Pendell

There is no streaming service on this planet that's a "home" for anything. We've seen that even if the company behind the streaming service owns the media on it, they can just take it away for tax reasons or to avoid paying residuals (Disney+, Max), and everything else is licensed temporarily and all it takes is for the streamer to decide they don't want to renew that license and then it's Gone. Yes, even movies you "bought" from iTunes, Amazon, or any other digital storefront. There was drama just a few months ago over Sony announcing they'd delete purchased Discovery content from users' libraries, and I found it both bizarre and irritating that nobody seemed to address that that the reason was not just laziness or malice on Sony's part - but a business decision to not renew an expensive licensing contract. Which they changed course on for now because the press was so bad, but then people pretended like the issue was Over and Resolved, but it isn't - I guarantee next time that contract is up, they will just not renew it without announcing it.

You want to see The Butterfly Effect again? It's not on any streaming service? A quick Google reveals the Blu-ray is (in USD) $15 on Amazon, a double-feature Blu-ray of it and the sequel on eBay for $12, and if you don't care about HD, the DVD is like $6. It's not a hard movie to find. If you can afford multiple streaming services, you can afford a small collection of your favorite titles on disc, and it's a good investment if you like your favorite media not magically disappearing overnight.

If there was a really good stationery store anywhere in Texas I'd be a frequent customer. I'm reminded of the lovely Vanness Inc in Little Rock, Arkansas. Hole in the wall shop in the middle of nowhere, just a basic show floor for a primarily online shop, and yet one of the most lovely stores I've ever been in - rows and rows of display cases full of fountain pens ranging from the cheapest to the most luxury, two walls of shelves full of inks I've never even heard of, and the entire middle area densely packed shelves of some of the most unique notebooks and stationery I've ever seen. I bought a ream of Japanese Typewriter paper there. And like 4 different Japanese letter sets from Midori. And there's just nothing like that in Texas.

There's Archer Paper Goods in Dallas, but that's even smaller than Vanness and most of their inventory is greeting cards, their selection of pens is pitiful and I don't think they even carry fountain pens or ink. Any other "paper goods" store I can find is either specifically arts and crafts a lá Michael's, or for some reason specifically wedding invitations. I guess that's a booming business?

Anyways my dream in life is unironically to open a hybrid stationery and video store. Okay maybe two separate stores, but I think if the space was the right size you could hybridize, and even though the two product categories are so vastly different, 1) that would be a part of the charm, and 2) if the selection is good enough then you'd still attract people only interested in one half or the other.

Like one side of the building is a selection of boutique 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD titles for rent and purchase, plus of course we'd sell region free Blu-ray players and the like, and the other side of the building is just a replica of that Vanness store I went to. I'd make it work, fuck it. I'd pour my heart and soul into a place like that.

hmm. no, yeah, okay. hmm. hey russell what the fuck was that.