New Book: Open Your Heart With Geocaching

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

A few minutes ago, I stumbled upon a new thread on this forum entitled "Geocaching Books", where the original poster asked for recommendations for good geo books. I started to write a reply, and in my reply I started to talk about a newly-released book, this one with a foreword by Jeremy Irish, and this one a book which focuses not on how to do geocaching, but rather, on reasons why people geocache and how it expands and enriches their lives. However, as I wrote my reply on that original thread, I realized that it would be wiser for me to start a new topic devoted to my observations about the book so far (I just received a copy in the mail the other day from the author, who is a forum regular.) I decided to do things this way rather than possibly take the original "Geocaching Books" thread too far off course! And so, here we are!

 

Before I start on the meat of my post, please allow me to mention that this post is not an advertisment for the book, that I have no financial interest in the book, that I receive no royalties or other compensation for any sales of the book, and rather, that I am simply sharing my reactions so far to a book which struck me as kinda neat and which fills a rather different niche in the geo book world than all the other geocaching books which have been published so far. And, the book was written by one of our forum regulars, Angevine (her spouse is another well-known forum regular, NotThePainter). Lastly, in order to be perfectly clear and "transparent" allow me to address one more issue, this one also about ethics: I do note (with some dismay) that the author has mentioned on this forum and elsewhere that she will give some kind of free remote geocoin logging bribe (is that even allowed by geocaching.com...?) to anyone who will post a positive review about her book on Amazon.com. As anyone who knows me can testify, I (Vinny) have zero interest in geocoins and travel bugs, I also have never handled or logged a geocoin in my life, and I also disapprove of remote logging of geocoins. (BTW, my wife Sue does do some trafficing in geocoins and travel bugs, but I abhor the little creatures myself...) Further, I think that the author's geocoin reomote logging bribe offer which I cited above is incredibly tacky and tasteless; if I were in her shoes, and it were a book of mine, I might be tempted to offer some kind of small reward to anyone who posted a review of my book on Amazon.com, but I certainly would not impose the condition that the review must be a positive one! Tacky! I am sure that Miss Manners, if she were here, would toss her cookies all over her shoes at the very thought of such a tactless bribe!

 

About a week ago, I received in the mail a courtesy copy of a new book entitled "Open Your Heart With Geocaching", by Jeanette Cezanne, a New Englander. I kinda knew the book was on its way, because Sue and I, among a number of other geocachers, had been interviewed by the author months earlier as she was writing the book. Frankly, I was not awaiting the book with bated breath. I already knew that the book was part of a series with titles such as "Open Your Heart With...", and I tend to abhor ALL cookie-cutter books, including the inane series which includes "Chicken Soup for the Soul', "Chicken Soup for the Beagle", "Chicken Soup for the Space Aliens", and a half-dozen other bizarrre and inane (to me, at least) titles. Further, while I was in a bookstore a month ago, I had leafed through two other books in the "Open Your Heart..." series (no, they were not written by Jeanette, but by other authors who shall mercifully remain unnamed...), and I was not at all impressed. In fact, the two books kinda gagged me, and it was all I could do not to toss my cookies on the carpet in the aisle of the bookstore. Like, gag me with a spoon!

 

So, I was admittedly feeling a little wary when I first opened the package from Jeanette and leafed through her new book. Now, ten days later, after having leafed through the book several times and after Sue and I have shared the book with some geo-friends (and non-geo friends as well), I must honestly say that I am quite impressed with the book, despite my initial misgivings at the whole concept. First, I liked the Foreword by Jeremy Irish; it was clear, succinct and not at all glitzy, and best of all, it ended with the practical and droll admonition: "...Just be sure to mark the location of your vehicle. This comes from experience."

