I went to the grocery tonight for two things: juice and disposable aluminum mini bread pans. I walked out with both those items, but also some fresh cherries and, of all things, a newspaper subscription. You know the rule that you're never supposed to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach? Little did I know that the rule also applies for never stopping by a booth that offers a chance to win $100 in grocery money while you have an empty stomach.

As it turns out, when someone looks vaguely like someone I know and is just as gregarious as that someone I know, I become far less skeptical and suspicious about people trying to get me to spend money. In other words, I become a huge sucker for whatever is being pushed.

In this case, it was the LA Times offering up a special on a summer-long weekend newspaper subscription. They were having people enter into a drawing to win $100 for groceries (hi! sign me up!) and then were offering special deals on aforementioned subscriptions. Something about a $60 value being offered for only $10! I've never subscribed to a newspaper, so I was like "Shit! Sign me up for the newspaper! I've always wanted to have a newspaper delivered to my door."

Of course, the way it works is that you don't pay the $10 outright. Rather, you pay $20 and then they give you a $10 gift card for your groceries. Works for me. I wasn't planning on spending a whole $10 on food at that point, but suddenly I had that grocery money in my hot little hand, so I made a beeline to the produce department. I wasn't aware beforehand that they had cherries, maybe I was drawn to them by some combination of intuition and the gift card that led me to the $4.00/lb section that was cherries! Bing cherries! Delicious, succulent, ripe Bing cherries! So I immediately snatched a bag and then headed for checkout. And holy cow. The cherries are everything I imagined they would be, and more. They're heavenly. They're inspiring. And if my roommate thinks about even touching one of my precious cherries, there will be hell to pay.