Disclaimer: I worked for both Borders and Barnes & Nobles WAY BACK in the day.  I like them both and even though they’re chains, having any bookstore is better than none at all.  This is not a recollection of my memories from that time, but a commentary on the current state of bookstores. 

This weekend I made a trip to the local Borders bookstore, for shits and giggles.  It had been a long time since I had perused the shelves of any bookstore and thought it a great way to kill a couple of hours.  If you’ve walked into one chain bookstore, you’ve walked into them all.  Coffee bar (with corporate coffee sponsors), bargain books (aka remainders) up front begging to be purchased, constantly shifting genre sections and the general homogenous feel of cookie cutter convenience.

Being the geek that I am, the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror sections are where you’ll usually find me.  I loved spending countless hours searching those shelves, scanning the spines for a diamond in the rough which would expand my literary horizons.  This visit was nothing like that instead filled with disappointment.  The experience has been nagging me since then and I had to share some of the things that irked me while I walked through my favorite sections.

Series, Series, Series

Barely any single novel books were on the shelf except for the standard "big name" authors.  Every available space was crammed with series after series.  I understand this is a direction being pushed by publishers and for fans of a particular author it’s a fantastic way to get more of what you like (I’m looking at you Jim Butcher), but I would like the opportunity to taste an author’s style before committing to the long haul.  I also find that one-off novels add more variety to a writer’s repertoire than one concept stretched across 10 books.

Out With The Old & In With The New

Classics were almost non-existent unless a major movie was tied to them (ie. Tolkien).  Older titles (70′s and 80′s) were in rare supply.  I might find one or two previous titles from the more established mid-list authors, but it was barely a drop in their extensive bibliographies.  Without understanding the standards hammered out by pioneering authors many new readers are missing out in the richness of the genres.  As much as I love Stephen King, he’s not the only author to have penned a scary tale.

Variety BAD, Mega-Seller GOOD

Promoting what’s hot or popular in literature makes good business sense which I cannot argue with.  Making it the only promotion you run creates tunnel vision for both the readers and the store.  If you were to use Borders as an example of literature in general, you’d think there are only hundreds of authors actually writing as opposed to the tens of thousands slaving over their keyboards.  With libraries being downsized (or closed) and bookstores offering a smidgen of what’s out there, it feels impossible to stumble upon anything different or unique.

We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Genres

The Horror section had barely 4 shelves (1 bookcase) to its name.  Sci-fi keeps shrinking with Fantasy being absorbed into it without so much as a shelf label.  One of the main benefits of brick & mortar over internet sites was the ability to wander the shelves and discover hidden gems.  With the space for these books disappearing fast, you’re more likely to find newer reading material from Amazon’s recommendations than your local store.

Merchandising! Where the real money is made!

Toys, games, tshotshkes, t-shirts, journals, mugs and just about every impulse item you can think of is jamming its way into Borders.  The Paperchase section is constantly expanding and at the rate its going looks like Borders will become a stationary store by 2021 (don’t worry Levenger, you still rock socks in my book).   It feels like books are becoming more of a nuisance than a raison d’être.  I wonder if books will transform into a lure for customers (like CD’s at Best Buy) with the business really focusing on all the ancillary products.  Who needs to read when you can just wear the gear?

Is This Where It’s All Headed?

I would love to see a resurgence in the traditional style of bookstores like Leakey’s Second Hand Bookshop in Inverness, Scotland.  Sadly I know the realities of the modern market make businesses like this hard to maintain.  The change in focus away from books, as seen in our chain stores, is an attempt to adapt to the shifts in economy and cultural spending habits.

I’d like to think this aberration was specific to my area, but I’ve seen it in other places as well.  Bigger stores, smaller stores, stores in a mall, they all seem to have the same ratio of books-to-everything else.  How soon before the term bookstore becomes a misnomer?

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I’ve been feeling this way for quite sometime.  An angry tweet here, a returned purchase there, no one could mistake me for a happy GameStop customer.  It’s not the constant up-sells or pressure to pre-order or any corporate nonsense.  For me, the cardinal sin that GameStop commits on a daily basis is not caring at all about games.

There has been the rare employee who actually cares about games and shares that love with customers, but whenever I’ve come across them—as frequently as I do unicorns—they are always looking for other employment, either having been pushed out by GameStop or tired of the insane management practices.

