No ramble today. Instead, I want to point you to a post over at my friend (and better blogger than I will ever be) Roger Green's blog, where he looks at King's Nobel Prize acceptance speech, which is still as moving and thought-provoking as it was all those years ago.
All those years ago. Heh. All those years ago, and yet here we are, in the middle of the same goddam struggle, which is heating up yet again.
Today of all days, with Friday's cannon staring us in the face, we need to remember who King really was--not the easy to swallow postage stamp version--but the real King, the man who consistently grounded his actions in an all-consuming, radical belief that we could be better than we are, as long as we grounded our movements for change in unconditional love.
I'm struggling with that last part right now.
We as a country are standing on the precipice of a huge, dark ugliness that must be fought. We must also take care that we do not become that ugliness in the process.
Showing posts with label Roger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roger. Show all posts
Monday, January 16, 2017
Friday, August 12, 2016
This one's for Roger Green!
It's not often you find a comic that has a connection to someone you actually know, so when I saw this one at the Big Flea a while back, I had to pick it up.
Blogging buddy and role model Roger Green worked for the company that published Smilin' Ed and knew the creators well. I'd been wanting to post this for s while, but decided that today is a good time to do it for two reasons.
First, just to let him know that I'm thinking about him and to send him some cheer. The anniversary of his father's death was this week. It was right after my father died that Roger reached out to me and we bonded over having experienced the same type of loss. He's a good man.
Also, this seemed like a good way to inaugurate a new feature for the blog: Comic Book Fridays! Whenever I can remember to do it, I'll be posting something comic book related on Friday. I hope to talk about some aspects of comics that will be helpful to other junkers, but also to share a bit about my favorites, trivia, etc.
Hope you enjoy it!
PS Check out Roger's blog for thorough, thought-provoking, and humorous posts every day.
Blogging buddy and role model Roger Green worked for the company that published Smilin' Ed and knew the creators well. I'd been wanting to post this for s while, but decided that today is a good time to do it for two reasons.
First, just to let him know that I'm thinking about him and to send him some cheer. The anniversary of his father's death was this week. It was right after my father died that Roger reached out to me and we bonded over having experienced the same type of loss. He's a good man.
Also, this seemed like a good way to inaugurate a new feature for the blog: Comic Book Fridays! Whenever I can remember to do it, I'll be posting something comic book related on Friday. I hope to talk about some aspects of comics that will be helpful to other junkers, but also to share a bit about my favorites, trivia, etc.
Hope you enjoy it!
PS Check out Roger's blog for thorough, thought-provoking, and humorous posts every day.
Tuesday, May 05, 2015
Monday (Tuesday) Rambles
Well, hello there! How was your Derby? Did your horse win? If so, will you take me to lunch? My horse didn't win. Well, sort of. I didn't really have a horde, but I did draw one in the Peddlers Mall Derby pool. Still, I didn't win.
Horses aside, there are some recent other winners of a sort who need to be congratulated:
Good blog friend Roger just celebrated ten years of his blog! It's even more amazing when you consider that he actually manages to blog every single day!
Linda at A La Carte recently became a grandma for the second time.
Shara just expanded her booth space at one of her flea markets. Long may she sell!
Distressed Donna also recently had a blogiversary. I'll have some more to say about that in a longer post.
I'd also like to recommend a really good recent read at Things I Find in the Garbage, probably the best trash-picking blog out there. I have to admit, he's got me checking to see when move out day at the local colleges is. Free stuff is free stuff, after all. I like this post because he touches on the issues of consumption and its environmental impacts, which are topics that I roll around in my head from time to time as they relate to re-selling. There's a post for me in all of this that has needed to be written for a while now. Maybe I'll finally get around to it now.
The post at TIFITG reminds me of the time that Keith and I were moving out of the apartment we had been in for nine years and into the house. Our apartment was close to the University of Louisville, so there were a lot of students living in our complex, as well as the surrounding apartment buildings. When we had gotten down to the things we did not want to take with us, we took three or four carloads to Goodwill. That left some large items that we didn't really have room to haul in the car. I had some boards and cinder blocks I was using as bookshelves and an old desk that was too small for my needs. Instead of tossing them, we left them sitting beside the dumpster. I figured that one of the students in the area might want them. They were gone before we pulled out of the parking lot of the last time. I guess the relationship between students and the trash goes both ways!
