Catching up.

I joke about being obsessive/compulsive. Don't think I really am.

Then again, I spent part of last weekend catching up on all the New York Times Sunday papers I had piled up.

I spent part of this weekend, catching up the N.Y.T.'s Book Review and the N.Y.T's Magazine.

It's like I can't stand to throw them away without reading them first.

Next up, a giant pile of The New Yorker.

It's good for me. Very humbling.

Any time I start thinking that I'm well-read or in any way an intellectual, reading the N.Y. Times Book Review or The New Yorker disabuses me of them there notions.

Zines and the tipping point.

Another article about "zines" in the Bulletin, today. About the national scene.

I think that there is a desire by younger people to make real things -- vinyl records, art toys, and zines.

But I kind of use these things as earmarks, indicators of where Bend is on the "urban sophistication" scale.

We aren't there. Yet. Maybe never.

I see sporadic interest in zines here in Bend. Creators come in with a few copies, and I try to pay them a little bit, and then I don't see them again. Very, very few customers pick them up.

So it becomes a bit of downward spiral; not enough interest doesn't create enough zines; not enough zines doesn't create interest. Not enough, means the few true believers go online to get their fix, or compare Bend unfavorably with Eugene or Portland, and go there instead, which makes it even harder to get to that tipping point.

There are certain cool things that just never get to the tipping point in Bend.

I've often thought on a scale of 1 t0 10, with 8 being the number we need to be at to make these little nerd subcultures truly vital, Bend is like a 6.5. Sometimes we surge for a while to a 7, and often we fall back to a 6. Something like that.

People who move here from cities that have managed to reach an 8 can't see that, at first. We don't look all that different; it seems like we should be able to sustain that culture with just a bit of a push.

But it takes a big push, and that kind of push is hard to maintain.

It's not just population. Theoretically, I think we're big enough. It's the isolation, I think. And the lack of a real four year college, and -- as much as Bend would like to believe it has lots of high techness -- I think we don't really have a tipping point level of techness.

Because there is no real money in zines, or art toys, or street art -- it's nearly impossible to keep up a scene unless there is a surplus of interest -- instead of just barely enough.

Ironically, what would get it to the tipping point here in Bend is if these urban ideas broke out of the subculture and into the mass culture.

But then they aren't what they were, you know? They aren't underground, anymore.

Over the years I've learned that it is easy to get ahead of myself. I carry urban vinyl, for instance, which I think are just cool. But I get mostly blank looks. And the true aficionados compare my selection to online sites like KidRobot and find my selection lacking.

You can't fight the tipping point.

Are you a bookstore or aren't you?

I've been catching up reading my New York Times Magazines and New York Times Book Reviews. A few months worth.

The content is pretty much the same as I'd find online.

The reading experience is completely different.

I find I stare and contemplate the pictures longer on paper. I find that I read the entire article, flip back and forth to catch nuance, and pretty much get absorbed by the experience.

The exact same articles online, I glance at the pictures, I skim the articles.

Probably just habit. I don't know. An old dog.

But it's so much more pleasant.

Anyway, it's got me to thinking about how so many of these types of blogs about digital and paper devolve into "either/or" arguments. As if, by preferring to sell comics and books, I'm denying the power of digital. That I'm somehow sticking my head in the sand.

I'm saying that there is room for books and comics, and somehow has to sell them, and it might as well be me.

The old buggy maker argument is often used. But I wonder -- surely there were a few old reprobates who preferred to keep working with horses even as the combustion engine was roaring all around them.

This doesn't mean that they didn't see the power of the new technology; just that they preferred to continue to work with the old technology. It isn't going to all happen overnight. It seems to me that someone who looks for ways to make the old model work just a little longer, as a bridge to the new, might be more successful than someone who is hedging their bets, who is actively promoting an alternative while still making most of their money in the old.

I mean, I'd rather buy from somehow who is upfront about selling me a book, than someone who says, "Hey, I can sell you a book, but wouldn't you much rather buy this newfangled Nook?"

It seems hypocritical to me, somehow. Phony. Almost treacherous. Are you a man or a mouse?

They're selling books while stabbing them in the back. (I'm talkin' to you, Amazon and Barnes and Noble and the idiotic independents who somehow think it's a good idea.)

So, sell the frackin' Nook, because you obviously believe it to be the future.

I'll buy my books from someone who still prefers the books.

An ever diminishing minority, perhaps.

Not doing myself any favors.

It's no coincidence that I've been writing a new book since June, 2011.

