Saturday, February 6, 2010

A funny thing happened . . .

It's another beautiful rainy day in LA. We're running east traffic, which essentially means that the airplanes are all moving in the opposite direction from what the airport was designed for. Couple that with a crucial taxiway being closed for construction, and you have the makings of a three-ring circus.

How not to start off your day: Leave your ID in the car. This is important because without your ID, you can't even get in the gate - much less the front door. Arriving back at the car, you discover that, for the first time in years, you've locked the keys inside. No problem, you've got an extra set stashed in your breakroom locker - except that said locker is in the building . . .


I was walking through WallyworldMartland a few days ago, and while passing through the furniture area glanced at a desk with what looked like some books on one of the shelves. We've probably all see this on furniture displays: a cardboard box with a label that gives it the appearance of a stereo, vcr (remember those?), or a collection of books. Why it caught my eye, besides the fact that I'm kind of looking for a small writing desk (what was once called a secretary, I believe), was because the front cover of the first 'book' looked slightly familiar:


Now to most people, I don't expect that a faux-book entitled "Dressage Basics" would mean anything at all. But I grew up in a horse household - and that has made all the difference (bonus points: From whence does that last line come?) Now, having stopped to look, not at the furniture, but instead the display props, I idly glanced at some of the other titles. Check out some of these great literary works, no doubt intended to impress the WallyworldMartland clientele and inspire sales:

A Tale of Two Kitties - Pickens
At the Prome - Wharty
Ben Nur - Wallace
Book of Good Furniture, Vol. 1
The Drapes of Wrath - Spinebeck
The Dwarf of the Springs - Molekin
Elementary English, Third Year
The Good Girth - Cluck (this could be a diet book, or another horse book)
Great Exceptions - Dockery
The History and Civilization of the Great Black Swamp, Revised (Revised, no less!)
Lester Greedwood's guide to Deer Farming (a best-seller in Los Angeles, to be sure)
The Young Fawn - Howlings



How is it that a secretary used to be a piece of furniture, and is now a person (excuse me, Administrative Technician), while a dishwasher used to be a person, and is now an appliance?

4 comments:

  1. Someone thinks they are very clever! Ironically, or possibly more humor: the Dressage book shows an Arabian (rarely the first choice for dressage) dressed for a halter class... (?)

    - And how DID you get in?

    ReplyDelete
  2. That really _is_ funny -- East traffic! Hmmm. Weird.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sort of like having a full moon?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your wallyworldmartland must be much fancier than mine... the one here can barely get the furniture assembled much less decorated!

    ReplyDelete