Saturday, March 31, 2012

So this is why I have time to blog?

My brother is staying with us, and a brother-in-law before that, and the rest of the family is here and I ate out for lunch and dinner and talked all morning and I haven't written my blog.

So, I figure that's probably closer to how other people live. You know, people around all the time.

I suppose if I had family around all the time, I'd figure out ways to find time. But since it's a once a year kind of things, it's pretty hard to break away.

I'm glad Klaus bought a condo up at Mt. Bachelor village, because it gives my family a meeting place, and since they all like to ski, they all have a reason to fly here from the east coast and Seattle.

Still, it's a bit alarming how the time disappears.

So subjects for a blog:

How about that weather?

Friday, March 30, 2012

Did it really have to take so long?

You know, it shouldn't have taken me 25 years to get to a reasonable level of inventory. A proper mix. A self-sustaining momentum.

Knock wood.

Sure, I probably lost about 10 years of that time making mistakes, but mistakes are pretty much unavoidable, I think.

Starting off under-capitalized. Hell, try Not- capitalized. Then getting insufficient loans, enough to make the store viable but not to really thrive. Spending year after year on trying to build inventory. (And pay back loans...)

Having inventory positions become moot, as people lose interest.

Getting there always seemed in the future.

Now, finally, I have a diverse mix of product that simply requires keeping up a good inventory. Not constantly building, or starting over.

At least for now.

NOTE: Normally, this would be one of what I call a JOURNAL entry; things I say to myself to motivate myself, or things I don't think I can say to the world.

It's a little over-confident.

But, my usual Bulletin fodder came wet today, and I have family visiting so having had time to peruse the intertubes, so here it is....

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Big box bonzo.

Best Buy is closing 50 stores because it is losing money. Remember this is after they lost their major competitor, Circuit City.

As Matthew Yglesias of Slate puts it: "First we saw the death of secondary firms, and now we're seeing the shrinkage of even market leaders."

I tried making that point -- that the demise of the secondary firms -- Borders, Linens and Things, Circuit City -- was a sign of not of the strength of the leaders, as many seemed to interpret it, but a sign of the weakness of the business model. That big box stores depended on an expanding economy because they are essentially ponzi schemes.

Anyway, after thinking about it for awhile, I've decided to mention that there has been a persistent rumor that the local Barnes and Noble is going to close. Now, right away, I'm saying this is RUMOR, and only that. But I've heard it so many times, that I thought I'd mention it. What I'm saying is, I'm saying as a fact that there is a rumor, but not that the rumor is a fact.

First of all, I don't believe it. Really. And especially that is would be likely to close a few months before Christmas. But overall, it just doesn't seem likely.

Secondly, I don't think this would be good for us. Especially for our used bookstore, The Bookmark, which depends on a steady supply of books coming in the door. And my downtown store, Pegasus Books, really doesn't compete with Barnes and Noble (what a quaint notion). Our business is selling to people who drop in while shopping downtown.

But it also wouldn't totally surprise me.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Wednesday Wats?

The Bulletin's little conceit of "High Desert Madness" maybe wasn't as silly as I thought.

That Final Four bracket of "Fill in the Blank Fest" and "Mt. Bachelor" and "Beer" and "Juniper Tree" was actually pretty savvy.

And the Juniper Tree winning was interesting. Yeah, the Juniper tree as representative of Bend, Oregon? Absolutely. Love them or hate them.

(My blog's entry into the 64 field was like getting an official invite from the smallest division in the world.)

**********

Couple of interesting graphs I've seen lately. Oregon is 46th in terms of religiosity. And the media we listen to more than anyone else is -- N.P.R.

We are talking, of course, of that other side of the mountains.

**********

Went to see The Hunger Games, which I think followed the book rather closely. It was good, but didn't wow me or anything.

Turns out, the setting for District 12 in the movie is an abandoned town in North Carolina and it's for sale!

What do you think? We could turn it into a Hunger Games theme-park. Stay a night in Katniss's hovel -- I mean, home! Eat campfire roasted squirrel! Best of all, no renovations necessary.

*********

Frontline documentary last night sort of implied that Rupurt Murdock and most of his senior staff may go to jail in England for the crime of, well, let's use the technical term -- Scumbaggery.

So the owner of Fox News will be a lying, cheating felon.

Which means, technically, he can't be owning media in the U.S.

However, I'm sure he will figure out a way to continue on with his Scumbaggery.

**********

Read the third to last chapter of I'm Only Human last night at writer's group. I'm going to be very close to finishing reading it by the time I start my rewrites.

The general impression I'm getting is that I'm going to need to tighten the plot, do some cutting, and try to improve the tension level in the last half of the book.

Fortunately, I've got enough wordage that I can do that and still have a -- hopefully improved -- book at the end.

**********

I figured at the beginning of the Great Recession that the time will come when commercial real estate might actually get cheap enough to warrant looking into.

The purchase by Sports Vision of the Antiquarian space may be a sign of that. The old rock building on the corner of Franklin and Third sold, at a price that I think was considerably cheaper than the listed price. And a fairly large building sold for what seems an affordable price in the Old Mill.

To me, selling for such low prices isn't so much a "sign of hope" for commercial real estate, as the Bulletin puts it, but an indicator that prices are finally becoming more realistic.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Downtown Comings and Goings. 3/27/12.

Noticed the sign at Boondocks yesterday. The Game Domain space appears to be clearing out. And the word is, that Toth Gallery is leaving to make room for the Blvd.

Word is, Tres Chic is moving into where Clutch is now.

Anyone know what's happening with Let It Ride? (I believe they shared the space with Bend Mapping which is now for Lease.) LATER: Wow. Nevermind. There they are in the paper this morning, and they're moving to Minnesota Ave.

With those three Goings -- it is now 98 Comings and 95 Goings, which is the narrowest the gap has been since the list started.

Part of what is happening here is that there were a fair number of spaces that opened up with the completion of the retail space beneath the parking garage, which helped the Comings list. Lately, some of the more established downtown businesses seem to be moving into bigger spaces, which is shrinking the availability a little.

NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN


Hola!, Bond St., 3/3/12.
Amanda's, Franklin Ave., 2/24/12
Barrio, Minnesota Ave., 2/12/12.
Rescue Moderne, Harriman, 1/12/12.
Letzer's Deli, Franklin Ave. 2/12/12.
Navidi, Minnesota Ave., 2/9/12.
Mazza, Brooks St. , 2/9/12.
La Magie Bakery, Bond St., 1/6/12
Brother Jon's Ale House, Bond St., 12/10/11.
What Lola Wants, Wall St. , 12/2/11.
Jackalope Grill, 10/12/11.
Gypsy Soul, Wall St. 10/12/11.
Colour N' the City, Tin Pan Alley, 10/12/11.
Lotus Moon, Brooks St., 10/12/11.
The Lobby, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
Ruby, Minnesota Ave., 10, 12/11.
Kariella, Lava Road, 8/24, 11.
Plankers, Wall St., 7/11.
Faveur, Franklin, 7/11.
Dream Pebbles, Minnesota Ave., 6/15/11.
Bend Yogurt Factory, Franklin/Bond, 4/26/11.
High Desert Lotus, Bond St. , 4/4/11.
Tryst, Franklin Ave., 3/11/11. (Formerly Maryjanes, **Moved**).
D'Vine, Wall St. , 2/9/11.
Let it Ride!, Bond St., 1/29/11.
Gatsby's Brasserie Bar, Minnesota Ave., 1/8/11
Tres Jolie, Wall St., 12/20/10.
Caldera Grill, Bond St., 12/7/10
Bond Street Grill, 12/7/10.
Perspective(s), Minnesota Ave., 11/20/10
Toth Art Collective, Bond St. 11/20/10
Boken, Breezeway, 11/20/10
Dalia and Emilia, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Antiquarian Books, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Giddyup, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
The Closet, Minnesota Ave., 8/11/10.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Ave., 8/11/10,
Red Chair Art Gallery, Oregon Ave. 7/13/10.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 7/12/10.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 6/2910
Common Table, Oregon Ave. , 6/29/10.
Looney Bean Coffee, Brooks St. , 6/29/10.
Bourbon Street, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
Feather's Edge, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
The BLVD., Wall St. , 6/13/10.
Volt, Minnesota Ave. 6/1/10.
Tart, Minnesota Ave. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, 4/5/10 (Moved to Minnesota Av.)
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota Ave., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota Ave. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota Ave. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota Ave., 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe, 25 N.W. Minnesota Ave, Suite #7. 11/5/09
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09 (**Moved, Wall St.**)
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails

(List begun, Fall, 2008.)

