Valet Reader

It’s only Tuesday today but I am writing this post for you all now. The rest of this week is being reserved for family. Unfortunately my grandmother has passed away and there is not much more to say, I am very sad and subdued. I know my family and I will bounce back as we always do and in due time things will be as “normal” as they can. I know that my grandmother knows that I love her very much and that one day I will see her again.

Refresh.

It is Sunday and I am returning to San Francisco after a very sorrow filled week. My family and I laid our grandmother to rest on Friday and it was, to say the least, very difficult. It hit me much harder than I had expected and am still reeling from it. Fortunately for me it was my first funeral and hopefully my last for a long long time. Because I don’t really know how to express myself too well right now I’m going to let my brother do it for me. He wrote a very nice post on his blog that sums up how we, as a family, are feeling right now. I have to say though I’m still pretty shook up. I honestly feel like I didn’t really get to tell grandma that I love her that one last time. She fell ill a week ago this past Thursday and I really wish I had not listened to my parents and had just gone to Orange County to see her and my grandfather. At the end of the day, I know my grandmother is no longer hurting but also realize that my grandfather must be hurting more than ever. Yet somehow that was not all the grief that this weekend had in store for me. One of my dearest and closest friends lost her mother to cancer earlier in the month. On Saturday a memorial was held at her home and as I was driving by her house earlier in the day I spied her outside. I took the opportunity to stop and see her prior to the memorial. I saw the tears in her eyes before I reached her and my heart ached for her. We have a very close and strong friendship and to see her that way was simply unimaginable. There will tough times ahead and she knows that we, all of her friends, will always be there for her.

Refresh.

It is still Sunday and I am still in San Diego. I chose to forgo my ticket to SF earlier in the day to spend another day/night with my parents (and because United gave me a free roundtrip ticket to fly out Monday morning instead). I know it makes my mother happy that I’m still around and probably dad too, otherwise he would have had cereal for dinner. I thought I was ready to go back to SF but being here right now is good. Being here tonight is giving me one more night to recuperate and realize that this coming week is just another week and there will be many more to come.

Now that I’ve said all that, the show must go on…

Thursday, February 25th
@ 7pm
- Gordon Edgar, author, will be launching his book Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge at Books, Inc. in Berkeley. In case you were wondering TheFreeDicitionary.com defines “Cheesemonger” as “a person dealing in cheese, butter, etc.” More than guide book apparently Mr. Edgar goes in depth into the field of cheese. Mr. Edgar is the “cheesemonger” for San Francisco’s pretty awesome Rainbow Grocery and in his book tells tales of cheese and his interesting industry. If you’re a cheese fan this may be kind of interesting for you.

Thursday, February 25th
@ 7pm
- Amy Reed, author, will be reading from her book Beautiful at Modern Times Bookstore. So I don’t know too much about Ms. Reed but her book is about a good woman gone rebellious. I’d imagine it has something to do with finding her “beauty” and sending her down a perilous path. Get there if you’re into that kind of thing.

Thursday, February 25th
@ 7pm
- Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, author, will be at Books, Inc. in Palo Alto reading from and signing copies of their newly released book Beautiful Creatures. Oddly enough I’ve just started reading this book today. Unfortunately I’m not really far enough into it to tell you anything about it. I think my sister liked it, otherwise I probably wouldn’t be reading it. It is another young adult book and it is another fantasy book in that genre. A southern magic and mystery novel, this one is somewhat different in that it embraces the “gothic” ideas exhibited by so many young people today (you don’t see too many old people as “goths” these days do you?). Anyways, I’d be going to this event if it weren’t in Palo Alto, it’s a bit far for me. If you’re in the hood, get there.

Ok, all three events are on Thursday and two of the three start with the word “Beautiful.” What can I say, that’s just the way it is.