There wasn't a Mazda shot this weekend because we simply didn't have time to do it. Keith had an afternoon commitment that meant we had to unload stuff quickly and get moving. Let me tease you just a bit with the finds in anticipation of the full reveal tomorrow:
That's what the tag I made for the lamp says!
Despite being Derby, there were a lot of yard sales going on. This was largely due to the rain last Saturday, which cancelled lots of sales. We hit the annual Derby street sale which is held by several dealers and their friends not far from our house. Stuff is always plentiful and prices are generally good. I was a little disappointed that the one guy that always has fun smalls had nothing I was interested in.
One of the sales I wanted to hit did not seem to be happening, but that just made more time for what turned out to be one of the best sales I've been to in a while. Tons of vintage toys and really good prices. Despite the fact that I had to work around a couple of guys and their constant eBay searches (Arrgh!), I got a lot of good stuff at this one. I'll have pics of the finds tomorrow.
It was also a fun walk down memory lane. There were so many toys and books there that I had as a kid! I love it when that happens. I heard the seller talking to one of the shoppers, and it turns out that she had conducted her father's estate sale about six or so years ago, which I had attended. He ran a print and bookbinding shop, and there were massive amounts of all kinds of printed material at the sale. I got a nice sized stack of vintage romance comic books and a bunch of religious tracts a that sale, which is why I remembered it.
Of course, the real highlight of the day was Free Comic Book Day. I had planned to visit four shops, but only made it to two. The reason?
Well, there were big crowds, which meant long lines. But the sales were worth it! I'll have more on that in a few days. I also managed to get a hefty stack of the FCBD books.
I missed out on a couple of the ones I wanted, but I had the chance to get a few other titles, so I did. You know me and free. I'll end up passing most of them on in some way or another.
I did see something disturbing at one store.
My brother is planning to come up for a visit next week. I am really excited for that. I can hardly wait! We don't get to see each other often enough, so we really have a good time when we're together. I've got a lot to do to get the house ready for his visit, though.
Booth sales were actually good for Derby Weekend. I had strong days on both Oaks (Friday) and Derby (Saturday). I'm hoping that this is a good sign for the rest of the month. I was working the other day when another vendor gave me a dining table, an end table and some other stuff she didn't want to move out of her space. You know me and free! I took it all, even the broken down pressboard writing desk that was ready for the trash. I put the desk in my booth with a "free" sign on it and it was gone by the weekend. Never hurts to repay the "free karma."
On that note, I'll say "Bye-Bye!"
Horses aside, there are some recent other winners of a sort who need to be congratulated:
Good blog friend Roger just celebrated ten years of his blog! It's even more amazing when you consider that he actually manages to blog every single day!
Linda at A La Carte recently became a grandma for the second time.
Shara just expanded her booth space at one of her flea markets. Long may she sell!
Distressed Donna also recently had a blogiversary. I'll have some more to say about that in a longer post.
I'd also like to recommend a really good recent read at Things I Find in the Garbage, probably the best trash-picking blog out there. I have to admit, he's got me checking to see when move out day at the local colleges is. Free stuff is free stuff, after all. I like this post because he touches on the issues of consumption and its environmental impacts, which are topics that I roll around in my head from time to time as they relate to re-selling. There's a post for me in all of this that has needed to be written for a while now. Maybe I'll finally get around to it now.
The post at TIFITG reminds me of the time that Keith and I were moving out of the apartment we had been in for nine years and into the house. Our apartment was close to the University of Louisville, so there were a lot of students living in our complex, as well as the surrounding apartment buildings. When we had gotten down to the things we did not want to take with us, we took three or four carloads to Goodwill. That left some large items that we didn't really have room to haul in the car. I had some boards and cinder blocks I was using as bookshelves and an old desk that was too small for my needs. Instead of tossing them, we left them sitting beside the dumpster. I figured that one of the students in the area might want them. They were gone before we pulled out of the parking lot of the last time. I guess the relationship between students and the trash goes both ways!
There wasn't a Mazda shot this weekend because we simply didn't have time to do it. Keith had an afternoon commitment that meant we had to unload stuff quickly and get moving. Let me tease you just a bit with the finds in anticipation of the full reveal tomorrow:
 |
| Croquet mallets all in a row |
 |
| Painted child's chair |
 |
| Audaciously ugly lamp. |
Despite being Derby, there were a lot of yard sales going on. This was largely due to the rain last Saturday, which cancelled lots of sales. We hit the annual Derby street sale which is held by several dealers and their friends not far from our house. Stuff is always plentiful and prices are generally good. I was a little disappointed that the one guy that always has fun smalls had nothing I was interested in.