 

As I mentioned earlier, and as you can likely tell from the title, this is not a "how to" book about geocaching. Rather it is, as the title promises, a book about the reasons why people geocache and how geocaching enriches their lives and the lives of those around them. Overall, I feel that Jeanette did a very good job; this is a topic that has the potential to get hopelesly sidetracked at any of a number of junctures, and also a topic that can get hopelessly mired in sentimentalism, and yet somewhow, Jeanette managed to stay the course and keep the book largely meandering down the white line in the middle of the highway. The book looks at some general experiences, but there are also a number of chapters devoted to interviews with, and overviews of the caching styles of, various geocachers ranging from Dave Ulmer (the founder of the sport back in the year 2000) to Moun10Bike (the creator of those abhorrent things known as geocoins) to a well-known (and cute) Hollywood actor, Mary Votava, who is a geocacher.

 

However, there is one dark note to the book, and I feel that in all justice, you must be forewarned about the dark side as well: the author at one point discusses extreme geocaching, and she devotes a chapter to interviews with, and notes about, Sue and myself and our interests in the geocaching world. I feel that it is unfortunate that a book which had been going along so well had to suddenly take a deep swoop into the sewage pits and toxic waste dumps of humanity and dredge up an interview with the Vinny & Sue Team! Oh well, at least she did not divulge our last names; that minor act of prudence and kindness may keep the sheriff from knocking on our door for yet another few weeks!

 

Overall, I feel that this is a good book, and the price (it appears to sell in the ten dollar range) is very affordable, as book prices go nowadays. And so, my thanks for Jeanette for writing a geo book which managed not to be another "same old" how-to" tutorial on geocaching, and which was fun and interesting. In fact, I like the book enuf that I am thinking of buying a couple of extra copies for some of our non-geo friends. By the way, please do not ask me where to buy the book; I haven't a clue, as it was just published in the past two weeks and I am pretty clueless about those kinda things anyway.

[Clan Riffster]

Kewl! I see Books-a-Million has it. Sounds like a good excuse for a road trip!

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Kewl! I see Books-a-Million has it. Sounds like a good excuse for a road trip!

A number of local cachers have been asking us where they can purchase the book. I believe that some of the big online booksellers carry it, and the author may also sell it from her website. For those who are looking for the book, all I can suggest is that you do a Google search on the name of the book and you will likely find a few vendors. We have, in the past 24 hours since I posted this note, had two local cachers ask if they may drop by to look at our copy! (My answer was yes!)

Edited April 30, 2007 by Vinny & Sue Team

[+angevine]

Thanks for your words, Vinny. I will agree that the quality of the series is a little uneven; I hope that mine is useful to some people. I appreciate you reading it and am glad you enjoyed it.

 

And thanks again for your interview!

 

-- Jeannette

[+El Diablo]

I have a copy of the book. Since I did an interview about my hiking staffs and Jeannette was kind enough to send me a copy. I haven't had the opportunity to read it just yet, but when I do I'll let you know what I think.

 

Edit to add that I agree with Vinney, I don't like the idea of being rewarded to post a positive review on Amazon or anyplace else.

 

El Diablo.

Edited April 30, 2007 by El Diablo

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Thanks for your words, Vinny. I will agree that the quality of the series is a little uneven; I hope that mine is useful to some people. I appreciate you reading it and am glad you enjoyed it.

 

And thanks again for your interview!

 

-- Jeannette

I think that happens with any publisher-designed "cookie-cutter" series of books. In fact, I tend to gag every time I think of the "Chicken Soup for the..." series, the "One-Minute..." series, and the "xxxx for Dummies" series! And, of course, for a really gross example from the realm of music, there was the totally manufactured spectacle of the singing group known as "The Spice Girls"! sigh!

 

In the case at hand, I feel that your book, luckily, was quite useful and fun. However, I do wish that you had not told the tale of my run-in with the sheriff and the local hoosegow over the matter of my neighbor's goat Petunia! sigh! Oh well, at least your editor/publisher killed those unfortunate photos...

 

 

 

[+NotThePainter]

Thanks for the kind words everybody. I do need to set the record straight on one thing. Jeannette didn't come up with the coin idea, I did. Sorry if it offends. It was meant in fun.

 

You see, I have 2 uses for coins. I give away BackBrakeBilly puzzle coins as FTFP prizes for my caches (I bought sets when made and have since obtained another set on ebay, yike$)

 

I also have personal coins. You get to log my personal coins if you:

 

1) meet me on the trail (not at an event, on the trail.

