There is a good thrift store near my current abode that has an overstocked books section. The place has the same effect on me that cigarette smoke has on smokers, I think. I can hardly walk by it without straying in to browse through its cluttered shelves.
There are loads of good books and many icky religious ones. It is almost fun sometimes looking through boxes of freshly donated books and magazines wondering about their previous owners. A week ago there were boxes of books and journals on the floor... as if some heirs had just dumped off their dead uncle's stuff without even first peeking a look inside. There was a bunch of personal documents in the box that has names and street addresses and other info you really wouldn't want ID thieves to get a hold of in there (and not just those of the stuff's previous owners either).
 |
| Some of the books I picked up from the thrift shop this year for $1 each. |
So, a note to would be book donors, check for and destroy those info before you dump them off, please. It'd be too operatically tragic if your good karma comes back to you via bank notification of unauthorized transactions. It's only a little trouble to prevent much bigger ones from happening.
Anyhow... I had another browse through the books section's dusty shelves again yesterday and what did I find tucked in a little perused corner of it? Why, the 2000 booklet from the Salzburg Summer Festival's production of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte!
What's so exciting about that? That was the production that starred Vesselina Kasarova as the spunky Dorabella and the amazing Karita Mattila as her high-strung sister Fiordiligi!
 |
| Vesselina Kasarova, & Karita Mattila in Cosi fan tutte at Salzburg Festival 2000. (Foto: Matthias Horn) |
It's in German, of course, though that's not a minus since I need to brush up on that language in preparation for the release of my favorite diva's memoir, Ich Singe Mit Leib und Seele, this upcoming week!
How lucky is that??? San Diego isn't exactly opera town (though the San Diego Opera is doing well and is doing Donizetti's Don Pasquale at the Civic Theater this month. Tonight is the first performance! I bet there are rush tickets available. I'm going on Tuesday). And my neighborhood isn't exactly upscale or very affluent, though we do have a healthy gay (read opera-loving) population... But a booklet from the Salzburg Festival? It's like finding finding a book about the Burning Man Festival in a bookshop in Berlin.
Needless to say, I'm a happy smorg this weekend.
8 comments:
The Gods must be rewarding you for the hard slog on the bike and on the computer! Happy reading ideed and much more entertaining than anything by James Clerk Maxwell
Hey An:
Well, I'm guess it's Dr. T, anyhow. Who else would recognize Maxwell's textbook when they see a page of it, ay? ;o)
I'm having a ball perusing the opera book indeed. Gotta love the German-speaking folks for thoroughness. They seem to explore every possible angle when they stage an opera...
And the photos don't hurt either. ;o)
Smorrgie, that wasn't me, but this is now me. td :-).
*love* the booklet!! she looks so young! :-)
and now that you gave me credit for recognizing Maxwell equations, let me go look again ;-)
already very hot in S. Cali? the weather on this coast has been erratic, but i also spending time these days reading equations, just slightly different set. apparently fluid in the ocean + atmos is influenced by the earth rotation!! :-D
That first Anonymous was me! There's more to me than meets the Eye!!!
oh mister Smorg, i am really curious where is that bookstore? have you been to the Adams Ave Bookstore? a fantastic place too!
I check for the Don Pasquale tickets, the cheapest are 50 :( i think i am going to have to wait for The Barber of Seville, i will save in the meantime...
on the Ich Singe Mit Leib und Seele, I sing with love and soul, vergessen Sie nicht... Ich kann mit dem Deutschen hilfen! Ja Ja, Guten Tag Herr Smorg!
Hallo An & Eyes: Wooo! Sorry for the wrong guess, maties. There sure is more than meet the eyes in Eyes indeed! :oD Do you read mathadelic physics books in your spare time when you aren't coaxing good music out of the orchestra?
Hey An! Now you've got me interested. You mean the atmospheric fluid is affected temperature-wise by the earth's rotation? Can I read about that somewhere? :oD
In a while, that is. I'm currently swamped at the moment. Got some more math books to check and a whole lot of yard work to do. We poured concrete to make a step to the new garage yesterday, then I've been cleaning up the brush and restoring a couple of century-old wagon wheels - as yard ornaments. I'm creaking like a rusty tinman walking around now. :oP
We've had a couple of fantastic heatwaves here already. The last one had us in the 80's (it got up to 90F inland). I hope it'll compensate by giving us a cool summer or something! :o)
Hola Bere: Hey, it's the hoe-in-the-wall one on El Cajon Blvd between 30th and Utah. Their stuff isn't in as good condition as what you'd find at Auntie Helen's (on 30th between Polk and Lincoln, I think), but the book section is really cool. :oD
I haven't been to the Adams Ave Bookstore, though. Must check it out. Thanks a bunch for another good local tip! :oD
And you speak German, too!! You're so multi-talented it's disgusting... (just kidding! It's wonderful!). ;o) I can't wait to get my hand on that book. Hopefully most of the yard work will be done by then so I can just veg out and read it all in one go.
How is the last week of winter progressing Chez Berenice? I hope the feline escorts are keeping you well entertained. :oD I don't know if I'll make it to Don Pasquale. I'd like to try tomorrow, but there's a lot to do and I might get so wasted that I fall asleep and start snoring during the show. That wouldn't be cool at all!
Thanks a bunch everyone for stopping by. Hope your week is going well! :oD
That is a wild find! But then that's thrift shop stuff for you. One man's trash is anothr;s treasure!
Soren
Hi Soren: I hear ya'. :oD I'm glad someone threw that booklet out for me to find. I'm over the moon about it, though still haven't had time to read it yet (that's the story of my life right now... Kasarova's book also arrived in the mail and I haven't even opened the thing!).
Post a Comment