I remember in the dawn of this blog, I refused to make this a chronicling my life online diary type deal – but a day as rewarding as this one deserves a note. It began with breakfast, accompanied by a light fresh morning movie – Iron Man. Let me just say there is no better way to start the day than by enlightening a friend by exposing her to the awe that is Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. I’m considering making it part of the daily morning routine. Breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed, watch Iron Man with an unfortunate newbie and make his/her life better.

We planned to bring bags-o-books to sell to the local used bookstore but first went to Java K’s Coffeehouse, for a smoothie and a cherry white chocolate frozen mocha something that was really good. At Java K’s, and most coffeehouses, they have the open bookshelf system set up, where you can take a book if you leave a book. Amidst the Dean Koontz and romance “novels”, I found a completely random book titled “I Before E (except after C).” It was a guide of helpful mnemonics and techniques for remembering such things as the order of the planets (though irrelevant after the whole Pluto debacle) , when to use lay/lie, order of the presidents… etc. It was an unexpected find that was both useful and intriguing. I traded it out. First sign that today was a good day.

Onward to the main event: Ed McKay’s. I am not sure if I could ever accurately express my love for Edward McKay’s. It is a used bookstore where you can buy/sell used books, cds, movies, iPods, video games, audiobooks, game systems, board games… everything (pretty much). It has an environment.. that simply cannot be fabricated. It has genuine uniqueness and starving artist vibe that should come off as sketchy but surprisingly doesn’t. I love the place for the thrill of the hunt – going in never knowing exactly what you will find but 99% of the time coming out completely satisfied. The trick is to go in without expectations. If you are looking for something particular, you will not find it. Such is the nature of Ed McKay’s. You have to go in open minded, and let it led you.

I visited the grand ole Edward McKay’s today with a friend and the thought of buying anything was not in my mind. I had come bearing books and games to sell. I was not going to be a customer today. I brought my items to the corner and while they were sorting my junkpile into stuff they wanted and didn’t want, we perused the store.

Being the cheap-os we are, we hit up the Free Section. My friend found the oldest copy of Hamlet ever; I believe it was copyright 400 B.C. if I remember correctly. She also spotted a book for me; it was an old literature textbook, I guess, just filled with Poes,Emersons, Wordsworths, Shakespeares, Emily Dickinson, Faulkners…918 page collection of shorts stories and poems placed into chapters, each with a focus on a certain literary element. For free. Thank you, Ed McKay’s. Thank you. I also found a free copy of All Quiet on the Western Front. I had attempted to read it once years ago and it just didn’t appeal to me. Suddenly, I was intrigued to try it again (no one can resist the allure of something free). This was satisfactory enough to be classified as a good run in my opinion, but the doubleplusgoodness continues.

We moved on to the dvd section. My friend has a dangerously tiny movie collection, and we found that unacceptable for a rising college student. So the trip was meant for her, to help expand her movie collection into something admirable. And that’s when I saw it.
There, leaning on Bargain Movie Bin…was Chocolat with Johnny Depp. For $3. By coming in here with the selfless intentions that I had, the store had rewarded me. Take note, that I have never seen Chocolat, and I only first heard of it referenced in I Love You, Man – but that was all I needed to know this movie is a classic… and would not at all feel out of place sitting next to Donnie Darko and Army of Darkness on my movie shelf. It was the sort of perfect joke and at the perfect price. It was quite serendipitous. It was quite serendipitous.

We searched the rest of the store and I grabbed $5 Fight Club, $4 Alien Ant Farm, $1 Poe and headed to the counter to collect a total of $102 for the books and games (half of which is my brothers’). Not a bad haul. Not a bad haul at all.

The cashier reviewed my selections and brought to my attention that Chocolat was in Thai and subtitled. Even better, I thought. We paid, left, and when I got home, I noticed a couple tiny marks on the spine of All Quiet on the Western Front, no doubt doodled there by the previous owner. I looked closer and gasped at what I saw. Swastikas. Awkward.

So, here I am now, hours upon hours later, reviewing my collection. It is beautiful, in a random, broken way – like starring onto the Island of Misfit Toys. They all had different backgrounds, had taken different paths but they had all found a home here. I unexpectedly acquired these things and it’s interesting how they all came about. I didn’t ask for this things (okay, I have ANThology on a list of about 1000 cds I want so I asked for that) but they came to me. To have a day as filled with this many goodies I have to wonder where I went right. This is karma at work here; Thai dubbed Chocolat is a sign of good things to come.

Also, let me just say, there is no better way to end the day than by exposing a friend to the antics and wild-ings of White House Correspondents’ Dinner (even if Jay Leno is the speaker). Brush Teeth, wash face, get in pajamas, show one more soul the sunny side of politics in the roast-like insults-hidden-in-punchlines humor that powers the WHCD. Go to bed, then do it all again.

This one’s for you, Chocolat. Aw shuck, it’s for the whole gang! Just one look at you guys and I know it’s gonna be…a Lovely Day