That's about when I finally got the chance string more than 2 days off from Pegasus Books at a time. It simply takes me 3, 4, or even better 5 days off at a time to get anything on paper. Hell, I probably spend at least a day or two just getting creatively prepared. Mulling things over.

What this whole process has done, though, is shown to myself just how lazy myself really is.

It may seem a little strange to say I'm lazy when I'm writing my 8th complete book. But, given the time and inclination, there should have been so much more. A good case can be made that I wasted 2 of those books by not putting in that last bit of effort.

When I resurrected my 7th book, Sometimes a Dragon, I was surprised by how slender the whole thing was -- how thin. I remember expending a great deal of time and energy and thought on that book. I expected more.

I'm going to expect more of myself with this latest effort. I'm not releasing it until I think it is really ready. None of this -- "well, it's mostly there, let's see what happens" -- stuff. It's impatience, and hoping for someone to come along and "fix" things, and intellectual laziness.
I'm not doing myself any favors by being that way.

My 6th book, Deviltree, is complete. I was forced to rewrite it several times, and each time it improved. But I don't want to put it into the world until I've at least written a couple of more up to date efforts.

I'm even contemplating going back and trying the "fix" Sometimes A Dragon. I think it can be fixed, but I got scared by how much work it was going to be. Now, looking at how equally hard the latest book is going to be to rewrite, I realize that I have a leg up by having a first draft. In other words, I'm further along in the process with the seventh book than I currently am with the eighth book, but it took writing the new book to see that.

I wish it was easy.

But for me, it's not.

Still, if I really put the effort in, I could see having three new books out in the world a year or two from now. One I just wrote, one I needed to fix, and one I have already completed. Then I'd like to see if I can't come up with a sequel to the current book -- maybe even a series.

I may be dreaming, but -- well, it's that dreaming part that gives me the motive to keep going.

I stopped calling myself a "writer" about 20 years ago, even though I had three published books under my belt. Finishing three more books, and getting them out into the world -- by means of the internet -- I think I can start calling myself a writer again.

Hey, and five years worth of bloggin everyday!

Downtown Comings and Goings. 10/29/11.

Have it on good authority that Azu on Wall Street is closing up.

I guess Showcase Hats, which had moved to Oregon Ave., closed last month.

NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN

Jackalope Grill, 10/12/11.
Gypsy Soul, Wall St. 10/12/11.
Colour N' the City, Tin Pan Alley, 10/12/11.
Lotus Moon, Brooks St., 10/12/11.
The Lobby, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
Ruby, Minnesota Ave., 10, 12/11.
Andres Dance Club, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
Kariella, Lava Road, 8/24, 11.
Plankers, Wall St., 7/11.
Faveur, Franklin, 7/11.
Dream Pebbles, Minnesota Ave., 6/15/11.
Bend Yogurt Factory, Franklin/Bond, 4/26/11.
High Desert Lotus, Bond St. , 4/4/11.
Tryst, Franklin Ave., 3/11/11. (Formerly Maryjanes, **Moved**).
D'Vine, Wall St. , 2/9/11.
Let it Ride!, Bond St., 1/29/11.
Gatsby's Brasserie Bar, Minnesota Ave., 1/8/11
Tres Jolie, Wall St., 12/20/10.
Caldera Grill, Bond St., 12/7/10
Bond Street Grill, 12/7/10.
Perspective(s), Minnesota Ave., 11/20/10
Toth Art Collective, Bond St. 11/20/10
Boken, Breezeway, 11/20/10
Dalia and Emilia, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Antiquarian Books, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Giddyup, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
The Closet, Minnesota Ave., 8/11/10.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Ave., 8/11/10,
Red Chair Art Gallery, Oregon Ave. 7/13/10.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 7/12/10.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 6/2910
Common Table, Oregon Ave. , 6/29/10.
Looney Bean Coffee, Brooks St. , 6/29/10.
Bourbon Street, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
Feather's Edge, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
The BLVD., Wall St. , 6/13/10.
Volt, Minnesota Ave. 6/1/10.
Tart, Minnesota Ave. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, Bond St. 4/5/10
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota Ave., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota Ave. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota Ave. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota Ave., 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe, 25 N.W. Minnesota Ave, Suite #7. 11/5/09
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09 (**Moved, Wall St.**)
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails

(List begun, Fall, 2008.)