2) meet me on a FTFP run

3) buy me a beer

 

Yeah, you gotta pony up a Bass Ale or micro-brew IPA to log that last one! So I came up with the idea of "buy the book, log the coin" and later what I thought would be humorously, "Review the book, log the coin." Little did I know what controversy it would cause. Sometimes I should just keep my big ol' mouth shut. I still don't get the whole "virtual coin" controversy. I've seen pages of coin IDs handed out at events, nary a coin in sight, and that's ok, but... oh well, I'll just be quite now.

 

Anyway, I think someone asked about buying. If I tell you how, I'd have to kill you. Actually, if I told you how I'd get the thread locked, don't want to do that now, do we? But as you might imagine, the big online retailers all have it but if you buy from Jeannette Cezanne (just paste that phrase into google...) you'll not only help out a cacher just a wee bit more but you'll also get it autographed!

 

And finally, yeah, that's me on the cover and in the video. Who knew my 15 minutes would only last about 4. It was a thrash making the video but a lot of fun. And who knew that two separate women, neither of them Jeannette, would call me both "eye candy" and a "hottie!" Man, I was floating for days!

 

Paul (anxious to get out geocaching again now that the book is out!)

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Thanks for the kind words everybody. I do need to set the record straight on one thing. Jeannette didn't come up with the coin idea, I did. Sorry if it offends. It was meant in fun.

 

You see, I have 2 uses for coins. I give away BackBrakeBilly puzzle coins as FTFP prizes for my caches (I bought sets when made and have since obtained another set on ebay, yike$)

 

I also have personal coins. You get to log my personal coins if you:

 

1) meet me on the trail (not at an event, on the trail.

2) meet me on a FTFP run

3) buy me a beer

 

Yeah, you gotta pony up a Bass Ale or micro-brew IPA to log that last one! So I came up with the idea of "buy the book, log the coin" and later what I thought would be humorously, "Review the book, log the coin." Little did I know what controversy it would cause. Sometimes I should just keep my big ol' mouth shut. I still don't get the whole "virtual coin" controversy. I've seen pages of coin IDs handed out at events, nary a coin in sight, and that's ok, but... oh well, I'll just be quite now.

 

Anyway, I think someone asked about buying. If I tell you how, I'd have to kill you. Actually, if I told you how I'd get the thread locked, don't want to do that now, do we? But as you might imagine, the big online retailers all have it but if you buy from Jeannette Cezanne (just paste that phrase into google...) you'll not only help out a cacher just a wee bit more but you'll also get it autographed!

 

And finally, yeah, that's me on the cover and in the video. Who knew my 15 minutes would only last about 4. It was a thrash making the video but a lot of fun. And who knew that two separate women, neither of them Jeannette, would call me both "eye candy" and a "hottie!" Man, I was floating for days!

 

Paul (anxious to get out geocaching again now that the book is out!)

I am shamelesly bumping this thread because two local geocachers asked me about it (and how to find it...) today and a forum poster just mentioned the book in question and the chapter about us on another thread here.

 

Paul, aside from my major allergy to bizarre sticky little things such as geocoins and travel bugs, the main thing which bothered me about the coin offer was the fact that there was the additonal requirement that a person had to post a POSITIVE review about the book at Amazon.com to collect that coin. I felt that was rather tacky (and not very trusting of the ways of Holy Spirit), and, as you know, Miss Manners and I had a rather strong aversive gut reaction to the offer. But, that is just my opinion...

 

BTW, I had not known who that was on the cover. Thanks for telling us! Oh, and the women who used the terms "eye candy" and "hottie" about you... well, hate to say this, but I hear that they were saying things like "NOT a hottie"! More seriously, what is this about a video? You mentioned something about a video connected with the book, and I had not heard of that. Can you tell me more?

 

Lastly, we have gotten a number of compliments about the book and about the chapter covering us from local cachers who have purchased the book!

[+NotThePainter]

More seriously, what is this about a video? You mentioned something about a video connected with the book, and I had not heard of that. Can you tell me more?

