A Poem What I Have Wrote

By Michael Edward Mitchell
Age 53

Hercules and Isosceles
    Were going to the Ball.
Said Hercules to Isosceles:
    "You're the tallest one of all."
Said Isosceles to Hercules:
     "By Jove! I think you're right!"
Then Hercules and Isosceles
     Strolled off into the night.



 Eddie-tor's Note: I couldn't sleep the other night, and this was the result. It was inspired by something one of my former Adult Ed students said one night when we were studying triangles.

To Ramble or Not to Ramble?

On a Tuesday, that is.  I'm getting closer to Monday!  Still no cigar though.  Oh well, I don't smoke anyway.

WEATHER REPORT

We ended last week in the 60's, then came into the 30's this week.  Winter in Kentucky.  Ain't nothing like it.  At one point, they were calling for snow for this week, but not any more.  Good.  We already had one good, lasting snow this winter, and that's enough for me.

EEK!

So, I was wandering through the Peddlers Mall the other day, when I caught something out of the corner of my eye.  I turned my head and found myself face-to-face with this:

There, in a showcase across from my booth, is a Wookie head!  I can just imagine the Emperor Palpatine sitting on a throne somewhere calling out:  "BRING ME THE HEAD OF CHEWBACCA THE  WOOKIE!"

According to the price tag, this was part of a limited run of 5,000, because, I guess, there aren't that many Star Wars fans who are into decapitation.  Also, Wookies have bad dental hygiene.

AND NOW IT'S QUESTION TIME!

Why so serious?

I always seem to be frownie in my selfies.  I think it's because I'm concentrating so much on making sure all my hair is in the picture.

Also, hair up or down?  Vote in the comments.

SPOKE TOO SOON

It never fails.  Every time I mention that sales are going strong in the blog, it seems like they immediately slow down.  Wednesday and Thursday last week were just "meh."  But Friday and Saturday were great.  I straightened out my showcases the other day and have sold something out of them every day since.

Friday was also a big furniture day.  I even sold one of my shelves, which meant rearranging that booth to make room for a new shelf, which was a little larger than the one that sold.  That started on Saturday and has led to a total booth redo that is still going on.  I'm in the midst of redoing all my spaces, but this particular one was low on the list.  Now, it's taken over!  It's looking good, though.

MUSIC FOR MONDAY

(Er...Tuesday)

Okay.  That's enough rambling.  It's treatment day, so I need to find clean socks and scoot out of here. Enjoy this bit from OMD, which combines two things I love:  80's synth-pop and stories of the saints.

Super Sexy-Pants Midweek Ramble!

I keep trying(and failing) to get an actual Monday Ramble out, but it doesn't seem to be working very well.  Let's go with this one for this week, at least.

First up a question:

Do these sunglasses make me look all, you know, celebrity and stuff?  (Probably not.  The scraggly-ass goatee is looking particularly scraggly-ass here.  Brad Pitt can pull that shit off.  Me?  not so much.)

Cold, windy and wet this week, but no freezing temps and no snow.  We've had too many days of that over the past couple of weeks.  I declared a little while ago that I wasn't leaving the house until the temp was above 20, then promptly spent several days drinking hot chocolate, eating pie, and watching cartoons.  I am so over this winter.

I have definitely come to understand why some large mammals hibernate during the cold months.  I'm wondering how I can sign up for that program myself, since I am also a large mammal.  I just need to find an electric blanket that will stay on for three months and teach the cat to feed himself and scoop the litter box.

I'm working on a major booth redo, but it's going painfully slow.  I'll have pics when I get done, if I get done.  It's been a good January, sales-wise.  I haven't really had a post-holiday dip, which usually happens after New Year's.  I've been on a bit of a roll since the week before Christmas, even with the store closing for a couple of days due to weather.  Small furniture and higher-priced items are really moving right now.

2017 was kind of average as far as booth sales went.  I set a huge record in March, then crashed hard in April.  Summer was better than usual.  Fall would have been, except that I took an extra booth during a rent special to try and move some furniture, then barely broke even.  I ditched it when the special was over.  November and December were super-good.

