Recent Literary Activities

In the recent past, I’ve had a number of literary ventures. One of them was being interviewed by an AP (Associated Press, the most prestigious group of reporters in the country) consultant.

The AP consultant’s name was Emily Fredrix. She was writing a report about businesses that have closed in 2008 and she stumbled on my Mervyns and Me blog. She posted a comment on my blogsite. I was extremely happy when I found out I was going to be mentioned in a newspaper and an online report by the Associated Press! She interviewed me by phone on New Year’s Eve, 2008. I told her about how I felt about Mervyns closing. I’d made a few notes on a scrap of paper for what to say. I also talked about my childhood and how much I used to enjoy going to Mervyns. That day, in her report, she wrote three lines about her interview with me.

Here is that article. Click on the image for a zoomed-in view:

Another literary venture was releasing my book, Potions and Portals for Dummies.

I started writing Potions and Portals for Dummies for my sister’s birthday. I was excited because I was making a real book. I dedicated it to her and autographed it on her birthday. My parents interviewed me about the book release afterwards. She read it out loud after 5 minutes. I had written 5 pages of potions, how to make them, and their uses. I also had printed some funny pictures. At her birthday party, I also gave regular copies to her friends. Three days later, on my mother’s birthday, I gave her an autographed and dedicated copy.

Now, time for another venture concerning my mother’s birthday and my sister’s birthday.

I gave both my mom and my sister poem cards on their birthdays. I had to use all my literary genius of the day for both days to think of them. I used a different format for each one. For my sister, I made a normal half - fold card. For my mom, I made a giant one – page poster card. These were the longest and best poems I have ever written.

Mervyns and Me

The store where I got most of my childhood clothes is closing. It is called Mervyns. Mervyns was a clothing store. When I was younger, my family and I used to go to Mervyns everyday. We knew many of the employees there.

Today, I kind of feel sad, happy, and weird.

I’m sad that Mervyns is closing, for several reasons. The first is that it had the best clothes for the lowest prices. Another is that it was the smallest clothing store in our area. It was never crowded, either. 75% of all the clothes I’ve worn have come from Mervyns.

I’m happy for one silly reason - no more cloth shopping. It was a clothing store. That was Mervyns’ fatal flaw in my view :-). I never loved it for that reason.

Today, Mervyns seemed different. New things were on sale. There was a new staff. An unnatural amount of people had come. There were too many On Sale signs. Prices were much higher than normal. It was as if it was a part of a mall. I miss the Mervyn's I knew. I feel sad for all the old and new employees at Mervyns because they lost or soon will lose their jobs. They will have to apply for jobs at larger clothing store such as Kohl’s, Sears, or J.C. Penny. Most likely, they will find work in due time.