Men do not like to shop. At least that is a popular truism that people like to perpetuate. Despite rumors to the contrary there are men (and not just those on Queer Eye) that actually like to shop. Jeff and I are living proof of that very fact as we spent the better part of Sunday doing just that! In fact we started shopping at 10 a.m. and, except for lunch at Gates BBQ, continued on until around 6:30 that evening! “What could two men possibly spend that much time shopping for?”, you may ask. The answer is: Books!
Jeff’s wife and children were out of town this weekend and he was left to his own devices so we decided to spend the day shopping at bookstores. Most of our day was spent visiting two of the local Half Price Books stores here in Kansas City. Half Price Books are great incarnations of the stereotypical used bookstore. They are clean, well-organized, roomy and have a nice selection of books, music, and movies…all for half price or less. Prospero’s Bookstore is a funky, fun little bookshop that neither of us had ever visited and it was fun to check it out (click link for pictures) . We ended up our day at Borders mainly due to the fact that we had 30% off one item coupons that expired on Labor Day. Jeff was my kind of shopper. I know few people who could match my ability to spend hours in one bookstore and Jeff equals or eclipses my ability.
And, like true shoppers, the joy was in the looking. I managed to spend all that time in the various bookstores and only bought one book! It was a first edition hardback of Neil Gaiman’s short story collection Smoke and Mirrors.
(this is a picture of the paperback…the hardback has gold lettering that doesn’t seem to be scanner friendly)
It is in great condition and is one of the few books of Gaiman’s that I did not have in hardcover so I was really excited to find it. I plan on taking this as one of my two items to be signed at the book signing in Chicago in a few weeks. Jeff managed to find a few books as well including a gift for Mr. I Don’t Read himself, James! Jimmy admitted that he has read Peter David Star Trek books in the past and Jeff is hoping to lure him back into reading with the first book in the Peter David’s New Frontier series. It is a very small book, hence its appeal, and will be coming your way soon James. Wipe your glasses clean and be prepared.
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Mary and I have several television shows that we never watched in their original run and are now enjoying via DVD. We have watched and loved Wonderfalls and Firefly and are now making our way through Season One of Farscape. We did not have the Sci Fi channel when this originally aired so its great to be able to go back and experience this fun show.
We are also watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My friend Scott got me the first season DVD set last year for my birthday and we devoured that. Time, life, and other shows took up some of our time and now we are back to watching Buffy and just finished Season Two. We are currently using Jeff and Keri as our own personal Netflix until we exhaust what they own and will have to actually use Netflix. Thanks guys! Buffy is such an entertaining show that Whedon managed to keep just to the right of being too campy. Mary and I recommend both shows highly.
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And because I know you were all waiting with baited breath…yes, I did manage to get my first turkey leg of the season! We went to Santa-Cali-Gon Days and Tori and I each had a massive turkey leg. We also made sure to leave with a week’s worth of kettle corn. I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!
Farscape was a great, great show! I loved the series finale “movie” too. Don’t forget that when you get to the end. Most likely a different disc.
Carl, you guys are so metro! I’ve been a good little consumer lately too, so I can joke.
I’m glad I didn’t watch Farscape in its original run so I didn’t have to endure the long cliffhanger wait when the series ended ubruptly before the last miniseries came out.
Metro.. 🙂
ahhhh…congrats on your find! It’s awesome to find a book you really want! And glad you enjoyed your turkey leg LOL!
I love the feeling that comes with finding a book that you’ve been wanting for ever… Enjoy!
Book shopping isn’t real shopping. It is far too much fun even when you don’t buy anything 🙂
I never got into Farscape, it was on the BBC (I think) at a very strange time. And I just don’t have the cash to spend on shows I haven’t seen and that Whedon had nothing to do with 🙂
One day hopefully, although I’m afraid my dvd tbw list is getting as long as my book tbr list
I simply adore BtVS as well as Farscape. Excellent choices!!
Right now I’ve moved to Angel S3 with my Netflix subscription~ I never watched the series when it was on, and now my son & I can’t get enough 😉
mg
If it weren’t for it being a Sunday thus shops closing early I’m sure we could’ve shopped for hours more. I know I would have been up to it. In fact I’ve already thought of three more stores to hit another day. 🙂
I was pretty good and only spent $ 25 dollars among the 5 stores and almost half of that was spent on my wife and kids. We are a family of reading junkies.
