Barnes and Noble

Photo by Sean B. on Foursquare

I needed to get out.

To be honest, I didn't know where I was going.

I felt the safest place for me was somewhere that would allow me to free my mind.

Barnes and Noble was the place.

Ah, the bookstore. Sadly, the days of Borders (RIP) are over. My goodness, I spent hours -- lunchtimes and more -- in the Borders in White Plains, NY.

Barnes and Noble got plenty of my time also.

But alas, the days of Waldenbooks and, more locally, Book and Record are over.

I know, I know. Amazon. The interwebs. And so on.

You're right.

There was a rhythm to my time in the book (and music) store.

Among the books, I always went to sports (obviously), music/entertainment, travel (especially US travel, because I loved travel narratives), then glanced at biographies.

I perused. I wandered.

I sat. I read.

I stood. I read.

Oh I tore through the music portion of a store for the CD's (or cassette tapes and records). It's where I'd often find great jazz CDs, or any other genre, for that matter.

There isn't a music section at Barnes and Noble any longer. The travel section was OK, save for the book on New York City Radio (it's one of the "Images of America" series that tends to find its way to the travel section).

The music and movies books were boring me.

Shockingly, the sports did also.

Other than the radio book, the only other thing I picked up was an effort breaking down The Beatles' song lyrics. I also own a book like that already, so my mind just never quite got into reading this one.

Maybe I was just too distracted.

Maybe the book store really is in bad shape.

I hope not.