Monday Rambles

We're supposed to warm up this week and get lots of rain.  I don't care about the rain. As soon as we can see the sidewalks, I shall ride my bike in my underwear through the downpours and take pictures and post them on Facebook.  Then, I shall put my clothes on and go thrifting.  If you should see me, you'll recognize my by the wet hair and the delirious warm weather grin on my face.


I hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day.  We did.  We stayed in, because it was snowing and icing and such, and nI cooked.  It was low key, but very, very nice. 

I didn't realize until after it was posted, but somehow in the course of editing, I accidentally deleted one of my "100 Things I Love About Being a Junker."  It was supposed to be #17 and serve as a companion to #16, which was "Buying Junk from Kids."  I'm going to include it here, since I would hate for it not to be shared:

16a.  Selling Junk to Kids.  That was one of my favorite stories last year and I wanted to share it again.  Eddie-torial Comments regrets the error.  To further drive the point home, I was at the Peddlers Mall the other day talking to one of the other vendors when this kid comes up and asks if we know where there are any Nerf shooters for sale.  We kind of point him in a direction and then he shows us the one he's already found and says:  "Score!  This one is only 10 cents and it works!"  he walks off and I look at the other vendor and say:  "That's what it's all about man.  I've been that kid."

Sales were through the roof at Peddlers Mall this weekend.  I was totally psyched.  Tax season is now upon us, for sure.  I stopped by there Saturday to drop off my estate sale purchases, and the assistant managewr told me that she had "been ringing my number up all day."  I did close to $100!

Still working on the other place.  Took a HUGE load over there Saturday.  The booth is finally starting to look like something that belongs to me.  There are still some holes, but it's much, much fuller.  I need to find my pegboard hooks, because I've got an idea for some cool shelving.  I also took a ton of pics and I'm planning to Craigslist the hell out of everything in there this week.

Speaking of estate sales, I went to two of them on Saturday.  I only bought a few things, but they were kind of special.

What's inside this awesome vintage Xmas box?

An even awesomer bunch of vintage cards!

The cards are for every occasion and no occasion at all.  All of them are blank.  Look for lots of random card posts for the rest of the year.  There are some fabulous ones in there!  I've got a lot of scanning to do! 

I need to clean this tray, but I didn't have the right stuff to do it in my storage room.  I love the way the different drinks are marked off.

I got a San Francisco fan, too, but it's not as nice!

I totally love that vintage step ladder.  The hinges are retro red!

And it still has its original shipping tag on it! I bought that yellow table too.

I realized what a total doofus I am when I was working at the second booth.  I have these letters that are designed to be cool wall hangings.  I'm down to the really odd letters, so I've not sold any in a while.  I took them to the new space to see what would happen and realized this:

 

I should have used them for a Valentines theme!  Doh!  Of course, they're not red or pink, so that probably would not have worked.  (And I am so not one to be priming and painting and such.)  Actually, due to the weather, I could never get what little Valentines Day stuff I have out of my shed to take to the booth.  There's always next year, I guess.  I did find some cool boxed valentines at a thrift and sold most of them.  They were 90's cartoons like Duck Tales, TMNT, etc.  Way cool.

Gotta run!  Look for posts all week!

100 Reasons I Love Being a Junker

Back in the day, there was this thing that went around the comics blogosphere where, at Valentines, folks posted lists of 100 things they loved about comics.  I never did this, but always wanted to.  I even made notes for a list, but never got around to doing it. I also made notes for a "!00 Things I Love about Living in Louisville" list.  I found that one the other day.  Probably 20% of the places named on it are now closed.  Sigh.

I got to thinking bout those lists a little while ago and decided that it was finally time (nearly a decade after the trend has died) to do one of my own.  Not about comics, but about junking.  (But there is some junking-related comics content.  Never stray too far from your roots, man.)

Of course, being me, I can't just list things.  I have to talk about a few of them and share some links.  And name-drop a bit.  If I didn't mention you on my list, it's not because you're not one of the things I love about junking, but because I ran out of room.  Or I forgot.  Or something.  Remember, there's always next year.

Happy Valentines Day, everyone!

 ONE HUNDRED THINGS I LOVE ABOUT BEING A JUNKER!

By Michael Edward Mitchell, age 48

1.  It's an excuse to shop!   C'mon, everyone!  Let's be honest about this one!

2.  It keeps me from being a hoarder!  At least that's the justification...

3.  Old comic books.  It's where I began.

4.  BOOKS!  I'll always have way too many.

5.  Vintage religious items.  I buy 'em.  I sell 'em.  I collect 'em.  I love 'em!

6.  Making new friends

7.  All the crew at Dixie Peddlers Mall!  Y'all rock!  Shout-outs to Dianna, Tiffany, Theresa, Elizabeth, Brenda, Richie, Jim and James!

8.  Thrifting:  My dad took me to my first DAV.  It was downhill from there!

9.  50% off day at the ACB thrift:  Happens every now and again.

10.  50% off day at Unique:  Happens on Monday holidays.  The crowds are crazy and it's impossible to get a cart.  I love it!

11.  50% off tags at SVDP:  Happens every month!  They use colored tags and every month a different color is half off!

12.  YARD SALES!!!!  Counting the minutes until Spring...

13.  CHURCH SALES!!!!  Keep reading for the ones I never miss.

14.  Going through your haul at the end of the day.  Bit by bit, it all adds up!

15.  Finding the "theme of the day"  Some days you see the same oddball item at every sale you hit.  Salsa kits.  Fondue pots.  Porta-Potties.  Who knows what you're gonna see?

16.  Buying junk from kids

17.  Blessed Sacrament Church Sale.  It always seems to be held the same weekend that one of the Derby footraces hopelessly tie up traffic in the neighborhood, but it's worth the effort to get there.

18.  Big representations of things that are small.  I love it when scale is played with and inverted.  Makes for interesting things and I like to by and sell interesting things.

19.   The Five Guys!

20.  All the other Peddlers Malls:  Louisville is blessed with an abundance of vendor malls.  They provide a nice alternative to the thrifts and the antique malls.  I love 'em all!

21.  Booths with good stuff cheap.  Don't forget to shop your neighbors!  I do it all the time.

22.  Small city and neighborhood sales.  Louisville has dozens of little incorporated cities within its borders.  It's a bit of a political and logistical headache, but many of them have their own designated citywide yard sale days!  I'm all for that!

23.  Vendors who don't take themselves so seriously.  We're in this to make some money, sure, but this is supposed to be fun!  I can make money in a dozen different ways and be unhappy while doing it.

24.  Broadway Baptist Winter Sale:  One of my favorites.  The last hour is half off and there is always a ton of stuff!

25.  Small representations of things that are big

26.  Old Hymnals

27.  All my peeps at Yard Sale Queen!  Holla!  Laying aside my lame attempts to sound hip and young, there's not a nicer online forum around!  I have learned so much in the few years I've been a member.  Just a super great group of people!

28.  Dixie Trading Post.  Home of my second booth.

29.  The Big Flea!  The original and still finest.  I've spent many a fine junking hour wandering those aisles.  When I am old and decrepit, I'll be paying young whippersnappers to push my chair up and down the aisles and carry my bags of stuff.

More list love after the jump!