I *do* believe in bookstores, I do, I do!

Seen by a few of my Flisties [waves at fabricdragon and lisa_marli] but me, party, late, again.


EXCERPTED FROM THE ORIGINAL POST:

PLEASE READ: Pandemonium Books & Games In Danger Of Going Under!

As was announced yesterday on Pandemonium’s LJ blog, the store is going to be putting out a line of new t-shirts at a rate of one/month. Not all of them are going to be “store shirts”; we plan on doing just plain fun and arty shirts as well.

I have put together a t-shirt pre-ordering site here for our January and February shirts:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=572903264719

If 1000 customers pre-order and buy a store shirt, the proceeds will be enough to pay my Federal (and hopefully my State) back taxes.

If 1000 customers don’t pre-order the shirts, I’ll probably start looking to roll up the business. I’ll consider every available option, but it’s unlikely I will be able to keep the store afloat.

I realize that this sounds like sounds like the worst type of emotional blackmail: “Buy a shirt, or the store gets it!” But there is more to this than money. Note that I am asking for one thousand PEOPLE to buy at least one store shirt, not for a thousand shirts to be sold. I need a thousand people to take part in this.

The reason why is that I am now working 11-12 hours a day, six to seven days a week, for a salary that is not currently sufficient to meet my needs (stupid, stupid, student loans). I have fought to keep my little store alive for seventeen years, and I am prepared to fight for another seventeen years, as long as I know that Pandemonium is appreciated. I need, need! to know that at least one thousand people give a damn about the store.

...

But the thing is, I do love my store. I love this life, these people! I just need to know other people appreciate Pandemonium, at least a little. The store has been the center of my life for seventeen years, so obviously it’s important to me. I just need to know that it’s important to you.

With one thousand people, I can pay off Pandemonium’s back taxes.

With one thousand people care, we have a real chance of getting through this.

With one thousand people, Key will become human.

With one thousand people, an angel gets its wings.

With one thousand people, Tinkerbell doesn’t die.

With one thousand people, a thousand cats will wake up tomorrow morning, look around and realize that they are not supreme overlords of the world... yet.

...

Thanks so much,

Tyler Stewart

Owner & President, Pandemonium Books & Games Inc.

Question in comments:
Am I correct that the total profit on T-shirts is higher than it is on books, hence the t-shirt emphasis? Because I'd rather just spend that amount on books, but if it helps you more for me/us to buy T-shirts, then I will.

---=>°<=---Answer by another poster:
You are correct. In addition, you sitting at home (or even on the T, or in a cafe) reading a book doesn't tell anyone about us, while you wearing a t-shirt that tells people about us does. This is likely not what Tyler is thinking of, entirely, but as the marketing type around here, I really do think wearing the shirts will help a lot right now in spreading the word.

Mars needs melatonin!

Or at least I do. One of the puzzle pieces I dropped. It might not be related to random headaches (suspected food ingredient reaction), but surely to fuzzy-brain syndrome, with all my interrupted sleep.

---=>°<=---
Speaking of which, [advertising] your sleep interruption brought to you today by... Escaping Dogs! Yes, escaping dogs who at least this time had the good sense to come when they were called and obediently file into the yard when the gate was opened without being chased. [/advertising] (Annie and Gemma, if you wanted to know.) This led to 'Why are there bloody pawprints on the porch? Everybody into the kitchen.' Somehow, in the space between me getting up and the bad dogs coming back in, Meissa had sliced open a pad on one of her back feet in a splashily gory manner. Thankfully, she's a fairly cooperative patient and isn't even chewing on her bandage right now. When I leave, however, that's a different puzzle.


One of the funnier Superbowl ads, IMO and as far as I've been able to watch them (I'm barely through the 2nd quarter, bah) has been pulled on account of 'homophobic message'.

[blows whistle, holds up red card]

The Snickers 'kiss' ad has set off a mixed reaction among activists who felt that the skit of two mechanics accidentally 'kissing' as they Lady-and-the-Tramped a Snickers bar, and then had a horrified reaction to the event, either did the 'gay is BAD' thing again or poked fun at the extreme, absurd reaction of the characters. I'm in the second group, myself, but if that many people are offended, I guess it must go after all.

Kind of a shame. One of the commenters quoted in a Salon article about it said 'When will homophobia stop being funny?' My response is, 'When will people be able to laugh at stupid reactions again?'


What if they cured cancer and nobody came?

No, really, you have seen this by now, right?

If there were a magic bullet, though, it might be something like dichloroacetate, or DCA, a drug that kills cancer cells by exploiting a fundamental weakness found in a wide range of solid tumors.

...But because DCA is not patented and is not owned by a pharmaceutical company, it will be a challenge to find funding to begin clinical trials...

I.e., if Big Pharma can't gouge the public for it, they aren't interested. [waves orange-backed Maple Leaf of support] Think the UofA accepts PayPal...?

---=>°<=---
And as long as we're at it, this showed up when I was Googling for the source article for the above:

...Tissue harboring precancerous lesions turns white when exposed to vinegar. The test identified almost twice as many cases of disease as did Pap smears....

Lookit the DATE on that thing! Do people know about this??

---=>°<=---
Also (I'm on a roll),

A plan requiring sixth-grade girls to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer can expect a flurry of opposition in the Texas Legislature..

Governor Perry, the spirits of Saint Ann and Saint Molly are upon you. Hold the line.

---=>°<=---
ONE more thing [/Uncle]:

...For instance, four to eight days after menstrual bleeding started, the orbiofrontal cortex and amygdala of the brain were more active.

This might help explain other studies that show women get a bigger kick from cocaine and amphetamines during the earlier stage of their fertility cycle, the researchers added.

In addition, it may lead to insights into why women are less vulnerable to schizophrenia than men.

Hee! Where's my Angelenos? 'Walking in Los Angeles', from Salon's The K Chronicles by Keith Knight


Hmmm... I thought I had something else to put in here, but I'm gonna go feed the dogs instead.

Now I remember what I forgot to add:

 

 

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