My First Visit to Borders
People who know me, at least those who also know of my predisposition towards opera, would probably assume that I have been to Borders, a national chain of bookstores who also happen to offer classical music as merchandise, quite a number of times, but in doing so they should be quite mistaken. In fact, this last Saturday was my first time to ever peruse the store. This primary visit of what I hope to be many others in the future yielded an excellent result, but I am beginning to hastily discover the climax of the episode to you without first delivering the rest of the interesting event to your knowledge, and this is most undesirable in an author. Therefore, beseeching your gracious indulgence, please allow me to proceed in a more logical order of events.
On the Saturday in question, my friend Jay had my sister and me at Poteet to assist him in some cleaning of our costume facilities, and we naturally obliged his request of us. Since we were available to him at his discretion to serve in whatever capacity it should be most beneficial to him to have us employed, we mutually decided that we could also travel the short distance to his abode and further aid him with his urgent necessity of renovating his house, a task which he and his charming wife have lately attempted. Having had the opportunity to do so prior to this occasion, we knew the prospect would again be pleasant.
Since we had finished our first project of the costume shop at around noon, we went to lunch, which was a casual affair of informal setting and attire, at a local restaurant which specializes in Mexican cuisine. The duration of our luncheon was rather longer than I expected and to which I am accustomed, but the victuals were delicious, and the discourse we held was exuberant and at times stimulating to the intellectual mind. After this, which relinquished us of at least an hour and a half to my knowledge, Jay decided to go to Borders, whose situation in relation to our position in the metropolis was not far removed from us, in hopes of finding a prop for our forthcoming production of Children of Eden, of which I am grateful to say that I am a cast member, but I venture away from the present narrative. I was rather excited about my first expedition into the retail outlet, and Jay, who knows of my ardent enjoyment of opera, was surprised that I had never been here before this, yet he was also joyous that he could introduce me to this momentous experience. We scanned the front displays of volumes arranged for the prospective customer and saw several noteworthy and ridiculous books therein contained, one of which on the meritorious side of the equation was Glen Beck's newest book, which is enticingly entitled Arguing with Idiots, that happens to be a best-seller at present. Knowing this store by reputation, for I am not completely ignorant, it occurred to me that this place also sells classical music as if it were just as popular as its modern counterparts ("You mean that opera falls short in sales of some new release by Brittany Spears?!" Unfortunately the answer to that is yes; I expect that one of these days they will cease to offer Grammy awards for this part of the music industry.), and further recalling that Renee Fleming's Verismo had just been released not very long since, I decided that if I should see it for sale there, I should get it despite whatever price should be on the label. Not wanting to waste a moment of time, I hastily took my leave of my present company and departed for the section of the store which was devoted to music. I quickly found the classical section of fare, for I do not think that popular music employs the marketing device of women in evening gowns holding antique Stradivarius violins on the covers of their CD's, and I eqaully quickly found the small niche devoted to Renee Fleming's recordings; however, much to my chagrin and dismay, Verismo was not to be found among her offerings. My mind quickly developed a theory as to why this might be, and one possible explanation was that loyal Renee Fleming fans had obviously came and bought all of the probably few copies the store had obtained; moreover, hearing tales of this elsewhere and most frequently in other music genres, it might yet be possible, if not altogether plausible now that I look at the situation again, that admirers of her artistry, she being "America's favorite soprano," might have even camped before the establishment the night before the album's release date to capture them all for themselves. Feeling slightly desparate, I searched their catalog computer for the item, and it informed me that the product was likely in the store, so I, my spirits infused with new hope that I might have overlooked the disc in the sadly unorganized area of music, inquired of a sales associate whether or not the absence of a product on the shelf was an indication of its existence in the store, and she said that this was not necessarily the case. She asked me to search for my preference on the catalog computer a second time, and upon my so doing, she remarked that CD's containing the music of various composers was often placed upon the shelf at odd locations, and then she noticed that Renee Fleming was on the cover. I was determined to like this store whether I was able to attain my prize or not since I could finally venture there and say that I wanted something by Renee Fleming without someone not knowing who that is. We journeyed back to the shelf for another look, and when she did not find it, she suggested that I peruse the area of the store which showed the recent releases, and we were just about to go there when Jay and my sister Blaze walked toward me and said that they had something for me. They handed me a copy of Verismo telling me they had found this toward the front of the place, which was exactly where I was going to examine next with the help of an excellent and knowledgeable sales person, but by God's enduring providence, He saw that my want was delivered to me by some of my favorite people in the world. I was thinking all of this when I became aware of the sale price of $13.99 for it instead of its regular price it would receive some time later.
