Middle of Nowhere nomore.

This may be ancient history to some of you, but I remember a time when candidates for Governor of Oregon (Goldschmidt) didn't want to debate in Bend because it was the "middle of nowhere."

Back when Bend was smaller than Redmond is now.

So it's pretty amazing to see Barack Obama coming to town, and to have 2 visits from Bill Clinton. Why is it flattering to hear them talk about "Bend?"

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I'd love to be able to get on my old-timer soapbox and tell you that this kind of weather is normal for Bend. But, frankly, I don't ever remember it being this cool this often this late.

Extreme weather? Tornadoes, hurricanes, and cool cloudy spring days in Central Oregon?

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Where have 6 million T.V. viewers gone? Maybe if they didn't shift the schedules willy nilly, offer us a bunch of nihilistic and narcissistic reality performers, and cancel just about every decent drama, they might be still around. If it wasn't for CSI Las Vegas, and Sarah Conners Chronicles, and House and Battlestar Galactica. Oh, and Lost and Heroes. Half of those shows seem to missing in action at any one time. But it's pretty slim pickins....

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Linda and I drove to Redmond to see the new bypass. We lead exciting lives. Stopped in at the Shelf Life bookstore; Linda loves it's feel and selection. Then dropped off at the Paulina Springs bookstore -- and spent at least a couple of minutes waiting for traffic to ease enough for us to even get out of our car. The bypass has to be an improvement for that.

Do all independent bookstores cater to women, nowadays? Seems like most of them have a feminine slant. Lots of Good Sense books, but not so many S.F. and hard core mysteries.

I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do in response to the Book Barn closing. I suppose it will depend on how much room I manage to open up with my new bookshelves.

If I decide to significantly increase my new book selection, I'm aware that I face an uphill battle getting any of the downtowners to notice. I'll be selling to casual browsers, and visitors ... but that's where downtown Bend is at, nowadays, so that might actually work. Maybe in a few more years, some of the locals will become aware, too.

Thing is, I can't over promise, either. A couple of shelves of each category; with a heavy emphasis on fiction. But I can attempt to make the selection I have choice; quirky and unusual and idiosyncratic. Let Costgo sell the latest Oprah hardcover. It will be fun, and a challenge, and I think I can do it within normal cash-flow, if I take my time.