All is Vanities!

I'm getting my refill of toxicity today, so I thought I'd post about something fun as a diversion.

Aren't these cute?

They're vintage child-size vanities made by Marx.  I love the little detailing on the fronts.

And the best part?

Both of the mirrors are intact!

Sometimes, I really love what I do.

Monday Rambles

Chemo -1 day.  Ugh.

I need to remember to charge my Nook and download the latest Soap Opera Digest.  I also have to stop by the cancer center and pick up my nausea meds.  I've gotta go to Walgreens and see if I can find some non-drowsy Benadryl.  After work, I have to go to the Peddlers Mall and do a restock and foof.  I gotta make this one stick, because I may not get back until late next week.

Over the weekend, we stocked up on Diet Sprite, so my stash of clear liquid diet stuff is complete.  I've got the blog scheduled well into next week, except for next week's Monday Rambles.  I'm working today, but taking the rest of the week off.  It's a financial hit, but I kind of need to do it.  Last time, it was a little rough working while still getting my shots and stuff.  It's Derby Week, so there kind of won't be as much going on there anyway.  (That also includes the booths, so the foof will stick a little more easily.  Did I just type "the foof will stick"?)

My biggest challenge this week will be getting to the cancer center for my shot on Thursday.  The Derby Parade will have my most direct route there blocked off right around the time of my appointment.  I think I'm going to just locate myself in that part of town early in the day and have coffee or thrift until my appointment.  Getting home will require another plan, which is still under development.  My current idea involves wading into the parade and screaming "Back off!  I have cancer!"  I think I might need a back up, just in case.

I'm hoping to be able to drag out on Saturday to an annual Derby Day sale that always has good stuff, as several antique dealers are ditching their overstock, including small furniture.  Prices are amazing there.  I'd also like to go to Free Comic Book Day, but I have all week to do that.  Due to the conflict with Derby, the best local shop here extends FBCD to the whole week.

Other than that, my plan is to stay at home, sleep a lot, putter around a bit, and just rest.

Last week was not nearly as productive as I wanted.  Those damn bricks kept turning up.  They're not supposed to do that during the good week!  I didn't get near everything I wanted to get done!  Friday, I was trying to hit both booths, but as I was leaving YesterNook to head for the Peddlers Mall, the bricks hit hard and I was lucky to get home and crawl into bed.  I think I'm learning how cumulative side effects work.  I'm also not thinking that I like it.

We had bad weather forecast for Saturday, which cancelled out a lot of sales.  A good church sale was going on, however, so we did hit it.  I got a good box of stuff for five bucks.  The little old ladies who price everything at a nickle or a dime are alive and well at this church! 

The hardest part was getting there.  It's not too far from the house, as the crow flies, but the crow had to contend with the Derby Marathon taking place between us and it and the Art Fair taking place down the street from the church.  After taking a really long, awkward route to the street the church is on, we were confronted by a semi backing down the street in the wrong lane!  It had turned down the Art Fair street and got caught.

After that, we did a little thrifting to kind of round out my stock for this chemo period.  I'm as ready as I can get, I think.  I wish that I had found some more small furniture today, but them's the breaks.

Keep checking back this week.  I've got some content scheduled, but if I need to interrupt something for an update I will.  

I Need Some Awesomeness

I really need some awesome music today.  Here are two of the most awesome that I can think of.

Mark Knopfler doing "Devil Baby":



Lyle Lovett and "If I Had a Boat":



 Awesomeness is meant to be shared, so enjoy.

Chemo -2 days always calls for awesome.

Y'all are awesome.  Don't forget that.

Thus concludes this moment of awesome.

RIP George Jones

We just lost one of the greats.  You simply cannot imagine country music without thinking of George Jones.

My parents split when I was sixteen, right about the time this song was coming out.  There were some bad years between them after that, but somewhere along the line, they somehow managed to become friends again.  I never quite figured it out and I never really totally understood the relationship, but it was what it was.

