by Nancy Imelda Schafer - ~§pyder~
Editor-in-chief
[ Read About the Editor-In-Chief ]

Have you ever just wanted to relax and enjoy yourself at a bookstore? Pick up a book, open it, ruffle it's pages while you are convincing yourself you have $50.00 extra to spend on the special edition in hand? But the feeling of guilt washes over you as the clerk circles and looks at your hand to inspect for remnants of lunch on your fingertips?

Well... I certainly hope there is a Barnes and Noble bookstore near you. (NO, I am not being paid for this endorsement.) At Barnes and Nobel, you can pick several books, magazines, maps, and anything else that is in the store, take them over to a soft easy chair, and read all day if you like. There is even a coffee bar ( pricey at $1.75 for a large unflavored coffee... but delicious and worth it ) with tables and chairs to relax in.

My lover and I run there when we want to kick back and relax. We run there when we need to cram ideas. I pick all the magazines, and he the Perl (.pl) manuals. We gather our reading materials, order 2 coffee's and sit... our brains munching and crunching. Overheard in the distance, is the occasional clapping from the audience in appreciation of a read that has just taken place. Or you might hear children laughing in the huge children's department, again from a read. The artwork that decorates the walls, is appropriately placed... the likes of Poe, Angelou, Dickinson, Hemmingway look down at you as you stroll. Music that is indeed in background, never disturbing you plays overhead. It may be Enya or a classical piece of Mozart.

If you have the time, even if you don't, MAKE THE TIME and GO THERE. Go with nothing on your mind but your greedy self, and the knowledge that you deserve this treat for your mind. Bring pencil and paper, you are sure to need it. And do not be surprised that when you leave the store, darkness has fallen. Yes, you were in there that long.

~§pyder~
Nancy Imelda Schafer
Read About the Editor-In-Chief