  [Would I have preferred the sight of a cute brunette with thick rimmed glasses and glossy burgundy lip balm saying the same.]

MUSIC (x7): B&N has a not-so-shabby selection of 4.99 and 7.99 CDs, which is cheaper, if you know what to look for, than their digital counterparts.
- Benjamin Grosvenor "Rhapsody in Blue" 14.99 - ok, so I broke my rule and I took a chance on the disc based on the cover.  Why not?  That laconic Briton in the wrinkled suit said, 'I don't care much if you buy me or no.'  That's the point of analog browsing.  Grosvenor is an incredible pianist. He has a lightness of touch and (surprising to the person who bought it) did put an exceptional twist to Saint-Saens, Ravel and Gershwin.  I recommend it highly.

- Various "Puccini and Pasta" 5.99 - Don't be fooled by the goofy cover and title.  This is actually an understated CD of great music to have a romantic dinner by.  The collection of Puccini's greatest hits, as it were, are performed by the A-list (Carreras, Domingo, Caballe, etc).  Plus the price can't be beat if you are looking for something to dive into opera.  Puccini's melodies get me hot and bothered: I am not ashamed.
- Jackson Browne "Running on Empty" 8.99 - Ok, I've never gotten around to a few greats in my life, due mostly in part to growing up less-than-middle class.  JB is one of those that I simply couldn't get.  In Running, their is a tremendous tenor of thoughtful tracks like the titular song, 'The Road', 'The Load-Out', 'Stay'.  This is definitely a cruising around at night disc.
- Sam Cooke "The Rhythm and the Blues" 6.99 - This is one of those discs I feel almost embarrassed it is at this price.  Sam Cooke is one of my top five voices, easily, and this disc has 20 tracks.  'Get Yourself Another Fool', 'Fool's Paradise', 'Please Don't Drive Me Away' - sure I have more than a few of these on 'Night Beat' (an amazing album), but just check the track listing and argue with me that this isn't a tremendous get.
- Van Morrison "Astral Weeks" 7.99 - Like Jackson Browne, simply wasn't able to buy Van Morrison when I was younger, but I was a fan.  I've picked up very few songs, but Astral Weeks is a watershed moment in his career ('68) and I didn't know much about it until reading the wiki on it tonight.  Apparently it was a deal at the time.  What I hear is nothing like what Van is known for, 'experiment' is a poor word for it, but 'auteur' is closer.  It's as if you hear the culmination of his music, his voice and his compositions exactly as he hears them in his brain - it's a fascinating listen.

- Steve Martin "A Wild and Crazy Guy" 4.99 - ok, ok, I got this because I love Martin's earlier stand-up, particularly the next CD, but, this one has its moments.  The first half is the more brilliant side of Martin, where the second is the side we may not care so much for (or use the word "detest").  Either way, this is a moment in time, 1978, and how the gritty comedy of SNL moved into commercialism.  But, again, the price is worth the admission.
- Steve Martin "Comedy is Not Pretty" 6.99 - now, ok, this album is what I grew up on and it departed heavily from the 'King Tut' Martin and into, to me, much more polished and less zany Martin.  I was lucky to buy this at Anaheim Plaza, with the dollars I had, on cassette.  There was a Sam Goodys with a box in the front. I wore that cassette out and know every bit by heart.  Comedy, yes, is not pretty...hopefully it never is.

BOOKS (x3): Someday I'll have space to house my book collection in proper shelving, but that's a day I suppose I don't want to see.  It means I have enough time.  Never!
- "The Love Poems of John Keats" 10.99 - have the companion book, "Sonnets of the Portuguese" from Browning, and love the formatting of the book.  It's the perfect heft, feel and paper weight for poetry - if that makes any sense.

- Rimbaud "A Season in Hell" 12.95 - A browsing find in the poetry section, which took me a while to figure out where it was in the Fullerton store (shaking my head, help me).  Rimbaud was the forerunner of Beat movement (Ginsberg called him the first 'punk'), with a self deprecating bible of sorts, all written before the age of 19.  A fairly openly gay writer in the mid-1880s, Rimbaud's life reads like a novel itself.  The poetry is translated alongside the original French text - superb!
- Various "Haiku" 15.95 - I tend to sway from the mini-coffee table format, but I need haiku books.  For some reason, the poetry books at the store fronts are in deplorable condition.  Why do folks disenfranchise poetry so?  Because most of you hate it!  Yay!  Anyway, Basho and other haiku-ists abound alongside Japanese prints.  Pretty.

MISC (x2): Other things.

- Deconstructed Journal - Clock Faces 12.95 - just a solid, organic-y journal. Gonna use it to slam that Seqoi story in the crotch.  I own you, weird characters!
- Mighty Bright Book Light 10.95 - need to read my Sherlock Holmes compilation before I go night night - it hurts my brain trying to think ahead of the master.  But the light does its job well.  Thank you, Mighty Bright.

If you stuck around this long - you are a champ!