Bend does not SUX.

H. Bruce's disgruntlement with Bend is kind of a mystery to me.

I chose to come back to Bend after college. There weren't any jobs here for me, but there didn't seem to be any jobs for me anywhere else either. I got some gardening clients through my Mom's reputation, and earned just enough to be able to write.

I was still trying to be a full time writer, and for that I could live anywhere I wanted. It was cheaper to live here then, cheaper to be a Bohemian. Almost immediately, I started filling in at Pegasus Books when the owner needed to get away, and of course, working in a comic book store was kind of fun also.

I was poor but happy. Met Linda at Farewell Bend Writer's Group, and that too was good. The store moved downtown and I bought it a year or so later and we struggled for a decade just to get a few sales everyday...But it was O.K. because we were all in it together. We were all Bohemians then.

Anyway, to me Bend has always had an atmosphere, an ambiance, a smell and a touch, I can't explain it, that feels good. A vibrancy, and a life. To me, the cities on the other side of the mountains feel kind of dark and weed-infested and somewhat polluted. The towns east of Bend seem somewhat forlorn and abandoned.

Bend was JUST RIGHT. (I'll get nailed to the wall by H. Bruce for that one...)

I admit, the town has changed. I'm not enamored by the big chain stores, and the "cultural" snobbery I sometimes see. I don't care about the fancy restaurants and clothiers and art galleries and jewelry stores.

But I just let my eyes glaze over them, and the outlines of "old" Bend are still here. There are still your salt-of-the-earth residents. The gated community people had conveniently walled themselves out of my sight, thank you very much. Golf courses could be on Mars for all I care.

Weather? Hell, weather happens. What god giveth on one hand he taketh away with the other.

I know that as much as Linda likes Bend, she could just as easily move to Portland to be nearer her kids. Bend is all right by her, but no more so than a thousand other places.

But I love seeing the mountains every clear day, (yeah, yeah, Bruce...) driving out to the high desert and being alone, sitting by the river or creeks. I don't hunt or fish, like my Dad did. Too much trouble. To me hunting and fishing was just an excuse to get out into nature and I don't need no excuse.

I wish I did more of it, but I'm trying. I'm comfortable with the gardening allowed to me (again, I think that, despite here Central Oregon gardening prowess, my Mom would have rather been in the valley for the opportunities it would have given her.)

Looking back, I think that being in a depressive state through most of my 20's just gave me a very modest goal of a decent life. Just a normal life. Somewhere where I DIDN'T stand out in a crowd as weird. (Didn't quite pull that one off...) Bend was and is comforting to me.

I think some people get disappointed by Bend. It promises too much, and delivers too little. Growing up here, I instinctively knew that. It's a modest tourist town. I can live with that.

I'm not saying Bend is the greatest place in the world, but it don't SUX.

Yet another Bend Madoff.

I almost let this pass. After all, fraud takes place everywhere.

But the similarities to the Sawyers are just too blatant.

Guy is accused of bilking an elderly man. From KTVZ:

"The initial reports claimed Larry Allan McCright, 56, had stolen over $180,000 over a six-month period, including using bank cards belonging to the victim without the victim’s permission as well as stealing several personal items and selling them for money..."

"Detectives learned McCright had been using some of the allegedly stolen money to support his company, Diamond Point Ventures Development..."

So I go check his website, and it's awful. Like a trumped up resume (Vice-President of a landscaping company? Really?) combined with insane self-esteem and crazy feel-good reasons for doing business. I think reading such B.S. should immediately warn anyone off.

Plus, the guy starts his construction company in 2007! Nice timing.

Actually, though, I'm not sure if it's a construction company, an investment company, a promotions company, a landscaping company or all the above. Which, again, would seem to be a common characteristic of people who are so muddled in their business practices that they are inclined to mix and co-mingle their finances.

Anyway, I suppose all these people just think they need this money to tide themselves over -- but such a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation means they are doomed to fail.

Good enough?

Early on, I heard someone say, "If you aren't moving forward, you're dying."

