eBAY's latest changes have brought the soup to a boil once more. The pros and cons are being argued/conversed back and forth in the blogs, with loads of conjecturing, a few facts and a lot of SWAG's. (Scientific-Wild-Assed-Guesses) Only time will tell what the over all effect will be in general, but what appears to be certain, is that many sellers are very unhappy.

Regarding feedback, the changes are interesting. No longer will sellers be able to hold a buyer hostage with feedback. Buyers will be able to rate sellers honestly, without fear of retaliation. Even the most jaded of you must admit that this was a very nasty trend. There were a number of disreputable sellers hiding behind mountains of false feedback, some of them downright abusive. The pendulum now swings the other way for good or ill.

Does this mean that eBAY should have eliminated negative feedback on the buyers? Heck no! How about double blind feedback? Both the buyer and the seller are required to leave feedback, but neither can see it until both have entered it. This prevents retaliatory feedback, but still allows buyers and sellers to rate each other.

Should neutrals be considered negative? Heck No! I got a neutral for conditions that most sellers have experienced. That being the late delivery of packages due to problems with the carrier. Is that our fault? Heck No! Should we be dinged for it? I don't think so. My customer gave me an excellent neutral and highly recommened me for future business. This was a customer who hadn't even received his product at the time he left the neutral. The package was considered lost. But I kept him informed and refunded his money in full. Then I added free shipping to his next purchase. Some time later his item arrived, only 15 days later than the guaranteed delivery date. I had him keep it, no payment required. He was deliriously happy. I get dinged for that kind of service? Definitely not right. I believe neutrals should be exactly that. Since buyers do not have to fear retaliatory feedback, why can't they leave negative feedback where appropriate and neutral likewise. Neutrals should not count against ones score/percentage.

What about the minimum BIN prices in stores vs auctions? Boy did they get that wrong. Much of my business revolved around small priced items such as sports cards, books, and comic books. Many items sold for as little as .10 cents. I'm not going to pay ten, twenty or thirty cents to try and auction off  these items. If they don't sell the first time out I lose money, and in some cases, I'd lose money if they sold right away. Now, since the value of the items is less than a dollar, I can't put them in my store. This has rendered much of my inventory unmarketable on eBAY. Obviously I'll have to find other ways to market those items. I understand eBAY wanting to prevent people from avoiding eBAYFVF fees, but that is exactly what an auction does if the item sells for only a penny. Of course they are charging you for listing so what do they care? I think I would rather have seen a minimum bid placed on both stores and auctions, say .25 cents. That way eBAY would make money on every transaction. Sure, people could still avoid FVF fees, but they were doing that already and eBAY wasn't getting anything but listing fees, which is pretty much how it stands now. However, store owners are now being punished for failures that occurred in auctions.

Despite my wishes, it all comes down to this. eBAY didn't ask me what I wanted and I am left to wonder why. I thought I was part of the community, but as it turns out, I guess I'm just part of another dysfunctional family. I suppose that's the good news...I got more family..but it's going to be a bitch trying to remember all of your birthdays.

When is the last time you read a book THAT YOU WANTED TO READ? Why did you read it? To laugh, cry, for information, to read about a celebrity you'll probably never meet, and whose life choices won't affect yours? Reading used to be a sign of good breeding, but only when you read what society thought you should. Comics were sneered at, yet these simple little booklets contained stories, morals and sagas that spanned generations. Superman, Batman, Flash, The Fantastic Four, and numerous others, guided us through our youth. All of them are still in print to this day. We learned many things from comics, how to behave, what is right, what is wrong, but we also learned that Sea Monkeys really weren't and that X-Ray glasses didn't do what we had hoped they would, which was probably a good thing or the whole morals issue would probably have been tossed right out the window.

How about today's comics? In addition to those we grew up with, a whole new group of comics has risen, attempting to fill the gap between the Leave it to Beaver days of yore and the Lost Boy's of today. However, even our heroes of old had issues, that as children we might not have understood. Superman longed for his original family and home. Batman was a dark figure, scarred by the guilt that it was his fault that his parents had died. Superheroes, like movie stars, are at heart, nothing more than people in extraordinary circumstances. It was disappointing to find out in the end, that they were only human. Unable to reconcile their own lives. Even the Amazing Spiderman couldn't save Gwen Stacy. Sorry for those of you who only saw the movie. Peter Parker dated Gwen Stacy first. She was eventually killed by through the actions of the Green Goblin. It wasn't until much later that Peter dated Mary Jane who, by the way, did not live next door. Parker felt a never ending guilt over Gwen's death as he did his Uncles, always wondering if things would have been different, if he had acted differently, or at all.

In newer comics, such as Preacher, Jesse comes from the ultimate dysfunctional family. They would punish him by locking him in a coffin and tossing it into a pond/lake for hours on end, with only a small air hose and the imagined presence of John Wayne for company. In SCUD...a story about a vending machine disposable assassin, the hero must come to terms with his own mortality upon discovering that if he completes his assignment, he will self-destruct, but if he doesn't complete it, his assignment might kill him. Todays comics, frequently referred to as graphic novels and for good reason, cover the gamut. From the superheroes we love, to the depths of horrors that we can't even begin to imagine and once seen, can't be forgotten. Whether you read Archie, Batman, Fantastic Four, Strange Worlds, Preacher, Strangers in Paradise, Cherry, XXXenophile, Nightbreed or Hellraiser, you're in for a ride. The question is, who's driving? BWA HA HA HA HAAA!