One of the sales I wanted to hit did not seem to be happening, but that just made more time for what turned out to be one of the best sales I've been to in a while. Tons of vintage toys and really good prices. Despite the fact that I had to work around a couple of guys and their constant eBay searches (Arrgh!), I got a lot of good stuff at this one. I'll have pics of the finds tomorrow.
It was also a fun walk down memory lane. There were so many toys and books there that I had as a kid! I love it when that happens. I heard the seller talking to one of the shoppers, and it turns out that she had conducted her father's estate sale about six or so years ago, which I had attended. He ran a print and bookbinding shop, and there were massive amounts of all kinds of printed material at the sale. I got a nice sized stack of vintage romance comic books and a bunch of religious tracts a that sale, which is why I remembered it.
Of course, the real highlight of the day was Free Comic Book Day. I had planned to visit four shops, but only made it to two. The reason?
Well, there were big crowds, which meant long lines. But the sales were worth it! I'll have more on that in a few days. I also managed to get a hefty stack of the FCBD books.
I missed out on a couple of the ones I wanted, but I had the chance to get a few other titles, so I did. You know me and free. I'll end up passing most of them on in some way or another.
I did see something disturbing at one store.
 |
| "The Dark Avenger of the Night is not sweet and fluffy!" |
Booth sales were actually good for Derby Weekend. I had strong days on both Oaks (Friday) and Derby (Saturday). I'm hoping that this is a good sign for the rest of the month. I was working the other day when another vendor gave me a dining table, an end table and some other stuff she didn't want to move out of her space. You know me and free! I took it all, even the broken down pressboard writing desk that was ready for the trash. I put the desk in my booth with a "free" sign on it and it was gone by the weekend. Never hurts to repay the "free karma."
On that note, I'll say "Bye-Bye!"
Monday, September 08, 2014
Monday Rambles
Where the craziness never ends!
Ever.
Seriously.
Last week was a whirlwind of activity and this one seems sure to be more of the same. I have to go to Lexington for training on Thursday and Friday. It's sure to be a good training and I love Lexington. Thing is, I want to go thrifting and junking in Lexington, not sit in a class all day! It's so hard to do the things you gotts do all the time when you can practically here the junk crying out for you! Am I right?
The good part is that I will get out of a day of work. The bad part is that my pay rate for training is half of my regular rate, so I'll barely make up for missing that day of work with the two days of training! Sigh.
I spent a couple of days last week trying to get the new booths up and running. It's proving to be quite a challenge. Nothing is photo-worthy yet. There's not enough stuff in the spaces for a pic. I've started selling at a good pace though.
I only have two spaces in the new store, as opposed to the eight I have at the other one. I'm actually finding it kind of hard to work in a smaller space now. I am so used to my big ole four-plex. It's easy to forget that I started small, back in the day. To make it even more challenging, my two spaces are across the aisle from each other, so I don't even have a duplex. The smaller space will be easier to stock and keep clean, but I find I'm constantly over-compensating for the size by not bringing enough stuff.
It's still going to be a while before I get it to that just right stage, especially at the rate things are selling. I am a little worried about keeping up the pace. Since it is across the river, I cannot get over there as often as I do the other store. However, blank spots and disorder show up more easier in smaller spaces than they do in my big ole booth. I'm still trying to figure out the balance. It might take me through the holidays to get it right.
Speaking of the holidays, I put the Halloween stuff in the new spaces and will be putting it out in the old booths this afternoon. It's already selling well across the river. Even my harvest stuff is selling better than it usually does. This time of year it really pays to think like a regular retailer and do what they do. All of your customers are seeing this stuff go up in Wal-Mart or wherever, so they are tuned into that cycle whether or not they realize it. Vendors that can play along with that will benefit. I'll have some Christmas out by the end of the month.
This was the most interesting yard sale week I've ever had. We went to a church sale that did not exist, a community sale that was a bust, and by 11 had only bought a bird cage. We were heading to large neighborhood sale, when we saw a pile of furniture in front of a house with a "FREE" sign on it. That filled the van, with really nice stuff, so we called it a day.
Sorry no pics of that haul. It was a busy road and there was no place to pull off safely, so we were too busy trying not to get killed as we loaded the van.
