May 2008

Hello there Heidi Fans! This is Tipp from A[tipp]ical Thoughts. I am honored to be standing in for the lovely Heidi this weekend, so I will try to do my best to keep you all entertained! Let’s be real though, it is a gorgeous weekend so at least I don’t have to entertain you on a freezing cold day! So, read up and get out and enjoy the sunshine!

A little about me and we will jump right in. I tend to use my blog to get feedback on things that I need help with so I am going to open up to you an issue I have been having for the last few months. Well, not really an issue, but a dilemma if you will. It is about my Myspace.

Here is a little history.

Like the rest of America I embraced Myspace as the coolest, most awesome, “da bomb” invention of its day when it came out.  I loved (and hated) the fact that I could find people from my past with whom I had lost touched with. I loved that I could spy on, check in with, comment on, and IM to my hearts content all of my “friends.” I loved the feeling of power I felt when I could deny the friendship of those I most definitely did not want contact with, and laugh at the fact that they could not spy on me in turn when I marked my profile private, long before anyone else could have. (Hint: Back in the day all you had to do was change your age to fourteen and Tom would miraculously let you be private) Evil I know. But it was fun. You know you were a true Myspace junkie when you woke up extra early to see if over the night when you were sleeping anyone from your past may have found you and sent you that most cherished “Friend Request.” You know you loved it when you saw that little plus sign too!! It would make your day, don’t lie! I loved that I could make groups, IM people with the beloved little blinking orange man, and alas, begin to change my mood? Hello, Tom you were way in front of Twitter on this one. It did have its drawbacks though. You could ruin friendships by moving around your “top friend list.” You know what I am talking about, you guys know that you have signed on to a friend’s page only to find you had been bumped down two notches for that “new girl.” Don’t pretend like you didn’t get hacked and then later sulk about it for two weeks. It happens, I have heard the stories, but not me. A-hem. No, really, I am not that silly. Coughs.

But, my love affair was sidetracked and I was introduced to Facebook. I began to cheat, just a little, on my Myspace. I made a profile, found friends (most of whom I already had “friended” on Myspace), uploaded pictures, and well, that was about it. I kept looking for the secret “wow” factor and sadly I never found it. I realize it is a craze, one I just never got I guess. I began to check it less and less. I began to get irritated, because every time I would sign on I would have literally hundreds of requests to add an “application” or “write on a wall” or “take a quiz.” It was way too much work. People sent me gifts, tagged me in their photos, challenged me to movie trivia and gave me side hugs and front hugs, finally and the one that was the last straw for me, threw sheep at me. I began to mark them all as ignore. Advice: DON’T do that. Apparently, that is like the ultimate bad Facebook etiquette and you will suffer the consequences and be placed in cyber time-out. People seriously got mad at me when I ignored their request to play Scrabble, or upload their quiz. And that was it. I left the cult of Facebook and never looked back. I hated all of the clutter, the requests and the invitations. Don’t hate Facebook disciples, don’t hate.

Now, for those of you who are still with me who aren’t convinced that I have committed social networking apostasy, bear with me and grant me some advice. Sadly, my beloved Myspace has decided that instead of sticking with what works, they will try to copy the success and popularity of Facebook –insert perplexed look here- by adding applications, quizzes, and other Facebook-like qualities.

BOOOOOOO. Big Thumbs Down.

My comment section is now riddled with application requests. Again, people are buying me pets, posting bulletins about what farm animal they are most like, and cluttering my inbox with web presents and other stuff that I don’t want. Is it too much to ask for a real message? Is it too much to ask for a real comment these days? Is it too much to ask not to get “fake” friend requests? You know the ones, the marketing schemes, the “Girls Gone Wild” Web Cam page, and the fourteen year old boy who is playing his ukulele in his garage in Idaho. Yes, I know you can turn off requests from bands, trust me, I have tried, but little Wilbur keeps getting through the Spam blocker!!

Really? MySpace? Did you fall? Did you really go down this road? Tom, I need answers! I realize that you are too busy out spending your bajillion dollars to worry about my needs, but really, let’s chat.

So, this leads me to my question. While I have Myspace to keep up with many people who I would love to be able to contact at the drop of a hat, I find that it is not being used for that. No more messages, no more real comments, shoot, I barely even sign on anymore.

