Friday, July 22, 2016

Well, good!


I do hate it when the zebras are laying around all strewn about!  "Nothing worse than a willy-nilly pile of zebras!"  That's what Aunt Tilda always said!

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Things I Used to Own

One of those fun little thrills of junking happens when you find something that you used to own.  I don't necessarily mean the exact item, although that has happened to several people I know, including me.  (I once found several comics with my name on them at a local flea market when I was a kid.)

Most commonly, this involves finding something just like one you used ot have or another copy of a thing you had.  Like this book:



When I was about 8 or 9, my tonsils were removed.  My grandparents got me this book as a get well gift.  I don't know whatever happened to my copy, but I think it probably was given away during one of the purges my mother did after my parents divorced.  We moved a few times after that, but every place we lived was a lot smaller than the house my parents had bought.  Some stuff had to go.

I found this copy at a book sale and just had to pick it up.  I was immediately struck by the illustrations.  Instead of the serene reverence of a lot of religious art, these figures all have an almost tangible sense of action and power.

Take these pics of some of the Minor Prophets from the Old Testament.  I can just imagine the guys in these drawings giving the dishonest and corrupt of their era seven different kinds of holy hell.


This is Jonah raging at Nineveh.  Is it any wonder the city repented?  He almost looks fanatical here!


Next we have Micah, who appears to be getting ready to go to a Star Trek convention.  Not sure what's up with the hand signs, but love the colors in this one.

I forget who this one is (I didn't take notes when I took the pics), but doesn't he look ferocious?  It's all quite different from the tranquil images of saints at prayer that I'm used to seeing.  I really like it.


Finally, for some contrast, we have Solomon, who was quite the snazzy dresser, it seems.

What kinds of things have you found that you used to own?-

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Stuff I Haven't Shown You

I'm not hitting any sales right now at all, in an effort to work through some of my eternal backlog.  It's actually starting to work.  I plan on keeping this up until the October junk set out, with an exception for the Labor Day Big Flea and a Highway 127 stop in August, provided I can talk Keith into it.  I will, however, be constantly on the hunt for freebies, since finding free stuff isn't shopping.  I may have to bend the rules if I start to run low on specific stuff, like manga or comics, that are always good sellers for me.

As I'm digging  into the stuff, I'm finding things that are quite blog-worthy, even if they aren't current finds.  Since the current finds will be scarce for a while, I'm going to share these other finds in posts I'll be calling "Stuff I Haven't Shown You."  Or "Stuff I Didn't Show You."  Or something like that.

I found this puppy at Goodwill for a DOLLAR!



I am now in B Movie heaven!  I needed this too.  It's good for at least a couple oddball film festivals.  You gotta have some downtime after working the booths, you know.



Beware the photo-bombing Monkey!

Super-cute kitty creamer.  It reminds me of something you would find in one of Linda's cubbies.  With the paw extended to form the spout like that, it also reminds me of a certain handsome furry fellow.



I fell in love with this Ike and Mamie plate, solely for the look on her face.


Doesn't she look like she's up to something, or at the very least knows something he doesn't?


The scene in this little dish just cracks me up.  Sorry about the glare.  The caption reads:  "Sairey Gamp Entertains Betsy Prio."  How can you not love it?  It's the kind of thing I would have put in my mother's Christmas stocking.




I got several large pictures with religious themes mounted on foamboard at a yard sale a while back.   On the back, a lot of them have the initials "CHF" on them, which stands for Cathedral Heritage Foundation.  I am thinking that these were some of the presentation pieces used for fundraising for the renovation of the cathedral here, which took place about ten or so years ago.


Backing that shot up, since the pics are already at the booth, you can see an aluminum lawn chair and an extremely large metal file box.




On the way to a sale, I found what seem to be the busted pieces of an old sewing machine in an alley.  I salvaged the ones that were most intact and interesting, including this one, which I'm thinking is the logo for the manufacturer.

Finally, what do you do with your comics when you're through with them?  Why, compost them, of course!


Just kidding.  Actually, you send them to me.  This oddity was a Free Comic Book Day find.  It's a prime example of some of the really strange things that got published during the underground comix era.  I love weird stuff like this!
That's it for this round.  I'll try to do these once a week or so.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Monday Rambles

HAVE WE MET?

Well, hello again, friends!  I've not had many opportunities for blogging lately, but I have missed you.  There's lots to share, so let's get started.

EDDIE UPDATE

I haven't talked a lot about the cancer stuff lately, because there really isn't anything changing.  I get my treatments every three weeks, and things continue to go well.  I had another scan at the end of last month, and everything still looks good.  I qualified for an assistance program from the drug company, so my co-pays are now taken care of, which is nice.

I seem to finally have all the steroid withdrawal over with, so things are returning to normal on that front.  The blood sugar is lots better, and I've dropped a few pounds.  Not many.  Just a few.