BUSINESSES LEAVING

Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 10/11.
Azu, Wall St., 10/25/11.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Av., 10/11.
Bourbon St., Minnesota Ave. 10/12/11.
Curiosity Shop, Minnesota Ave., 7/11
Luluemon, Bond St., 8/26, 11.
Shear Illusions, Franklin Ave., 7/11.
Crepe Place, Wall St., 7/11.
Pita Pit, Brooks St. , 6/28/11
Smith and Wade Salon, Minnesota, Av. , 6/3/11.
Perspectives, Minnesota Av., 6/1/11
River Bend Art Gallery, Bond St., 5/5/11.
Donner's Flowers, Wall St. 3/11/11. (**Moved out of downtown**)
Maryjanes, Wall St. , 3/11/11. (new name, Tryst, moved to Franklin.).
Di Lusso, Franklin/Bond, 2/9/11.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 1/2/11
Marz Bistro, Minnesota Av., 12/20/10.
The Decoy, Bond St., 12/7/10.
Giuseppe's, Bond St., 12/1/10.
Ina Louise, Minnesota Ave., 11/3/10.
Laughing Girl Studios, 10/21/10
Dolce Vita, Bond St, 10/21/10
Diana's Jewell Box, Minnesota Ave., 10/15/10.
Lola's, Breezeway, 10/8/10.
Oxygen Tattoo, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Great Outdoor Clothing, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Volcano Vineyards, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
Subway Sandwiches, Bond St. 9/2/10.
Old Bend Distillery, Brooks St., 6/19/10.
Staccato, Minnesota Ave. 6/18/10.
Showcase Hats, Minnesota Ave., 6/1/10 (Moved to Oregon Ave., 8/10/11.)
Cork, Oregon Ave., 5/27/10.
Wall Street Gifts, 5/26/10
Microsphere, Wall St. , 5/17/10.
Singing Sparrow, Franklin and Bond, 5/15/10
28, Minnesota Ave. and Bond, 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, Wall St., 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minnesota Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro

(List begun, Fall 2008.)

Well, thanks for noticing, anyway.

When I first started blogging about street closures, I got little to no support.

I'd get hints and signals that others thought street closures harmful, but no outright backing.

So it's been nice to see the flurry of activity over the last few months. The instigating events was scheduling a bike race on the first Friday Art Hop downtown. Pissed off a couple of gallery owners and the owner of two restaurants.

Just following that, (or possibly just preceding that), was a thoughtful letter to the Bulletin which raised the issue.

A flurry of e-mails were sent between business owners, and a meeting was set up to discuss the issue, which -- from all accounts -- didn't really accomplish much. More meetings and committees.

The aforementioned resturant owner contacted the Bulletin, which then did an article on the subject where I was quoted.

Last week, I got an nice e-mail asking if it would be O.K. to use some of my blog comments in the taping of a Talk of the Town segment on the local cable. Unfortunately, I didn't see the e-mail until that evening, but apparently many of the issues were covered nevertheless.

And finally, I noticed there was a story on KTVZ last night. (Which confused First Friday's with street closures. I'll repeat, I don't mind events as long as there isn't a street closure included.)

Anyway, while I don't believe anything has changed, at least there is awareness of the issue, which is a first step.

Maybe the next time a street closure is considered, they'll think twice.

And then -- they'll approve it, anyway.

But at least they'll be conflicted about it!

Big greasy lip prints.

A big greasy lips print on the window outside my Slave Leia standup. Heh. Hey, come on in an buy her. You can take her home!

On second thought. I don't want to know about that.

**********

Had a Walking Dead action figure walk away yesterday.

Hey, you are what you steal!

Amazing how yucky shoplifting makes me feel. I can't describe the feeling. Disappointment, only worse. Vulnerability. Just a deep down discomfort.

Considering the kind of store I have, I'm probably lucky it doesn't happen more often.

I know it's naive of me, but I can't help but wonder at someone who would take enjoyment out of an item they stole. "Wow. What a cool figure! (and I'm a slimebag.)

**********

Read a chapter at writer's group; the scene setting up the penultimate 'action' chapters.

I knew it was just a bridge chapter, a 'marshaling the forces' chapter.

But one of the group members, Gary, told me I'd resorted to "school boy" solutions to the problems.

Ouch. But it was totally accurate. I understood exactly what he meant. It was as if I had a protagonist stranded on a road in the middle of nowhere, and in order to get him where I need him I have a bus come by to pick him up -- just coming up with solutions that aren't quite credible.

He also had a suggestion that would make the set up more credible, but which will require a whole bunch of rewriting.

The closer to the end of this book I get, the more I realize I'm in for a real job of rewriting. I was kidding myself to think otherwise.

On the other hand, I probably needed to kid myself about how easy this was going to be, or I wouldn't have started and continued.

***********

Took my financial adviser's advice -- heh -- and left the money in the stock market I had intended to remove into safer investments. (I can't believe I even have a financial adviser --inherited from parents-- or for that matter, the finances that need advice.)

