Anniversary, Maybe Next Year

Blog No 115

Last weekend, I went to Anchor Coffee House’s first anniversary party. I was a great event and the place was filled with more people than I thought could fit in the building. Coffee was a dollar (which is why I couldn’t sleep that night) and they had a musician playing most of the day (though they usually have music on Saturdays). The little coffee shop that could had an amazing year, starting with a couple who had a passion for coffee and food, opening a place in (essentially) an industrial plaza on a highway road, and drawing coffee loves, academics, and artists (including me) into the fold. They worked hard and treated people right and had an incredibly successful first year. I was lucky to be part of both the night and the year in question.

The week before I went to the Windsor Independent, Artcite, and Fam Fest, anniversary event. Again, the place was packed (the Beer Market for that one). Great musicians played all night and people celebrated some institutions that have fought to strive in the city, brining art and culture to the people who want it. The Independent graciously had an article about Adventure Worlds last year. It helped spread the word and bring in some submissions. I was lucky to be invited to that event too. It was filled with young, excited, energetic people who were looking for outlets for their creativity while working, often, two jobs (not including the paper, gallery, or festival where they spent much of their time).

Anniversaries are great for physical things, Adventure Words isn’t exactly one of those yet. I pimped the Zine at both events, boldly putting out stacks, handing them to strangers, and coercing people to take them (they’re really free). A few people asked where we get the funding for them. They were stunned, but that’s the commitment we are undertaking. It is something that excitedly draws people to Adventure Words and it is a cool physical object for us to distribute throughout the city. Now that I think of it, looking for some support wouldn’t be too bad an idea. Adventure Worlds is entering its third year as an entity. That is basically the blog where we have been posting stories. Everything else has come after and has been to facilitate the blog. Hopefully this year that will change to a company. It still won’t really be a physical thing, but it will be a shift from the blog to the company, as our core.

The blog will still exist, probably in its same state, but focus will change to publishing our books. While we will take advantage of the ebook market, the change will basically bring Adventure Worlds into the physical, as in we will make physical books that we will sell to people. I suppose the change will be us becoming professionals, expecting to be paid for our work. We dabble in the physical with the zines, but it still comes out of our pocket and is given away for nothing. The company will be something that we would likely want to celebrate in a year. We have always wanted an office, but having an office when you don’t have a company (or any income) is ludicrous. Once we become that entity, it is a goal we can strive to achieve. Build ourselves, make some cash, and buy a physical place where we can physically celebrate and anniversary. It’s still a dream, but it’s one we are working to achieve in the next few months. In a year from then, we may have a party of our own.