I have bought many books at Printers Inc. over the years. During the time I worked in Orange County, I made a point of visiting the place a time or two, just because it was likely the clerks would remember me. When I was gathering signatures to get on the ballot here as a Green Party County Council person, one of my signatures came from a woman who used to work there. It made a lot of sense to me that she would live within walking distance of her job. My kind of people.

This was the first local place that really appealed to me as a destination for a walk that wasn't a restaurant. Before it became a bookstore that was open late, it was a dusty antique store that was hardly ever open. That was also before they widened the sidewalk considerably. That was a nice change.

This was the first business to buy lots of my MEND YOUR FUELISH WAYS stickers. At the time it was the height of the Gulf War, and all I could think about was how much change we needed. When the woman behind the counter got 25 of them, it gave me a feeling I was part of a community. She put them on the post card rack by the counter, and they sat there for a long time. Seeing them sitting there for week after week, slowly wilting under the influence of the laws of gravity, was a sobering experience. It was almost a relief when they got put in the back room.

The flat guy standing in the doorway is Ernest Hemingway. For a few years back in the 1980's he was gone. The rumor was that he hung out in somebody's living room until they got tired of him or had to move. The easiest way to get rid of the thing was to put it where they found it, right outside the store. Sometimes I wonder if the new owners of the place will commit unofficial landmark rights abuse.

Above is my favorite typo in Mountain View. Around here it's not too hard for people with common names to find streets with their names on them. For me, finding the string I respond to is more of a challenge.