Park 51 and Anti-Muslim Sentiment Sunday, Sep 5 2010

As you are likely aware, there are plans for the community center/mosque being built a couple blocks away from Ground Zero. You are also probably aware of the controversy surrounding the issue and that national involvement that has ensued. Maybe you are a part of it. Maybe you’ve written letters, protested or simply been outspoken. I have become aware of the stances my various friends and acquaintances in different circles have taken regarding the matter. Maybe you are one of those who’ve made your voice heard or maybe you haven’t but have strong opinions, too.  But I haven’t heard what I’m about to say and that is why I feel I need to say it. This isn’t a political blog, but here is my assessment of the current political climate.

The above link is to an article that describes an observation that the current political climate is charged with anti-Muslim sentiment. I’ve personally seen a resurgence of such statements referring to the information in these e-mails, which state that Muslim terrorists could be deterred by the fear of going to hell and that somehow it is a good idea that we endorse utilizing this fear by dousing suspects in pig’s blood. Furthermore, it is a belief that the Muslims building and planning to attend the Park 51 mosque are suspect of terrorism. I don’t think it’s even necessary that I reference this; it is all over the opines and blogs and social networks and I’ve personally observed it on my own news feed. A couple of things that strike me as wrong about this sentiment are the misinformation about the nature and intent of the project and the wrongful association of all followers of Islam with terrorism. But I’m not even going to get into that in this blog post, because what saddens me most is who is saying these things because Christians are saying these things and I think it is totally inconsistent with the Christian philosophy.

I know I shouldn’t be shocked. I claim to be a Christian and don’t always live up to Christian standards, either. That is kind of the point of following Christ in the first place – you know, realizing we need Someone to follow. But the truth is these statements are meant to be shocking.

I’m just here to clarify, for my non-Christian friends that hate is not what Christ is all about. And I’m here to remind my Christian friends that they follow a God of love, not hate.

If you believe in a hell, do you really want other people to go to hell? Do you really want people to be scared of going to hell?

God’s desire is “that no one should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).” The Apostle Paul, who followed Christ, said that he wished he could be accursed for the sakes of those who rejected Christ (Romans 9:1-3). As the famous preacher Jonathan Edwards put it in the sermon The Character of Paul an Example to Christians, “How are those reproved by this, who, when they are abused and suffer reproach or injury, have thereby indulged a spirit of hatred against their neighbor, a prejudice whereby they are always apt to entertain a distrust, and to seek and embrace opportunities against them, and to be sorry for their prosperity, and glad at their disappointments.” (Read the full sermon here.)

When Paul wished he could trade places with others in order that they might be saved, he was exemplifying Christ, Who did just that (2 Corinthians 5:21). Christ told us to love our enemies (Luke 6:27-36), so what if the terrorists indirectly culpable for the deaths on 9/11 were building the Cordoba House and now want to send a different message?  We have to give them that chance.  What if the intent of the mosque turns out to be sinister after all?  Jesus said, “Turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:38-40).”

What an unbelievable thing to say! Precisely. Christianity sounds crazy. We inherently want justice. Jesus was a revolutionary.

For this reason, Rush Limbaugh and other Conservatives are popular. Jesus – the real Jesus – isn’t.

But popularity isn’t what matters. Don’t quote the talk shows because I can quote that many Bible verses that point towards forgiveness (Luke 11:2-4 and 17: 1-6 to name just a couple more passages).

“Okay, that’s all very well and good,” you might say, “but what about the victims?” You might concede that you do care about Muslims but ask “Why aren’t we being sensitive towards the victims of 9/11?” First of all, not all the families themselves of victims are opposed to the building of the Ground Zero Mosque. I agree that victims should be treated with sensitivity, but that idea has gone too far; it has led to the anti-Christian idea of vengeance. Recently I found this article, which suggested that victims can never be truly healed and in fact relive their torture until the perpetrators pay for their crimes so much they feel what they feel. This obviously goes against the whole concept of reconciliation, and Christians are given a ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). Our relationship with God is the basis for how we treat others.

No matter which way your religious convictions sway or how you feel about a mosque at Ground Zero – say it is tasteless and tactless and totally insensitive and bogus – this is America and it’s supposed to be a free country. At the very least, Americans ought to acknowledge and respect the right of others to practice their religions.

