Thursday, August 30, 2012

Flipping My Wig

So, I bought this last Saturday at the warehouse sale:

Yes, I know it's just a Styrofoam wig head, but I'm going to do a post on it anyway.  The warehouse sale was held in a closed costume and novelty shop, so I think they used the wig heads for, well, wigs that were a part of costume.  If they were part of some massive collection of heads, well, I don't really want to know about it.

There was a bag of heads and a sign that said the heads were a dollar each, unless you wanted to buy them all.  In that case, they would be 75 cents each.  The sign also noted that there were 18 of them all together.  I cannot imagine anyone outside of Dolly Parton needing that many wig heads, and I'm sure hers are all sequiny and stuff.  (Or maybe Hedwig...)

For the record, I got just one head.  I bought it partly because I thought it was kind of neat.  I like to sell interesting things in my Peddler's Mall booth, and this fits the bill for me.  I also got it because it reminded me a little bit of my mother.


Before you get the wrong idea, let me state that my mother did not have a head made of Styrofoam!  Nor did she have a lot of wigs.  She did have one when I was a kid, but she only wore it a few times.  I don't think she really liked it.  I'm pretty sure I ended up using it with a Halloween costume at some point, but I don't really know what happened to it.

My mother was a rather unique individual with a strange sense of humor.  Every so often, she would declare that she had some odd, made up disease.  She got a nosebleed one Christmas and declared that she had stigmata.  Seriously.  It really didn't matter to her that no one before had ever had stigmata flowing from their nose.  She was unique in that regard, because her middle name was Marie and it was Christmas.  I think it was supposed to have something to do with sympathizing with Mary's labor pains, but I'm reasonably certain that the Blessed Virgin didn't expel the Baby Jesus from her nostrils.

When I was in about seventh grade, Mom declared that she was having a combination of late adolescence and early senility.  I'm not sure even she could explain what the symptoms of that were supposed to be.  She did decide, however, to start an institution for sufferers of the dread malady.  It was going to be called "Mother Hood's Senility Complex."

Yes, I had to grow up with this kind of stuff going on.  It was never dull.

What does this have to do with wig heads, you ask?  Shortly after I moved to Louisville, she declared that she had Head Paralysis one time when I was visiting.  She went on and on about how Head Paralysis (HP for short) was overlooked and ignored by society and she was going to do something about it.  She was going to hold the first-ever Head Paralysis Awareness Parade.  Everyone was going to carry a wig head in solidarity with HP sufferers.

I'm not sure where I got it, but somehow I found a wig head when I returned to Louisville.  I wrote "Head Paralysis Support Group" on the side of it, wrapped it up, and gave it to her for Christmas.  She loved it and carried it around the house, practicing for her parade.

When they started prescribing morphine for her pain from the cancer, it really did a number on her head.  She started getting easily confused about things and would sometimes fixate on odd trivial details, while missing more important matters completely.  A couple of times, she fell, so the doctor ordered a brain scan to see if her unsteadiness was due to the meds or if the cancer had spread to her brain.

She did not have any cancer in her brain, but the scans showed that, at some indeterminate point, she had experienced a couple of mini-strokes in her brain that were so small they had no real effect on her.  They weren't able to tell when she had them or what may have caused them.  They did decide, though, that her balance issues were being caused by the meds.

When she heard the word "mini-stroke," she zeroed in on it and would not let go.  How could she have had one?  How did she not know?  When did that happen?  Anything the doctor had to say about her present state went right out the window.  After the doctor left the room, I looked at her and said, "Mom, I know exactly what happened."  She looked at me kind of oddly and asked me to explain.  I took a deep breath and said "It was just your Head Paralysis kicking in."  The laugh we had from that was just what we needed and distracted her for a bit.

She kept that wig head.  It sat on the dresser in her bedroom.  When we were packing things up after her death, I made sure it got saved.  It's still in the boxes of her stuff in the shed that I have yet to deal with.  I think I'm going to put it on my dresser.  I'm either going to put the Elmer Fudd hat she wore when she took her dogs out in the winter or the hard hat she wore when she was trimming trees on her farm on it.  Either one would be fitting.

Other families have antiques as heirlooms.  I have wig heads and Fry Guys.  It works.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

God Bless You and Your New Undies Too!

Earlier this spring, I went to a yard sale at a church that's not too far from the house.  It was advertised as a "youth group benefit."  Based on what I saw there, the youth weren't really getting too much benefit from it.  A few tables of well-used toys.  Some books no one would want.  A couple of tables of clothes.