Looking like a hell of a good decision as of today.

Let's see how it looks in a week.

What a big game.

Part of the culture, and not part of it.

Was hauling in my books off the sidewalk when a guy walked up and animatedly started talking about an old Superman comic he once owned.

"I don't really worry about that kind of thing," I interrupted. "Comics are for reading and enjoying."

I felt sort of bad that I cut him off so abruptly. It's a comic store thing -- everyone wants to tell you about the comics they "once" had; usually I try to be patient but I was tired and wanted to go home.

Anyway, this is an entire part of the comic culture that I don't pay much attention to anymore: The collecting and investment part. I also pay little attention to comic shows, and/or costuming, movies, except insofar as I enjoy watching them, cartoons, mostly, video games, entirely, webcomics, only when they are collected. And so on and so forth.

Half the comic websites I visit are talking about these things, and I realize they are a big part of the comic scene -- but I've lost most of my interest in them.

Maybe it's an age thing. I just can't get that worked up over a movie studio ruining a character, or the fact that some person spent a million dollars on an old comic.

The focus, as always, should be on the product itself. The experience of it. The reading and immersing. All the rest is fanboy stuff I just don't have time for.

I realize it's important to the overall health of the market, so I try to be neutral. And I've hired young guys who are much more in tune with the whole scene. They go to shows, play the video games, can carry on a lively discussion of the relative merits of superhero movies.

But I've pretty much narrowed my focus it down to the store itself. Simplified, if you will.

I pick up a lot of this information, nevertheless, just because I read so much. So I can usually carry on a conversation, if I must, about the latest San Diego Con., or the latest movies, but mostly I'm not into that part of the culture.

I mean, I just don't take it all that seriously.

Seems to me, though, that I'm into the most important part of the culture, the comics and books themselves. Which is another place where experience comes in: I realize as most of my customers don't, that there are more things in Heaven and Earth, or even in my little world of comics and books, than I can ever master.

I'll never know it all. There will always be books I don't know about, or comic artists I've never heard of, so I may as well relax. Not feel the pressure to be all things to all people.

Enjoy what I got.


Re-reading this, it isn't quite right.

I'm fascinated by popular culture. I have the kind of personality that likes to accrue information, useful or not.

Maybe it's the more social aspects of the culture I'm not part of. Shows, meetings, clubs and such.

Reading to me is a one to one activity. I actually do enjoy talking about the things I've read.

Someone else might kill your business, so you'll do it instead?

Both Apple and Amazon have reported severe drops in profits.

Which makes me somewhat suspicious. High flyers who suddenly have crappy quarters, just makes me wonder how high the highs and how low the lows. In other words, did they -- for strategic reasons -- pile their profits in one quarter, and pile their loses in another?

But it also got me to thinking how, up until now, all I've been thinking about is how Amazon's Kindle is affecting bookstores. But maybe I should have been considering how the Kindle might be affecting what, up until recently, was Amazon's own core business:

Selling books.

You know, what was once their main reason for being.

Much like Barnes and Noble making their own business model obsolete by selling the Nook.

There is no guarantee, it seems to me, that these new high tech businesses will make them as much money as their old businesses did.

After all, the same dynamics that save them money on the digital, also make it possible for competitors.

In other words, no one was likely to pop up and be competitive to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble in the selling of physical books. They were pretty safely in the lead.

But I can see plenty of opportunity for smaller players to compete with them on the digital.
Not only the physical e-readers themselves, which I expect will eventually be divided into expensive e-readers and cheap knockoffs, which would make both the Nook and the Kindle in the no man's land in the middle, but also the digital content.

Smaller, more agile providers; or someone out of the blue, like Netflix.

Meanwhile, they've also opened themselves to competition from the big boys -- for instance, Apple, and it's IPad.

I'm still not sure I understand why businesses subvert their own business models.

Their answer -- if we don't do it, someone else will -- just seems lame. Sure, other people can try. But they might not necessarily succeed, especially if you aren't being cooperative.

This is doubly true for the publishers, who are making themselves unnecessary.

Yes, I understand that the music industry tried to fight it and failed. But I'm not sure caving in completely is the answer, either. Much less instigating the change and leading the charge.

Give me some of that "loan."

County loans.

I agree with the Bulletin's editorial today about the unfairness of county loans to local businesses.

I would add, from what I've observed, they are pretty ineffective, too. Yeah, the county forgives some 'loans', which makes them a gift -- a grant, if you will. But mostly it forgives loans because the business can't pay back -- or goes out of business altogether.

