Heraclitus

Out of every 100 men, 10 shouldn't even be there.
Eighty are just targets.
Nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle.
Ah, but the one,
One is a Warrior,
And he will bring the others back.
-Heraclitus, circa 500BC

Fantastic Fiction Site

As a bookseller, I get questioned each day about books. Well, of course. It's what I do. The most asked question is, "In what order should I read the books?"

If you ask this question, I have the answer. Go to Fantastic Fiction. The folks maintaining this site are flat out fabulous! They maintain published book lists, small bios, upcoming releases, and a slew of other info about fiction authors. A great reference for collectors and readers.

PayPal vs Charity

I have been aware of eBay's policy of not allowing the sale of firearms and certain parts of guns for some time. Their business, their policy, that's mostly OK with me.

This situation, however, really pisses me off. PayPal, owned by eBay, is now forced to comply with that policy (paragraph 2). Even if the sale of a raffle ticket for a pistol is going to help a disabled veteran! The Soldiers' Angels charity was using PayPal to sell raffle tickets. They lost use of their account for a while.

Note that the transfer of funds was for a raffle ticket. Not a gun. Not a gun part. The winner would have to comply to the federal and state laws that apply. Nothing illegal here. Just folks trying to help disabled veterans. Just as a reminder, those veterans put their lives on the line protecting and serving the owners and employees of PayPal and eBay.

PayPal and eBay should be ashamed.

From the Mouth of Babes

Like every other retailer in this country, our store has had a display featuring Michael Jackson for the past few weeks. Mind you, I think he was quite an entertainer. I also think he was a mighty weird fellow. Anyway, I was standing near the display the other day when I overheard teenagers say:

Her: "Hey, Michael Jackson books."
Him: "Yeah, so what?"
Her: Picking a magazine and flipping through it, "Look at the pictures. Don't you get it? I was so amazed."
Him: "What do you mean?"
Her: "I didn't know he was black when he was a kid."

I burst out laughing and walked away.

Fiddle About

I fiddled with the layout. Still learning how to use the tools here.

Trivia question: What rock group used the lyric "fiddle about" in a song?