I promised Dunc Id blog again.. Ive got enough stuff going on in my personal life though that I really don't want to talk about- its just hard.. but today IS my birthday so I figured that merited a post at least. I have had so many words bottled up inside its kinda felt like I haven't had anything to say. Maybe just no way to contextualize them, to let them out.
Nothing is decided.
I turned 27 today.
Woke up wishing there was some way to get some birthday sex, but I'm a good christian kid, and I have nobody yet. 27 is a long time to be alone. Kinda got shocked out of my thinking when I got a call on the way to work today from friend and ex-roomie Jack, saying his cousin hes been working for all summer just got in a wreck. Thrown from the vehicle. May be dead. I had to call the church, let them know to be praying.. Didnt do much good, got a call back from him a bit later saying his cousin had died.. he asked me to call his friends here an let them know what had happened, including his boss who was expecting him back in a week or so. Those were hard calls to make. Sobering at least.
Call me ungrateful, but the clothing and few gifts I got from my family didn't really seem to matter as much, I just wanted to spend time with them. Or have someone to hold and be with too. Life is short, and I feel old, even though I know Im not. More like I haven't lived enough the past few years, but I don't know how to either.
I spent a while looking through http://tattoolit.com/ today.. they make me want to get the final panel of Neil Gaiman's 'Instructions' as a tattoo, the one that ends the book by saying "..and go home, or make a home, or rest." I fell in love with that book. It settled in my thoughts and made me want to write, to live stories. But the thought of 'home' has been in my heart too, after jumping apartments, and roommates, and losing some friends recently. I don't know where I'm going, I need to look at schools, my grandparents are aging faster than ever it seems, and here I am yearning for that safety and connection more than anything. I guess maybe home isn't the right word. Family, keeping people close. Not loosing any more
5:59pm. Todays been quiet, Im gonna go and spend time with Drew an friends who wanted me over. I hope tonight will be fun. I gotta work on the mascot commission and Adam's drawing too but tonight I just want to be around people.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Summer Fest pt. 2
Girl just came in and literally looked at all the bookcases and then looked at me and asked "y'all just have comics in here or do you have other things to read too?"
Wow.
And its probably a bad sign when my first book request today was for Mein Kamf
Ok, I'm done askin people to not stand in front of the door, there's no point. New ones keep coming. People set their drinks on the equipment boxes across the sidewalk and then camp out. Havin a stage in front of Pegasus is sucky sucky sucky. Bad for business. I haven't had anyone come in (barely), and I'm sure people are passing up coming in too just because theres people congregating on the sidewalk outside..
SummerFest is obviously bad for businesses downtown, despite the increase of pedestrians walking around. They don't get attracted in to storefronts they walk by, because they cant get in- there are people standing in front of doorways and shop windows. Regular customers get scared away, they don't want to even brave the crowds to do regular business. I never would have realized any of this until I worked during one..
SUMMERFEST SUCKS
Summer Fest is weird
Weird. The second summerfest stage is RIGHT outside the door. No one has come in at all since we opened.. theyre congregating outside the door though. Theyre attention is for sure elsewhere. Its a weird dynamic.
I know the sound guy, my friend Chris used to work for him. I think his name is Mark Knowls.. he has all his load-out boxes sitting right in front of the door on teh opposite side of the sidewalk.. one of the sound guys camein asking for a pen and I asked him to move them, at least TURN them so theyre parallel to the sidewalk? He said ya its tight, were just getting set up.. Um no. Theyve been playing for a good hour, and they set up yesterday and this morning. Having their equipent covering the sidewalk entirely is just laziness.
Weird, I felt assertive.. least he moved it and closed their portable fence up more now. Maybe people will walk on this side of the street now..
Theyve had a group of people standing in front of the door for a bit now.. oh theyre friends of the sound crew, I think.
Just asked the guy to not stand in front of our door.. sheesh. Whats he think, people are gonna walk through him? Todays goin weird so far. I guess this is summerfest? Hope people come in..
I know the sound guy, my friend Chris used to work for him. I think his name is Mark Knowls.. he has all his load-out boxes sitting right in front of the door on teh opposite side of the sidewalk.. one of the sound guys camein asking for a pen and I asked him to move them, at least TURN them so theyre parallel to the sidewalk? He said ya its tight, were just getting set up.. Um no. Theyve been playing for a good hour, and they set up yesterday and this morning. Having their equipent covering the sidewalk entirely is just laziness.