I had a sinus thing going on last week that kept me out of action for a few days.  It seems to be clearing up, although I still have a head full of yucky stuff.  I feel like all I do is blow my nose.  And cough. A lot.  I'm afraid that I may accidentally blow one of my lungs out my nose when I get on a coughing jag.  Hate it when that happens.

I've always been prone to stuff settling in my chest, which then takes forever to clear out.  I've actually coughed so hard before that strangers have come up to me and told me I need to stop smoking!  And I don't smoke!

The sinus thing started last Tuesday, which was also a treatment day.  Since I was already planning a stay-at-home low key week, I was in a great spot to just stay in bed and rest. Things really worked out well, and Chiquito liked it too.

BOOTH UPDATE

Well, sales are a little better this month, but not by much.  It's very fits and starts right now.  I did HUGE over the July 4th weekend, but then took the rest of the month up to this past weekend to double that amount.  The crying of the blues will continue until further notice.  I'm moving lots of stuff, but it's nearly all small, lower priced items right now.

It seems like on the days when I do sell a larger, higher-priced piece or two, that's all I sell.  The mix is off in my sales totals.  Still, they are higher than last month, for the most part.  

I moved out of the booth with the pole smack dab in the middle of the entrance to a space right next to may other spaces.  Less walking for me.  I like having all my spaces together.

At the same time, one of my college roommates, who also had a booth in our mall, got a new job and had to give up his booth due to time issues.  He gave me and another vendor about 75% of what was in his booth--FOR FREE!  I've been kind of awash in stuff from that.  Really nice stuff to boot.  He does a lot of woodworking and repurposing kinds of stuff, and some of his projects were included in the items he gave us.

Slow sales are causing a lot of vendors to leave, but there's also been an influx of new folks.  Open spaces in out store get snapped up pretty quickly, often by existing vendors.  The manager told me at the beginning of the month that there wer so many vendors swapping out spaces that it was almost like a jigsaw puzzle. 

This was one booth's closing sign.


I had been intending forever to get a pic of the "Buy from the BUNNY" sign to put in the blog, because I just love it.  I never got around to it, until it was time to say "Bye Bye Bunny."  Sad.

Of course, since I was out all last week, I'm planning on spending all this week at the booth trying to pull things back together.  I'm hoping to take new pics, since an update post is long overdue.  I just need to remember.  That's the hard part.

DVD OF THE WEEK

This is a favorite movie of mine and I like to pull it out and watch it from time to time.  Martin Sheen and Trevor Howard work so well together and their scenes just shine throughout the whole film.

Religious politics and inner working fascinate me, especially with the Catholic Church.  I am constantly reading up on various aspects of the way the church operates.  One of my favorite subjects is the tension that exists between the newer course the church has taken since Vatican II and Catholics of a more traditional/conservative bent. 

This 1973 TV (!) movie (based on a novel by Bryan Moore) examines that tension with Sheen playing a young priest sent to get a recalcitrant Howard and the monks of his monastery to update and move along with the times.  The story is set in a fictional time after two more church councils have brought even more changes, and the monks have become steadfast and reactionary.

Like I said, the acting is exemplary and the story avoids any easy answers as the men strive to understand each other and seek a resolution.  The ending is haunting.

Given the current tension that exists between the current, very progressive, Pope and many more conservative bishops and cardinals, this 40 year old movie is surprisingly timely.  Well worth hunting down. 

STUFF UPDATE

Since sales have been so slow lately cutting back on going to yard sales and such.  I'm in "clear out the backlog" mode instead.  I did buy a bunch of manga over the weekend, but I was really low on it.  That was the first major purchase I've made all month.

Since that means I won't have any new things to share here, I'm taking a different approach to doing finds posts.  Check in tomorrow for the first installment.

MUSIC FOR MONDAYS

Have a tune for the first of the week.



Since the FBI officially closed the DB Cooper case last week, I thought this was an appropriate way to mark the occasion. 

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

Now we're all caught up!  Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Retro Y'all!



I highly recommend doing a YouTube search for this song.  There are an amazing variety of covers by some awesome artists though the ages.  You'd be surprised.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Literary Discovery

I just found out that someone wrote a book about my childhood.



I wasn't totally sure it was about me, until I saw the title of the second chapter.  My friends and I formed a little club called "The Peculiar Views."  It's what little nerdlings do.  We referred to our meetings as "entertainments."  If was going to a meeting, I would tell my mother I was going to "entertain peculiar views."


I am not sure how they got that picture of me.

If you all will excuse me, I need to go see someone about some royalties.

Saturday, July 09, 2016

Retro Y'all (Current Events Edition)

In light of everything that has happened over the past week, this was the only thing fit to share today.  My heart is breaking right now.



We've got to find a way.