So, is it worth is? Should I turn it off? It is just one more page to keep up with. But if I do turn it off it will be like severing the ties with so many people and the only way I know to get up with them should I need to talk to them.

But let’s be real. I haven’t needed them up until now, what are the chances that I will.

So, let the debate begin. Myspace friend or foe?

Hello, Heidi’s loyal readers! And other people I dragged over here so I wouldn’t feel lonely!

Last night I got an email from a dear friend, asking me how I was holding up one week after my first book was released. And I told her I have wild mood swings on any given day–from euphoria to depression, depending on the amazon ranking. I was mostly kidding, of course. Seven years ago, I would say to anyone who would listen, “I don’t even care if she can’t sell my book—I just want to get an agent.”

And lo and behold, after some false starts and misfires, I got an agent.

Then I would say to the same people (who were then blinking longer than necessary whenever I brought it up), “I don’t even care if nobody reads it or it only has regional distribution—I just want my book published.”

And then, by jove, I got a book published. By Random. Freaking. House.

So now what am I saying to the patient loved ones in my life? Well, it’s the same thing most other authors wish for their book babies after they are unpacked and shelved at Barnes and Noble, and it involves the following words: ‘movie rights,’ ‘foreign sales,’ ‘bestseller list,’ and ‘Oprah.’

Okay, I’m not really saying all of that, but I think you know what I’m getting at. Call it The Law of Escalating Wants, because I don’t know what else to call it that doesn’t involve the phrase “Stop being so douchey.” You are content with what you have and generally don’t peek over the fence at your neighbor’s yard, but then one day you do, and they have a kickass deck and hot tub and plants that aren’t dead and there’s also a party going on around the tiki bar every night. You hear Jon Stewart was there yesterday.

So you are doing GREAT with your little book out in the big world, and people are actually reading it and liking it, or maybe not even that many people are reading it but the ones who do read it tell you they like it—things are humming along happy-happy-joy-joy, up until you get word that your author friend just sold movie rights to her new novel and was shortlisted for a major literary award and discovered a cache of rubies in her colon, all on the same day. And you suddenly become that Beethovenesque Muppet on Sesame Street, bashing his head into the piano keys: “Oh, I’ll NEVER get it! NEVER!!!”

Actually, if you’ll permit me to mix you a metaphor cocktail, it’s more like this: well, first of all, you should feel lucky to be in the pool at all…that was a major achievement in and of itself, because swim trials can be brutal. So you’re swimming, and you’re swimming, and all of a sudden you discover how to do a somersault…and you’re all, “Mom! Look! Did you see that?! Hey mom!” and you’re ecstatic about your little somersault, you keep practicing and enjoying the feel of the water as you spin and splash, and then suddenly a herd of synchronized swimmers blasts by, fancying everything up, and everyone’s throwing roses after them and applauding and you’re kind of pushed back on a wave, and then you realize you peed in the pool, just a little, so you climb out and go home with swimmer’s ear and eat a pan of semi-stale brownies while watching some old Three’s Company reruns. And you think, Wow, I never want to swim again, but then the next morning you put the suit back on, and then you’re back at the pool, determined to learn a swan dive off the high board despite a really bad case of vertigo.

Okay, it’s not really all that bad. It’s human nature to want to succeed at whatever we do, especially professionally. And it’s okay to feel a little envy now and then, as long as you don’t let envy make you her bitch. (Because she’s a kinky one, that envy.) Besides…lean in close now…I have learned something else that’s really, really cool: most writers—even really big name ones—are incredibly generous. And publishing is a small, small industry: what you say about so and so WILL get back to them. And the kindnesses you bestow or do not bestow WILL be remembered. So the real lesson here, is be happy with what you have, because there’s always bigger and better. And there just might be someone looking at YOU, wishing he or she was in your shoes. Even if they’re stinky-stanky flip-flops you picked up at the Dollar Store.

So thanks Heidi, for being gracious enough to let me clutter up your pretty space with some thoughts that fell out of my head…thanks for reading, and have a great weekend, y’all!

(Psst: when I’m not hanging at Heidi’s, I’m Here.)

I’m back on the road this afternoon. As such, there is a second round of guest posters coming your way!