Weird, I felt assertive.. least he moved it and closed their portable fence up more now. Maybe people will walk on this side of the street now..
Theyve had a group of people standing in front of the door for a bit now.. oh theyre friends of the sound crew, I think.
Just asked the guy to not stand in front of our door.. sheesh. Whats he think, people are gonna walk through him? Todays goin weird so far. I guess this is summerfest? Hope people come in..
Monday, May 10, 2010
Monday in the life..
"I think Jasper is perfect for Saturdays."
"I'll be glad to hand this day back to Jasper next week."
It's nice to feel needed :) though I'm not sure if this is praise or not..
I do feel bad askin for Dunc to cover me. Time with family was so worth it though, worked out stuff and tried on clothes for my Bros wedding in august, stomped his fiance at Catan.. ate good food. Overall a good weekend. Im glad to be back at work, its a nice way to unwind really. Ive been reading the collected works of HP Lovecraft in order though an its strange how much I wish I had the book with me here today.. its like I'm having withdrawls..
Monday log:
Slept in after the nice long weekend, checked my messages.. ran out with a shower and no breakfast, decided I had time to park in the garage downtown and run over to subway. They never have someone manning the counter it seems when Ive gone in these past few times, so I just banged on the stainless countertop like it was nothing.. Lady came right out and I didn't acknowledge doing that.. it was kinda fun. Kind of a jerk thing to do.. but I didn't do it that loud..
Shoulda got up earlier an made my own lunch to pack. Need waterbottle and lunchmeat. I gotta start budgeting, 7some for a sandwich and drink is gonna add up over the month. Made it to the store right at 10:59, turned on the lights, got the table out solo easy for once..
Catched up on Dunc's blog over the weekend.. sounds like he isn't used to saturday and the two mentions I get I don't know whether to take as praise or not, heh. Still, sounds like he had an interesting day, and its definitely nice to be needed. And apparently he likes my mix cds and my james bond music one. Either Im the only one these days listening to music or my cds have staying power, 4 out of 5 in teh player ae consitantly ones Ive put in.. I like getting mentioned in Duncs prolific blogging for once despite it being because of him covering me. I do like saturdays younger crowd, and there are always new faces. Hopefully I'm turning in good profits for Dunc. I decide to do a daily log too, seems like a good exercise.
-First people in, two older couples, browsed and one purchased two used books.
-Regular cleared out the 3 comics on his shelf, picked up the new american vampire issues. Forgot to ask if he wanted to be signed up while he was here- don't really feel like I can sign him up without his permission. But maybe this is him trying them out, and he'll ask next time. No harm done.
-Lady with purple lipstick and a brit accent came asking after travel books and saying shes looking for 'this one particular one' that she can never find. I pretty much know that means she wont find it here, but I show her the local travel section and the used shelves, encourage her that there's all kinds of good finds on those shelves, and end up directing her to the Bookmark. Hope it helps.
-Denim guy, earring, finds a used book, pays an leaves in under a minute.. wow.
-Guy in here browsing everything for the past half hour, maybe I shouldn't be blogging but he didn't seem to want to talk. 'Just looking" He's thumbing through the overstock and i point out the 1.00 issues Dunc labeled saturday. Found six he liked.
-Sign up a regular over the phone for marvel siege
12:24.. haven't had anyone in for a while.. take a break to eat. 30 minutes later still nobody.
-dang, almost an hour later, one shelf cleared out. Two. Sloooow afternoon...
Least it stopped raining. I was worried for a few that I might have to pull the table in.
"I'll be glad to hand this day back to Jasper next week."
It's nice to feel needed :) though I'm not sure if this is praise or not..
I do feel bad askin for Dunc to cover me. Time with family was so worth it though, worked out stuff and tried on clothes for my Bros wedding in august, stomped his fiance at Catan.. ate good food. Overall a good weekend. Im glad to be back at work, its a nice way to unwind really. Ive been reading the collected works of HP Lovecraft in order though an its strange how much I wish I had the book with me here today.. its like I'm having withdrawls..
