The X Factor

The X Factor: The Unauthorized Biography of X-Files Superstar David Duchovny
1996
Weight: 3.2 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating

I am so excited that the X-Files is back on.  I haven't been at all excited or giddy about television since the 90's but now I find myself rushing home from work on Wednesdays and cursing the universe when anything gets in my way.  Living the shelter life, everything will get in your way.

I love Mulder, but I am most excited about Dana Scully, as always.  As a youngin', I bought everything with an X on it and anything with even a thumbnail image of Gillian.  I found myself making an irresponsible purchase just the other day when I bought TV Guide in the grocery store checkout.  I guess some things never  change.

The one thing that has is that I would not purchase anything unauthorized now and maybe another thing is that, as much as I like Mulder, I would not feel the need to read a biography of David Duchovny when there are so many other wonderful books out there! Gillian on the other hand...

Angelina and Gillian

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Tech Manual  by Michael Jan Friedman (2001)

The Unofficial X-Files Companion II by N. E. Genge (1996)

Weight: 2 lbs

Method of Disposal: Leaving at Joe’s in EAV

 

 

There seems to be a theme for the day, with the exception of Angry Girls.  These two books would have been purchased in my early teens.  Lara Croft because I thought Angelina Jolie was the sexiest woman alive.  I still find her attractive, but I have finally reached the stage in life where I do not have the need/desire to flip through pictures of her on a semi-regular basis and am content to casually watch her movies as they come out.

Gillian, on the other hand, still gets my giddy like a school girl.  I am far too excited about the possibility of her being in a new NBC television series, but I do not need to hold onto this ridiculously boring book with a very small amount of black and white photos.  And how often am I going to write on here, “this surely must be my absolute last X-File book.”  They just keep coming.  Like the glass in my backyard that continues to work its way up to the surface through dirt and mud, no matter how much I try to clean it out.

DragonCon and Ed Kramer

Antibodies by kevin J. Anderson,1998

Ruins by Kevin j. Anderson, 1996

Weight: 7.1 oz

Method of Disposal: Leaving somewhere. I found these two books today. I keep thinking I am getting rid of all my X-Files books and then more appear.

 

Anyone that knows me well is aware of my love of Gillian Anderson and is also, unfortunately, aware of my nerdy decade-long dream that I would one day get to meet her or even see her speak in person. The opportunity finally came to Atlanta this year. I was excited, which is the understatement of the year. I was babbling on about it to all of my long-term friends and some of them were even excited about it themselves, though they were less excited about her and more excited about seeing me make an ass of myself/be super happy/act goofy/fall all over myself/gush/faint/whatever. I was going to DragonCon. Nothing could hold me back.

Then a week or two before the glorious day I took my Atlanta Magazine out of my backpack to read a little on a break from work. I read the following article:

http://www.atlantamagazine.com/features/2012/09/01/dragoncon-ed-kramer-child-molestation

I was horrified to learn that Ed Kramer, a DragonCon Cofounder, had been accused of child molestation on more than one occasion. I know about “innocent until proven guilty,” but there was so much that just did not add up to anything good. Why would a man who knows he is facing molestation charges live in an apartment with a teenage boy? Wouldn't you just avoid that situation? Why would you have boys come to your house for sleepovers when you are clearly too old for that shit?

Kramer lives in my hometown.

There was something that could hold me back. I wrote DragonCon to let them know I would not be attending. I understood that the other founders/owners of DragonCon were trying to rectify the situation to no avail and my e-mail was not accusatory. I wrote Gillian Anderson's PR people to see if she was speaking somewhere else and to explain why I could not go. I wrote Atlanta Magazine to thank them for their courage. Only Gillian Anderson's people wrote back with a curt message saying she would not be speaking anywhere else and would head back to London immediately following the event.

My wonderful friends did their own research and came to their own conclusions. The people I was closest to chose not to go, and I was so proud of all of them and so happy to know them. To call them my friends.  Another dear friend and her husband took the time to bid on an autographed Scully action figure.  The money went to charity, and the doll was delivered to me, as a suprise, for no other reason than they were just being loving and wonderful.

 I know that many people cannot resist DragonCon, no matter what. I understand the desire to rationalize and enjoy something you have looked forward to for a long long time. However, some things are just not important enough. Some things are so terrible that they cannot be overlooked.  Then, there are some people who are so amazing and the little stands they take and the incredibly kind things they do cannot be overlooked either.

