i finished the last word of a book i'd been writing for months - finished writing it, that is, not revising, rewriting, editing, etc. - but at that point i thought i'd go for a walk. figured i'd walk a mile downtown and check in at the bookstore. the bookstore is small, indie, very well kept, and in financial trouble, but it's still there, and looks like it will be there for the upcoming shopping season.

well, that walk, yesterday, about a mile and a half maybe, was way more difficult than it should have been. this morning i was all creaky-boned and decided to do it again, and i did. still difficult! ankles creaky, huffing and puffing, that kind of thing. i need to get out there every day until i get back some mobility.

it's a beautiful walk down prairie street - fine old houses line it, and some are in much better condition than others. an old gentleman who wrote a book about mexican laborers (i might be wrong about this) lives in one of them, and there are several other establishments of interest on the walk, culminating with downtown itself, where the bookstore is. once again, the main proprietor wasn't there, but that's not so bad; i told the guy i was in it for the walk anyway, which was true. i engaged him in a conversation about judy's which is right behind him. then i turned around and walked home. it began drizzling. i put the books under my jacket.

one of the books, i intended to give to the author if i saw him. i did see him but i was way back at the stop light and he was getting out of his car. maybe i could have yelled out at him, or knocked on his door, but i didn't do either. i'll find him. i plan on giving him a book and maybe finding out more about his.

at the bookstore one can become a "local author" if one fills out the right kind of contract.

i figured that if most of my life was about writing and being an author, i should make these walks be about writing and being an author.

which brings me to judy's. i live on the same block as judy's restaurant, made famous by social media clips on facebook, youtube, tiktok and others. i mean really famous. i can tell people in california or australia that i live near judy's and often they know what i'm talking about. but judy's has done something curious. her pancake house is on my block, yes, in the historic district of galesburg, but she opened another chinese-cuisine restaurant downtown there behind the bookstore, and she apparently cooks in both of them. so she works mornings up here on broad, and evenings down there on prairie, then she makes movies all day long apparently. her movies, clips really, are very clever, use a little bit of trickery, are kind of harmless and silly, and are extremely well-known.

one day i went in there and offered to write her a book. i think she's a social media pioneer and, as a promoter of galesburg, a rock star. before she found social media her restaurant wasn't doing so well. now, it's packed. and it's all people from out of town.

it's a new chapter for me in making myself known around galesburg. as a door dasher i had some fame, but this is quite different.