i should say i’ve also known so many great bookstores who kind of changed my life—including that one before it began the downhill slide the culminated in that call

ha! that must have been hard. in this case it was pretty clear (after I got over my initial bafflement) that they thought it was a romance novel and no matter how many calls you get looking for a romance novel, there’s no need to be a jerk about it, I say

Exactly 80 years ago tomorrow (Nov. 30, 1945), German submarine commander Heinz-Wilhelm Eck and two of his former subordinates on the U-852 were shot by Allies in Hamburg for killing the survivors of a ship they had sunk. Pete Hagueseth should be very worried. www.executedtoday.com/2009/11/30/1...

oh wow, thanks

+but guess what? I got it somewhere else and never went back to that bookstore

decades ago I called my fave bookstore looking for our book club pick, Love's Executioner by Irving Yalom. Clerk's nasty, sneering reply: "we don't carry books like that." Me, absolutely confused; "you don't carry case studies in existential psychotherapy??" (beat) "Let me check. OK, we have it."+

and surely at least in part caused by what broke other media including radio and news: big corporations--giant passionless blank-faced money-making engines--buying up all the publishers

the Iraq War though, harder to get past, i’ll die mad about that

honestly everyone thought the bug thing was hilarious, & though a mean trick it wasn’t an ugly one. but it was so surprising when he was running a presidential! like your Rand Paul guy. did you know Mark McKinnon from GWB race? we were friends & he was pretty fun, though his jump to GOP was shocking

i had just started working in politics in Austin when Rove claimed that the Democrats had bugged his candidate for governor’s campaign office. Local police investigated and were OPENLY skeptical as was the FBI, seemed like he planted the bug himself but did an unconvincing job

this opened up that poem for me so beautifully, thank you

i love this, thank you!

the only way to fix is to open withe the phrase beginning “During an appearance in Jimmy etc” but i would bet money they are pushed to start sentence with celeb name

man no kidding they are absolutely arresting!

told this story here before: my 5yo brother, not picky, refused to eat grilled cheese sandwiches, the ultimate kid food. when i pressed him on why he got so upset his face went white and he shouted “bc im not a gril, im a boy!” and ran off sobbing. how desperate he was to learn the strange rules

I would agree if VF hadn't then hired her, feels like that's the commentary on the state of media (I guess they're now Reviewing The Decision but it was a bad decision even before Lizza's gross blogs!)