My Expectations

When walking into any video game store I have some expectations for the experience.  Right off the bat, I expect it to be run by and filled with Geeks, Nerds & Dorks.  The place should be overflowing with unrestrained passion and foaming at the mouth fervor.  There should be heated debates about the latest games, consoles or characters.  It should hum with the energy of video games, everyone is either playing or talking about games.  The staff should have an encyclopedic knowledge of electronic games stemming not from a handbook, but from a lifetime of enjoying them.  When you walk out of that place you should feel good.

Great comic book stores are exactly like that, jammed with passion and lightly salted with social ineptitude.  The employees may not be comfortable around chicks, but they’ll talk your ear off about graphic novels.  The people working these places drip the industry from their very pores.  It is their raison d’etre.

The Sad Reality

No one gives a shit about anything.  They could care less if you died right in front of them.  Even as they reach for the phone to dial 911 an exasperated sigh would escape their lips.  You can cut the ennui with a knife (which is impressive for 20-something year olds).

I wish I knew what was causing this oppressive atmosphere.  Having gone to GameStop’s in several states the experience has been the same.  Almost like it’s corporately mandated to provide the shittiest customer service possible.

The arrogance kills me too.  It’s the same kind you get when going to indie music stores when the person behind the counter judges you based on your musical tastes.  The difference is the music douches can back up their talk with an immense knowledge of music spawning from back in the day to incredibly obscure.  Most of the video game clerks give you that same attitude, but their knowledge barely scraps past the newest releases.

I know being a retail monkey isn’t the best work.  In my early years, I used to work at bookstores (both major chains) and there were good days and downright shitty days.  The one constant was my love of books.  Chatting with customers about authors and novels was always an incredible experience.

I can’t find any of that in a GameStop.  Blaring non-stop commercials shouting at me from mounted TV’s?  Plenty of that.  A love of games from a life long player? Maybe in the back underneath a pile of dusty Sega Genesis cartridges.

What I’m Going To Do

Vote with my wallet, as they say.  I refuse to buy anything from them anymore.  EBay, Craigslist, Amazon, ANYTHING other than GameStop will now be getting my video game dollars.  I may not be their prime demographic or a major purchaser of video games, but I am a disgruntled customer and in an economy where every penny is precious, I’ll make sure to spend the few I have somewhere else.  Honestly, with digital distribution methods getting more robust each day, I see them eventually going the way of Blockbusters, limping sadly into bankruptcy.

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Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
~ Benjamin Franklin

When I read that JFK’s love letters to his Swedish flame were going on sale it got me thinking about secrets in our modern society.  With the cult of personality at an all time high through the advent of reality TV stars and an ever invasive paparazzi it’s as if we should rename ourselves the full disclosure society.  No transgressions can be atoned for without a play-by-play rendering privacy an all but pointless concept.

Of course these examples stem from the world of celebrity, but this culture of confession has permeated our way of being.  The exhibitionist is flourishing, hitting a high point in its stride with the use of blogs, social media and 24 hour news.  People’s lives are being lived completely exposed without hesitation.  Hell, we’re demanding it as payment for any level of success: You run a popular online business, give us all your juicy details; You’re known for your solid career advice, reveal your moments of despair.  There is no life if it is not led in full view of others.  We’ll never have to worry about the tree in the woods making a sound because someone’s already wired a web cam to it. 

The obsession between exhibitionists and voyeurs is twisting our ability to lead private lives.  Those who refuse to share themselves with a hungry world are becoming the exceptions not the rule.  I find myself guilty of this skewed viewpoint as well.  When I’ve encountered people in the IT realm with no digital footprint (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc), I’m genuinely surprised.  The Truman Show may have been a movie, but it’s almost prophetic in its vision of where we’re headed.

People should be able to confide in another if they choose to, not from of an imposed sense of obligation.  I think secrets are important.  Sharing a secret with another is a sign of trust.  Keeping a secret given shows strength of character.  Discretion used to be a quality we admired.  Now if the secret is poisoning you by keeping it inside then by all means let it go, but do so only because it will make you feel better, not because society demands it. 

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Let me start off by stating I’m a big fan of IT recruiters in general.  My first gig with Microsoft was because a recruiter found me, I have several personal friends who are recruiters and many colleagues that are top notch recruiters.  They are an essential part of the job hunting process.

Having said that, there is a rising trend with the latest batch of recruiters that is driving me up the friggin’ wall.  When dealing with the technologies of modern day systems it is like a language of its own, which is why many IT people find it so hard to explain things to the average laymen.   If you’ve ever heard a couple of techies go “full nerd” then you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Now imagine your job is to find these folks work.  Certain specialists are walking amalgamations of acronyms, certifications and obscure tech know-how (vampire taps anyone?), so placing them can be interesting to say the least.  In the last couple of months I’ve been dealing with a metric assload of recruiters from all over the United States.  What constantly rubbed me the wrong way was how few of them knew anything about IT.  I’m not expecting nerd-like levels of knowledge, but for christ’s sake do a little research.  It felt like their job matching process amounted to “do the funny letters on his resume match the funny letters on the job posting”? 