They're buried side by side, in fact.  They ended up being better as friends than they ever were married.

Sometime in the early 90's, I'm hanging out with both of them in the NCO club at Fort Knox.  All of a sudden this song comes on. and I look up and my parents are heading to the dance floor.  I sat there kind of flabbergasted, while they danced.  My mom told me later that my dad liked the song and liked to dance to it, so she would oblige him.  But only for that one song.

We almost played it at his funeral.  It was going to be the recession music while everyone filed out.  I had Keith searching the internet for a decent version the night before. I chickened out at the next-to-the last minute and had it pulled.  I got to be really worried about what Mom's reaction would be.  She was an unpredictable sort.

Sometimes, I wish I'd gone through with it.



Truth was, my father never got over my mother.  Anyone that knew him knew that.   While I won't go so far as to say the same for my mother,  I will say that she remained fond of him for a good many years.  Yet, she always went to very great lengths to make sure that everyone knew they were divorced.  She was a complex, complicated, and sometimes downright contradictory and contrary individual.  You have no idea how much I miss that.

In my mind, wherever they are, George is playing this song right now.  And my parents are dancing. 

Fun Finds: Math Scale!

As a math instructor, I totally love this baby!  It's a vintage math teaching tool set up like a little scale.

Sweet 1950's kid graphics always make stuff more fun!

"Add-A-Count"  I love it!

Here you can see the base of the scale is marked off as "Right" or "Wrong."  That's not a moral judgement, mind you, but speaks to the accuracy of your math.

Dare you face the judgement of the Add-A-Count???

Only when there is balance is there also right.

You can put as many numbers as you want on either side of the scale to perform your calculations, but there's a catch!

Each letter is weighted a little differently, and the scale will only balance when the total on each side is the same.

Let's start with a seven.

TILT!

Now let's add a four.

Now a two.  Still not balanced.

But, if I add a one, then everything is hunky-dory!

7 = 4 +2 +1

That is right.  

Balance Restored!

The scale has spoken!

Let all heed the Add-A-Count!

I'm having a sale!

For any Louisville folks who might see this:

YesterNook is located at 1041 Goss Avenue in Schnitzelburg.  This is about three blocks from the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Goss.  Find out more at the store Facebook page.

I've got a fun selection of independent graphic novels, vintage chapter books, vintage picture books, vintage textbooks and classic novels!  Come check it out! 

Monday Rambles

I started feeling a little better towards the end of last week.  My energy level has been picking up over the past few days.  I'm at the end of this chemo cycle, so this is supposed to be my "good week."  I get my next infusion next Tuesday, so I intend to work this week for all its worth.

I still have to have my rest periods, but not nearly as many or as long.  Last "good week" I was able to get by with just early bed times.  I'm hoping to squeeze in a little thrifting and some major booth work this week, plus some house cleaning.

I'm not looking forward to the next infusion, just to be frank.  I'm getting tired of being stuck with needles, for one thing.  I still have these hard knots up and down my arms from the last round of shots.  Seriously, it was three weeks ago, but I can still identify all of my injection spots.  I'm also dreading the next increase in side effects.  (I need to remember to renew my anti-nausea meds this week.)

The radiologist released me last week.  I had my follow-up with him on Wednesday.  He gave me the option of continuing to see him or not.  I was only too glad to be rid of one of this crew of doctors!  Of course, if I do need further treatment, he'll be called back in, but we're hoping that doesn't have to happen.

How do you know that the Kentucky Derby Festival is about to begin?  The temperatures drop in Louisville!  It was quite chilly this weekend for the big fireworks deal thing at the Waterfront.  Thankfully, overall, my sales didn't dip too much. which can sometimes happen.  In fact, my sales started picking up toward the end of last week, which was much welcome.

