A History of Me: In boots!

Fernando and I were shopping today, and we were talking about what I wanted for my birthday, when I spotted this from the corner of my eye, in the window of the home brew store:

When I was in grade 2 or 3, I think, our mother brought home 2 mugs just like this--one for me and for my brother. We loved them. We had a ritual every Friday night where we would watch The Dukes of Hazzard and have a bag of chips and a bottle of pop each, and this became The Favored Pop Mug. If you drank from it at the right angle, it splashed pop in your face... which was the whole fun, of course.

We are now the proud owner of two mug boots.

And the public offer is going out to Brother Pablo--if he wants one of the mugs, I'll give one to him. Otherwise, Fernando and I will sit on our little couch, with our little boots, and carry on the family tradition.

what to reeeeaaaad... the exciting conclusion!

Canada Reads is a "battle of the books" on CBC that started during my days at the bookstore, in 2002, but I've never set out to read one one of the winners.

This year Canada Reads came to a close at just the right time--when I'm cycling 'round to a Literary Mood. Because I was more interested in researching my writing, I didn't read a lot after finishing school last year. Only a couple months ago I got Back in the Mood, and I read:
- a serious mystery
- 2 romances
- 1 chick lit
- 1 *cozy* mystery
- 1 serious mystery

Which means now my mood is turning either to sci fi/fantasy, or literature. So I ordered me up a copy of the Canada Reads winner: The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (45% off at indigo.ca !) Incidentally, it has a different name in the US and some other countries, because the word "negro," which is sort of mildly distasteful in Canada, has much more pejorative connotations elsewhere, and they were afraid black readers would disdain to even pick the book up. The title comes from an historical document the author found, detailing the African-Americans allowed passage up to Nova Scotia in the 18th century.

I expect to get through a lot of reading this month, as I'll be cat-sitting for a friend, and therefore commuting longer.