BUSINESSES LEAVING

Boondocks, Newport Ave., 3/27/12
Game Domain, Oregon Ave., 3/27/12.
Toth Gallery, Bond St., 3/27/12.
Letzer's Deli, Franklin Ave., 3/22/12.
Clutch, Minnesota Ave., 3/22/12. (Moving to Tres Jolie).
High Desert Gallery, Minnesota Ave., 3/22/12.
Tart, Bond St., 3/3/12.
El Caporal West, Franklin Ave., 2/24/12
Bo Restobar, Franklin Ave., 2/9/12.
The Lobby, Bond St. , 2/9/12.
Arts Central, Brooks St., 2/7/12.
Typhoon!, Bond St., 2/5/12.
Gatsby's, Minnesota Ave., 2/5/12
The Dog Patch, Minnesota Av. 1/9/12.
Bend Mapping, Bond St., 1/9/12.
Lotus Moon, Brooks St. 1/9/12 (Moving into Tres Jolie)
Bond Street Grill, Bond St., 11/20/12.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 10/11.
Azu, Wall St., 10/25/11.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Av., 10/11.
Bourbon St., Minnesota Ave. 10/12/11.
Curiosity Shop, Minnesota Ave., 7/11
Luluemon, Bond St., 8/26, 11.
Shear Illusions, Franklin Ave., 7/11.
Crepe Place, Wall St., 7/11.
Pita Pit, Brooks St. , 6/28/11
Smith and Wade Salon, Minnesota, Av. , 6/3/11.
Perspectives, Minnesota Av., 6/1/11
River Bend Art Gallery, Bond St., 5/5/11.
Donner's Flowers, Wall St. 3/11/11. (**Moved out of downtown**)
Maryjanes, Wall St. , 3/11/11. (new name, Tryst, moved to Franklin.).
Di Lusso, Franklin/Bond, 2/9/11.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 1/2/11
Marz Bistro, Minnesota Av., 12/20/10.
The Decoy, Bond St., 12/7/10.
Giuseppe's, Bond St., 12/1/10.
Ina Louise, Minnesota Ave., 11/3/10.
Laughing Girl Studios, 10/21/10
Dolce Vita, Bond St, 10/21/10
Diana's Jewell Box, Minnesota Ave., 10/15/10.
Lola's, Breezeway, 10/8/10.
Oxygen Tattoo, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Great Outdoor Clothing, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Volcano Vineyards, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
Subway Sandwiches, Bond St. 9/2/10.
Old Bend Distillery, Brooks St., 6/19/10.
Staccato, Minnesota Ave. 6/18/10.
Showcase Hats, Minnesota Ave., 6/1/10 (Moved to Oregon Ave., 8/10/11.)
Cork, Oregon Ave., 5/27/10.
Wall Street Gifts, 5/26/10
Microsphere, Wall St. , 5/17/10.
Singing Sparrow, Franklin and Bond, 5/15/10
28, Minnesota Ave. and Bond, 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, Wall St., 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minnesota Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro

(List begun, Fall, 2008

Monday, March 26, 2012

The Golden Mean.

About 10 years ago, I figured out a daily sales target that would optimal for the store.
By this, I mean, a sales goal that would pay the overhead, buy new material, buy old material, give me a little time off, and so on.

A self-sustaining figure. The Golden Mean.

At the time I made this guess, Pegasus was probably doing about 40% less than that.
But I'd just paid off my debts after years of struggle, and I could sense that downtown was about to get busier.

During the next 6 years, I not only hit that optimal level, but far exceeded it. It was the time of the boom.

Yet, it wasn't self-sustaining, because I spent all the extra money buying more and more inventory. I realized early on, the more good inventory I had, the better the sales. (Duh, huh?)

The question became, with the room I had, could I pack enough material in the store so that when the inevitable bust happened (and I give myself credit for recognizing the bubble pretty early on), could I still sell enough product to survive? (Much less be self-sustainable?)

Sure enough, sales dropped below the optimal level again. Nevertheless, I kept adding inventory even during the Great Recession.

Now it became a question of how much could I viably cram into the store? I made a conscious decision, for instance, to continue to carry sports cards even though sales weren't that great simply because the boxes were stackable and made a small footprint. I took the leap into boardgames for the same reason -- stackable vertically. And books are are also fairly condensed in space.

Toys, on the other hand, take up a lot of room for the return on the buck, and sure enough I started to neglect them a little. I've spent the last quarter trying to revive them, and am starting to see the results.

The optimal sales level is still the same level -- but with some major caveats. At the time I first made the estimate, I was thinking a daily average over the course of the year, which would mean I'd do less in the slow months, and more in the busy months.

Now I think I need that optimal level to be the baseline in the slow months.

The figure I had in mind also wouldn't be enough if I hadn't figured out ways to increase my profit margins, here and there. Volume discounts, sales, used books, and so on.

(I think the optimal daily average under the old rules would probably be another 15% minimum.)

Anyway, the point of all this is, we hit the optimal level exactly in February, traditionally one of my slowest months. But we fell short in January by about 15%.

So March and April are going to tell me if the January total is more likely, or a an average of the two, or whether I've finally hit the Golden Mean.

So far, we seem to be hitting the Golden Mean in about 2 out of 3 of the slow months, so we're almost there.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

30 golf courses???!!!

30 golf courses in central Oregon???!!!

Did I read that right? (Bulletin. "The Golf Boom is Over.")

That's just crazy.

Meanwhile, you got Bill Smith, who helped build Black Butte ranch saying: "...it would take 120,000 residents to sell 300 memberships, roughly enough to support one private club."

Holy Tiger Club!

Do the math. O.K. He's talking private memberships, but still. It sounds like 2 or 3 private courses would do the job. Maybe a couple more for casual, non-member types. A couple more for tourists?

What am I missing?

Sunday suds.

Cheney gets a heart.

I believe it's the first one he's had...

**********

The Bulletin insists it's moderate.

I would have thought it was conservative and proud of it.

It points to its position on pro-choice.

Picking a single position on the other side is a time-honored tactic. Hatfield was conservative, but a peacenik; Packwood was a conservative, but for women's rights (ironic, considering his demise.)

It's a way to both satisfy your base, and also try to appeal to moderates. But as far as I can tell, it's mostly lipservice.

**********

Have mostly taken the month off from writing. Some snippets from my treks into the high desert.

I want to come back to my manuscript of "I'm Only Human" fresh, because I think I probably have a lot of work to do.

**********

Found a recreation area only 7 miles from my house, about a 10 minute drive. Mayfield Pond.

Problem is -- it's a mess.

It allows motorized vehicles, and they have thrashed the landscape. Deep, ruddy ruts, careening through the landscape. Lots of trash. Lots of shell casings. Not terribly attractive.

Reminded me of China Hat Butte -- blown the smithereens tree-trunks. Feels more like the inside of a industrial warehouse than it does nature.

You'd think the gun and off-road vehicle people would want to take more pride.

**********

Whitney Houston had more varied and types of drugs in her than I take in a year.

And cocaine.

I know this is naive, but why the hell do people try meth and cocaine and heroin the first time?

**********

Speaking of drugs, I also just watched the documentary about Ken Kesey's magic bus trip.

There is an uncomfortable moment toward the end where Kesey talks about using the same energy to run a farm that he used to write (uncomfortable to me, because that's the same exact excuse -- running a store -- that I used.) That and he dismisses the importance of novels, saying there are too many of them. (Again, a thing I have told myself.)

Then he says, something like: "Either that or I really did burn myself out using drugs," and he laughs but there is just a tinge of -- it might be true.

Well, my glory days were before I started writing, so I can't use that excuse.

**********

West. Civ. as told by Iran.

Had an extra hour last night, didn't feel like reading, so went to Netflix and looked for a short documentary and selected: "Iran: Forgotten Glory."

Right off the bat, there is something a little strange about it.

It starts with Cyrus the Great, who was "revered and worshiped by all." You know, that kind of florid language. Hmmm. I get the sense that I'm getting a different perspective.

Cyrus, you see, was more or less forced to conquer the Middle East because if he hadn't he would've been attacked by all the other countries. "Hey, I didn't really want to be conqueror! You made me do it!"

O.K. So far, I'll buy "The Great" part, because he outlawed slavery and allowed freedom of religion (and freed the Jews from Babylon.)

So far, the documentary is pretty dry, I hate to say it, nearly boring. It's visuals are mostly showing the same ruins and wall reliefs over and over again.

If you've seen one knocked-over pillar you've seen them all. It's really refreshing when they show the occasional standing pillar.

When it comes to the wars with the Greeks, it starts getting really strange. See, the Greeks were traitors and betrayers, who refused to be nice, docile subject people and Darius the Great was forced to land at Marathon and spank them. He was temporarily indisposed.

His son Xerxes attacks, and while briefly hindered by "an army of Spartans (no mention of The 300) and Athenians and their allies" goes on to burn down Athens. But he's such a nice guy, he goes ahead and rebuilds the city.

Meanwhile, there is a brief mention of a "storm" that hinders his fleet. (But it doesn't really matter because Greece got most of its ideas from Persia, anyway.)

The documentary portrays Alexander as a pipsqueak who was about to be beaten back by Darius II, when the emperor is betrayed.

O.K. That's interesting. I'm all for revisionist history -- "History is written by the winners" is the quote they use.

By now, the documentary is an hour old, but I decide to go ahead and watch the second half.

It's even more fallen pillars and marble slabs and beat up wall reliefs, but now it takes a religious turn. No, not Islam. Not yet.

Zoroaster.

O.K. That's kind of cool. I admit I don't know a lot about Zoroaster.

Thus spake Zarathustra.

I'd almost think the documentary was made by Zarathustrians, except I'm not sure there is such a thing. Be'hai's are the closest thing to inheritors of this philosophy, but the documentary doesn't mention them. He is considered one of the prophets by many of the religions, so...I'm just not sure why this is so prominent in the film.

Anyway, after a brief reign of 65 years by the Greeks, the Persian empire makes a comeback, defeats the Romans and and finally meets it's demise under the "arab" Muslims. Up to now, I'm thinking this is an Iranian production, but they do so little with the Muslim aspect, that I start to doubt.

Anyway, a strange little film, that I don't think I'd recommend unless you think you want to see someone else's perspective.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Gestalt retail.

I was looking around the store the other day and wondering, "Why is this working?"

Have I finally reach a level of inventory that is self-sustaining? Or is it the diversity? Is my pricing finally effective? Is it my employees? Is it the very longevity of the place? The media attention and the blog? Is it that downtown Bend is still vibrant?

There are cycles to business -- right now, we are benefiting from the popularity of The Walking Dead, The Game of Thrones, and The Hunger Games. I may not like "Comic Book Men" but it certainly gives us exposure.

Coming up, is the big Avengers movie. I don't expect that we'll sell a lot of Marvel comics from it -- that doesn't seem to happen, though I might be able to get people to try some of Joss Whedon's comic book writing. (Astonishing X-Men, Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible...)

But again, the attention can't hurt.

When I look around the store, I see lots of stuff that -- well, aren't all that strong individually. But it seems to work as an overall thing. Everyday I sell something that I thought I'd never sell.