Despite the chilly weather, there were a few good sales this weekend.  In fact, three of my favorite sales of the year took place on Saturday.  I knew about two of them all week and had a plan to hit both of them.  The third one hit me out of the blue.  I had checked the website for the center having that sale at the beginning of the month, and there was no mention of the sale, so finding the ad on Friday caught me off-guard.  It's important to do your research, but sometimes your sources frustrate you!

Rearranging my plan, we hit the surprise sale first, since it's always the biggest and best one.  For a couple of years now, I've gotten to this one and found cheap furniture and had no way to transport it.  This year, I remembered to bring the truck.  Voila!  One load of cheap furniture!

When we hit the smalls, Keith and I were gathering so much that one of the volunteers gave us a Rubbermaid cart to use as a shopping cart!  We loaded that sucker up!  Having the cart meant that I could gather up a good deal more stuff at once, so I didn't have to make my usual two-three trips through the place.

We did notice, both at this sale and at one of the churches, that prices were a little higher than we were used to.  Not that they were sky-high, but there were fewer of the .05 and .10 tags at both sales than we were used to.  I have a theory that the little old ladies at those places who price everything at .25 or less have started dying off, resulting in more .50 and up prices.  I still got quite a lot, though.

My goal for this past weekend and the coming one is to get stocked up enough to carry me through the next chemo cycle.  That approach worked well for me last time, so I'm doing it again.  Just getting to a sale or thrift when I'm battling the fatigue is very difficult.

I had a couple of unexpected windfalls last week that will help me reach that goal.  I was able to by a batch of items from the untagged room in the Peddlers Mall.  The store won't sell anything without a tag, so it's dated and put in a special room.  After thirty days (per our contracts), the store has the right to sell off any unclaimed items.  A lot of vendors don't check for their untagged stuff (I do), so it piles up.  I bought a bunch of stuff older than thirty days.  Some of it had been placed in there last summer, in fact!  I'm going to have to remember this as a source.

Also, my junking uncle Mike sold me a van load of his overstock and threw in a couple of bags of free items as well.  He kind of surprised me with it, but it was more than welcome and I appreciated it so much.  He told me he had started gathering some things for me to tide me over when the getting out is difficult for me.  We were able to get together for our first joint junking run in ages last Friday.  It was cold, but we hit a half dozen yard sales and a few thrifts.

The other thing I have to do this week is get all of this stuff sorted and priced and ready to go.  Then all I have to do is pull a box and go.

Speaking of going, I'd better get moving. I have a lot to do this week.

Cat Philosophy

A little bit never hurt anyone.  Unless, of course, you're driving.  But we're cats, so we can't drive.  Whatever.



Just a little, man.

It's A Fact

You simply cannot go wrong with a classic Carter Family video.  Ever.



Seriously.

Fun Finds: Puzzled

I love a good church sale like no one's business!  You can find all sorts of awesome stuff, usually for pretty cheap.  Since it's all been donated for purpose of the sale, no one has any attachment to it.  It's all gotta go.  I can't ever leave a good church sale without a box load or two.  Happily, two of my favorite church sales are taking place this weekend.  I'm storing up energy now to be able to do both of them.

For someone who loves religious items (like me), church sales bring an extra bonus.  Not only do church members donate some of their old items, but the church itself will clean out its closets and storerooms, adding to the potential treasure.

Recently, I found an awesome box of vintage Bible puzzles:

Crappy cell phone pic alert!

Vintage religious graphics are the most awesome kind of vintage graphics.  These little puzzles are jam-packed with all kind of awesome little details:  the flowing robes, the slightly effeminate males, pitiful expressions, the whole nine yards.  One of my favorite parts of these puzzles is their use of religious symbols.  The Old Testament stories have borders adorned with floating Stars of David, while the New Testament stories have Eucharistic symbols.  It's a cool little touch.

There are five puzzles in the box.  I can tell by the space remaining in the box that there were originally several more, but I'm happy that I got five awesome, complete puzzles.  The puzzles rest on top of each other in the box, and there are no frames or trays to hold them, so I had to take each one apart and put them back together to make these pics.  (See what I do for you all?)

