The Southern Califronia house is on the market and it’s all systems go for a Portland move this summer. We are going up to Portland this week for another visit. We need to take a closer look at neighborhoods and schools. Since Lisa does not like to fly and driving would take two full days, we decided to take the train. Amtrak gets you there in just over a day and costs about the same as gas. Not having to drive is a big plus as well.

I have always liked train travel. Even though the state of the rail system in the US is pretty bad, especially in the west, I still connect with the romance of the train. I am excited to see the government finally putting some money into improving trains, even the promise of modern high speed rail in some places. The military seems to have an infinate amount of money to spend on Iraq and Afganistan, not that it’s not important, but an investment in rail is an infrastructure investment that would pay off for generations.

There are indications now that Amazon may try to make a new Kindle with color and multi-touch technology, bringing it much closer to an iPad. I think it’s very dangerous for Amazon to rush headlong into a competition with Apple on their own turf. Maybe the smart play is to remain the dominant player in black and white e-ink technology and let Apple have the rest. Amazon’s strength has always been traditional black and white books, not magazines or comics. Here’s an even smarter play, make a full iPad version of the Kindle reader. Amazon needs to remember their focus, they are a bookstore not a hardware manufacturer. By making a great Kindle reader for the iPad, they stand to sell more books from their online bookstore, even possibly cutting into Apple’s store.

2010 will be THE year of the tablet computer as Sony has also said they want to enter this market. No doubt there will be others. 2010 could also be THE year traditional publishing makes the turn to digital distribution. People have been predicting the death of traditional publishing for years now. These new tablet machines go a long way to bringing that prediction to pass.

I love it when someone makes content that expresses exactly how you feel about a situation. Democrats have been so incredible wimpy and inept this year, letting Republicans and conservative pundits bully them around. It’s one of the reasons I am on the hunt for a new political party or more likely political philosophy, independent of party as I am thinking more and more when you get yourself into a “party” situation, that’s when things start to fall apart.

As of today you can buy my house and I wish you would. We have been planning this relocation for a long time now and we are finally on the verge of taking the first big step. So far things are on track and it still looks good for a summer move to Portland, OR.

Ironically it’s been raining like crazy here in Southern California. We haven’t had rain like this in literally years. Getting us ready for Oregon I guess. I actually like a little rain and it’s been far to dry here lately. If you or someone you know is interested, give me a jingle and let’s make a deal.

Image via Wikipedia

One of the things I truly love about these stores is that they are so niche and the staff really knows there stuff. It reminds me of small, independent book stores of old. Today, the small bookstore is all but gone, replaced by the megastores. These stores are huge and cater to the masses. The staff is friendly enough but you’re really not going to be able to get down into an in depth conversation about a particular kind of book and what they recommend. No fault on them, it’s the nature of the beast. But comic book stores are small and dedicated to a particular crowd and the staff really knows their comics which they are happy to talk about. At the same time, I found no snobbery or ill will toward newcomers. There is a passion and excitement at these stores and that breads sales.

Comic stores are also unique in that they specialize in a product that has not yet been duplicated digitally. With all the fancy eBook readers and web tablets, no one has produced a device that can replicate a full color comic in all it’s glory. This puts them in a better position than the rest of the publishing industry which is daily being eaten alive by digital technology.

I have started a new page on the site here where you can keep track of how I am doing. I will list the current book being read and all the past books. Feel free to jump in and join the fun! I would love to hear from you if you do. I am also going to try to post short reviews of all the books as well. Being a dad, I am trying to encourage my 1o year old Virginia to join me. She will be reading a book every two weeks and if she is successful we may record a podcast together to talk about our books and what we enjoyed about them.

I am going to try to mix up the books as best possible. Some business titles, some fiction, some non-fiction that is not business related. If you have anything to suggest, please let me know in the comments and I’ll consider it.

Listen To The Show!

With all the physical activity you would think my weight would be doing well but we have not been able to do the Lindora thing very well at all. It’s just not even close to our regular routine and I am so wore out and busted, I have nothing left to fight the late night munchies, my ultimate downfall. I haven’t gained much, but I’m suck at 201. I really wanted to get below 200 with some room to spare and we only have one week left of weight loss. We need so badly to finish this house prep project and get back to as much of a normal life as possible.

I’ve never been to a chiropractor but I am seriously considering it when this is done. My body is wrecked. It makes me feel old. The body just does not take punishment as well when you’re over 40.