Now if it was clothes shopping I would have hated it and been hard presses to last more than an hour. There is nothing I dislike more than trying on clothes.
Hopefully there’ll be a Turkey leg in my future this weekend. Keri and I are so happy you guys are enjoying Farscape and Buffy. We thank you again for turning us onto to Wonderfalls and we hope to borrow the Tick someday, too.
I’m sorry I can’t take advantage of the buy one/get one admission prices at KC Renfest this weekend. I told Mary and Tori they are welcome to take advantage of the great prices without me!
We are enjoying all the shows and will no doubt get to Angel eventually as well. And I hear you Fence, our DVD list is miles long and the pile of books in my house that haven’t been read is getting bigger all the time!
I don’t mind clothes shopping if I have the money to buy clothes, but that is very rare! I could go to the bookstore every day.
Two episodes into Buffy Season 3 tonight…woo hoo!!!
I don’t know if I could go into a bookstore and only get one book. I tend to buy them in pairs (or multiple pairs!). I’d rather shop on-line for most things – that way I can multi-task…
I’ve done my share of book buying from Amazon and Ebay’s Half.com, especially for newer more pricey books as the discounts they offer are often incredible. However I would hate to never have the thrill of going into bookstores. Holding, looking at, and smelling books is such a wonderful part of the book buying experience. Actually I often combine the two in that I will often see a book in the store that I like and then purchase it online.
Men do not like to shop.
as pointed out in your post – men do like to shop, it just depends what they’re shopping for – woman or not, i personally hate to shop, however given enough money and the right stores (book stores and hardware stores are the worst for me) i can spend hours…
I too have started on the first season of Farscape on DVD and am introducing a friend to it – it’s amazing watching the first episode again – it goes so far from there…
i won’t admit that i like Buffy, at least not yet…
I rarely seem to shop in bookstores anymore. Amazon has lower prices (important for us poor college students) and the brick-and-mortar stores often don’t stock whatever obscure I title I’m seeking.
That is too true Nick. I’ve often lamented that given the proper investment funding I could build an amazing bookstore and I have several ideas that I believe would make for a better, more successful business.
You can admit that you like Buffy, Mysfit…you’re among friends here! 🙂 The first season was really fun but the second season was terrific. The storylines, etc really came together in season 2 and were excellent. We’ve watched 8 episodes of Farscape now and it really does get better each episode. I like where the story is going and also really like the characters.
ahem:
I LOVE FARSCAPE! you will NOT be sorry to have dedicated 90 hours of your life to this. trust me.
now, “where’s my damn ice cream!?”
To boot, Claudia Black is a righteous babe-o-tron!
Yay, you went to Borders! We had a huge PILE of coupons used on Saturday night when I worked, so you weren’t alone in your bargain shopping!
Tell them to keep sending those 30% off ones Nat and we’ll keep using them! I purchased The King of Elfland’s Daughter with mine.
I love Firefly one of the best tv shows ever. Can’t wait for the movie: Serenity
Me too! Soon, very soon! For most of us anyway…few of us reading here have had the privilege that Fence has had in seeing Serenity already!
Peter David is one of my fav’s… and the New Frontier series is great!
Well hopefully James will be inspired to read it! 🙂
We’ll see if he reads it. He’s neck deep in work and stress and then by the time he gets home and spends a busy evening with the kids, we just sit and veg once their in bed! Just trying to survive in this world and raise decent children is exhausting and nearly completely time consuming! I wouldn’t want it any other way though.
Well, I gave it to him today and he seemed excited and committed to giving it a try. Since Jeff bought it for him I figured maybe we could guilt trip him into it! 🙂
And James bought me lunch today. Thank you Jimmy, it was delicious!
Hehe, it was a nice time.
I loved all the Peter David Star Trek books I have read.
I still have several hard backs that I just can’t bring myself to get rid of.
Now, there aren’t any pictures but I think I can force myself to read this one. 😉
If you’re smart, Jimmy, you’ll never pick up a good comic book. They’ll ruin you from reading regular books!
They might at that, but I’ve got the book bug lately and my comics are piling up unread, even the great ones. Hopefully I’ll get caught up with some of those this weekend now that I’m done with these two books.
Of course I’m a ways into Star Trek: Vanguard and will probably be reading that as well. If you start reading now Jimmy we can be reading ST books at the same time! Awww….how cute is that! 😉
Well it’s gonna take me a couple of weeks to get through this book Jeff gave me. It’s pretty large.
Its huge!!!