Why....you dirty rat!

I used to have rats as pets, and they were great. Fun personalities, very friendly. There was Elmer and Paveratti and the inevitable Ratfinks....

But they died miserable, tumor-ridden deaths after only a few years, and I really didn't like watching it happen helplessly.

Anyway, there was an article in the Bulletin about an experiment with rats that showed they have empathy.

A roaming rat will work "tirelessly" to free a trapped rat; even when tempted with food.

I really liked the little detail that when the trapped rat is finally freed, the two rats have a little victory "celebration."

I can see that.

I'll bet you ten million....errr, 10 dollars.

I can't believe it, but the Republicans appear on the verge of picking the fat old corrupt pompous politician guy.

Wow.

I try not to be political on this blog, but this is a pretty interesting development.

**********

Try as I might, I just can't get interested in the Europe economic details -- no matter how much I know it will impact on us.

I'm about at the same level of knowledge I used to be about the American economy, but without the motivation to learn more. "Try as I might?" -- well, I'm not really trying.

Eyes blur, snooooooozzzzeeeeee.......

**********

Walmart heirs have a net worth more than the lowest 30% of the U.S. population.

Who are their best customers.

Instant karma.

They've never gotten a dime from me and they never will.

For some reason, it hasn't impacted my lifestyle one iota.

**********

A big baseball player caught using performance enhancing drugs. And I'm not familiar with him. Ryan Braun, MVP.

I thought I'd stay in touch with baseball better. Not proud of my ignorance (nor about the Euro crisis), just a little surprised by the depth of it.

I kind of like baseball, but I just don't seem to find the time for it.

The Game of Stores.

As I mentioned, about 40% of the stores and restaurants in downtown Bend have turned over in the last 3 years.

I don't know if this is more --or less -- than usual. (Which is one of the reasons I started keeping the Comings and Goings list. Eventually, I'll be able to see a pattern.)

I've never trusted the old cliche statistic that half of all businesses fail in the first two years -- I've always figured that was overstated by a long shot. (Now half -- or more -- in FIVE years, that I would believe.) I've always had the theory that anyone opening a business, especially in an expensive downtown, it going to hang on for At Least 2 years if at all possible. An average lease, I'm guessing, is 3 to 5 years, so that is when the big decision needs to be made.

By my reckoning, all the really fancy new restaurants, where a huge amount of money was spent to set up, have been replaced by now. The replacements getting a fancy new spot for a fraction the price -- Leaving a Beautiful Corpse, I call it.

I think the "failing upward" nature of downtown continues, as well. Many of the replacement stores are fancier than the ones before, and the old spaces get renovated because they become available and they become available because an older business left.

Unfortunately, the low vacancy rate keeps the rents relatively high. Housing prices have dropped like 55% around this town, but downtown rents have declined maybe 10 or 20%, and with cost of living increases, much of that has been raised back up again.

So the Game of Stores will continue, because people see a 'thriving' downtown, and probably overestimate the business and the ability to pay the rents.

Downtown Comings and Goings. 12/10/11.

I was just about to post that the Bond Street Grill was closed, when it was announced in the Bulletin this morning that Brother Jon's is opening a second location in that space.

The Game of Stores continues...

My count, is 80 business locations have changed hands in the last 3 years, or about 40%.

NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN

Brother Jon's, Bond St., 12/10/11.
What Lola Wants, Wall St. , 12/2/11.
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.
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

Bond Street Grill, Bond St., 11/20/12.
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.)

A simple plot.

I woke up this this storyline in my head:

"You know the saying that even paranoids have enemies? Well, that's what this blog is about. Someone is trying to kill me and no one believes me...

I'm not quite certifiable. I can carry on my normal day. Even my wife thinks this is some kind of long con joke.

But it's true.

If you find me dead, you'll know I was murdered."


Maybe I can continue this story -- maybe not -- but I thought I'd write it down. Probably not terribly original, but if it I were to continue, it would be an attempt to make it as believable as possible.