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Toy Story 3 Saturday, Aug 7 2010

A couple of weeks ago, My husband and I headed out to the movie theater without a plan. All we knew was, we had to get there by 7, because all the movies play at either 7 or 9 and we didn’t want to hang around until 9 and get home later. But we love movies and see one almost anytime we can get free babysitting, so had seen most of the movies playing locally. We decided to check out the theaters off island and found Toy Story 3 playing in 3D at 8. We hesitated because it felt silly to watch a cartoon without our toddler. On purpose. But it was either that or Salt, which got horrible reviews. And quite frankly, I don’t want to watch it out of spite towards the film’s marketing, which piggybacked on the breaking news of the Russian spy ring. (Angelina Jolie even had the cajones to invite Anna Chapman to the premiere.)

Toy Story 3 it was. And at least it was in 3D. Our son would not have sat through the movie, let alone keep his glasses on. Guilt atoned. And we were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed it. Yet again, the Andy’s toys are separated from him and determined to be reunited. However, Andy is growing up and the toys’ fates must be decided: will they be put in the attic to wait for Andy’s kids, put on the curb for the trash to pick up, donated to a Shawshank Redemption style daycare, or – is there another option? Surprisingly, the Toy Story series does not get old. Rather, it matures and stays relevant. It also helps that we’ve probably never stopped caring about all the beloved characters, just like we still remember our childhood toys with fondness.

My husband and I did not regret our choice that night. The movie made us laugh, touched our hearts and even moved us to tears. (I thought, “What’s happening? I’m tearing up over a movie? Over a movie about TOYS?! Well, played, Pixar.”) It’s so hard to say with Pixar’s UP close in the running, but I believe Toy Story 3 is the best family film to date, because it’s directly relevant to almost everyone and across generations.

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Stuff Christians Like Thursday, Jul 8 2010

If you haven’t read the website Stuff Christians Like, you should. It’s a blog that parodies Christian culture exactly the way Stuff White People Like parodies yuppy culture. Only Jon Acuff, author of the rip off, posts more often. (What is Christian Lander doing these days anyway?) And while Lander, of SWPL, scientifically analyzes White People in order to give minorities hilarious advice, Acuff’s satire is targeted more towards those it pokes at, with fun lists to check whether or not the topics apply to you, and more purposeful – as the author puts it, he tries to “clear away the clutter of Christianity, so people can see Christ.”

The blog is now a book, with the most popular posts, such as the “Side Hug” and some original essays, making it all the website is and more. The first essay, written for the book, is entitled, “Ranking Honeymoon Sex Slightly Higher than the Second Coming of Christ.” I let my father-in-law, a preacher, borrow this book and he opened it immediately. Suddenly, he was laughing so hard he could hardly breathe (which is kind of scary, since he’s had heart problems in the past); all of us present at the time of me handing him the book switched to alert mode, ready to dial 911. When he finally composed himself, he said, “The…first…chapter!” My husband and I smiled wryly and my mother-in-law looked puzzled, as if to say, “What on earth can be that funny?” When my father-in-law finally blurted out the title, he followed it up with, “You don’t know how many times I’ve heard ‘I just want to have sex first and then Christ can return!’”

As I said before, these essays are targeted towards those on the inside to help them see how ridiculous they can be. It’s almost like looking at oneself from the outside and I don’t doubt that many non-evangelical Christians or non-Christians will find the book just as entertaining I and my Christian friends did. If you’re reading this and you don’t get the above paragraph because you can’t relate and don’t have a Christian friend or co-worker, well, this book explains a lot of those weird bumper stickers. Although you may still need a guide at times. And you must be brave, my friend, very brave.

If you are reading this and you can relate to the “Side Hug” or “Ranking Honeymoon Sex Slightly Higher than the Second Coming of Christ,” well, this book is definitely for you. You will laugh but you will also grit your teeth. You will feel conviction and you will feel righteous indignation. But most of all, you will see the Church as Christ sees her, I think, because Acuff doesn’t get nasty and I think God also has a sense of humor. It can’t be easy, stripping people naked and then making them laugh yet properly ashamed of how they look rather than feeling humiliated and/or angry. But this is what Acuff does and continues to do on his blog every day.