I did go over to a store I used to be in for a carport sale on Sunday. Everything was a dollar, so I cleaned up on that. Got some nice larger smalls for the new space. Here is Chiquito inspecting that haul:
I sort of had an interesting proposal tossed my way while I was shopping there. The timing right now is really bad for me, so I said I would think about it.
I need to give a "thanks" to one of my blogging heroes and all around good dude Mike Sterling for featuring my wonky Magneto on his blog the other day. If there is ever anything you need to know about comics, Mike is the guy to ask. He's hilarious too!
I got to know Mike several years ago, when a group of bloggers would exchange music CD's through the mail. Another one of my blogging heroes, Roger Green, reminisced about those days recently. It's kind of like "old home week" on the blog today!
Well, I've got laundry to finish and dishes to do before getting ready for work, so I better scoot. More later, if I don't totally lose my mind!
Ever.
Seriously.
Last week was a whirlwind of activity and this one seems sure to be more of the same. I have to go to Lexington for training on Thursday and Friday. It's sure to be a good training and I love Lexington. Thing is, I want to go thrifting and junking in Lexington, not sit in a class all day! It's so hard to do the things you gotts do all the time when you can practically here the junk crying out for you! Am I right?
The good part is that I will get out of a day of work. The bad part is that my pay rate for training is half of my regular rate, so I'll barely make up for missing that day of work with the two days of training! Sigh.
I spent a couple of days last week trying to get the new booths up and running. It's proving to be quite a challenge. Nothing is photo-worthy yet. There's not enough stuff in the spaces for a pic. I've started selling at a good pace though.
I only have two spaces in the new store, as opposed to the eight I have at the other one. I'm actually finding it kind of hard to work in a smaller space now. I am so used to my big ole four-plex. It's easy to forget that I started small, back in the day. To make it even more challenging, my two spaces are across the aisle from each other, so I don't even have a duplex. The smaller space will be easier to stock and keep clean, but I find I'm constantly over-compensating for the size by not bringing enough stuff.
It's still going to be a while before I get it to that just right stage, especially at the rate things are selling. I am a little worried about keeping up the pace. Since it is across the river, I cannot get over there as often as I do the other store. However, blank spots and disorder show up more easier in smaller spaces than they do in my big ole booth. I'm still trying to figure out the balance. It might take me through the holidays to get it right.
Speaking of the holidays, I put the Halloween stuff in the new spaces and will be putting it out in the old booths this afternoon. It's already selling well across the river. Even my harvest stuff is selling better than it usually does. This time of year it really pays to think like a regular retailer and do what they do. All of your customers are seeing this stuff go up in Wal-Mart or wherever, so they are tuned into that cycle whether or not they realize it. Vendors that can play along with that will benefit. I'll have some Christmas out by the end of the month.
This was the most interesting yard sale week I've ever had. We went to a church sale that did not exist, a community sale that was a bust, and by 11 had only bought a bird cage. We were heading to large neighborhood sale, when we saw a pile of furniture in front of a house with a "FREE" sign on it. That filled the van, with really nice stuff, so we called it a day.
Sorry no pics of that haul. It was a busy road and there was no place to pull off safely, so we were too busy trying not to get killed as we loaded the van.
I did go over to a store I used to be in for a carport sale on Sunday. Everything was a dollar, so I cleaned up on that. Got some nice larger smalls for the new space. Here is Chiquito inspecting that haul:
 |
| Beware the photo-bombing kitty! |
I sort of had an interesting proposal tossed my way while I was shopping there. The timing right now is really bad for me, so I said I would think about it.
I need to give a "thanks" to one of my blogging heroes and all around good dude Mike Sterling for featuring my wonky Magneto on his blog the other day. If there is ever anything you need to know about comics, Mike is the guy to ask. He's hilarious too!
I got to know Mike several years ago, when a group of bloggers would exchange music CD's through the mail. Another one of my blogging heroes, Roger Green, reminisced about those days recently. It's kind of like "old home week" on the blog today!
Well, I've got laundry to finish and dishes to do before getting ready for work, so I better scoot. More later, if I don't totally lose my mind!
Wednesday, August 07, 2013
Linking Around
It's "Geek Week" on YouTube, so in honor of that I present this pretty awesome Nerdy Jokes video. How many do you get? I'm either pleased as punch or appalled that I got everyone of them, save two. Nerditude confirmed.
