Tag Archives: round table books

May 31, 2012

at least i have a facebook job! and facebook friends #318 and 319

By arlynnpresser

i have been packing up a quarter century of my life, my ex-husband’s life, my two stepchildren’s lives, my own children’s lives.  it’s sometimes surprising to come across a book, a drawing, a sportsmanship award for which kid and what sport?  i have cried looking at little blobs of clay  that were once handed to me with great pride and  an “i made this for you, mommy!”  but i don’t have to worry about the next phase of my life, because at least i have my job.

well, i have a job on facebook!

i am friends with f2fb friend #318 arthur frank, the father of the delightful gal in the video.  he owns round table books and he was just as surprised to discover that i am now listed as being employed at his establishment.  oddly, he has not offered me a salary.  or a corner office.  on the other hand, i haven’t offered to show up and do actual, like, work.  one of the very odd things about being fifty one is that a lot of employment skills are difficult to implement or to prove to a potential employer without some major practice.  for instance, if i were set loose behind a starbucks espresso machine, i’m sure the company’s share price would drop as precipitously as facebook’s share price.

don’t cry for me, mark zuckerberg! mr. z. has been having some problems of his own even while he’s honeymooning in italy! because of the facebook share price plunge, his net worth has gone from an estimated $20 billion to a paltry $14 billion AND he’s been dropped from forbes magazine’s top forty wealthiest folks list!

 

still, he has even more of a problem–mr. z. set off an italian controversy worthy of a tempermento tantrum enorme!  he doesn’t tip.  no, not at all.  not a a euro at the coffee shop.  not a euro at the cozy sidewalk cafe.  not a euro at the little corner romantic pasta joint.  i went around the world to meet my facebook friends last year and i tipped everywhere.  i gotta ask . . .

arthur might not want to employ me, but he is the owner of a business that will help me.  help me with disposing of the many books i have acquired over the last twenty five years.  round table books takes books on consignment, sells them, and if it can’t sell them, it donates the books to charity.  go visit their website–maybe they can help you find a book you’re looking for or take care of a book you need to find a new home for!  www.roundtablebooks.com right now they have a lot of arlynn presser and vivian leiber books–i wrote under the name vivian leiber for many years.

but arthur’s not doing this alone.  he is employing my f2fb friend #319 eric c. carley who reminded me that there is a very honorable means for a femme seul to live in winnetka–for free!

erin, who i guess qualifies as my co-worker at round table books, will come to my house to take away all the books of so many years. she house sits for people in winnetka and that means she gets to live for free in some of the finest homes–if you want to housesit in your town, go to your local realtor and ask if there are homes that have been temporarily emptied of their owners. you might find yourself in a beautiful mansion!

so next time you look at my facebook page, you’ll notice that i’m employed at round table books.  i wonder if mark zuckerberg would like to give me a job. . . at least on facebook!

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May 1, 2012

not THAT vixen press, THIS vixen press!

By arlynnpresser

it you were at the face 2 facebook party at round table books in winnetka, thank you so much!  it was a lovely evening and it made me realize what wonderful facebook friends i have!

guests were asked to bring a new or gently used children's book to donate to reach out and read illinois! an unexpected development was that the kids who showed up for the party had something to read!

and of course, every party has to have an after party:

cleaning up the next morning, i was a little puzzled as to why there was a random pink wig on the kitchen counter. i had eight house guests. does anybody have something they want to tell me?

 

the party was called “guttenberg* to zuckerberg” and celebrated the many forms that books can take–our host the owner of the round table books arthur frank opened the evening by showing guests a goat skin bound 16th century book.  with my genius friend o.j. dorson  i was able to show off a permutation of the notion of books–namely, a multimedia book that tells the story of my year of meeting facebook friends.  the next morning, i went to my neighbor caryl seidenberg’s home.  she has a press called “vixen press”.

vixen press was founded in 1953 by gil fox and published one hardcover book a month of an, ahem, adult nature. barry devlin was their most prolific writer.

 

no, no, my neighbor caryl has a basement press where she hand prints her books.  she has an intriguing and expansive definition of book.  one of my favorites is “confection” which is really a candy box with word blocks in the individual ruffled paper candy holders.

caryl has printed books for notable authors including the poet laureate robert pinsky. here she is at one of her presses. the tour of the vixen press made me think that about how books have changed from the cuneiform of babylon to the ibook to the hand detailed books she creates.

 

today i am making arrangements for next week in new york meeting facebook friends!  i hope i can figure out how to give another party as wonderful as the one at round table books!  many thanks to round table, to the people at the grand grocery store in winnetka who donated the refreshments, and to the facebook friends who gave books.  xxoo, arlynn

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April 26, 2012

the homeless agoraphobic

By arlynnpresser

the ex-husband and i edge closer to a house sale.  we have come to an agreement with the buyers on price and they’re doing an inspection with their contractor on monday.  tentatively, we’re closing on june 28.  that’s when i become homeless, but in a very nice way.   it’s not like i’m going to be roaming the streets asking people for spare change and telling them i’m an injured war veteran with six kids to support.

nope, we’re going to rename this blog THE HOMELESS AGORAPHOBIC and figure out what to do with the rest of this life.

nonetheless, it’s difficult as someone who has regarded this as my safe place to know it’s not my safe place anymore.

until i was three years old, i lived with my parents justin and aleta. they put up for adoption and the patrick family of western springs took me in. they immediately had me baptized in the methodist faith. this picture was from that happy sunday. my older sister sandra had also adopted by the patrick family. justin and aleta divorced about a year afterwards. i wasn't reunited with them until i was twenty five.

it’s impossible to hide from a three year old that they have been adopted and that they’re sporting new parents.  my name was changed to lynn melody patrick.  i wasn’t allowed to keep anything justin and aleta may have sent with me.  i was in a new place.  and i had new people to call mom and dad.

sometimes i think agoraphobia is the outsized desire to have the world be safe, manageable and unchanging.  weirdly, the world never is.

mrs. jewell patrick was a beautiful woman who was unable to bear children because of a hysterectomy when she was seventeen. she was quite a disciplinarian, sometimes locking me up in the basement or in a closet for misdeeds. then there was the belt. . . .but i started to be cool with being locked up if i could read a book. i think this is why i'm literate, not the public school system.