I pretty much accepted that as a business principle. It seemed to be true. Every time I would try to curtail my building inventory, it would seem like sales would fall. So I just took it as a basic necessity that I constantly build my store.

If you've seen my store lately, you know I didn't skimp on the inventory. Over the last few years, I've tried to find clever ways to fit more inventory into the store. I looked for product that would pay for itself in the space allocated. If the product could be adequately displayed in a smaller space, it got precedent over product that took up more space.

Carrying new books has been a learning experience. In some ways, it's been great that I have a choice of only the best books. Because of my limited space, I didn't even try to carry the wide range of new releases. Instead, I would cherry pick the entire history of books. Classics, books with cult followings, books I loved, books people I knew loved, books that caught my attention for one reason or another.

Truth is, even just cherry picking, there are more good books available than I can possibly carry.
This has also become true of the graphic novels. It is no longer possible to carry every good graphic novel, much less every graphic novel.

Since I have reached a kind of space limit, I'm now constantly trying to improve the mix. If I have 100 books, and 50% are great, and 25% are pretty good, and 25% are decent -- my goal is to slowly turn all 100 books into the "great" category.

Same with all my other product.

But this is more of a incremental process -- a learning process about what sells, what is a great read, what's new , and so on.

It has been a process of learning which products mix well together, which products have a decent profit margin, which can be displayed, which turn over, which I like having around and talking about.

This process probably won't change. But for the first time, I don't have any BIG changes in the planning stages.

Just the incremental improvements of what I have.

Kind of leaves me with a different feeling, like somehow I'm not doing enough. It was kind of funny to read the two comments I got yesterday.

"Up 20% for 11 months straight is a dead cat bounce? You're a tough man to please." ANON.

Yeah, I can see how that looks. But I simply can't say anything aloud that would possibly make me think things are safe. Things are never safe, I can never take increases for granted, I can't hardly see them as increases at all. That way lies madness.

The other comment was from H.Bruce:

"Trouble with having nothing I have to do, is I don't do anything." (Me.)


H. Bruce: "Why is that a problem?

"I loaf and invite my soul / I lean and loaf at my ease, observing a spear of summer grass." -- Walt Whitman

It isn't a sin to do nothing once in a while. In fact it's good for you. You need to shake off that bullshit Calvinist/Puritan ethic."


Yeah, well. I blame my Mum. It can't be a nice day outside with me sitting on the couch reading without hearing in me head. "You should go outside. DO something!" I don't know if I'll ever escape that.


Like I said, I don't think you can ever say to yourself, "Good Enough." Beyond that, though, you have to pick a level of effort that makes sense, emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially, and mentally. And that is going to be an ongoing process.

May results.

We had another big increase from last year, a 25% improvement.

That makes 11 months in a row that I have beaten the same month last year. The overall increase for the last 11 months is nearly 20% overall.

As I keep saying, I'm only going to be impressed when I beat a previous increase. So far, this all falls under the category of dead cat bounce.

Comics have had a revival of sorts. The New 52 had the most effect, followed by the media coverage of comic things which has been extensive and on-going. (But wait, I hear you say, you don't believe in promotions. No...but I believe in publicity, which as far as I'm concerned is a different thing.) I think have young guys as employees who are very into comics themselves has helped, too.

Over the last 30 years, there have been times when I wondered if comics were reaching the end of the road, only to have them revive for awhile. We saw a 35% increase in comics from last year, which is tremendous. I don't quite trust that it isn't going to slowly decline, though, but I can use the current strength to try to strengthen the category, and the store overall.


COMICS: +35%

SPORTS CARDS: -40%.

CARD GAMES: +15%

GAMES: +20%

BOOKS: +32%

TOYS: +18%

GRAPHIC NOVELS: +35%.


Obviously, I'm pleased with the continued strength of books and games. Hard to imagine my store without them, which would have been the case if I hadn't added them just around the time the Great Recession was starting. (I'd started some time before, but really got serious then.)