I've always admired the book, "A Simple Plan" because the premise is so believable and simple and everything flows from it:

*** While out hunting, three friends find a crashed airplane with a bag of money in it. If they take the money, no one will ever know. All they have to do is be smart and patient....***

This time, that space.

I'm slowly but surely adding authors to my stock.

Next order -- I'm going to order every Lee Child and Wilbur Smith paperback available.

I'm just going to MAKE you buy because I have it, dammit!

**********

I'm suddenly getting some high profile Twitter followers --well, high profile for the nerd world. Star Wars Insider, CLINT magazine, etc.

What does this mean? Do they just follow everyone? Did one of my tweets get passed around? Is there any way of knowing?

UPDATE: Jerad says they're just fishing for followers.

O.K.

**********

Linda was late picking up Dad. "I just lost track of time and space," she says.

"Einstein says, time and space are connected."

Blank look.

"If you're here, at this time, you can't be there, at this time."

Blanker look.

Hey, I thought it was a pretty good explanation.

Leave and learn.

So a guy from Redmond robs a bank in Bend, where people know him. I was told by a customer that the people at the bank even knew his name!

I'd say that's a cry for help.

**********

I have about 4 sites that I go to daily that recommend books. Either stellar reviews or best-of lists or simple mentions that sound intriguing. I'd have to say, about 20 books on average per site. (Actually, way more than that, but I'll limit it to significant profiles.)

If I was just to order 10% of just those books, it would be 8 books a day, 240 books a month. With, say, an average retail price of 20.00 (being newer books, most are hardcover or trade paperback), that would by 4800.00 a month in just those books. Just four sites I happen to visit, just 2 books per site.

That's not including all the replacement books, the automatic purchases of certain authors, the best-sellers, and -- well, just every fricken book that's ever been published up to the day...

I get the feeling that people have no real idea not only how many books there are, but how many really good and interesting books there are.

It can get kind of silly at Christmas. People come in with ridiculously specific and obscure titles. Sometimes I even have them! But they walk away, thinking they'll find it elsewhere, to which I really want to blurt: "Dude! Not only won't you find this book cheaper. You flat out won't find this book!"

Leave and learn. (I just made that up. "Leave and Learn." So pleased with myself today.)

(Leave my store and learn how hard it is to buy it elsewhere. Instant Karma.)

**********

So I stocked up on boardgames. Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Catan, and many others. Multiple copies of the major games, one or two of most of the rest.

I have people window shopping, which is fine, I guess.

But there is a chance I'll get a run on some of these games and there won't be time to reorder. This waiting until the last week is problematic on stocking levels-- but hey, maybe it's the only thing that gives us Christmas business at all. Everyone orders online until the last 10 days, then they HAVE to buy from us locals.

Heh.

**********

"Midnight in Paris," is still running in town. What? Did the theater accidentally buy the film print?

**********

"Up to my neck in Dragon turds."

I wake up with little sayings, or plot developments. It's really kind of a wonderful thing.

I woke up with the phrase, "Up to my neck in Dragon turds," which I like so much I'm thinking I'll title each of the chapters if I can come up with enough clever sayings.

"Dragons are Mean." Is another one I liked.

The other day, I came up with the title of my next book. "The Case of the Lovelorn Gargoyle."
I even had a kind of vision of an Eeyore type (in personality) character who comes to Cobb for help. Which turns into another apocalyptic situation.

If you say so.

"Business Insider" says Bend will be the best housing market over the next five years.

Uh.....if you say so.

I'm posting this so that I might get some second opinions from some of the other bubble bloggers. This seems based on nothing more than the fact that we've dropped so far....which seems like a dubious reason.

What say you?

Two stores, ten times the work.

Interesting article on a Bend downtown business opening a second store in downtown Redmond. "Extending The Blvd." Bulletin, 12/8/11.

