Eating Animals 5: The Final Chapter

by Ruby on March 10, 2010

Sorry this is a day late… I blame a delicious indian/vegetarian food induced coma. Extra thanks to Paru’s for accommodating such a large crowd (mainly by cramming us into a booth probably meant for about 6, not 10). No matter the limited space, though; I think it ended up making for better discussion, and provided a bonding experience while we tried to negotiate huge amounts of food from plate to mouth. Delicious, delicious food. Go there and have the… wrap things. We asked the waiter to just… bring us food, so I’m not sure what they were called, but they might know what you mean.

Anyway, it was an excellent dinner all around. There wasn’t that much chat about Eating Animals or his other books (get enough bookstore people in a room and I can guarantee 90% of the talk will be about bookstores), although we did receive a few nuggets of wisdom/interesting things that I can repeat here:

  • He greatly prefers writing fiction to non-fiction. In his words, “Writing fiction is like pulling teeth, writing non-fiction is like pulling teeth off of your”… well, imagine a very painful place.
  • People in Europe didn’t take the book the same way as Americans did, overall. They tended to feel that it was an American problem, no matter how true or untrue that statement really is (I certainly don’t know, but it was an interesting difference).
  • His second segment on the Ellen Degeneres Show should be airing… right about now. It doesn’t look like he danced this time, either. Mr. Foer, I am disappointed, and I know seven other women and one man who are also disappointed. We were expecting the robot!

Anyway, among the discussions of books, food, the new Skylight Books commercial, the Academy Awards, blogs (I got to meet Skylight’s blogger, Emily!), and whether or not  Kate Winslet had plastic surgery (the jury is still out), Jonathan Safran Foer told me I could make up anything I wanted and credit it to him. So, author Jonathan Safran Foer would like you all to know that Vroman’s is the best bookstore ever.

All jokes aside, though, it did make me think more about my food. I’ve cried over dissecting fetal pigs and watched and heard all sorts of disturbing ways that animals are slaughtered (a by-product of living with many vegetarians, vegans, and concerned students in college), but I’m still a bacon girl. I am of the persuasion that humans are omnivores, literally based on biology: we have teeth intended to eat all sorts of things. I also firmly believe that the choice to not consume meat is one that is limited both by finances and by dietary needs, which are different for everyone. However, that doesn’t mean I approve of factory farming and the way it is done- I simply don’t know what to do about it. In the meantime, I’ll remain in awe of people who do manage to never eat meat, try to be more conscious of what I’m eating and where it came from, and encourage others to do the same. I’ll also remember that indian food is a great place to start if you want to go vegetarian.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • TwitThis

{ 1 comment }

Since Vroman’s Bookstore won the “Say No to Factory Farming” challenge in honor of Jonathan Safran Foer’s new book, Eating Animals, several of us from Vroman’s get to have dinner with the author! Patrick, who some of you may remember as the webmaster from the distant, distant past (about two weeks ago) will be there, along with his wife Edan (Edan mentions = 1), Allison Hill, and several lucky Booksellers who got selected in a raffle. Along with yours truly, of course.

I’ll have a delicious, animal-free blog post for you tomorrow, but until then, take a look at Patrick’s blog entries and videos which contributed to our spectacular win.

  • Want see Patrick and Edan (Edan mentions = 2) go to the Farmer’s Market? You want this post.
  • Meet Sherri’s chickens, and see exactly how hard they are to corral!
  • Patrick and Edan (EM = 3) eat their free range dog… almost, and we meet Sherri’s horse.

I’ll certainly be thinking about my consumption of animals more than usual, and I look forward to finishing Everything is Illuminated, which I started the other day. If you have any questions for Mr. Foer, post a comment, shoot me an e-mail, or tweet me @vromans before 7 tonight, and I’ll ask!

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • TwitThis

{ 0 comments }

I know I’m supposedly reading the Wheel of Time (and I am, I promise!) but a year straight of epic fantasy is sometimes just a little too epic for me. So I’ve been taking breaks, mainly to re-read other things that I know are specifically not epic fantasy. However, I picked up The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To on a friend’s recommendation (and also off his night stand), read the first five pages, and was hooked. As he so deftly put it, “about five chapters in… and just realizing it is the novelization of my inner monologue”. Which is pretty much true. I kept finding myself going “Yeah! That’s EXACTLY right!!”

