Strange book-fellows.

So you'd maybe think I'd be against Amazon fixing prices with the publishers.

Actually, me and most independent book retailers would probably prefer that there be some sort of floor on pricing, if nothing else so that publishers may survive to continue to publish books.

I half wonder why Amazon is bothering. They could end up being the sole remaining large publisher -- if the Justice Department has it's way.

Thanks, but no thanks, for the favor.

Quit talking and produce the book already!

Took the second to last chapter to writer's group, and though it was an action filled chapter, they didn't feel the suspense. They didn't think the characters were in enough trouble.

Well, that's a problem when the penultimate chapter doesn't pass muster.

So I can hear you saying, quit talking and produce the book already!

Yeah, well that may be a problem. I've decided that it all needs to be completely reworked, from top to bottom. I still think there is a readable book in there, but it is more or less back to the drawing board.

The encouraging thing is, I'm still willing to do the work.

I've got a plan.

It all points to why I quit writing novels 25 years ago. I simply couldn't put this level of commitment into something that may or may not ever see the light of day. So...on one hand, I can see I made the right decision. On the other hand, I sort of lament that I didn't keep trying. But, really, I don't see how I could have wrestled my new business into shape, and adapted to my new family (wife and two new sons, 10 and 11 years old), and so on.

Anyway, I remember now that in those olden days, I had to keep working on the books over and over again, trying to get them into a readable format, and apparently that messy process hasn't changed.

Even free wasn't good enough.

So Pronghorn wants another year or two to become a 'destination resort', you know, with the 'resort' part, like a hotel. Otherwise, it would seem to be a golf course gated community.

Anyway, they'll no doubt get the extension.

But they also asked for the "interest money" on their deposit. Seems to me, that by asking for an extension, they have simply proved that the "interest" will probably be needed.

Not the opposite.

**********

Meanwhile the city is making tough sounds about what kinds of businesses they will "allow" in the Rademacher house.

Wait. Didn't the last business in there -- a non-profit art organization -- leave despite paying only 1.00 a year in rent? That the problems with "loitering and other criminal activity" were so bad that even GIVING them the space wasn't good enough?

And now you're going to get tough?

**********

In both of the above examples, it seems to me that Bend and Deschutes county do everything backward. We're tough when we should be lenient, and lenient when we should be tough.

Writing through the blocks.

I just have to remind myself that this whole writing a novel thing is my idea, that no one is clamoring for it, and that I just need to do it to my satisfaction. There is no shortage of novels in the world, and I have no economic reason to push it.

So even though I probably will release this to the world with more of a whimper than a bang, I'm glad I did it. I'm happy that I'm writing again.

Yes, I had to be reminded that it takes a whole lot of work. I had to be reminded that it's all on my head, and I can't expect people to like my unfinished work (or my finished work, for that matter.)

My excuse for forgetting what I already knew is that it's been 25 years since I was doing it last.

Anyway, as soon as I get the critiques back -- however little it is --- I'll start doing another draft and see where that leads me.

Following through.

I've started to get back some feedback on my book -- or even more disappointing, NOT getting feedback on my book. It's pretty lukewarm, at best. Which on reflection, shouldn't surprise me.

Sure, it's a little disappointing, but when I look back on my history of writing, I can put it all in perspective.

I spent 5 years writing my first book. Flailing around, starting over, restarting, going in wrong directions, getting the wrong tone, underwriting, overwriting. For most of those drafts, the book was probably unreadable -- and it probably was only the last draft that actually had all it needed to get published. And even there, it probably was luck and happenstance that it found someone willing to buy it. (That last, by the way, I think is probably true of most books.)

I kept writing despite all the doubt, despite the less than positive feedback.

The second and third books were really one book, in two parts. I wrote that on the satisfaction glow of finishing the first book, getting some positive feedback from friends and family (even if it was just surprise that I actually produced something they could read.) Then the euphoria of getting the first book published. All that gave me momentum.

I tried to reproduce that success with the next two books, but it just wasn't possible in the time I gave myself. I rushed them, and in the end, I don't think I really even produced a satisfactory first draft.

The sixth book was much like my first book. I rewrote it over and over again, getting feedback from my agent and publishers, but unlike Star Axe, in the end, it never quite made it over the hump. It came very, very close. I'm don't think I'm kidding myself about that, but eventually, I quit sending it off.

The seventh book was written purely for pleasure, and rereading it so many years later, I can see that it was really more or less a first draft.

