esigned for the exchange of ideas
Inviting environs
promote thought
By Anne Steyer
Senior Reporter T
Mike Argello sells ideas, and he
does it in the most comfortable atmo
sphere possible.
Argello, a lifetime Lincoln native,
features used and rare books at Cre
ative Ideas, 1233 F St., a shop he owns
that is filled with literature, couches,
plants, and, as he said, ideas.
“Everything we sell has an idea,
and we share ideas in our meetings,”
he said.
Creative Ideas shares a great deal
in common with other used-book
stores: comfy furniture and shelves
burgeoning with books of all sizes.
But it also offers a bit of the unusu
al: a coffee bar, an extensive self-help
section, incense and role-playing
games.
Creative Ideas also sells new “re
mainders” — excess copies of first
run books bought from printing com
panies. The books are new, but al
ready have made their major push at
the regular bookstores.
The new additions improved the
store, but “we built our store on used
and rare books,” Argello said.
Creative Ideas concentrates on four
main book areas: science-fiction/hor
ror, self-help, literature classics and
art books.
But the store docs offer the usual
variety — everything a new book
store offers—including classics, trav
el, health, and more. But there is one
glaring omission: romance novels.
“I’m sure some of the classics fall
into ‘romance,' but 1 stay away from
Harlequins and the historical romanc
es — you can get overloaded with
those/
An overload of comfort, however,
is not a problem. The store is filled
Travis Heying/DN
Mike Argello is the owner of Creative Ideas. The store specializes in used books but also sells a large variety of other Items.
with different sitting areas. Plants, big
comfy, mismatched furniture and
overstaffed couches seem situated
behind every comer.
Just past one such chair is a large
collection of books on the Civil War.
The store doesn’t have a large collec
tion of history books, but Argello said
that was a deliberate move.
“Other area stores have very strong
history sections,” he said. “We chose
to concentrate on other areas.”
One of those areas is science fic
tion and horror, which Argello said
was the store's “bread and butter."
"About 70 percentof Lincoln reads
sci-fi ami horror," he said.
Argello said he hoped to expand
the store’s section of Nebraska litera
ture and Nebraska authors in the fu
ture, but expansion is a difficult task
here.
“It’s difficult to get people to pert
with their copies,” he said.
Purchasing problems keep Argello
on the road much of the time. He said
he spent time traveling to Omaha and
towns in Iowa looking for books. While
the trip may seem relatively short, he
said, ne would like to be more self
sufficient.
Argello said he tried to keep his
prices reasonable, and usual ly marked
books at half-price, except of course,
old books that “go for many times the
face amount**—such as first editions
of Stephen King novels.
Argello said he was proud of Cre
ative ideas’ diversified sales, from
used/rare books to new books, games
and incense.
“We’rcdifTerentfromalotof stores.
See CREATIVE on 10
courtesy 20th Contury Fox
Elijah Wood watches as Macaulay Cufcln plays nice with the doggy in “The Good
Son.”
Mac s back, but this time he7s bad
FI IILIM
u
Okay, parents, let’s see if we
can get this right the first time:
“The Good Son” is NOT a movie
for children.
Yes, it has Macaulay Culkin,
who played the perpetually-cute
. Kevin in the “Home Alone” films.
It also has Macaulay Culkin
smokingacigarette. It has Macau! ay
Culkin using the “f-word.” It has
Macaulay Culkin causing a 10-car
pileup as a prank. It has Macaulay
Culkin manipulating more people
than a presidential candidate.
'Do we all understand? This
movie has about as much in com
mon with the “Home Alone” mov
i \'
ics as “Jurassic Park” does with
Barney, the annoying purple dino
saur.
‘‘The Good Son” opens with
Mark (Elijah Wood,‘‘Radio Flyer"
and “Forever Young”) suffering
the loss of his mother. He is sent to
stay with relatives while his father
closes a business deal out of the
country.
Mark meets his cousin Henry
(Culkin), and the two begin a friend
ship like that of most 11 and 12
See SON on 10
Clean-air espresso bar
brews up unique flavor
There’s a new place in town to get
your caffeine fix.
Caffe Caper, 245 N. 13th St., just
south of Taco Bell, has opened its
doors to serve the cafficnds of Lin
coln.
But the Caffe Caper’s owners,
Becky Nelson and Jan Havranek, want
people to know that their shop is not
a traditional coffee house.
“We don’t want to be known as a
coffee house. We’re really an ‘espres
so bar,’" Havranek said.
The Caffe’s menu consists of both
hot and cold beverages. They offer
traditional espresso bar coffees, such
as cappuccino and latfe, as well as
Caffe Caper originals like Hot Fla
vored Moo—hot chocolate, espres
so, and steamed milk. They also offer
a variety of other selections such as
Italian sodas, tea and spiced cider.
The menu also offers a wide selec
tion of edibles, including muffins,
brownies, cookies and cheesecakes
—which Havranek said was the store’s
speciality.
The Caffe Caper differs in other
ways from traditional coffee houses.
-II
We don’t want to be
known as a coffee
house. We’re really
an ‘espresso bar.’
— Havranek
co-owner. Caffe Caper
-ft _
The atmosphere is modem art dcco
with a color scheme of black, grey,
blue and mauve. The walls arc still
slightly bare, but an artist is currently
working on that problem, Havranek
said.
“(We) plan to have a mural on one
wall and a picture on the other. The
artwork will be spectacular,” she said.
Nelson and Havranek said their
goal in opening the espresso bar was
to “offer a place for people who feel
out of place at other coffee shops.”
“Our average customers are 30
years old and up, but we also want
college students,” Havranek said
The business offers yet another
alternative to the average coffee house:
clean air.
“We really wanted to offer a non
smoking atmosphere,” Havranek said.
The Caffe Caper is open from 7
a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thurs
day, from 7 a.m. to midnicht Friday
and Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. Sunday.