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The Harry Potter Series Wednesday, Jun 2 2010

Wow, lofty goal, that – tackling the entire Harry Potter series – and while I don’t expect this review to compete with others, I’m still a little nervous. I’ve never read an entire review of the infamous book series about a boy wizard, but I’d have to live in a cave to not hear things. And I’m going to start off by making a bold statement: everything I heard was wrong. The Harry Potter books are not books of the occult, nor are they an attempt to convert to Christianity. They’re not children’s books, nor are they adult books just because of their theme. They’re not for nerds and they’re not for the masses. They’re both in and outside most of these things (the exceptions being the first paired statements). Publishers and readers recognize J.K. Rowling’s masterpiece for what it is, that something called timeless classic. That’s why the author was offered an unheard of amount for her first big hit, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, as it is known in the U.S.). That’s why it has millions upon millions of readers. It is not some well-designed conspiracy.

That said, it is true that the central theme of the series is death. And it’s also true it’s about conquering death through sacrificial love. It’s true that the series starts with an 11-year-old protagonist, but as he grows, so does the writing style, the depth of the mystery and the number of subplots and themes. This is actually a brilliant understanding of point of view. It’s true that geeks can latch onto a whole word of people, places, objects, subjects and spells. But Rowling’s knowledge of the world she has created – full of both old legend and fresh imagination – is one of the ways she creates a subversive fantasy adventure.

Another way in which Rowling grabs our attention is by grabbing our hearts with her characters. Sure, Severus Snape, one of the antagonists (or protagonists?) is right; Harry is indeed a snide, sneaky, sub-par student. But he’s confident enough to stand up to evil and humble enough to embrace remorse for his wrongdoings. And his average talents are what makes his victories so worth watching. He can’t defeat the Dark Lord alone; he needs his friends, who make up for his weaknesses.

Hermoine Granger, Harry’s female friend, makes up for most of his weaknesses. She’s clever, talented, sympathetic and scrupulous. It is she who prevents capture by quick-thinking and keeps Harry to his goal by her unabashed nagging.

Ron Weasley is the less gifted, principled, intelligent – well, everything – of the bunch, except that he’s the most humble and proves that fame (for Harry is already famous in the wizarding world when he enters it at age eleven) and success (Hermoine is the top student in their class) aren’t everything and friendship and love is both the reason and the means of fighting evil.

Among this trio of youngsters is a whole supporting cast of stern yet motherly figures, boyish yet sober father figures and more loyal friends. And all must stand up against the powerful and prideful Dark Lord, his faithful followers and the cowardly who seek protection in his shadow. Even these characters are portrayed so as to empathize with a tiny portion of their mistakes or plights.

It’s not just because of our love of her characters that Rowling is able to maintain the suspense throughout the series. Harry’s job is to survive, again and again, from the Dark Lord’s attempts to murder him. At the end of each of his school years, when Harry is traveling home for the summer, readers feel the tension that is the calm before the storm and the suspense mounts with each year. (Each book follows a year of Harry’s life.) We know that eventually, when Harry is of age, he will have his final battle with Lord Voldemort. It’s the suspense, wound with the desire to solve mysteries in the plot, that keep us turning pages as fast as we can while still absorbing enough information to understand the action.

The mystery element of the series is perhaps my favorite. I know she’s been compared to C.S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien but I’m not sure whether Rowling has gotten due credit for this other talent. One of the issues I have with most mystery writers is that they withhold information until the mystery is solved. Rowling never does this. All the clues are present before the explanation of how the puzzle was solved. The reader has to be observant to catch the clue but never has to pull at straws and it is so sublimely satisfying to reach a correct conclusion “on one’s own,” it’s like a drug. (Ya know, like chocolate, which by the way is mentioned in the Harry Potter books as a magical cure for sadness. I knew it!)

Basically my only complaint with the series is the resolution. A lot is resolved in the midst of action and when the action ends, there’s kind of a feeling of being dumped. Rowling does add an epilogue but only explains what happens to a choice few characters, most of whom are new (and we don’t really care about those, do we? No, we care about the ones with which we faced death – or, er, felt like it.) It’s just heart-wrenching, having those characters we cared about leave us without a proper goodbye. Or was that just me?

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Fall River, MA Friday, Mar 26 2010

Fall River, Ma

Fall River, Ma has the reputation in Southern New England as being a less-than-desirable place to live and even less desirable place to visit. The city of around 90,000 people is the eighth largest in Massachusetts. Formerly an industrial city, it has become residential. Taxes, however, remain low for both residents and businesses and Fall River Industrial Park is still home to dozens of businesses. Sadly, the last of the major mills, Quaker Fabrics, recently closed down. Fall River, as a blue collar city, never fared well during depressions.

