Adding to the book talley. I went into the bookstore attempting to buy only the complete illustrated guide of European costumes. It's in color -- the rest are in black and white. Hard to tell what costumes to put people in for opera scenes when you can't see the fabrics. However, I digress. I walked out with 5 books. Couldn't resist. I bought; The field guide to American Victorian Furniture, The encyclopedia of Antiques, The dictionary of Antiques, and When I am old I shall wear purple (for my mother who loves the poem). So there. My dad gave me the idiot look when I walked in with another stack having just packed two boxes of them. But there are only two things in the world that I buy without regret -- books and shoes. In that order. You can never have too many of either. Now I'll go back to being frugal again -- until the next book sale, or Nordstrom's half-yearly.

Explain to me why rich people don't tip. They have the money. They spend thousand of dollars to come to the ranch. What's so hard about leaving an extra couple of bucks to make our lives easier? And then, I sing 5 or 6 songs in the bar with Bill the accompanist, and they tell me how wonderful I am, and how much they're rooting for me, and good luck on my career....and they still don't leave anything. Don't they realise that if they REALLY wanted to help me out they could..I don't know...GIVE ME MONEY SO I CAN STUDY NEXT YEAR INSTEAD OF WORKING THREE JOBS??? Strange people. They act all astonished -- "why on earth are you HERE instead of out singing somewhere?" Well, one has to raise money to be able to afford to sing...its not really lucrative right off the bat. So, to all the rich people out there who refuse to put their money where their collective mouths are...If you mention the Alisal should you happen to see me at the Met, don't expect an autograph based on "you knew me when." So there. I'm done being bitter now.

Alright, so another fine day in the world of insanity. The insurance company declared my car totalled...looks like I'll be driving my mothers van back to texas. Well, it's the perfect "soccer-mom" car to match my "soccer-mom" purse. (thanks matt -- I actually found a bigger one and bought it...much easier to fit a book or two in there). And if I find an amazing antique that I absolutly must buy, I can actually haul it -- instead of trying desperatly to meet someone with a truck. And between Aaron and I, we can now fit approximatly the entire youth group and their various sundries into two vehicles (congrats on the new minivan -- we match!) So tomorrow I have to go kiss my car goodbye, and remove anything I have left in it. Poor thing! In memoriam.....