Drowning in books.

Last week, which started out so badly on Sunday, turned out to be an okay week. My mood has been really funny lately, though. I've been very moody. I'm blaming the ring, and there may be something to that, but it could also just be that I'm cycling through a moody spell. This happens. Ask Doug.

Anyway, the week ended pretty well. When Doug picked me up at the train stop in Newtonville on Thursday night we saw one of the brightest, most incredible rainbows we've ever seen. You could see the full color spectrum - even the BIV, which are hardly ever really visible.Part of me felt like a dork for standing on the street corner in rush-hour traffic (but isn't there always rush-hour traffic in Newton?) taking a picture of the rainbow, but it was a pretty neat moment, as you can see.

Then, on Friday night Doug and I headed to Big Papi's Grille for dinner. The place had its grand opening in late July, and it was advertised as mixing traditional American steakhouse food with Dominican flavors, but I have to say that I really was not all that impressed. I do like Big Papi, and I love Big Papi's public persona, but this place gave me no feeling of connection to Big Papi at all. The restaurant used to be the Metro 9 Steakhouse, which I guess recently closed. Someone must have come up with the idea to brand the new steak restaurant after Big Papi. All the staff was the same as from the Metro 9, and the decor was still the same as what was there from the Metro 9, save the Red Sox memorabilia on the walls. The walls were dark brown with red and gold framed fabric squares in which Red Sox photos and newspaper articles were hung. There were two fireplaces, both with heavy stonework around them, and the bar was heavy, dark wood. The chairs were vinyl with gold buttons along the seams (traditional steakhouse chairs), and the tablecloths were a cream vinyl (the tablecloths were new, as you could smell the vinyl smell). Here's a visual to help with my description: Needless to say, the decor in no way made me think of fun-loving Big Papi. Here's the thing - Big Papi at this point in his career (steroids or no) is a brand. He's an image. His image is that of the big, easy-going, teddy bear of a baseball player, out to have a good time. I picture Big Papi's restaurant with teal blues and greens on the wall, no tablecloths, tall bar/bistro tables, and a more Caribbean/Dominican inspired menu. Doug had french onion soup, of all things! And look at it!Where's the brown and bubbling cheese on top? What is that, a slice of American hardly melted? Not impressed. But Doug enjoyed himself. Doug got Big Papi's signature burger, the Dominican chimichurri burger, which I guess was infused with some red pepper flakes and had Big Papi's special en fuego sauce on the side. He did get the Caribbean cole slaw, and he really liked that. So I guess it was worth the wait (it was AN HOUR from the time we ordered until the time we got our burgers) to see Doug's smiling face as he chowed down at Big Papi's.Maybe because the place is so new there are still kinks to be worked out, so I am trying to give the place the benefit of the doubt, but man, I expected more from Big Papi.

And this weekend, so far, has been one for adding more books to our ever-growing collection. Really, I think I get new books every week. I don't read them quickly, either, so it's not like I need that many at my disposal, but there's something about going to a bookstore and looking for a book to read that I really enjoy. I spent a couple of hours in the Brookline Booksmith on Wednesday night waiting for Doug to get out of practice and managed to pick up five books from their bargain table. Last night/this morning, I spent lots of time on the Internet cleaning up my goodreads to-read list (and then going to Amazon and getting a few of the books I know I'll want to read sooner rather than later), and today Doug and I drove out to the Wellesley Booksmith because I wanted to see what they'd have on their bargain table. Turns out they don't have one, but their used book cellar is fantastic! We picked up another four books from there, and plus I learned that I get a discount when purchasing new books from the Wellesley Booksmith because I'm a librarian (though I tried to tell the guy at the desk that I shouldn't get the discount because I'm not a real librarian and wouldn't be buying books for my library's collection, but he said that as long as I consider myself a librarian and do a few things during my day that a "real" librarian might do, then I could have the discount. Thanks!). So a total score with the books this week. And it's a good thing that we are getting our new bookcase next weekend, because right now the coffee table in the living room is looking like its own bargain books table. We are basically drowning in books. I love it!