Today at Logos

I didn't write a "Today at Logos" last week because I had a total of three customers in four hours!  Even my friend didn't come in  Must have been the rain threat (though it didn't rain all afternoon).

However, one of the customers who did come in (but didn't buy anything) was the famous Bruce, seen here at the left.  I was SHOCKED that he was wearing a green blanket over his white outfit--I'd never seen him in anything but white....but it was cold out.  He also did not have a hat on, but you can see the white shirt over the used-to-be white sweater (which is in tatters, if you see it by itself) and the white paints.  He is also holding a green umbrella.  He's actually such a nice man, but I mention him so often, I thought I would share this photo so people can have a sense of who he is.

The day started so slowly, I thought it was going to be a very dull day, but somewhere around 3:30 things got very busy and it turned out being a really busy, good day.

The very tall guy was back again, browsing thru the bargain books.  I should mention that the top of those carts hits me at around my waist.  He's such a nice fellow, even if he didn't buy anything.

A large rotund guy in a batman shirt was looking for Freida Kallo.  He didn't know if he wanted her paintings or her biography and kept checking his iPhone.  Ultimately he didn't find what he wanted.

A young man in a Jesuit High sweatshirt came in asking if I could give him change for $10.  He said there was a homeless man he passed and he wanted to give him something.  I was impressed.

A guy with a San Francisco sweatshirt in black and orange came in, I thought, talking to himself, all the while he walked around the store.  Before he left (without buying anything) I saw the earphone in his ear, so I guess he was  talking on the phone.  Used to be you knew when you saw people having animated conversation alone you knew they were a bit tetched.  Now you can never tell!

A very hairy man, with bushy black curly hair that met his very bushy black beard spent some time looking through sheet music, but didn't find what he was looking for.

A woman with a protuberant belly looked pregnant, but seemed quite old to be pregnant.  Then when she left I looked at her again and she was either very pregnant or very ill.  All the bet to her, even if she didn't buy anything.

A couple came in looking for Moby Dick, but didn't know who wrote it.  I told them it was  Melville and they went and found it, but I guess they felt $5 for a ~1,000 page book was too much, so they didn't buy it.

An 83 year old woman (she told me her age) in a bright purple jacket with purple clogs was looking for a book on baseball.  She found one and when she bought it, she asked what I was reading.  It was a book on Alzheimers and mentioned my mother's dementia.  She asked how old she was and when I said she was 96, she said she had earned the right to have Alzheimers (which was a weird way of putting it!)

It was purple day.  A woman in purple tights with black leg warmers and a black jacket bought two kids books including The Odyssey for kids.  "I know he reads.  Maybe the adventure will appeal to him."

A woman came in the front door, walked to the back of the store, turned around and walked out again.  She didn't seem to even glance at the books.  Very strange.

Two older gay guys came in to find out who was reading at the poetry reading tonight.  I didn't know, but told them to check the front table.  They did, and then left, saying they would be back later.

They were followed by an older couple, bundled up and huddled over against the cold were also going to come to the poetry reading later and were looking for DeVere's pub, where they could have dinner.  DeVere's is where Walt goes before picking me up, so I am quite familiar with how to get there from Logos.

My friend showed up at 4:44 and bought most of the books on the display table in front, all three about some kind of history.  It was his largest purchase in awhile and he handed me $40.  In the past, when I was first dealing with him, for some reason his was the ONLY purchase that I could never get the change right for.  He started giving me the exact change, but this time he was pleased that I was able to make the correct change for him...and even commented on it.  I've improved in 3-4 years.

A woman bought some bargain books and a couple of regular books, including "Brave New World."  We discussed that book and 1984 and how they compared to life today...how they pretty much predicted the world in which we live today, but the difference is that while Big Brother is watching us 24/7, thanks to iPhones, Instagram, Facebook and other social media, as well as security cameras everywhere, we have found a way to make us enjoy having Big Brother watching us and make it not seem as ominous as it did in the books (though, in reality, it is!)

A whole flock of people came in with Susan, all somehow related to the poetry reading (the 2 poets and their ?wives? plus others)  Two of the women attend Capital Stage and we talked theater.  They suggest I check out a theater up in Grass Valley, which is entirely too far for me to want to drive on a late night to see a play.

An Asian guy browsed the store for so long I had forgotten he was there until he bought a book on Audubon animals.

A woman brought in a book from the bargain books and said she wanted to "start a pile" so left it on the desk while she browsed but I never did see her again  She might have purchased after I left, though.

The poetry crowd left and Susan started setting up for the reading later.  Walt arrived and the two of us left to come home.  To my surprise, when I had my follow-up letter from Susan today (she always writes to let us know how much we had taken in on our day), this turned out to have been a very good money day, despite the number of people who didn't buy anything (I left out a lot of them in this report).