For anyone who has ever felt like a nerd, geek, or dork, or has been called a “really good draw-er”, this book should ring true. It is being called a “coming of age” story, and I guess it is, although I’d call it more of a “finding your place” story; none of the characters become adults, per se, but they do find out that in college, everyone is as into something as they are. Darren is an engaging narrator, and Eric’s inability to sleep has some interesting side effects. The end left me sad, but with a distinct sense of closure; something I have a hard time finding in book endings, and love when I do. I don’t want to tell you too much more, but if you’re looking for a quick, engaging read, this is a novel worth picking up. If nothing else, flip through and look at Darren’s (Pierson’s) drawings, and remember your days of nerdy world-building. Assuming you had them (I certainly did).

Reminds me of/Other awesome books: Perks of Being a Wallflower, Feed, Catcher in the Rye

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • TwitThis

{ 0 comments }

Well, Kathleen Norris (bestselling author of Amazing Grace, Cloister Walk, and the new Acedia & Me) thinks so. She said that this is possibly the best bookstore in the nation. Her words, not mine (although I, of course, am in total agreement!).

She had some very interesting things to say about acedia tonight, (acedia is a slippery word; the closest I can get to a definition is that it is kind of a hybrid between sloth and depression, where everything just seems so futile and difficult that you simply stop trying). One of the things that grabbed my attention was her observation that in the 30’s, the word was tagged by the Oxford English Dictionary as out of use, but it was picked up again post-WWII. I thought it was very curious that the word wasn’t used during the Great Depression, but once a devastating war was over and people went back to normal, boring, every-day life, they needed it again.

That, in turn, reminded me of an incredibly interesting class I took in college, called Ritual and Play. It was in the art history department, but almost all of the readings we did were about play theory, and we spent a good month trying to define both ritual and play (which we eventually kind of failed to do). One of them that really struck me was an essay by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (yes, I could at one point pronounce it, no, I can not anymore), related to his book/concept, Flow. Flow is the state you enter when you lose track of time, when you are so utterly absorbed in something that you forget where you are. It is when someone is trying to get your attention for like five minutes, but you totally ignore them because you simply must keep doing whatever you are doing.

It occurred to me as Ms. Norris was explaining acedia that possibly it is the opposite of flow. If flow is caring so much about something you can’t stop, acedia is being unable to start, unable to enter flow. Flow doesn’t have to be fun- it can even be something as un-fun as taking a test, as long as you are very focused on that test. I often find myself entering flow when I’m writing a paper (or even this blog post- see?? It’s been half an hour! Where did that go??). So maybe acedia is anti-flow, the inability to “get into something”. Ms. Norris suggested fighting it by taking on small tasks- something that you can complete, and likely something that you’ll enter flow while working on.

Either way, it makes me want to read more on acedia and more on flow, and see what conclusions I can find. Certainly both things that are going on the list. We’ll see.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • TwitThis

{ 2 comments }

Playhouse Positives

by Ruby on March 1, 2010

I’m still working on fully switching into Webmaster/Blogger mode (and still handling my old workload until we hire a new me in the Promo department), and therefore I’ve been formatting e-mails all day rather than composing delectable blog posts. However: I am determined to blog weekly, no matter what I’m doing. Ideally every day once I’m caught up. So, for your reading pleasure, the (now slightly out-of-date) blog I wrote to get myself the job in the first place.

Enjoy.

You may have heard around Pasadena or seen in the LA Times that the Pasadena Playhouse is closing. Camelot, their final show (incidentally based on The Once and Future King), ended last weekend mid run, leaving subscribers out of half the season they paid for. Debts and the failing economy finally took their toll, and despite a record season a few years ago, the Playhouse had to make the tough decision to cut costs and shut the doors.

For now.

According to their website, they’ve received a huge volume of condolences and offers of support, including a widespread interest in donating and helping out monetarily. Nothing is set up yet, but I’m sure if something does get started, Pasadena will know. It didn’t take long for the news of the closure to filter through, so I doubt efforts to save the theatre would be ignored (at least, my optimistic side hopes not), especially considering that people cared enough to go out of their way and pledge support.

Despite the obvious tragedy of losing one of the greatest, most landmark arts organizations in the city (heck, it has a whole district named after it!), I see a few positives.

