Signs

Signs come in every imaginable art form. I like ours. The chicken crying, "Book, book, book." The frog claiming, "Read it, read it, read it."
A customer once told me that his favourite joke is on our sign -- a customer about the same age as our son who created the sign. Why was I not aware of the joke? For a moment, I was startled until I decided our son wouldn't display anything inappropriate. Would he?

The joke goes something like this...
The chicken brought his friend the frog a book.
"Book, book, book!" said the chicken.
"Read it, read it, read it," said the frog.
The frazzled chicken ran for another book, "Book, book, book!"
"Read it, read it, read it," repeated the frog.

Oddly, apparently no one in our family is familiar with the punch line. If the reader knows it, please let us know; after all, it is our shop sign.

11B Cayuga Street ~ Cayuga-On-The-Grand

A Life of Its Own

A well-produced local newspaper has approached me to write book reviews on a "semi-regular" basis. My first thought was, "...When am I going to get time to write?!" (One possibility is that I could give up some CNN news. I know more about Michael Jackson than I care to admit.)
It seems the store has taken on a life of its own. In the bookshop we are seldom alone. When we first opened two years ago, a bright, young English student fell asleep in the wing chair and was startled hours later when a customer opened the door.

A priority today is the involvement of local authors. Their shelf-space, signings, readings, discussions all contribute to the richness of our bookshop. Readers enjoy meeting writers -- novelists and poets alike. Essential to the author's success is promotion and advertising. Essential to our book shop's success is promotion.
Our newspapers play an important role in our community; I welcome this opportunity. Stay tuned.

Jill Marshall ~ To the Arctic and Home Again

A new book by Jill Marshall reveals a family adventure in Yellowknife during the eighties when the Honorable Justice David Marshall, her husband, presided over the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.
The book consists of newspaper articles, editorials and various vignettes from thirty years of writing. It is a collection of the light -- Jill got her motorcycle licence while in the north -- as well as the more serious issues of the day.
To The Arctic and Home Again will enlighten and entertain. Chapters that are certain to hold the reader's attention: "Powerful Women;" "Fear;" "Emergency Flying is a Tough Job;" "Judge, Doctor Talk About Ethics;" "Ice Bridge Goes Out;" "Remembrance, My Father, Dr. Harold Smith." Retails $15 no tax at The Neat Little Bookshop.

David Wice ~ Vocalist Guitarist

David Wice appearing tonight at The Back 40, downtown Cayuga. (Next to the L'l Bookshop.)Saturday, June 20, 8:30 p.m.

Over two hundred tunes in Wice's repertoire. Come with requests. "He's like a human jukebox!" Fabulous entertainer. Music to please.

No cover charge. Everyone welcome.

Photo: "Either I am singing or I have been punched in the groin."

The Skunk

"Not skunk!" the officer said. "That's pot." Not amused. (Certainly not your typical old-book smell.)
I cautioned the upstairs tenants and we have not again smelled skunk ~ until this week. It is a row of old buildings -- businesses downstairs, apartments upstairs, old dungeon-like basement. One expects the odd incident but it wasn't until a customer noted that "It smells like old books!" that our concern grew. The Neat Little Bookshop takes great pride in presenting, yes "used," but absolutely "like new" clean books. They don't smell. The lawyer next door pronounced it "Skunk!"

We try not to draw attention to this latest incident -- freshly perked vanilla coffee helps -- I learned not to mention it to our OPP customers. The landlord rattled some junk in the basement. Shuffled stuff and made a lot of noise. No evidence. We are not convinced that rattling the undesirable (or even the desirable tenants) is the best approach? But who does one call about skunk?

"24-Carat Character"

A friend of ours with a colourful vocabulary ~ greater than my own ~ pointed out to me that I shouldn't have any difficulty writing a daily blog considering the "24-carat characters" that he observes coming and going in the bookshop. (This is the same gentleman who referred to the resident pekinese as an"animated floor mop.") Of course, I have enough material to enter several "posts" a day ~ including a paragraph or two on same gentleman. The trick is to write without offending anyone.
A "plug" is always good. This week I sold some westerns to a man who asked, only as an afterthought, if I had anything on Johnny Cash or Ronnie Hawkins. Yes. I do!

Now, this is a man whose deep bass-baritone voice does not go unnoticed even before his identity is revealed. Johnny Cash impersonator, Bill Cayley!

Mr. Cayley, although the train no longer goes through Cayuga, we know you will return some day and we look forward to seeing you. "The Legend in Black." is a 24-carat character. http://www.thelegendinblack.com/