Toys are seeing a slight boost since I started paying attention to them.

I've backed off on my efforts with sports cards, because I still harbor a residual resentment about them which can surface unexpectedly, so I've decided to keep them at the level they are at -- just sell some packs and boxes and get no more involved than that.

I like the overall spread of the store, and I'm concentrating at slowly improving the mix. I'd love to find a way to carry more new books, if I can figure something out. Otherwise, we're pretty packed, so my job is to have the best books possible. Same with games.

Friday fuds.

BUSINESS INSIDER has a list of the "most unemployed city in every state." I clicked through, pretty sure what I'd find if they defined "city" the way I would define city.

Yep, there we are, BEND, OREGON.

**********f

While we're all focusing on the effects of digital on publishing, it was interesting to read an article (ICv2) about how Games Workshop is concerned about the advent of 3-D printers.

In other words, the digital becomes physical. (They make elaborate, coolly sculpted figures for war gaming. But expensive.)

All those episodes of Star Trek and I never wondered about the effect of Captain Picard making Earl Grey tea would have on tea shops. I mean, he's in space, but I'm betting he has the same machine at home...

Who needs restaurants? Who needs stores? Just have it made!

**********

You know the phrase, "Let yourself go?"

That's a real thing. One day you decide, "Screw it, I'm letting myself go...."

Then, later, old friends and family say, "Wow. You've really let yourself go!"

And you think, "Yeah. "

**********

Driving to work today, there was a pickup near the post office that was so long, I had to move a foot or so into the other lane to get around it. Why? Why do you need a truck like that? Why is it sparkling clean without a dent?

Then I pull into a garage and another enormous pickup (sparkling clean without a dent) taking up two spots. Start to see red, then see the green envelope of a traffic ticket.

Yes!

**********

Am I being positive or negative to believe that most people try their best -- and fail miserably?

***********

Trouble with having nothing I have to do, is I don't do anything.

**********

There's a rumor (I repeat, a rumor) that Voodoo Donuts might be coming in where Giddy Up was.

NOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Please. NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

(See above statement about "Letting yourself Go.")

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

You know, I've stopped reading reviews. I've stopped watching trailers.

I want movies to surprise me.

I still look at the overall ratings on Rotten Tomatoes-- so I get a general sense of whether I want to go or not. I might see a thriller or a sci-fi or a horror film even if it's as low as 50% ratings, but probably not a romcom or comedy or drama unless it's more than 80%.

I say I don't read reviews. If I really like a movie, I'll read reviews afterwords -- you know, to see how I really feel about it....heh.

**********

Had one of those "Lucky or Unlucky?" moments.

Our carpet in the living room started getting wet. We called a plumber, but it was Memorial Day.

Anyway, we had our Wizard friend Aaron coming over to help us with our tech. (We periodically hit bottlenecks in our tech adaptions -- and he effortlessly fixes them)

So he walks in, immediately diagnoses a leak in the ice maker in the fridge, turns it off, loans us some floor fans to dry it out. Our carpet is stained, but we may have caught it early enough to not have permanent damage.

So, Lucky or Unlucky?

Baghdad Bob went into real estate.

BIG PICTURE blog has a list of dozens and dozens of major articles about how the housing market has bottomed and is ready to recover.

Starting in 2006.

Then in 2007.

2008.

2009.

2010.

2011.

2012.

And on and on.

Bless his skeptical little heart.

I think the local real estate blogs have been proclaiming it every couple of months. The Bulletin insists on having headlines that imply it.

Like I've tried to say since the beginning. My experience is that markets don't recover until you've given up expecting them to recover.

Complete capitulation.

Whatever happened to Baghdad Bob?

I know, dumb.

This is probably obvious to everyone else, but it suddenly dawned on me yesterday.

You know those surveys that show the difference between the attitudes of different generations?

Like, for instance, I was reading one the other day that said that when a Baby Boomer says he's going to look something up, he says, "I'm going to Google that..." or "I'm going to Wiki that..." or "I'm going to go online and look that up."