The only concept I can come up with that explains how the store is working right now is, Gestalt.

"Gestalt –("essence or shape of an entity's complete form") is a theory of mind and brain...";" ...the operational principle of gestalt psychology is that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies. The principle that maintains that the human eye sees objects in their entirety before perceiving their individual parts. Gestalt psychologists stipulate that perception is the product of complex interactions among various stimuli." Wikipedia.

Over the last decade, I've kind of gone with the flow. Bringing into the store anything that interested me, and assuming that it would fit into the overall mix. The store, to some extent, is a reflection of my interests. Of course, I'm hard-headed about it. I look for deals, for instance. I look for products that will physically fit into the store.

But I quit categorizing quite so much. Yes, I carry mostly fiction, but not always. Yes, I carry fiction with a fantastical bent, but not always. And so on.

I just kind of know when I see it on an order form whether I think it will fit.

Occasionally I make a misstep, but I can usually figure out a way to work around it. To make it work.

For the first 20 years of business, I suppose I thought I was a Lone Ranger. A weird sort of nerd that didn't even really fit in with other nerds. So I slowly accumulated customers who liked what I was doing (or could overlook it.)

The internet changed my thinking. Now I see that my interests are the interests of lots of other people. It's still more unusual than not, but now I have some faith that if something interests me, that it will interest other people, even if it doesn't look like there is much of a commercial outlet for it.

The other word, beside Gestalt, that might describe how the store works is Synergy.

"Synergy may be defined as two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable." Wikipedia.

Very early on in my career, I added up the sales of t-shirts and buttons and posters, and it was pretty pathetic. So I got rid of them.

Sales on comics and everything else in the store immediately dropped.

Chastened, I brought them back, and sales recovered.

That was my first experience with the idea of a "mix," of having things that don't sell all that well so that I can sell other things. In a sense, this has been my advertising budget.

All this runs counter to what most business books would tell you to do. But I think most businesses would probably follow business book advice into the ground, and I started to ignore advice that didn't match my experience.

The added bonus is that it allows me to have a fun store that I'm interested in. It allows me to follow my own interests, with some expectation that others will appreciate it.

In and out of the garbage pail. It's just my messy gestalt brain.

Friday, March 23, 2012

MIddle-aged white guy in a hoodie.

I'm a middle-aged white guy in a hoodie.

I found it at the store. I liked it. I started wearing it.

My winter coat also has a hood.

Just saying.

Hunger Games.

O.K.

I knew this was going to be big. I've been saying it for several years. I've been saying, "If I'm the first the tell you about Hunger Games, I won't be the last!" And "It's the new Twilight, only better!" That kind of thing.

But the second and third books in the series are only in hardcover. Sure, they are only 17.99, which isn't bad, but I've been very leery of carrying too many hardcovers, which I can't sell once the paperback comes out.

There is a paperback version of Hunger Games, which is 8.99, and I ordered a dozen copies, which is about 10 more copies than I normally order of any one book.

I started with a stock of 3 hardcovers each of Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay.

Less than an afternoon after making the last order for this week, I sold all three copies of Catching Fire.

Meanwhile, I'm informing customers that, No, there is no paperback version of Catching Fire or Mockingjay, nor is there one scheduled in the near future as far as I could see. (Really, why would the publisher do that when they could sell the hardcovers all day long?)

Here's the other thing. Unless you are incredibly lucky, so lucky that I think you immediately go buy a lottery ticket if it happens, you probably won't find a used copy of any of the books.

I'm not talking about a month ago, or even a couple of weeks ago -- right now, and for the next few weeks, it will be nearly impossible.

You see, most used bookstores are only going to have a few copies of a really hot book turned back in.

So let's wildly overestimate and say that each store has 5 copies each -- that would be about 20 for the whole town.

I probably had 20 people call or walk in looking for a used copy yesterday afternoon alone.

I'm guessing there were probably, at most, 5 copies available among ALL the used bookstores and that there will be 500 people looking for them.

By the way, this dynamic doesn't change just because you're Powells or something. If they have more copies, they also probably have more searchers.

I just sort of shake my head when they walk off to continue the hunt. (The waiting list at the library is apparently a mile long.)

I'm going to make a wild guess here; because, it may seem a little hard to believe with Costco and Walmart and Barnes and Nobles:

By this time next week, everyone will be sold out of these books -- even the new ones.

I'm kind of irked that despite all my instincts, I was still conservative. I've got plenty of copies of the first book in paperback, plus copies of the first and third in hardcover. I think I may have some coming in today, and probably on Monday too.

I threw caution to the wind and ordered a dozen copies of each of the hardcovers, and more than a dozen more of the paperback. If I've miscalculated, I'll sell them over the next year or so.

Downtown turnover rate.

I have to wonder, a little, if the length of this downturn has caught Bend businesses by surprise.

It certainly is within the perimeters of my original guesses -- that it would be at least seven years, but I suppose I thought it would be seven years from top to bottom back to a regular growing rate (it was going to take much longer to reach the levels we saw in the boom -- and then only because of natural inflation).

Now I'm thinking it might be 6 or 7 years down and bumping along the bottom. (I started beating last year's sales levels, but not dramatically, about 9 months ago. I need to see the store consistently beat a 'positive' month before I'll think we're on our way up again.)

Now that we're about 4.5 years from when I first started seeing a drop-off (September, 2007) it certainly looks like it's got a long way to go.

At least from the number of businesses that have opened downtown, there seems to have been a lot of optimism. I've been saying for some time, that new businesses are not necessarily a reflection of strong business (they haven't opened yet, how do they know?) but of pent up demand for downtown space, overflow from the last boom, natural optimism, and perhaps not acknowledged much, the lack of opportunity for jobs and/or the lack of adequate space elsewhere.

Whatever it is, we're lucky that it's happening. I was driving Cameron home from work the other day, and we drove though the Oxford Hotel block of downtown and he commented how "empty" it all looked.

I said, well, it's probably no worse than 15% empty, and there were times in the past when downtown was half empty.

But he's right. A 20% or 15% or even a 10% vacancy has a noticeable dampening effect.

The turnover downtown is starting to look dramatic to me, and the closings list is slowly catching up to the openings list.

Still, I think that downtown will stay strong. Where else can you open in Bend and have immediate foot traffic?

One would hope that any business opening nowadays is aware that it is a long hard slog, and that all the talk of a resurgence is just that until it actually, truly happens.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Every little bit helps.

Squeezed in the first half of the new books I ordered, with no room to spare. The other 150 books will show up in about a week, so maybe I'll sell enough by then to make room for them too. (Not likely.)

The thing about ordering too much -- there always seems to be a clever way to make room for them. Someday I won't figure out a solution, but it hasn't happened yet.

This year, I've been concentrating on the three categories that I let idle for a couple of years while I concentrated on new lines (books and games.)

Toys, collector cards, and anime.

Mostly it's a matter of picking out some premo stuff to mix with what I already have, which seems to be the key to unlocking sales in the moribund categories.

Cameron said that my addition of the Miyazaki movies, along with significant titles like Steamboy, has started people buying older anime, which was my goal. Toys sales are up this year, too, because I've paid more attention to them.

Sport card sales are holding their own. I didn't have an agreement with Panini, the official basketball card maker, so I couldn't get Bsk. cards until a month after they came out. It didn't matter. Until -- Lin. Then I wanted them, and I couldn't get them. So finally filled out the paperwork and should be getting Bsk. cards in a timely matter soon.

I've been dabbling in non-sports cards, too. I ordered a couple boxes of Hunger Games cards, for instance.

Cameron asked me if sports cards were really worth the hassle.

"Well, they pay for you," I said.

"Oh, in that case -- never mind."

Downtown Comings and Goings. 3/22/12.

High Desert Gallery is gone. Clutch is moving into Tres Jolie: by the internal rules of this list, I have to include this as a Going.

More stuff going on, but I'll wait for confirmation.

LATER: Rather than post a new list, I've added Letzer's Deli to this list as 'Going.'

NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN


Hola!, Bond St., 3/3/12.
Amanda's, Franklin Ave., 2/24/12
Barrio, Minnesota Ave., 2/12/12.
Rescue Moderne, Harriman, 1/12/12.
Letzer's Deli, Franklin Ave. 2/12/12.
Navidi, Minnesota Ave., 2/9/12.
Mazza, Brooks St. , 2/9/12.
La Magie Bakery, Bond St., 1/6/12
Brother Jon's Ale House, Bond St., 12/10/11.
What Lola Wants, Wall St. , 12/2/11.
Jackalope Grill, 10/12/11.
Gypsy Soul, Wall St. 10/12/11.
Colour N' the City, Tin Pan Alley, 10/12/11.
Lotus Moon, Brooks St., 10/12/11.
The Lobby, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
Ruby, Minnesota Ave., 10, 12/11.
Kariella, Lava Road, 8/24, 11.
Plankers, Wall St., 7/11.
Faveur, Franklin, 7/11.
Dream Pebbles, Minnesota Ave., 6/15/11.
Bend Yogurt Factory, Franklin/Bond, 4/26/11.
High Desert Lotus, Bond St. , 4/4/11.
Tryst, Franklin Ave., 3/11/11. (Formerly Maryjanes, **Moved**).
D'Vine, Wall St. , 2/9/11.
Let it Ride!, Bond St., 1/29/11.
Gatsby's Brasserie Bar, Minnesota Ave., 1/8/11
Tres Jolie, Wall St., 12/20/10.
Caldera Grill, Bond St., 12/7/10
Bond Street Grill, 12/7/10.
Perspective(s), Minnesota Ave., 11/20/10
Toth Art Collective, Bond St. 11/20/10
Boken, Breezeway, 11/20/10
Dalia and Emilia, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Antiquarian Books, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Giddyup, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
The Closet, Minnesota Ave., 8/11/10.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Ave., 8/11/10,
Red Chair Art Gallery, Oregon Ave. 7/13/10.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 7/12/10.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 6/2910
Common Table, Oregon Ave. , 6/29/10.
Looney Bean Coffee, Brooks St. , 6/29/10.
Bourbon Street, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
Feather's Edge, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
The BLVD., Wall St. , 6/13/10.
Volt, Minnesota Ave. 6/1/10.
Tart, Minnesota Ave. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, Bond St. 4/5/10
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota Ave., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota Ave. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota Ave. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota Ave., 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe, 25 N.W. Minnesota Ave, Suite #7. 11/5/09
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09 (**Moved, Wall St.**)
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails

(List begun, Fall, 2008.)