I won't presume to second-guess this decision. (Well, one small quibble -- if they just opened the Bend store in July, 2010, that's awfully quick expansion.) I will assume that they have a solid plan and are well capitalized.

What caught my attention was this statement: "...it is fairly unusual to have a local store in Both Bend and Redmond..." In fact, they could only name one other small business -- Bella Moda.

I would add, that I know several businesses that actually have second outlets in Eugene and Portland.

I can speak with some experience here -- I had a store on 6th St. in downtown Redmond in the early 90's. (As well as stores in Sisters and the Mountain View Mall.) This was mostly due to an absolutely red hot product --that turned out to be a bubble in the end, but had some busy years. (See Andy -- I didn't mention sports cards....oops.)

Anyway, the idea at the time was to spread the copious inventory I was accumulating. I'd buy cases of cards to get the best price, and it made sense to spread the risk.

What I didn't see was the old 20/80 rule: 20% of your product will make 80% of your profits. Turns out, the 20% wasn't so easy to get or easy to spread out, and no one really wanted the other 80%. Turns out, as well, that the costs of managing the stores ate up all the profits.

Turns out, each store will provide one to one and half incomes -- less than the old Mom and Pop, model actually. So when Linda has one store, and I have another -- it works.

Anyway, when the sport card bubble collapsed, I retrenched to my downtown Bend store -- doubling it in size so it wouldn't look like a complete defeat. We managed to sell the mall store, which was still profitable.

Funny thing was, I learned that having a store in Bend and Redmond is a little bit like An Appointment at Samara: you try to avoid your fate, but it happens anyway.

I would spend a morning going to my Sisters and Redmond stores -- supplying them with material -- and then drop by the Mountain View Mall store and see my Sisters and Redmond customers at the counter....

I will admit, it was a very different time. Back then, Redmond was much, much smaller. But then again, the competition level was lower as well. The chainstores didn't really store stomping in to Central Oregon until about 1992 and thereafter.

Anyway, thems the fruits of my experience.

Exposure. Thanks for nuttin.

Once again I'm hearing the old 'exposure' argument from my business 'partners' further up the food chain.

Exposure of comics in the digital realm will lead customers to comic shops, they tell me.

This is one of those ideas that sound pretty good on the outside, but are complete bullshit.

I've heard it presented as an excuse for my suppliers to give special consideration to outlets bigger than me -- mass market or internet and now digital -- a hundred times over the last 30 years, and it has NEVER happened.

It doesn't work that way, except in the most general sense of -- the bigger the scene, the more likely I'll sell something. But what happens most often is, the smaller stores like mine actually develop the market until it's big enough for the larger entities to take over. NOT the other way around.

If the product is in bigger stores, than that exposure turns to sales in bigger stores. It doesn't make people turn around and go shop at the smaller store.

Exposure? I had hordes of folk in my store buying beanie babies, and pokemon, and pogs -- but as soon as they were through buying them, they were gone.

Comic exposure? With all the media attention and the big tent movies, anyone who doesn't know that comics are here has three slabs of concrete around their brains and nothing short of a wrecking ball will break through. (And yes there are a number of those people.)

It's much the same reasoning as the downtown festivals. "Sure, you lose sales on the day of the event, but you are 'exposed' to new customers!" I'm told, to which I want to say -- "Wait. They are there. They are downtown. Nothing is keeping them from buying on that day and they don't. But they will turnaround and remember you in a week and make a special trip to the store they passed over while they were there?"

Customers will buy where they see something and where they are. Fine. Don't pretend that it's good for me that Walmart has it....

Exposure. Blech.

What? Says the N.Y. Fed. There was a bubble?

If these are the guys in charge, we're in big trouble.

See, I thought the following was a given. Acknowledged by all. Understood.

But, then again, I watched the Bubble from Ground Zero -- Bend, ever-lovin Oregon.

