My subconscious decides, and my planning doth but follow.

I started reordering books last night I'd sold over Christmas. I found that just about every book I sold was one I still wanted to stock, and then I decided that if I was going to carry 3 Hunter Thompson books, it made no sense not to have Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. If I was going to carry On The Road, by Jack Kerouac, I should also have Big Sur and Dharma Bums. It didn't make any sense to have a couple of Burroughs books without carrying The Naked Lunch. 2 Vonnegut books? Why not 5? 3 Tom Robbins books? Why not 5?

And so on.

I knew it was starting to add up, but every book I ordered had a good reason.

At the end, I ordered 2000.00 worth of new books, which completely blew my budget.

I waited for buyer's remorse, but it didn't come.

All those books have sold. All those authors have sold. Based on what sold, I know what else to bring in.

In other words, I've decided to go for it. I'm going to be a full-fledged new bookstore, albeit a quirky one.

Same thing with board games. I reordered all the boardgames I sold over Christmas, and decided to expand the selection. Going onto Boardgamegeek.com., I looked at the list of the top 120 games and realized that having more than half of them was an achievable goal, which wouldn't break the bank.

I've experimented with new books and boardgames for a year now; I wasn't certain that people would take us seriously. I wasn't certain they would sell.

I think they've been validated enough to go ahead and make a full commitment.

For just a bit more cash, relative to what I've spent in the past on product like anime and manga and graphic novels, for instance, I can have a very respectable selection of both books and games. I've got people coming in off the sidewalk willing to buy.

So, I'm basically going for it.

I slept on it, and woke up with a bunch of ergonomic ideas. I think I've figured out a way to rearrange the store again that won't detract from what I'm already carrying, and yet accommodate the new stuff.

Weird. It's like a general who burned the bridges behind his army, and then figured out a way to win.

The funny thing is, much of the possibilities of both my store and the Bookmark revolves around a happy accident, something you'll never find in books about business, something no one would think of.

Affordable bookshelves. Clean, crisp, functional, modular and available at prices that don't kill us. The designs of both stores are highly predicated on the simple availability of these shelves. The mass market has produced bookshelves that cost less than raw wood and nails, and look much nicer.

And if these all sound like rationalizations to do what I want to do, and find reasons later, that's probably what it is.

The same instincts that have led me into trouble over the years are the same instincts that have kept me in business, that have helped me become profitable. And vice verse. I pretty much can't ignore them.

And I can't ignore the fun factor. I enjoy the challenge.