Okay: here's what you do when it's October 31st, it’s 75 and sunny, and you don't feel like taking a walk:

I risk being called out as a cheapskate on this one but I had a discussion about this with one of my friends and wanted some public opinion on it.

One of my favorite activities is walking to Barnes and Noble with iPod* and reading books and magazines, without buying them. B+N has a greater variety and selection than my local library (esp art and architecture), all the books are in great condition, the building is well lit and has more operating hours than my library.

While what I’m doing is obviously not illegal, is it immoral? I think not, but I'm not entirely sure.

On one level, I am depriving B+N of revenue by not buying books – however I don’t really feel bad about that as I usually participate in their high-margin business: the café. Additionally I know that B+N makes it easy for people to read their materials (benches, chairs and even really comfy sofa-chairs) because it brings people in and allows them to find things to buy (and indeed I have bought a small number of things). So I really don’t feel bad about my treatment of B+N – my treatment of writers and publishers is a bit less clear cut. Quick questions:

Was I a cheapskate/immoral when I went to B+N and read Kurt Vonnegut’s "Bluebeard" in it’s entirety without buying it?

Was I a cheapskate/immoral when I went to my library and checked out Kurt Vonnegut’s "Time Quake" and read it without buying it?

I never really thought it was necessary to buy a book new to justify benefiting from it – books are borrowed (interpersonal or library), found and sold second hand – none of this benefits the publisher. Does this mean I'm off the hook? Or am I missing something?

I think I should note that one of my big reasons for doing this is the halting of getting more things.

I’d appreciate any constructive comments.

*The name of my iPod is "iPod", but I don’t call it "my iPod" – I call it "iPod".

For those of you who haven’t seen it, Jon Stewart gave hack media an excellent roasting, in terms of humor AND content, on CNN’s Crossfire (video). There’s a transcript, which is what I usually go to, but it just doesn’t convey how awesome it was.

List of things said to me at least fifty times at homecoming (arranged as a conversation, my responses has been left out):

Hey! WOAH! Your hair!
Where are you working/living these days?
They let you go to work with hair like that?
So how do you like what you’re doing?
Dude, you need a haircut.
So what would you do then?
Voda is totally right when he calls it the Lo-‘fro!
Oh, I see, you’re gonna pull a ‘Grandstaff’!
(groping my head, without my permission)

Yeah.

It was good to see everyone.