BJ's had been recommended to me by my dentist during a prolonged procedure (he was trying to distract me from the root canal he was performing) and I must say, neither the root canal or BJ's has been a disappointment. As I toodled down I-91 with a full trunk of loose items (they don't give you bags at BJ's, and I made a mental note to bring cardboard boxes or totes the next time) the only parallel experience I could compare it to was being allowed to visit a warehouse stocked by UNESCO, or being the patriarch of a polygamous Mormon family. Bales of socks and long underwear were nestled next to a case of baked beans, a massive brick of TP, a bushel of garlic, six quarts of shrink wrapped OJ, and a variety of other jumbo-sized items.
Riding shotgun was the iPad. What can I say? 64 gigs and it's everything I can imagine. Having posted the purchase on my Facebook, I got the following link from Rick Perlstein (who is cool and funny and nice, in addition to being a terrific writer) advertising the enhanced e-book of his Nixonland: the Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (Scribners, 2008). I embedded the video here:
Is that cool or what? In other news:
Historiann and Tenured Radical have been nominated for a 2010 Cliopatria award in the category "Best Series of Posts," for their series on Terry Castle's The Professor (You can get started reading here). If that isn't enough, the roundtable on feminist blogging I have been promising, "Women Gone Wild," starring TR, Historiann, Jennifer Ho, May Friedman, Marilee Lindemann and Rachel Leow, is now up and rocking the house at the Journal of Women's History.
Finally, we are sad to say that the authors of Edge of the American West seem to be biting the poison pill. Oh yeah, they say they are going on hiatus, but when and if they come back, they will come back as something else. As one co-author said:"I’d rather take a break before it becomes a chore or I start posting pictures of cats." Another: "We associate the West with new beginnings, but also the end of the day, and maybe we have got there."
Maybe. We'll miss you, and thanks.
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6 comments:
I would ask that you think about shopping at Costco rather than BJs. Costco is unionized. That is the only difference, they are both large and have good prices.
I have no fucken idea what "BJs" is, but what an unfortunate name. And I am sad and shocked that you have a fucken iPad now. Am I the only motherfucken hold out that just simply refuses on philosophilcal grounds to subtly flick me finger across a screen to make some dumfucke stupid fucken shitte zippe away and some new dumfucke stupid fucken shitte magically appear in front of me trying to sell me some goddamn fucken shitte that I neither need nor want? Like ZIP ZIP ZOOM!
Thanks for the news about our nomination and the shout-out to the blogging roundtable at the Journal of Women's History.
CPP, you're not the only holdout against iPad/KindleNation. I remain a skeptic that they'd be more useful to me than codex books.
Anonymous raises a good point about union shopping. I would shop at Costco but they only want to locate in fancy neighborhoods where the median household income is at least $80K or $100K. I live in a poorer city, and can't get discount shopping outside of WalMart and Target. Why, I wonder, does Costco brand itself as a place for deals, but refuses to locate it in places where people really NEED the deals?
I guess we're just too much Family Dollar for the "elite" of the "discount" stores!
I was pleased to nominate you for the Cliopatria award - fingers crossed now for you and Historiann :)
I don't have a car so shopping at big box stores is not really an option for me, but I can see the appeal. (as with Historiann's comment about such stores being located in more upscale neighbourhoods, they're also generally completely useless for those using public transport)
CPP, now that we know they are non-union shop, I guess we also know why they are called BJ's!
Love buying at union shops, but since I don't even work at one, and all of these places put independent stores out of business, I doubt switching to Costco will grease my way into heaven.
As for the iPad....we'll see. I do like the idea of minding Tenured Radical w/o schlepping the laptop everywhere.
TR, I love electronic books, particularly on the Kindle reader. The Nixonland enhanced book application does look cool. Even though I am a leading (bleeding?) edge adopter of much new technology, I hesitate to buy the iPad as an electronic reader. I believe that it is too heavy for sustained use in this manner, and if you read a lot, its display is also tiring on the eyes (especially older eyes!) It may well be aq good replacement for a laptop (though typing on the screen keyboard might get a little old) but when it comes to the electronic reader application, I think the new Kindle beats it hands down -- much lighter and easier on the eyes.
JackDanielsBlack
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