Turns out the most famous Mark Twain quote about Kentucky didn't come from Twain. Doesn't matter. It's still true.
Roger already did this one but it's too funny not to share: George Takei on the aftermath of the DOMA decision.
Finally, links to a couple of collectors sites that I got from monkeybox. I'm always interested in seeing what people collect. Sadly, both these sites are defunct, but they've been left up for others to appreciate. I didn't care for Collection a Day so much because it was so curated and staged. It really felt artificial and contrived to me, because I didn't feel any of the passion of the real person that is supposedly collecting all these things. She did get a book deal out of it, so what do I know?
Copycat Collector based her blog on the CaD site, featuring a part of her collections every day for a year. This one I like a lot. It just feels much more genuine. Part of that is because she shares about her items, where they came from, why she likes them. That is what collecting is about. It doesn't matter what it is. There's always a reason why someone collects it. Divorced from that reason, a collection is just a pile of stuff, and who wants to look at that?
Turns out the most famous Mark Twain quote about Kentucky didn't come from Twain. Doesn't matter. It's still true.
Roger already did this one but it's too funny not to share: George Takei on the aftermath of the DOMA decision.
Finally, links to a couple of collectors sites that I got from monkeybox. I'm always interested in seeing what people collect. Sadly, both these sites are defunct, but they've been left up for others to appreciate. I didn't care for Collection a Day so much because it was so curated and staged. It really felt artificial and contrived to me, because I didn't feel any of the passion of the real person that is supposedly collecting all these things. She did get a book deal out of it, so what do I know?
Copycat Collector based her blog on the CaD site, featuring a part of her collections every day for a year. This one I like a lot. It just feels much more genuine. Part of that is because she shares about her items, where they came from, why she likes them. That is what collecting is about. It doesn't matter what it is. There's always a reason why someone collects it. Divorced from that reason, a collection is just a pile of stuff, and who wants to look at that?
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Linking Around
I haven't done a link post in ages. Not sure why that is, so I thought I would rectify that and do a post of a bunch of quick shots and links.
When I was a kid, I had a collection of pennants from states that we had visited in our travels. For the life of me, I don't know whatever happened to it. Luckily, Magpie Ethel knows where hers are. Mine were in the style of the Texas and Oklahoma pennants in one of her pics.
Congratulations to Days of Our Lives for winning "Best Show" at the Daytime Emmys! I guess I really do need to finish those Days posts I've been working on.
I thought this was funny.
You all know how I feel about cancer. It's not so hot for other people either. Please show Heidi and her family some love. They need it. I should warn you that this is a three hanky link.
Fear the thrift horrors! God knows, you see a lot of this kind of stuff when you're junking. An awful lot. Heck, you sometimes see a lot of it in other booths in your vendor mall. Flee!
Curious about what you can send via media mail? Ignore their really poor understanding of comic books and graphic novels. That link comes courtesy of the fine folks at Yard Sale Queen.
Speaking of thrifts (and I do have a long post about thrifting planned for next week), did you know you can get your junk on even when you're not on your home turf, thanks to ThriftShopper? I've used it more than a few times and found it to be pretty accurate and helpful.
Roger writes about writing. I've always admired him for his ability to turn out thoughtful posts day after day after day. His thoughts about excuses people use not to write are interesting. Wonder where chemo-induced fatigue and nausea come in on that list?
That was kind of fun. I need to make a point of doing that again sometime!
When I was a kid, I had a collection of pennants from states that we had visited in our travels. For the life of me, I don't know whatever happened to it. Luckily, Magpie Ethel knows where hers are. Mine were in the style of the Texas and Oklahoma pennants in one of her pics.
Congratulations to Days of Our Lives for winning "Best Show" at the Daytime Emmys! I guess I really do need to finish those Days posts I've been working on.
I thought this was funny.
You all know how I feel about cancer. It's not so hot for other people either. Please show Heidi and her family some love. They need it. I should warn you that this is a three hanky link.
Fear the thrift horrors! God knows, you see a lot of this kind of stuff when you're junking. An awful lot. Heck, you sometimes see a lot of it in other booths in your vendor mall. Flee!
Curious about what you can send via media mail? Ignore their really poor understanding of comic books and graphic novels. That link comes courtesy of the fine folks at Yard Sale Queen.