Whereas a Millennial will simply say, "I'm going to look that up." Because, you know, where the hell else would you look something up?

Anyway, yesterday I was reading a really interesting poll (ECONOMIX) that asked how important money and how important a prestigious job was to different generations.

"Wealth" was important to Millennials, at 56%.

Whereas for Baby Boomers, we came in at a surprisingly low 16% range.

Exactly the same for "Prestigious Career."

"Wow!" I thought. "What could account for such a difference?"

Then it occurred to me. Age.

It's apples and oranges.

Sure we are different generations, but we are also different ages. Yeah, yeah. Utterly blindingly stupidly obvious. But we're comparing apples and oranges. We're also comparing apples that someday will turn into oranges.

You get to be my age, and a 'prestigious' job just doesn't seem as important. 'Money' doesn't seem as important. When Millennials get to my age, they'll probably feel the same way.

In other words, there isn't really a difference between generations, but a difference in age.

Which is both exactly the same thing and completely different. Well, duh.

Let's do some brutal math.

If this math is wrong, please let me know.

Let's say the Avengers is a billion dollar movie. (Actually, I think it will be much more than that, but to keep the math simple, let's say 1 billion.)

Let's say the average ticket price is 10.00. (Again, it's probably lower than that, but keeping the math simple.)

Let's say that the average Avengers comic sells 50 thousand per month. (High, but math=simple.)

By my estimate, if 100th of 1% of the people who bought a ticket to the Avengers had bought an Avengers comic that month, the sales on that comic would have tripled. (I believe I have been corrected: it would be 1/10th of 1% not 1/100 of 1% to get comics to triple. My mistake.)

Instead, as far as I can see -- they did nothing. Nothing at all.

I bought 30 Avengers related graphic novels in anticipation of the movie, to go along with the several hundred Avengers related books I already had.

I think I may have sold 10 of them, for a net loss.

10.

No extra comics. A couple of back-issue sets, at half price.

My total sales from the Avengers movie was about 200.00. Total expenses? About 200.00 to 250.00. But hey, you gotta try.

The answer is simple, even if you don't like it.

Another brouhaha in the comments over a review of a book about comics at the Wall Street Journal.

Sigh.

Just makes me tired.

I'll say it now and say it every time it comes up.

Most people won't read comics. Period.

It's an unreasonable bias. They're wrong about the quality and intelligence of comics.

Doesn't matter. Nothing you say will make them pick up a comic.

All the talk of missing the boat, all the sturm and drang about how the comic industry is dropping the ball by not getting the movie goers to buy comics. All the accusations of fanboy inbredness, and lousy comic shops, and insular stories, and costs and barriers to entry. All of it is basically bullshit.

Just work in a comic shop for awhile. Talk to people about comics. See how far you get.

Star Wars vs. Lord of the Rings.

What's it gonna be, boy? What's it gonna be?

Huffington Post has a contest between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings as the best movie series ever.

I'm torn.

I absolutely loved the 3 Star Wars movies, but pretty much disliked the other 3 Star Wars movies. I don't have to tell you which ones.

On the other hand, I really liked all 3 Lord of the Rings movies.

Does subtracting the bad Star Wars movies from the overall total give LOTR's the edge?

If I search my heart, as much as I loved LOTR's, I was absolutely thrilled by SW.

So I decided to ignore the existence of Whiny-Anakin-Star Wars, and go with Han Solo's-Shoot-Greedo-First-Star Wars.

If I take those three movies against the LOTR's, I come down on the side of Star Wars.

LOTR's seems to be winning slightly, by the way. Fanboys will never forgive Lucas.

It's a nasty job, but someone has to do it.

I have to post every time I see the boosterism title like the following: "Our Region's Economy Improves." So says the Sunday Bulletin's headline.

Well, not by much:

"...it's nothing particularly substantial." Tim Duy says, highlighted on the same page. The Bulletin is nothing if not a split personality.