BUSINESSES LEAVING

Letzer's Deli, Franklin Ave., 3/22/12.
Clutch, Minnesota Ave., 3/22/12. (Moving to Tres Jolie).
High Desert Gallery, Minnesota Ave., 3/22/12.
Tart, Bond St., 3/3/12.
El Caporal West, Franklin Ave., 2/24/12
Bo Restobar, Franklin Ave., 2/9/12.
The Lobby, Bond St. , 2/9/12.
Arts Central, Brooks St., 2/7/12.
Typhoon!, Bond St., 2/5/12.
Gatsby's, Minnesota Ave., 2/5/12
The Dog Patch, Minnesota Av. 1/9/12.
Bend Mapping, Bond St., 1/9/12.
Lotus Moon, Brooks St. 1/9/12 (Moving into Tres Jolie)
Bond Street Grill, Bond St., 11/20/12.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 10/11.
Azu, Wall St., 10/25/11.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Av., 10/11.
Bourbon St., Minnesota Ave. 10/12/11.
Curiosity Shop, Minnesota Ave., 7/11
Luluemon, Bond St., 8/26, 11.
Shear Illusions, Franklin Ave., 7/11.
Crepe Place, Wall St., 7/11.
Pita Pit, Brooks St. , 6/28/11
Smith and Wade Salon, Minnesota, Av. , 6/3/11.
Perspectives, Minnesota Av., 6/1/11
River Bend Art Gallery, Bond St., 5/5/11.
Donner's Flowers, Wall St. 3/11/11. (**Moved out of downtown**)
Maryjanes, Wall St. , 3/11/11. (new name, Tryst, moved to Franklin.).
Di Lusso, Franklin/Bond, 2/9/11.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 1/2/11
Marz Bistro, Minnesota Av., 12/20/10.
The Decoy, Bond St., 12/7/10.
Giuseppe's, Bond St., 12/1/10.
Ina Louise, Minnesota Ave., 11/3/10.
Laughing Girl Studios, 10/21/10
Dolce Vita, Bond St, 10/21/10
Diana's Jewell Box, Minnesota Ave., 10/15/10.
Lola's, Breezeway, 10/8/10.
Oxygen Tattoo, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Great Outdoor Clothing, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Volcano Vineyards, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
Subway Sandwiches, Bond St. 9/2/10.
Old Bend Distillery, Brooks St., 6/19/10.
Staccato, Minnesota Ave. 6/18/10.
Showcase Hats, Minnesota Ave., 6/1/10 (Moved to Oregon Ave., 8/10/11.)
Cork, Oregon Ave., 5/27/10.
Wall Street Gifts, 5/26/10
Microsphere, Wall St. , 5/17/10.
Singing Sparrow, Franklin and Bond, 5/15/10
28, Minnesota Ave. and Bond, 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, Wall St., 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minnesota Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro

(List begun, Fall, 2008

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Wednesday Wats.

There was some amusing talk last week about "spring."

Can always tell a newbie.

We've got at least another month of this up and down weather, maybe even into May.

I think Fred Meyer and Costco and all the other chains get a double boost of profits from gardening supplies. Once in April, and then again in June to replace all the plants that froze from the first effort.

**********

An ambitious program for the Parks and Rec.

I'll vote for these, because these things are the very things that will keep Bend alive over the next decade or two. We need to face up to the fact that we're a tourist destination, and we must do everything we can to tidy up the region.

Not that the measure has a snowball's chance.

**********

"Region's Recover is Slower Than After 80's Recession." Bulletin, 3/21/12.

This may be true statistically, but I can tell you as someone who lived through the 80's recession, it felt much, much worse.

Especially from the perspective of a downtown business owner.

I don't think it was just because I was younger, though time seemed longer back then.

It seemed to take forever to come back.

Exactly what my little brain required.

I rather liked the Hunger Games books. I enjoyed the Harry Potter books. The Golden Compass trilogy was cool (though I don't think this was so much a kid's book as a book where the protagonists were kids.)

I say at the store: "Why should the kids get to be the only ones to read these good books?"

Anyway, I've been trying to branch out, and I've been mostly disappointed. Young adult is actually a pretty broad category, covering a pretty wide range of maturity. So the Dave Barry Peter Pan books lost me after one try, so did the Cornelia Funke's 'The Thief Lord.' A little too simplistic.

I liked the first chapter of 'Time Stops for No Mouse' (femme fatale mouse entices a clockstore mouse to adventure) but it was really way too young.

More than once, movies have driven me away from trying. I'll probably never read The Lightning Thief because the movie sucked, for instance.

I'm trying to remember how it worked when I was younger. There was a Children's section in the library, and then everything else. So as an adultish kid (big reader, 17 years old), I would still dip into book like the Narnia series.

I think Heinlein and Asimov and most S.F. was de facto 'kids' books, even when they weren't.

I see a little too much subdivision by parents in my store, (in my opinion, I don't say anything unless asked.) That is, parents won't pick out books that might be slightly too mature for their kids.

My parents felt that if I was ready to want to try to read something, I was ready to try to read it.

I remember a whole series of overreaches when I was young -- books that were too complex and mature, but either I read them anyway or gave up on them, and it didn't do any harm.

And sometimes an overreach turned out to be a turning point. A book that might have appeared too complex was exactly what my little brain required.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Killing baby cougars.

I mean, what are you going to do?

You've got an aggressive species moving into a new space, a species that is completely overbreeding and has no regard for life or limb.

I mean, as a species, we humans are a nasty lot.

**********

Ordered a trillion books. (Well, 400 or so.)

I stocked up on Game of Thrones and Hunger Games.

Now to find room for them all.

**********

Heh. The Pronghorn added 3% to its room fees and called it a "tax?"

Oh, sure. Blame the government for everything.

**********

Why, you, yellow bellied marmot!

The picture on the front page. So cute. So hungry.

**********

The Walking Dead season finale was great.

****SPOILERS!!!****

Very well staged and directed, lots of action. I liked the character trying to escape through the woods, running out of ammo, running out of weapons, running out of energy, and finally down to the last zombie but losing...and then the hooded samurai girl. Cool.

I like Rick, standing at the exit, half in and half out of the group, daring everyone to leave.

I liked the zombie hunt using the cars, and the mass of zombies backlit by the barn fire.

I didn't like the inexplicable turning on Rick at the end by characters who should know better.

***********

Monday, March 19, 2012

Whoa, Nelly.

The Bulletin has an editorial this morning which portrays the underlying thinking I think our political, economic, and media leaders have here in Bend.

The opening paragraph: "Now is the time to start thinking about a return of rapid growth in Central Oregon. Did we do it well last time around? What can we do better when it returns?"

"When it returns....?" Not if, but when.

If you look up the definition of an economic bubble, one of it's features is extrapolating future growth based on past growth.

I doubt we'll ever see the kind of growth we saw in the late 90's and early 2000's, because it was based on inflated housing prices. We'll probably never see that kind of bubble again in our lifetimes.

In all the bubbles I've been involved in at my store(fads, if you will), not one has ever returned. Once they burst, they are gone. They may come crawling back, taking years to cover the same ground that once took months.

It wasn't long ago, that most of the economists were worried about a deflationary spiral. A negative feedback loop. Which is also a feature of burst economic bubbles.

The Bulletin asks for "smart" leadership, "thinking about increased infrastructure."

But what if the smart move is to wait to spend on infrastructure until you actually have a need for it?

H. Bruce had this comment:

"Did you see the Bulletin editorial this morning telling us we need to get ready for the next growth spurt? Bend will never get off the roller coaster of boom-and-bust because the powers that be -- the Builder-Developer-Realtor Axis and its toadies in the media -- don't want to. They'd rather have the chance to make a killing during the booms than have sustainable prosperity. Why? Because they have the resources to ride out the busts. It's only "the little people" who lose their homes and livelihoods when the bubble bursts."

I don't think we're going to have another boom for a long time to come. If we're lucky, we'll take baby steps toward small growth. I'm thinking a decade, not a few years.

I'm not saying we shouldn't plan. The Bulletin is right about that: but I think the planning needs to be more in the nature of contingency -- instead of outright spending on infrastructure we may not need for years and years.

The one thing they probably should do is probably the one thing they won't do: make growth pay for growth. Put into place fees that make whoever does the future development pay for the development. I predict that the trend will be the opposite, just like last time. The pressure will be to lower the fees to spark development.

Thus creating the very problems the Bulletin is warning against.

Mostly, I just wanted to point out that I think even thinking about "rapid growth" is way too premature. Any growth would be nice.

"Rapid" is relative, I suppose. But I would be willing to bet that we'll never again see the rate of growth we saw during the boom years.

It's like an addiction. It will also take years for those who experienced the boom to realize it ain't coming back.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Ri - dic-u-lous.

Lots of movement in downtown stores which I'm pretty sure are going to happen, but I'm waiting for official word.

I've decided the point of my Comings and Goings list isn't breaking news -- but being accurate and a record of what's happened. I won't post rumors.

**********

The latest statistics from the Bulletin about the local economy are interesting.

Simply put, we're still going sideways.

My own business seems to be on a bit of an upswing, but these ups and downs have more to do with internal dynamics than local dynamics.