 

i ran away from home when i was in my early teens.  i was very proud that i could pack everything i owned in a single hefty garbage back.  i still have some of the books that i took with me.  later, i was placed in different foster homes.  again, it was a good skill to be able to keep all of one’s possessions in a tight space and be able to pack at a moment’s notice.

denise was one of my foster sisters. we exchanged class pictures and i keep hers--well, all of my foster sisters and one brother who is now a sister--in my safety deposit box. denise later became a police officer!

maybe last year was a blessing:  i spent so much time in airplanes, trains, hotels, automobiles, on the road, in the air, at the terminal, standing in line at customs, standing in line at security, that i’m going to be okay about this dislocation.

holly was the most beautiful foster sister i had. when i was in the same home as she was, peter frampton had just come out with his first album. holly would sit in a rocking chair, smoking cigarettes and listening to that album over and over and over again. . . if i ever see mr. frampton, i will implore him to not sing in my presence. it was just too much frampton, too much "do you feel like i do?" oh, shoot, now i'm not going to get that song out of my head. thanks a lot, holly!

 

my biological mother aleta did not appreciate having me find her when i was twenty five.  this was before facebook, before the internet,  jeez, i had to hire a private detective.  she didn’t want me in her life.  not when i was three years old.  not when i was twenty five years old.  and frankly. . . not now either.

i found out several months ago that aleta has a facebook account. i sent her a friendship request and a message telling her that she has two grandsons--joseph and eastman. ixnay.

 

in the meantime, i hope you’re looking up 572 lincoln avenue winnetka illinois on mapquest and thinking about a new or gently used children’s book you want to bring to the face 2 facebook party on saturday night.  starts at five o’clock, courtesy of arthur frank the owner, and concludes at eight.  i’ll be unveiling the new i-book “face 2 facebook”. . . .the first three chapters are free to you!  and if you’re a blogger or a writer–this is the future of how books can be constructed — can’t wait to see you there!

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March 29, 2012

a face to facebook invitation!

By arlynnpresser

it’s been a really wonderful year and a few months of meeting facebook friends around the neighborhood and around the world.  while it’s helped me a lot with anxiety attacks and agoraphobia, it’s most important aspect is to bring facebook’s promise of friendship a reality!  it’s so important that friendship not JUST be a facebook thing, an internet friendship, an email correspondence. 

soooooooooooooo. . . . 

an invitation to all my blogging friends, my facebook friends, my friends friends. . .

date/time:  april 28, five to seven p.m.

where:  round table books at round table books at 572 lincoln avenue in winnetka, illinois

why:  because i really, really want to meet you and arthur frank, proprietor, wants to celebrate the creation of a book celebrating my year and a quarter of facebook friendship.  it’s like a book launch before a book.  and a celebration of friendship!

what to bring:  your sweet self and a new or gently used book to donate to reach out and read illinois which provides children’s books to low income pediatric clinics.

 

will you please come to the party?

 

 

Image

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March 24, 2012

facebook gives me several unexpected children and a new job. . . plus why you should be friends with james michener

By arlynnpresser

i counted up my children on my profile page.  it’s always good to keep track of family.  it turns out that yes, i have the two sons–joseph presser and eastman presser–that i recall from before i even had facebook.

there was, of course, justin my father, who cut short his visit to winnetka the day before yesterday. my pajama day may have been because i felt rejected but it could also have been a migraine. either way, i resisted the urge to pop open the vino although i couldn't resist hulu.com episodes of peep show and house!

i have acquired five daughters.  they’re all adorable.  they’re right there on my profile page.  i also have three new sons.  this was no miracle of medicine.

it WOULD be a medical miracle if i had another child. after all, i'm fifty one and i don't have a husband. on the other hand, if there's anything the last year has taught me, it's that you can do anything you set your mind to!

i also have a sister.  well, two.  casey leiber was someone i have known since i was twenty five and she was a wee baby.  i’m also sisters with kim price (i wonder if this means she’ll let me borrow a pretty dress for next saturday night?)  in any event, that’s the magic of facebook is the playing around with relationships.

gay marriage is a contentious issue in america. maybe we should bear in mind that on facebook, you can get married to anybody you want to. i understand it's the fashion amongst my teenaged facebook girlfriends to announce that they are married to a sibling or to their very best girlfriend. in this way, they communicate not that they're really married but that they are available to date.

the other surprise i discovered as i looked at my profile page was that i have a job!  it’s so cool!  we have over eight percent unemployment the last that i checked and it’s a pretty great feeling to know i have a job!  it’s at round table books in winnetka.  they have a facebook page and they added me as an employee.

round table books at 572-b lincoln avenue in winnetka is listed as my employer. i think this happened because one of their people was playing around with facebook and thought it might be fun to include me! i'm flattered. where's my check and when do i have to come to work?

if i’m not going to work at a book store, i might try making money another way.  by writing a book.  but first i have to make friends with james michener.  at least this is what my facebook friend #308 james crumley tells me. . .

james has writtten seven novels, including the above mentioned “God bless this kitchen” — he’s owned two publishing businesses and was a single father to his son.   he’s working on a new piece and i can’t wait to read it!

sadly, the american author of over forty novels died in 1997. but he still has a facebook page!!!!!

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