| I too have heard the mermaid's singing... |
[Oct. 21st, 2008|09:34 am] |
I was a little apprehensive of Cookymonster's sister and her family moving into the neighbourhood (well not really directly into the neighbourhood but for all intents and purposes. Where before they were two and a half hours away they are now about ten minutes) I love them dearly and they have never made me feel anything except loved and welcome -a true part of their family. But change is scary for me and I just couldn't parse in my head how our lives would be different with them being that much closer. I knew that our lives would be different I just couldn't imagine how. And I feared for the worst.
Because that's what I do. Apparently I am a big ball of worry and anxiety.
But now I am insanely grateful for their presence in our lives. Cookymonster and her sister are very close and it is wonderful to see her have a new level of unconditional support.
Things are tough. The economy is tough which means business is tough. Screw that Joe the Plumber guy... how about some 700billion bailout love for Mike the Comic Store owner? We can't get the credit we need for the business. Bills keep coming in.
I cry a lot.
I miss the folks in Guelph. I don't know if you guys really are the way that my mind remembers you or if I have formed this idylic idealized version of life 'back then'. But in looking back my mind is telling me that I always felt supported. That through the worst times I always had a couch and a blanket. You have put me up in your houses. Fed me. Loved me and my flaws. I don't know if you would have dropped everything to help out but I *felt* like you would and that feeling gave me a lot of hope. Endurance.
It is a feeling that we are lacking right now and it is part of the reason that things seem so desperately rough and hopeless. For the most part it's just cookymonster and I. And as much as we love eachother and cleave to eachother sometimes we know that it isn't enough. Because we're both in the same boat. And we can see the water coming in.
Sometimes our friends here make me feel disposable and I don't want to push or press issues with them because then I worry (and remember worrying is what I do best)that the whole support network here will crumble and be revealed as a convenient sham.
Is it sad that we now expect plans to be cancelled on? That we have no real expectation for followthrough because we just assume something (or someone) more important then us will come up?
"We miss you guys. We need to get together more" earns a smile and nod.
Which is why I am so grateful for Cookymonster's sister and her family. Another pair of hands bailing is incredible. Even just having someone there who can offer words of encouragement and comfort. I feel stupid for having worried about their move.
So thats one thing I can cross off my 'to worry about till I get an ulcer and lose my hair' list.
Stupid list. |
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| Writer's Block: Your Threads |
[Aug. 24th, 2008|12:32 pm] |
What the heck is a 'you' outfit? I just don't understand kids these days and their new-fangled terms. All bibbidy bobbidy boo. Now with version numbers. Pre shrunk. Pre faded. Pre torn. What's next pre-chewed food? Canned laughter. What creeps me out is thinking about the laugh tracks on sit-coms. Those people are dead now. We're hearing the laughter of dead people. These poor ghosts looped and played back, forced to chuckle over the most inane things ever. Was that milk coming out of Little Timmy's nose? hahahahahaha.
Oh... you outfit... Let's go with a t-shirt bearing some sort of Cthulhu-esque design and a pair of jeans preferably without tears. |
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| I just joined... |
[Aug. 22nd, 2008|08:41 am] |
I just joined my first political group. Because they made me smile.
In response to Michael Golfarb (McCain's official inhouse blogger) continued slamming of people who play Dungeons and Dragons a new group has arise.
First Goldfarb described Times Editors (who complained about the McCain Hilton/Spears attack ad) as "the average Daily Kos diarist sitting at home in his mother’s basement and ranting into the ether between games of Dungeons & Dragons.”
And then when questions arose about the veracity of one of McCain's POW anecdotes Goldfarb wrote "It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war..."
Apparently Dungeons and Dragons playing is now right up there with eating arugula.
So of course some industrious DMs somewhere organized and now we have The Pro Obama D&D Crowd!
I had to join.
And you can too.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/Pro-ObamaDungeonsandDragonsCrowd
Perhaps Goldfarb has awoken a mighty nerd army that will sweep across the political landscape. *grins* They've already got the initiative. |
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| It was 20 years ago today... |
[Aug. 5th, 2008|11:55 am] |
Well... okay it was only one year ago today but it's still a milestone of a sort. One year ago Little Fish Comics opened. We of course didn't save that first dollar bill because... well... we needed it.
But in honour of the one year anniversary we had a guest come by the store.
Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elD0lo01jmU
In other news... I really mucked up cookymonster's birthday yesterday. I tried to bake a cake... well... I baked something... some unholy cake-like thing that she was kind enough to eat a piece of. If H.P. Lovecraft baked a cake this would have been the cake that he baked.
So now of course I need to 'reschedule' the birthday because I was in the store and couldn't go shopping for presents and the one time I could she was grumpy and working and I couldn't get her to watch the store while I went out... which isn't to put anything on her at all because I could have still sent flowers or something of the sort but because I don't like flowers or fruit baskets I never think of them for other people until it's too late.
So I've asked for a do-over.