Monday log:
Slept in after the nice long weekend, checked my messages.. ran out with a shower and no breakfast, decided I had time to park in the garage downtown and run over to subway. They never have someone manning the counter it seems when Ive gone in these past few times, so I just banged on the stainless countertop like it was nothing.. Lady came right out and I didn't acknowledge doing that.. it was kinda fun. Kind of a jerk thing to do.. but I didn't do it that loud..
Shoulda got up earlier an made my own lunch to pack. Need waterbottle and lunchmeat. I gotta start budgeting, 7some for a sandwich and drink is gonna add up over the month. Made it to the store right at 10:59, turned on the lights, got the table out solo easy for once..
Catched up on Dunc's blog over the weekend.. sounds like he isn't used to saturday and the two mentions I get I don't know whether to take as praise or not, heh. Still, sounds like he had an interesting day, and its definitely nice to be needed. And apparently he likes my mix cds and my james bond music one. Either Im the only one these days listening to music or my cds have staying power, 4 out of 5 in teh player ae consitantly ones Ive put in.. I like getting mentioned in Duncs prolific blogging for once despite it being because of him covering me. I do like saturdays younger crowd, and there are always new faces. Hopefully I'm turning in good profits for Dunc. I decide to do a daily log too, seems like a good exercise.
-First people in, two older couples, browsed and one purchased two used books.
-Regular cleared out the 3 comics on his shelf, picked up the new american vampire issues. Forgot to ask if he wanted to be signed up while he was here- don't really feel like I can sign him up without his permission. But maybe this is him trying them out, and he'll ask next time. No harm done.
-Lady with purple lipstick and a brit accent came asking after travel books and saying shes looking for 'this one particular one' that she can never find. I pretty much know that means she wont find it here, but I show her the local travel section and the used shelves, encourage her that there's all kinds of good finds on those shelves, and end up directing her to the Bookmark. Hope it helps.
-Denim guy, earring, finds a used book, pays an leaves in under a minute.. wow.
-Guy in here browsing everything for the past half hour, maybe I shouldn't be blogging but he didn't seem to want to talk. 'Just looking" He's thumbing through the overstock and i point out the 1.00 issues Dunc labeled saturday. Found six he liked.
-Sign up a regular over the phone for marvel siege
12:24.. haven't had anyone in for a while.. take a break to eat. 30 minutes later still nobody.
-dang, almost an hour later, one shelf cleared out. Two. Sloooow afternoon...
Least it stopped raining. I was worried for a few that I might have to pull the table in.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Blustery Day
And I am slowly drifting into the afternoon..
Cant tell if its going to rain outside or not. I'll have to bring the book table in if it does. Today just feels like its moving slow- like sluggish veins, like a heat wave, like the last hour of class when I was a kid. Its not like I feel like Ive survived a weekend drunken binge or something.. although I do feel tired.. its more the tiredness that comes from just needing some time. Time to just stop, and reset, and breathe. I'm not blaming this on the extra work I did this weekend, more on my habit these days of filling in all the cracks, all my times between work, with time with friends. Its almost like I cant say no, I feel compelled now that Im working two jobs alot, to give them time too. Its more just that I cant say no. And I get lonely. Its hard to balance loneliness with being drained by people, I guess? Who knows. I'm going to take tomorrow after work at westside off, and just try an unwind. But I'm still either hanging with tanner an lauren again or goin an watching Top Gear with steve an drew an jack. I cant say no..
Ugh.I should.
Its a slow drift today. Its getting darker outside, kinda overcast.
Im glad subway is so close, I can grab a sandwich for lunch on my way from the parking garage. It gets me through the day without my hunger-induced weirdness. Saturday was hard- no breakfast, no lunch, and had to run to the church in time for service without dinner. I was a wreck. So I'm intentionally fixing that, so I can be normal throughout my day. Saturday was weird- would have grabbed a sandwich but they'd set up the parade route an I was worried about getting stuck across the street from the store I needed to open. Lame. Especially when the parade itself didn't show for a while, I totally could have made it.
I need to bring in some new music. There's only so much that works in the comic shop- motivating enough for me, background enough to not be distracting, happy enough to be welcoming when people come in. Really I just keep falling back on Band of Horses, my Wintersleep/Iron & Wine mix cd, and recently Manual and Ulrich Schnauss. And the Mendelssohn concertos cd I have. There's gotta be other stuff though..
