The Contrarian

(Note: those are not my boobs.)

Greetings from the bigoted, hatefully ignorant state of Maine. Here’s me reacting to the news that the right to gay marriage has been repealed:

(Note: this is not me. Neither my mind nor my heart is made of stone, unlike the majority of Maine voters.)

On that subject, those who follow me on Twitter (@sacredmusick) may have noticed my comments about the nutjob patron who came in last week. He overheard one of our volunteers discussing sides of a tax issue up for vote, and commented that as long as we were all voting to repeal gay marriage, he didn’t care how we voted on taxes. He then told me that, since voting in favor of gay marriage, the state of Massachusetts has begun showing “explicit” videos to all the elementary school kids that show them how to make love to their partners. The videos also, according to this educated gentleman, teach the kids “HOW TO PEE ON THEIR PARTNERS.” He said if we continue to allow gay marriage in Maine, our kids will be shown these videos as well.

I found this rather funny at the time, but now that the state has voted to repeal our law, the humor is gone. It seems this gentleman is not just a random inbred freak: he is the average Mainer.

Moving on.

Of course, there has been change in the book price war. Amazon extended the period of their special deal, which was originally only intended to last while the selected titles were on pre-order. Once the books were published, they would return to regular price. Amazon says no. The others, meanwhile, have raised their prices. In more recent news, Wal-Mart and Amazon are now battling over prices on upcoming DVD releases. Bored yet? Me too.

While we’re on the subject of evil bastards shaking up the book world, guess who is quickly becoming the Oprah of guy novels? That’s right, it’s Glenn Beck! Apparently, having “written” (with two other authors) the novel The Christmas Sweater, which Publisher’s Weekly called a “lightweight parable” which “cruises on predictability, repetition and sentimentality,” and which reportedly actually ends with ‘it was all a dream” — a technique generally avoided by anyone who knows a thing about writing — means that Beck knows something about writing. Word is he is an avid reader of thriller novels, and often interviews authors on his show. While I certainly support the fact that he generates book sales and gets people reading, I just can’t bring myself to feel good about this. Glenn Beck’s most recent book, Arguing With Idiots, features transcripts of Beck talking to himself. (Note: this is probably not what the book is actually about.)

Publishers Weekly has come under fire for the lack of female authors in their list of the 10 Best Books of the Year. PW’s reviews director, a woman, said gender was not a factor in the selection of the books. While I have not read most of their selections, and while my list will be very different, I think the argument is ridiculous. Male and female authors being equal should mean that their work is viewed with an equally open mind. It should not necessarily mean that half the list is by male author and half by females. Because when you think about it, that isn’t really equality, is it?

On a lighter note, here’s a page with five myths about librarians. Note my picture at the top (again: that is not me). To top that, here’s a more in-depth and more accurate expose on 10 myths about libraries and librarians.

Until next time, friends, remember going to the library does automatically make you smart (see first story), but it sure can’t hurt…