Maybe we can do something while in Las Vegas. |
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| Look Ma! No brains!! |
[Aug. 1st, 2008|01:54 pm] |
I find myself at the store a lot. And customers seem to come through in waves which leaves me a lot of time where I could be doing something productive.
But then we had this dalek webcam just sitting here and I discovered that 'windows Movie Maker was on the computer here...
So...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrQJ-wcWOZk
Watch. Laugh. Cringe at my awkward gawkiness. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 21st, 2008|04:17 pm] |
In the vein of nobody cares and why am I sharing this...
My favourite sandwich is toasted tuna fish with onion.
That is all. |
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| A Day in the Life Uninteresting |
[Jul. 20th, 2008|01:09 pm] |
I have a relatively boring life. Which is not to say that I am particularly sad by this. I would all things considered rather be bored then be on fire. But as I sit listening to someone drone on about Yugioh cards and deck combinations and the recent changes to the banned list and why wasn't Dark Armed Dragon limited that I wish that it was okay for me to at least set other people on fire.
I love comics. I love talking about comics. I love talking about art styles and favourite writers and trade paperbacks people should be reading. And titles that nobody is reading but they probably should be. And titles that everyone is reading but is complete crap (I'm looking at you Final Crisis!)
But I seem to remember a time that I talked about other things too. Philosophy. Politics. Religion.
I bought a book two days ago. an actual words on pages book. I haven't read a book in ages.
So now I need to read Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan because a friend sent it to me (well technically an 'almost friend' but she was upgraded from 'intriguing stranger' and sending me books to read can only improve her xp)and then I'll read 'WhiteChapel Gods' which looks like a really cool steampunk novel.
So what's new with you lot? Do you find that your lives have become a lot more boring or routine? |
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| Internofdoom asks... |
[Jul. 9th, 2008|12:49 pm] |
"How goes the store, sir?"
And so I thought... yeah I should probably update about that.
So we are now officially into week 49 according to the excel spread sheet. Which means next month we will hit the week 52 and then we will have been open for a year. It hardly seems possible.
One year.
Business-wise it would probably be smarter to say our one year anniversary is in September and then advertise and talk up that day to see if we can make it into something that will drive in business.
But officially the one year mark will be August 6th. On which day last year we did a lowly $113.81
So how are we doing...
If you ask my wife she would probably say we're doing okay. We're paying the bills and we're keeping the doors open. We haven't been late with rent or power. We're still getting new stuff coming in.
One of our closest competitors is -in theory- going out of business which could mean a nice influx of customers but we're not counting on it and I'll believe they're closing when I see the For Rent sign up in their store window.
I want to go ask them but somehow that feels a bit tacky seeing as how we're probably a little responsible on some level for them closing down.
I want to believe I'm getting better at ordering but I still make stupid mistakes. Like double ordering a title so we get 30 instead of 15 and then have a bunch sitting around.
I still obsessively worry about the store. I'm proud of it. But I worry a lot. And I keep thinking if we had 25,000 extra we could take advantage of some of the opportunities that have come and gone for buying collections.
I want to pick up another fixture and get some of the comics that are on the floor up off the floor and into the bins.
How goes the store? It goes well. It could go better. It would be nice to be able to actually take some money out of the store. I need CJ to start jumping on the web people but she's insane busy with her job and pushing stuff at her isn't very fair.
i know. I know a bunch of you have offered to do web stuff for us but the truth is I have no idea how to proceed or what to tell you to do or where to start so while the offers are wonderfully appreciated consider me a functioning luddite when it comes to web matters.
http://littlefish.mavenspire.net/
is the mock-up that the folks that are supposedly working on it have done so far. And I think its too... bland.
Compare that to:
http://www.bigmonkeycomics.com/ and
https://www.silversnail.com/shop/index.html
or even... http://www.hijinxcomics.com/
It doesn't have a feel. I dunno. I don't even know how to describe why it disappoints me.
But thats the next thing I'd really like to see come together.
Update complete. |
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| My latest addiction... |
[Jul. 9th, 2008|11:56 am] |
The addiction: Forum RPG boards.
The problem: They don't move fast enough.
They give me the illusion of writing without the self angst of wondering if I'm good enough. Plus you can think snarky things about other people's grammar and spelling from the safety of your own living room without ever letting them know that you are silently judging them and their worth.
Secure in the knowledge that they are in all liklihood likewise judging you.
Virginia has apparently angered the Rain Gods as we are getting dumped on and dumped on. Crazy amounts of water. And not a gentle sort of mist but torrential buckets and sideways driven sheets.
I think I want to play Warhammer fantasy Online.
Celtic Crossfire is at: http://celticcrossfire.quietmuse.net/forum/
Come by... make a character...
Tell them I sent you... *whistles innocently* not that I get xp or anything...
Wow CJ's birthday is sneaking up quick! Don't let me forget!
I'm also taking suggestions for what to do for our 10th wedding anniversary.
Glah! 10 years. I figured she'd be sick of me in 3 like any normal person. |
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