Copied & pasted from Neil Gaiman

I've been a fan of DreamHaven Books in Minneapolis for over fifteen years, probably since Terry Pratchett and I did our first signing there for Good Omens (had I signed there before? I think so, but I can't remember. I first met owner Greg Ketter in 1987, on a train from Brighton to London, though). I like Greg Ketter and the staff, I love getting my books there (they have things I never see anywhere else that I WANT. I'm sure that lots of bookshops sell the annotated archy and mehitabel, but if I walk into DreamHaven something like that is the first thing I see. Happiness).

A few years ago I gave them www.neilgaiman.net, which I had, as a storefront, mostly because I got tired of replying to people who wanted to know where they could buy something -- anything -- by me "DreamHaven Books." I sign stuff for them when I pass by.

Some people think I have a stake in the shop or something, and I don't, other than a desire to still have it around as somewhere to do my shopping or to do signings or to phone and ask weird book-related questions. I've seen too many good bookshops go down in the last decade.

Greg's published a few of my books and audio books. They've even functioned as a maildrop for me over the years. Good people, good bookshop (and comics shop, and toys, oddments and even, in the backroom, eye-watering reading matter for adults only shop). (I don't know of any other shop that has "Vintage Sleaze" as a category for used books.)

I got an alarming email from Greg this morning...

We had a break-in on Saturday night. They got a bit of cash but wreaked
terrible havoc on the store and my office. Damages will be costly but
insurance should cover a lot of it. But after the lull in current
business, this really will hurt. I don't like charity but if you could
encourage people to maybe buy an extra book off us soon, it may help.
Three bookstores have closed in the Twin Cities in the past two months and
I don't want to make it four.

You can find them online at http://www.dreamhavenbooks.com. Their current catalogues are up there, for new and for used stuff. There's cool new stuff. There's stuff on sale.

If you want stuff by me -- or by people like Charles Vess or Dave McKean, who've worked with me, go and explore their http://neilgaiman.net site. Lots of signed stuff, and things you really can't find elsewhere. (They have three audio CDs, for example -- one's a double CD -- with many stories and such not recorded anywhere else.)

And if you're in the Minneapolis area, pop in. It's a big purple building. You can't miss it.

Go buy books from them. And tell other people. This is me being selfish. I want to buy books at DreamHaven for a long time to come. Good things die when people forget.

---

Listen to Neil. Go buy books. Good minions.

If I was down-sized, shouldn't my ass be smaller?

So, still processing the fact that for the first time in my life it is not my choice to leave a job. 
As far as being laid off goes this really isn't that bad. At least I have a ton of notice. With the vacation prorated I'll still have 108 hours to use or get paid for. P is looking into whether they also pay out sick time or not. If so I think I might have 100 or so hours there too. I'll totally be able to take time for interviews. 
I'm just not looking forward to the job hunting part. I've been here 7 years. Even though it's not a fabulous job there is certainly a comfort factor. 
*sigh*
Well, I've decided that I'm not even going to deal with this until we find out about hellbob's job on Thursday. 

In other news...

Well there really isn't much else.

There is some cheesy 80's band that hellbob is all excited about seeing...

*ducks*
Just kidding honey!!

Yup, hellbob is full of giddy fanboy delight and has even been known to squee a little bit. 
The Police are reuniting for a tour, and will be hitting Minneapolis even. 
I think our current tentative plans are to try to get kick-ass awesome $225 tickets for the Mpls show and then possibly travel somewhere else to see them with cheap seat tickets. He's thinking Chicago for that because there are Nibleys there. I'm thinking Vegas because we have the time share. And if we do Vegas we could try to assemble a group of folks (either who also want to go to the Police or who just want to do Vegas for a couple days)
Of course, no plans can be made until we learn the state of hellbob's job on Thurs.

James Marsters' U.S. Appearances

lucky13charm: Here's that info on the James appearances:


James Marsters will be making his first US appearance in 2007. He will appear April 14 - 15, 2007 at Creation Entertainment's GRAND SLAM weekend in Burbank, CA. James will be signing autographs, taking photographs with fans and answering questions at Q&A sessions. For all the specific details go to www.creationent.com. *

James will also appearing at FANGORIA weekend in Secaucus, NJ, June 29 and July 1, 2007 (he will not attend June 30). James will be signing autographs, taking photographs with fans and answering questions at Q&A sessions. For all the specific details go to www.creationent.com. *


* please read the rules and regulations posted on the site carefully, as Creation Entertainment is responsible for their own events independently of Himber Entertainment, Steve Himber or JM Live

---

My IM chat with hellbob about it:

HZ: James Marsters just announced two US appearances... *grin*
HZ: I know, not an option this time...
HZ: But if you wanted to skip the Police...
HB: you do what you want. when i meet my second wife at the concert(s) I won't feel so lonely anymore.
HZ: LOL! Maybe my new husband James can use his connections to get you a back stage pass
HB: that'd be nice

Pondering on blogs...

There are other blogging systems out there that "real" bloggers use: Blogger, Blogspot, Typepad, etc.
And I follow some blogs regularly that use those other systems. But I've always felt a bit of disconnect. No matter how much I enjoyed reading it there was always a feeling that something was missing.
As I started leaving comments in some I realized what it was. The thing that makes LiveJournal my "home" instead of other blogs.
It's the threaded comments.
You can have a conversation in LJ. You can respond to each person individually.
If I leave a comment on one of my favorite non-LJ blogs, BirdChick, the only way to know if there are any responses to what I've said is to go back to the post and scroll down to see if there are new comments.
No, I don't expect responses every time I say something. But I also don't like the fact that someone could respond and I'd never know.
I'm not going to not read non-LJ blogs because of this, but I will be left feeling that no matter how cool someone is, I will have a hard time establishing the connections that I get with y'all here on LJ.
This is also why I allow anonymous posting. If someone reads my LJ and wants to say something, I don't want them prevented just because they don't have an LJ of their own.
But I really wish they would get one. :)