My observation is -- most small business operations are Mom and Pop, and while they could use some of that "grant" money, it would be impossible not to be unfair in allocating that money, plus a bureaucratic nightmare.

Bigger loans can be more targeted -- but in some ways are even more unfair.

There was a case a few years back where the county loaned -- what would have been to me -- a very large amount of money to a business that eventually failed. A tenth of that money, a twentieth of that money, would have been enough to put me on a solid footing. (And by extension, 10 or 20 other small Mom and Pops.)

I agree with the Bulletin that this money could be used in more effective ways.

I've mentioned before that I'm leery of mixing 'for-profit' with 'not-profit' monies. Usually seems to go to waste.

That said, if the county wants to "grant" me some of that lucre , I promise I'll try to hire someone.

What do you say?

**********

Meanwhile, I don't know what's going on with the Facebook situation.

Yeah, it seems unfair that they get hit with taxes by the state that are unexpected.

But isn't that their own fault? Due diligence, and all that?

And their whining makes it seem like they want a completely free ride -- which I suspect is pretty much what they've gotten up to now.

**********

I'm sure that not all off-roaders are irresponsible.

Just like not all skateboarders are snarky.

But...well...if you go into the woods at all, you can see that there is a lack of concern by some of these guys toward the habitat.

Fact.

**********

zombie jerky

Got some zombie jerky to sell at the store. Kind of pricey, until you consider how they are still moaning and squirming and trying to bite you when you chop them up.

They come with a moldy green patina.

Along with my Soylent Green crackers and True Blood beverages, it's almost lunch.

Tethered.

Having now carried my IPhone around with me for about a week (and getting a grand total of 2 phone calls and three texts), I realized that everyone has it backward.

A cellphone is supposed to free us from being tethered to communication devices.

But it does the opposite.

We are now permanently tethered to our communication devices.

When we had landlines, we were free from them when we weren't near them.

Just saying.

Store status.

DC is talking about producing prequels to the Watchmen. Lots of comic residue there. Alan Moore has famously feuded with DC comics; so this is a bit of "In Your Face."

Trouble with trying to write in the same world as a classic -- you are almost guaranteed to fail.

Before the Watchmen movie came out, this would probably have diluted sales of the great graphic novel. But sales have dropped so drastically, this might actually help.

Sales wise.

Another "In Your Face" to Alan Moore is an omnibus edition to League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which the great bearded writer has taken later editions to other publishers.

**********

Update on the New 52.

Sales were by far the strongest on the first week, tailing off through the month. This is the last week of the second month, so the trend lines are becoming clearer.

So the only real surprise was selling out that first week -- the gradual falling into sustainable numbers was pretty predictable. I'm still happy with the new customers -- none of them have quit yet. But not every comic is selling just because it exists.

It was a nice surge, and I expect it will settle in at significantly higher numbers than before.

Now if Marvel could just figure out some way to do something similar.

I took a DC Survey, which was a pretty meaningless exercise. I mean, trying to pick winners out the first week's sales was pointless because they ALL sold out. The survey needed to be broader and take in a longer period of time, but, hey, they enticed me so I filled it out.

***********

I've kind of decided there isn't much point in worrying about e-books. I understand that they are there, that they may take over the world -- but that's neither here nor there for me.

I'm carrying books until I can't carry books anymore. Simple as that.

**********

This surge in business has given me the chance to reinvest on the more neglected parts of my store.

I've ordered more sports cards; more toys; and even more anime and manga. I want every section of the store to perform at least a little, so that altogether they make a healthy total.

One thing that seems to separate the way I do business from just about everybody else I read about: I don't feel like I have the luxury of only carrying the better selling material. I sell about as much of the better selling material as I can and it isn't enough. I have to sell some of the slower material to be viable.

Slightly larger demographics might solve that. But I have the demographics I have.

**********

After lying low over the last 3 years, I'm finally trying to exploit any increase in sales I see anywhere in the store. All I needed was a few signs of life.

This year will beat last year for the first time since 2007. 2008, 2009, and 2010, were all declines.

The increase may be only a few percentage points, but it's an increase. Heh.

I don't necessarily feel the economy has gotten a whole lot better, it just has quit getting a whole lot worse, giving any kind of increased interest a chance to happen.

Comics, as you've been reading from my posts about the New 52, are up. Books and games are up slightly, through constant upgrading.

In other words, I think it's more like it has usually been in my store -- the product decides if sales are up or down, not the economy.

It was the economy having such a huge effect on us that was so unusual, and obviously points to how dire the economy was (can could still be, without much of a push.)