To give them credit, everything was neatly arranged and priced.  A lot of the clothing was new.  I don't normally spend a lot of time looking through clothes, but I saw a whole bunch of new men's underwear in my size (or rather the size I'm rapidly growing into).  It was really cheap, so I bought several pairs.  You can never have too much underwear, after all.

I pay for the underwear and throw it in my backpack.  As I'm leaving the church, a woman standing at the door asks if I found anything good.  I tell her I bought new underwear.  She looks at me, puts her hand on my shoulder, and says "Bless you."  (Uhm....okay?)

I go out the door and start unchaining my bike.  She's still standing there and says "You have to lock it up like that all the time?"  I tell her about the one I had stolen, and she again says:  "Bless you."

As I'm pedaling off, I take a look at the sign in their parking lot.  It's got a picture of their pastors on it, and I realize that I have been talking to one of them.  Then, I see the signs for the clothing closet and food pantry.  And something clicks in my head:

  • I've got my big huge backpack with me, stuffed with everything, as it usually is.
  • I carried on about buying new underwear.
  • I'm riding my bike, which I keep very secure due to theft.
  • It has a couple of bags from the thrift down the street tied to the handle bars.

She thinks I'm homeless!

I can see her giving that same reassuring pat and pastoral "Bless you" to everyone who comes in needing food or clothing.  I've just been ministered to while I was buying underwear!  I'm surprised I didn't get an invite to the clothing closet.  

I've always thought I must be a sight, making my thrift rounds on my bike, laden with purchases.  Now I know for sure.

That's me!  Eddie the vagabond junker!  I laughed about it all the way home.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Who?

Gotta love kids.  One the one hand, they'll never leave the booth the way they found it.  But, on the other hand....

I was working at one of the booths a while back, when a couple of kids came in with their parents.  I have toys in my spaces, so of course they make a beeline for them.  Sigh!

One of them finds this:


It's a book and magnet set featuring  Archie characters.  He grabs it, and starts yelling.  "Mom!  Mom! Look!  It's Betty and Veronica!  Mom! Look!  Betty and Veronica!"  He carries on like this nonstop for a couple of minutes until he gets her attention.  Seriously, it's like his mission in life is now Betty and Veronica.  She finally gives him one of those "That's nice, dear." responses that parents are so good at when their kids are fixated on some triviality they won't shut up about.

The kid, having gotten her attention, then says (and I kid you not about this):

"Who are Betty and Veronica?"

You mean the ones you were just carrying on about like your life depended on it or some other Betty and Veronica?

He then puts the thing down and walks away.

Gotta love 'em!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Monday Rambles

If you checked out any of my blog posts over the weekend and found that the embedded vids didn't match the descriptions in the text, check them out again.  I've fixed them.  I have no clue what happened, other than some kind of Google hiccup.

I keep a private play list in YouTube with vids that I might want to use in the blog some day.  When I decide to use one of them, I go to the list and play the vid again to double-check that I want to use it and copy the embed code for the blog.  Somehow, other vids from my blog list were appearing instead of the ones I had copied!  Since I got them straight out of the videos themselves, I have no idea how it could have happened, but I have fixed it, so enjoy.

The fair is over!  Back to school is over!  Maybe now I can sell some junk!  Last week I barely broke ten dollars in sales some days (and some days I didn't even do that).  I didn't even take any new stuff to the Peddlers Mall because the sales were so low.  When I got there to straighten up, there was hardly anything to do!  Nothing was out of place.  That's how slow last week was.

The weekend massively bounced back at both sites though.  And there's still a full week left in the month, although the last couple of days of the month traditionally are very low.  Barring a couple of unforeseen hundred-dollar days, I'm going to have a low month, but it won't be a total disaster.

Keith keeps calling the telephone bench in my booth at YesterNook a "parson's chair."  Silly non-junker!

The ceiling fan in our bedroom either has a short or it's possessed.  The light keeps turning on and off at odd times for no reason.  The fan speed dips suddenly, too.  We really don't need this with warm weather coming back.  We're trying to figure out if it would be easier/cheaper to try and fix it or replace it.  I hate just throwing something out like that.

