Booktastic Bus For Sale

My Mom isn't much of a book reader. She apparently used to be, before three kids, working her way through college, a full time job, and taking care of a household sucked up all her time. What she has always done though is read the newspaper. Every day, without fail, every section, all of it. She is also "one of those" who clips out newspaper articles and sends them to people. Oh, like her daughters. I can always count on her sending me any clippings that have anything to do with librarians, libraries, romance novels, or books in general. However, every so often she joins the 21st century, finds the article online and e-mails it to me. Which is what she did last night. And behold! The most wonderful blog fodder ever!

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the dormant Bookmobile for the Kalamazoo Public Library. The 1994 Venture Farber Specialty Vehicle has 119,000 miles on it and is currently for sale for the bargain price of $19,000, or any reasonable offer.

Like many libraries across the country, KPL is shuttering it's bookmobile due to declining demand for the service and a craptastic budget. Mom thinks I should buy it to put my TBR Mountain Range on wheels. Frankly, I'm thinking the So. Cal. Bloggers should buy it. Just think of the possibilities! We could be like a traveling band of book gypsies! Like the romance genre equivalent to the ice cream man! It could be like Travels With Charley minus the dog! Like Smokey And The Bandit, but instead of bootlegging Coors beer we could be transporting romance novels over state and county lines!

I wonder, does the Bookmobile come with a CB radio?

Frankly, I think the idea has merit, although when I told My Man about it he seemed less than enthusiastic. Some nonsense about "where would we keep it?" and thinking $19,000 could be better spent on something other than an old Bookmobile. Personally? I think he lacks vision.

The So. Cal. Bloggers traveling the country spreading the lurve of romance novels. A totally kick-ass idea if I do say so myself. Sort of like in this clip from one of my favorite South Park episodes. Um, back when South Park was still funny. Here the boys hop on board the Booktastic Bus and discover the wonder of...romance novels. That could be us. But with more swearing, and less "chicken loving" (seriously, this whole episode is warped, which is probably why it's one of my personal favorites).

Say Hello To My 15 Minutes

The June 2 episode of The Price Is Right is now online for your viewing pleasure. My sister gave me the heads-up via Facebook and sure enough she wasn't lying. We're on TV a lot! For those of you interested in catching a glimpse of my 15 minutes of fame? The best shots of me and the family are when Dandy (yep, his name is Dandy!) from the post office gets up on stage. Here are some admittedly not-great screen shots that I took to capture our moment of glory! Ha!





From left to right:

• My erotica-lovin' Lil' Sis who comments on the blog from time to time (she kicks ass!)

• It's a bird, it's a plane.....it's Super Librarian!

• My extremely excited mother who proceeded to tell us for the next week how much she loved going to see The Price Is Right.

• My mild-mannered father. He may look large and imposing, but inside he's all marshmallow center.

How awesome are we? Well, apparently not awesome enough to make it down to contestant's row....but minor detail.

Reminder: Wendy Does The Price Is Right!

A reminder that on Tuesday, June 2 (that would be tomorrow) you might be able to spot the Super Librarian (and family) in the audience shots of The Price Is Right! None of us got to "come on down" - but I'm thinking our bright red T-shirts will help us stand out. Especially since we were sitting in front of a big group from the USPS, who were all wearing navy blue, and because the Super Librarian father is a whopping 6'6" tall (for those who have met me is person - yes, that would be why I'm so tall). However, never fear. If you do miss it (or forget to set your TiVo), you can watch full episodes of the show online.

Also, be sure to check out yesterday's post for your chance to win my beat-up copy of Lightning That Lingers by Laura London. You've got until Friday to enter.

Be Sure To Have Your Pets Spayed Or Neutered

My Lil' Sis now lives in southern California, so when my parents were out here for their recent vacation/visit they got to see two daughters for the price of one. We divided up their time here between the two of us, but we also did some fun stuff together as a family. Awwwwww. One such fun thing was that we all went to The Price Of Right together!

So what was that experience like? Well first off, it's a massive time suck of a day. We got to the studio at 8AM to get in line for the 1PM taping and they were already full up! So we opted to try to see the 4PM taping, which meant killing time at a local diner for breakfast and getting back to the studio by 12:30PM to stand in a line, show our ID, stand in another line, get our name tag, stand in another line, get interviewed by the producers, stand in another line etc. etc. etc.

4PM finally rolled around and inside the studio we went. OK, I hate to shatter everyone's illusions but The Price Is Right studio is tiny! And rather cheap looking. It looks like this cavernous warehouse on TV and in person it's about the size of a college dorm room. Also we had been standing in one line or another all blessed day. I was wiped out! But they pumped in the music (I'm thinking the production staff are a bunch of alcoholics, because hearing YMCA by the Village People all day would certainly drive me to drink) and got the audience revved up. Everyone got so into it, that despite the dinkiness of the studio you can't here a darn thing the announcer is saying. They hold up cue cards with your name on it if you're selected to "Come On Down!" to contestants row.

I still miss Bob Barker, but Drew Carey did not disappoint. When there was a break in filming, he chatted with audience members, cracked jokes and even handled a militant vegan trying to convert him with a good sense of humor. He's very relaxed with the audience, and wasn't standoff-ish or snobby. Not an easy thing, I'm sure - since they filmed three shows that day! He had to be tired. I was, after standing in line all day, and I didn't have to be "on" for anyone.

Now to answer the burning questions. Nope - none of us got selected as contestants. A major bummer too since the Lil' Sis needs a car and I certainly wouldn't have turned away new living room furniture. Just sayin'. But I think we will make it on camera during the audience shots. My Mom bought us all bright red "Yes There Really Is A Kalamazoo!" T-shirts to wear and we were sitting in front of a big group from the USPS, who were all wearing navy blue. Plus, the Super Librarian Dad is 6'6". Makes him easy to spot in grocery stores, at ball games, and in audience shots on The Price Is Right.

Our show is set to air on June 2. Set your TiVos, DVRs or VCRs. Or heck, you can even watch it online. You just have to wait for June 2.

Vast Wasteland

I've been an atrocious blogger of late. This happens to me every once and a while. Some weeks I have a ton of crap ideas that I can ramble discuss, and other weeks what little creativity I possess flees the scene. And I'm here to report, it's only going to get worse.

That's right kiddies - it's that time of year again. The Super Librarian parents are, as I'm typing this, somewhere over the Midwest, winging there way to sunny southern California. The difference this year? They've got two daughters living out here. Yes, two daughters for the price of one! Can't beat that!

Since the Lil' Sis will be entertaining them part of the time, I will be sneaking into the office next week - mostly because the end of our fiscal year is killing me. I'm hoping that day and a half in the office will allow me to keep my e-mail in-box to around 300 messages. Ha!

What's on tap? We're doing Disneyland this year. Also, we're going to try to get into the Price Is Right. I plan on tackling Drew Carey and telling him (in no uncertain terms) that they will pick me as the contestant to play Plinko. This is of course assuming we're able to get tickets - which is not a given. I'll keep y'all posted!

I'll try to pop in on the blog every now and then - but I promise nothing. Seriously, my brain she be mush. In the meantime? The Super Librarian parents leave town on the 19th. Be good to each other, and hold off on any interesting flame wars. Boring, redundant flame wars? Heck, have at it.

PS - Yes, the above picture is yours truly at the ripe old age of 5. A wee little Super Librarian in training. Sigh, I know. I was cute as Hell. I'm not sure what the heck happened either. What I wouldn't give to still be that cute. Except, you know....not 5.