More etiquette lessons: Never ask a person's race. If you can't tell, you don't need to know. Also, in other news, I found a new book shop today. It's called Book Trader, and is on Quince, I believe. Very nice- all used books, nicely put into sections such as romance, sci fi, African American,etc. It lacked the clutter of Xanadu, another used book store we have frequented. Although, I do not believe that Book Trader has music lessons or copies of High Times, either. It's pure books.

The owner noted that we could bring in our used books. I thanked him as I walked out with The Bluest Eye, The Kitchen God's Wife, and some book about self help/self defense black groups in the 70s. This bundle cost $12, not cheap cheap, but still fairly priced. It was a nice little find.

In other book notes, I have been enjoying Amy Tan's The opposite of Fate, because I enjoy hearing about other people's crazy families and their neurosises. There is something quite friendly I perceive about the ability to let people know that you are not the perfect creatures we are expected to be.

So when Amy Tan talks about how she once nearly ran over the Queen of Sweden on her skis, or her wonderment about the many mistakes people make about her life, such as thinking she is a Nobel Prize winner, it's really more endearing than anything. That's why I like books more than TV, actually. TV is more about outer life, and books are about the inner life. I already see the surfaces of people, and am interested more in their depths.