The conclusion is -- that it takes me at least a couple of years or more to get a manuscript into readable form, if I'm doing it full time. Probably a few years if I'm not. I convince myself every step of the way that I'm almost done, and every step of the way I find that I have another step to go. At some point, with Star Axe and Snow/Ice, I knew it was ready. At some point with Deviltree, I knew I had done everything I could for the moment. And it took not months, but years to get there.

So in that sense, I've really only written 3 books. Star Axe, Snowcastles/Icetowers, and Deviltree. Everything else was somewhere in the muddled middle and never really finished.

So where am I on I'm Only Human? I suspect I'm only halfway thru the process, though I'd like to believe that all I need is one more good draft. I think if I'm not satisfied totally with the next draft, I'll just start on the second book and then come back to it. It's not going to be very good until it gets to the point of being good and the only person who can get it there is myself. I think I may have misled people into thinking it was easy, because I tend to mislead myself into thinking it's easy.

You know what? I'm really glad it happened. I'm really glad that I tried to write another book, no matter what happens. I'm going to keep writing, I think, at least for the foreseeable future, no matter who else cares.

I've decided to do this on my own. Not ask for any more help. Not ask anyone else to put it online for me. It's my job to do, and no one elses. I'd forgotten that it's a one man job. From now on, I'm going to work on it myself, without feedback.

But I will finish it, and I will put it online somewhere. That I have control over, and that much I'll follow through on.

Disrupting routines is becoming routine.

I have no illusions about writing. No illusions about the chances of success.

Or maybe I have illusions about not having illusions.

H. Bruce comments that maybe I should do more writing, and less writing about writing.
I'm sorry, but for me those things go together. Writing is writing. Writing about writing is motivating and helps my thought process. Doing it aloud commits me to following through.

Repeating words just to repeat them is fun.

Sorry about that.

**********

I really do like my privacy and my little routines. Last week we had family in town during all my off days. This week we've been dealing with my Dad's health issues. Linda has stayed home because of her back. As a result I haven't had a full day to myself to ruminate for weeks now.

I'd get used to it eventually, if this became the new routine. But for now, it's been kind of tiring. Too much people.

Doing routines has to be routine or it isn't routine.

**********

See what I did there? Or was there anything there to see?

Just being annoying.

Take the time to get it right.

I think it's been a good thing to take 5 weeks (so far) off of writing. I feel all charged up and raring to go.

I'd like to make a quantum leap with the next draft. Find a way to boost it to a whole nother level. It may not happen, but the 'possibility' is lingering somewhere in the background.

I'm getting a sense of the focus I want to take, and the feel I'm after.

It may mean changing the whole book again. But I've decided it's important that I get this as right as possible. Linda just started in on her critique and it looks like she's making extensive revisions, so I want to give her time to finish.

So I'm just sort of waiting for a moment of insight, a flash of inspiration, that will push this book into not just readable, but fun. I'm open to that, hear me right side of brain?

I don't know how much critique I'm going to end up getting, but I'm realizing this was probably a one time thing. I remember now how much this is asking of people, and how most people really don't have the time to help with extensive time and effort. Nor should they.

Even more interesting, to me, is that I've had a find of flash of inspiration about how I should try to market this. With a single sentence. And then tie that marketing phrase with the second and third books, even though they aren't written so I nail down the concept: it's mine and I expounded it on such and such a date.

I'm going to have to be ruthless in how much I'm willing to change and cut; which is hard to do when I've spent so much time and energy getting down on paper what I've gotten down. If I make as many changes as I think I probably should, it's almost like starting over, so I'm now thinking there will be yet another draft after the next one to smooth it out.

In other words, I want to incorporate all the changes that I make because of suggestions, and also try to spark some new creative energy into the draft, which will probably be messy.

I won't have the safety net of outsider critiquing for the last draft, so I'll have to give myself time to cool off and then come back and make sure I correct all the mistakes.

Like I said, no hurry. It's more important I try to get it right. Whereas my original intent for the next draft was a mechanical cleaning up and straightening, instead I think I need to spark it with some creativity again, and THEN do the cleaning and straightening.

The Gray and the Shaggy.

Dealing with my 92 year old Dad's medical problems yesterday, once again reminded me of the fact that we all of us --- everyone of us, rich or poor, smart or dumb, happy or sad -- will end up in these emergency, urgent care, hospital, and hospice rooms. Many of us will shuffle off to "assisted care" (nursing homes).

