I went to Barnes and Noble after work. I wandered the store looking lost and bewildered. If I wasn’t in my work clothes they would have mistaken me for an invalid that ran away from his court-appointed guardian.
This was the first time in months that I was in a bookstore for pleasure. I used to love Barnes and Noble, but today everything looked ridiculous. There were aisles romance novels, get-rich-quick, find-jesus, John Grisham-bootlegs, and Jillian Michaels1 with her dominatrix glare.
Oh and Twilight. The horny-teen-vampires were everywhere. Harry Potter has been replaced by werewolf abs.
All of the magazines looked terrible. J-Lo was famished. Ashton Kutcher was airbrushed. Paula Deen was cracked out and Oprah looked tired.
I bought Writer’s Digest and drove home. The magazine is still in the bag. I am tired and can’t be bothered.
I leave for Miami on Thursday, so my days consist of getting up, going to work, coming home to walk the dog and sleep. No one is forcing me to work full time over the break, but I have a job, and that job is contingent on me being a student. Without any guarantee that my company will hire me after graduation, I cannot justify working less than full-time now.
Barbri expenses are around the corner. Rent. Emergency fund. Coffee. I’m a chipmunk hoarding acorns for a long winter.
Plus work is fun. I’m with classmates and students from other schools. Someone is always has a story about a professor, family member, interesting case or class. There’s coffee, constant laughter, and yes, a paycheck. Novels and magazines can wait. Things are fun right now.
1 And you know I own a Jillian Michaels book (see here)
