What is Your Shopping Stereotype?

Your Shopping Stereotype is Traditional

You tend to be a very down to earth shopper. You go for function and quality. Price matters to you, but you also want to get the most bang for your buck. You never buy junk. If you find a brand or store you like, you tend to stick with it over the years. You are a loyal shopper. You don't buy the latest thing right away. You prefer to purchase things that have stood the test of time.

What's Your Shopping Stereotype?

I don't want to say it, but these quiz results are not quite right, which always happens when I do one of these quizzes.

'80s Movie Gadgets You Know You Wanted - Entertainment News Story - KSBW The Central Coast

'80s Movie Gadgets You Know You Wanted - Entertainment News Story - KSBW The Central Coast

This is how my hometown makes national news

It's rare that my hometown of Hollister, California ever makes the national news. The local news, yes: most recently for rape trials, budget cuts, and teacher layoffs.  Chances are until this past Thursday,  if you're not from Hollister (or anywhere else in California), you've probably never heard of Hollister.  Either that or you've only seen bits and pieces of this rural town on national news, in newspapers or even on your own local newscasts.  A family friend who grew up in Hollister but was living in Hawaii in 1989 (he's been back in Hollister since about 1998) recalled turning on his TV on October 17 of that year and seeing glimpses of his hometown on the news.  It was then that he learned of the Loma Prieta earthquake on that date.  Hollister was among the hardest-hit communities, along with much of the San Francisco area. And until 2005, Hollister held the annual Motorcycle Rally during Fourth of July weekend.  Bikers from all over the country and even the world turned out for these events.  Although the last official rally was almost five years ago, bikers have continued to turn out in Hollister on July 4 weekend in the years since.  If anything, events like these are what most people outside of California have ever heard about this town.   Until now.  

While watching NBC's Thursday night line up, the anchor from KSBW in nearby Salinas broke the news during the commercials.  I was more than shocked to learn that the person who had drawn a gun at the Pentagon was from my hometown.   Later on, she gave the guy's name: John Patrick Bedell.  I had not seen or even thought of this guy in years.  He was two years behind me in school.   I did not get to watch the channel's 11PM newscast since I was asleep by then, but plenty more news came the next day.  After work yesterday, I stopped at the county library, which is next to the county courthouse (Hollister is the county seat for San Benito County), and spotted a news van from KSBW parked across the street.   Several of my Facebook friends who grew up in Hollister wrote about the situation on their status updates.  I then let all my Twitter followers know that I went to high school with the Pentagon Shooter.  That night it was the top story on NBC Nightly News.  Curtis Hill, the current sheriff of San Benito County, was on Nightly News.  I don't think anyone from our town or county has ever been on a national news program.  KSBW then  covered the story on their 6PM newscast.  And at 10PM,  Salinas Fox station KBCA covered the story, showing pictures of Bedell in the San Benito High School yearbook from the 1988-1989 school year. (Bedell was then a sophomore).   A fellow graduate of San Benito High--now a journalism teacher at the high school and a columnist for the local paper The Pinnacle--wrote about the story in his blog yesterday.   More is expected to be in Hollister's two local papers next week.   And the shooting and the shooter made the front page of today's edition of the San Francisco Chronicle--to which I have been a subscriber for years and in which have rarely seen my town mentioned.  This kind of breaking news rarely occurs in this rural and often quite California town.

Worth the wait

After hearing about the movie "An Education" last summer and waiting many months to see it, I finally got the chance this week when it was shown as part of the Wednesday Cinema Arts Series at my town's theater.  I was certain it would not a a regular-run film at the theater, but it seemed a likely candidate for the Cinema Arts Series.  I first went to the theater for this series last October when they showed "(500) Days of Summer." The series is on hold during summer and winter since a lot of major releases come out on Wednesdays during those seasons.  The series returned two weeks ago with "Precious," another art film I'd been waiting to see.  I'd pondered going out of town to see "An Education," but was always too tired or too worried about gas, or it would be raining or the movie would be shown late in the day.  I was sure they'd bring it to my town once they got the art film series running again,  especially after "An Education" got several Oscar nominations.  I kept checking their website and once I saw it was coming on March 3, I was excited.  At last.   The wait was over.   I loved the movie, just as I'd been certain I would.  It took a long time to get to see it, but it was worth the wait.    Carey Mulligan, the lead actress in "An Education" looks to be a good actress and I am looking forward to seeing more of her.  I was not aware until recently that she was one of the sisters in the 2005 film version of "Pride and Prejudice."   

I'm still deciding whether to see the next three art films at my town's theater this month: "Broken Embraces,"  "The Young Victoria"  and  "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus."   I now hope they'll bring "Me and Orson Welles," "A Single Man," and  "Fish Tank."    I'm at least glad they bring art-type films to my town, even if it's only once a week.  It lets the residents of this town experience these not-s0-mainstream (but often critically acclaimed) movies without driving to another town (before the film hits DVD), even if it takes months to see a particular title.   "An Education" was originally released last October.  I first read about it August last year and that's when I knew I wanted to see it.   And at last I did. 

Tree ornaments down

A followup to Monday's entry:  last night as I passed this house on the way to the grocery store across from the trailer park, I saw that the Christmas Decorations had finally been taken down. They missed one or two ornaments, and still had the light-up reindeer out (when I saw them last night) but for the most part the Christmas remnants have disappeared. 

I never would have guessed...

I knew I had to take this quiz once I saw it. was "Brady Bunch" related.

As always, I am surprised by the results of these quizzes:

You Are Bobby Brady

Ultra competitive, you will do almost anything to win. From pull ups to pool sharking, you're very talented. And while everyone is aware of your victories, they still (affectionately) consider you to be a little brat!

What Brady Are You?

Blogthings: Learn Something Surprising About Yourself

A Neighbor's Christmas Remnants

How long do you wait to take down your Christmas decorations?  A day or two maybe?  That's why I usually try to do.  I missed my wreath hung over the door when I removed my decorations this past Christmas season and didn't notice until two days after New Year's Day.  If you wondering why I'm asking this now, it's because for the last two months I've been noticing that one of my mobile home park neighbors has had a Christmas tree still up in front of their trailer as of now.  What I did not know until the other day was that the tree was actually growing in the ground in front of their house and that it was just decorated with tinsel and ornaments.  They've been neglecting to remove these decorations.   I also noticed today that they've also left up a light-up reindeer.   

It's going to be Easter soon.  These people need to get this Christmas decor down.  Maybe they should decorate the tree with plastic Easter eggs?  And then stick in a USA flag  and red, white and blue streamers for the Fourth of July? 

I have a couple of trees in front of my mobile home that could easily be decorated. Unfortunately, there's no outside lighting (except on the front porch and in the driveway) so no one would be able to see the decorations after dark.  They probably barely notice my papier mache ghosts I place on the kitchen window ledge and the ghosts I tape to the kitchen window every year for Halloween, even with the orange lights hanging in the window.  And the stuff I place on the porch that faces the road, even with the light on.  I don't know about the people in this house (nor have I ever met them), but thye must have some way of lighting the front of their house if they put up decorations like these.  I don't know how they do it.