Speaking of thrifts (and I do have a long post about thrifting planned for next week), did you know you can get your junk on even when you're not on your home turf, thanks to ThriftShopper? I've used it more than a few times and found it to be pretty accurate and helpful.
Roger writes about writing. I've always admired him for his ability to turn out thoughtful posts day after day after day. His thoughts about excuses people use not to write are interesting. Wonder where chemo-induced fatigue and nausea come in on that list?
That was kind of fun. I need to make a point of doing that again sometime!
Monday, March 05, 2012
Monday Rambles
The weather turned positively lovely last week. All bright and sunshiney. Put me in a good mood all week, let me tell you. And then, toward the end of the week, we had lots of thunder rumbles and tornado scares. We missed most of it here, but folks to the north and east were not so lucky. And then, last night, we got three inches of snow dumped on us, and it's spent most of the day rapidly melting away in prep for 60's (!) tomorrow. Ah....Spring in Kentucky. March has definitely roared in like a lion--a lion with multiple personalities!
I also had a chance to thrift just about every day last week. Through that, I was able to pull a small load together for a re-stock, without dipping into my dwindling reserve. There are three (!) major indoor sales scheduled for Saturday, so it looks like the long winter is over! One of the sales is one of my favorites, as well. Last year, it was down a bit, as were most all the sales that followed. I'm hoping that it's back to true form this year and serves as a good omen for things to come!
I went to one sale this past weekend. It was another of my favorite indoor sales. It was down a little bit, but I walked out with a good box full of stuff. But it has changed a bit. In the past, nothing was priced. I'd fill up a box, take it to the cashier and they would say "How about a dollar?" Not so this year. It was all priced and they made sure to total it all up. Ah, for the good old days!
There have been shake ups at my favorite thrift. I hadn't been to their downtown store in a while, but I'm working near there right now, so I got to stop in. My favorite cashier of all time has been moved from there to another store. She's been replaced by the former manager of the downtown store who has been bumped down and replaced by the person who used to be in charge of the donation room at the store nearest my house. I think it will be a good change, honestly.
I had strong sales in the early part of the week at both sites, then managed to end the month with my lowest day ever. Seriously. How low was it? Try 42 cents! That's right I said forty-two cents. Oh the vagaries of this business! Actually, it was a 10.42 day, but that's the day they take out this stupid 10 dollar fee the city the mall is in charges, so it turned into a .42 day after that. Grrrr.
Still March has started off pretty good at both sites. And. even with a 42 cent day, I had the best sales month for both sites that I've ever had. So, I'm happy. Still can't crack that elusive four figure total sales though. Have to work harder at that. Oh, and my rent went down at the Peddlers Mall by 30 bucks! I'll take it!
Happy birthday this week to Roger Green and Gordon Dymowski--nice guys both!
I also had a chance to thrift just about every day last week. Through that, I was able to pull a small load together for a re-stock, without dipping into my dwindling reserve. There are three (!) major indoor sales scheduled for Saturday, so it looks like the long winter is over! One of the sales is one of my favorites, as well. Last year, it was down a bit, as were most all the sales that followed. I'm hoping that it's back to true form this year and serves as a good omen for things to come!
I went to one sale this past weekend. It was another of my favorite indoor sales. It was down a little bit, but I walked out with a good box full of stuff. But it has changed a bit. In the past, nothing was priced. I'd fill up a box, take it to the cashier and they would say "How about a dollar?" Not so this year. It was all priced and they made sure to total it all up. Ah, for the good old days!
There have been shake ups at my favorite thrift. I hadn't been to their downtown store in a while, but I'm working near there right now, so I got to stop in. My favorite cashier of all time has been moved from there to another store. She's been replaced by the former manager of the downtown store who has been bumped down and replaced by the person who used to be in charge of the donation room at the store nearest my house. I think it will be a good change, honestly.
I had strong sales in the early part of the week at both sites, then managed to end the month with my lowest day ever. Seriously. How low was it? Try 42 cents! That's right I said forty-two cents. Oh the vagaries of this business! Actually, it was a 10.42 day, but that's the day they take out this stupid 10 dollar fee the city the mall is in charges, so it turned into a .42 day after that. Grrrr.
Still March has started off pretty good at both sites. And. even with a 42 cent day, I had the best sales month for both sites that I've ever had. So, I'm happy. Still can't crack that elusive four figure total sales though. Have to work harder at that. Oh, and my rent went down at the Peddlers Mall by 30 bucks! I'll take it!
