Grand Opening of Jackson Street Books

We'll be having a big party on Sunday, to celebrate our new location next to the General's Cafe Wellstone. We have a lovely custom built store and I've been busy stocking the shelves with clickable books that take you to an order blank.



The party gets started at 6pm, with Nick Northman playing live from Boston. Then at 7:30, we switch over to L.A. and Idella Quandry will take the stage. At 9, Klipe Wirefly comes to us from Michigan with his piano jazz stylings. These are amazing musicians and you don't want to miss this fantastic line-up. Crap Mariner will be storytelling for his podcast isfullofcrap. We are also fortunate to be partnered with Jimbo Hoyer's Virtually Speaking and have the featured author's books for sale. Upcoming inworld events include the August NetrootsinSecondLife convention. Now is a great time to get started and we can help get you up to speed as an experienced avatar by then.


I'm working on making a limited edition book that will be available in-world and at the party for just this one evening. I'm not going to mention who the illustrator is, but let's just say he's now hugely successful and was pretty unknown when this volume was published in 1991.

It doesn't take long to download the free software of Second Life and if you send an IM to BookemJackson Streeter, I'll help you get the music going.






In real life news, Janet Brown, author of Tongue Tied in Bangkok (and other places) will be at Elliott Bay Bookstore next Friday, June 5th at 7:30pm. This promises to be a grand home coming as Janet was a bookseller there for several years. We'll be there, and you can order a signed copy from us.

Well, crap!

Thanks Fran!

Pleez pray for these hands

from Pacific Magazine
Send your good thoughts, your chants, your blessings to this lovely lady. We've just learned she is facing cancer for the third time.

that Wellstone chat tonight

Made me finally write my "This I Believe". I'll polish it up a bit before I send it to Jay Allison....

My Rant,
*with added Robin Williams!

Way back in the day, when Jackson Street Books had a storefront, I was excited to host Kristen Rowe-Finkbeiner for "The F-Word: Feminism". I promoted it and was joined by a powerfull ally, Mara, a SU prof of Women's Studies (!)

I got it in all the newspapers, newsletters, blogs, did EVERYTHING. Mara promoted the event heavily in all her networks.
On that day in Seattle, you could have bopped around to authors all day:
Ted Rall, Elliot Bay Books Noon
Kristen Rowe-Finkbeiner, Jackson Street Books 1 pm
Krist Novasellic Elliot Bay Books 3 pm
Angela Davis at the Westin Grand Ballroom 6pm
and there were a couple others that day.

5 women showed up, 2 brought books from Amazon purchases, cause they weren't sure the bookstore would have books for sale. 2 were Mara and I. Nina bought her copy from us. I had made fussy little cookies to serve at the signing. I had free teeshirts with rhinestones for each purshase. 'F-Word Voter' in babydoll pinks.
To say I was bitterly disappointed...

Talking with Mara later, she told me:
"Serve the Ones that Come to Your Table."

Huh? That threw me. My *most respected Feminist Icon* tells me to serve the ones who come to my table. I had to think about it. A lot.

So, I have turned this around, and upside down and thought about it. I have thought about it for 5 years now. I have tried to turn it into something else, but I can't.

I think about cooking food, and serving people at my table. I think about talking about books and serving the people at my table. I relish and cherish the people who come to my table. I can put food on the table, but I can't make anyone come to the table. The thing I can do is put the best possible stuff on the table.

Serve the ones that come to your table.



*" Joke 'em if they can't take a fuck."

SL Photography

My Second Life friend Nickee Ninetails has entered a photo she created the set for and took, in world. If you have a Flickr account, please go favorite her picture. She wrote about her inspiration for this piece:

If you are interested in peeking at how this set (stage) was built, I'd be happy to show you in world. Just message me!

Here's a link to see Tim Burtons version of this scene
Big Fish Trailer, the first scene is my motivation

...and HERE, is my story

This past March marked the 4th anniversary of the day I gathered with family and friends to say a final goodbye to one of the classiest women I've ever known. Michel and I met when we were 6, did Girl Scouts, school, emotions and life with each other close in heart. We shared our baby stories and love stories and LIFE stories. My friendship with her has outlasted any relationship outside of family.

Her body held an old soul, who seemed to understand things far beyond the 'sight' of others.
She loved deeply.
She fought for what she believed to be right.
She learned to stand up for herself.
She learned how to be completely broken and rebuild.
My respect and love for her has no end.

Michel's legacy is one of honesty, strength, laughter, a love of holidays and of family. Her legacy lives on in those of us who knew her and were ever so fortunate to be graced with her smiles.

When she was so bravely battling the cancer that robbed us of her, she watched Tim Burton's Big Fish over and over again. Somehow it helped her start to say goodbye. She feared not being remembered by her youngest son, but she also told me this movie helped her remember the bright and happy things about life.

She is the inspiration for my Burtonesque choice.

Thank you for your consideration
~Nickee~

A Short Walkabout

Sunny days shouldn't be wasted. Come take a walk!

Just across the street

I'd lament the demise of this great little building, but since the shipyard was festooned with Dino Rossi posters not so long ago, I content myself with muttering about Republican Infrastucture.

The bridge over the Hoquiam River.


The riverfront walkway flowering plum trees in bloom.

Low Tide: things you don't usually see.



Stay Out! This means you!

The footing of the old bridge now serves as a pedestal for this glass boat.

Even during low tide, I don't see how someone got out there to hang this sign: "Mother Nature is Awesome!"

Barge? Car Ferry?

The best damned burgers in town: Al's Humdinger, since 1974.

Department of Book Reports: Gods Gachupines and Gringos: A People's History of Mexico, part 2

I want to talk a little more about this book, because I feel it is an important one. Timely, with all the hysteria surrounding "illegal immigrants" and Border Patrol Mitiltias. A better understanding of Mexico would go a long ways in today's climate. Dano told you about the book last week, and now I'd like to tell you a bit about the publisher.

Editorial Mazatlan has been publishing a popular language for tourists volume sold in Mexico, and this year brought out Gods, Gachupines and Gringos. This isn't a self-published book, but it's getting treated like one. Ingram, the national wholesaler here wants to distribute it through their "Lightening Source" print-on-demand service, even though that will give people a cheap, X-roxed quality volume, rather than distributing the higher quality volumes that Mazatlan already has bound and in their warehouse. That means the book isn't available at local bookstores as we reported last week.

You could help get this book into bookstores by bringing it to the attention of your favorite bookseller, and pointing them at Editorial Mazatlan's website. David will offer his kind help and generous (& freight free!) discount to the trade. Honestly, I haven't seen this kind of support to bookstores since... oh wait... I haven't ever seen it before. If you do tell your local bookstore about the book, please promise to buy it from them and then do so, on a timely basis. Nothing will piss off a bookstore more than a spam campaign of special orders that don't get picked up. The book sits on the shelf and the book buyer will glare at it daily, resenting being tricked. The book will languish for a couple months and then be bitterly returned, never to have seen the sunshine of the new release table. And that's not what we want here, people.

Any clicks you can make on teh googles will be appreciated, to keep this bookreport up at the top of the listings. That will give booksellers & customers enough info to find it for themselves. If you choose to buy it from us, Richard will fulfill the order from the Albuquerque warehouse so it'll be on it's way to you quickly.

I'd like you to see what other folks have to say about Gods, Gachupines and Gringos here and here and here. The book has plenty of acclaim, just not distribution. Let's change that.

cross posted from the General's, of course!