In times like this I wish I had my camera. This is the 4th time that I have had to drive out Nampa for half a week and stay out here and house/pet sit. for now, I am going to use photos I find on flickr.
The thing about Nampa,--the only thing I somewhat enjoy--is that the city is still stuck in old timey 1950s era town mode. There aren't really any new buildings, all of the businesses and stores have their original metal neon signs circa 1950 something. The town is cute looking. It is interesting, it has its quirks. Like I said before, these are the times I wish I had a functioning camera. I am sure some of you Idaho folk know exactly what I am talking about when I describe how grimey and wonderful this place feels. I think Boise used to feel like this. But that all started changing around the time I was born, so I don't know old Boise.
Today I went into downtown Nampa for a little bit to see what shops there were. I had driven past The Music Exchange last time I was here so I thought I would take a look inside and see if I could find anything. I walked into the store stepping from the 100 degree heat into a cold and deserted store... so far I was not impressed. I look at the man behind the counter and knew right away this man knew nothing about music. I said hello and made my way over to te 5 rows of cds, almost all labeled as "USED". Wow, talk about the worst music collection ever. It was a store of used and new cds and cassettes and dvds. The music selection was just awful. It was divided into the following sections: Rock, Country, Punk, Rap, Pop. That's it, folks! The rap section was massive and I didn't dare try and see what was in it. The punk section included Good Charlotte, The Raconteurs, The Donnas, Daft Punk (apparently if you have "Punk" in your band name, you immediately get classified as Punk) and a bunch of other bands that aren't punk. I went and looked at the posters. HA. Poster displays filled with beer jokes, 1999 Brittney Spears, gangsters and ganastas, pot leaves, and Marylin Monroe movie shots. I have never felt so out of place and uncomfortable in a store before except for the time that James made me go into the kids Abercrombie and Fitch or when I tried on clothes from Hollister with Laura.
I left that store after about a 20 minute browse and headed back to an antique store I had passed. The antique store was also dead quiet and I couldn't find the person running it. I quietly looked at all of the cute knick-knacks old 1940s children's books, and salt and pepper shakers. I found a pair of red earrings polka-dotted with sequins for only $2. That was pretty much all I could afford and after I made the purchase I crossed the street to the Flying M Coffee Garage.
That concludes part of my day in Nampa. Tonight, Zach and I are going to retrieve his mics from the coffee garage and maybe find a bite to eat.