Happy birthday this week to Roger Green and Gordon Dymowski--nice guys both!
Monday, November 07, 2011
Mini-Monday Rambles
First off, Happy Birthday to my niece Claire who became a teenager yesterday! I think my brother and his wife probably aged a few years themselves overnight!
Thanks so much to everyone who had kind thoughts for the return of the blog and for my own birthday. It's much appreciated. It's not so good to be older, but it's nice to be appreciated and great to be getting back in the groove.
Roger the omniscient offered a bit of blogging advice to my post about not posting last week:
"My suggestion is for you, when the muse is on, is to space the posts more often, every two or three days, particularly the ones that aren't time sensitive, such as a video you like."
That's good advice, Roger, and always appreciated! Actually, that's what I had been doing for the longest time. During those periods when the blog is really working, I've actually had a plan and had things scheduled out, especially the videos, which I would put down for a couple of times a week using Blogger's ability to schedule posts.
I would write my Monday Rambles posts a bit at a time throughout the week and polish and publish them on Monday. Everything else would get worked on a little at a time and then scheduled when finished. It was really working well for me. It's actually a system that allows for an occasional bout of depression or procrastination to set in. But when I had a near long summer in tech-less land, I used up everything I had cooked up and then had no way to create more.
I'm building my way out of that hole this week and next and hope to have the rest of the year blocked out soon. I'd like to still break 100 posts this year. I've done 55 so far, so it is doable. We'll see.
You know what's really sad about getting older? For about a month or so, I'd been preparing to turn 48 on November 4. 48 is kind of a cool number. It's awfully close to 50, but it's divisible by 2,4,3,6,8, and 12! That's kind of awesome, in a nerdy way. Then it hit me a couple of weeks ago: I was born in 1964! 2011-1964=47! I'm only 47! Bummer! Never thought I'd be disappointed about being younger.
Spent the weekend doing all kinds of amazing second-shopping, which I think is going to end up inspiring several posts. I've been having some interesting thoughts lately about the relationships we have with our stuff. It's still ruminating at the moment, but will make its way to the blog at some point or another.
In that vein, here is a thought that did hit me yesterday, when I was browsing through a booth of made in China, dollar store crap:
"Is there going to be a generation of kids who grow up to look fondly on badly made, mass-produced, poly-resin angel figurines because they remember that their mothers had one? Is this crap really going to be tomorrow's antiques?"
That sound you hear is Sue's head exploding.
Thanks so much to everyone who had kind thoughts for the return of the blog and for my own birthday. It's much appreciated. It's not so good to be older, but it's nice to be appreciated and great to be getting back in the groove.
Roger the omniscient offered a bit of blogging advice to my post about not posting last week:
"My suggestion is for you, when the muse is on, is to space the posts more often, every two or three days, particularly the ones that aren't time sensitive, such as a video you like."
That's good advice, Roger, and always appreciated! Actually, that's what I had been doing for the longest time. During those periods when the blog is really working, I've actually had a plan and had things scheduled out, especially the videos, which I would put down for a couple of times a week using Blogger's ability to schedule posts.
I would write my Monday Rambles posts a bit at a time throughout the week and polish and publish them on Monday. Everything else would get worked on a little at a time and then scheduled when finished. It was really working well for me. It's actually a system that allows for an occasional bout of depression or procrastination to set in. But when I had a near long summer in tech-less land, I used up everything I had cooked up and then had no way to create more.
I'm building my way out of that hole this week and next and hope to have the rest of the year blocked out soon. I'd like to still break 100 posts this year. I've done 55 so far, so it is doable. We'll see.
You know what's really sad about getting older? For about a month or so, I'd been preparing to turn 48 on November 4. 48 is kind of a cool number. It's awfully close to 50, but it's divisible by 2,4,3,6,8, and 12! That's kind of awesome, in a nerdy way. Then it hit me a couple of weeks ago: I was born in 1964! 2011-1964=47! I'm only 47! Bummer! Never thought I'd be disappointed about being younger.
Spent the weekend doing all kinds of amazing second-shopping, which I think is going to end up inspiring several posts. I've been having some interesting thoughts lately about the relationships we have with our stuff. It's still ruminating at the moment, but will make its way to the blog at some point or another.