Yard sales this weekend were really bad.  I went to a warehouse sale in a defunct store that was pretty good.  Lots of vintage "new old stock" and newer items.  I'll have a post about one of the things I bought later in the week.  There were a couple of good benefit sales and a good church sale, but that's it.  I had 14 sales on my list and barely had anything in the backseat of the car.  It only took two trips to unload everything.  That just ain't right.

Well, that's about all from these parts.  I have something in the works with one of my booths, but I have to keep that under wraps for the moment.  More when I can talk about it.  Hope your week goes well!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Saturday Nostalgia

When you deal in nostalgia and spend your spare time hunting for it, I guess it's inevitable that your own nostalgia hormones kick in from time to time.

Here's one of my favorites from bygone days.



It seems like lots of folks get all misty-eyed over the Schoolhouse Rock cartoons.  I doubt that there is a person in my age range who cannot sing the preamble to the Constitution.  However, I think these old food and nutrition spots are a tad neglected.  Let's rectify that.

This is another one of my faves.  It's probably the message that has stuck with me the longest.  To this day, I tend to prefer just a dab of condiment on things, instead of gloppy globs.  Gloppy globs are disgusting.  I even get light cheese on my pizzas!



While I was searching for clips to use in this post, I was kind of surprised to come across some that I had no memory of.  None.  At all.  In fact, I would swear that I'd never seen them before.  I guess that goes to show exactly how overlooked these spots really are!

Here's a couple of the ones I didn't remember.





Can you be nostalgic for things you didn't really experience yourself?  Or maybe the truth is that I really just like old cartoons and pop culture trivia?  Whichever it is, I wish you all happy nostalgia hunting today!  if you find yourself getting hungry while you're out hitting the sales, why not try a hunk of cheese?

Is it wrong of me to think of "hanker for a hunk" as a double entendre?

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Wanna know why I love what I do?

Because you never know what you're gonna find when you step into Goodwill.


Seriously.  Gotta love it!  You just gotta! 

I'll put this one in a booth and try to pass it on to someone who, um, has more need for it than I do.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Fun Finds: Down in the Grotto

Look what I found while yard saling!



Yes, that's a niche/grotto thingie for holding statuary, usually of a religious nature.  I have no idea what kind of building it came from.  It's very light.  I think it's made of fiberglass.  The back of it is kind of bare, so it was probably cut into a wall or something.

I absolutely had to have it.  I do have a whole wall of religious articles for sale, after all.  I just wish I had something on hand large enough to fit in it for a display.  I did have this, but it sold some time ago.

The best part about it?  It was only a dollar!

Now if I could just figure out how to price it....

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Booth Updates

I haven't posted any pics of the booths in a while, so I thought I would give you a tour.  I took these the other day in preparation for doing a new Craigslist push for my spaces.  I'm always a little leery about using booth pics, because they always look so cluttered in busy.  Yes, I do have a lot of stuff in my spaces, but it really is more organized than it seems form the pictures.  It doesn't help that it is very hard to get a shot at the Peddler's Mall that doesn't also take in parts of the booths all around me, adding to the chaos.  I try to compensate for that by also taking close up shots of smaller batches of merch to give a better feel for what's there.

First up, the Peddler's Mall.  I have four spaces there:  two single spaces side by side that I have turned into a double booth, a wall space, and a separate single booth where I sell mainly books.  I love the Peddler's Mall because it is unpretentious and a little freewheeling.  I can sell just about anything there, because the customer base is very diverse in background, interests and tastes.  I have quite a few regular customers.

This is a look through the double space from the aisle.

Just keeping it straightened and relatively tidy keeps me hopping!

Now some views of selected merchandise.



Most everything on those round tables has sold since I took this pic.  I tend to have a pretty quick turnover.  Now, if I could just sell the tables.  I bought them to use at the other site, but they ended up being awkward and in the way.  I just want them to go away.

These next pics come from my wall space, which exclusively houses religious articles.  I have the largest selection of secondhand religious merch in the city, or so I believe.  It's a specialty niche that brings customers in and creates regulars.


 Yes, indeed, Jesus lives at Eddie's Attic!

And, if He's here, can His Mother be too far behind?

And then there's my book area.  I've always wanted to be a bookseller.  I really try hard to have an interesting selection at good prices.

 I just love my vintage paperback rack!

