All I wanted to do was spend a nice, relaxing day, reading and researching in the Border's bookstore cafe. Was that too much to ask?

Well, yes, actually, I guess it is! I'm sitting here surrounded by more people than I thought you could fit in the entire Border's store, let alone just the upstairs cafe. I'm perched at one of those small tables, built for two but barely big enough for one man with a medium chai and a few books. My shoulder bag, hanging on my chair, has just been brushed up against for the third time in less than five minutes. It's not as if they don't have enough room to get by. It's that these people are clueless, wandering around, mesmerized by the bargain book table filled with children's books and non-Martha Stewart cooking books that no one bought.

Someone just hit me again.

Then again, maybe these browsers are hypnotized and made dizzy by the onslaught of the live music provided at the cafe today. One woman, one man. She's playing the guitar, part folksy, part jazzy, part alternative. He's playing the sax, all jazzy. A mixture of covers and original tunes. They're surrounded by...

Someone just hit me again.

They're surrounded by what looks like groupies, all nodding their heads back and forth to the music. Not because they want to, but probably because they feel they have to. Oh, what the hell do I know. Maybe this duo is fantastic. I'm just not in the mood to have loud music pumped into my eardrums while I read and write and get bumped by too many strangers. I usually have a choice of where to sit, but today I actually had to wait off to the side until someone left. Of course, others were waiting too, ready to pounce on the first table that looked empty. There's a table! Damn, someone got their first. I finally got this seat, but only because I was lucky enough to be standing next to it. No one seems to be moving today. Is this how it is here on Sundays?

That's one of the beauties of being a freelance writer with a flexible schedule. You can come to the bookstore during the week, when it's much less crowded. Same with grocery stores. It's interesting how bookstores are no longer just the place to go to buy a book or browse the racks. Now it's an event place, a place to "go," a place to see and be seen. It's the Sardi's of the 21st century. "If you build a cafe, they will come."

It finally snowed. A white blanket on cars and homes, temps in the 20s, wind the ferocity of needles thrown at you by Pedro Martinez. But it feels...right. At least it feels like January, whereas December felt like late September. But I want a big snowstorm. A "don't go out, schools are closed, we'll have live updates every half hour" storm!

I'm ending Channel Surfer Journal. Enough is enough. Not that I didn't enjoy it these five years. It's been incredibly rewarding and fun, but I've just become much too busy with other writing (that I actually get paid for!) and my novel and other projects, and it just takes up too much time. But I'll have a big Fifth Anniversary Issue soon, and I'll put the best pieces in the archives when I get a chance.

Speaking of, if you haven't browsed the archives in a while, take a look. I've added some stuff from my Morrock News Digest column. Tripod changed their site and deleted my links. I'll have those back next week. As always, drop me a line if you like what you see.

And keep all the other comments to yourself!

--Bob