Ode to Red Fox Books

I'm greatly saddened in hearing Red Fox Books, a small independent bookstore in downtown Glens Falls, will soon be shutting its doors.

I've gotten a number of books there. My favorite has been Joseph Heller's "Catch-22". Its sorta become my ritual to mail that to anyone I know who's deployed w/ the military.

Though I like & respect Mr Funiciello, owner of the Rock Hill Bake House, I fundamentally disagree with his public position that "the community didn't support the store." My reasoning is that that reason is to simplistic. One could say that about ANY business folding.

Sometimes there are just outside factors w/ whom the business owner have no direct control over. The dreadful state of the economy is a place to start. Choosing a bad location is another factor. Sometimes the profit margin leave little room for error. Sometimes the hired crew (or the owner) isn't up to the task. Sometimes people bungle the marketing. I'm not saying any these apply to Red Fox's closing, just trying to make a point.

Sometimes a new technology comes along that turns everything upside down. The rise of MP3's killed CD sales. The prevalence of cell phones dug hard into the profits of landline phone companies. In the case of Red Fox, the rise of the tablets & e-readers chipped away at their already small profit margins.

My point being sometimes people can do everything right & still lose.

The implications of the store's closing WILL indeed suck for this book loving fiend. I will now have to drive 20-25 minutes to my nearest Barnes & Nobles to enter any bookstore whatsoever. Nor have I been impressed w/ its selection, it "feels" very one-dimensional. Like if I went into a Barnes & Nobles in Albany, it'd be the same basic selection as the one in Saratoga.

People will adapt, life will go on, hopefully something just as good if not better will fill the void. Such is life.

I'm simply grateful for having met Sue Fox & Naftali Rottenstreich, sympathize their business endeavor didn't pan out, yet curious in seeing what the next stage in their life will be.


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In other news...
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I never get tired of working w/ Lauren.

*sigh*



Feel free & comment on any part of this if you so desire.

Catch 22 in Regards to Delusions

There's a passage in Joseph Heller's Catch-22 that perfectly explains the premise:

Yossarian looked at him soberly and tried another approach. "Is Orr crazy?"
"He sure is," Doc Daneeka said.
"Can you ground him?"
"I sure can but first he has to ask me to. That's part of the rule."
"Then why doesn't he ask you to?"
"Because he's crazy," Doc Daneeka said. "He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he's had. Sure I can ground Orr. But first he has to ask me to."
"That's all he has to do to be grounded?"
"That's all. Let him ask me."
"And then you can ground him?" Yossarian asked.
"No, then I can't ground him."
"You mean there's a catch?"
"Sure there is a catch," Doc Daneeka replied. "Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy."

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, that specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane, he had to fly them. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of the clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

That being said I wonder if the same application is applied to delusional people? If a person knows &/or admits that they are delusional, does that mean they are really delusional or are they as sane as the rest of us? Certainly makes me wonder sometimes.

& then I see people like Plushenko & think that he gives delusional people a bad name. :-)

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In other news...
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This here is another Jenny embracing her silliness.



Feel free to comment away if you so choose.

Twilight Review

I've been observing the Twilight craze w/ curiousity & decided to read the book in the hopes of seeing what the buzz is about.

I'm not going to lie, its definately a mixed bag. I'm trying to analyze the novel as a stand alone (as opposed to comparing it to some other similiar book) but if I fail, please don't hold it against me.

1. Ms Meyer's does a decent job when she's describing her narrator's thought process. Its complete drudgery when describing what her characters are physically doing as well as when describing a setting. I also enjoyed the ambiguity about Edward's big mystery in the first 1/3 of the novel.

2. On her website, Ms Meyer describes her writing approach:

I wrote out whichever scenes I was interested in, rather than starting at the beginning and working through to the end. I wrote most of the books in scenes, and then went back later and tied the scenes together. It cut out a lot of writer's block to write whatever part I was most interested in at the time. And it makes it easy to finish. By the time you get around to writing the less exciting transitions, expositions, and descriptions, you already have so much done!

Though I think it can be useful, it becomes problematic in other ways that will be address later.

3. Because the author is so character centric, I really think it suffers by having a disjointed plot. They're like "Oh BTW, this important plot point happens & is the cause of of X, Y, Z". I use the transition into the 3rd Act as an example. The big problem in the later third of the book, never really gives us the reader that the person in question's life is in danger. Also the big connection between the menace & the Cullen family is cheaply thrown in there at the end. Had it not been mentioned, it'd have zero consequence in terms of the rest of the story. The main character's actions in the 3rd Act are so abrupt it forces you to reread parts of the novel because you're convinced you've missed something when you haven't.

Because the author's writing style has the scenes individually written & THEN linked together later, it creates a disjointed story. I really think having a better editor may help her in this respect. The same w/ how Ms Meyer's overuses the "I did this, then I did that, that I walk to the kitchen to do this, & he just sat their smiling at me" approach. There are other ways that the canvas can be illustrated while still achieveing the intended effect.

4. It was interesting in how there were shades of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice in Twilight, (you can thank my copy's discussion notes for that tipoff). I also can see glimmers of J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye w/n the rebelliously, independent Bella & all the trouble she gets into.

In conclusion, I am clearly not the demographic that Ms Meyer is aiming for. However it really does say something about the enthusiasm school age children react to this novel. If it gets them to turn off the Xbox for a few hours a day & get them to read stuff they enjoy, I'm all for it.

All in all, I give Twilight a 3 out of 5 stars. If you're looking for a light, quick read, this may be up your alley. If you're looking for something w/ a little more teeth & w/ rich detail, you'll want to pass.

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In keeping w/ the theme of love & relationships, I'm showing you an oldie I shot w/ Elysie & her boyfriend.



Feel free to comment, opine, whatever any part of this, so long as its civil.