is chicago.

since starting this little trip, i have mostly been holed up trying to hammer out some lingering work and catching the odd improv show that my friend and host-for-the-weekend, emily, has running. so it was a great treat to get out today (cubs game and associated madness notwithstanding) and do my first shop visit. chicago comics was one of the first stores that ever carried my stuff. since this is the midwest, this makes the staff there feel like friendly distant relatives. i could say that about most of my chicago shops, really (although some owners and managers are not so distant). i guess it's just this town - or the people i have had the good fortune of happening upon within it.

all this is to say that chicago comics has a hefty new selection of loose buttons to shoot some colour and joy into your chicagoan lives.

on this visit, i also became strangely aware of the on-counter display boxes that slicker companies provide to their vendors - chicago comics carries things like small art toys, art trading cards and the like. it's very sweet that they made me my own display box out of cardboard and business cards (and, somehow, this ramshakle aesthetic seems to fit my ramshakle approach to things) but i started to feel that i should be extending that kind of service to shops like theirs. emma, be forewarned: you will be getting a call from me when we are both back in toronto for advice and guidance on this topic.