Had a fellow come in who has been reading the blog and he bought FUN HOME. I was a little flustered, and wasn't sure if he wanted me to mention his name, so I'll just say, I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did. We talked about buying from the mass market vs. the independents, and I told him I didn't expect people to buy only from me, or only from the mass market, but to try to do both. "Spread the Love," as he said.

This week has been an unexpected bonus. There are still quite a few people on vacation, and the weather has been just this side of bad enough to not discourage them from shopping. Next week is when I'll probably have to start pinching myself to stay awake.

There is a coffee shop opening down the street. Looks like they'll manage to open in the second half of January. Wow. You couldn't pick a slower six week period than the last half of January and February....

I have a fantasy that I'll get organized with my pop culture habits. On one hand, I can envision buying a huge, big screen T.V., a Tivo, and an account with NetFlix, and picking out the very best shows and movies to watch. No more wasting time, flipping channels, and getting caught by yet another superficial History channel show about Alexander the Great or dinosaurs (DID you know that the dinosaurs went extinct from a comet...................or was it a volcano...................snore...............)

On the other hand, I'm afraid that if I go that route, I'm doomed. Might as well plug me onto the couch with a tube running to the fridge.

So my other impulse is to go the other direction. Turn off the TV, go to my den and read comics and books and maybe do a bit of writing.

Instead I don't do either. I muddle through, and my memory of last night's viewing is; the Great Works of the Persians, or something like that.

Big Change #4.

The customers. If you had told me 20 years ago that I have more of a chance of selling a book to a middle-aged woman than I do to a 12 yr old boy, I would have said; 'begone, back to your alternate universe.'

Now whenever the young families come in, I pay way more attention to the dad and mom than I do to the kids. I mean, I'm polite and all, but really I'm just hoping the kids don't drop or misplace something. I hold out little hope they'll actually buy anything.

My main regulars are probably averaging 30 yrs old and up. I maybe.....MAYBE.....have 2 or 3 customers under the age of 20 that buy a comic once in a blue moon.

Who'd have thunk it.