Monday Mops.

Linda enjoyed Once Upon a Time. I thought it painfully bad. It's the type of "polyester" fantasy that give fantasy a bad name. Bad Halloween costume fantasy. Argggg.

Next up. Grimm.

I'm somewhat perturbed that both of these stories have a tangential take on the "fairytale" to my own version. I didn't know either show was coming when I started my book.

**********

Interesting time warps happen when you read newspapers a month late. New York Times Book Review, 9/18/11.

There was a review by Yale historian Beverly Gage, of a book (American Dreamers, Michael Kazin) about the American Left that starts:

"We might as well call it: The American left is dead. Faced with the greatest crisis of capitalism in almost a century, the left has mounted no effective mass protests...."

What a difference a month makes. Interestingly, the book says that the Left has never "been much good at building institutions..." but "it has been enormously effective at shifting the nation's moral compass."

It also has a timely prescription, that the Occupy Wall Street people have followed, of having "broad" goals, based on "egalitarian transformation of society."

If nothing else, the Occupy Wall Street people have changed the conversation.

**********

Slowly, slowly. I'm carrying around my cellphone, telling my employees they can call me or even text me.

Dragged, kicking and screaming, into the digital age.

Even had my first spontaneous online "chat" the other day.

Whatever.

All because Linda bought me an IPhone and I don't want it to go to waste.

**********

Going to weatherize the house today. Jesus, I'm lazy.

Sunday such.

The birds drinking the water in our clogged gutters and shitting all over our decks.

I got up on a lawn chair to see if it was easy fix. Next thing I know, I'm on my back, my feet and legs bleeding, from breaking through the plastic.

This is how it ends.

**********

Speaking of wolves.

"Nature" had a show a week ago that showed how wildlife has come back strong in the area around Chernobyl.

In other words, humans are way, way more toxic to wildlife than melted reactors....

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Read four weeks worth of New York Times this week. Had fallen behind.

You know what? It feels like I have read half the articles from 4 weeks ago in the meantime somewhere else.

What will happen to news in this country when the primary sources go away?

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Either the Boys and Girls Clubs have a lot of bad luck, or there are some bad decisions being made. A little of both, I suspect. The bad decisions are probably arising in an understandable desire to save money...

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Owning a home.

Bringing in all the hoses, closing all the vents, cleaning the gutters...where's a landlord when you need one?

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"The Other Zuckerberg, Now Out On Her Own."

""RtoZ Media, to help companies take advantage of social media."

It seems like half the "high-tech" businesses I read about, even locally, are based on a variation of this.

It all seems sort of bogus to me. Let me show you how to advertise? Let me show you how to use social media?

Couldn't you hire a 17 year old to show you the same things a lot cheaper?

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HEH.

Out of the five books in the review pages of the Bulletin this morning, two are graphic novels. The classic Maus, and the newer Habibi. (Both, I might mention, I always keep in stock.)

A third review is about George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire.

At least the intelligentsia are taking graphic literature seriously.

You'd think between all the movies and T.V. shows and the great S.F. and Fantasy books, and the reviews in major media, that comics would be booming.

You'd think that, huh.

**********

Growing up, there was always Ray LeBlanc (obit today) and Dutch (and the inimitable Ruth) Stover around, here in Bend.

I used to mow the Stover's lawn down along the river.

Old Bend.

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What goes around comes around.

Read another article on the demise of "category killer" stores. These stores were so overwhelming in their inventory of a single category that they wiped out most small independent stores.

ToyrUs, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy....stores like that. It mentioned that it was believed that sales at Best Buy would go up when Circuit City went out, but that it didn't happen. (The same could probably be said for Barnes and Noble versus Borders.)

Whereas I saw a completely different dynamic. I saw Circuit City as Belgium falling before the Blitzkrieg, but that just makes Best Buy -- France.

Thinking you'll do better when all your competitors are failing seems illogical to me. If you saw all your farming neighbors failing because of bad weather, would you assume it would make your farm do better? Or would the same factors also be affecting you?

In essence, the article maintained that most of these stores are no longer working because they are too big in space, that when entire sections of the store become obsolete, it drags down the rest of the store. They have 3/4th a store in a 1 space.

Then I look at my store, and I have, more or less, 3 stores in the space of 1.

The article also suggested that these "category killers" would have to find product to replace the ineffective product, but that it would have to "fit" what they have. No easy task.

Then I look at my store, and after much experimentation and trying and failing and trying again, I have a mix of product that "fits."

The article suggested that each store will have to come up with a "unique" mix of inventory, which runs counter to what a big box store does.