 My comic and graphic novel selection is another thing that creates regulars for me.  I've got the largest selection of comics in our mall.
The ones on the table are the most recent arrivals.  As items sell off the shelves, I rotate things from the table up to the bottom shelf and then fill in the holes on the table with new stuff.  I also have a bookcase in the double booth that holds the titles that have been there the longest.  When stuff off it sells, I move books from the top shelf over there and then rotate bottom shelf books up to the top shelf and table books up to the bottom shelf.  It's not exact, but it does help me keep track of my inventory.  I sell a lot of books.  I don't necessarily have the lowest book prices in the mall, but I have the best, most unique selection by far.  I work really hard at that.

I am  totally in love with this smiley face banner and had to share it!



And this is my sign.  The name "Eddie's Attic" was suggested by Keith, because I have been pushing to have the attic space in our house finished since we bought the house.  One of these days, I'm going to have some professional signs made.

And now for YesterNook, my newest spot.  I only have one booth there, but would really like to expand.  My sales there have not been steady and regular enough for that to happen, unfortunately.  The store is a little different from the freewheeling vibe of the Peddler's Mall.  It's a little more distinct, with a heavy emphasis on furniture and vintage.  It's cozy, almost like a place where you want to hang out and drink coffee, while reading Agatha Christie books.

This is my booth from a side view.  Well, most of it anyway.



And some more specific pics.


 AnnaLee clown reads satirical British fantasy fiction.  I am slowly building my selection of books here.  I'm thinking that will help my sales.  I'm having to be more selective in my choices, though.   There's a booth selling nothing but books right down from me, and I don't want to duplicate his inventory.  That would be boring.

I'm also working more comics and graphic novels in, as well.  I'm trying to emphasize Silver Age classic stuff and alternative/independent titles that I think will appeal to the customer base here.

 Mary and Jesus are here as well, but in smaller amounts.



This telephone bench is one of my latest acquisitions.  I have high hopes for it!

Well, that's the tour!  Thanks for stopping by!  If you're in Louisville, consider stopping by to check things out in person.  Maybe I'll be there working.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Monday Rambles

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum.  I've hit  800 posts and I didn't even realize it.  At least, that's what my Blogger totals say.  Wow.  That's a lot of posts.  And it only took me ten years to get here.  (You hush, Roger!)  I was so absorbed in setting a posting record for this year that I didn't even notice my grand total.

Chiquito and I are having space issues.  He's decided that one of the places he wants to be to get his head rubbin' lovin' is on the keyboard tray of this desk.  It's no big deal when I'm surfing through YouTube, but it really becomes an issue when I'm trying to work on something.  He does it like seven or eight times a day!  I've started putting him down when I'm working, but I'm worried I'm breaking him of the habit.  I don't want him to stop.  I just need to claim some work space!

My worst fears about this month were realized last Thursday when the State Fair started and sales at both sites plunged into the toilet.  August is always such a crappy sales month.  Friday was weak too, but, then the weekend comes on like gangbusters!  Strong sales at both sites on Saturday and Sunday!  Maybe this month isn't out for the count, after all.  School starts this week, so we'll see.  I've had a lot of sales out of my back-to-school display, though.

You know what's weird?  I'll tell you what's weird.  I had two sets of Winnie the Pooh (one of my "Five Guys") figures for sale.  These were the large cardboard figures that are used to decorate nurseries and classrooms and such.  There were four in each set:  Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore.  I priced them individually, because I have this weird quirk about that.  Maybe I'll write about that some time.

On two different days, most of each set sold--everything except for Piglet, both times.  If they'd sold one at a time over several days, I wouldn't have noticed.  If one had sold completely and the other sold partially, I wouldn't have noticed.  Two separate sales, which I am assuming went to two different buyers, that leave the same character behind?  That, I notice.  What do people have against poor little Piglet?



It's going to be a busy week.  I'm not working regularly right now, but I've got a bunch of meetings about work and some training for the gig I start next month to do.  I should still have some time for blogging, boothing, and working on some other projects, though.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Goodwill Hunting

I was in Goodwill last week, and I found this:



It's not very old, but I still thought it was kind of cool.  I like the Asian design and look of it, and think it will sell pretty fast, so I picked it up.  Inside, there are five or six little compartments, like for condiments and such.  It spins around on its base, so I'm calling it an "Asian Lazy Susan."

I wandered around the store for a bit, and picked up a few other things:  some manga, a vintage local cookbook, and so on.  When I go to checkout, there is a woman at the register with a HUGE purse--I mean the kind that is big enough to smuggle children in--and she is emptying it all over the counter in a vain attempt to find her debit card.