My five puzzles are:

Joseph sold into slavery

I have got to find my regular camera!

Elijah and the Widow

Where can it be?

Daniel in the Lion's Den

I promise you I totally straightened all these pics when I edited them!

Jesus as the Sower

What kind of noob loses their camera anyway?

Jesus and Peter in Gethsemane

I wonder if it's in the bottom of my backpack?

My favorite part of all is the way the pieces have been cut.  There are specific shapes that have been cut into each puzzle, many of them related to the story depicted.  Here's a cute donkey:

A jug or urn:

I love this one.  It's a bird from the "Jesus as Sower" puzzle.  They cut the bird out from the part of the puzzle that deals with birds stealing the seeds.  How cute and how clever!

A lion from the Daniel story.

Fun fact:  my younger brother was named after this biblical character.

This awesome angel is also from the Daniel story:

 These figures mostly came from the "Elijah and the Widow" puzzle.  I'm a long way from my Sunday School days, but I'm pretty sure they all tie into the story somehow.  The seated man I am assuming is Elijah himself.  He looks kind of prophetic to me.  (The Scottie dog was from the Joseph puzzle.  I don't recall there being a Scottie dog in the that story, but, like I said, I'm a long way from my Sunday School days.)

Finally, this cute camel from the Joseph puzzle:

With all these special pieces, I think that these puzzles would have been very hard for a child to put together.  The box says that they are for ages 5-9, but I think a five or six year old might struggle with them.  On the other hand, I can see a teacher sitting with a child and helping them, using the special pieces to tell the story.  It's actually a clever concept.

Just a Link Today

I've mentioned it here before, but some folks may not realize it.  I write the blog for YesterNook, one of the stores where I have a booth.  I wrote a story recently inspired by some old photographs that I found in the store.  It's kind of an imaginary biography of these people and a couple of incidents in their lives.  It's the first longer form creative writing I have done in ages and ages, and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Monday Rambles

Well, this is supposed to be the rough week for this chemo cycle.  I can't imagine it getting any rougher than the past two weeks have been.  It's mainly this damn fatigue.  Last Wednesday, I went to bed at 5 and slept until 8 the next morning.  I used to enjoy naps.  They were little extras added to an already good day.  Now, they're practically mandatory just to get through the day.  It's ruined the whole concept of napping for me.  I didn't even think that was possible!

I'm doing what I can to try to alleviate some of the effects and make everything go a little smoother.  I realized I was getting dehydrated, so I have started monitoring my water intake every day.  I'm laying off the junk food and fast food, which is helping the queasiness and nausea.  I'm having as many fresh veggies as possible--I'm practically eating a large, nice salad for one meal nearly every day.  I've also cut out as much sugar as I can.  It's making a little bit of difference right now, and every little bit helps for sure.

The ball games killed my sales last week, and they didn't recover until the weekend.  Being a junker in a basketball town is rough this time of year.  My Spring Break week was better than my tournament week!  The Derby Festival starts the end of this month, too.  That sucks the life out of sales, let me tell you.  I hate April.

Yard sales were really bad this weekend.  It's too early in the season for consistently good weekends yet.  Sigh!  One sale was just setting up at their opening time, which means someone needs some advice.  I did get a few things there and probably would have gotten more if they had been ready.

We never found one sale.  Well, we found the warehouse where the sale was taking place, but there was no sign of a sale.  We followed this with an estate sale that nearly killed me.  Seriously.  I banged the hell out of my head  on a low step while coming up out of the basement.  This was the same sale with the packed house on the third (!) day, because the prices were so high.  There was also a man sanding the walls in the upstairs for painting while people were looking through the clothes and linens in the room.  Yeah, it was that kind of sale.  I'm not even embarrassed for the really loud "Mother Goddam Fuck!"  that I let out when I hit my head.  People were staring down the steps as I was coming up!