There was some mention in the article of things maybe turning upward later in the year.

Ridiculous.

I think we're in such a stagnant position, that any real improvement is years down the road.

**********

The U.S.A. today has an article about how one 'needs' 150K per year just to live a 'good' life.

Which, as far as I can tell, is about the top 3 or 4% of Americans.

Ridiculous.

**********

Had me looking at household net worths' again: the mean average is something like 450K. But the Median average is something like 90K.

That other 360K is owned by the billionaires.

Ridiculous.

**********

There is simply no way the rents should be going up in Bend, if we truly had a free market.

We have tons of housing sitting outside the market.

The housing manipulations around here are ridiculous.

***********

Everything is ridiculous. Heh. I know, real insightful. I just wanted to sound out the word. Ri-dic-u-lous!

**********

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Being judgmental about a business I know nothing about.... I hate that.

But here I'm going to do it anyway.

Linda and I were visiting Sunriver awhile back, and dropped in on a co-op art gallery.

I don't get the economics of galleries -- plenty of stuff I'd buy at much lower prices. Nothing I'd buy at the marked prices. Now, I understand that art must be paid for. There is probably justifiable reasons for such prices. Maybe I'm cheap for not wanting to pay them.

But, really?

I've been looking for years for a painting or photograph that I simply MUST have, but it hasn't happened yet. (I have a blank spot in my study that I'm just waiting to fill.) The thing I was noticing about most of these gallery photographs is that they are manipulated, photoshopped and altered to a ridiculous extent. Landscapes, and especially animal pictures are just a little too cute.

Now I know that the appearance of the photo depends on all kinds of factors, natural and unnatural, but there seems to me a level of interference in these photo's that turns me off. Mostly it's to make them prettier or more exotic.

I've kind of wanted a photo of the central Oregon mountain skyline. I wouldn't mind if they squeezed the mountains slightly closer, but basically I'm looking for a fresh, untouched silhouette.

Though, when I think about it, it's kind of weird that I want a picture inside the house that is a duplicate of what I could see walking outside....

For the price of some of these gallery pictures, I could buy myself a nice camera, take tons of pictures until I get one I like, and print it up myself!

Of course, I know it isn't that simple. But with digital cameras --- it almost IS that simple.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Friday fuds.

There must be a "Pain of Death" injunction for Hunger Games, since I know they've already had a "premiere" and there have been no reviews. What are they afraid of?

But, like I said, I'm not going to speculate anymore.

It's not like I'm not going to go see it.

(O.K. they are starting to trickle out. Mostly positive.)

**********

Cash mobs? Descending on small businesses?

Eh.

Hey, good idea! I wonder who we could target? Let see...a small business, maybe in downtown Bend, selling nice things.

Who could we pick?

Someone who sells fun stuff, or good stuff (like books -- books are good, right?)

So.....who should we descend upon?

Ah, hem.

**********

When I finished my manuscript of I'M ONLY HUMAN, I still hadn't read about 5 chapters at writer's group. Since then, I've read 2 of those chapters, and they pretty much shredded them.

Methinks I've still got work to do.

**********

I have assembled a huge book order.

I've been very patient over the last 2.5 months, ordering only moderate amounts of books.

Almost all the books on the order are either books I have already sold before or books I'm pretty positive I can sell in the future. I always try to add a classic author, who I then keep in stock. This time, it's Saul Bellow, and adding to Dostoevsky.

Bringing in all the Terry Goodkind books, some more of the Patrick O'Brien books, and so on.

I think it's working.

"Jewelry in weird places."

This is Mike Hollern's description of the type of people Bend needs to attract, "they're creating the jobs of the future. And we need to keep attracting them here."

Oh, and "weird tattoos." (Also, I assume, in weird places.)

I assume these are real jobs for real people. (Inside joke.) He's got a way with words.

I buy that these two guys, Hollern and Bill Smith have "played" ... "the most instrumental roles in transforming Bend from an isolated mill town"..."to a world class tourism" area.

What's not asked in the article in the Bulletin, "Planning for Big Growth in Bend," is whether this is a good thing.

250, 000 people?

It seems to be taken for granted that this is what we all want.

Still, I can't argue with the idea of a decent 4 year college. A more educated populace would be great.

I always go back to the type of jobs we're likely to produce around here -- service and tourism and retirement jobs. Leavened by medical and educational?

If we're lucky, maybe we can create a high-tech center.

But, really, the only way I can envision a 250K town is to have a core of wealthy and/or retired folk, surrounded by a bunch of minimum wage service workers. A gated town, if you will.

Like I said, is this what we want?

To be fair, I'm not sure what the alternative is.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Thursday thuds.

I mentioned the first 7 days of the month were smoking hot, and how I didn't trust it.

Sure enough, the next 6 days saw a 40% drop.

Ain't retail fun?

I'm still above average, and still above last year, but ---

**********

I refuse to watch COMIC BOOK MEN.

I can tell from the ads that it's wrong, wrong, wrong. It accentuates all the wrong things.

No, I don't want to buy your fanboy thing. Really.

No, I don't know what it's worth.

No, I don't want to hear about how you 'used to' really be into comics.

No, I really don't like to tease or haze either employees or customers.

No, I'm not really that interested in aggressively clever nerdy fanboy talk. I'd much rather have just a normal conversation.

No, most comic readers are just normal people. (And so are most comic book store owners...)

No, I will not have an orgasm over seeing your Wonder Woman #1. Sorry to disappoint. I'm about the reading.

**********

Having gone to C.O.C.C. in the mid-70's, it blows my mind that it costs around 4000.00 a year.

***********

Tetherow developer asks for an extension.

Well, of course he does.

And he'll get it, too.

The cool stuff sells.

I was talking in an earlier post about the "availability" problem when it comes to creating a dream store.

A dream store would have only the coolest stuff.

Problem is, the cool stuff sells.

Most product has a production run, and that's it. They don't keep making it. Only the biggest trends continue in production, and if they do that, chances are they are stocked in Walmart and Target and so on.

So most "cool" stuff is offered for a short time, and then it's gone.

One of the best things that has happened in my store is the ability to buy good graphic novels and good novels on an ongoing basis. I was so accustomed to the transitory effect of cards, comics, and toys going through the store and disappearing, that it took awhile for me to cotton onto the advantages of evergreen product.

Catch- 22 or The Alchemist or Sometimes a Great Notion will just keep selling and selling and selling.

Same thing with graphic novels like Watchmen, or V for Vendetta, or Return of the Darknight.

So how do you make a bookstore work?

You get more books and you get more better books.

If I may be allowed to repeat: You get MORE books and more BETTER books.

You identify which books sell and you get more. I've got dozens of books that aren't on any best-seller list but they sell consistently and often.

Unfortunately, there is no such advantage to most toys and apparel and cards and other paraphernalia.

Let me give you an example: I was offered little windup Tardis's and Daleks. (Dr. Who.) Reasonably priced at around 12.00. So I ordered a case of 6 each.

They sat for about a week and didn't sell, but got lots of comment.

Another week went by and they started selling, so I took a chance and ordered another case of each. By now, the sales-velocity was speeding up, and I ordered another case.

But they were unavailable.

If I had to guess, I probably slipped in at the last minute to get those second cases. Will they make them again? Possible, but not probable. I have a couple of Daleks left, but no Tardis.

(Which brings up the classic situation -- customer really likes something; customer walks away; customer comes back but the thing is gone; customer keeps coming back and the thing continues to be gone....customer disappointed in you.)

And that, in a nutshell, is why it is so hard to have the dream store. Because you can't reliably stock it.

You order this stuff in advance, mostly. You take a chance on each order, so you can't go crazy. Some of the items you think are the coolest show up and they don't sell, for some reason or another.

So you order moderately, and if it sells you try to get more. Most often, it seems, if it is really cool it is already gone.

No worries, there is a steady stream of cool stuff in the pipeline, and if you are any good at guessing what people want, you'll always have at least some cool stuff in stock. But to have a huge dream store that keeps the cool stuff in stock all the time, that would be much harder.

I have a little tactic I use in my ordering.

I ask myself. "If this item didn't sell, would I mind still having it in my store?" If it passes this test, it is much more likely that I'll order it.

And sure enough, what's left in stock are these types of items: cool things that for whatever reason, packaging, prices, timing, obscurity, quality, or so on don't sell right away.

The "dream store" would have the coolest stuff, and keep having the coolest stuff.

Problem is, the cool stuff sells.

There are things you can do. For instance, raise the price so high that no one buys it. You risk antagonizing the customer if you do this, so you have to ask yourself if the glow of having the product is worth more than the stink of it being so high priced.

Or you can downplay it, almost hide it, so that only the most savvy will recognize how cool it is. (Frankly, the problem of stocking would be so much easier if "cool" didn't depend in most cases on other people saying it's cool -- I can't tell you the number of times I've seen something come in and went "Wow." And then waited months for other people to start saying "Wow." By which time, I can't get more.)

I have another tactic here: sometimes, the cool stuff is so inherently expensive that no one can really afford it, no matter how cool they think it is. I'm not overpriced -- the product itself is simply high priced.

So that's why I have a $700.00 cast-iron Raygun, or a $400.00 lifesized brass Iron Man helmet, or a $200.00 Stormtrooper biker statue.

Of course, I have to be able to afford carrying product that won't sell for a long time, and takes up space of stuff that might sell.

But if it's cool enough, it more or less acts as my advertising.

And then, after about five years, I have a customer waltz in (like yesterday) and buy my Star Wars Stormtrooper statue.

(And it's gone...)

I know some of you are probably thinking, "Well, duh. Isn't the very essence of retail to have the cool stuff for sale?"

What I'm trying to say is that I think it's insufficiently understood that it isn't so much a matter of knowing WHAT cool stuff to carry, but HOW to get it and keep it.

That is much more difficult than it looks.

