Magic Jewball

Wow, I hate myself for titling this post that, it’s so trendy now. But really, once you see what I got in Portland, you will understand and forgive. See, they have this GIANT book store called Powell’s with new and used stuff and it takes up a whole city block and then some. I spent three full hours there! I have even sold them books, by mail, and if I could remember what exactly I had shipped them back in 2009 when I was clearing out space for the nine boxes of crap from my office at The Record Label, I’m sure I’d have gone and seen if they were still there. Instead, I headed immediately for the YA section, and while there was only one Norma Klein book (sob), I was rewarded with THIS FIND.

I know! I know! Only $11.95. Here’s the front view.

I can’t believe I carried a box set of books home, but I did. Also, two books that I didn’t have from Norma Fox Mazer. So.excited.

BTW, I already have a copy of AYTG? IMM so I may give away my other one, except it’s from my childhood and sentimentally reminds me of how baffled I was by the concept of a belt being involved with feminine hygiene. This is what happens when you read books which are already out of date by the time you hit puberty. But remember when I had some kind of attention span and inhaled books rather than blog posts and tweets? Good times!

Anyhoo, in other news, I’m home! I’ll be sharing last thoughts on the trip once I catch up on some sleep and other things that need to be done when you’ve been away for two weeks and left things like “the curtains fell down in the living room” to await your return. Also, I may re-read Then Again, Maybe I Won’t. Or Blubber. Maybe both.

Actually, I just noticed this set doesn’t have Deenie! Is anyone going to be in Portland anytime soon? Special consideration if you want to trade for a well-used copy of AYTG? IMM.

Talking Heads – The Book I Read

Well, here it is, my first rant about my trip. Lots of people will be unsurprised by the fact that it’s about Amtrak, but frankly, I’ve always had pretty good experiences with them. I guess this is the first time I’ve attempted to find out where all the dollars that the Northeast Corridor trains, with their high volume and overpriced fares, go. I took the Amtrak Cascades from Vancouver to Portland and it really couldn’t have been more annoying. For starters, it’s treated as though this is The First Train you’ve ever taken. Instructions on how to take trains and emergency procedures are given continually. Now, maybe it is for most people, but it still irritated me to no end.

But that was a small trifle compared to the whole seating arrangement. I suppose it’s my fault for not doing enough research, but it turns out that one side of the train sees glorious views and the other, for a good portion of the trip, sees a wall of dirt. I guess that might be OK (well, it isn’t but what can you do about it?) if they let people pick their own seats. But they don’t. They assign them based on your arrival time at the station (you can’t do it in advance). The train is at 6:40am which tells you how much effort is needed to get there early. I arrived at 5:45am which was the earliest you can get there by public transport. Most of the train was already on line ahead of me. Once on board, I found that I had missed getting a scenic side seat by two people. I know that because the couple who cut me got one and I didn’t. That’s another story that I’m really too bitter to tell. Beyond that, they seated a guy next to me who had a computer so getting up was an ordeal and once again, I was in front of a disruptive child. All this would have been fine on an east coast Amtrak, because I would have gathered my things and moved, or more likely, staked out a good seat from the beginning and maneuvered to get it. But here, frequent announcements demanded that you not switch seats as Amtrak had it all carefully planned for upcoming riders at other stops. They even declared that if you saw an empty car to not sit there because they were for future passengers and “we have our own system.”

I think this was the moment I began to boil with rage, looking at the dirt wall. You mean there were empty seats but they were sitting unenjoyed so that people getting on at Seattle or wherever could have them? Holy fuck. As if this weren’t enough, the fabulous system that NW Amtrak had in place seemed to work great as the people who came on there all had assignments for seats already taken by Vancouver people.

So here’s my advice, Amtrak: learn from your Eastern counterparts. Let people sit wherever they want. It all seems to work out just fine and has for years. People getting on at later stops get whatever seats remain, that’s the rule of the rails. I think this is why communism failed, you know?

This was the first train that I couldn’t wait to get off of. Naturally, it was late. Thanks, Amtrak!

And here’s my advice for future travelers: either get there reeeeally early, like 4:30am or else, after the border passport check about an hour in (you really are matched to your seat there), walk through and try to find a better seat. By Bellingham, though, I found that new people had already grabbed all the good ones. So your window on having anything decent is pretty short.

And now back to dodging hippies in Portland. There will be no pictures attached to this post. You’re welcome!

Hello from Vancouver!

I’m sorry I haven’t written. Well, I’ve tweeted. And checked in a lot via Facebook. But that’s no way to remind you of my existence when you have so many more interesting things going on in your lives.

You see, I’ve been distracted. By this.

Stunning, right? This place is lovely and that’s just the surroundings. It’s a really nice city, like New York except more laid back. In fact, I’ve seen my first hipsters since I left. I could have done without those, but no matter. It’s a bit overcast, but otherwise my favorite weather. And my feet are about to fall off from all the walking. Luckily, I’ve eaten twice as much to make up for it.

My hotel is right near the place where the riots took place and you see these boards all over:

If you can’t read the tiny messages, they are apologies for the damage. So nice and polite.

This is my last day in town and then tomorrow off to Portland. I have tons of other photos to show from my amazing train journey (things to say, probably, too) but that can wait till I get home. A place I almost forgot. Oh wait, it’s the town with all the hipsters. Yes.

And now off to stuff my face. I mean, explore.

Love,
Becca

Hey! I’m not in a coffee shop! Unfortunately, this means that there will be no picture today because I just don’t think my poor WiFi hot spot could handle it. No, I’m in the recreation car of VIA Rail Canada Train #1, just outside of Edmonton. In fact, we are stopped for no particular reason. I am imagining it is so they can search the train for Cary Grant.

The recreation car consists of some tables with checker boards on them and a continental breakfast, the continent being North America. The dry-erase board informs me that they will be having Bingo later as well as showing one of the Twilight movies. I think I will be in the observation car then or more probably asleep, as sleep last night was scarce, what with the jostling of the train car. I see an Ambien in my future. My compartment, the “Cabin For One” is adorable, if a bit cramped. We’ll see if I can get a decent picture but I’m not sure the angles of the space will permit it.

I had a lovely time in Saskatchewan, which I am informed I pronounce like a native, and I thank the lovely Holand for hosting me and showing me around. Tomorrow, we arrive in Vancouver and if they can de-wedge me from my cozy compartment, I’ll be on my own there and for the rest of the trip. Thanks for coming along! Imagine me making this whole speech again but in poorly-accented French for maximum authenticity.

This time I’m here in Regina, Saskatchewan, a province which I’ve discovered has as many people in it as my block in Manhattan. I got here via the means you see below (shown at the rest stop in Swift Current) and it was actually a much more pleasant journey than you’d imagine. I ended up getting a window seat and not being beheaded, my two main goals. (Actually, they now search your bags before getting on a Greyhound bus in Canada, something they don’t do in the states.) People kept telling me that the landscape was dull and endless but I found it fascinating. I’ve never seen so much sky in my entire life. Really amazing and lovely. And despite the child kicking my seat most of the trip, I enjoyed sitting next to a member of the one ethnic group I never get to ride next to on the subway: a native person. I thanked her by getting bits of my sandwich on her. Oops.

I also enjoyed our driver, who said things like this: “is anyone getting off in Moose Jaw? This is important… because we’re not stopping in Moose Jaw.”

Onward!