I hit one last estate sale, which was actually not too bad.  I've bought from this company before.  They price some stuff just a hair too high, but the unmarked smalls are usually fairly cheap.  And then, in the middle of the house, the bricks hit.  All of a sudden, I couldn't do anything but get out of there and back to the car.  Just the thought of gathering up stuff, finding someone to price it for me, and then standing in the looooong line to pay wiped me out.  I couldn't do it.  So I left.  And gave up for the weekend.  I never, ever thought anything would turn junking into a chore for me! 

Fuck Cancer!  It's ruined naps and junking! 

At least, this Saturday is one of our favorite church sales.  This may be one of the ones we actually hit twice.

I hope you all didn't mind the kind of silly with whiny undertones mode I went into last week.  Stuff like that is easy to produce, which both gives you all content and lets me feel like I'm still accomplishing something.  It's also a chance for me to try and inject a little humor into what's going on.  One of my fears is this blog turning into a big whine-fest.  So, I need ways to express what's going on that don't give way to self-pity.  There will probably be more stuff in that vein coming up.

Can I ask a favor?  Like I said, I'm in the need for some laughs--silly stuff, dark humor, sarcastic zingers, funny cartoons, cat videos, inappropriate thoughts, whatever.  Can you all forward stuff on to me when you find it?  Or post a line in my comments?  Or stick it up on your own pages?  I'd appreciate the lift.  Really.

Thanks for hanging with me through all this.  I appreciate it.

It's Time We Got Some High Quality Educational Content Around This Place!

But I can't afford any, so here's an old Animaniacs clip:



I've wanted to use at least one of their great "educational" songs for a while,but some of them are so dated now.  (How dare we keep electing presidents and invalidating twenty year old cartoons!)  They're all still classics, though, and well worth the YouTube search.

An Open Letter to a Certain Local Sports Coach

Dear Rick--

I can call you "Rick," can't I?  I hope so.  It's too late now to take that one back.

First off, let me congratulate you on the NCAA championship win for the University of Louisville.  After all these years, it must be nice to have a title under your belt here.  I'm sure that you and the boys will be celebrating for quite a while.  Your win will bring a lot of attention and benefits to the university and the city.

So many have followed you and the team and their ascent to the championship.  They stayed home diligently.  Watched the games.  Didn't go out before the games.  Even hours before the games when they could be doing other things because there was plenty of time to do them and still get home in time.

And that's why I'm writing.  As a small-time flea market vendor, I have to tell you that all the attention paid to the games hurt me and other small time entrepreneurs like me. You brought a lot of business traffic to a complete standstill on both Saturday and Monday, as people stayed in to prepare for the games, instead of hanging out in the flea markets and vintage stores like they normally do.  Things still haven't gotten back to normal, which is why I'm making a special appeal to you.

Those of us who make a little extra income from these sources have taken hits to the bottom line whose effect is hard to measure.  For micro-business entrepreneurs,  a hit like that can turn a whole month into a loss automatically.  We were already looking to get screwed over by the horses at the end of the month, but to get it from the birds in the beginning is an extra, and most unplanned, whammy.

Rick, for two stores, my combined sales on Monday were a whopping $1.48!  Seriously, man.  One freaking dollar and forty-eight freaking cents!  Are you kidding me?  I can find more than that in loose change in my couch cushions.  It's beyond sad.

I'm asking you to step up to the plate now for those of us you have so egregiously wounded. Put the word out.  Tell folks it's time to resume their normal, secondhand shopping routines.  We took the hit for you, man.  It's time to give a little back.  Get your followers back in the flea markets.  Please.

I mean, really, $1.48?  What the heck is that all about?

Love,

Me

Public Service Announcement

May I have your attention, please!

If you are the owner of a rather large pallet of heavy bricks which seems to be missing, I believe that I have found it.

Apparently, I'm dragging it along behind me. 

Please drop me a line ASAP to make arrangements to retrieve it, sooner rather than later.

Thank you.

The Plain Truth

Just Another Bit of Bronze Age Silliness

I actually bought this one off the stands back in the day.

