Lately, everywhere I go in Castle Rock, people ask me the same two questions.

The first one is, "What's holding up the roof on the new library?"

The new library, a former Safeway building on Castle Rock's Wilcox Street, is indeed startling from the street. The building used to be a large, dark box - the classic big box construction, where "classic" here means "tilt up concrete."

The story will break your heart.

Told in his own words, the tale of Tony Godby Johnson is appalling. He was beaten and starved by his parents. When he was very young, his parents loaned him to a gay adult who "had his way with him sexually."

By the age of 11, Tony was at the end of his rope. He called a suicide prevention hotline.

When I was a kid, I remember heading over to a local carnival one summer night. With me was a buddy about the same age. We were 7 years old or so. We had a good time listening to the barkers, agonizing over which rides most deserved our meager allowances, and generally soaking up atmosphere.

Then we met a very well dressed, middle aged man who was unusually friendly. He bought us a couple of snow cones and seemed to want to hang around us. Finally, he asked if he could show us something he had out in his car.

What is WRONG with movie reviewers?

My first instinct is to be kind. They had a bad day. They just don't happen to like a particular film genre.

But then you wonder. If you choose to review movies for a living, I presume it's because you really like movies. The lights go down, the excitement of anticipation mounts. The story snatches you up to the screen. Then, later, you get to write about it! A movie critic should be happy.