#WackyWednesday and “irresistably weird”

Meps pushing shopping cart with Dario in it

Meps with a stray shopping cart of North America

Two years after winning the infamous and international Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year, Strangers Have the Best Candy continues to pop up on lists all over the internet. Here are some of the latest I’ve found in my Google searches.

March 15, 2017: #WackyWednesday: 10 of the strangest books ever written

The Newcastle Advertiser featured Strangers Have the Best Candy at #9, below Pop Sonnets and above Dinosaurs With Jobs.

March 1, 2017: 23 Irresistibly Weird Books You Won’t Believe Actually Exist

Amazon suggested this “Frequently bought together” bundle for $33.45

I noticed one day that book sales were trending up. Not only that, but Amazon was offering Strangers together with How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack and Stray Shopping Carts of North America. A Google search discovered this list on Buzzfeed, with Strangers at #20, below the Bill Murray Coloring Book.

December 7, 2016: 15 Questionable Book Titles That Really Exist

Julie Jarema of Riveted came up with rather obscure, but excellent titles, including How to Raise Your IQ by Eating Gifted Children and The Do-It-Yourself Lobotomy.

July 2, 2016: Top 10 Greatest Travel Books

Strangers Have the Best Candy is listed as the #1 Travel Book on the Crushing Tomatoes blog. It’s an honor, but to be honest, the review is completely anonymous and slightly suspect. I prefer the Buzzfeed list, myself.

 

Why I still march: 2017

Al, Nancy, and Pat, who met at the parade over a decade ago. Old-timers from Clearwater, they loved talking about what it was like in the “old days.”

There’s a chapter in Strangers Have the Best Candy entitled “In or out? The dilemma of every parade.” Although I marched in the Brunswick MLK Day parade a couple of years ago, this year, I chose to be on the sidewalk, photographing marchers in the Clearwater, Florida MLK Day parade. By sharing my pictures and stories, I am making their voices heard.

Al, Pat, and Nancy are three old-timers who met on a corner, watching the parade, 12 years ago. Every year since then, they look forward to meeting on the same corner and watching the parade. I listened to them talking about the way things used to be, here in Clearwater. In the 1950’s, Al was going to an all-black school near downtown Clearwater. Then the schools were integrated, and he went to Kennedy School, to the north, for the rest of his education. Nancy, who is white, sent her children to that same school.

On MLK Day, we can celebrate our accomplishments for equality, but we must not forget that there is still work to be done. We must not become complacent.

This Saturday, I’ll have my camera with me at the Women’s March in Washington D.C. I won’t stand for anything less than equality for women, the disabled, people of color, and the LGBTQ community.

Two years ago, I marched in a Martin Luther King Day parade in Brunswick, Georgia, surrounded by African-Americans who are still fighting for their rights. You can find the photos, along with the article “Why I still march” on my former blog, mepsnbarry.com.

Doing the Christmas wave

This Christmas was a very busy time for me — hosting visitors, wrapping gifts, cooking homemade food, and preparing for the Strangers Have the Best Candy Florida Keys book tour. I was running nonstop, somewhere between frantic and frenetic.

Finally, on Christmas morning, after I dropped my father and brother at the Catholic church, I had a rare treat: 15 whole minutes to myself.

I drove to Riverside Park in Vero Beach, where I thought I might walk along the river or just sit and look at the water. That all changed when I drove into the park and saw two young women in shorts holding cardboard signs. From a distance, they looked like hitchhikers at Burning Man! But up close, I could read the signs, which said “Free Christmas Breakfast.”

I rolled down my window. “Who’s sponsoring the breakfast?” I asked. They told me that it was a group from King’s Baptist Church, and they pointed up the road to a picnic shelter where they would be serving until 10:30. I glanced at the clock on my dashboard. It was 10:25.

All I hoped for was a good cup of coffee, but the friendly young group had much more than that. They had a huge grill and enough pancakes and eggs and pastries and orange juice for all of Vero Beach. They had excellent coffee.

They sat me down and treated me as an honored guest, and we talked about my favorite subject, talking to strangers. The conversation flowed along to a fun related topic, waving at strangers. On this sunny Christmas morning beside the river, no one was in a hurry to leave at 10:30, and I stayed past my planned 15 minutes.

I don’t remember all seven of their names, but thanks to this photo, I do remember their joyful faces. Here is how we celebrate Christmas in Florida: Out in the sunshine, smiling and waving at all of you.

7 new friends waving

Waving for the camera on Christmas morning

Florida Keys Book Tour

Here I go! Tomorrow morning, I leave for the Keys, via Miami!

The drive of six hours is a breeze,
Then I’ll be in the wonderful Keys,
Where I’ll whip out my pen,
Signing books once again,
For the readers who say “pretty-please.”

Here are the dates of this week’s appearances:

  • December 29, 5 pm: Key West Island Books
  • December 30, 3 pm: Key West Library
  • December 31, 11 am: Hooked on Books, Islamorada

Key West book tour poster