She pulls out little bags of stuff and goes through them.  She pulls out big bags of stuff and goes through them.  The counter is getting covered in her detritus!  She seems to have an awful lot of papers in that thing. And bags.  Finally, she finds her card, lying loose on the bottom of the bag.  Yes, loose.  Not in her wallet, which she had already emptied out.  Loose.

She pays for her stuff and then moves to the side to put all of her stuff back in the mega-purse.  "I gotta get this organized and together!" You think?  The whole time she was doing it, her card was laying on the counter beside her purse.  I kept waiting for her to walk off and leave it, but she didn't.  It was kind of entertaining to watch, and she did take my empty cart and put it up while she was leaving, so that was nice.

So, now it's my turn to checkout.  One of my favorite cashiers was working, so we chatted for a second.  I really do try to keep good thrift store staff relationships.  You never can tell when it will come in handy.  So, she gets to this:



And doesn't know what it is.  So, I show her how it spins and tell her that it's like a Lazy Susan.  She looks at me blankly for a minute and then says: "Oh.  You put stuff like salsa in here.  I never heard that term before.  Lazy Susan. Huh."

And all of a sudden, I felt either very old or very country.  You all know what a Lazy Susan is don't you?

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Junkin' Memories: The Auction Guy!

I moved to Louisville in 1987, the year I graduated from college to attend seminary.  Boy, have things changed since those days!  That was back in day when the seminary had a social work school, women could preach in the chapel, and you could actually take a scripture class that didn't rely solely on biblical literalism as the basis for interpreting scripture.  It's also where Keith and I met.  Make of that what you will.

Back in those days, there was a street a couple of blocks away that was, well, a little bit decayed.  Oh, it was wonderful in its decayedness.  Nowadays, it's all "revitalized" with galleries and restaurants and such.  But in those days, there were a couple of small music shops where you could find just about anything, an awesome used bookstore with a quarter box full of Silver Age comics, a couple of antique stores, and the auction guy.  More on him in a minute.

Now, this is not one of those "things were better in the golden days" kind of posts.  There were a lot of empty storefronts and buildings going to waste, for sure.  It's just that the shops that were there were all small businesses of the sort that are hard to find these days. Thankfully, in the course of revitalization, local businesses seem to have prevailed, and most of the shops on the street are still locally owned and run.  There are still quite a few interesting, quirky business operating as well.

But that's neither here nor there.  I want to talk about the auction guy.

One of the empty storefronts was full of nothing but boxes and piles of junk, to the point that you really couldn't tell what all was actually in there.  Twice a week, the little old guy who owned the space and his wife would open the door and start dragging stuff out onto the sidewalk.  They would work through the afternoon doing this.  At about 6, a small crowd would gather, and he would hold an auction.  There were never more than ten people there, and sometimes less than that.  However, he would carry on with the auction nonetheless.

He'd hold something up in the air and try to start the bidding at five or ten dollars, then keep dropping the starting bid until he ended up selling it for a quarter or fifty cents.  It was kind of amazing to watch and definitely great for shopping.  Everything was great, old, dusty, vintagey junky stuff.  You know, the kind of stuff I bust my ass to find these days.  And this guy was practically giving it away!  I wish I knew then what I know now.

You didn't have to be present to win, either.  If you saw something while he was setting up that you wanted to bid on but could not make the actual auction, you could tell him and he would write it down.  Usually the early bidder would win. I did that one time for an old Beany and Cecil comic when I had to work on auction night.  I got it for a quarter.

One of my friends and I went to just about every auction night and usually bought something.  I can't remember it all now, but I remember getting a rustic looking mirror with a wood frame for 2 bucks (had to fight for that one) and a lot of books for a quarter.  My friend got several cast iron skillets for fifty cents each.

Finally, we went up there one auction night, and he was nowhere to be found.  There was no stuff on the sidewalk, and the building was locked up tight.  We stopped back a couple of other nights, only to find the same thing.  The auction man was gone, taking the awesome bargains with him.

I did see him one more time.  He was set up with a bunch of books at the big flea market at the fairgrounds.  I never saw him again after that, not even at other flea markets.  That was twenty-five years ago, and he was already pretty old at that time.  I would imagine that he has long since passed on.  I wonder whatever happened to all that stuff?  They never even scratched the surface of what was in the building with all of their auctions combined.