An example I always use, is Star Wars. I'm offered cases of Star Wars toys, but I don't get to choose what is in those cases. I can sell Yoda and Boba Fett all day long, but I will usually get a case of "random background characters" plus one minor character everyone recognizes plus maybe a major character that everyone already has. (Luke, say. Or Obi-wan.)

I put six Star Wars Pez's out the other day. One Stormtrooper, one Yoda, and a bunch of no name others. Sure enough, I've already sold the Stormtrooper and the Yoda (even at a higher price.) I'm left with a bunch of pez's that may sell someday when someone wants some candy. And this will happen every time.

The cool stuff sells.

Because of timing, and pricing, and stocking issues -- the problem with retail isn't not knowing what to carry, but figuring out how to get a hold of enough of what to carry, and not get buried by all the other stuff you have to buy in order to get the cool stuff.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Why develop what isn't developing?

It looks to me like Tetherow is dead in the water.

If you don't believe me, just take a drive out there and look around.

The county ought to take the security bond and spend it on needed infrastructure -- elsewhere.

It looks all the world to me like the county got conned by the developers. A little game of three card monte -- (4-card, 5-card?) Who's the developer, look for the developer, he ain't here.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Writing snippets.

Drove out to the Badlands again, and parked at a trailhead. Don't know why this frees me up to write, but it does.

I've been writing snippets of description and conversation, without any clear idea of where it will fit into the story. For some strange reason, these Bend stories (that's how I'm thinking about them, the 'Bend stories') are involving social issues.

I'M ONLY HUMAN is talking about animal rights. GARGOYLE IN LOVE, which is about an alien invasion, seems to involve climate change.

It fun to use the same characters as the first book because I feel like I know them, instead of making them up. I get great utility out of being able to go to the actual settings (so far, the high desert, and Bend) to get descriptions.

The plotting conundrum for me, is that I discover the plot by writing and that may not be the most efficient way to do that. But I'm not sure I can do it any other way. As I've said, I usually get about 50 pages in, and then either get blocked, or push my way through. Once I push my way through the block, I usually have a glimmer of the rest of the plot.

Once I get there, the surprises in each chapter are enough to keep me writing.

I've always heard the advice to quickly get started on the next book so that any negativity from the first book won't stop you from continuing. Which is a good idea, I think.

If I keep writing, I should be better in five years.

Should I continue to write even if no one will ever read it?

I think I should. I may get good someday. I can keep trying. Maybe someone will discover me.

Besides, I think it's good for me, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually. I tend to sit around all day and do nothing meaningful if I'm not writing. There is nothing wrong with flexing my creative muscles. All I can do it try to get better.

I'm boxed in at the store. Nothing more I can do without throwing everything into chaos and danger, and at this point -- me being 59 and Linda being 63, I don't see the point of that. I think I need to play out the string. Keep it going. Not try to fix what isn't broken. It's earning us a living, after all these years, and I'm thankful.

But I also take lots of time off. And if I'm going to take lots of time off, I should try to write. I had some success once, and people may put it down, but it's more than they have accomplished.

What surprises me the most, is that I'm only marginally better than when I broke off writing. I may be a bit more mature in my approach, and I've had a few more life experiences, but essentially, my creative depth is about the same, my fictional skills are about the same.

Which actually, when I think about it, isn't all that surprising. I feel pretty much the same inside -- still feel 30 years old, which the same level of creativity.

So I need to pick up the learning curve again. And hope that I can improve dramatically if I do it full time for awhile. I learned an awful lot in the 10 years that I was trying to be a writer the first time. I can probably learn just as much in the next 10 years, if I apply myself.

The first book, actually, I flailed around for a few years, just learning basics, and even 4 years in, I was still going down wrong paths, and finally put together a reading copy about 5 years in. I was learning exponentially.

The next 5 years I also was learning, and making lots of missteps, but simply through the act of writing 6 more books, I learned some things.

In the last 25 years, I've only tinkered with writing. I've thought about what I would need to do the next time I tried to write.

But I'm still somewhat surprised that my skill level isn't much higher than before. My work habits are a bit better. But my creativity isn't that enhanced, nor is my basic fiction writing skill level.

Sure, I've written a blog for 6 years, but that it like having a conversation.

So the way I'm going to look at this is -- it isn't so important what my writing skill level is now. I'll do my best. But I have to hope that if I apply myself, I'll get better. So the question if, how much better can I be in 5 years? In 10 years?

I had to take those 25 years off from writing to make a living. Now I can go back to trying to be a writer.

I need to continue to write through the doubts. I remember when almost no one thought I could do it, finish a book, much less publish one. I kept forging ahead, with less evidence of potential than I have now. Sure, I was young and stupid and what I didn't know didn't hurt me -- but I'm more financially secure now and I'm still feeling the urge to create.

I still feel like I have an epic fantasy still inside me. What I'm writing nowadays is helping me prepare.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Oh, Spartacus.

So the newly freed German gladiator is celebrating a little too much. Spartacus cuts off his face.

He stands there, as his brain wiggles out, and flops squishily to the floor with a wet splat.

Oh, Spartacus. You party pooper.

I can't believe this show exists.

Barsoom rules!

Let Legends Rule.

Have no idea what it means, I just woke up with the phrase running through my head.

**********

Turns out, a lot of the nerd verse is rallyig to the defense of John Carter. Someone mentioned that he thought it was because of the older nerds who went to the movie because we knew what Barsoom was. Lots of writers and cartoonist have come out and said they really like the movie.

Sounds about right.

I'm sorry that I was part of the steady negative drumbeat, even though I always intended to go see it and judge for myself. As I said, I hated the title change: Warlord of Mars, Princess of Mars, or even John Carter of Mars, all would have evoked the wonder of the original pulp.

I'm not the only one who thinks that Disney mismanaged the marketing; it looked way too generic. I didn't know it had been directed by the guy who did Nemo and Wall-E until a few days before it came out.

And I still maintain that it could've been just as good a movie if they had shaved 100 million off the special effects -- then the money its earning would have made it a hit.

I thought it was just as entertaining as Avatar, for instance. Hopefully, it will get some good word of mouth.

**********

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Nerd-vana

Has nerd culture gotten so cynical, so spoiled that we don't even recognize a good movie when we see one? I really enjoyed John Carter -- but, sadly, there will probably be no sequel if people ignore it.

I'm not talking about the horrible science-fiction and fantasy movies I had to endure when I was a kid in the 50's and 60's, which were either done by Hollywood hacks who didn't understand the genre, or by Hollywood hacks who thought the way to present the material was by making fun of it.

I'm talking about real good faith efforts to faithfully translate onto screen what was in the books, or comics.

The hell with that. Sorry. But I'm pissed that so many opportunities are being lost because fanboys can't get their heads out of their asses to see decent movies, but reward crap like The Transformers.

Rocketeer, Serenity, Watchmen, Bladerunner, Strange Days, Sky Captain, The Golden Compass, and many others I can't remember at the moment. I remember nearly begging people to see Serenity, for instance. (And Firefly before that -- sorry, you just think you saw the original run, but you didn't because nobody did.)

Some, like Bladerunner, have a huge afterlife and effect, but again, if they flop when they first come out there is little chance we'll get another.

You guys just don't know how good you got it.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

For Goodness Sakes, go see it.

John Carter.

It was fun, and spectacular, and it had heart.

What's wrong with people?

Saturday suds.

So, in a nutshell, Deschutes County considers itself too good for the applicants who actually applied for the position of county administrator.

Well -- this really ought to attract an even better crop of candidates.

**********

Moebius has died. Anyone who ever saw the original Heavy Metal movie should grieve a little. He also did the production design for Fifth Element. Airtight Garage. A genius.

Some of his material (Incal) finally came back in print recently -- and then seemed to go instantly out of print. argggh.

**********

I go to Reddit now for my daily dose of belly laughs. Usually only takes a few minutes.

Amazing what is caught on camera. I mean, think how weird and funny life is, that this much stuff is online.

***********

I was grocery shopping with Linda (usually not a good idea since our bill usually doubles). I picked out some "Sugar Free" pastries.

My stomach does not like "Sugar Free" pastries. Not at all.

**********

The Hunger Games juggernaut is rumbling our way.

I wonder if all those people I've told over the last three or four years: "Oh, you haven't heard of Hunger Games? Believe me, I may be the first to tell you, but I won't be the last..."

...I wonder if if they remember me saying it?

Probably not.

**********

I was drinking my lemonade, and it was kind of warm but there was still some ice rattling around. Couldn't figure it out.

Finally emptied the container, and there at the bottom was a big chunk of hard milky plastic that broke off from the ice dispenser.

Now I know how I died in another dimension.

No wonder the ice was coming out so slow!

**********

John Carter is trailer proof -- critic proof. Linda and I are going to the noon showing today. I'm letting my 12 year old kid out -- the one who loved "The Long Ships" and "The Vikings."

If you've been reading this blog, you know I've been panning their lousy trailers and their stupid name change.

But now my Underdog rooting wires are being tugged -- since it appears it will be a famous commercial disaster, I just have to go see it.

It's getting about a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but only a 30% rating from "Top Critics" which means, what, a higher rating from other critics -- shall we call them "Nerd Critics.?"

The original books probably wouldn't do well if they were reviewed by current critics, now would they?


**********

Friday, March 9, 2012

Worlds that should have happened.

Got a t-shirt in with the Dire Wolf emblem of the Starks, and the words "Winter is Coming."

I'm thinking how cool it is and then...Wait! The Starks? What a bunch of losers!

I want a Lannister t-shirt. (Well, maybe not the sister-lovin' Lannisters, but the kick-ass short Lannisters.

**********

Silly me. I assumed that Johnny Depp would be the Lone Ranger, not Tonto. He has done the weird makeup thing again. Cool.

So...I'll just get it out there since I assume there will be a lot of this: They couldn't have gotten a real Native American?

Then again, could any Native American play Johnny Depp? I don't think so.