Today at some point will be Liz from Life as List, Friday will be Jess Riley, author of the new book Driving Sideways (which I can’t wait to read!), Saturday will be Tipp from A[Tipp]ical Thoughts, and Sunday will be Arielle from Good Things Come to Those Who Whine.

Hooray! I love coming back and reading what they’ve written!

On another note, (of far less importance)

Is it sick that I’m ready for vacation to be over? I think I may have burned out most of my vacation for the rest of the year (whoops?) We shall see though. I think i have 14 days? Not just 10? *shrug*

Anyhow…back to getting things done before i leave in…3 hours. wahoo!

So most of you may or may not know that while boyfriend and I are not yet engaged, we have talked *very* seriously about gettin’ hitched. So for the past year and a half, since he’s been proposing since we first started dating (obviously not seriously though) I’ve been waiting patiently to get a nice shiny piece of bling on my fingers.

So you know, a few weeks ago, we talked about when. We’re thinking June 2009. Tentatively. A lot could happen between now and then, so I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high. But the ring? Still MIA. Though, I did give him my parents phone numbers last night. So I guess that’s a sign that we could be getting ready for this…

Not that I’m getting cold feet or anything because I’m not.

But it’s conversations like this…that kind of make me wonder…will i ever get a shiny piece of bling kind of like this one??

But again…no pressure but sometimes? When I have to STOP MY BOYFRIEND FROM SPLURGING AND BUYING A 47″ LCD TV….I get a lil frustrated. No biggie though, Amazon didn’t give him enough credit. Ha! See conversation below…

Boyfriend: I need your thoughts. Amazon is running a deal where if you buy an LCD you get a free HD Tivo. so for only $1,849.98 we can get a 46″ flatscreen and HD tivo. and in theory it could be financed same as cash for 24 months.
me: ….
Boyfriend: it only works if i they give me an amazon credit card
me: …. i thought we were going to wait on buying a new teevee?
Boyfriend: indeed (but then they used their marketing data on me to send a targeted email!) they new what I wanted b/c of my viewing history and what’s in my wishlist. those bastards
me: :-/
Boyfriend: ha! they gave me a $XXXX line of credit
me: no HD LCD for you!
Boyfriend: so yeah, the question is whether its worth getting a 40″ TV versus our current 32″ or if it’s better to get something bigger than 40″ later
me: ….ummmmm
Boyfriend: okay here’s the deal see, I will not decide today. you and I will swing by a Best Buy over the weekend and actually look at the thing. if you like it and I like it and we think it actually makes sense - and then we calculate out the cost. and it’s not insane. then we’ll get it, if not then no. the only reason I’m thinking about it is that they’re offering same as cash financing for 24 months. and it’s tax free. so (1) it’s cheaper than I could get elsewhere and (2) I could essentially have it as if I paid cash b/c there would be no interest.
Boyfriend: so yeah…no impulse buying today =)
me: thank you jebus
Boyfriend: ha!

Love the boy…hate that we both have crazy impulse shopping tendencies. (stay tuned later to check out my fabulous finds in Boston!)

My Beefs (and loves) about vacation.

- Coming back to work. We flew back on the 10a shuttle out of Boston (we were originally booked on the 11a) and got home to drop off bags so I could change before heading into work…going into work? Not so easy.

- Not having luggage with wheels. Long ago, right before I started my internship in DC, I bought myself a huge ass fucking suitcase. It is now, what I call too big. It’s good for when I go home for long periods of time, but boyfriend and I don’t usually make trips longer than 4-5 days. So I bought myself a super cute Vera Bradley Large duffle a couple years ago after moving down post-graduation. Unfortunately, super cute duffles? Don’t have wheels. This makes life unpleasant when you live five blocks from the metro.

- Early morning flights. I generally don’t do early morning flights. By early morning? I mean anything before 10am. Mostly because 45 minutes for travel time, plus getting there early (i usually do 90-120 minutes before scheduled departure) means I generally leave two-three hours before my flight. Friday that meant being up at 5:30 to leave the apartment by 6:30 to get there by 7:30 for an 8:30 flight. Since we went to see Augustana and didn’t get home till 11pm and packing didn’t commence till 11:30pm, we didn’t get to bed till about 1:30am. Traveling on four hours of sleep? Not so fun.

- Spending too much money. Food, drinks, my favorite clothing tax free state…make me not so happy with my bank account right now. I don’t think i need to say anymore.