And that we all seem unprepared. Dad was facing the possibility of surgery, and so the doctor asked for "Advanced Directives", things like "Do Not Resuscitate" forms, and all. It turns out that nothing had changed since before my Mother died, and after that my sister, Tina. This despite the age of my Dad.

Linda and I have been horrible neglectful of our own affairs, as well. We are reminded of the need for things like Living Wills, and Wills, and stuff like that when things happen, but then we conveniently forget when things are going well.

My brother Mike is legal guardian, and he lives all the way in D.C. and that is a somewhat silly arrangement when I'm right here in Bend. But that is family dynamics, which I simply don't fight. (It is strange when my family is home: I go from being Master of my Domain -- self constructed as it may be -- to being the last person in the family to handle responsibilities. Ah, well.) It's somewhat easier in this day to communicate with cellphones.

The visit to Urgent Care was also a reminder of how we Americans are doing it to ourselves -- lots of overweight and obviously unhealthy people, lots of us who have been hard or neglectful of our bodies.

And I start looking at the age spots on my arms a little differently. As everyone my age realizes, you still feel about 30 years old inside, and so it's a bit of shock to see grey and shaggy. My Dad has a very, very similar body type to me, and it was shock to see him so helpless. It was the image I saw first thing yesterday morning, and it was the image that was still in my mind as I was going to bed.

It's also alarming to have Linda's back hurting her so much the last week or so. She's slowly getting better, but another reminder that we need to take care of ourselves, and to make plans, but also be aware that such things may soon be unavoidable.

Much as I'd like to just continue my thoughtless routines, I need to stir myself to make necessary arrangements.

Ah, life.

Never look for dragons, dragons will find you.

I've had a bit of a medical emergency with my Dad this morning, so I haven't been able to do my usual morning blog.

Does an explanation as to why I haven't blogged count as a blog?

No?

I need something more.

Woke up this morning with this phrase running through my mind: "Never look for Dragons. Dragons will find you."

Thursday Thunks.

I love my family, but it's nice to have my routines back.

**********

Cameron first commented on it, but on spring break, we were finding candy wrappers all over the store.

Speaking of which, I once again several times saw (what I consider the sad phenomenon of) parents carrying large bags of candy turning down a request for a book by their kids.

**********

I don't know how they do it, especially in a store as packed as mine, but I think the customers can instinctively sense when I'm doing a good job of stocking. And they can tell when I'm slacking off.

What this means is, I often have to overspend by up to 15% in the slow months, say about a third of the year. I then make up for that in the busiest third of the year.

**********

Spring break used to be so easy to figure out. Oregon would have a spring break, counting Bend. Then Washington, then California, etc. Not necessarily in that order. Often they would overlap. But you could suss it out.

Nowadays, each school district seems to have it's own spring break, colleges have them at a different time, and so on. I've given up trying to figure it out.

**********

My brother Mike's taste in books turns out to be fairly different than me.

He's fascinated by southwest culture, so there are all those authors. He's brought a large stack of old Nero Wolf books. He tends to like British or other foreign mysteries. And most of all, he likes what I would call "set-piece" mysteries. The term often used is "parlor room" mysteries, but "set-piece" can encompassed a much broader range of regional type mysteries that have a kind of formula.

I tend to like the hard-edge, private eye or police stories that are more chaotic in plot. More action oriented, perhaps. I'm not sure if I can explain the difference. More based on flawed characters than a mystery "plot" per se.

There is a lot of crossover, of course.

March, 2012 results.

We beat last March by 23%, which matches the increase we've had of around 20% per month since last September (except January, which I blame on the weather.)

So that's 9 months in a row over last year. As I say, I'll be really impressed when we get to the 13th month, which would mean we're increasing over an increase.

Comics and graphic novels were up a solid 10%.

Sports cards were up slightly.

Card games were up around 30%.

Boardgames and RPG's were up a full 40%, which is pretty interesting.

Books were up 33%. (My new cash register button tells me that used books are 20% of book sales, which I still find a surprise. I would've guessed much higher.)

Toys were up double, which is encouraging because that's where much of this year's efforts have gone.

Graphic novels by themselves were about the same.

But every category was up, at least a little.

April and May are traditionally slow months for me, so I'll be interested to see if we can keep up the increase. I know we could if I went crazy spending, but I'm going to moderate slightly, so we'll see.

Tuesday tings.

Seems to happen all the time. A group of friends at work agree to buy lottery tickets and assign one of them to buy the tickets, and then they win and the assigned buyer denies it.

