Day 262: List my favorite stores?

This is ridiculous. Nevertheless, here are some of my FAVORITE stores (and then, a kitten update):

1. The Mexican Shop, one of the earlier "I am going to go to other countries and buy their folk jewelry cheaply and sell it to you less cheaply" stores, in Evanston -- an excellent source of earrings for years, as well as hipster tchotchkes.

2. Folks' Art -- pretty much the same thing but with something of an Oakland African-American art collectors' vibe to it too, another excellent source of earrings, Xmas ornaments, candle holders. Not so much with the hipster tchotchkes (you know what I mean: metal Lenin lunch boxes, Hello Kitty pencil boxes, etc.) More local artists than Guatemalan and Mexican and Nepalese artisans, though.

3. I am going to include this even though technically it was more rental than buying store, and also, it no longer exists: Reel Video, which had the HUGEST selection of videos and then DVDs ever, I mean, its selection outclassed Netflix and you-shouldn't-even-mention-Blockbuster in the same breath, and it had everything from the entire Criterion collection to Mondo Macabro dvds to obscure Filipino art films. It had vast foreign collections, with a fair assortment of Bollywood classics old and newer.

4. This... there was a great one up on Piedmont Avenue, but they keep getting bulldozed under by Staples, Office Depot, OfficeMax, etc -- so I am not sure I have a still-open exemplar... let's say a representative Stationery Shoppe, that has good pens to experiment with (although I am a Pilot G-2 addict now, so this is not so crucial for me... I buy those pens by the box 'o 12), good blank books, art erasers, nice plastic folders with elastic, pretty binders, 2B pencil leads for good mechanical pencils, colored paper for making into stationery...

5. Speaking of which Blick's art stores, where I fill my other addiction's needs: Prismacolor colored pencils, because literally no other colored pencil is worth shit, compared to those, even though they cost more than a dollar each. Also has great sketch pads, markers (though I don't enjoy those as much), drawing pencils, pencil zip bags (are you sensing a theme here?).

6. Just to be contrary, I am also going to say I like a shiny, shiny Best Buy, and a Target.

7. Among grocery stores... I always had a fondness for the big midwest grocery chain (well, it's big in Missouri, I don't know about elsewhere) Schnuck's, and the big southern chain Piggly Wiggly, because how could you NOT, with those names?

Is it terrible that I found it so easy to write about favorite stores? I mean, sadly, I could keep going.

Also, kitten photos

Here she is, queen of all she surveys, aka taking a bath on my bed:



And here, terrified by being in a NEW, BIG, unknown scary ROOM (otherwise known as my living room, where I transported her and set her down on my couch.) Everything smells like that other cat. Aghh!



But a few minutes later... well, maybe she can tolerate that other cat's scent. It's not so bad, as long as there are NO SUDDEN MOVEMENTS or NOISES. What, you want me to look at you now? Fine.