Globe Corner Blogs

Kabouter and shrine--Photo by Kate

This town has a funny tourism schtick: blue gnomes. Technically, I think they are called kabouters. What are kabouters, you ask? According to Wikipedia, they are Dutch leprechauns. From what I’ve been able to decipher from the (wooden) kabouters I’ve seen posted around this Belgian town, they seem to be little men that live in and around oversize red mushrooms with white polka dots. Children like them; they like children. I think they are religious, since the local church has a kabouter at the top of its spire, and this particular kabouter to the right keeps vigil next to a statue of the Virgin Mary. Continue Reading »

Agile families are all alike; each clumsy family is clumsy in its own way.  (To slightly misquote Tolstoy.)

In every family there are certain traditions that must be followed on every vacation. You must play a certain silly car game; stop at the same ice cream stand on the way; get lost and not ask for directions. In my family we take tradition very seriously and therefore, every year without fail, one of us hurts ourselves or one another. And by “one of us” I mean my father or myself.

We suspect this tradition began when I was just a few weeks old  and my father took a strong graceful stroke in the pool and hit the bottom -  hard. The “thunk” was audible above water. But fortunately, rather than breaking his neck he simply scraped all the skin off his nose and forehead.

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Smurf and Sign: Photo by Kate

When I was accepted into the printmaking residency at the Frans Masereel Center in Kasterlee, Belgium, I emailed around looking for advice from anyone who’d been before. In addition to commenting on the great printmaking facilities and the beautiful countryside location, one over-enthusiastic printmaker reported back on the Center’s grounds being filled with ponies and miniature squirrels. He said it was gated “to keep out the gnomes.” The next person talked about the “enchanted forest” nearby that you can explore on your state-sponsored yellow bicycle. I figured these were some crazy printmakers who’d been exposed to too much lithotine. But, in the past four days, I’ve found their tales to be (mostly) true.

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Family vacations are ripe with opportunity for hilarity.  Just ask the Griswolds. And frankly, more so than each delicious meal you ate, the mishaps and adventures are what people want to hear about when you return home. And we want to hear about them, too!

Send us your funniest family story to be entered in our contest. The top three stories win a $25 gift certificate! E-mail the tales to events@gcb.com. Submissions will be accepted from now until June 10th. Winners will gleefully be notified by e-mail after the deadline.

Your hilarious pictures are also welcome, but please be sure to credit them to the photographer and give us permission to post them on our blog. Also, to be considered, please paste this disclaimer into the e-mail: “The Globe Corner Bookstore has authorization and permission to publish my story and the attached photographs.”

We look forward to reading your stories and laughing with you at your family follies.

Stieg Larsson’s The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is coming out May 25th and we’re as ready for it as you are. We will be opening early that Tuesday (7:30am) to provide eager readers with a chance to pick up the new hardback release before work and grab some breakfast delights from our “smorgasbord” at the same time! Stop in a chat about the book for a while and pick up your temporary dragon tattoos and Lonely Planet / GCB tote bag – free with the purchase of any Larsson book. Or, if you’re in a hurry, we’ll have everything in a tote for you, ready to go.

The book is a Staff Pick and will be 20% off its original price. Also, in honor of the Swedish writer, all books and maps on Sweden will be 15% off from the 25th through the end of the month. So stop in, grab some blueberry bread, discuss some books, and give yourself a dragon tattoo -  all before nine o’clock! Check out our Events page for more information.

THE hat--photo by Llalan

Smooth mint julep in one hand, heady cigar in the other, giant red hat on my head – there’s really only one place I could be: The Kentucky Derby. Let’s be honest, this get-up anywhere else would only earn me looks of derision, confusion, and perhaps outright outrage. But at the Derby the only looks were those that said, “My, she’s wearing a conservative outfit.” Perhaps more than the races themselves, my attention was drawn to the people around me. People-watching was as much a sport at Churchill Downs as horse racing.

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North of the border, Down Blue Jay’s Way

Photo by Kate

Some people might think it’s crazy to travel to a foreign country to see your favorite team play a game. Judging by the number of Red Sox jerseys at the Rogers Centre last week in Toronto, I would say that is not the case for the  members of Red Sox Nation. On Monday and Wednesday, I was treated to the sights and sounds of Red Sox fans drowning out the cheers of the home team fans. People were ordering “bee-ah” from the concessions stands and “wickeds” were flying through the air.

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Lonely Planet recently held a contest to publicize the release of its new Discover series of guidebooks. Booksellers picked five books about a place of their choosing and briefly described why travelers should read their recommendations. And we’re pleased to announce (and brag!) that our very own staffer and blog favorite, Lisa, has won!

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