Remember those exciting books? The adventures of Dick, Jane and Spot. I've heard that the stories of Dick and Jane have been modernized. Has anyone seen this. Perhaps the stories are now about Dick and Robert, or Barb and Jane...perhaps they are now Ricardo and Jane and Spot is now a cat, I just don't know. Perhaps Dick and Jane grew up, got married and are living in some metropolis. Work Dick! Work Jane! Spot is home all alone. Maybe now we'll learn how Spot earned his name. Bad Spot, bad!

Then there was Dr. Seuss. Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Hoo, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas and other classics. Will they ever update those books? I certainly hope not.

Does anyone know if the Dick and Jane series were released in other countries/languages. I can only assume so, and that the names of the characters were altered to blend in with the scenery, so to speak. Can anyone vouch for this? Are Dick and Jane obselete, or have the stories been updated to reflect modern life as opposed to idylic values of the past. Perhaps Dick is a latch-key kid and Jane might be bolemic. Should they update Dick and Jane, or should they keep them the same and let them die a dignified death, an example of the way things used to be. Will Dick remain a Dick? What do you think?

Do you remember that book/comic/movie/show that you loved as a child/teen? How about now? I used to love The Monkee's, Get Smart and Battlestar Galactica. And I still do. However things go much further back than that for me. I remember black and white television with shows featuring the likes of George Burns, Carol Burnett, Red Skeleton, and the Mouseketeers. I even remember a few shows that had puppets with strings and no I'm not talking Team America, although that movie (not for the feint of heart) spoofed the genre quite well. I still love the original Maverick.

My favorite comics were Sgt Rock, The Amazing Spiderman, and DareDevil. Oh how I wanted to have their skills.  To be tuff like Sgt. Rock, to have the snappy comebacks that Spidey tossed about so casually, and to have the extra hyper sensitive hearing of DareDevil. I began to read sci-fi and began to expand my horizons along with my dreams. Asimov and Heinlein were interesting and intense. Then came fantasy. The Hobbit was a real eye opener and was finally turned into a great series of film.

Things I read about in my youth now exist. Did books spawn technology? Did the imagination of those who dared to dream become a reality, or did reality create the dreams? Maybe they are symbiotic in nature. Perhaps neither can exist without the other.

Recapture these moments from your childhood and share them with your children, grandchildren,  and friends. Buy a book, a comic book, a graphic novel, or a movie and make sure the next generation, or three, is exposed to the stories that inspired you. Whether it's The Yellow Submarine or The Notebook, The Foundation Series or the Magic of Xanth, Batman or The Fantastic Four, whether you side with the heroes or the villains, buy the one thing that feeds your imagination, instead of stifling it. Read/dream about new worlds. Get your pulse pounding, get  your imagination pumped up and then share your experience with someone else. Foster a new generations interest in the timeless classics like Archie, or toss them into the horrific world of Clive Barker's Hellraiser. Let them enjoy the fantasy of the Books of Magic or the romance of Strangers in Paradise.  No matter what you choose, you win. Your imagine is rekindled and possibly that of a new generation is begun. Hail Atlantis!

Note: Please feel free to leave comments, or better yet, shop my store for various imagination building materials. I, however, will be asleep and, per chance, I shall dream. Enjoy may you enjoy every moment of this, and every day to come. Peace!

There are far too many bigoted and hateful people in the world. I do not know of a single country that can be considered utopian, or even close to it. I do not know of a single country that has eradicated famine or disease. I do not know of any country whose people are completetly tolerant of others regardless of their race, religion, or sexual preferences. People hate people for a variety of reasons, most of them completely unfounded. These people will mention skin color, politics, sexual preference, religious doctrine, world opinion, etc....and the sad thing is, they all believe they are right, despite the opposing opinions of the rest of the world. It doesn't matter where you live, or what you believe, half the world believes differently than you. Actually, given the current population of China it's almost safe to say, that if you don't live in China, the most of the world doesn't believe as you do. Is the world headed for some Bladerunner type existence with a little bit of Minority Report thrown in for good measure?

Humans have great potential for good and ill.. We can save the world, or destroy it. Mostly, I think we destroy. We don't look beyond are own immediate needs. We forget that there are others, in our own cities, in our own countries, and in other countries, even in our own homes, who are in dire need. However, instead of helping them in some way, we choose instead, to berate others, to spread the blame, to point the finger and say...this is your fault.

Do you have a roof over your head, running water, electricity, heat, food? Then you are extremely fortunate. There are many who lack those simple necessities. The next time you go to condemn someone else, try pointing the finger at yourself and ask the question, "What have I done to improve the world in a positive manner?" Please note that merely opening your mouth and complaining/blaming/cursing/guessing/suggesting/etc...doesn't count. What have you done? Do you vote? Have you donated food/shelter/clothing/time to anyone or anything? Have you promoted good will through your actions, or have you only fostered hate, ignorance and other negative thoughts/emotions. If you think I'm talking about you, for good or ill, then I must have struck a chord of some type. If  you feel guilty, it is probably with good reason. If you don't feel guilty, then either you have contributed in a positive manner, or perhaps you have no morale compass to guide you and therefore you existence provides nothing useful to the world. Well, that's not true. Even the most vile person is a role model and should show the rest of us how not to act/be.

No, I'm not perfect. I hate people who hate...which is a bit ironic. I don't live the perfect life...I'm not perfect and doubt that I ever will be, but I strive to be good, to be a positive role model and hope that others will do the same. I act...and I hope. Perhaps the rest of the world will do the same. Until then...