"I have no idea what they're talking about..."

You think they write it out on a piece of paper, or something....

**********

Two of my guys, Matt and Cameron, were off at the Emerald City Comic Con last weekend, so I've actually had to work a couple of extra days.

But comic conventions are great experiences. Sometimes in Bend, it can seem like a lonely experience to be a comic fan, and then you go to a big hall and see thousands of people as crazy as you.

**********

While my brother Mike has been home, we've been clearing out a storage unit that my sister Tina rented for Mom and Dad's stuff -- mostly photographs and slides.

Amazing how many of the photo's were generic and non-specific. The classic was a picture my Dad took of a Hampton Inn's parking lot in New Jersey. Mike weeded through them for the significant ones, especially any pictures with actual people we know.

We gave some things to the new hospice thrift store on Greenwood. I took a few things homes. Much of it will end up in the landfill.

There are some art pieces which are too good to give or throw away, and yet maybe not of our current tastes.

**********

O.K. A new bar will take the place of Boondocks, with a "dress code" and "no more strippers."
(Bulletin, 4/3/12.)

They're going to call it Liquid Club -- which personally doesn't connote ""upscale" to me, but I suppose it's all in the execution...

**********

Out of camaraderie, I had one beer when we went out to dinner at Toomies, one beer the night we watched Game of Thrones, and one beer yesterday at lunch at Toomies again. (Brother Mike really likes the food.)

And even that much alcohol seems to throw me off.

Eating sit down three times in two days (we had breakfast with Dad at Jake's one morning) is some kind record for me.

**********

GOT -- my family.

Somewhat to my surprise, much of my family showed up last night to watch GAME OF THRONES with us.

My 14 year old nephew, Nick, knew every character and every family, and my brother-in-law hadn't ever read or watched it, and my brother and sisters had all read some or all the books. My big screen T.V. got the workout I always imagined.

You start to realize just how complicated that world is, and what an amazing job they are doing distilling it down to the essence.

I still haven't read DANCES WITH DRAGONS because I'm annoyed by how long it is taking Martin to finish. FEAST FOR CROWS was a bit of letdown to me, especially since it was five or six years.

I must have read the first book 15 years ago, and while it's a very memorable story, there's been a lot of books read since.

Sunday suds.

So a 15 year old kid steals a van from a wheelchair bound Prineville man, crashes the van DUI, and is now paralyzed from the waist down.

You couldn't make that up.

**********

Linda mentioned she'd like to see Dark Shadows T.V. show, so I looked it up on netflix. Starts with episode #210, and boy is it bad.

"This isn't how I remember it," she says.

But she's been clued to it as I write this.

**********

She was watching the The Firm, and I was in the other room being driven slowly mad by the ads. "Look, honey. You don't have to sit through ads anymore."

Anyway, the jazzy score was really noticeable. You just don't hear full jazz scores that much.

And Tom Cruise wasn't annoying.

"This was before he was Tom Cruise," Linda said.

**********

A couple of mornings ago, Linda had her foot on a chair tying her shoes and I gave her a little love bump as I passed by. She went sprawling, landing on her back, and she can barely move since.

What was even more embarrassing is that my brother-in-law watched the whole thing.

"If you tell anyone, I'll have to kill you."

So, next thing I know, my sisters are asking about it.

"I told you not to tell anyone, Klaus!'

"Well, I had to tell someone for insurance...."

************

I'm never writing this blog again.

**********

My brother Mike is clearing out the storage unit that we had for my sister and mom's stuff, and brought two big suitcases.

He filled them with books, of all things. Just what we need. Coals to Newcastle.

However I trust his taste in mysteries so I'm curious.

**********

So this is why I have time to blog?

My brother is staying with us, and a brother-in-law before that, and the rest of the family is here and I ate out for lunch and dinner and talked all morning and I haven't written my blog.

So, I figure that's probably closer to how other people live. You know, people around all the time.

I suppose if I had family around all the time, I'd figure out ways to find time. But since it's a once a year kind of things, it's pretty hard to break away.

I'm glad Klaus bought a condo up at Mt. Bachelor village, because it gives my family a meeting place, and since they all like to ski, they all have a reason to fly here from the east coast and Seattle.

Still, it's a bit alarming how the time disappears.

So subjects for a blog:

How about that weather?

Did it really have to take so long?

You know, it shouldn't have taken me 25 years to get to a reasonable level of inventory. A proper mix. A self-sustaining momentum.

Knock wood.

