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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Diverting Thoughts



Two days in a row without a snow scene! Here are some of last summer’s geraniums and lobelia, valiantly blooming in the window long after I expected them to quit, and there's the neon OPEN sign in the window of Stubbs Sweetwater Grill! Where else can we direct our thoughts so as not to bog down in the arrival of yet another March snowfall this morning? Well, if you’re thinking books (as I so often am), here are a couple of items to muse on.

“The third bi-annual Salon du livre du Grand Sudbury is expected to draw 27,000 people in May, making it the largest francophone cultural event in Northern Ontario.” That’s more French speakers and readers in the wilds of northern Ontario than I’d have imagined, and it’s a trek I’d love to make, up through pre-Cambrian scenery, halfway to Montreal (and I apologize for failing in my efforts to insert an active link here). Will the mountain ash be in bloom that early? Maybe not, but perhaps the snow buntings will still be around, and anyway, the pines will be green, the waters blue.

Then there was the wonderful contribution this morning from Carol Fitzgerald of the Book Reporter to Shelf Awareness, suggesting how many new books Governor Spitzer could have bought with the money he spent—ahem!—otherwise. I’ve added Shelf Awareness to my links list at right.

Or are you thinking locally grown fruit and wondering what cherry growers do all winter? The first Leelanau Township orchard farmer I asked gave this reply: “The smart ones I know contemplate their stock portfolios or soak up rays in Florida. The rest of us try and figure out what they did wrong last year and where they are going to get the money to do it again this year.” Kind of like bookselling, is it, Gene?

If you’re an artist and/or connected to an art gallery, think about what it would be like to live in a genuine art village. Would you like it? Why or why not? What would you look for? Take the survey here.

I got a beautiful seed catalog in the mail the other day, and that set me to dreaming, and David and I replaced about half the bookstore lightbulbs today with energy-saving bulbs.

What else (besides snow!) is on your mind these days?

2 comments:

Deborah said...

My answer to what's on your mind is this - when does Sarah get her photo on your book store site? I thought she should have a photo in New Arrivals but she isn't so new anymore. My second thought is a new photo of the bookstore (though I love the current photo) that shows Sarah sitting or lying on the floor of the store.

P. J. Grath said...

You're absolutely right that Sarah needs to be on the Dog Ears Books website, not just on Books in Northport. My only excuse is that I need to ask Tom or Deb W. to help me do that. I can update the site when it comes to adding, deleting or modifying text but haven't done anything with images there and don't want to go it alone the first time. But thanks for jogging my memory!