Art Exodus

Vargas 20s-50s ISBN 3-89450-063-8
Nagel ISBN 0-912383-36-4
Essential History of Art ISBN 1-84084-952-5
New American Paintings Number 56 The Open Studios Press
The art of the X-Files ISBN 0-06-105113-6
European Photography 81 ISBN 0-8109-0855-7
The Photography Book ISBN 0714836346
Michelangelo ISBN 1405429844
Hopper ISBN 3-8228-05432
Renoir ISBN 3-8228-0568-8
Louvre ISBN 2.7118.0040.7
The Power of Feminist Art: The American Movement of the 1970s, History and Impact ISBN 0-8109-2659-8
The Watercolors of Winslow Homer ISBN 0-393-02047-9
The World of Leonardo 1452-1519 Time-Life Library of Art 1966
Postsecret ISBN 0-06-089919-0
The Art Institue of Chicago: Twentieth-Century Painting and Sculpture ISBN 0-86559-096-6
Van Gogh on Location ISBN 0-7858-0107-3
Masters of Art Card Catalog # 67-14758, 1967
The Holocaust Chronicle ISBN 0-7853-2963-3
Weight: 46.5 lbs
Method of Disposal: Offering them to Tracy and taking the ones she does not like do a donate your books drop in Edgewood.

This is a lot of very heavy books. 19 books weighing in at 46.5 lbs. I can almost imagine the disdain in Tracy’s eyes when she realizes, but I know she will want a couple of them and the rest can be donated. These books have been collected over the years and are special for many reasons, sometimes not obvious reasons.
The Holocaust Chronicle does not fit into the group of art books, but Tracy and I were at the Borders going out of business sale yesterday and when she glanced at it I informed her that I had it and would give it to her. I am not sure if she wants it or not, but I do know that she is deeply disturbed and moved by the Holocaust. That she has watched many movies and read many books about it.

Masters of Art is special because it is from 1967 and still has academic paperwork from the 70’s. One of the papers was apparently turned in late. The papers are handwritten, in cursive, by a C.K. Bell. The Watercolors of Winslow Homer has two long letters from my uncle and cousin to my grandfather. They are so nice and so loving, and yet I have somehow managed to end up with the book that no one wants back.

The book from the Art Institute of Chicago will be missed. I bought it the very first time I went to Chicago. I remember taking the taxi there, leaving the kids I was babysitting with their parents, and walking around, enthralled, for hours. I am not sure how I ever made myself leave. I bought this book hoping to carry a small piece of that feeling with me. For the record, after I left the museum I walked until I found a pizza place that served beer. It was the best pizza I have ever had. I could live in that day forever.

I always hate giving up my feminist books more than any of the others so I am sad to see the Feminist Art book go. I feel like I never got all I could from it, but I am still ready to release it.

On the cover of Van Gogh on Location, there is the famous Café Terrace painting, alongside of a photograph of the actual place. Intriguing, yes? Everyone has a Van Gogh book or two, but they are always beautiful and fun to look at.
The Louvre book came from the actual museum. It was printed in 1984 and is showing a lot of wear. It is a year older than I am. The Leonardo book was given to a Thomas at some point and was printed in 1966. Hopper, Renoir, and Michelangelo were handed over to me when someone else was disbanding their collection. Many of the art books came from my stepmother who graduated with an art major but does not like clutter.

Postsecret I bought full price my junior year of college. I was very intrigued and slightly let down by it. I know Tracy wants this one, and I am glad to hand it over, though also sad to see it go. I open it now to a Starbucks note that says, “I give decaf to customers who are rude to me!” and underneath it, “My sister and I explored each other sexually as children. As the older girl I feel guilty that I may have molested her.”

The giant book of photography is all in black and white. It is a Phaidon book so it is quite heavy and is packed full of pictures. The Essential History book is a bargain book. There are a lot of great paintings in it, but I think Tracy may already have it. I am fairly confident I have seen it on her shelves. The Nagel book is less than impressive. I kind of hate it, but we will see what she thinks. Vargas is full of beautiful women in all sorts of poses, in an array of undress. The text is written in French and in English. I added the X-files Art as a joke. I thought I had already rid myself of all my X-Files books, but I seem to find new ones every day. The art in this book is made by sculptors, painters, photographers, graphic artists, and others who were inspired by the television show. New American Paintings is an art journal. This one is from March of 2005. It was twenty dollars then and now it is free to a good home! The European Photography book is a full-color book of photographs from, you guessed it, 1981.
Goodbye books!