_________________
I definitely love Barry. I know his daughter too but Barry and a few other customers, when they come in, they are just these encyclopedic fonts of knowledge.. from music, to comics, to writers.. its just amazing to talk to them. Sometimes I know what they're talking about even. Its been fun to be able to talk to Barry about new stuff I'm reading though, customers like him make me want to expand my knowledge of these worlds more. And I really appreciate his suggestion. They've been really good so far.
I still think with comics though, with graphic novels, everyone's tastes vary so much, no suggestion can truly be as rewarding as the ones you discover on your own. Jack recommended We3, and Beasts of Burden, because he knows I love animal characters.. but they're dark and messed up and twisted, even though they're amazing achievements.. it just wasn't something I could enjoy. Lots of people have steered me towards things that I could see liking if I were a different person than me, just a shade off.. but I guess I'm going to stay true to myself. I tried liking Arkham Asylum: Serious House on Serious Earth.. because I know it was so ridiculously formative to comics two decades ago, and I am in love with McKeans art. I love it for its art, but the story is just hard. We3 was hard. Harsh, hard to swallow, thought-provoking for sure, but there just was no light in it. I don't think I read comics to find darkness. I think I read comics to find hope, and heroes, and coming out of darkness. Maybe people read for different reasons, those I think are reasons I do, and it shapes what I internalize and take home and hold up as good work. Morrison's Joe The Barbarian grabbed me like that. Its already something I'm in love with, 4 issues in. The character of Chakk just is exactly what i hope to find in comics. And the premise is amazing. The new S.H.I.E.L.D. comic threw me the same way.. gorgeous art, amazing location and setup. I don't think other people will see the same thing, but it looks like it will be worth my time. It made me break out my old copy of Red Star and I fell in love with that all over again.
Hellcyon seems promising too. Haven't done my research but I think the artist is the same guy who did Star Wars: Tag & Bink, and its a sci-fi dark horse title that looks like its going in a good direction. It looks mainly ground based though- Im still hoping for a mor space based combat title.. giant ships, stuff like that. The Ender's Game adaptations have so far been good, just not enough of that! Give me space and lots of it
_________________
Oh good lord. Just had two extremely A.D.D. maybe 12yr olds in who genuinely believed I could provide them with manuals on killing vampires. Because they 'really needed to know how'. They only had 3 bucks, and we were out of the Zombie Survival Guide or the Combat Manual. Too bad. But frustrating when they're so freakin ADD they cant even concentrate on me when I am tryin to tell them how much the stuff in the store really costs.. where are these kids parents? Do they just roam downtown or something? Gonna get hit by a car with the way their brains were workin.. I sold them an issue of Astounding Wolfman an hoped that would satisfy them. Holy hell.
Its gettin pretty windy out.. might have to pull the book table in early..
Crazy afternoon
Cant tell if its going to rain outside or not. I'll have to bring the book table in if it does. Today just feels like its moving slow- like sluggish veins, like a heat wave, like the last hour of class when I was a kid. Its not like I feel like Ive survived a weekend drunken binge or something.. although I do feel tired.. its more the tiredness that comes from just needing some time. Time to just stop, and reset, and breathe. I'm not blaming this on the extra work I did this weekend, more on my habit these days of filling in all the cracks, all my times between work, with time with friends. Its almost like I cant say no, I feel compelled now that Im working two jobs alot, to give them time too. Its more just that I cant say no. And I get lonely. Its hard to balance loneliness with being drained by people, I guess? Who knows. I'm going to take tomorrow after work at westside off, and just try an unwind. But I'm still either hanging with tanner an lauren again or goin an watching Top Gear with steve an drew an jack. I cant say no..
Ugh.I should.
Its a slow drift today. Its getting darker outside, kinda overcast.
Im glad subway is so close, I can grab a sandwich for lunch on my way from the parking garage. It gets me through the day without my hunger-induced weirdness. Saturday was hard- no breakfast, no lunch, and had to run to the church in time for service without dinner. I was a wreck. So I'm intentionally fixing that, so I can be normal throughout my day. Saturday was weird- would have grabbed a sandwich but they'd set up the parade route an I was worried about getting stuck across the street from the store I needed to open. Lame. Especially when the parade itself didn't show for a while, I totally could have made it.
