Blog No. 288
Just like a couple of weeks ago, this post is going up a matter of hours (like 11, but still) after last night’s event. Since I write it on Tuesdays, the rundown from the first ChiSeries Windsor of 2018 will go up next week. You can assume it was a huge success with a monster turnout. I’m betting the readers were excellent and the music was top notch. Hopefully you were there to see it for yourself. Thankfully, I can tell you about some other things. Starting with the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market. If you haven’t been, the only downside is parking. Since it’s on a Saturday, you will have to pay for parking, but if you’re creative, you should be able to park fairly closely. There were a ton of different vendors for the opening weekend (including me) varying from food and coffee sales, to produce, and various other products. Food is the most common, but the variety is pretty impressive.
I can’t say how any other weekend will go, but it was nice and busy. I have no idea what the numbers were like, but it seemed like there were always folks walking by, checking things out. I will say, the times when the musicians were playing were not the most pleasant. They were too loud and we were too close. It was hard to talk to anyone, let alone make a sale. Speaking of sales, breaking even is priority one, and we did better than that. There was no wad of cash burning a hole in my pocket at the end, but I did get to buy myself some lunch, and that’s always nice. The cost for a table is reasonable as well. I don’t think the coming weeks will be as busy as the first one, and I don’t think there will be that may more (or different) people for the rest of the summer. Maybe on a holiday weekend. Since the people who already bought our books are probably the only ones who will (or likely are the only ones) Christian and I probably won’t go back for some time. The Market runs into the fall, so we may go back, but without new things to sell, making any money will be harder and harder.
Still. It was a good time and I will definitely be back as a visitor. There are some good booths I want to see again, and the area is nice on Saturday mornings. Plus, A Dog’s Breakfast is one of the nicer (if only) place to get breakfast downtown. I like going for breakfast. A lot. With the Market done and the ChiSeries reading taking place last night, the big stretch of events is over. Time to go over the supplies and order more books, and look for new events to go to in the summer. I don’t think there is anything currently on my schedule I have been invited to some things, but they don’t have times yet. I feel like I’m missing something without along list of things looming on the horizon. I guess I’d better focus on writing again. I’m (expectedly) way behind. I do have (as always) other things on the go. The next ChiSeries is a mere two months away, and Episode Two of Flags and High Fives is scheduled to drop tomorrow!
I can’t guarantee the episode will be out, because we are already, technically a week behind. But I can’t imagine it not happening. Arvin and I still have the newsletter and article to wrap up, but we’ve settled on posting the article the following week anyway. It spreads out the posts and gives people more content on a more regular basis. This one was a handful and so big that we had to cut it into two parts. Mostly because the thing we tried to learn in a month, we didn’t quite get down. I thing the extra episode will be worthwhile, though (and entertaining) so I’m not worried. I am worried that we still won’t have time to accomplish our goal, but no one said we had to succeed. We only promised we’d try.
Since this is episode two, it’s a little more streamlined than the last one. We are still perfecting the new format, but it isn’t based on one big interview, so it was a little easier to handle. The final quality isn’t as good as last time, though, since I edited this one and I don’t have as good a handle on Garageband as Arvin does. I’m also not as dedicated to perfection as he is either. Man, he works hard. Either way, look for it tomorrow and let me know what you think. Also, I hope you enjoyed the ChiSeries Reading last night. The next one will be in July. It’ll still be at Phog because they are so easy to work with, it’s free, and the atmosphere is perfect for genera readings. Okay. That’s all.
Ben Van Dongen 