Tine for another pic.

That was my anniversary gift from Keith.  We decided not to do Christmas presents this year, just a small anniversary gift each.  My collection of Batman shirts keeps growing.

Tucker is starting his daily rampage through the house.  It's crazed kitty time!  (Or, as I like to call it: "Go, Speed Racer, Go!")  Life with kittens, I tell you.

I made a super-major comic score at an estate sale last week.  Nearly 100 issues of one of my primary comic obsessions.  I plan on sharing it soon.  I actually want to do an in-depth sort of look at the four kinds of comics that make me go "Squee!" when I find them.  One them you can already guess, vintage romance comics.  I'll go ahead and surprise you all by saying that none of the other three are Batman or Wonder Woman.

And with that, I'll leave you with some Midweek Music.

2017 Recap (Final Finds Unseen)

And now we come to the end of this journey through the unblogged finds of last year.  Time to wrap this puppy up.  I've got other topics to expound upon.

 Everything in this post was a curb find.  I'm keeping my commentary to a minimum this time.

Please to ignore the fat, pasty ankles in the mirror.

I thought this old wooden outer casing for a clock would make a great niche for displaying stuff.  It sold the day after I put it out.

Randomness.  I like randomness.

This wrestling belt is not a toy.  The belt is leather and the metal plaque is heavy.  I think it may have been some kind of athletic award.

More randomness.  I remembered to stand clear of the mirror this time.

Of course, there will be windows.  There are always windows.  Also a door.

And that was 2017 in junk.  Onward to 2018!

Retro Y'all!

I've come to believe that Waylon Jennings doesn't quite get the credit he deserves as a songwriter.  For some reason, when people talk about the great country music songwriters, he doesn't seem to get mentioned often.



Fun Fact;  According to Wikipedia, this song was inspired by an article Jennings read about Tina Turner.

Comic Book Friday: Big Flea Finds

There wasn't a lot of good comic picking at the last Big Flea.  A couple of the usual dealers weren't there, and several that were did not bring their cheaper stock.  Oh well.  At least the comic shop will start having sales again soon.

I did find a couple of things, but not too much.

You all know I love me some old romance comics.  Typically, though, I stick with the DC comics, as they are both the cheesiest and the best quality.  This one is from Charlton, which was kind of a bargain basement comics company overall.  I got it because I liked the cover, which has an interesting and uncommon art style with all the shading. Charlton wasn't generally known for doing unique stuff like this.  The cover itself reads like this could be the comic version of the "Me Too" movement, except that you just know in the story she's going to fall in love with the creepy boss. 

I already have this one in several versions, so it's going to the booth. Also known by the title Barefoot Gen, this is one of the most powerful manga I have ever read.  The cartoonist lived through the atomic bomb blast in Hiroshima, and the comic tells that story.  It's graphic, intense, and not for the faint of heart.  It's also incredibly timely right now, as we have leaders bandying the prospect of nuclear war about like it's no big thing.  I highly recommend this book.

Thirteen Going on Eighteen  is a teen humor series by John Stanley, who wrote and drew the classic Little Lulu comics.  His work has a style and flair to it that I have always loved.  

More romance comics, this time from DC.  This was the second-to-last issue of Young Romance, which ceased publication in 1975.  The romance genre in comics did not survive the 70's, sadly.  I got this book and the one below from a dealer who is always at the Big Flea.  I usually buy manga and Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew books from him.  He's had these comics forever, but wanted ten bucks each for them.  Not from this romance comic geek. He'd marked them way, way, way down to a much more reasonable price, so I picked them both up.

And that's the comic book update for this week  I'm going to work really hard to make this the regular thing I intended for it to be this year.

I'm off to an estate sale today that is supposed to have not only old comics, but one of my other comic obsessions.  At least, according to the pictures.  The person running the sale has caused some problems for me in the past, so I generally give her sales a wide berth, but I can't pass this up. Wish me luck!

2018 Finds So Far!

Before we get started, a word from the producers:

Once more, for those of you who happen to be reading this blog while lying down:

I've got one more 2017 finds post, and I'm contemplating making a post of some even older finds that I photographed but never shared.  I normally wouldn't bother with something older like that, but these things are kind of cool.

