Jelly beans.

VALENTINE SUGAR.

Linda bought me a huge bag of jellybeans for Valentine's Day. (I brought home a copy of Settlers of Catan.)

I was jolting awake from sugar rushes until 3:00 in the morning. Also made the mistake of watching the movie, Funny Games. A more sadistic movie I can't imagine, all the worse because of the great acting by Naomi Watts and Tim Roth.

OF ALL THINGS?

Speaking of anonymous attackers. Someone has been poking at me for spelling and grammar mistakes, over on Bend Bubble2. For misspelling 'pomegranate' and misusing the words 'neither/nor' and 'either/or.' (Which is kind of strange, because I'm sure I've been guilty of much more than that.)

How dare I call myself a book writer???

Of all the things that have been said to me over there, (and Buster is no slouch in the attacking mode), I found myself taking an inordinate amount of offense at this silly snipe.

Funny thing is, of all the things I used to worry about when writing books, my spelling and grammar were the least. In fact, I can honestly say I never worried about my spelling or grammar. (I, of course, would spell check my manuscripts before sending them off, and beg people to read them and catch mistakes....)

I worried about my work habits, about marketing, about finishing. But spelling? Don't remember it being a concern.

I worried about coming up with an original story, workable plots, fleshed out characters, believable conversations -- but spelling and grammar(?), not so much. Besides, I used neither the word 'pomegranate' nor the phrase 'neither/nor' in my fiction stories.

I'd have either looked up the rule or not used the phrase.

Besides, I don't obsess on spelling and grammar in this blog, (though I try to get it right.)

And that's the last I'll speak on the subject.

DENTON AND SAWYER.

The Bulletin has pretty much gone after Jody Denton of Merenda and Deep, while still strangely silent on the Sawyers.

But after reading the story, I just have to say this.

There is a reason to be 'realistic' about your business planning, even if it seems negative to others. I never thought either the Deep or Merenda were likely to make it in downtown Bend.

I'll say it again. Almost every 'high end' business that came to downtown Bend between the years 1980 and 2000, either failed or struggled. Only in the last 8 years or so have 'high end' restaurants and clothing stores and jewelry store and so on flourished.

I suspect, in the end, we'll be more like the pre-2000 period (regardless of population) in numbers of 'high end', and less like the last period.

It was an illusion, folks.

Saying this isn't just trying to be negative. As the Bulletin points out,
"...the dream came with a cost. Many investors, banks and local vendors who did business with Denton aren't likely to receive the money they claim is due them..."

After all, I had a business during the same time. And while I can tell you that gross sales were higher than ever, so were the costs and so was the competition for the almighty buck. Having been in debt to my ears before, I realized how easy it was the fritter away ten bucks here, twenty bucks there. Much less the gargantuan amounts of money I was seeing spent around me

Nothing comes without hard work and long-term planning. Certainly, you can't just throw money at infrastructure and startup costs. Most importantly, you can't be hauling out wads of money to buy a big house and a big car and all the luxuries of life or going out to dinner every night or -- dare I say it -- even once a week.

What was everyone thinking?

REGISTER?

Word to the BEBB. I won't be registering. Just so you know.