Then I look at my store, and almost by definition, my store is made up of a "unique" mix of inventory.

Category Killers will need to come up with reasons to have people want to browse their stores, and be something other than 'destination stores' for one type of product.

My store is in a busy downtown core where I more or less depend on the people off the street, many of them tourists, finding it worthwhile to come in browse.

Finally, the article suggested that these stores will have to get smaller.

Which as I keep pointing out, just makes them regular stores -- which loses all the advantages they once had. Good luck with that.

Not just Category Killers, which are a specific type of Big Box store, the article goes on to say that it will also eventually drag down the more general type -- like Walmart.

The ponzi scheme of building more and more and bigger and bigger stores will come to an end -- because the INTERNET is the BIGGEST store of all. You'll have to use a tool other than "bigger" and "more product" or, indeed, "price" to attract customers. All the usual tricks won't work.

In other words, I think the irony is that smaller independent stores may well survive the advent of the internet better than the big box stores.

Which is a strange kind of justice.

Squeezing for productivity.

"Gaddafi's caught in the crossfire."

Yeah.

You know.

Oops.

**********

This call for small businesses NOT to hire in order to sabotage Obama's election chances?

I think I may have to figure out how to hire someone, instead.

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"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned / Nor hell a fury like a CODE WRITER scorned."

Always fun to watch someone throw caution to the wind. In witty rage. It's sort of awe inspiring...like a psycho Dilbert.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the local twitter. (Look for Paul.)

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Penney's left the Galleria building in the 70's not the 80's. I don't remember when the place was last renovated, but I suspect it was way sooner than 1989. Can't prove it.

"Old Downtown Building Getting Modern Makeover." Bulletin, 10/21/11.

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From what I've read, Steve Jobs refused to have his tumor removed for nine months because he wanted to fight it with "diet."

Being an innovative thinker can be deadly.

**********

Linda has fallen in love with the ads for The Three Musketeers. No matter how many bad reviews.

Based on the ads I expected Footloose and Real Steel to suck; and 3 Musketeers and The Thing to be cool.

The reviews say the opposite.

I still want to see Puss and Boots. Because the preview is great.

***********

Squeezing for productivity. There's an article on the Bleeding Cool site that talks about Marvel's penny pinching ways since Disney bought them.

I tell you, if I ran my business this way, I'd be in the gutter within 5 years. (My profits might be up for the first couple years...)

Since this is happening all over corporate America, I think we're headed for the gutter.

How much of whatever lackluster improvement in the economy has come from squeezing the employees and the inventory and the lack of infrastructure spending?

P.S. Walmart just cut health benefits. Any guesses as to whether they'll report a corporate profit increase?

Thursday thunks.

Linda has had a miserable cold. But it looks like a 3 day one --

I sort of resign myself to getting a cold when she gets one -- though once in awhile I get away with it.

**********

The store is still on a roll. This will be the fourth month in a row that we beat last year, and I'm betting we can do it again next month. Christmas might be harder to do.

I'm also spending a lot more, too. I was able to pay my taxes without taking money out of savings, though it meant I wasn't able to pay down my credit cards quite as much as usual. I'll try to take care of that at Christmas.

I gotta say -- it's more fun at work when things are doing well.

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I know it's regressive; but a flat tax appeals to me.

Problem is, I get the feeling that we all-- the 99%, if you will -- would pay the flat tax, but the 1% and the corporations would find a way not to pay.

And I'm not that far away from remembering what it was like to have to pay even a small amount of tax when I couldn't pay the rent.

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No money for a silt study? (Bulletin.)

Hey, no money for anything.

Except studies that tell us we need more studies to tell us we need more studies...

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"Retailers Plan to Offer Deals of Desperation."

Uh, no.

I'm going to spend every dime I have on premium, evergreen product and let nature take care of itself.

I'm not going to flail around chasing after reluctant customers.

I loved this quote: "....the only way to get holiday sales is to offer the one thing that will attract shoppers these days: low prices. That's a change from better economic times when stores could lure customers away with promises of higher-quality products or better customer service."

Uh....unless "these days" means the last half century, this is the way it's always been.

I don't remember the second half of that equation as EVER being true, at least not in my career.

Dream on.

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I've already commented several times on the Kindle Fire exclusive with DC graphic novels, and the response by Barnes and Noble and Books a Million to remove those titles from their brick and mortar stores.

I wonder if this the first battle in an 'exclusive' battle. I sort of hope so and at the same time dread it. Hope for it, because such Balkanization will hurt the usefulness of e-books, dread it because of the damage it will do the the publishing industry. (Can't sell books if they aren't making them.)