Once the textile capital of the country, the Great Depression hit the city hard. It filed bankruptcy and it’s once swank downtown waned. Recently, the commercial South End has lost a movie theater.

Once a city of great beauty, with a waterfall, of course (hence the name), huge stone mills, quarry cliffs and cathedral spirals, one has to look hard nowadays to notice that most of these are still there. The 1960′s saw a building boom and unfortunately the Quequechan river was routed and the water fall closed. Mills, susceptible to fires, were not rebuilt. Quarry cliffs were filled in and built over. Most visitors to the Southern New England area pass the Fall River exits noticing only the city hall above the highway. However, one can still enjoy part of the Quequechan river; walk or bike around the Wattuppa pond; shop, work out or get scared out of one’s wits in a mill; see the Rolling Rock, which once teetered over a quarry cliff and visit gothic St. Anne’s cathedral.

And these are not all Fall River has to offer visitors if they try hard enough. Fall River is home to a railroad museum, marine museum, the nation’s largest collection of WWII naval ships – and, yes, the Lizzie Borden museum and bed and breakfast.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Lizzie Borden, she was the first woman in the nation to be tried for murder. Fall River is infamous for her but boasts a well-known chef named Emeril Lagassee.

Now we come to my favorite part of Fall River – the food! Since a lot of immigrants came to work in the mills, there is a lot of ethnic food in Fall River. Of course, being about 50% Portuguese (hence the nickname “Little Portugal”), you can find chourico, sweet bread and malasadas among other European delights. Speaking of bread and pastry, the bakeries of Fall River are my favorite. Come here for lunch to try Sam’s Lebanese meat pies or Marcucci’s Italian Grinders especially! If you are in the mood for something upscale, try Georgio’s for dinner. The owner is locally renowned for his fine dining restaurants and his cooking school in the city, which, sadly, was recently an unfortunate victim of the mortgage crisis.

For those of you who are afraid you’re going to get mugged or have your stuff stolen, rest easy. The number of violent crimes is not nearly as bad as those in Providence, in whose metro it is. Take it from a cop’s daughter, most of the crimes are domestic. Just use common sense!

And for those of you who don’t want to meet the residents of Fall River because they aren’t white or can’t speak English even if they are, stop being prejudiced! Sure, some green horns can be heard throughout the neighborhood but you’ll never find a harder working set than the Portuguese. Really. Just try to find an old Port-a-gee man who hasn’t renovated his three tenement home by hand, raised his own meat and worked at least two factory jobs.

Fall River is diverse. Yes, you will pass some projects. Yes, you’ll pass three-deckers. You’ll also pass half a million dollar Victorian mansions. You’ll pass pajama-wearing street kids and you’ll pass pass old men in deck shoes. You’ll pass litter and you’ll pass glorious sunset views of the bay.

Fall River may be a little uneducated, but it offers plenty of opportunity. Bristol Community College is the best community college in the region, offering more classes, more times and more qualified professors than the Community College of Rhode Island. I saw ONE six pack ring in the pond.

Also, there ARE some arts – Spindle City Ballet, Fall River Little Theatre and the Narrows Center for the Arts. And at least one good hospital – Charleton Memorial.  It is worth a visit.

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Siam Square Wednesday, Mar 17 2010

My husband is in a Biggest Loser, office edition, competition so being the supportive wife I am, I let him pick the restaurant last night. He picked Siam Square, offering fine Thai cuisine, quite possibly my favorite. It was a win/win situation. He got to eat healthily and tastily, feeling as though he hit the food lottery rather than being deprived.

First of all, the atmosphere in Siam Square is that of fine dining, with quiet music, tasteful decoration and fresh table linens. And the prices are only slightly higher than that of an average family restaurant. So it’s win/win in that regard as well. Both of us sat down feeling relaxed because we weren’t being bombarded with the Top 40, promotions or a dangling bicycle over our heads and because we weren’t paying top dollar to eat in said peace.

We each ordered an appetizer of fresh spring rolls from the daily specials menu. The dish included two large, cold, sticky rolls stuffed with cold noodles, crisp lettuce and carrots, cilantro and basil chicken; a cup of peanut dressing and an artistic garnish. It was – scrumptious! Yes, scrumptious is the only word that can describe it. Not yummy or even tasty; they’re not crispy enough. Not just crispy, though; it’s not delicious enough. Scrumptious.

