38. Super Freakonomics

Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner


The tag line on the cover of the book says, "the explosive follow-up to Freakonomics".  Yeah. Not explosive at all. Moderately informative maybe.

The original book, Freakonomics, was a huge bestseller that I finally got around to reading this summer because it was on a few school reading lists. I liked it okay, but only because I am a sucker for random facts and trivia, which is what these two books seem to be. While I'm not an expert on economics beyond the unremarkable class I took in college, I have a feeling that "real" economists are none too pleased with these books.

What the authors are good at is analyzing events and presenting them in an interesting way; they are great marketers. If you pick up a book and read that one of the chapters is called "How Is A Street Prostitute Like A Department Store Santa?", you are going to be intrigued and want to know more.  In some places, though, the authors' cockiness (I'm sure from their time spent on the New York Times bestseller list) shows up in the writing and that was a huge turn-off.  Also, it felt like some of this was left over from the cutting room floor of the first book.  I really could have skipped this one.

Uptown Literati

Last week I was featured on a cool blog called Uptown Literati: Cool Chicks Who Love Great Books.  Every Friday they feature the reading list of cool chicks and last Friday it was me! I was so thrilled, it is just a great blog.
Check it out here.

Butterick 5221

Before I can get started on sewing some core pieces, I decided to sew these pants that I already had cut out.

I made them in a lightweight denim that I treated myself to from Gorgeous Fabrics last year. As I've stated before, I have had a problem making pants since my weight gain and was determined to keep trying.  I chose the size based on my hip measurement (which was a shocker and I will not share it) and would adjust the waist later if it turned out to be too big.  Well, fortunately, I seem to gain wait all over proportionately, because the hips fit as well as the waist. I was too excited.  Sorry for the crappy picture, but here it is:

I really like wide legged pants and although they make me look huge in this picture, I'm really happy with the way they turned out.  On to more sewing.

37. Retail Hell

How I Sold My Soul to the Store : Confessions of a Tortured Sales Associate
by Freeman Hall

If I were a writer, (which I am not) this is the book I would write when I finally left retail.  Freeman Hall details his career as a handbag salesman at Big Fancy, a chain department store in the Los Angeles area.  He moved to LA to be a screenwriter, but like most of us, took a retail job to tide him over until his real dream job came through - and got stuck there.

Because he had previous experience in selling menswear, he applied for that department.  Unfortunately, there were no openings so they placed him in the handbag (don't call it a purse) department.  Hall became the first male handbag salesmen at that store, and at first the customers didn't like, and neither did he.  His co-workers gave him a crash course in all things Marc Jacobs, Kate Spade, and Coach. He caught on quick and the journey began.


What follows is a hilarious account of the crazy customers, co-workers, and bosses that can ruin an otherwise smooth day in retail. I could relate with every story he told:

• the chronic returners, who swear they never used the bag before, but have left all sorts of forgotten personal items in it.
• the cheapskates who refuse to pay full price for anything and will try to haggle with you within an inch of their life
• the shoplifters who take advantage of the store's customer service policies to return, for cash, product you know they stole
• the nasties - having explosive diarrhea in a fitting room, touching product after wiping your runny nose with your hand - I'm stopping there because I'm making myself sick.

 The book sometimes gets bogged down with Hall's imaginary scences taking place in the store (he is an aspiring screenwriter, after all), but this by far is one of the funniest books I've read all year. Pick it up especially if you work in the service industry.
Oh, and Big Fancy is actually Nordstrom. 

 

Fabric Purchases

A few posts ago, I talked about creating a core wardrobe including some nice boring pieces for work.
Right after that Fabric.com had an incredible sale and it just so happens that it was my payday as well.
This is what I got:

Nice and plain, right? The top piece is 5 yds of black wool stretch suiting material that I think was about $5 a yard.  The second piece is 5 yards of a Ralph Lauren chino fabric that I have been stalking since they got it in a few months ago. It had been marked down to $1.95/yd! There is still some left, but don't everybody take it all!  The third piece is about 2 1/2 yds charcoal grey wool stretch suiting - same as the first piece.  The last piece is a couple yards of black poplin probably for a button down shirt.  I only wanted to spend $40 and with a 30% off coupon and free shipping under $35, I was able to stay within budget!  I ordered it on Friday and received it on Tuesday - even with that Monday being a holiday.  Plus they send you some motivation:

36. The Lost Symbol

by Dan Brown

You can tell by reading this blog that I don't read a lot of "popular fiction".  I have to tell this to my customers all the time. I am not the person to ask about the latest James Patterson or Danielle Steele. I used to read that type of stuff when I was younger and there didn't seem to be much else available, but now the literary world has opened up so much more. There are just so many more diverse stories being told today.  And don't even get me started on whether James Patterson is even writing his own books...

Why am I reading Dan Brown books then, you ask?  There are a few reasons.  I read them for the information, not the craft of the story.  As a huge conspiracy theorist, who went through a serious New World Order phase, I am fascinated by the subject matter that he tackles.  The Illuminati.  The Freemasons.  Secrets being held in the Vatican (y'all know they got books of the Bible in there that they don't want us to see!).  I'm all over that stuff.  Then he publishes The Lost Symbol and places it in DC, my hometown?  That place is full of symbolism.  I said I was done with Brown after The Da Vinci Code, but felt obligated to read this one, too.

Robert Langdon returns, as do all of the formulas that Brown relies on:

• Langdon is called to solve a crime that only he knows how to
• A major secretive organization is behind it - The Freemasons
• A crazy fanatic believes to closely in the symbolism of the secretive organization and takes it too far
• A hot, smart woman will help Langdon along the way, but their relationship will never be consummated
• A let down ending involving an elementary plot twist that I will guess halfway through the book

While I loved the subject matter, Brown is not skilled enough to deftly combine all the factual information with the fiction story that unfolds.  I wished I would have waited for the movie, which I'm sure will be awesome.  But in the meantime, I think that I'm going to read Occult America  and The Secret Architecture of our Nation's Capital.

35. The Black Girl Next Door

A Memoir

by Jennifer Baszile

Having grown up in the Chocolate City, and gone to predominately Black schools from preschool through college.  The only time I would see White people was on television or maybe at the mall. So, I don't have any experience being the "other".  I have always been surrounded by "my own" and the comfort that comes with it.

Jennifer's story is much different than mine.  When her family moved to the predominately White, upper middle-class suburb of  Palos Verdes, California, she literally became The Black Girl Next Door.  Her parents want for their children what most parents do: to have a better life and opportunities than they did.  Jennifer spent much of the first 18 years of her life trying to fit into a world that wasn't necessarily made for her - wanting to portray Harriet Tubman for a school function when the less controversial Rosa Parks is forced upon her; wanting a makeover for a school dance and having the counter lady (who obviously has no experience with dark skin) turn you into a clown; having to have "appropriate" Black boys imported in just to have a social life.  While she has to work hard to assimilate, her parents also expect her to retain some sort of Blackness and follow rules that are never quite spelled out for her.

I found this to be a great memoir, especially near the end of Jennifer's high school career when an event at home kind of explodes.  Consquently, she becomes more aware of her personal power and just more of herself, period.  The fact that I came of age and could recognize a lot of the cultural references made it that much more wonderful.