However, for today, I wanted to show some things that have crossed my path since the beginning of the year.  I really want to stay on top of sharing stuff this year, so these need to go up before too much more time passes.  Everything in this blog came from the New Year's Big Flea (including the Welcome sign above), first week of January shopping at the thrifts, and some trash picking.

In case you didn't know, early January is a good time to go thrifting.  Most non-profit thrifts get hit with a huge lot of last minute donations at the end of the year from people trying to eke out a last minute tax deduction.  One of the Goodwills here in town keeps their donation drop off open until midnight on New Year's Eve to accommodate people.  This large influx of stuff means a smorgasbord of new stock hitting the sales floor during the first week of January.  At one store I went to, four carts crammed with new stuff came out in the hour I was there.

I picked up an instant vintage clock radio collection at the Big Flea.  I saw them early in the day, but didn't buy any at that time.  I wanted to go back after I'd seen the whole show and pick up a couple at that time.  When I went back the dealer was in "Let's Make a Deal" mode, and I ended up walking off with the whole lot for a super, super price.  That's why I go on the last day.

The one on top is an Emerson.  It's also my favorite.  It's got some damage on the back, but still displays well.  The one on the bottom of the stack on the table has a real wood outer shell, which is just crying for an inventive DIY-er to make it over.  By the way, the table came out of my storage stash.  I've been on a small furniture roll since the week before Christmas.  I can't keep it in stock.

Speaking of small furniture, the pics don't do the pattern on this vintage kitchen chair justice.  It's amazing in person.  Goodwill find.

I'm normally not one for these cheesy, faux-primitive signs, but they were really cheap.  I thought they'd be good for Valentine's.  Big Flea.

This cute Kitten with Mittens looks kind of like Tucker, except that his eyes are amber-colored.  Also, his mittens are sparkly purple. Goodwill.

I love it when I find things with an OUTRAGEOUS original retail price tag in thrifts.  This one is on the bottom of this:

Which just blows my mind, since it looks like an ordinary bathroom trash can.  It's made out of a hard plastic, kind of like Melamine, but thicker.  I have a feeling it would shatter if dropped hard enough.

Cute, handmade blue step-stool.  Goodwill.

These cute, Day of the Dead-style skeletons are hanging out on a clear Pyrex bowl.  I didn't know Pyrex still made things with designs on them.  Goodwill.

Since I do go to the Big Flea on the last day, I usually run into lots of dollar deals.  These were even better:  two for a dollar deals!  I love the designs on these pieces.  The figure in front is a cute pig.  The eggs in the middle are salt and pepper shakers.  There is also a bird figure that I couldn't find for the pic.

An odder couple I cannot imagine. Big Flea.

Mini oil lamp collection. Big Flea.

Does anyone know anything about this character.  I've drawn a blank in my searches. The only thing I found was an expired trademark application taken out by the Weekly Reader people.  (Remember them?)

Cute vintage metal tray perfect for Valentine's.  Goodwill.

Sweet original painting.  Peddlers Mall find.

I love educational comics of all kinds.  These are for my collection.  Big Flea.

Couch Potatoes.  Goodwill.

The second-hand store down the street from our house cleaned off its shelves over the weekend, so I cleaned out their trash shortly thereafter.  Picked up a lot of stuff that will be great for the booth, but the only blog-worthy bit was this 1980 Smurf wind-up toy. The little knob is missing from the winder, but it's still awesome.

Speaking of trash-picking, we are now only three weeks from the next junk set out.  Not that I'm counting or anything.

Retro Y'all!

Another earworm they play at the Peddlers Mall all the time. If it's gonna be stuck in my head, I'm gonna share that "joy" with you all.  This one is dedicated to the customer who was walking up the aisle singing along at the same time that I was working, also singing along.



This one is a twofer treat as we get back into the Retro Y'all groove.  I had a hard time picking which version of this song to feature, since there are two well known versions of it, both equally popular and both equally retro.  In the end I decided to include them both.