Micah’s entree was brown rice and red coconut curry chicken and vegetables while mine was another one of the daily specials, larb gai salad. We both enjoyed them immensely but about mine, let me just say, wow! First of all, if Thai food isn’t my favorite cuisine, it’s the kind of cold salads you get at baby showers or picnics. And larb gai is the best of both worlds – cold, fresh, spicy, flavorful. It is the complete opposite of a burger and fries, which though good as a comfort food, is just not the plethora of varieties of taste bud sensations. Rather than leaving saying, “Mm, that was good but I feel like a stuffed sausage” I was psyched that I had such an experience and energized. This was my first introduction to larb gai and I hope it won’t be the last time it’s offered at Siam Square.

Wow, I think this is the first time I’ve ever given a restaurant a completely positive review.  Hie yourself to Siam Square, like, NOW!

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The Rabbit Room Saturday, Mar 13 2010

Here is another review of Alice in Wonderland.

The point in particular I like:

This is what the best fairy tales do. They’re not an escape from reality, but an escape to greater reality.

I would add that not only is illumination of reality what faerie tales do, it’s what they are.

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Fire + Ice Thursday, Mar 11 2010

Since Micah and I wanted to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D and it was playing at the IMAX for half price, we spent our time before the late showing for which we had tickets in the Providence Place Mall (where the closest IMAX is). We hadn’t been in awhile and looked forward to dining again at Fire + Ice, a favorite. Fire + Ice is an all-you-can-eat buffet/hibachi restaurant where you pick raw ingredients (kept cold on ice in an area called the market) and hand them over for cooking on the grill.

This restaurant has always been ahead of the trends. Before it was a staple starter like chips and salsa, Fire + Ice served pita chips and hummus. Now it serves Edamame and ginger dressing. It is surprisingly tasty though it is touted as one of the most healthful foods on the planet.

My first trip up to the market I created an Asian stir fry with Udon noodles, sirloin steak, vegetables and teriyaki sauce. My second plate was a stir fry of glass noodles, chicken, pineapple and Thai curry. That’s part of the fun of Fire + Ice. Your courses can be traditional, as there is a salad bar, or more like seconds.

Besides stir fries, you can create pasta tosses, fajitas or sandwiches, including burgers. All kinds of dishes were represented on the grill as I, along with others, watched the chef quickly grill everything at once.

Occasionally you will get a really interactive chef, but our chef this night was a polite subdued. The second time I went up to the grill, he recognized me and asked how I had liked my first dish. In other restaurants, unless the chef comes out to greet you, you don’t get this kind of connection to the kitchen.

I always feel as though I could eat at Fire + Ice all night, but as I said, my chef remembered me….

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Alice in Wonderland Wednesday, Mar 10 2010

Alice in Wonderland has been criticized for not being true to the books upon which it is based but I fortunately have not yet read The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass from cover to cover. Usually I am a stickler for that sort of thing. But I enjoyed Tim Burton’s take immensely. All the themes and characters are there including plenty of heart, which is lacking according to one review.

The heart of the story is a young woman finding herself, which is not what she has been defined by society or even her own perception of herself as represented by the characters in her dream. Alice learns that she is much more.

What is not to like? Even a stickler for rules (this girl) can really get behind this story.

Another criticism is the portrayal of Wonderland. Some believe it to be too dark. In comparison to contemporary films, it is really just a little dusky. After all, that’s what you get with a queen like the Red Queen. And what would Alice have to conquer if it were all sunny? She must conquer in her dream or she will never conquer in real life.

And did anyone notice Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter? Did they watch the same movie because the one I saw had Johnny Depp moving me to almost tears. As the Mad Hatter. Anyone else might have tried to make him one dimensional. Helena Bonham Carter, for that matter, portrayed surprising depth as the Red Queen. I actually felt kind of sorry for her, the “off with their heads” lady.

Off with the critics heads and you, my friends, are late for a very important date.

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Not Your Average Joe’s and Baker Books Wednesday, Mar 3 2010

I was starving.  He was not hungry at all.  But we had to seize the moment to have a quiet dinner, just the two of us.  We were sure it would not happen again for at least a week.  The thing is, when you’re starving, you’re in the mood for everything and when you’re not hungry at all, you’re in the mood for nothing.