In that vein, here is a thought that did hit me yesterday, when I was browsing through a booth of made in China, dollar store crap:
"Is there going to be a generation of kids who grow up to look fondly on badly made, mass-produced, poly-resin angel figurines because they remember that their mothers had one? Is this crap really going to be tomorrow's antiques?"
That sound you hear is Sue's head exploding.
Monday, March 07, 2011
Bits and Pieces
Just another bunch of randomness...
So I go to my booth last week for my regular stock and clean, just like I usually do. I always start out walking through all the spaces and collecting items that don't belong to me. When I go to my wall of religious items, I found that someone had turned all of my crucifixes upside down. All of them. Now we know. Satanists like to look for bargains at flea markets too.
(Sorry no pic. I have got to start taking my camera with me.)
I took a hammer and nails with me, so I hung most of the crucifixes and religious plaques up on the wall around the shelves. It makes that space stand out a little more and will probably keep the Satanists and vampires at bay for now.
I'm planning on having an actual written (non-video entry) written for every day this week. I'm working on the booth report right now. Did expanding make me rich or cost me my shirt? Find out tomorrow! I'm also going to start doing a monthly recap of the books I read the previous month. You can find out what a well-educated, well-read kind of guy I am! Or not, as the case maybe. Mostly not. I've got a couple of three things atarted for each of the other days, but haven't decided which way I'm going to lean yet, so you'll just have to wait and see.
Speaking of video entries, there was some kind of snag on a couple of my entries from last week and the videos didn't show. I think it's fixed now. So, if you really wanted to see Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice doing "Love Hurts" or Guy Clark and Emmylou Harris doing "Dublin Blues" now is your chance!
I went cat-sitting for a couple of days last week, which put my dear buddy Kosh over the edge while I was gone. Since we lost Bennie, he doesn't deal well with changes in the household at all, particularly when it involves me. If I just start getting stuff ready to take to the booth, he starts wandering the house with his worried look. Poor guy! When I got home, he was GLUED to my lap!
The weather is warming and staying warm, during the day at least. It's still cold enough in the morning for a coat, but it all means Spring is one the way. Yay! It also means lots of rain around here too. It rained a lot on Saturday, but fortunately, there were a lot of indoor sales to go to.
I guess that's enough on the babble front. Before I go, I do want to send out good flea market vibes to Mari-Jo, who just opened her own booth. Good luck with it and I hope you have fun!
Oh, yeah, and a great big Happy Birthday to my buddy Roger Green!
So I go to my booth last week for my regular stock and clean, just like I usually do. I always start out walking through all the spaces and collecting items that don't belong to me. When I go to my wall of religious items, I found that someone had turned all of my crucifixes upside down. All of them. Now we know. Satanists like to look for bargains at flea markets too.
(Sorry no pic. I have got to start taking my camera with me.)
I took a hammer and nails with me, so I hung most of the crucifixes and religious plaques up on the wall around the shelves. It makes that space stand out a little more and will probably keep the Satanists and vampires at bay for now.
I'm planning on having an actual written (non-video entry) written for every day this week. I'm working on the booth report right now. Did expanding make me rich or cost me my shirt? Find out tomorrow! I'm also going to start doing a monthly recap of the books I read the previous month. You can find out what a well-educated, well-read kind of guy I am! Or not, as the case maybe. Mostly not. I've got a couple of three things atarted for each of the other days, but haven't decided which way I'm going to lean yet, so you'll just have to wait and see.
Speaking of video entries, there was some kind of snag on a couple of my entries from last week and the videos didn't show. I think it's fixed now. So, if you really wanted to see Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice doing "Love Hurts" or Guy Clark and Emmylou Harris doing "Dublin Blues" now is your chance!
I went cat-sitting for a couple of days last week, which put my dear buddy Kosh over the edge while I was gone. Since we lost Bennie, he doesn't deal well with changes in the household at all, particularly when it involves me. If I just start getting stuff ready to take to the booth, he starts wandering the house with his worried look. Poor guy! When I got home, he was GLUED to my lap!
The weather is warming and staying warm, during the day at least. It's still cold enough in the morning for a coat, but it all means Spring is one the way. Yay! It also means lots of rain around here too. It rained a lot on Saturday, but fortunately, there were a lot of indoor sales to go to.
I guess that's enough on the babble front. Before I go, I do want to send out good flea market vibes to Mari-Jo, who just opened her own booth. Good luck with it and I hope you have fun!
Oh, yeah, and a great big Happy Birthday to my buddy Roger Green!
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