The return of Barnes & Noble Night

I was leaving Whole Foods this afternoon when this caught my eye:

Boom. A luminous burst of impossibly scarlet red in a plebeian parking lot. I had a digital camera on hand, so my duty was clear.

(Special comment for Miss V: white Slug-Bug, no tag-backs!)

Also, this evening marks the return of an old but somewhat forgotten tradition: Barnes & Noble Night. Though it was actually held at a Borders Books, if you want to get technical about it.

By way of explanation: back in the long-ago days of yesteryear when my friend Fen ran a BBS in Utah, Thursday was the night our husbands tended to stay late at work to engage in "network testing" (i.e. playing games on the local network -- this was in the pre-Internet days before MMORPGs and similar online games were widely available). In response to becoming LAN party widows, Fen and I began going to the local Barnes & Noble every Thursday to see what was new in the world of books, hang out in the cafe, chat, laugh, and (at least in my case) drink kiwi granitas and act loopy. Over time, as we met regularly, more members of the BBS began to show up, and Barnes & Noble Night eventually became an open-ended chat night.

When we both moved to Washington, Barnes & Noble Night died off, and then Captain Midnight and I moved away, and things happened and stuff occurred, etc., etc. Anyway, we recently realized that despite living relatively close to each other, Fen and I don't see each other that often -- probably due to conflicting and hectic schedules. So it was suggested that perhaps we ought to reinstate Barnes & Noble Night, just so we'd have a regular excuse to meet up.

There being no handy Barnes & Noble nearby, we opted for a local Borders Books instead. There we sat in the cafe and talked and laughed and generally got caught up, until it hit the other side of 9:30 and the baristas started to give us the stinkeye. So we departed. Yes, you regular patrons of the Barnes & Noble Nights of old might scoff at the early departure -- back in the day we'd regularly walk out at 11, as the store closed, and sometimes sit yakking out in the parking lot -- but hey, give us a chance to warm up a bit!

Next Thursday, Barnes & Noble Night will again not be held at a Barnes & Noble... gotta go see Metropolis! On the big screen! With LIVE ACCOMPANIMENT! *fangirly squee*