Not much to say. I keep looking at the 90% decline in housing starts. Until that number gets better, I really don't see much improvement. That's new building, not selling the excess -- of which there is more than acknowledged.

I'm not sure it matters, actually.

We were a tourist town before the boom, and we're a tourist town after the boom and that's all right by me. That's our economy, and we seem to have enough infrastructure to support that.

We seem to be at 4th Quarter 2003 level; which ironically is when Linda and I started shopping for a house and when we started The Bookmark, and when business started to see an uptick. I just never bought into the uptick as anything other than a bubble.

One other thing. On the same page, they talk about "high-end" homes not selling. I very much remember people on the Bubble Blogs coming on and saying, "Oh, the crappy cheap houses will be killed by a burst bubble, but the really nice homes will keep selling because wealthy people want to live here."

Ummm. That would seem to be wrong.

Middle-classdom.

I figure since I mentioned going to the eye doctor and the lawyer on Friday, that I owed you guys a version of the day.



Friday was how I imagine other people living. You know, everyday stuff that needs to be done. Which I gotta say, over the years, I've avoided as much as possible, both because of a touch of agoraphobia and because of a lack of money.

Need something? "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." That's been the mantra.

Something has changed since Dad died. I somehow feel compelled to get my house in order. For instance, having a real Will. So Linda and I went to a lawyer this morning.


First off, though, I went to the optometrist. It's been six years since I last went, and between having a heavy boardgame fall on my glasses, and then sitting on them a few weeks ago, I knew they were completely off-line.

Time for some new glasses. I picked some frames that were a little daring for me. Normally, I try to pick something that would be completely unnoticed. But I liked these frames, so I went for them. Makes me look very professorial.

My agoraphobia seems to be drying up. I'll probably never be quite reassured that it's gone, but...

I'm pretty sure that I not only don't seemed scared to people, but I probably don't even seem introverted. They took my blood pressure, and it was "slightly" high and I said that usually happens and the girl called it "white-coat" syndrome. I laughed and called it, "introvert" syndrome.

Seems like every time I go to the optometrist or the dentist, they have a bunch of new tools to play with.

They put me through a 'peripheral vision' test, with a clicker and flashing lights. "You got 100%!" she said. "Yeah," I answered. "I got all those ships."

She laughed and said, "The special effects are a little lacking...."

"Maybe for the kids. But for those of us who played Asteroids, it was right on." I didn't ask her if she had ever heard of Asteroids.

Then she flashed bright lights in my eyes. "Arrrgghhh!" I exclaimed. "You've blinded me!"

"I'm sorry!" she says.

"Just kidding. But you are sort of torturing my eyes."

"Yeah, we kinda are...."

Anyway, I'm showing what a card I am just to illustrate that I don't seemed cowed as much as I once was. It's great. There's always the suspicion something will go wrong and set me back, but really -- I seem totally unfazed.


They dilated my eyes, and I told Linda, "I'm going to stare at the lawyer with my beady little eyes...." but the lawyer didn't seem to notice, so I explained that I wasn't high on acid but had been to the eye doctor that morning.

The Will turned out to be relatively easy. She didn't seem to need the details of all the finances, just a general framework to put them in.


Then it was on to AAA, where we loaded up on maps and booklets. We're going to be doing some heavy traveling this summer, more than we've ever done, so we thought we'd plan our routes.


Then to Fred Meyer to buy some clothes. It was two and half years since I last bought anything. But -- hey, that's about half the interval I used to take. Clothes used to be falling completely apart before I'd replace them.


Anyway, between all the visits, I spent a huge chunk of money. I just fished out my credit card which I'd paid down to zero and it was painless.

It had to be done.

Writing and gardening just go together.

Linda spent the day finishing up her reading of my manuscript.

So I have 3 out of the four copies I gave out, back sitting on my desk. (Not sure what's happening with the 4th.....)

Anyway, I'm going to make another attempt to improve the book. I'm not going to say the "last" attempt anymore, because who knows? But a good solid attempt.