Nowadays, that building houses a fitness club.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Monday Rambles

It's a little later than normal, but it's still Monday, so that counts in my book.  I've been kind of lazy today and have taken advantage of not having to be anywhere by not doing anything of substance.  I priced a few things and turned in a report for work, but other than that---nada.  Well, unless you count the nap...

Today is, of course, Left Handed Day, so I hope you celebrated in honor of your favorite left-handed blogger (that would be me) and did at least one thing with your left hand.

We had a good time at the Kris Kristofferson concert last week.  He was in good form and good voice.  He may not be the best guitarist or have the best singing voice, but, damn, that man can write!  He did a huge sampling from various stages of his career, including all the usual favorites to satisfy the folks in the crowd who only really know the "hits."  But what about the folks, like Keith, who are true-blue, died in the wool, have all the albums fans?  Oh yeah.  They were satisfied too.  It was a great night.

Things have finally really cooled off here for a bit.  It was lovely all weekend and is supposed to be nice all week, except for a spot of rain here and there (much-needed).

Yard sales were surprisingly good this weekend.  I wasn't expecting much, since the listings were kind of paltry.  I only picked five or six stops, but it seems like I chose well.  I ended up walking away from just about every sale with a BOX full of stuff!  I also picked up a couple of much-needed pieces of furniture.  Sometimes my picker is right on and this seems like it was one of those times.

Friday, it was so nice we went out for coffee after Keith got off work.  We popped into a small bookstore by the coffee shop and spent some time wandering around.  I went to the graphic novel section and realized how totally, totally out of touch I am with comic books these days.  Sigh.

Saturday, after yard saling, we came home and spent the afternoon repairing the toilet.  You kind of have to bear in mind a couple of facts to realize what a monumental occasion this was.  First, neither of us are the most mechanically-inclined of individuals.  Second, our bathroom is not really large enough for two men who are not small to both be in there at the same time.  Third, my typical post-saling activity is a long nap, so I was tired and kind of cranky.  In fact, I wanted to give up at several points.  Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and our toilet is now working again the way it's supposed to.  (For the record, I'm the one who broke it, while trying to fix a small problem.)

Hopefully, I'll be able to get some posting done this week and some things finished around here.  As always, we'll see what happens.




Thursday, August 09, 2012

July Sales Report

Need to get back in the habit of doing these, but I seem to forget every month.  So, here goes.

April may be the cruelest month, but July is the hottest.  And this July was particularly hot.  So hot, in fact, that we kind of crossed the line from "hot enough to drive people inside to shop in cool stores" to "hot enough that people don't want to leave their damn houses for anything."  And, it showed.

Still, despite the heat, I had a record month at the Peddlers Mall.  Most of this was due to one sale--a large, and for me, quite expensive item.  In other words, this was an aberration.  Opportunities like that do not come along all the time, unfortunately.  Taking that piece out of the equation yields a normal month--not spectacular, but pretty good, all things considered.

Unfortunately, the same doesn't hold true for my other spot.  Consistent sales at a consistent level continues to elude me.  And, at this point, I'm not sure what to do about it.  I held a sale over the 4th that didn't really help.  I've cleared some stuff out.  I've rearranged.  I've stamped my feet and held my breath until my face turned blue.  Nothing seems to help.  I do have very good days there, don't get me wrong.  Just not nearly enough of them.  And the ones that aren't good are very not good.  I'm stuck.

I'm hoping when we enter the busier time of the fall that things will pick up there for me.  If not, I may need to make some tough decisions.

Regardless, this month is going to be a challenge everywhere.  August brings both back to school and the State Fair, which is held here in Louisville.  In other words, a double whammy of income drain that leads to lower sales for re-sellers.  Such is the life.

Still the nice thing about having to lower your expectations for a month is that it's easy to be pleasantly surprised.  We'll see what happens. 

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Goofy Is as Goofy Does. Yes, Indeed.

The scene:  The front of our house.  It is Monday of this week.  Our heroes pull up in their car.

Keith:  I thought I put the garbage can out when I left this morning.

Eddie:  You did and I took it in when I got home.  You know, like I always do after they come through.

Keith:  Garbage pick-up is tomorrow, dear.

Eddie sighs and hold out his hand.  Keith acts as if he places something in it.

You've just witnessed the latest passing of the Goofy Award.