Solution: Not Your Average Joe’s, a local chain restaurant of “creative cuisine.”   Surely, we could find something here for the both us – something to appease my rampant desires and something to rouse my companion out of apathy.  The problem with Not Your Average Joe’s is that every Joe is there.  We hardly ever visit because the wait time is always 40 minutes, even on a weekday night.

But as I said, it was our only option for happiness.  We sat in the cold, small breezeway and jumped every 10 seconds or so when the door slammed open and squeaked shut.  After a minute, I suggested we walk over to Baker Books, a local bookstore.

When we guessed our time was nearly up, we sat in the breezeway of the restaurant again. Finally, our pager told us that our table was ready.  We were pleased to be seated in the back of the restaurant, away from the bar, kitchen, hostess podium, restrooms and the blasted door and settled down to look at the large list of daily specials and unique menu.

While our waitress set down our basket of fresh Ciabatta bread and poured olive oil into a mound of Parmesan cheese and sprinkles of red crushed pepper, we ordered our usual drinks.  They came just when we had just settled on an appetizer, Crispy Asian Chicken Rolls.

While we waited for those, we deliberated on our entrees.  Not surprisingly, I settled on a creative dish , barbecue chicken pizza, while Micah chose a classic, cheese pizza.  Again, we had barely settled before our waitress was ready to take our order, which was a relief to my now famished-to-the-point-of-survival-mode-self.  Overly grateful, maybe.  But I also have to admit that at some restaurants, you are seated soon enough but end up waiting a lot during your meal.

Finally, we dug into the bread that had been tempting to distract us from our immediate task.  Caramelized onions baked into a golden crust atop fluffy yet almost gooey goodness did not disappoint.  And did the Parmesan actually melt into the oil, turn the oil dip into a rustic type cheese dip?  Savory.

Before we could finish the basket (thankfully, because it was too good to stop eating but filling) our Crispy Asian Chicken Rolls arrived.  Deep fried egg rolls were sliced in half and sitting atop Asian slaw.   I helped myself to a scoop of slaw and a half roll, pouring peanut sauce over the noodles cradled inside.  I love any kind of slaw and really enjoyed the different kinds of vegetables in this one but my enjoyment was eclipsed by the chewy noodles and crispy, flaky shell of the egg roll.  Our waitress told us they were very spicy but I have a high tolerance for heat and thought there was enough tang to balance it.  Satisfying.

We finished our appetizer but didn’t wait long for our pizzas.  I took a bite of mine and thought it tasted rather plain and remembered it was supposed to come with red onions and scallions.  We found our waitress and inquired about the description on the menu.  After she confirmed my memory, she brought the rest of the pizza back to the kitchen and came back to explain how the onions were left off  (no onions were the number one request and I had already made a request) and how long I could expect to wait.   In the meantime, she could keep my companion’s pizza warm.

When my pizza finally was topped, it looked and tasted much better.  The crust was as savory, thin and crispy; the barbecue sauce was spicy and tangy; and the onions added the sweetness it was missing while the scallions added a slight green bitterness.  Flavorful.

I could eat only half my pizza but was tempted to get dessert.  After all, if the meal was this good, the dessert had to be worth pushing myself.  Instead I got an espresso drink called Mocha Madness – espresso, chocolate, steamed milk, Kaluha and Bailey’s topped with whipped cream and garnished with a piece of cinnamon biscotti.  I lingered over the biscotti and sipped a couple of ounces of the generous portion before I had felt like I had eaten a box of liquor-filled truffles.   Rich.

Savory, Satisfying, Flavorful and Rich.  I hadn’t gotten that in one meal in a long time.  We were both happy with our experiences, also something that hadn’t happened in a long time.  More than 40 minutes time.  So by the end of the night, we were glad we had waited only such a short time.

Baker Books is located in a huge, building in the German architectural style that immediately captures the imagination.   Inside, along the walls, books climb all the way up to the ceiling on shelves accessed by rolling ladders.  In one corner, wrought iron tables and chairs in the French style are arranged in front of a pastry case.  On the opposite end of the store is a little wing dedicated to the children’s section and in between are shelves at head height donning stimulating and educational categories such as “Our picks,” “On NPR,” “Local Authors” and “Irish” (in recognition of St. Patrick’s Day).

I found a magazine of interest but did not find the second Harry Potter book. However, the latest, still a bestseller, was 20% off.  And the store stocked books by all kinds of independent and small publishers, making it a great place for browsing and either the latest and bestselling or hard-to-find but not so much the in-between.  Apparently, it, too, is not so average.

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