The publishing industry is in trouble. Amazon has already started the process of leaving out the publishers altogether, going directly to authors.

Hey, what did they think was going to happen?

I still think the publishers made and are making a huge mistake expediting the transformation to digital books. They should have fought it. But they were so freaked out by what happened to the music industry, that they overreacted.

I would have said. "Our books will be coming out in hardcover, followed later by paperback, and when they are through selling, we'll be happy to put them into digital. That is all."

I know that absolutely no one agrees with me.

More SKU's, please.

Watched a couple of documentaries on "design" last night on Netflix.

One was about the "font"; Helvetica. I'll never be able to look at lettering the same again.

The other was "Objectified" which was more or less about the form and function of manufactured objects.

One of the people they quote talks about how design is meant to replace the old with the new and that sometimes there is no more reason for it than that: that mass marketers need more units and types of things to sell. (Thus filling the worlds landfills for no good reason.)

It makes the whole "cheap" argument kind of bogus, when things could be designed to last and not constantly replaced.

Anyway, the discussion of how the mass market wants more SKU's (stock keeping units) made me think of -- yes, I'm sorry I'm bringing it up again -- sports cards.

When I started carrying sports cards there were three brands. Topps, Donruss and Fleer. Manufacturers did baseball, and football. No basketball. The packs more or less cost .50 and had fifteen or so cards and a stick of gum. Boxes had 36 packs.

Small shops like me figured out that you could take those three basic brands and make more SKU's out of them by breaking them up: Singles (commons and stars and, later, semi-stars), complete sets, team sets, packs and boxes. Add in specialized knowledge and display space and some basic supplies, and suddenly you had an industry.

After a few years, the sports cards were picked up by the major chain stores. By that time the brands had probably already proliferated a bit; new companies like Score and Upper Deck, and some price differentials -- Upper Deck at a 1.00 a back, for instance. But still, pretty much under control.

They exploded. Three tiers -- base, semi-expensive and super-expensive. They segmented into multiple issues within one brand. To differentiated themselves from us small shops and each other, exclusives started being granted. Then inserts and subsets.

Once the packs got expensive, then the mass market could "discount" them. That is -- at .50 cents a pack, there was only so much they could do to beat us. But at 5.00 a pack, they can beat us pretty handily.

Nowadays, I'm offered 500.00 boxes of cards with a few packs in them and a few cards per pack. The value is supposed to be in 'memorabilia' cards (cut up game-worn jersey patches and such) and autographs. I'm offered 150.00 boxes of cards with one pack. Yep, one pack. With one card. Ludicrous.

They finally gave us small shops the better brands, called "Hobby", but which are much more expensive and since grandma can't see the difference, she'll save money and buy the lesser brands from Walmart.

Anyway, to get back to my original point. I read this years ago, and I believe it to be true: The reason sports cards are so expensive is because Walmart WANTED them to be expensive -- the opposite of what everyone assumes.

This all happened because of the mass markets insatiable need for more and more and newer and newer SKU's.

The market is totally dysfunctional. Topps is the only real survivor -- an Italian sticker company, of all things, Panini, is the other major player.

You really have to wonder if all the cheap crap at the mass market is only cheap in relative terms, and in most cases unnecessary in variety and styles -- in other words, JUNK.

Sports card packs are expensive, overall, but cheaper at Walmart.

But not really cheap, you know what I mean?

Dealing wth stuff.

I was asked why I hadn't commented on the Bulletin shrinking in size.

Well, it isn't terribly noticeable. I remember picking up the San Francisco papers and thinking they looked and felt weird. But those papers were thick.

The Bulletin just isn't thick it enough.

**********

Linda just finished reading The Twentieth Wife for her reader group.

"Wait a minute. I thought you already read that."

"No...that was the 19th Wife."

"Oh....well, what about the 18th Wife, doesn't she count?"

"Chop liver, honey. Chop liver."

**********

I didn't go to the meeting about street closures. If I had, it would have been my first Downtowner meeting in 20 years, so I don't have any clout there.

I feel like I'm more effective in writing my concerns, than in trying to speak to a room full of strangers.

I feel like I'm more effective as an outsider, than as in insider. (See poem: Speaking From the Brambles.)

I hate to be cynical, but I also don't expect much to change. But then again, change won't happen without some preparation, and we are in that early stage probably. Maybe.

**********

Been dealing with financial matters these last couple of days. Taxes went out yesterday, and we also went to visit our financial adviser.

Nothing major. But learned a bunch of things.

Just not things I can talk about.

Heh, I want my blog to be candid, but I ain't stupid.