So, I was Google searching for pics for the "Things I Like" post, I ran across this absolutely fabulous Superman cover from the early 80's.  My inner nine year old is giggling again.*  It's a totally mediocre comic, but what awesome cover!

*Not sure why I've decided it's my inner nine year old.  I was a teen-ager in the 80's.

Whiny Monday Rambles

Upfront warning:  There is very little content to this one that is not whining.  It's not been a good week.

Chemo #2 is not nearly as easy as Chemo #1 was.  I've been feeling effects since the beginning--much more fatigue, much more nausea.  No real pain to speak of, thankfully, and I did not get the rash this time.

Instead all of my injection spots (four of them) have turned into these hard, painful knots on my arms.

Friday night was my roughest to date.  I was up and down all night.  For the first time, I had to deal with vomiting.  (Hope no one is reading this with breakfast.)

It feels like this cycle is going to be a very long one.

And chemo turns my pee dark brown.  (Sorry about the breakfast.)

Not sure what's going to happen here this week.  Did not have time/energy to really pull anything together.

Sometimes, for no explainable reason...

...I find myself with old Gatlin Brothers songs stuck in my head.





And now, I've stuck them in yours.  Good luck!

Gotta love the harmonies, even if the repetition drives you crazy.

You're welcome.

Cat Philosophy

Don't mess with zombies!



Also, if they cannot find your head, then you are safely hidden.  They eat brains, you know.

Fuck Cancer

 Indeed.

I found this image while I was looking for pics to add to the "Things I Like" post and knew I wanted to use it in a post.  Chemo week seemed like a good time to do it.

I found it here.

Do me a favor, everyone.  Fuck Cancer, okay?  Do it for me.

Chemo Scoreboard

Two down!

Four to go!

I came home with a splitting headache and went right to bed.  There was a woman in the same pod with me who would not shut up!  She just kept babbling and babbling and babbling.  I know way  more about her and her family than I ever need to, including the fact that she likes to cut up hot dogs and put them in her mac and cheese.

Things I Like!

Since I'm having chemo today, I thought it might be a good idea to do a post with a happier theme.  Sometimes, being reminded of the good stuff in life can take your mind off the not-so-good.  It was pointed out to me several months ago by a certain person that they had no idea I liked nuns, since I had never put that in my blog.  Aiming to rectify that oversight, I now present a list of things that I like.  Don't expect a lot of explanation here, although I might do a more detailed post on a few of these in the future.  Please note that this is not an exhaustive list.  I might also do a sequel or two at some time.

I was kind of a bad blogger and did not keep track of where I borrowed the pics from.  I hope that doesn't get anyone's nose too much out of joint.

I guess I'll start off with the point of contention:

Nuns!

Penguins!

Batman!

And Robin!

Wonder Woman!

Soap Operas!  (Especially Days of Our Lives)

Comic Books!

 Cartoons!

Can you name everyone in this picture?

History!

I won all the History awards in high school.  Still love it.

Catholic stuff!

Writing!

Emmylou Harris!

Her new duet album with Rodney Crowell is about 87 different kinds of excellent!

 Cats!

My sweet baby Chiquito.

Yard Sales!

Watch for the return of Junkin' Memories soon!

Keith!

You would not believe how long it took me to find that pic.  The original file has been lost in computer switches and shuffles.  I had to page through almost four years of blog posts to find where I had used it! That's a lot of posts, even for someone like me who doesn't always post very regularly.

Still, it was so worth it.  I love that shot!  And that man!

Mexican Food!

I think I could eat Mexican food every day for the rest of my life.

YouTube!

The Spanish Language!

Fun Fact:  My BA is in Spanish.

Murder Mysteries!

Excel!

Everyone should have a favorite software program.  This is mine.

Bybee Pottery!

If I had room, I'd probably collect Bybee, but I'm content to just sell it.

The Go-Go's!

And that's probably enough for this go around.