- Shopping by myself on Friday and realizing that certain places hadn’t been visited since I was last there with the ex in 2006. It stung a little bit, mostly because I get stupidly emotional at sentimental shit like that, but I got over it real quick when I saw the cutest jacket at Ann Taylor Loft for $40. Love me some madras print!!

- Getting that sick feeling in your gut when you fear you might run into people you don’t want to.

- Going back to your old favorite college bar, walking in and seeing five people you know but knowing by the time you get to the OHE-DF that you are far too old for this crap and need to get out of there before you get suffocated by sex-fiending college students.

- Friends who have HORRID taste in bars. Seriously? Allston bars are the BANE of my existence.

- Sailing, while incredibly fun, should be done with sunscreen. The type that lathers on not the spray on because then? You won’t get splotchy sunburns….and also? Don’t forget your face.

However, while those are a few of the downsides of my trip, there were far many more….

+ Dinner at my favorite restaurant on Boylston with one of my favorite gal pals L on Friday night.. i freaking love Cactus Club margaritas!

+ Reminiscing with the boys downstairs in Pour House over beers and laughter.

+ A wedding shower with another close gal pal J who is going to make such a fabulous bride - I can’t wait for her wedding at the end of next month!

+ Seeing L and G and talking shit because guess what, I don’t really have anyone to talk shit with down here in DC. It was nice being a catty bitch for a little bit with people who appreciate what I’m saying.

+ Giant beer mugs at Pour House. OHHHH YEEAHHHHH!!! <3 super mugs.

+ Being a fat ass with PBM and getting not one but TWO slices of jumbo slice from TWO different places (Lil Stevies and Cappy’s) and then going to last call at OHE and seeing DJ Jerry. Who doesn’t love the fire?? Too bad the df was crowded and hot and holy crap how did i do that for three years?? Too bad I love, love lovedddd every minute of it at the time, which when push comes to shove, is what matters most.

+ NH Liquor runs…who doesn’t love tax free booze?!

+ Dinners in the North End, fun irish bars with awesome people like Juliezilla (why didn’t we ever hang out in college???), even funner empty bars with your best gal pal taking kamikaze shots is just…awesome. Even if i paid for it most of the day monday.

+ Newbury Street…how I missed you.

+ Sharing all my favorite things about this city with boyfriend. Not thinking about the past, not thinking about the memories, made for a fabulous weekend with fabulous friends and a fabulous boyfriend that makes me happy. I couldn’t have spent my vacation in a better way.

+ Sailing off Salem, getting some sun, and some sea breeze in my hair. Ending the day with a nice glass of wine with a bbq and great conversation with friends.

Highest point: Dim Sum and shopping on Newbury with boyfriend. It was just us and we just enjoyed the weather and the city
Lowest point: Having to pull over twice on the way to Salem so I could be sick, getting sick twice before even leaving the house, getting lost getting out of the city and fighting about it..it was just a bad scene. Kamikaze shots are the devil.

As you can tell, the weekend was fabulous…thanks to the fabulous gals that guest posted for me over the weekend, if you haven’t checked them out yet…check out Lexi, Jenn, Megan and Lacey’s posts. All these gals were fabulous and I am ever so appreciative of their mad blogging skillz. Stay tuned to find out who’s guest blogging this upcoming weekend when ROUND TWO of the vacation begins - we fly out Thursday afternoon for CT and come back Sunday evening. Oy. So right now? I’m enjoying a sleepy puppy who has been at her crateless boarding kennel playing with some 75-100 dogs over the course of the past four days. She’s happy but she stinks…but we can’t give her a bath because she’s going back there Thursday. You heard me….two days from now. Oy.

Anyhow freaders, what did you love and or hate about your memorial day weekend????

What are the movies in your collection that you’d consider embarrassing?  Got Howard the Duck on your DVD shelf? 

