Random Thoughts from a Trip to Princeton

Cindy, my father Nat and I went into Princeton today. It was a shining, clear September day, and people were out in force. We passed a children's book author's show in front of the library. Under a tent were dozens of writers with their books displayed in front, and crowds waiting for copies to be signed. Some had costumes on, others had props, like a woman in a dress with an enormous black bonnet projecting in front. I thought about JK Rowland, imagine if she were there, she's like Godzilla and these people are tiny blips. Her sales dwarf the total of all of these authors. Yet anyone who convinces a publisher to put their words and pictures into paid print has my admiration.

We walked around to some of the shops and then we went to an outdoor restaurant, called Main Street Bistro. There we ran into a friend of my sisters, Joanne Gere, who I've known for a few years but hadn't seen the last few times we visited. She used to live right near my sister Jenny, who is celebrating her 50th birthday tonight.

Joanne is a bundle of ideas and always has people she's meeting who are gonna change the world. She told us about her investment company, that is funding a solar energy company, a man who makes maps of the human genome, and a micro-lending outfit. Cool stuff, really the kind of things that make wise investments.

Then we went to a card store and there I saw a display for DK guides, a revolving rack with dozens of travel guides on it. The man in the store said these guides really fly off the rack, that they are the best selling books in his store. I started wondering if we could sell travel guides from a rack like this in our cafe. To really bring home that travel cafe motif, can we sell these travel guides?