1. It’s not necessarily gone for good. Everyone involved in the theater has made it pretty clear that the Pasadena Playhouse has made it through plenty of rough spots before, and they’re all optimistic that things will get sorted out. They’ll have as much time as they need to try and fix their money troubles, and if/when they DO re-open, I’m sure their loyal audience will return in droves.
2. They might be able to re-open debt free and stronger than ever. The current incarnation of the Playhouse opened with a huge debt on their plate, and they have been chipping away at it for years. Imagine what they could do if they didn’t have that debt (or at least not as much).
3. It draws attention to the plight of the arts and of independent businesses over the last few years. I mean, it’s terrible that we had to lose something so integrally Pasadena, but lots of people are talking about it. Word is out. In the last few years, the Playhouse dealt with smaller charitable donations and audience sizes, just like many other arts organizations and independent businesses. Hopefully Pasadenans will get it now: support your favorite things, or lose them.

I plan on remaining hopeful, and helping out if and when I can. Sounds like a lot of people share that view, including the people most involved in putting the Pasadena Playhouse back on its feet. So… good luck, Playhouse people!

There you have it! Hope it was good Monday reading, even if it’s old news. Things to look forward to in the coming weeks: Thoughts on genre, e-books, and dinner with J. S. Foer!

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • TwitThis

{ 1 comment }

Blogger’s Paradise

by Ruby on February 22, 2010

I have stepped into the blogger’s dream. The site is set up and ready to go, there is already (plenty) of awesome content, there is even an extensive blog roll of lovely sites to peruse (see right). Heck, I even have some of those most elusive of creatures: readers. Of course, I have to keep attracting more (and keep the ones I have) but at least someone knows I’m here, according to the comments on my intro blog (p.s. Thanks for all the good wishes! I feel so welcome!).

Well, in order to fill the enormous shoes left behind by the wonderful Patrick (seriously, his feet are huge) and somehow live up to/simulate his years of blogging experience, I’ve been reading the Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging. I’m a few chapters in: I’ve reached the point where I realize exactly how lucky I am not to have to start from scratch, but I haven’t quite made it to the part that tells me what to do after I follow their very informative guide about which blogging platform to select, which is obviously not applicable to me. So I’m winging it; please be patient with me.

Either way, I figured that I would give you all a brief idea of where I plan to go with the blog in the future while I hurriedly fly through the rest of the HuffPost Guide:

  • As it is a bookstore blog, expect to hear about books! Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with interesting publishing industry info as well, although that is something new to me so it might take me a little while to get caught up.
  • I’m also going to be hosting a lot of the author events at the store for the next month or two, so I wouldn’t be surprised if fun anecdotes from those crept in as well.
  • I’ve been a Pasadena/Vromans girl almost all my life, so be sure you’ll see some coverage of interesting in-store things, as well as the area’s landmarks and events (and probably food, because I like food.)
  • As I get into the swing of things, I hope to be able to provide you with interesting links, something I know Patrick did very well.

So sit back, relax, grab a banana, and let me know this: Is there something in particular that you would like to see me do with the blog? Also, please let me know if there is anything specific that Patrick did which you would like to see continue.

And last but not least… Good luck, Patrick!


Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • TwitThis

{ 10 comments }

Introducing Ruby

by Patrick on February 18, 2010

For the past two years, give or take, I’ve written this blog.  I have written about the book business, my fellow booksellers, the great indie bookstores that have closed in the past few years, and dozens of exciting books and authors.  I interviewed David Sedaris and Julie Klam and Dan Kennedy.  I incorrectly predicted nearly every major literary award.  I frequently made embarrassing homonym errors.  I pissed off Seth GodinAnd my first post was about bananas.

This will be my last post at the Vroman’s Blog, as I’m moving on to a new position at Goodreads.  I have thoroughly enjoyed talking with all of you; your comments and responses to my posts have made me a better reader and a better writer, and for that, I have to thank you.  In my time at Vroman’s, I’ve met many brilliant, inquisitive, daring people; I only hope a little of their greatness rubbed off on me.  In short, I’ve been lucky.

But enough about me.  The big question on everyone’s mind is “What will happen to the Vroman’s Blog?”  Fear not, fair readers, you are in good hands.  My coworker Ruby Vassar will be taking over the primary blogging duties, as well updating and growing the store’s various online outposts.  She’s bright and energetic, and I think once you get to know her, you will agree that she’s going to do some awesome things with the blog.  Ruby was good enough to sit down and answer a few questions for my last interview as a Vroman’s blogger.