**********

It is just falling dark when I close up at the store at night. Which is quite a change from even a few weeks ago. Another couple of days and it will be full light when I close. Psychologically, it feels very different.

**********

I was talking to a friend about Princess of Mars and how it may have been the first science fiction written in the U.S. (Depending on whether you count Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe and so on...)

I read all these books as a kid, and I loved the adventure. I didn't care about whether the science was accurate or not.

Anyway, I have a Steampunk section at the store, which is next to the Retro-Futuristic section, which is next to the Weird Western section, which is next to the Zombies, Vampires and Werewolf section, and I was talking about how Pulp was mixed in with this and how my store reflects my ongoing interest in this whole world that never happened.

The worlds that were possible and imagined but never really developed, except in fiction.

I was talking about how cool it would be to have a big store, and have little sections devoted to each genre.

For instance, a Steampunk section, maybe with a steam-robot of some kind, and pictures and apparel on the wall, and toys and books.

I actually don't think this "dream" store is possible, mostly because the material isn't available on an ongoing basis.

I think I'll do a blog about this problem of availability later, because it's something that no one thinks about.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Stay the course.

So the store has had a terrific first 7 days of the month. This follows a good February and a very good December. January was flat, but I could easily point at the horrible shopping weather.

Anyway, I sat down a couple of days ago for a five minute Solitaire game. I quickly won, and then won again and again. Every card seemed to slot into the pattern, and I quit finally because I had other things to do.

Next night, I sat down and started losing every game of Solitaire, every card leading nowhere.

The point it -- there was a time that I would have taken the excellent sales of the last 7 days as a sign that I was doing things right and to do more of it.

Whereas now, I'm at least aware that it could be a simple statistical anomaly -- just as 7 horrible days in a row could be a simple statistical anomaly.

The answer, of course, is to wait for more confirmation.

At the beginning of my owning Pegasus Books, we went through an explosive growth stage. So I kept doubling down, putting all the winnings back into the pot. I thought I was pretty nifty. Smart and clever.

Then it all collapsed.

I thought I was pretty stupid.

It was only later, when the dust settled, that I realized that I personally was not responsible for the boom and bust of a fad. But I was responsible for how I handled it.

I survived, which meant I handled it better than most.

So nowadays, I tend to think that I ride the waves up and down, rather than instigate them. Sure -- if I negotiate the changes well and wisely, I'll do well. But mostly, I'm now aware that the ups and downs of business are built in, and that my job is to maintain a steady course.

I think most small business owners make both too many and too little changes.

Too many, in that they over-react to actual change. Too little, in that they under-react to possible change.

My job is to make steady changes based on thinking and planning -- not to wait until things get bad and make panicked changes. Not to jump into a new location, or suddenly add to expenses, or cut expenses, or change what I sell, or any number of drastic changes in the face of changed circumstances.

The idea is to plan ahead, and build in extra margins and alternatives, so that I can easily steer into the new headwinds. I think customers reward steadiness, but you have to prove it first. Excitement is all well and good, and no matter what you do, those waves will start washing over you, both good and bad, and you simply need to deal with them.

Just keep on course, steady at the wheel.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Wednesday Wats.

So the Apple data center in Prineville will be "small" and "essentially run itself."

I know you're probably expecting me to slam it, and the tax incentives it took to get it to come to central Oregon.

But you know what? I think it's a good thing, and could lead to better things. Just as the one data center probably helped lead to this one, we might be able to expect more to come.

Just a couple of days ago, there was talk of hurrying up the improvements to the electrical grid. (Jobs.) Building the center. (Jobs.) Land sales. (Jobs.) There has to be at least some maintenance and security. (Jobs.)

Besides, it's Apple and Google. Put THAT on Prineville's resume....(Steve Jobs...heh.)

I think all this adds up. I look at it like the way I would look at my business. Sometimes you add a product line, for instance, that doesn't immediately add up to much but which by carrying, opens up all kinds of possibilities.

Sure, sometimes it doesn't work. But often it does, so you have to take the chance.

**********

Amazing how fast Linsanity died off.


Also, one of the reasons sports isn't as attractive to me is the lack of any real loyalty. The Colts dropping Peyton Manning, for instance.

I know -- it's not like the players show any loyalty either.

**********

The new Russian company that bought Epic Aircraft. (For baby boomers just the thought of the Russians Are Coming is somewhat boggling.)

They of course tell us that they won't be moving the company away from central Oregon.

**********

"Knopp to Challenge Telfer."

Um. Why?

**********

Had a friend come over and fix a couple of our heaters. He turned off the fuse box thingy, and I couldn't believe how fast the house got cold.

We're just one power failure away from primitive shelters.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

For perspectives sake.

Because I own a bookstore and because I'm insatiably curious about books and read online sites like Shelf Awareness and the New York Times Book Review, I'm aware of how many books there are; most of them pretty good, all of them representing hard work and imagination.

Oh, come on, I hear you saying. Pretty good? Well, yeah. Or they wouldn't have been published. Sure there are clunkers, but there is a quality threshold for paid material that I think is nothing to sneeze at.

So it's easy for me to see every other writer as more creative and harder working than me.

Which may or may not be true.

But the point is -- it doesn't matter. I can't let it discourage me. I need to just keep plowing ahead.

Going to sites like Reddit also show how very clever and humorous other people are: I mean, it's intimidating. It's funny how, depending on how you look at things, people -- all those people out there -- are both stupider and smarter than I usually think they are.

Probably just a reflection of how damn many people there are, that a small percent still represents millions of stupid people and millions of smart people, and everyone in-between.

San Diego Con had 60,000 tickets available yesterday -- for an hour. If you were already registered. Yikes.

A drop in the nerd bucket.

I just have to wrap my brain around the sheer mass of people. Like that the 1% would still represent 3.5 million people. Or say the top 10% of creative people would be 35 million people. The top 20% would 70 million people.

That's some competition, eh?

I'm not saying this is a great insight. But it's an observation that I have to remind myself of on a constant basis.

For perspective.

Tuesday tings.

On one hand, I know I'm wasting too much time going to Reddit everyday.

On the other hand, I always get a belly laugh or two. Every time I get a belly laugh, I feel like a week younger, so enough belly laughs...

**********

Huffington Post was making a HUGE deal out of the Limbaugh thing, until people started pointing out that their owners, AOL, were advertising on his show.

Then all the stories started to subside for awhile. (I had an image of a scramble at the Huff Post offices -- "You mean WE advertise on that show?")

Oops.


LATER: I was wrong. AOL dropped Limbaugh along with 18 others so far. (Who's an advertiser and who isn't is a bit murky. Who stays in, will be all in.)

As to my post yesterday, wondering if Limbaugh would have sense enough to back off -- or would try to get cute?

He tried to get cute. It didn't work. He dug the hole deeper, but he still seems arrogant about it all. As of yesterday, I figured it would all blow over, but now?

Only if he shuts up, which I don't think he is capable of doing.

By the way, Colbert had more extended clips of the things Limbaugh was saying and it was sooooooooo much worse than I knew. If anything, the media has been playing it down. If the things he's been quoted as saying were 10's on a scale, he said a whole bunch of things that were 8's and 9's.

I still think he'll weather the storm, but I think he's tarnished. I think he's incapable of understanding that he won't be able to say the same things he used to say...

(I try to use the real name of people I'm talking about -- most of the time. Instead of cute but demeaning nicknames.)

**********

I had a good friend who listened to Limbaugh about a decade ago, and we used to have some good discussions about politics. He left town and we lost touch.

I have to wonder if it would even be possible to have a civil argument nowadays.

Seems like a lot of my friends are conservative. Partly because I'm a pretty conservative guy in personality. Kind of feel like you need to live by a eithical code. Not so much a relativist in my own behavior, or I try not to be.

On the other hand, I like to think when it comes to others that I'm trying to understand them. The weaknesses and bad luck.

I've had some good luck, and I know it.

I think personal behavior is just that, and within your control. I picked up a bit of puritanism from my Mom, I think. Stoic philosophy. My behavior is my behavior.

I think society is complicated, people have baggage dumped on them that isn't their fault, so I'm a liberal when it comes to politics.

**********

Monday, March 5, 2012

a mini-Area 51.

Apparently, my subconscious has been itching to go on the second book. "Gargoyle in Love." (thanks, Bruce.)

This is the part of writing I really like -- the inventing, discovering, first draft part.

I've spent a couple afternoons in the high desert, and I've got this idea of making the basin just beyond Horse Ridge into a mini-Area 51. (My book involves aliens.)

Didn't the D.O.D. have some program out there? Radar? Something like that?

And hasn't there been talk of a experimental site in central Oregon for drones?

Anyway, it's fiction, so I'm making it so...

Popped my cherry (angloma).

I don't tend to run to the Doctor for every little thing.

Really.

I'm of the opinion, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If I feel fine, I'm probably fine. Interestingly, lately I've been reading articles that some of the medical establishment is coming to the same opinion.

In fact, except for a hernia operation 20 years ago, the only reason I've been to a doctor in my adult life was for my meds check; my yearly Lipitor prescription (and even that seems unnecessary to me if nothing else has changed...)

Anyway, for a long time I've had this reddish mole-like thing on my thigh which seems to have gotten bigger and itches once in awhile.

I woke up this morning, and I had scratched at it so much it was bleeding. What was worse, it was no longer just round, but had an irregular shape. I go online and look up the dreaded melonoma. Sure looks suspicious.

So I get dressed and go directly to my doctor's office. The receptionist wants to make an appointment, but I just stand there and ask for five minutes, and so on, and finally she agrees to let the nurse practitioner look me over.

While I'm waiting, they do a blood pressure test and I'm high. "Usually, if anything, I'm low," I say. (Linda says, "Of course your blood pressure was high. I could see it in your face....")

So the practitioner comes in and seems very serious when I describe my symptoms, but the second I show her, she smiles and says, "That's a cherry angloma. Go home and look it up. It's harmless."