It may not be fixable, but I've got to try. Then on to the next book...that's all I can do, is try.

I may not start for about a month, because I have traveling to do in the meanwhile, but I'm willing and able to get going again.



Linda's comment was, "You write really well, but the story has problems."

It's funny. When I first started writing years ago, almost all the focus was on the writing -- that is, the stringing of words together, the choice and sequence of words. The story? That just seemed secondary.

Now -- I'm not as worried about the words, but much more concerned with the story. So much so, that I think I probably need to at least try to work out the story before I start, to some extent.

Problem is, I really do discover the story through the process. Which may mean that I'll always struggle with structure and background and plot.



But at least I'm back to writing.

I'm thinking that writing comes from the writer -- not from the response.

I'm self-identifying as a writer again, and I like it.

***********

I may have mentioned this before, I can't remember. But gardening is a more expensive activity than you might think.

My garden looks rather sparse, despite spending a fair amount of money on plants. Of course, I'm measuring it against my Mom's fabulously lush garden, which is an impossible goal; I'll never have her green thumb, or her passion, or even the time she had to invest.

Still, for all the work, it seems pretty skimpy.

I used to be able to get plants from Mom, and always filled the much smaller gardens I had in the rentals I lived in. Never realized it was expensive. (Mom owned a nursery.)

I figure in another few years, it will look better. But right now, it's more like a "first-draft" version of a garden.

**********

Look, I always knew it.

I'm confused.

Confused by why "struggling white voters" would support Romney, when he's advocating the same economic measures that got them "struggling" in the first place.

But that sinking feeling that white, middle aged white guys are being suckered is becoming the normal. When I talk to them, they seem thick as bricks.

What isn't normal is the way Democrats seem to have rallied around the idea of Bain-style capitalism.

This is probably the closest I've come to the idea of wishing there was a strong progressive third party.

I know it ain't going to happen. I know I'm going to vote for Obama, if for nothing else, for the sake of the Supreme Court nominations.

But never has it been so clear to me that almost all politicians, of either party, are bought and paid for by the large money.

Yeah, yeah. You told me so....

Busy day.

Busy day, nothing post.

Sat on my glasses on my last vacation, so I feel like they're all off balance, wrong sighted -- that and the fact that I have to remove my glasses completely to read anything. I don't like having to do this and picking new frames is always such a scary thing, but I'll be glad to have it out of the way.

Then probably lunch at Toomies with Linda, where a friend gave us a gift certificate for turning her on to a client.

Then a meeting with a lawyer to start drawing up a will.

Red tape, all of it. Out of the routine. I finally sat down a few days ago and polished off the various printed forms that had accumulated that needed to be filled out; took just a little while, and I should have done it sooner.

It's probably on old saw to everyone else, but I recently read that thing that said if you can get the task out of the way in 2 minutes, do it right this moment. I'd expand that to 5 minutes.

So...that's it. Everyday stuff, nothing too interesting, but there it is...

Gee, thanks.

So the "exclusive" and "private" golf courses are willing to take my money because they suddenly have need of my money. When they didn't need my money, they wouldn't have anything to do with me.

What an attractive offer. Since I have zero self-esteem and am pathetically grateful that you finally accept me.

Wait.

You accept my money. But me you just tolerate.

When you have enough money, will you be kicking me out?

Just wondering.

**********

The one and only true answer.

At least once a day, and usually two or three times a day, I get asked what something is worth: books, toys, but especially sports cards and comics.

The answer is, "I don't know."

No really. I don't know. I'm not trying to be difficult. I quit selling product based on "collectible prices" over a decade ago. I can't even hazard a guess what things are selling for.

There are no current price guides for comics and game cards at all. (There is a yearly price guide for comics that I no longer get.) The sports card Beckett price guide to me was dubious even when cards were hot; I have no idea if they even approach reality.

So here's the one and only true answer I can give: -- something is worth what you can get when you put it up for bid online.

Seriously.

That's the only answer I can give.