Patrick: How long have you worked at Vroman’s Bookstore?  What was your job before you became the webmaster and blogger?

rubyRuby: I’ve worked at Vroman’s on and off as a Bookseller since I was a senior in high school. It was actually my first job, and I managed to get hired even though it was my first job interview ever. I was so nervous! I remember Josh, Jen and Rosalee (the book, assistant book, and operations managers at the time) asking me what books I had read recently and me just pulling up the titles and authors of any book I could think of that I had read in the last four years, including books for school, fun, French class… anything.

So I worked as a bookseller for a full year in high school, coming back for summers and breaks during college. Then, after I graduated in June of this year, I re-applied for “any position that will pay me” (I was tired of a stint at an unpaid internship). I found out a position was open for the Marketing/Events Assistant in the Promotions department, and worked hosting author events and helping out the Promotional staff for a few months before I applied for the position as Webmaster.

Patrick: I know you’re reading the Wheel of Time series right now.  How long have you been reading it?  What’s it like to read something that goes on and on like that?  I’d imagine it’s more like watching a long TV series than reading, in some ways.

Ruby: I’m actually reading three books right now (one is never enough), but yes, one is Winter’s Heart, book 9 of the Wheel of Time. I’ve been working on this series for over a year now, and have hit approximately page 7,496. It has been really interesting for me to see exactly how detailed and in-depth Robert Jordan’s world is- I think that’s where he’s at his best, creating the locations the book is set in. The tv series analogy is good, but I think a marathon might be better. A marathon where you get to take breaks.

Patrick: What are some of your favorite books and writers?  How do you think you’ve changed as a reader since attending (and then leaving) college?

Ruby: I spent a lot of time pre-college reading science fiction and fantasy. From that genre, some of my absolute favorite authors are Orson Scott Card, Phillip Pullman, Neil Gaiman, Anne McCaffery, Jacqueline Carey, Terry Pratchett, and JRR Tolkein. I think I’ll handle favorite books at some other time… there are way too many of them. I also spent a lot of time hating the books I was supposed to read for school, simply because I had to read them.

I think that’s how I have changed most between pre- and post-college me. Now that no one is forcing me to read “good” books, I am much more picky about the quality of books that I do read.  Recently, I’ve been doing some re-reading of books like The Collector and The Handmaid’s Tale, and I’ve been enjoying some short story collections. I’m also reading Stephen King for the first time (possibly a bad plan, since I don’t always like creepy things!) and just finished The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To, a spot-on tale of being a geek in high school (which I was).

Patrick: I know you worked at a coffee shop that shall not be named prior to this…What is the one coffee drink that when someone ordered it you were like “Oh, great.”  I would imagine it would be something really involved, like a Carmel Macchiato (I actually don’t know what a macchiato is, but it sounds really involved)?

Ruby: Caramel Macchiatos aren’t that bad on their own… Marble Mocha Macchiatos are slightly worse.  Also anything followed by the words “extra extra hot no foam whole/soy milk extra caramel with three Splendas and an extra half shot of decaf espresso” is probably a good candidate for me to cringe.
P.S.:  A macchiato is actually a shot of espresso with a dollop of foam… in the non-caramel usage at least.

Patrick: What is your favorite word?  Your least favorite word?

Ruby: My most recent favorite word is nugatory (syn. insignificant… like a little nugget).  I am not, however, a fan of the word “stuff”, because I feel like I use it too often when better words (like nugatory) exist in the world.

Patrick: If you could have dinner with any author and literary character (they need not be related in any way), living or dead, who would it be?

Ruby: Character would have to be Death from Terry Pratchett’s discworld series. I feel like he would have interesting things to say.  For my author, I’ve always wanted to have dinner with Shakespeare, so I can write the book finally exposing his (her?) true identity.  Or Neil Gaiman, as I have had a literary crush on his books for years.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • TwitThis

{ 9 comments }

A Trip Around the Web

by Patrick on February 16, 2010

It’s Mardi Gras.  Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, one of the most melancholy days of the year, the day that we’re supposed to begin to deny ourselves something we love, or do something difficult but good.  I just spent a few minutes thinking of something to give up or something to do.  I came up empty.  I am planning to read Doestoevsky’s Demons (or Devils, depending on which translation you prefer).  It’s a long, older book, part of my New Year’s resolution to read some pre-1900 literature, and I figure it might be vaguely punishing (though hopefully not!).