I need to bring in some new music. There's only so much that works in the comic shop- motivating enough for me, background enough to not be distracting, happy enough to be welcoming when people come in. Really I just keep falling back on Band of Horses, my Wintersleep/Iron & Wine mix cd, and recently Manual and Ulrich Schnauss. And the Mendelssohn concertos cd I have. There's gotta be other stuff though..
_________________
I definitely love Barry. I know his daughter too but Barry and a few other customers, when they come in, they are just these encyclopedic fonts of knowledge.. from music, to comics, to writers.. its just amazing to talk to them. Sometimes I know what they're talking about even. Its been fun to be able to talk to Barry about new stuff I'm reading though, customers like him make me want to expand my knowledge of these worlds more. And I really appreciate his suggestion. They've been really good so far.
I still think with comics though, with graphic novels, everyone's tastes vary so much, no suggestion can truly be as rewarding as the ones you discover on your own. Jack recommended We3, and Beasts of Burden, because he knows I love animal characters.. but they're dark and messed up and twisted, even though they're amazing achievements.. it just wasn't something I could enjoy. Lots of people have steered me towards things that I could see liking if I were a different person than me, just a shade off.. but I guess I'm going to stay true to myself. I tried liking Arkham Asylum: Serious House on Serious Earth.. because I know it was so ridiculously formative to comics two decades ago, and I am in love with McKeans art. I love it for its art, but the story is just hard. We3 was hard. Harsh, hard to swallow, thought-provoking for sure, but there just was no light in it. I don't think I read comics to find darkness. I think I read comics to find hope, and heroes, and coming out of darkness. Maybe people read for different reasons, those I think are reasons I do, and it shapes what I internalize and take home and hold up as good work. Morrison's Joe The Barbarian grabbed me like that. Its already something I'm in love with, 4 issues in. The character of Chakk just is exactly what i hope to find in comics. And the premise is amazing. The new S.H.I.E.L.D. comic threw me the same way.. gorgeous art, amazing location and setup. I don't think other people will see the same thing, but it looks like it will be worth my time. It made me break out my old copy of Red Star and I fell in love with that all over again.
Hellcyon seems promising too. Haven't done my research but I think the artist is the same guy who did Star Wars: Tag & Bink, and its a sci-fi dark horse title that looks like its going in a good direction. It looks mainly ground based though- Im still hoping for a mor space based combat title.. giant ships, stuff like that. The Ender's Game adaptations have so far been good, just not enough of that! Give me space and lots of it
_________________
Oh good lord. Just had two extremely A.D.D. maybe 12yr olds in who genuinely believed I could provide them with manuals on killing vampires. Because they 'really needed to know how'. They only had 3 bucks, and we were out of the Zombie Survival Guide or the Combat Manual. Too bad. But frustrating when they're so freakin ADD they cant even concentrate on me when I am tryin to tell them how much the stuff in the store really costs.. where are these kids parents? Do they just roam downtown or something? Gonna get hit by a car with the way their brains were workin.. I sold them an issue of Astounding Wolfman an hoped that would satisfy them. Holy hell.
Its gettin pretty windy out.. might have to pull the book table in early..
Crazy afternoon
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Leonardo Da Vinci needs to be in more comics. Seriously.
worn out today. Don't know why.. Tryin not to be frustrated by customers.. and its the little things really. Like the lady who brought up a used book and when I quoted her 3 bucks as the price, that was somehow too expensive for her? I'd heard her talking to her husband about how she was just gonna read it and throw it away.. that it was a "popcorn book".. I don't get some people. Its like an afternoon of sighs.
Broken action figure, returned.
I keep expecting my phone to ring with my boss at the church askin me where I am. Im off of the saturday schedule now that I work sundays 730am-830pm, which is why I picked up saturdays at Pegasus.. but after the craziness of easter I just expect him to be thinking Im on call all the time like last weekend. 4:30 an no call yet. Seems to be ok so far..