Well, I tell you -- that's a stupid way to get a rush of endorphins but that's what I got. Huge relief. I may have been silly, but I'm glad I insisted on a quick answer; I sure wasn't looking forward to waiting for a test.

I go home and look it up, and sure enough -- I can see how I was fooled. A benign skin growth.

One of the possible "complications": "Psychological distress."

Yeah.

In the city, you lose your shadow.

Went out into the high desert yesterday afternoon to do some writing. I'm not sure why the terrain is so conducive to that.

My usual haunts at the Badlands were crowded. I wonder if some events were happening? Or just a beautiful weekend day?

Anyway, went a bit further out to get some solitude. Started driving to the Pine Mountain Observatory, because my new story involves Little Grey Men and that would be a great setting for a scene. The snow and mud was too thick for my car, and I turned back around.

Found a dirt road and just kept following it until I got to a footpath. Walked down it for about half an hour.

It was blue skies (though unfortunately hazy). Warm. A little bit of wind.

And completely quiet. Not a sound, not even a bird.

I poured out my ice drinking container, which was sloshing and clinking. And just soaked up the quiet. 30 minutes from town, and I could have been on the moon.

As I walked back to the car, the sun was setting and my shadow grew longer and longer, and it occurred to me, that in the city you lose your shadow. Artificial light, and short viewpoints, and canyons of buildings and enclosed spaces.

I'm going out there again today, because just at the end of my walk I found an interesting path that wound up into some rock formations.

Defanged?

Even in the benighted 70's, even as a benighted teenager, I knew better than to call any girl a "slut" or a "prostitute."

What interests me about the Limbaugh thing, other than his apparent lack of awareness that the Pill costs the same whether you have a little sex or a lot of sex, is what he does from here.

I think he's managed to dance on the edge for a long time (to me, he's been over the edge many times), but has had either an innate instinct about how far he can go, or has just figured his followers will follow him anywhere. (Which, by the comments I've read, is still true. His advertisers, not so much.)

So...how does he proceed? Does he take a step back, think about what he's saying? Go on as usual and trust in his instincts? Can he even say anything interesting if he has to step back from his usual blowhard persona?

He'll be watched like a hawk for awhile. Has he been defanged? Has his viagra of bile been taken away from him?

I'm not hopeful.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Nothing if not ambitious.

I have an idea of writing a whole series of books set in the mythos I've created.

This first book was about how the world of Faery and the world of humans (Bend!) combining forces to fight off the invasion of the Cthulhu.

The second book will be about a Gargoyle who falls in love with an alien "Grey" and asks Cobb for help in finding the object of his obsession, and how they fight off an alien invasion.

And so on.

I have ideas for werewolves, time-travel, vampires, steampunk, etc. etc.

Of course, first I have to finish the first book.

What happens if no one likes it or reads it?

Well, knowing me, I'll probably go ahead and write the next ones anyway. Or not.

But I'm thinking I probably will.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

And I thought a bookstore was hard!

Posting the last "Comings and Goings" and noticing how many high end restaurants have come and gone in the last three years, got me curious.

I made a couple of loops around downtown and counted the eateries that have survived.

If you take out bars (D & D, Corey's, JC's, Summit, Seven, Sidelines, etc.) and coffee shops (Starbucks, Bellatazza, etc) it's a pretty short list.

Alpineglow
Cafe Sintra
Taj Palace
Pizza Mondo
New York Sub
Super Burrito
El Jimador
High Tides
Soba
Blacksmith
Pine Tavern
Bend Brew
Deschutes Brewery
Toomies

So what I notice is: either there is Brew involved, or most of these survivors are what I would term "regular" or "casual" dining. (If I've overlooked anyone, I apologize.)

What's left of "fine" dining, I measure, without the Brew is:

Toomies
Cafe Sintra
Taj Palace
Blacksmith
Pine Tavern
High Tides

I know that the Blacksmith has been going through it's drama, and the Pine Tavern has changed hands.

Then look at the list of "fine" dining that has left:

Volo
Bluefish Bistro
Merenda's
Deep
Little Italy
Bistro Corlese
Ciao Mambo
Cork
Staccato
Giussepe's
Decoy
Bourbon St.
Bond Street Grill
Gatsby's
Tyhpoon!
Bo Restobar

And that is leaving out dozens of bars and casual dining establishments.

And I thought a bookstore was hard!

Downtown Comings and Goings. 3/3/12

Another changeover for another restaurant/bar.

Hola! is taking Tart's place, kitty corner to my store...

You know, when you start thinking about these high end restaurants on a street to street basis, I'm pretty sure that over half of them (just guessing, about 2/3rds of them) have changed hands in the last two & half years. Must be a brutal business.


NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN


Hola!, Bond St., 3/3/12.
Amanda's, Franklin Ave., 2/24/12
Barrio, Minnesota Ave., 2/12/12.
Rescue Moderne, Harriman, 1/12/12.
Letzer's Deli, Franklin Ave. 2/12/12.
Navidi, Minnesota Ave., 2/9/12.
Mazza, Brooks St. , 2/9/12.
La Magie Bakery, Bond St., 1/6/12
Brother Jon's Ale House, Bond St., 12/10/11.
What Lola Wants, Wall St. , 12/2/11.
Jackalope Grill, 10/12/11.
Gypsy Soul, Wall St. 10/12/11.
Colour N' the City, Tin Pan Alley, 10/12/11.
Lotus Moon, Brooks St., 10/12/11.
The Lobby, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
Ruby, Minnesota Ave., 10, 12/11.
Kariella, Lava Road, 8/24, 11.
Plankers, Wall St., 7/11.
Faveur, Franklin, 7/11.
Dream Pebbles, Minnesota Ave., 6/15/11.
Bend Yogurt Factory, Franklin/Bond, 4/26/11.
High Desert Lotus, Bond St. , 4/4/11.
Tryst, Franklin Ave., 3/11/11. (Formerly Maryjanes, **Moved**).
D'Vine, Wall St. , 2/9/11.
Let it Ride!, Bond St., 1/29/11.
Gatsby's Brasserie Bar, Minnesota Ave., 1/8/11
Tres Jolie, Wall St., 12/20/10.
Caldera Grill, Bond St., 12/7/10
Bond Street Grill, 12/7/10.
Perspective(s), Minnesota Ave., 11/20/10
Toth Art Collective, Bond St. 11/20/10
Boken, Breezeway, 11/20/10
Dalia and Emilia, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Antiquarian Books, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Giddyup, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
The Closet, Minnesota Ave., 8/11/10.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Ave., 8/11/10,
Red Chair Art Gallery, Oregon Ave. 7/13/10.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 7/12/10.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 6/2910
Common Table, Oregon Ave. , 6/29/10.
Looney Bean Coffee, Brooks St. , 6/29/10.
Bourbon Street, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
Feather's Edge, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
The BLVD., Wall St. , 6/13/10.
Volt, Minnesota Ave. 6/1/10.
Tart, Minnesota Ave. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, Bond St. 4/5/10
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota Ave., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota Ave. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota Ave. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota Ave., 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe, 25 N.W. Minnesota Ave, Suite #7. 11/5/09
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09 (**Moved, Wall St.**)
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails

(List begun, Fall, 2008.)

BUSINESSES LEAVING

Tart, Bond St., 3/3/12.
El Caporal West, Franklin Ave., 2/24/12
Bo Restobar, Franklin Ave., 2/9/12.
The Lobby, Bond St. , 2/9/12.
Arts Central, Brooks St., 2/7/12.
Typhoon!, Bond St., 2/5/12.
Gatsby's, Minnesota Ave., 2/5/12
The Dog Patch, Minnesota Av. 1/9/12.
Bend Mapping, Bond St., 1/9/12.
Lotus Moon, Brooks St. 1/9/12 (Moving into Tres Jolie)
Bond Street Grill, Bond St., 11/20/12.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 10/11.
Azu, Wall St., 10/25/11.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Av., 10/11.
Bourbon St., Minnesota Ave. 10/12/11.
Curiosity Shop, Minnesota Ave., 7/11
Luluemon, Bond St., 8/26, 11.
Shear Illusions, Franklin Ave., 7/11.
Crepe Place, Wall St., 7/11.
Pita Pit, Brooks St. , 6/28/11
Smith and Wade Salon, Minnesota, Av. , 6/3/11.
Perspectives, Minnesota Av., 6/1/11
River Bend Art Gallery, Bond St., 5/5/11.
Donner's Flowers, Wall St. 3/11/11. (**Moved out of downtown**)
Maryjanes, Wall St. , 3/11/11. (new name, Tryst, moved to Franklin.).
Di Lusso, Franklin/Bond, 2/9/11.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 1/2/11
Marz Bistro, Minnesota Av., 12/20/10.
The Decoy, Bond St., 12/7/10.
Giuseppe's, Bond St., 12/1/10.
Ina Louise, Minnesota Ave., 11/3/10.
Laughing Girl Studios, 10/21/10
Dolce Vita, Bond St, 10/21/10
Diana's Jewell Box, Minnesota Ave., 10/15/10.
Lola's, Breezeway, 10/8/10.
Oxygen Tattoo, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Great Outdoor Clothing, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Volcano Vineyards, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
Subway Sandwiches, Bond St. 9/2/10.
Old Bend Distillery, Brooks St., 6/19/10.
Staccato, Minnesota Ave. 6/18/10.
Showcase Hats, Minnesota Ave., 6/1/10 (Moved to Oregon Ave., 8/10/11.)
Cork, Oregon Ave., 5/27/10.
Wall Street Gifts, 5/26/10
Microsphere, Wall St. , 5/17/10.
Singing Sparrow, Franklin and Bond, 5/15/10
28, Minnesota Ave. and Bond, 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, Wall St., 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minnesota Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro

(List begun, Fall 2008.)