Sure, I probably lost about 10 years of that time making mistakes, but mistakes are pretty much unavoidable, I think.

Starting off under-capitalized. Hell, try Not- capitalized. Then getting insufficient loans, enough to make the store viable but not to really thrive. Spending year after year on trying to build inventory. (And pay back loans...)

Having inventory positions become moot, as people lose interest.

Getting there always seemed in the future.

Now, finally, I have a diverse mix of product that simply requires keeping up a good inventory. Not constantly building, or starting over.

At least for now.

NOTE: Normally, this would be one of what I call a JOURNAL entry; things I say to myself to motivate myself, or things I don't think I can say to the world.

It's a little over-confident.

But, my usual Bulletin fodder came wet today, and I have family visiting so having had time to peruse the intertubes, so here it is....

Big box bonzo.

Best Buy is closing 50 stores because it is losing money. Remember this is after they lost their major competitor, Circuit City.

As Matthew Yglesias of Slate puts it: "First we saw the death of secondary firms, and now we're seeing the shrinkage of even market leaders."

I tried making that point -- that the demise of the secondary firms -- Borders, Linens and Things, Circuit City -- was a sign of not of the strength of the leaders, as many seemed to interpret it, but a sign of the weakness of the business model. That big box stores depended on an expanding economy because they are essentially ponzi schemes.

Anyway, after thinking about it for awhile, I've decided to mention that there has been a persistent rumor that the local Barnes and Noble is going to close. Now, right away, I'm saying this is RUMOR, and only that. But I've heard it so many times, that I thought I'd mention it. What I'm saying is, I'm saying as a fact that there is a rumor, but not that the rumor is a fact.

First of all, I don't believe it. Really. And especially that is would be likely to close a few months before Christmas. But overall, it just doesn't seem likely.

Secondly, I don't think this would be good for us. Especially for our used bookstore, The Bookmark, which depends on a steady supply of books coming in the door. And my downtown store, Pegasus Books, really doesn't compete with Barnes and Noble (what a quaint notion). Our business is selling to people who drop in while shopping downtown.

But it also wouldn't totally surprise me.

Wednesday Wats?

The Bulletin's little conceit of "High Desert Madness" maybe wasn't as silly as I thought.

That Final Four bracket of "Fill in the Blank Fest" and "Mt. Bachelor" and "Beer" and "Juniper Tree" was actually pretty savvy.

And the Juniper Tree winning was interesting. Yeah, the Juniper tree as representative of Bend, Oregon? Absolutely. Love them or hate them.

(My blog's entry into the 64 field was like getting an official invite from the smallest division in the world.)

**********

Couple of interesting graphs I've seen lately. Oregon is 46th in terms of religiosity. And the media we listen to more than anyone else is -- N.P.R.

We are talking, of course, of that other side of the mountains.

**********

Went to see The Hunger Games, which I think followed the book rather closely. It was good, but didn't wow me or anything.

Turns out, the setting for District 12 in the movie is an abandoned town in North Carolina and it's for sale!

What do you think? We could turn it into a Hunger Games theme-park. Stay a night in Katniss's hovel -- I mean, home! Eat campfire roasted squirrel! Best of all, no renovations necessary.

*********

Frontline documentary last night sort of implied that Rupurt Murdock and most of his senior staff may go to jail in England for the crime of, well, let's use the technical term -- Scumbaggery.

So the owner of Fox News will be a lying, cheating felon.

Which means, technically, he can't be owning media in the U.S.

However, I'm sure he will figure out a way to continue on with his Scumbaggery.

**********

Read the third to last chapter of I'm Only Human last night at writer's group. I'm going to be very close to finishing reading it by the time I start my rewrites.

The general impression I'm getting is that I'm going to need to tighten the plot, do some cutting, and try to improve the tension level in the last half of the book.

Fortunately, I've got enough wordage that I can do that and still have a -- hopefully improved -- book at the end.

**********

I figured at the beginning of the Great Recession that the time will come when commercial real estate might actually get cheap enough to warrant looking into.

The purchase by Sports Vision of the Antiquarian space may be a sign of that. The old rock building on the corner of Franklin and Third sold, at a price that I think was considerably cheaper than the listed price. And a fairly large building sold for what seems an affordable price in the Old Mill.

To me, selling for such low prices isn't so much a "sign of hope" for commercial real estate, as the Bulletin puts it, but an indicator that prices are finally becoming more realistic.

Downtown Comings and Goings. 3/27/12.