In our household, we pass the Goofy Award back and forth between each other to mark those occasions when one or the other of us is, well, goofy.  I mean really goofy, not just the day-to-day kind of silly that results from living in the modern world.  You know, doing inexplicable things for oddball reasons.  That kind of thing.  Stuff that falls somewhere in between losing your keys and "This is going to go in my notebook of evidence for the mental competency hearing."  That kind of goofy.

We've all been there.  We've all done it.  Maybe it's stress.  Maybe it's age.  Maybe it's a natural state of being.  Or, as in our case, a little bit of all three, I think.  It's kind of our way of making fun of ourselves a little bit and thumbing our nose at the things that make us goofy.  In a way, it's kind of like celebrating being goofy.  Is there a better way to deal with aging's effects on memory than mocking it when it pops up in your life?  Honestly, it;'s going to happen.  Might as well have fun with it.  (Just remember to draw the line when someone ventures outside without any pants on.)

It's also, in an odd way, a sign of our commitment to each other.  We all need a little boost now and then.  A partner's goofiness can actually be something that frustrates you, if you let it.  This is our way of keeping those frustrations from turning into arguments.  The Goofy Award says "I love you despite your goofy behavior.  Or maybe because of it."  It's not insulting, but endearing.  It's a reminder that after twenty-plus years, I am so not going to let a little thing like forgetting to put the milk back in the fridge get to us.  Long haul, baby.  Sickness and health.  Poverty and wealth.  Normal and goofy.  I think that works.  

There is no actual, physical Goofy Award as such.  It's just an imaginary trophy we pass back and forth.  I think it would take away from the fun if we actually had something tangible to pass back and forth.  Besides, as goofy as we are, one of us would probably lose it. This way, not only can one person win multiple Goofies for successive events, but it can be awarded anywhere.  The only criteria is that serious acts of goofiness be involved.

So, who else has a Goofy Award?  What goofy things happen in your household?

Monday, August 06, 2012

Monday Rambles

Oh boy......

One more rush-rush week and then I'll have a bit of a break, which is good.  I've got a lot of projects that have been on hold for a bit that I would like to get moving again.  Plus, I'd like to get a little rest and do some reading and some plan-ahead blogging.

We're getting close to Fall and that means the holidays are fast on its heels.  I was making a few notes about some displays I want to do at the booth and realized that it's just about time to start getting the Halloween stuff out and organized, followed shortly after by the Christmas stuff.

Speaking of Christmas stuff, I realized the other day that I had not had much luck finding it this yard sale season.  I'm speaking about vintage and cool stuff here.  I've got enough new stuff to put out from my clearance shopping last year.  Other than my AnnaLee find earlier in the year, I've simply not seen any vintage Christmas.  It's kind of odd.  I'm wondering if anyone else is having any luck in this area?

I did do a "Christmas in July" thing at one of the booths, trying to move out some old holiday stuff that I had marked down.  I think I sold maybe two things.  I probably won't try that again.  I've taken that out and started a "Back to School" table.

I'm not sure if you noticed or not, but I crossed the threshold!  I equaled 2008's 122 posts and passed it!  Yay me!  From here on out, every post sets a new record for me.  My new goal is to get to 200 for the year.  I'm about 75 away now, so we'll see.  I seem to be managing about 20 posts a month, and there are about four months left in the year, so I should be able to make it.

I had to take Windy to the shop the other day.  Somehow, I had broken a couple of spokes on my back wheel, so it wasn't turning straight.  It was rubbing against one of the back brakes and not smoothly rolling.  It only took about twenty minutes for the guy to fix it, and it didn't cost that much, so it was a relief.  It was kind of cool to watch the guy work on it, though.  So many interesting-looking tools!

Well, that's about all from here, folks.  See you in a bit.

Eddie-ted to add:  I forgot to mention this earlier, but we have tix to see Kris Kristofferson on Thursday!  Should be a great show too.  It's in an amphitheater in one of the local parks.  How cool is that?



Sunday, August 05, 2012

Saturday, August 04, 2012

And then there was the time Emmylou Harris wore a sparkly cowgirl hat



From the album of the same name.  By the way, it is, hands down, my favorite Emmylou album of all time.  One musical gem after another.  Standouts include a stirring "Beneath Still Waters" and a heartbreaking "Rough and Rocky."  If I were told I'd have to give up all of my Emmylou CD's but one, this is the one I would pick.  (Although I would kick and scream and hold my breath in hopes of getting to keep Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town as well.  It'd be worth a shot.)