That was Tanya Tucker.  Now here's Helen Reddy.



I have to say that I prefer Tucker's version.  I'm always attracted to good, old-fashioned twangy country, plus I love the harmonies and the gospel choir feel of the ending better.  Although, that odd little dance step Reddy is doing is really cure, in an awkward sort of way.

Fun Facts:

My mother hated this song, for some reason.  She had some kind of Helen Reddy's greatest hits LP and played "I am Woman" over and over (and over) again after she and my father split.  She would always rush to the stereo to stop it before "Delta Dawn" could come on.

According to Wikipedia, this was almost released as single by Bette Midler, until Helen Reddy released it first.

Until I researched the song, I had no idea Helen Reddy was from Australia.

More 2017 Recap (Further Sights Unseen)

Continuing from yesterday, here are some more of the finds from last year that got photographed, but never blogged.  Unless noted otherwise, everything here is a trash find.

I always grab discarded lawn ornaments, regardless of the shape they're in.  This one wouldn't even stand up on its own any more.  I thought it could be painted and make a cool door stop or something.  It actually sat on our stoop for a while, until Keith told me it was creeping him out.

One of our across the street neighbors is also a garbage picker.  He used to do a yard sale every so often.  Now he just sets his old finds out during set out.  I've gotten some good stuff from his curb over the years.  These wheels came from there.  I grab stuff like this and toss it in my salvage booth as spare parts.  Someone must need them, because they do sell.  I'd rather see it go to a new person than be tossed out.

Rusty metal plant shelf.

My price tag on this one says:  "Make your own 10 Commandments!"  That was my thought when I first saw it.  I also added another tag that says:  "Thou shalt shop Booth 62!" That's an order!  

I found a huge bucket of these canning jars.  They're not at all old, but the rusted lids lend them that feeling.  They are waiting in the shed to be filled with odds and ends.  I sell lots of stuff in jars--spools, buttons, clothes pins, beads, etc.  My best seller is actually just jars of miscellaneous junk, which is what I use these larger jars for.  I keep one by my desk and just toss random stuff in it until it's full.  Usually, it's the leftovers from a bag or box of junk I bought that are too small or uninteresting to sell by themselves.

MCM wall hangings, which I thought were cool.  It's amazing what people will toss out.  Even the broken one sold.

Big Flea find.  I am kind of obsessed with wooden boxes, particularly homemade ones like this one.  They're a top seller for me, so I jump on everyone I can find.

More Big Flea finds.  

Remember the awesome cast iron vent I found a while back?  I went back to that house for the last set out, and all I found was Mr. Bubble.  That's kind of a metaphor for this whole business, I think.

Speaking of that vent, I sold it to a downtown antique dealer Who was a new customer to my booth.  I was working my spaces that day, and we talked for a long time.  I saw him again right before Christmas, and he told me that he had taken it to a big antique fair in New York and someone bought it from him right as he was setting it out.  I made a real nice deal off of it, and so did he.  I also got a regular customer out of it.

I found two bags of old paper in an alley, and brought them home to sort out.  Oddly enough, a lot of it was papers and  stuff from a tiny town in far western Kentucky where my great-grandfather lived when he was a boy.  There was also this poster.  Take a closer look at the bottom.

Interesting world, ain't it?

Big Flea find.  Also, guilty pleasure TV.  I don't actually watch the show itself.  I view clips of the big meltdowns on YouTube.  I look at it kind of like I do all those Real Housewives shows.  I can watch a little bit of it, turn it off and say to myself:  "Maybe I'm not rich, but I'm also sure as hell not CRAZY!!!"

Hiding in my front bush is a shy little squirrel blow mold I found in the alley that was  strewn with stuff.  He's by Don Featherstone, the guy who designed the pink lawn flamingo.

Finally, a happy find.  I got this at the Peddlers Mall.  The vendor had a bag of them and had misidentified them as Happy Meal toys.  It's actually a vintage Wilton cake decoration.  I htink it dates back to the days of the TV show.

It even look a little like Adam West.

Still more to come.  Tune in tomorrow.  Same Bat Blog.  Same Bat Channel.