Noticed the sign at Boondocks yesterday. The Game Domain space appears to be clearing out. And the word is, that Toth Gallery is leaving to make room for the Blvd.

Word is, Tres Chic is moving into where Clutch is now.

Anyone know what's happening with Let It Ride? (I believe they shared the space with Bend Mapping which is now for Lease.) LATER: Wow. Nevermind. There they are in the paper this morning, and they're moving to Minnesota Ave.

With those three Goings -- it is now 98 Comings and 95 Goings, which is the narrowest the gap has been since the list started.

Part of what is happening here is that there were a fair number of spaces that opened up with the completion of the retail space beneath the parking garage, which helped the Comings list. Lately, some of the more established downtown businesses seem to be moving into bigger spaces, which is shrinking the availability a little.

NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN


Hola!, Bond St., 3/3/12.
Amanda's, Franklin Ave., 2/24/12
Barrio, Minnesota Ave., 2/12/12.
Rescue Moderne, Harriman, 1/12/12.
Letzer's Deli, Franklin Ave. 2/12/12.
Navidi, Minnesota Ave., 2/9/12.
Mazza, Brooks St. , 2/9/12.
La Magie Bakery, Bond St., 1/6/12
Brother Jon's Ale House, 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, 4/5/10 (Moved to Minnesota Av.)
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

Boondocks, Newport Ave., 3/27/12
Game Domain, Oregon Ave., 3/27/12.
Toth Gallery, Bond St., 3/27/12.
Letzer's Deli, Franklin Ave., 3/22/12.
Clutch, Minnesota Ave., 3/22/12. (Moving to Tres Jolie).
High Desert Gallery, Minnesota Ave., 3/22/12.
Tart, Bond St., 3/3/12.
El Caporal West, Franklin Ave., 2/24/12
Bo Restobar, Franklin Ave., 2/9/12.
The Lobby, Bond St. , 2/9/12.
Arts Central, Brooks St., 2/7/12.
Typhoon!, Bond St., 2/5/12.
Gatsby's, Minnesota Ave., 2/5/12
The Dog Patch, Minnesota Av. 1/9/12.
Bend Mapping, Bond St., 1/9/12.
Lotus Moon, Brooks St. 1/9/12 (Moving into Tres Jolie)
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

The Golden Mean.

About 10 years ago, I figured out a daily sales target that would optimal for the store.
By this, I mean, a sales goal that would pay the overhead, buy new material, buy old material, give me a little time off, and so on.

A self-sustaining figure. The Golden Mean.

At the time I made this guess, Pegasus was probably doing about 40% less than that.
But I'd just paid off my debts after years of struggle, and I could sense that downtown was about to get busier.

During the next 6 years, I not only hit that optimal level, but far exceeded it. It was the time of the boom.

Yet, it wasn't self-sustaining, because I spent all the extra money buying more and more inventory. I realized early on, the more good inventory I had, the better the sales. (Duh, huh?)

The question became, with the room I had, could I pack enough material in the store so that when the inevitable bust happened (and I give myself credit for recognizing the bubble pretty early on), could I still sell enough product to survive? (Much less be self-sustainable?)

Sure enough, sales dropped below the optimal level again. Nevertheless, I kept adding inventory even during the Great Recession.

Now it became a question of how much could I viably cram into the store? I made a conscious decision, for instance, to continue to carry sports cards even though sales weren't that great simply because the boxes were stackable and made a small footprint. I took the leap into boardgames for the same reason -- stackable vertically. And books are are also fairly condensed in space.

Toys, on the other hand, take up a lot of room for the return on the buck, and sure enough I started to neglect them a little. I've spent the last quarter trying to revive them, and am starting to see the results.

The optimal sales level is still the same level -- but with some major caveats. At the time I first made the estimate, I was thinking a daily average over the course of the year, which would mean I'd do less in the slow months, and more in the busy months.

Now I think I need that optimal level to be the baseline in the slow months.

The figure I had in mind also wouldn't be enough if I hadn't figured out ways to increase my profit margins, here and there. Volume discounts, sales, used books, and so on.

(I think the optimal daily average under the old rules would probably be another 15% minimum.)

Anyway, the point of all this is, we hit the optimal level exactly in February, traditionally one of my slowest months. But we fell short in January by about 15%.

So March and April are going to tell me if the January total is more likely, or a an average of the two, or whether I've finally hit the Golden Mean.

So far, we seem to be hitting the Golden Mean in about 2 out of 3 of the slow months, so we're almost there.