Some of the questions I received were so asinine it took all my strength not to shout “you’re fucking kidding me” into the phone.  Here’s an example of one exchange I had that nearly made me hang up on the person (translated into normal terms to highlight the absurdity).

RECRUITER

How long have you been a mechanic working on cars?

ME

10 years.

RECRUITER

Did you ever work on engines during that time?

ME

*blink* *blink*

RECRUITER

How about tires? Have you dealt with them?

If I was a mechanic for 10 years what the hell was I doing other than working with engines and tires?  Was I just hanging out in coveralls slathered with grease for shits and giggles?  When people say things like that it shows a FUNDAMENTAL lack of understanding, yet for many roles these are the gatekeepers between you and the hiring managers.  Can you see why it drives me nuts?

I understand that not all workers are created equally and that some people are better at their jobs than others, but there should be some minimum requirement before being slapped with a recruiter title.  It just feels like the bar has been lowered so far that “opposable thumbs” has become a job qualification.

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The runaway success of Avatar (1.6 billion dollars made 32 days since its release: Box Office Mojo) has countless people talking about the film.  Apart from your standard issue movie reviews and special effects showcases there have been several articles diving deeper into the film, detailing characterization, plot and theme.  Some had noticed the striking similarities between Avatar and films like Dances with Wolves and Pocahontas.  For others Avatar suffered from racist undertones with the Na’vi  being used as a proxy for people of color.  One term that’s been heavily used in those articles is white guilt to describe the motivations behind Avatar’s storyline.  I had seen this phrase mentioned before in news articles or blogs, but never fully grasped the meaning.

According to Wikipedia white guilt is:

…the concept of individual or collective guilt often said to be felt by some White people for the racist treatment of people of color by Whites both historically and presently.

This really doesn’t make sense to me.  I’m not one for guilt in general, preferring my life to be motivated by more positive reasons, so feeling guilty for someone else’s actions (present or buried in the past) is just ludicrous.  Perhaps its because I don’t believe in original sin, but I don’t think one should be responsible for the actions of others if you weren’t there as it happened or even alive when it occurred. 

It appears to me that white guilt is a predominantly American term tied heavily to the times of black slavery and the decimation of the Native Americans.  That got me thinking of other countries which might suffer from their version of this “guilt”.

Spanish Guilt?

When it came to the decimation of an indigenous people no one was more efficient than the Spaniards.  The Conquistadores took over the Americas for God and country, fighting or converting anyone who stood in their way.  They were one of the main reasons for the decline of the Incans, Aztecs and Mayans, bringing disease and violence to these peoples doorsteps.

With a pedigree like that there should be some sort of spanish guilt floating around.  I scoured the ‘Net looking for it, but failed to come up with anything similar.  I didn’t find an equivalent term or an apology from the government of Spain for the actions of the conquistadors or anything that would run along the same lines as white guilt.

Then I started thinking about my own heritage. My parents are Cuban (if you couldn’t tell from the title of this blog) tracing their ancestry to Spain itself. Never once did I remember any discussion of guilt for the actions of the Spaniards in the Americas or even in Cuba. For me it has always been a piece of history to learn, never a chip to carry on my shoulder for the rest of my life.

I agree that learning from the mistakes made in our past will prevent them from repeating, which is the only way a culture can truly grow and move forward.  What I don’t agree with is carrying those mistakes like an albatross around our necks, chaining us to the past.  If we color everything with the same brush how are we ever to determine the true state of things?  For those constantly looking to jam their square peg perspective into the round hole of everyday situations please remember, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. 

I’m not saying racism doesn’t exist or that minorities aren’t being oppressed in this day and age, but I believe that American culture would do a lot better by focusing less energy on transgressions from the past that no one can undo and channeling it into the changes needed to prevent them from ever happening again. 

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It’s sad that my automatic response to someone promising me something is disbelief.  Honestly, I’m one of those who believes in the goodness of my fellow man, but reality has slapped, kicked and beaten that ideal out of me at almost every turn.  I’m not even talking about big stuff like lending money or wedding dates.  It’s the little things that are constantly promised yet so rarely kept.  Let’s get together this weekend or I’ll give you a call or some other inane crap…. why do people even make promises they never intend to keep?  I understand "white lies" in order to keep things even keel, but after a while your word becomes worthless because it can never be counted upon.  Call me old fashion, but I value my word.  When I tell someone I’ll do something for them, damn straight I’ll do it.  Of course, I’m a rarity in that regard and so is my girl who subscribes to the same belief.

