February 18, 2011
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The Daily News
1 Am I concerned about the closing of 200 Border's bookstores?
2 Well, yes. For one thing, I feel for all of the families and employees who will be losing jobs.
3 For another thing, I think that the trend of online reading, Kindle, Amazon, and all the rest might be spelling the death of all bookstores, both mom-and-pops as well as large chains.
4 I love bookstores. I especially love quaint bookstores that pop up in all sorts of small towns. In San Jose, we have Recycle Bookstore on the Alameda, one in Campbell, and Hicklebees in Willow Glen, to name a few.
5 But I also love that just down the street from the Chill, we have the Barnes and Noble at Eastridge.
6 I always had mixed emotions about places like Barnes and Noble and Border's.
7 I always felt that they were going to push the little guy out of business.
8 I don't know much about the bookstore industry, just that I always preferred small, hole-in-the wall stores over the huge ones. I am especially partial to Recycle Books on the Alameda, just up the street from the Pavilion.
9 So I'm a bit surprised that Border's is closing so many stores.
10 And yet, I'm not surprised, because books are now so accessible online.
11 I just recently purchased a class set of Romeo and Juliet from Amazon, for example, and it was great. It didn't occur to me that by doing that, I was taking business away from small bookstores. And it REALLY didn't occur to me that Border's was in any sort of trouble.
12 I have to wonder if the vanishing of the entire experience of shopping in a bookstore may be happening right before our eyes.
13 I have been watching the control and disappearance of daily newspapers with a watchful eye, and I have been watching the control of information by "the man" for years now.
14 What I wasn't watching was the more human thing of browsing through bookstores for simple intellectual relaxation. One of my favorite things to do is to walk mindlessly through bookstores. The older, the better, but a few of my faves are the aforementioned Barnes and Noble at Eastridge, Recycle on the Alameda, and the Border's in Santa Cruz, where I go on hot summer days to cool off and get out of the valley.
15 I enjoy bookstores because I can wander around aimlessly, daydream and surround myself thought and wisdom.
16 So even though the story of Border's is sort of a dog-bites-man story, it still hit me that all those people are going to get laid off.
17 I was never really a huge fan of Border's, with the exception of the Santa Cruz one, but it's still a sad thing.
18 I'm usually way political about it, figuring that we are all going to be controlled, as if we aren't already.
19 What I forget with all of that is the simple pleasure of browsing. I could spend a half day wandering around a bookstore.
20 But one has to wonder. If 200 Border's bookstores are on their way out, we might start to think that perhaps a man has bitten a dog here.
21 That begins to look like news.
22 I'm not even that paranoid about control of thought, which is pretty much already in place, but I suddenly find myself waxing nostalgic about the simple comfort of having a cup of coffee and a relaxing browse.
23 Everything isn't political. But I am a huge fan of wandering aimlessly through bookstores, small or large. Or have I mentioned that yet? I am absolutely addicted to Barnes and Noble, because we have one a little over a mile from the Chill.
24 I often go in there during my prep period, just to wander around.
25 And yes, it's a "modern" bookstore, but it has the same sort of coffee-house feel of the smaller mom 'n pops of lore.
26 I don't know what will become of bookstores. It doesn't look good, that's for certain.
27 I am particularly sad about the Border's in Santa Cruz. Every summer when it gets ungodly hot in San Jo, I hop the hill and land at the coast, just for something to do and to cool off.
28 I enjoy parking in downtown Santa Cruz and wandering around in their Border's.
29 It is going to disappear.
30 A man has bitten a dog. This is news. Especially to true readers.
31 Nothing political. Not a natural disaster. Just another quaint thing that is vanishing.
32 It's more a huge sigh than a news story.
33 But it's real.
34 Shame.
35 Moving on, Part the First: Well, I'm off here for a week. The workshop with Thuy Ann and AACI was pretty fun. I had a terrific time with a small group of students. We workshopped and laughed, and I think they had an enjoyable time.
36 I took the workshop right into my classroom yesterday, and had a half-day of drama fun.
37 And my best lessons come right after this break.
38 The Cafe Verona will be open for business soon after this brief break. We're off this week for Winter Break.
39 So I think I'll hit Border's in Santa Cruz in the next few days, give a sigh, and realize that a man did bite a dog yesterday.
40 Meanwhile, you guys enjoy the rain.
41 I intend to drink some coffee, sigh, and pore through some books while I still can.
42 See you in a few.
43 Peace.
~H~
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