Lacey - Perks of Being a JAP

Hello, internets! It’s me, Megan, from Tea and Cake Time. If you’re a fan of occasional food porn, SNL recaps, and much complaining about various and sundry topics (and use of phrases like “various and sundry”), you should come on by. I’m fun, I promise. But that’s not why I’m here–I’m here to fill in while Miss Heidi is taking Boston by storm. Since her guest post for me in April was her Very First Guest Post, I feel like I have to admit…it’s my first time, too! Now that you know this, I can proceed to tell you about some other firsts…

My First Favorite TV Show…was probably Sesame Street. Probably a very “typical” little-kid show for a four-year-old to be excited about, but I swear to you, I loved Sesame Street something fierce. An early consumer (or at least whiner until my parents acquiesced to my wishes), I had to have everything to do with Big Bird, Snuffy, and even that damned Oscar the Grouch. I had all manner of plush, “school supplies” (I was a young nerd, too), and even a makeshift clubhouse that we erected in my playroom in the Good Old Days before my brother was born…where I proceeded to stash all my goodies. The pinnacle of this young fan-dom was a trip to Sesame Street Live!, the only part of which I can still clearly remember was the bucket of cotton candy that I enjoyed while waving my felted Big Bird sign and watching the strobe lights and ice dancing that blew my young mind.

My First Best Friend…was a girl named Jayme, who has disappeared into the ether of friends who now live Quite Far Away. While many good times involving swimming lessons, dress-up, and gymnastics and dance classes were had, there is one sleepover in particular that comes to mind, likely because it was also my first exposure to Cool Stuff That Teenagers Did (note: it was probably around 1988-90, when I was between 5 and 7 years old, so we really had no idea how truly lame it was to be a teenager). Having satisfied our movie hunger with a viewing of Mannequin (which I will maintain is a freaking awesome movie, and love Hollywood Montrose more every time I see it), we began flipping through the channels, landing on the at-the-time forbidden MTV. Whether our parents were just convinced that it was Too Old or Too Cool for us, I’m not sure, but I do remember being completely mesmerized by a video for “Walk Like an Egyptian.” Oh, the gyrating! Oh, the racial stereotyping! Oh, Belinda Carlisle! I had no idea what was going on, but I couldn’t peel my eyes or ears away from that television screen (sorry, that is a gross visual)– I had been Smitten By MTV.

My First Boyfriend…was named Anthony. Technically, I refer to him as Anthony One, because there was another same-named boyfriend a couple years later, but at the time that we were in the “relationship,” he was the Only One. Anthony really set the bar low for the guys who would soon follow him– he was a great example of How to Be a Crap-ass Young Teen Boyfriend (friends, we were fourteen– forgive me). Here is a short list of what should have been Big, Fat Red Flags: he was much, much dumber than I am/was (this sounds mean, but the guy was an idiot. I guess I liked being in charge?), he got kicked out of our middle school for smoking pot on campus (the worst part is that his mom, upon finding this out, just told him not to do it at school anymore), and he liked (as in, really enjoyed) the Insane Clown Posse, a startlingly white-supremacist, sexist, sociopathic musical group. We broke up when I realized how lame he was, and then proceeded to break up at least three more times after that due to his staggering idiocy and my lack of skill at breaking up with people. I have gotten better at that, though, and I suspect he may be incarcerated at present. All I know is that his ass isn’t on Facebook, and for that I am eternally grateful.

My First Drink…was, not shockingly, before I turned 21. Perhaps a little more shockingly, it was not Some Crazy Night with New College Friends. I was in my freshman year of college, and was spending a weekend in nearby Hermosa Beach with my aunt and uncle. With my uncle gone at a Rush concert (I can’t explain this, he is a strange guy sometimes), my aunt and I decided that a Girls’ Night In, complete with a viewing of Moulin Rouge and some vanilla Coke and Vanilla vodka was in order. Vanilla vodka was definitely my downfall freshman year, and I couldn’t stay away. Drink after drink, coupled with the whirling colors on the screen as Ewan MacGregor seduced Nicole Kidman (or was it vice versa?), ensured that midway through the movie, I was Praying to the Porcelain God in their guest bathroom. It was decided that I should probably stay that night, too, and that we wouldn’t tell my uncle. Probably the best call…and the next morning, I got to experience My Very First Hangover, too. Could’ve done without that one.

My First Male Roommate…is my boyfriend, GP. He just graduated from SJSU with his master’s, and even though he thinks it’s silly for me to be proud of him, I am. I think it’s pretty great that he is Done Forever with school, while I still have yet to begin library school (this fall, yay!). I also think it’s pretty great that he takes care of the Man Chores that I don’t care to do, including spider-killing, garbage-taking-out, and heavy-thing lifting. Unless you are yourself a dude (and maybe even if you are!), I highly recommend getting a Male Roommate. As long as you can train him to use coasters and put down the seat (obvious, but very traumatic to fall into a toilet at 3am!), it’s a wise investment.

