Monday, May 16, 2011

disheartened


this came in the mail this morning
and I'm sure that I'll read it this afternoon and evening
and finish it

like most I enjoy john gierach's style of prose
it's familiar and comfortable as an old pair of shoes or your favorite jeans
even though it seems like you've previously read or heard it all before
(because likely you have)
he is observant witty and well-reasoned 

this is not what I'm disheartened by

I watched in horror as my local borders closed up shop
I only visited once early on as the prices were slashed weekly
as they decimated their stock
it was incredibly depressing

the normally neat shelves in their baffling array of displays
were ramshckle
ugly yellow banners stretched about throughout the store
advertizing price cuts and whatnot
contributed to a bleak environment
that I as a bibliophile could not enjoy

I really miss my borders store
and there are no more rewards
even though they're only a mouse click away
fuck that

I wanna browse leisurely
sit in a comfortable leather chair and peruse a stack of books and periodicals
no doubt selecting one two or three
and I can't anymore

fortunately there is a barnes and noble a couple miles west of here
it used to play second fiddle but now is first chair

same baffling array
who designs the layouts of these places?
and why don't they carry more fishing books?

a decent selection of magazines
(hey I can get the drake *sucks* and fly tyer there)

anyways, I am glad it's there
but I wonder how long it'll last

I've sadly watched the demise of the friendly local flyshop
and my local sportsman's warehouse
the dwindling selection of fly fying materials of cabela's
the long slow death of the record store
and now the big box bookstore
and I'm disenheartened

I've often suspected that we're a nation filled w/ philistines
my suspicion is being fulfilled

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

AZ is 'almost' a cultural wasteland...at least as far as north american invaders go.
There is culture abound on the res. Navajo blanky's, Hopi pottery,etc. You know that, but in a hell hole such as phoenix...if it aint cold, it ain't gold.
I hate this place...yes ten feet from hell in more ways than one.

mijo said...

oh it ain't that bad. merely minor quibbles in the big scheme of things.