O.K. Sometimes they're willing to give me that -- but then they ask, "Who else in town is doing it."

"No one."

Silence, speaking volumes. Again, they don't believe me.

I'm not kidding, there is no one else doing comics or cards in town.

Then they ask, "Can you appraise my stuff?"

Wait a minute, I just told you I don't know what things are worth. How can I possibly appraise anything?

Again, they don't believe me. I have some general knowledge, like -- if it's pre-seventies, it's more likely to be worth something, but it's no guarantee. That material of iconic characters, or iconic events, which are the exceptions, MIGHT be worth more than cover value.

My residual knowledge is suspect -- I can't be sure what I knew 10 or 20 years ago is even valid, so I'd prefer not to pass it along. Trouble is, when I try to explain the above, the conversation gets longer and more complicated, but usually the caller is not any more enlightened.

So that's just the way things go.

But here's the thing.

They don't like my answer. They don't believe me. They just think I'm being a butthead.

Surely, I must have a rough idea of something.

Well, yes. Without looking, I'm 95% certain that what you have isn't worth anything. And if it is worth something, I have no idea how much. So either way, you'll hate my answer.

But even if I did know what something was worth, they would STILL have to try to sell it online, and they would STILL only get what someone is willing to pay them. My opinion doesn't matter, price guides don't matter.

So put it up for bid, and then either accept the offer or don't. That's the only true answer I can give you.

What do you do when you give them the only answer you can give them, and it isn't good enough?

Telling me that you can't go online, or you don't know how to do it, well -- that isn't my fault. I sympathize, really. I don't know how nor do I like doing it either.

All I can do is try to keep is short and simple -- and do it in as gentle a way as possible. "I'm sorry, I really can't tell you what it's worth -- it's only worth what you can get online for it."

Sometimes, they get mad at me. Sometimes they just won't let it go. Sometimes I pull out the big guns. "I sell comics for reading; I honestly don't care what they're worth. I think people should collect sports cards as if they are bottle caps, with no expectation of value."

Again I repeat: " Collecting has moved online. Most stuff isn't worth much. Your Mad Magazines? Last time I bought any I paid .25 apiece."

Sometimes I have to go even further. "Most of this stuff isn't worth anything, except for the exceptions and the exceptions require a lot of homework and I don't do that any more. "

Or the biggest gun of all. "The card hobby is dead. The back-issue comic market is dead. The toy market is dead. I personally wouldn't buy them for ANY price."

Hopefully, they'll take my first answer.

The value of a collectable is what someone is willing to pay you online.

It's the truth.

I'm not against the tech for the world, just myself.

I watched the first half of THE WEST AND THE REST on PBS, with Niall Ferguson.

I think I used to take these things in without much skepticism, but nowadays I try to figure out the political leanings of the writer. Niall Ferguson, as far as I can tell, falls more into the "we're deep in debt and deep in doo doo, we must cut budgets, austerity" camp.

Unexpectedly, it was a bit of a travelogue, actually, showing castles and edifices all over the world. (Which shows the definition bias of "Success" in his estimation....)

Anyway, at one point, he talks about the how Muslim world for centuries banned printed books because they felt the calligraphy was more pure.

Which immediately made me think of books versus digital.

I had the realization that, in some respects, I'm not against digital. I think the technology needs to move forward, and used in every way that is beneficial to the world.

My opposition is personal. I don't want to used digital, I don't want to carry digital. I want to be a Luddite in my own business.

But this doesn't mean that I would ban digital options if given the chance. I think this will all have to play out, fair and square, in the marketplace. I PREFER printed books, but don't expect everyone to follow my lead.

Just enough to keep me in business.

And of course, there is the little matter of how I intend to put my fiction out in digital form, and not try to get a publisher on board. It's two different things. One is my day to day workplace and what I prefer to sell. The other is my creative side, and how I can best use digital to sidestep the ugly process of getting published.

I'm very much in favor of technology. But I'm also in favor of hanging onto some things that are a little backward, but pleasant and reassuring.