Thanks to Kim Strickland for stopping by with a guest post and excerpt on her Down at the Golden Coin blog tour, courtesy of CLP Blog Tours. Take it away Kim!
The screensaver for our kitchen computer is comprised of pictures from our iPhoto library, which scrolls random photos across the screen in what I’m told is the “Ken Burns Effect.” I don’t know from Ken Burns, but every now and then when I sit down at the computer to check my email or my Facebook page or some other mind-numbing and equally unimportant activity, like Googling the lyrics to a Lady Gaga song, I stop and just watch the story of our lives float by. It’s a happy story and every time I do this, I’m reminded to be thankful for everything we have.
Okay, so our everyday life—full of errands and squabbles and bills and messes—is not always so consistently happy, but this is my point. Who takes photographs of unhappy things? Which is why I enjoy sitting at my kitchen computer and watching the illusion of the totally happy life float by. It’s hypnotizing to see all the Christmas mornings and vacations, school plays and get-togethers with friends, Halloween and birthday parties. Whenever the screensaver eventually goes black, I get sad. (Don’t tell my husband, the Energy Star Nazi, but I’ve secretly extended the time span the screensaver will play.)
However, the photo album as screensaver also has its downside. Like trying to explain to guests why we have a picture of a chicken bone on whiteboard (Science Fair project—don’t get me started) or a really dark and grainy picture of the moon (husband, digital camera and new telescope) or why, at that particular moment in time, I’m hiding under the kitchen table (a vacation photo of me in a bathing suit scrolled by.)
With our screensaver, we get to see random happy memories every single day and I can’t think of a better way to be consistently reminded of all the good things in life. Especially on the days when things aren’t so rosy, like when the kids are hungry for dinner because it’s seven o’clock and my husband’s stuck in traffic on his way home from work and the back porch grill is on fire (and my neighbor across the alley is watching me from his upstairs bedroom window, I’m sure critically and with 911 on speed-dial, because I don’t have a Y chromosome so what am I doing out there grilling in the first place?) And it’s on days like these it’s nice to be reminded of how perfectly a Thanksgiving turkey turned out, or how a homemade birthday cake tasted delicious, in spite of the fact my husband and children thought it took two boxes of cake mix and two cans of frosting to make one single double-layer cake. It may have looked like an illustration from Dr. Seuss, but who could argue with all that chocolate?
It’s for reasons like these I love our screensaver. It gives me a little reason to be happy and thankful, every single day. As the Lady Gaga lyrics I Googled would say:
Not sure what it means
But this photo of us
It don’t have a price
Ready for those flashing lights
**Excerpt**
We sit in silence again, with only our washing machines churning, the hum of the Coke machine and the occasional flip as she pages through her magazine. When she turns yet another page, I notice the tattoo on the inside of her wrist. It’s an infinity symbol, and again I’m struck by how much I like it. It’s neat. Like something I might have tatted on my wrist if I’d ever felt so inclined.
“It’s a Mobius strip,” she says, catching me staring at it. “Most people think it’s an infinity symbol, which I guess it kind of looks like, but it’s actually a Mobius strip.”
Oh great. I get it now. She’s some university student home on summer vacation, slumming it up at the Golden Coin. Her simple plan: to enlighten the unwashed masses that inhabit the coin laundromat world.
“Ah, yes. A Mobius strip. Never ending. Non-orientable. It would be deep, if you could render a Mobius strip in two-dimensional space.” I’m showing off. I minored in math. And I also firmly believe that twenty-year-old college students should not be led to believe they have the market cornered on academic esoterica.
She nods once, as if mildly impressed with me, then goes back to her magazine.
“I don’t think Kesha and this new boyfriend of hers are going to last very long,” she offers up and I’m relieved she’s dropped the subjects of happiness and Mobius strips. “Juicy Fruit?”
For a moment I’m perplexed as to what Juicy Fruit might have to do with Kesha until she holds out the pack of gum, sliding one stick partially out.
“Umm, yeah. Sure.” I take the gum, unwrap it and fold it into my mouth. She takes out a piece for herself and does the same.
“I love this gum,” she says. “The smell, the taste. It’s one of my favorite things in this physical world.”
Personally, I could think of a lot better things to love in this physical world, like a brand new Lexus RX350, but I’ve always liked the idea of basking in simple pleasures, so I agree with her and say, “Yeah, me too.”
“It’s, like, Kesha is totally fly and she’s going out with this loser. I just can’t see them making it.”
Apparently, we’re back to talking about People magazine again. “Please do tell me how, in your short time on this fine planet, you’ve become such an expert on Mobius strips, happiness and the intricacies of modern romance?”
“I’m a Messiah,” she says.
Giveaway!
**Everyone who leaves a comment on Kim’s tour page will be entered to win a $25 Amazon gift card! Anyone who purchases their copy of Down at the Golden Coin before December 3 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five bonus entries.**
Author Bio:
Kim Strickland lives in Chicago with her husband, three children, two cats and one dog. She also blogs as A City Mom at ChicagoNow. Down at the Golden Coin is her second novel. When she’s not being a mom or a writer, she flies jets for a major airline, which means, every once in a while, she gets to eat an entire meal sitting down.
Connect with Kim!
My blog: http://www.ChicagoNow.com/acitymom
My website: http://www.kimstrickland.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DownAtTheGoldenCoin
Buy the Book!
http://www.eckhartzpress.com/Down-at-the-Golden-Coin.html