I can't account for taste, really. A customer has a box full of collected Usagi Yojimbo, and Im thinkin 'cool.. cool anthro title, love the art, I bet this guy has taste and probably likes stuff I do..' and then goes an grabs a bunch of other titles that severely dissapointed me.. I don't know. People are human. Red blooded american and everything. Whatever. Just kinda weird sometimes..
Jack said I had to find SHIELD when I came in.. the instant I started reading it, it felt way familiar, and it took some research to realize the author/illstrator Hickman was also the guy who did the TopCow Pilot Season promo comic The Core- which didn't make the cut in 08' to become a regular series.. that issue floored me though, I totally voted for it like crazy. And he did Pax Romana. And Nightly News. So I'm all behind this comic.. if just on who's helming it alone.. but the story is amazing, to tie SHIELDs lineage back through Gallileo, Da Vinci, Imhotep.. its pretty ridiculously epic. I hope Dunc stocks alot, I feel like its gonna take off like crazy. And I'm glad I was pointed towards it, I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. It will be interesting to see how something that feels so otherworldly links itself solidly with established Marvel canon..
Also, Kingdom of Heaven isn't good listening in the comic shop. Some soundtracks just dont work. I'm exhausting alot of my old cd collection workin here.. back to Blue Man Group I guess.
One customer thanked me for having innocuous bags for putting comics and purchases in.. the last comic shop he'd gone to walked people out with bright pikachu bags that were worse than the embarrassment of just bein seen with the loose comics. I had to laugh at that. Dunc, plus points for cheap and stealthy, but we could so try harder to make this more awkward for those people still on the fence about likin comics. We can make it way worse! Get workin on that
Monday, April 05, 2010
Books. And Wonder and things of worth.. to just a few it seems
I just saw Dunc got a copy of Brian Jaques' Redwall novel The Taggerung since I worked last. Its the UK version, which is smaller and has an entirely different and cooler piece of artwork on the cover- The colors are warmer and more saturated.. the otter and fox on the cover aren't nearly as mean and angry as the american covers seem to need be by design.. the characters are more friendly looking. I just picked it up and couldn't get over how much that whole series came back to me. I loved them when I was a kid. I'm still a kid.. I felt such a huge affection for it in that moment.. I don't know what that makes me. I cant help it. Besides it is one of the few of the series where an otter is the main character, so that added to it. And it was sitting on the shelf next to Justmans Phantom Tollbooth, another book I loved as a kid. I felt they were appropriate, sitting on the shelf next to one another. Both books that founded my love of animal characters, and allegories, and fantasy worlds that don't have to be dark and evil and hard. I don't know, there's an innocence to them, that I think I'm still chasing in my adult life.
I posted something to this effect on Facebook, and my other boss gave me crap about it in her comment. She called it an epic fail to let my inner geek show through so much.. I didnt even feel I was geeking out. I was just talking about things that make me feel like a kid again.. I think we all deserve to have that
I posted something to this effect on Facebook, and my other boss gave me crap about it in her comment. She called it an epic fail to let my inner geek show through so much.. I didnt even feel I was geeking out. I was just talking about things that make me feel like a kid again.. I think we all deserve to have that
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Go directly to Saturday, do not pass Go, do not collect 200 dollars
hrrgh. I'm so ready for this week to be over, and its really only begun..
Just found out today that the guy we leased the gallery/studio spaces above Local Joes is movin to utah on friday. And just told us, so hes being really polite about it, and encouraging us leasees to hammer out a new agreement with the property owner, but ya. Have to do it by friday, and probably line up a few new people to rent the studio spaces. I guess if it all falls apart, Ive had a good run havin a tiny studio to draw in, an over the past 6 months I went from helpin Eric move Indie Nights film nights to downtown.. to really being a gallery director on artwalk nights. Ive been linin up new artists the past two months who've never gotten a chance to show stuff commercially at all, and giving them a legit place and a guaranteed audience, and even sales. I don't really want to loose it to be honest.
So that leaves us in a weird place. I can work with Karen at Coffe-Art to be the lease holders, or work out something with Blackeyed to co-exist in the space. I hope they remain interested, theyre lookin for a place to land I think. A public office and I think we could be it..
An Im doin this while workin at Westside and Pegasus :P sometimes my life feels so weird. And then theres days I sleep in an wake up an lay there wonderin what the heck Im doin with my life too
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