BoomerChicks

To Kindle or Not to Kindle

For sometime I have been contemplating the purchase of a Kindle from Amazon.com.  I know it would be something that I would probably use everyday.  There are so many benefits of owning one from my perspective, reading in a larger font, light and easy to transport, instant downloads of reading material, easier to read in bed, not losing your page, and so forth.  This technology is perfect for me, except for one thing.  I would have to say goodbye to the physical impact that a book possesses. 

Why this letting go is so difficult is beyond me.  There are still some of us left in this world who love to read a newspaper over coffee, travel with a book and write in journals.  There is something nostalgic, romantic, or perhaps just plain familiar when it comes to these things. 

Besides, can you swat a fly or cover your head in a sudden rain storm with a Kindle?  How nosey can you be in scoping out what people sitting next to you are reading if they are using a Kindle?  There is something to be said about striking up a conversation with someone based on their reading material, or avoiding them all together (does a Kindle hide your face as well as a book?).  Okay, so now I am being petty. 

There is something else that creeps into my mind while I try to make this decision.  I love the book jacket.  For me, it is just as important as the pages between it.  How I would miss the graphics and reading the front flap, the back flap and checking out the author's photo.  I am a sucker for this and it is an integral step in deciding if I want to buy a book. 

Another thing, while the Kindle would eliminate books taking up more space in my house, I love that books take up my space.  (Yes, I admit this suggests that "things white people love" obsession). 

So what to do?  I think I liked it better in my ravaging consumer days before I made the transformation from buying everything to buying nothing.  The jury is still out on my espresso machine as well.  Funny, I used to think people who obsessed over these smaller buying decisions were nutty, and now I have become one of them!  I mean it isn't like buying a house or a car.  It seems it is just really a matter of the heart and that can sometimes be a very tough hurdle to jump. 

Stuff White People Like

My earlier post talked about a trip I recently made to Barnes & Noble wherein I blew the grocery budget for the week.  One of the books that I bought is entitled, The Definitive Guide to Stuff White People Like, the Unique Taste of Millions. 

I read quite a bit of this book while still in the book store and noticed that there is a website associated with it, but I still had to have the book.  The book is hysterical, speaks a lot of truths and the author, Christian Lander is witty and insightful.  I would wager that a large number of people probably have ruffled panties over the content of this book.

From my perspective though this book speaks to the success of marketing tactics that has brought us all to this level of "uniqueness" which we, in one way or another, aspire to.  I admit that some of the topics are snapshots of my own tastes and persuasions. 

For instance.

The numero uno item that white people like -- coffee.  Make no bones about it, I love coffee, and where I buy it can be an entirely euphoric experience in my life.  I'm not just speaking about the coffee shop scene like Starbucks, Coffee Bean or some independent little place, I am talking about picking out the beans, grinding them and packaging them myself.  I salivate.  It is one of the things that can really lift my spirits. 

I have to mention #37 on the list, Renovations.  Lander writes, "All white people are born with a singular mission in life in order to pass from regular whitehood into ultra-whitehood.  Just as Muslims have to visit Mecca, all white people, eventually renovate a house before they can be complete."

He goes on, "Of course, most white people do not reach this goal until they are 35 or older.  But the need to do it is as instinctual as walking.  But it is important to note that white people have little or no interest in renovating a suburban home built after 1960 (except in Southern California).  All white people dream about buying an older property ("with character") in a city, and then renovating it so the insides look all modern, with a stainless-steel fridge."

Well this certainly defines not only myself but ALL of my friends. 

One more.  #138 Books.  (Was I just not talking about my passion obsession for books?  This explains it all). 

"The role of books in white culture is perhaps as important as organic food--essential for survival.  However, understand that this is not about literacy or reading, but about the physical object of a book. " 

And the frosting on the cake...ouch!

Lander continues,  "Try this out as an experiment.  Show a white person a photo of a living room that features an entire  wall of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.  They are guaranteed to respond by saying how much they would love that for their own home and that they are planning on having a living room just like that in the future." 

Guilty!  Yes, the photo here is my living room.  I waited years to have this look!

I am wondering now did I post this picture to "show off" or am I actually apologizing for it, which is #55 on the list of stuff white people like.  Does it save my white soul that I have been a book collector since infanthood, and only through the wondrous marketing techniques and consumer availability of today have I discovered a solution (ala IKEA) to store them all in an organized and uncluttered fashion?  Can I be an exception to the rule? 

Like I said at the beginning of this post, this book is hilarious.  I see that through Lander's wit, we are not really a culture of uniqueness so much as we are a culture of trends -- what's in, what's hip -- totally unconscious to the fact that we have created quite a stereotypical and predictable culture for ourselves.  In many ways this fitting into the latest trend stuff is probably stifling a lot of creativity and individuality.  Just my thought. 

Can't Resist a Book Store

A couple of nights ago, RJ and I visited Barnes and Noble which is never a good idea for me when I am pinching pennies.  Books and CDs are my greatest weakness.  I haven't made this trip in quite some time.  I usually resort to Amazon.com where I can at least window shop and add to my already lengthy Wish List.  But, we needed to get some books on California landscaping and indigenous plants for our region.  RJ will be taking a test on this subject for a city job. 

It was truly a bummer that the landscaping section was tucked away in the very far back corner of the store which meant I had all those books in between to look at before I made it to our destination.  I failed miserably in avoiding the stocked shelves while trying to get to the landscaping section.  There was a damn buy two, get the third one free sale going on.  By the time we reached the landscaping section, I already had four books in my hand. 

We spent some time perusing the books RJ might find useful.  We settled on two and a laminated chart which explained good pests and bad pests, in other words, bugs that one should freak out over.  I then stated that I wanted to "quickly" check out the mags.  I added a Harvard Business Review and a U.S. News & World Report Special Edition, Secrets of the Bible to my potential purchases. 

Thinking that perhaps my auditory senses needed something new as well, I made my way towards the CD and DVD area of the store.  I could hear RJ let out a sigh.  I was quick though and picked up the last copy of David Cook's new release.  I know, he's an American Idol, but I think the guy is great.  I am not adverse to American Idol.  Admittedly, I own Clay Aikens, Fantasia, Daughtery, Yamin and now Cook.  If I like it, I don't care where the artist was discovered. 

After waiting fifteen minutes in line, (there was only one person ahead of us), I spent the week's grocery money.  That's okay, I have enough in the cupboards to get me through next week (I'm joking, we ain't goin' starve), we headed home with our stuff.  I reminded RJ on the way home that if he wants study books in the future, he better make the trip alone.  I just get too weak in the knees in a book store and avoidance is my only recourse if I want to stick to a budget!