 

There is a growing trend to make a video trailer for book releases. The book came out about a month early and my 5 week deadline was compressed into one week!

 

You can see the video by going to the book's page on Jeannette's web site and then clicking the video trailer link.

 

And yes, that devilishly handsome guy in the video is also me.

 

Paul

 

(and life is slowing down again, I actually got time to fix two of my caches this weekend and may even go out again soon, yahoo!)

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

More seriously, what is this about a video? You mentioned something about a video connected with the book, and I had not heard of that. Can you tell me more?

 

There is a growing trend to make a video trailer for book releases. The book came out about a month early and my 5 week deadline was compressed into one week!

 

You can see the video by going to the book's page on Jeannette's web site and then clicking the video trailer link.

 

And yes, that devilishly handsome guy in the video is also me.

 

Paul

 

(and life is slowing down again, I actually got time to fix two of my caches this weekend and may even go out again soon, yahoo!)

Thanks for the information, Paul! I tend to be very clueless about things like videos and stuff. I just visited the webpage and, after a few minutes of searching, I found a little itty bitty tiny link called something like "see the video trailer for this book"; I guess that must be the link. I will try watching it sometime. Does this all have anything to do with YouTube? Have you put the video up on YouTube or will you be doing so? I hear that everyone is posting videos nowadays to You Tube to promote just about anything!

 

And, Paul, since it sounds like it was you who made this free geocaching video, it sounds like you must have some videographic skills. So, let me ask you right up front: when are you gonna make a video about something REALLY important, like the fact that the alien grays and their cohorts the reptoid reptilians have been in cahoots with the Illuminati, the Bilderberg Cabal, the Trilateral Commission and the Freemasons for many hundreds of years to control the destiny of this planet and to force the evil rule of the satanic New World Order on all the peoples of this earth, so that they may achieve their alien goals -- much as stated so eloquently by General Jack D. Ripper in the amazing documentary film Dr. Strangelove -- of damaging the purity of our bodily fluids? Huh?

 

[+NotThePainter]

And, Paul, since it sounds like it was you who made this free geocaching video, it sounds like you must have some videographic skills. So, let me ask you right up front: when are you gonna make a video about something REALLY important, like the fact that the alien grays and their cohorts the reptoid reptilians have been in cahoots with the Illuminati, the Bilderberg Cabal, the Trilateral Commission and the Freemasons for many hundreds of years to control the destiny of this planet and to force the evil rule of the satanic New World Order on all the peoples of this earth, so that they may achieve their alien goals -- much as stated so eloquently by General Jack D. Ripper in the amazing documentary film Dr. Strangelove -- of damaging the purity of our bodily fluids? Huh?

 

 

They have ordered me not to publish it and to destroy all copies. I wish you could have a seen it. It was an eye-opener. But lets just say that they made me an offer I really couldn't refuse.

 

Paul

[+cache_test_dummies]

Picked up my copy of the book last night at Bread and Roses 5. I was lucky enough to have my copy autographed by angevine and gpsfun!

 

Now I need to figure out how to get Vinny and El D's autographs, too.

 

But before I start reading, I need to know something. In the picture on the cover, NotThePainter is wearing a rather striking hooded jacket. Is that a badger on the sleeve?

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Picked up my copy of the book last night at Bread and Roses 5. I was lucky enough to have my copy autographed by angevine and gpsfun!

 

Now I need to figure out how to get Vinny and El D's autographs, too.

 

But before I start reading, I need to know something. In the picture on the cover, NotThePainter is wearing a rather striking hooded jacket. Is that a badger on the sleeve?

Oops... I only just stumbled up on your reply, as I was on a lengthy field trip in the Arizona desert when you posted your note, and thus never saw it at the time. And so, my belated reply. Well, first, if you really want our autographs (Sue's and mine) feel free to send us the book and we will autograph it and return it in a large First Class or Priority Mail envelope to you (be sure to provide your exact postal shipping address if you do send it); please send us a PM or email if you want our mailing address.

 

And, on a somewhat related note, more and more people from the geo world are approaching Sue and me and telling us that they read the chapter about us in the book! This is fun!