With that being said, I recently encountered someone who was completely good on her word.  Not only that, but she was a student of "under promise, over deliver".  To say I was floored by her actions is an understatement.  It got me thinking about promises and people’s words.  Why happened culturally that our promises are now pointless?  Businesses doing whatever is necessary to stay afloat is a principle of capitalism and I’m ok with that, but it’s the everyday people whose words now fall on deaf ears that bother me the most.  It used to be that a man’s word was his bond, which could be counted on to settle a debt or accomplish a task.  People cut from that cloth are hard to find in modern society.  It could be a side effect of personal accountability going out the window or with folks living in larger cities, it’ll be unlikely you ever bump into the person you lied to again. 

Often I wonder why I have so few people in my life I consider true friends and then I realize it’s because these folks actually keep their word.  With all the places I’ve lived in (4 states, 2 countries) good people are still hard to find. All in all I’m glad someone popped up to shatter my preconceptions, otherwise I’d continue with my cynical, slightly bitter outlook of the world.

This post was brought to you by rum =)  What things are shattering your cynical viewpoint these days?  I’d like to hope we’re not ALL hopelessly bitter…

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Vampires always come and go in vogue, but recently they have become an especially hot property.  From movies to television to books, bloodsuckers are saturating our entertainment in record numbers.  What’s makes this wave of Nosferatu different from previous incarnations is the role that they are playing.  Dracula isn’t the foul creature from the grave, or the evil that must be destroyed; suddenly, he’s the boyfriend.  Vampirism, like motorcycles and leather jackets, has turned into a bad boy trapping. The eternal thirst for human blood is now more an afterthought than a deterrent, their proclivity for biting a kinky plus.  The boy you won’t bring home to mother has just grown fangs.

A mortal woman plus a supernatural lover always sells like hotcakes.  Just look at what’s out there: True Blood, Twilight, Moonlight, Forever Knight (I’m noticing a pattern) and of course Buffy, the epitome of vampire boyfriend storylines.  That demographic’s buttons are being hit hard, attracting a loyal female fanbase which will out-spend and out-watch their male counterparts.  If you don’t believe me, then let me ask you: do you think it was teenage boys that made Titanic the uber success it was? 

You would think that the reverse, a vampire girlfriend, would bring the guys in droves, salivating over their flawless beauty and perpetually hot bodies.  Sadly, that is not the case. It seems undead vixens don’t have the same allure as their male counterparts.  Mulling over this lack of symmetry in vamp sex appeal got me thinking: why is that?  Vamp chicks never get old, so their looks don’t fade.  They drink blood, so they’re uninhibited.  You’ll never have to meet their parents because they died 300 years ago.  I was putting a lot of checks in the pro column, but I still couldn’t think of any cons.  Then it hit me: the stereotypical male is intimidated by strong women, and these vamps are as strong as they get.  They don’t need to be saved, they will drink you under the table, they party harder than you ever could, and they’d kick your ass if it came down to it.  For women, the danger of a paranormal paramour drips sex, but for men it only reminds them of their mortality.

The few times we’ve ever seen vampire girlfriends attempted, it’s ended badly.  In Kindred: The Embraced, C. Thomas Howell’s vamp girl ends up a human torch after being pushed into a sunrise.  Jim Carrey in Once Bitten, turns his vampy cougar into a withered old lady.  Innocent Blood is the only film that tried to get it right, though it fails miserably.  Anne Parillaud is a smoking hot French vamp who loves parading around her candlelit apartment naked; this should be a win-win situation.  Yet when Anthony LePaglia finally gets to do the deed, the undercurrent of fear is painfully obvious.  He handcuffs her not out of some forbidden desire, but for fear of having his head ripped off mid-coitus. 

It kills me that male insecurities keep us from having a stunning Valkyrie as a sex symbol.  The closest we have is Milla Jovovich, and even her characters tend to be hobbled in some way.  I’m supposed to believe that the one thing keeping the Fifth Element –who beat to death countless aliens with her bare hands, learned the English language in mere hours and is ridiculously sexy wearing just bandages– from saving the world was Bruce Willis’ kiss?  That’s laughable.  Men’s fear of strong women is not only diluting the quality of our female characters, but pigeonholing what is considered sexy.

I for one, have no problem with a wild-eyed Amazon kicking ass, taking names and using me for a celebratory romp back at her place.

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