This past Saturday evening, I was occupied making some not very good soup out of whatever I had at hand. (It was ultimately unmarketable. Maybe Vegetable, Bean and Birdseed was the wrong branding for it.) When Id gone to bed the previous night, Id said to myself, Im going to get something accomplished tomorrow. When I got up on Saturday, I had a sinking feeling instead. At about 5:30pm, I vaulted off the couch, determined to do something. Hence the lousy soup. A couple of hours later, grumpy from the disappointing results, I suddenly remembered something. I had said I was going to see a show that night. I grumbled (swore loudly actually), turned the stove off, threw my street clothes on (although sorely tempted to wear sweatpants outside for the first time since 1987), and went off into the night. I walked into the back of a packed room and stood there in my Chinese rabbit fur hat and dollar store duct tape-repaired coat. It was as quiet as church. Nic Dyson was on the little stage, eyes closed and hunched over his guitar, as if he was leading a prayer. But he wasnt. He was singing. And all eyes were on him. Youve heard about Nic before. Hes one of my favourite people. A small town kid who came to me after we announced we were closing. He played for fifteen people that first show in 2011, and has been working on his craft ever since. These days, hes recording his second album and playing to a full house. The thing about Nic is, hes a little bit intense. He chokes. He cries. He pours himself out on stage. And people love it. (Young women especially. I dont think anyone has ever thrown undies onto the stage at Sams Place, but if they were going to, it would be at a Nic Dyson show. [I imagine MCC has an anti-gitch hurling policy, so Im not recommending this.]) I felt a little bit better afterwards. Nic saw me in the back and gave me a shout out in his last set. I chatted with a couple of his nice young friends. (I sound like someones grandma.) And as I was driving home, I thought about the way Nic opens up to the world the way he does. Its not something were taught to do. Sometimes it makes people uncomfortable. But I think its a nice way to be. So if I seem a bit too raw at times, especially lately, I apologize. Im just trying to be more like Nic. (If I make you uncomfortable for different reasons, thats on me, not him.) The thing that had me bummed out that day was books. Two years after I closed, I still have all these books. And the sales Ive done in the last few weeks have hardly made a dent. So here am I, and what to do? Well you know sometimes when something happens that seems like a drag and turns out to be the best thing? I just found out I need to get out of the space Ive been using to store/sell books since December. After the initial panic subsided, I came up with a plan. I cannot, and will not move or store or own another box of books. No one will believe that Im moving forward if I keep flopping around on the dock like a fish that wont die, or Rob Ford. So Im doing One Last Booksale and then everything goes away. So heres the deal. I have tens of thousands of books still, and I have many boxes of books that were culled before we started closing at 274 Garry. These books were supposed to be sold at 123 Princess (we all know how that went), and they have never been part of any sale. They were the best of the best - higher-priced or hard-to-find or really popular, etc. These, and all the rest of the books, will be for sale for $1 each or $20 for a (big) box. (And dont think you will insult my pride if you give me more. Ive lost a bunch of money storing and moving and storing and moving these for two years. Also, I have no pride.) I will also be getting rid of (finally) a bunch of other stuff Ive been carting around. Including (but not limited to) tables and chairs from the restaurant, couches, decorative things, and at the very end, bookshelves. I will write more notes as I have a better handle on what will be there. This is when and where: One Last Booksale - 165 Garry Street Friday January 31, 12-9pm Saturday February 1, 12-6pm Sunday February 2, 12-6pm Please pass this around, tell people, and come. Please come. Its been quite lovely to see people after so long. (One guy I didnt want to see, but everybody else I did.) Thanks for all your support. Cheers K
Posted on: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 20:34:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015