But then what would I do about Roses in the Snow?  Oh dear.  I guess I'd better not ever let myself get put in that position, huh?

But, seriously, if you're new to Emmylou, I think Blue Kentucky Girl would be a great place to start exploring the work of this most wonderfully sublime performer.

Friday, August 03, 2012

The thing about liking a lot of different kinds of music is that you're easily entertained!



Does the line about Liberace make anyone else giggle now?  Is that wrong?

Alternative title:  Vintage Music!  (Why not?  I buy and sell vintage stuff?)


Thursday, August 02, 2012

Things I Ponder

Why do people still smoke?  Isn't there more than enough info out there at this point about the health damage?  It was lung cancer that killed my mother.

Whatever happened to all those irregularly published independent and alternative comics I used to love?

Should I just rip all my CD's and ditch 'em in a booth?  Would the Emmylou boxsets be exempt from this?

What would it take for me to jump on the e-reader bandwagon?  I like the sensation of actually holding a book and turning pages.

Is anyone making good magical girl anime or manga these days?

Speaking of anime, whatever happened to fansubbing?

Have you ever noticed how much of a typical chain bookstore is given over to gift items, games, and novelty books?

What do my cats think about when we're gone all day?

Why do I always find the good big stuff at the thrifts when I don't have the time to deal with it?

Will I ever understand the ins and outs of buying and selling furniture?

Why is it I always lament the lack of time to read, but when I have free time, I never seem to read?

I'm worried that I'm forgetting more grammatical rules than I am remembering these days.

Ditto for some basic mat stuff.

And Spanish.

Do I just encourage consumerism and overspending with my booths and reselling?

Is it a bad thing if I do?

How can I do my reselling in the most environmentally-friendly way possible?

Do I really know what I'm doing?

Will there ever be enough time in the day to get everything done?

If I had more space, would I really be neater and more organized, or would I just have more places to stack shit?

Should I take out the fourth booth in my little square at the Peddlers Mall?  What would I do with the walls?

For that matter, how can I go about getting rid of the walls that are already in my space?  I'm tired of them and I want to open everything up,but I paid too much for them to just dismantle them and pitch them.  And no one ever buys walls from other vendors.

Why did I stop drinking lots of water every day?

Why can't I seem to start that habit again?

Should I get that checked out?

Are the cats really happy living with us?

I ride my bike just about everywhere.  I'm a vegetarian.  Why the hell am I still do damn fat?

I'm in bed by 10 every night.  When did I get to be old?

Why is it that blogging seems to be the only aspect of social media that has really clicked with me?

You may or may not see a couple of those in the future as posts in their own right. 


Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Upping the Date (or would it be Dating the Up?)

Just a quick one to kind of touch base.  I'd been doing pretty good with the regular posts, then...BLAM!  Out go the lights.

Normally, I would tend to just let this whole thing slide until I could post again for real, but I've picked up a couple of followers, so I feel I ought to be polite.

Truth is, I am just slammed right now and probably will be for a while longer.  There's just too much going on, and something had to give.  As usual, that thing was blogging.  I've been just too exhausted on the weekends to even think about planning ahead.

So, here's a summary:

It was hotter than the hinges of Hades for a while here, but it seems to be better now.  By better, I don't mean in the 70's, but it's at least into the normal range for the Ohio Valley in the summer.  I'll take it.

Craziness at the booths.  More on that in a future sales update post.

Still finding neat stuff at the yard sales and thrifts, just not as much.  I bought a bunch of excess stuff from my uncle recently, so I'm sitting pretty with really good merch, so I don't have to hunt as hard and I can be a little choosier.  I always like it when I get to this point.

One of my fave neighborhood sales is coming this weekend.  Should be some good findings, even for the newly choosy.  I may photodocument this one.  We'll see.

I'm having to do way more lesson planning than I ever counted on for the current work gig.  That's what is eating into my time most of all.  That all ends next week, so things will free up a bit. 

I got offered a part time more permanent deal starting in mid-September.  It's only a few hours a week, but it's not a time limited project, like the things I'm doing now.  And, it has the possibility of growing into something more.

And that's the way it is in these parts!

I'm going to try to finish some posts and get 'em scheduled over the weekend, then let those carry me until Thursday, when this job ends and I have a breather.

Thanks for bearing with me.  I've got some fun stuff in the finishing stages.  I've been really happy with the way some of the last few posts have turned out, so I'm looking forward to continuing in that vein.