"Flip This House”: Investor Speculation and the Housing Bubble

Andrew Haughwout, Donghoon Lee, Joseph Tracy, and Wilbert van der Klaauw

The recent financial crisis—the worst in eighty years—had its origins in the enormous increase and subsequent collapse in housing prices during the 2000s. While the housing bubble has been the subject of intense public debate and research, no single answer has emerged to explain why prices rose so fast and fell so precipitously. In this post, we present new findings from our recent New York Fed study that uses unique data to suggest that real estate “investors”—borrowers who use financial leverage in the form of mortgage credit to purchase multiple residential properties—played a previously unrecognized, but very important, role. These investors likely helped push prices up during 2004-06; but when prices turned down in early 2006, they defaulted in large numbers and thereby contributed importantly to the intensity of the housing cycle’s downward leg.

Really? Who'd have thunk it.

It was a Bubble, big guys. What part of the phenomenon don't you understand?

They act as though, the fact that "prices rose so fast and fell so precipitously" was a big mystery.

And that they are surprised, surprised I tell you!, that investor speculation was a main factor.

"...previously unrecognized?" Good lord.

In my experience, Speculation is the Major cause of any and all Bubbles. And the speculation in the housing market wasn't just investors in multiple houses -- it was buyers making bad deals and buying bigger houses than they could afford, with the idea that the house would increase in price and allow them to afford it later. Speculation, whether acknowledged or understood at the time.

Are the Fed really so clueless?

Or is this some kind of P.R. bullshit?

Make way! Make way!

Another digital brouhaha in the comic world. Dark Horse announced same day and date release of their comics, following the examples of DC and Marvel and several other smaller companies. But they implied they were going to sell their digital versions cheaper.

After a day of outrage from the retailers, Mike Richardson released a statement that comics wouldn't decrease in price for the first month. (But retailers still pointed out that they are selling most of their print comics for 3.50; and because Amazon wants prices to end at -99, they will be selling most comics for 2.99.)

Anyway, the general thrust is pretty clear. The handwriting is on the wall.

I still think that the comic companies are making a huge mistake actually facilitating this change, instead of delaying it, but it doesn't matter what I think.

Each of the companies are going about it in a slightly different way; Marvel is enclosing digital codes in it's comics; DC has contracted with a specific company to set up an account with; Dark Horse and IDW and others are more open, to Amazon among others.

I think that if this weren't being pushed, that reader erosion would be minimal for the first few years. Even with the pushing, I still don't believe it will be a landslide. But, yeah. If you offer it, they will come.

My response is to recognize reality and move on. Make way for another way of doing business. That doesn't mean I've given up, or anything.

It reminds me of the sports card debacle. When the card companies started offering product cheaper through the mass market (this was pre-internet, but it was the same dynamic or worse), I encouraged my fellow retailers NOT to buy this product from them. To cut their orders to only what they could sell. To not engage in cut throat, suicidally competitive practices. As far as I know, I'm the only card dealer I know of that made the necessary steps early on. Most just went off the cliff.

Ironically, my response has been to double down on the other product in the store; games, toys, cards, anime and manga, and especially new and used books. It's ironic, because most of these product lines are already in the marginal zone that I expect comics to be in five years or so.

My response is to make maximum use of the fact that I'm in a downtown tourist zone, by carrying a wide and deep variety of material -- even in product lines that have been thoroughly exploited by the internet and the mass market. I need to have the possibility of a sale to anyone who walks in the door, and make sure those someones actually walk through door and see something they want.

It's not an ideal solution, but I have a lot of confidence in my ability to pick the kind of stuff that people will buy -- even though the internet and the mass market might already have it. I have to be smart in my buying and my selling. The hill just gets a little steeper every year, but you know what? It's always been that way.

All the beautiful books.

Oh, man. There are a lot of books.

I am resistant to 'best-seller' lists, but I'm a sucker for 'best-of' lists.

