smileyjess

i know even the nerds will snicker at this, but i love to read. there is just nothing better than slipping into a nearby dunkin' donuts (thank you once again for that delightful $1000 scholarship... oh, and thank you for the creation of the large coconut iced coffee with skim milk - rather dark - and 3.5 sweetnlows) then jetting over to a wonderfully air conditioned bookstore where i browse the new hardcovers and bestselling fiction and top ten bestsellers, in that exact order.

usually i end up with two or three books in arm before hitting the magazine section where i almost always pick up the latest issues of national geographic traveler and vogue, their perfectly unrolled and unfolded glossy covers remind me to turn the pages slowly, allow me to soak up the vibrant images of faraway places i mark at home with thumbtacks and feverishly red-inked circles on a giant world map. even the ads seem beautiful and inviting.

i plop into a secluded chair by the sat prep section - no one ever really comes over here, anyways - sink into the smooth leather and peer curiously at the books on the floor, encircling my feet, the books of the chair's previous occupants that didn't quite make the cut, didn't quite appeal enough, didn't quite grab her interest.

i sit for one hour, sometimes two. i forget where i am, rarely interrupted save for an underclassman looking for those terrible 500 page math prep books or a super annoying cell phone ring from two aisles over. the ice melts and the coffee in the bottom quarter of the chilled plastic cup loses its flavor - i never can manage to down a large, anyways! - beads of sweat roll down its sides and a barely noticeable ring of water droplets is left on the stiff carpeting. i stand and my back cracks audibly. i carefully place dustjackets in place, absentmindedly marking my page (it's just a habit now).

if i make it to the line, i twirl the display of three inch by three inch books, spotting some interesting ones - mini zen gardens, kama sutra for beginners, zodiac explanations. oh, i can never pass up a card display either. all my life my mother has expressed her utter hatred of hallmark and their creation of some unncessary necessity for a card for every occasion - flag day, arbor day, patriot day, etc. but i love them. the funny ones, the blank ones, the invented holiday ones.

anyways, i wrote this so you'd know i saw a book and thought of you.