What are some of your firsts, friends?

My mom and I are alike in many ways. We share a healthy obsession with serial killers, true crime and Deal or No Deal. We both experience annoying levels of guilt and we both blog!. Some might say we even look alike! (I don’t see it - reason #14 why I think I could be adopted.) Where we differ is in our fight. I fight to prove a point - my point. She fights to right a wrong.

Let’s go back a few days ago when my mom and grandma went grocery shopping. After getting home my mom noticed that she was missing four cans of soup that she bought. She checked her car, basement and my grandma’s house, in case she brought it home by mistake. The soup was missing.

The next day she called the store’s corporate office and told him about her missing soup. The woman at corporate told my mom she could go into the store and replace her four cans of soup. She would call the local store and tell them she would be coming. Since I work so close to the store, my mom told her that I would be going to the store. You see where this is going don’t you?

I walk into the store thinking that they’re aware of my mom’s soup mystery and it should be an in and out job. Very quick. No muss, no fuss. Wrong. The manager claimed to never have received the call from corporate and was questioning my missing soup story. As I stood in line I was thinking to myself that someone would have to be very desperate and/or pathetic to want to steal four cans of soup.

Finally after taking pity on me for holding up the line, they let me go, soup in hand. I basically saved the day. I gave my mom her four cans of soup and in return I got a box of blueberry muffins (super fuck yeah!)

Fast forward to two days ago, guess who found her soup? Guess who is now a desperate and/or pathetic thief for stealing four cans of soup?

Yours Truly

This guest blog has been brought to you by Jenn.

Why hello there! I’m Lexi, and I write over at Tea and Crumpets, but thought I’d venture into the world of guest blogging for the very first time! Yes folks, this is my first ever guest blog! Want to know a secret? I’m also new to blogging anyway- my own blog is less then a month old! Luckily, Heidi is pretty fabulous and didn’t seem to mind my lack of blogginess, so on we go!

So Heidi is away at a wedding shower this weekend, I believe. I guess that Memorial Day weekend officially kicks off both summer and wedding season, eh? I have five, yes five weddings this summer; that I know of. Of course, there could always be one lurking beneath the surface that I am unaware of right now. My first wedding is next weekend, coinciding with the premiere of the Sex and the City Movie. Noooooo!!!!! So Friday night, rather then basking in the glory that is Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha, I will be on a flight to Des Moines, IA. Yes, that’s Iowa. Joy. I’m sure the wedding will be lovely…I just hope the cake is good!

Right, so Iowa next weekend, then I have a break from weddings in June. Then we have one in July in NH and August in NH (Labor Day weekend! gahhh!). Then there is Boston in September and Florida in October. Ugh. While I say “ugh” in a light-hearted way, I can be pleased that I’m not in any of these weddings! I think my bridesmaid days are over! Well, my sister will be married someday, but no time soon. This is better then three years ago, where I was a bridesmaid in three weddings (NH, NH and NJ).

This leads to my question and our topic of discussion- what have you done with your discarded bridesmaid dresses? Like I said, I have three. Ironically, they are all the same color, which meant that I could wear the same pair of $150 sandals three times! This was good. Each dress is a light green, a sage-ish color. The first was a tea-length with spaghetti straps, and there is a slight chance I could wear it again, to a summer wedding. The second one was full-length and strapless, and if I had it hemmed to a tea-length, I could wear it again. The last one was my least favorite and I could never wear it again. It was full-length, halter-style and the top was heavily beaded. It was pretty, but not my style. Ironically, I am no longer friends with that bride, but that is an entirely different blog post.

Each of these dresses hangs in my closet, wrapped in plastic, but gathering dust. What should I do with them? One of my BFF’s has sold several dresses on ebay. That could be a possibility. Or, I could also donate them to the Salvation Army or one of those organizations that donates prom dresses to high schoolers. I think that is what I am leaning towards.

What do you think? Where should my dresses go to die? What has happened to your former bridesmaid dresses? Most importantly, what sort of dress will you choose for your bridesmaids? Will it be something they can wear again? Or will it hang in their closet, silently mocking them from the back of the shelves?