Deep Thoughts: Part II

To file under the "random ramblings" category:

How is it that if you're sitting up straight for the majority of the day, working diligently on a computer, you end up with a crink in your neck? Weren't our necks designed to stay in the "upright, locked" position? And why do we call it a "crink" anyway when it's still straight?

What is it about being tired that loosens the tear ducts so that's it's easier to dissolve into hysterical laughter and wind up crying as if the joke was the best you'd heard in a good long while, when in fact it was probably only mildly funny, but you were just so tired you couldn't stop laughing?

How on earth do children have so much energy to run around like little turbo-charged engines, and why is it the sight of them doing so makes those watching them feel old and exhausted?

If daytime is essentially the time when it's light outside and most people are awake, at their busiest, why refer to the the 24-hour period which includes several dark hours when people are dead asleep as a "whole day?"

Is it just me or does no one else think it's weird for a so-called "White" wine to actually be pink?

Why do they say "the taxman cometh" when, in fact, it's the citizen that has to do the cometh-ing? Last I knew, H & R Block wasn't making house calls.

Deep Thoughts: Part 1

I think we can all agree that hot soup was made for rainy days when you are desperate to take the chill off. Soup-and-sandwich, whether that be tomato-and-grilled cheese or Panera's Broccoli & Cheese with a turkey artichoke panini, is practically perfect in every way.

But I personally hold that ice cream also tastes better on rainy days. And judging from the brisk business Papa Jack's in Victor was doing tonight about 7 p.m. in the misty drizzle, I'm not the only one who thinks so. And for some reason, this is especially true for soft-serve. If you want your twist-in-a-cone to be especially delicious, I recommend eating it under some kind of canopy or awning where you're still "outside" to enjoy it, but the rain isn't ruining your palette's parade.
I dare you to try it.

Besotted by Books

For readers of the ReD Zone who don't know me that well, I have a confession:
I am addicted to books.

It doesn't matter if they are online, on the shelf at a bookstore or my local library, I can spend hours-- HOURS people!-- browsing titles, skimming chapters inside, and blinking my contacts dry comparing this selection with that one, then turning a corner only to find -- aha!-- an even more intriguing book. Do I want "1,001 Commonly Misspelled Words" or "The Busy Girl's Guide to Looking Good? Both are awfully practical .... hmmm .... And hey, which"Rival Crock Pot's Slow Cooker Recipes" is the better buy, spiral-bound or the fun, hard-back "shape?" I mean, both are $7.98. Get me inside almost any major bookstore and you -- er, the sales clerks-- are guaranteed I won't leave without spending money. Usually a lot of it.

My friend Emily and her mom have the perfect signature phrase to describe the compulsive shopping impulse that takes over: "I blacked out and when I woke up, all this [__item of choice__] was in my cart." They fill in their "blank" with toys for children; I fill mine in with books. Neither one of us comes to until we're in line to check out. Even then, it's near torture putting something back in a half-hearted attempt to hold out for a far lower price at half.com.

Let's put it this way: a visit to my sister's in PA feels incomplete until I've gone to the bookstore less than 10 minutes from her house (I'm sooooo jealous!). My family pretty much understands that once I head that way, they won't see me again for a few hours, or more likely, an entire afternoon.

And you know it's an addiction when you've already put in a 9-hour day and yet, for some odd reason, the wheels of your car just magically turn toward the nearest bookstore. That's what happened tonight. Forget tired. Forget rushed. Barnes & Noble requires a bit of stopping to smell the roses, so to speak. The one up near my "new" office in Pittsford has a sale annex and several shelves of used books, where I scored Emma Thompson's "Sense & Sensibility Screenplay and Diaries" for $4, among other worthy deals and steals. (That's right, hook me with one of my favorite movies, packaged in book form, and I'm done for.)

And since Pittsford's B & N also boasts a Starbucks cafe that not only serves coffee, but panini sandwiches, strata and cheesecake, well, let's just say I'm set. I could easily spend an entire day, or, I venture, entire week inside without getting bored or hungry. I'm not kidding. I do imagine, however, I would ultimately leave flat broke. But I'm sure I'd be smiling.

Hi, my name is Rachel D. and I'm a (book) addict. And now, if you'll excuse me, a screenplay is calling my name.