I go to sites like Flavorwire or Shelf Awareness, and they show the cover to a book and I want it. They list books in a theme, and I want them all. They mention a book that is "like" other books and I got to have it.

I have a feeling that there is some quid pro quo going on in some of these lists. Reviews and ads do seem to coincide a lot. But if they seem cool, I guess maybe that doesn't matter.

Just looking at the liquidation sites, it's amazing how many cool books seem to have fallen between the cracks of publishing and selling. Good looking books, with interesting subjects, but obviously they didn't sell enough.

There's room for only a few at the top -- and they aren't always the best, obviously. In fact, the reason I don't look at the best-sellers lists is because they are mostly atrocious. I'd say about half of the books are readable, and maybe thirty percent are good. As a general rule.

Pulp, and faux literature. (This is not to say, genre -- to me genre can be as good as anything Oprah recommends, and often better -- no, I'm talking about the lowest common denominator of these types of books.) The hardest thing for me to do is not roll my eyes when someone says they like a horrible author. (And here, I'm not actually talking about the quality of the writing so much as the sleazy, jump on the bandwagon, calculating nature of so many best sellers.)

Meanwhile, there's a book over there that is totally original. But I can't sell it, because the customer has never heard of it.

I can't read all these books -- but I can get a general sense of them. I use that instinct to buy books, and my store reflects that. If I'm right, I'll sell enough of them. If I'm wrong....

Well, I can't be wrong.

The book I want it to be.

I've decided to hold off writing the last chapter to my book, until I've rewritten all the chapters that lead up to it.

For one thing, the ending incorporates creatures and characters that still need to be fleshed out. Actually, some don't even exist yet, except as a general idea.

Holidays are a really tough time for me to write, especially because I'm in retail. I've gotten a humongous amount of product at the store over the last couple of weeks that I've been dealing with. Holiday party for writers group, the article in the paper -- doesn't take much to throw me off.

So I've decided to spend the month making notes --which has to be done anyway -- and then sitting down in the first 10 days of 2012 and rewriting.

I've got all kinds of aspirations for the second draft -- which is a start at least. I think you kind of have to have to aspirations before you can have the results.

A book spends a lot of time in my mind as a entity that doesn't exist, full of fun and emotion and suspense -- the image, in a vague way, of what I WANT it to be.

The actual book is a whole nother thing -- but I think it's important to have that image in mind.

Pinched nerve, ouch....blah, blah, blah.

I was just getting ready to brag that I haven't had back or neck problems for a couple years now -- since I changed the position I sleep and --for neck problems -- not drinking before bed.

Then, yesterday, I was casually putting books away at my store, and I felt the nerve in my back pinch.

Same nerve as always.

The first time it happened, about 25 years ago, I was laid low. I couldn't move off the couch.

Each time I get it now, it's a little less dire. I can pretty much function now. I take an Aleve immediately, and then just try not to move much -- nothing I can do but wait it out.

I'm pretty sure this is the most uninteresting blog I've ever written....

Sunday suds.

Remember when the Ducks couldn't get into a bowl game at all? When having a winning record seemed impossible?

The Rose Bowl was a dream.

National Championship? Don't make me laugh.

So when the Ducks have a season where the consolation prize is the Rose Bowl, I guess we shouldn't feel too bad.

Meanwhile, a Bend school winning the state football championship. That too hasn't been likely for years. Bigger schools, bigger talent pool in the valley. (Yeah, well I suppose there are always Black Swans like Prineville, and that team that Gene Hackman coached in Indiana).

**********

Twilight Breaking Dawn. The reviews made this so utterly unappealing, that I doubt I'll ever see it. (I did watch the first three movies because I could fit them over a weekend...)

Meanwhile -- go see Hugo. Really. A great movie.

**********

Can we root for Tiger as an underdog now?

***********

Linda has a cold, for the second time this season.

I managed to avoid the last one against all odds. I'm not so sanguine about me chances this time.

Wishful thinking.