Anyway, here are some good links to help you live it up tonight (or, should you wait until tomorrow to read them, to begin your month of atonement):

  • At The Millions, Emily St. John Mandel writes eloquently about the game Every Day the Same Dream and the internet that once was:  “In those days you could create unbelievably ugly websites with HTML editing programs, but generally speaking, an online presence required a working knowledge of HTML, some manner of graphics editing software, and ideally at least a passing familiarity with Javascript. We didn’t have blogs, we had personal websites; all of them were unique, because there were no templates to follow, and some of them were gorgeous.”  This reminds me of the book I’m currently reading, the excellent and rigorous You Are Not a Gadget, which argues, among other things, that the internet is not as interesting as it once was, thanks to social media’s penchant for reducing us all to a few key characteristics.
  • Esquire has a long and interesting profile of Roger Ebert, who has been battling cancer and can no longer eat, drink or speak.  The profile focuses, in part, on Ebert’s transformation into an internet sensation.  Ebert’s blog, hosted at the Chicago Sun Times, has indeed become a go-to place for wry, thoughtful essays on a variety of subjects (including, not surprisingly, film).
  • Lastly, I’ve posted about Emily Gould’s “Cooking the Books” series here before, but her most recent episode features Julie Powell, and it is worth watching.  They cook pork liver.  I think commenter “Comments from the void” summed it up nicely:  “Put another way: The real Julie Powell is a hot bad ass and Amy Adams, while an accomplished actress wasn’t really able to pull off the bad ass hotness in the same way.”
Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • TwitThis

{ 0 comments }

Quick Links for Friday Afternoon

by Patrick on February 12, 2010

Because I know you need something for the weekend.  These links go well with an earthy red wine.

  • I’m always a fan of Largehearted Boy’s Book Notes column, in which he asks a writer what music inspired a particular book.  In the current edition, Peter Straub discusses the jazz he listened to while penning his new book A Dark Matter.  “I’m a jazz fan, and I listen mainly to entire recordings, what we used to call “albums,” as though they contained photographs.”
  • This piece in the Guardian caused a bit of an internet fracas earlier this week.  Thankfully, Carolyn Kellogg points out its many flaws so that I don’t have to.  I will say that all art goes through cycles where it becomes more insular, more personal, or conversely, larger in scope (This blog post by Sarah McCoy addresses some of those issues with regards our current lack of Iraq/Afghanistan War literature).  I also think that there’s a tendency to exaggerate the greatness of previous generations, as we see their entire body of work, rather than the incomplete oeuvre of the current generation of writers.
  • Finally, via The Millions comes this Wall Street Journal article about the number of players in the NBA who read“Last year, the NBA players’ union started circulating a quarterly reading list—this winter’s suggestions include Donald Trump’s “The Art of the Deal” and a book called “Talent is Overrated.”" I recall reading an interview with Bill Simmons in which he bemoaned the dearth of interesting players in the league.  He blamed it on shorter college careers and a sequestered, overly-handled lifestyle.  He makes a compelling case that there were five or six guys on the 1972 Knicks who would have been great at a dinner party, able to talk about art, politics, philosophy, etc.  It’s good to see there might be more of these guys in the league than it first seemed.  (Simmons link via Kottke)
Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • TwitThis

{ 1 comment }

Light Reading for the Afternoon

by Patrick on February 10, 2010

I know most of you on the East Coast are snowed in, and those of us on this coast are…well, it rained yesterday.  That’s something.  Anyway, here is some reading to occupy you for these next few snow days (you lucky bums):

  • The Millions is running a two part interview with David Shields about his forthcoming book Reality Hunger.  The first part of the interview is up here.  The second part will be published tomorrow.  Part one contains a lot of very serious thought, and a fair number of quotations, too.
  • At The Rumpus, Steve Almond discusses why he decided to self-publish two recent books.  His idea of making the books available only at his appearances is an interesting one.  I don’t think I have to tell you that independent bookstores are always looking for ways to stand out, and I think offering a unique book that could only be purchased at an event at our store would be, well, pretty awesome.  You could even create a special introduction to the book that is only in books from our event.  Every time the author reads somewhere, the introduction changes.  It’s a form of forced scarcity, but when it’s sold at $10-20 a pop, as Almond’s books were, it’s something everyone can take part in, too.
Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • TwitThis

{ 1 comment }