I am overjoyed at the grace of God. Before I terminate this post, for the constaints of time do press upon me, I pray that all of my readers see God's infinite love for us every day and that He will grant you the desires of your heart also just as He has done many of mine. Thank you for your continued perusal of my blog. I am immensely blessed to possess this group of people who condescend to read my humble lines of words. Hopefully in my next post I shall be able to address something of a review of my latest purchase related to opera.
On the Saturday in question, my friend Jay had my sister and me at Poteet to assist him in some cleaning of our costume facilities, and we naturally obliged his request of us. Since we were available to him at his discretion to serve in whatever capacity it should be most beneficial to him to have us employed, we mutually decided that we could also travel the short distance to his abode and further aid him with his urgent necessity of renovating his house, a task which he and his charming wife have lately attempted. Having had the opportunity to do so prior to this occasion, we knew the prospect would again be pleasant.
Since we had finished our first project of the costume shop at around noon, we went to lunch, which was a casual affair of informal setting and attire, at a local restaurant which specializes in Mexican cuisine. The duration of our luncheon was rather longer than I expected and to which I am accustomed, but the victuals were delicious, and the discourse we held was exuberant and at times stimulating to the intellectual mind. After this, which relinquished us of at least an hour and a half to my knowledge, Jay decided to go to Borders, whose situation in relation to our position in the metropolis was not far removed from us, in hopes of finding a prop for our forthcoming production of Children of Eden, of which I am grateful to say that I am a cast member, but I venture away from the present narrative. I was rather excited about my first expedition into the retail outlet, and Jay, who knows of my ardent enjoyment of opera, was surprised that I had never been here before this, yet he was also joyous that he could introduce me to this momentous experience. We scanned the front displays of volumes arranged for the prospective customer and saw several noteworthy and ridiculous books therein contained, one of which on the meritorious side of the equation was Glen Beck's newest book, which is enticingly entitled Arguing with Idiots, that happens to be a best-seller at present. Knowing this store by reputation, for I am not completely ignorant, it occurred to me that this place also sells classical music as if it were just as popular as its modern counterparts ("You mean that opera falls short in sales of some new release by Brittany Spears?!" Unfortunately the answer to that is yes; I expect that one of these days they will cease to offer Grammy awards for this part of the music industry.), and further recalling that Renee Fleming's Verismo had just been released not very long since, I decided that if I should see it for sale there, I should get it despite whatever price should be on the label. Not wanting to waste a moment of time, I hastily took my leave of my present company and departed for the section of the store which was devoted to music. I quickly found the classical section of fare, for I do not think that popular music employs the marketing device of women in evening gowns holding antique Stradivarius violins on the covers of their CD's, and I eqaully quickly found the small niche devoted to Renee Fleming's recordings; however, much to my chagrin and dismay, Verismo was not to be found among her offerings. My mind quickly developed a theory as to why this might be, and one possible explanation was that loyal Renee Fleming fans had obviously came and bought all of the probably few copies the store had obtained; moreover, hearing tales of this elsewhere and most frequently in other music genres, it might yet be possible, if not altogether plausible now that I look at the situation again, that admirers of her artistry, she being "America's favorite soprano," might have even camped before the establishment the night before the album's release date to capture them all for themselves. Feeling slightly desparate, I searched their catalog computer for the item, and it informed me that the product was likely in the store, so I, my spirits infused with new hope that I might have overlooked the disc in the sadly unorganized area of music, inquired of a sales associate whether or not the absence of a product on the shelf was an indication of its existence in the store, and she said that this was not necessarily the case. She asked me to search for my preference on the catalog computer a second time, and upon my so doing, she remarked that CD's containing the music of various composers was often placed upon the shelf at odd locations, and then she noticed that Renee Fleming was on the cover. I was determined to like this store whether I was able to attain my prize or not since I could finally venture there and say that I wanted something by Renee Fleming without someone not knowing who that is. We journeyed back to the shelf for another look, and when she did not find it, she suggested that I peruse the area of the store which showed the recent releases, and we were just about to go there when Jay and my sister Blaze walked toward me and said that they had something for me. They handed me a copy of Verismo telling me they had found this toward the front of the place, which was exactly where I was going to examine next with the help of an excellent and knowledgeable sales person, but by God's enduring providence, He saw that my want was delivered to me by some of my favorite people in the world. I was thinking all of this when I became aware of the sale price of $13.99 for it instead of its regular price it would receive some time later.
I am overjoyed at the grace of God. Before I terminate this post, for the constaints of time do press upon me, I pray that all of my readers see God's infinite love for us every day and that He will grant you the desires of your heart also just as He has done many of mine. Thank you for your continued perusal of my blog. I am immensely blessed to possess this group of people who condescend to read my humble lines of words. Hopefully in my next post I shall be able to address something of a review of my latest purchase related to opera.
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