Newt Gingrich has always looked like a fat cat to me. Put some whiskers on him.

(Linda: "yeah, one of those pampered pudgy fat cats with scrunched faces...)

**********

The news of a unemployment rate dropping was tempered by the fact that so many people dropped out of the workforce.

But isn't this a constant? Aren't they always dropping out?

I'm assuming from the news that this was an extraordinary number not a ordinary number of dropouts, but they don't make it very clear.

**********

If I may be a Grinch. The Black Friday sales increase is somewhat of an illusion.

First, for many stores, there is the little matter of cutting margins. (They don't cut margins -- I'm guessing -- as much as they lead the customers to believe, there is some calculation going on there, but....) Higher sales and lower profits just means you have to restock the stores. Or not. Which is why there are shortages, when the stores are in doubt.

Secondly, I think a whole lot of these sales are 'borrowed' from future days. The week after Black Friday is usually dreadfully slow, so slow that you wondered if it doesn't just average out.

**********

It's a bit of a dangerous dynamic that's been created -- by the mass market, and we small stores have to fall in line.

We have become very dependent on the last week before Christmas.

One of these years there is going to be an event-- knock wood -- such as a natural disaster, a storm of the century, an attack, something that will glue everyone to the T.V. for a week.

Ironically, this will have a bigger impact on the big stores, instead of stores like mine for which the Christmas season is a boost, but not the be all and end all.

And like I said, the mass market created this dynamic through shortsighted thinking.

**********

I was talking about these kinds of things with a customer the other day, and he mentioned a Discovery show about how it used to cost the equivalent of a house, or something, to get a suit of handmade armor.

Well, sure.

I'm not advocating for a return to the days when everything was handmade.

Like most things in life, I'm advocating moderation. A happy medium. Some kind of balance.

But that's capitalism -- there is no such thing. There are always people who push to the extremes, whether it's in the best interest of the market as a whole or not.

I know this -- and wishing for people to be wise and moderate is just wishful thinking.

Downtown Comings and Goings.

Topolino has moved into the Azu spot, and a new business, What Lola Wants has moved into their spot.

I'm taking off Andre's Dance Club until I get confirmation that such a place is going to open.


NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN

What Lola Wants, Wall St. , 12/2/11.
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.
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.)

Trust your instincts and think for yourself.

Easy to say, hard to do.

A major task of a small business owner is to compensate for the stupidity and shortsightedness of those higher up the food chain.

When I started, I had an assumption that those bigger and richer than me were somehow smarter and more savvy and experienced.

It took way too long for me to realized the fallacy of that notion.

Watching the card companies disappear, one by one. Watching Marvel go bankrupt. Watching one publisher after another fail. Watching my banks get bought up, once, twice, trice. Watching the comic industry shrink to one supplier. And on and on.

It now doesn't surprise me at all that the local city officials make boneheaded decisions; and it certainly was no revelation that the Masters of the Universe on Wall Street are a bunch of shortsighted, greedy pricks.

I now carefully watch my bigger brothers to see what direction they're headed and if I think they are going off the rails, I start to look for ways to compensate for their decisions.

You can't wait until it's obvious, or until someone tells you to. This is the kind of thing you have to think of yourself, and have enough faith in your own reasoning to make decisions.

So idiotic as I think it is for comic and book companies to rush into the digital publishing realm. (Have they figured out that -- if they succeed -- creators won't need them anymore?) I have to recognize the trends and adjust accordingly.

Way back in 1992, I made the decision -- at a time when sports cards were 85% of my sales -- to get out of them. To stop buying directly in large quantities at discounts. To stop trading and buying off the street. To stop selling singles and sets and boxes. And so on.

Every time I made a hundred bucks selling cards, I spent 20% to keep the cards going, and diverted 80% into other product.

No one else I knew made those decisions. And none of them are around anymore.

So I just keep trying to make these decisions on my own, trusting in my instincts.