Globe Corner Blogs

MISSION: Pool the staff’s lunch money to secure sugary goodness from local Baking Goddess Joanne Chang’s Flour Bakery, or, Operation: Tartlette.

LOCATION: Central Square, Cambridge, MA. U.S. of A.

THREAT LEVEL: HIGH.

ACTION PLAN: Operative Lisa – code name “Snickerdoodle” – is to scour Joanne Chang’s cookbook Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe; she will determine which tartlettes to procure in order to cover the three previously agreed upon flavors: lemony, chocolaty, and anything else that looks really, really good.

Operative Will – code name “Country Ham Quiche” – is to call the bakery and find out the exact circumference of the various tartlettes in order to meet the agreed upon target: “most sugary-goodness-per-dollar.” Also, he will get exact directions to the bakery.

Operative Nastia – code name “Meringue Cloud” – is to be dispatched to the bakery to purchase the decided-upon tartlettes: LEMON LUST TART, HAZELNUT-ALMOND DACQUOISE, and HOMEMADE OREOS. She must get back to work in time to start her shift. (SOP)

MISSION STATUS: Delicious. Continue Reading »

This Wednesday, December 15th, the Globe Corner Bookstore will be celebrating a very special day! It’s the second birthday of Ulla, our official greeter and store dog, and the GCB would like to invite all of our customers (and fans of the incomparable Ulla) to come down and join in the fun. Show up at the right time and you just might be treated to the sight of our rather embarrassed staff singing “Happy Birthday” to a golden retriever wearing a large bow while she wolfs down some sort of pastry. Belly rubs will be accepted in lieu of gifts. (N.B. the last applies to Ulla, not the staff.)

Where To Go When --by Joseph Rosendo

At least one customer a week asks, “Isn’t it difficult to work in a place like this? Don’t you just want to go everywhere?” The answer, invariably: “Yes.”

I think it’s fair to say that all of us have a nearly constant and always ferocious case of the travel bug. The fierce desire to be on the move, exploring new lands is a definite occupational hazard of working at the Globe Corner. The bug can strike at any time. The sudden urge to run away to Italy for a month comes on while chatting to a customer about the architecture of Venice. Gondolas, wine, a brief but passionate affair with someone who looks not unlike Furio from “The Sopranos”!

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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao --by Junot Diaz

I have ticked off another box on my Writering Life List (…like birding, but with authors).

Junot Diaz was sitting across from me on the subway the other morning. I was on my way to work, so it was early; I feared my senses were still blurry from having just woken. But there was really no mistaking it. Having seen his picture everywhere when our friends at Harvard Book Store hosted a reading with him, I was familiar with that stubble, that hairline (or lack thereof), those glasses, and that peculiarly frowning mouth. It was him.

Did I go up him and tell him how much I loved Oscar Wao? Of course not! Would you casually saunter up to a pileated woodpecker if you spotted one and tell him how brilliantly red his crest was? Of course not! Most writers are known to be solitary creatures, skittish at the sight of fans clutching books to their chests, grinning shyly, practicing softly under their breath how to say, “I’ve been the biggest fan for…” without sounding like that guy.

So no, I did not bother him. Besides, he was reading.

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Your very own Globe Corner Bookstore was featured in this past Sunday’s Boston Globe. If you missed it in print, read “Bookstore employees are off to see the world” online for further insight on what a fascinating bunch we are.

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of attending my graduation.  Naturally my family came to Boston to visit and celebrate.  One of the festivities of the weekend was going to see the famous Globe Corner Bookstore, which they have only been hearing and dreaming about.  Continue Reading »