Fitting

I came across this image and could not stop laughing - such a perfect shirt.  I was like, "That is me!".  I foget people are around and possibly looking and I just entertain myself.  I can let people in.  I am definitely social.  But I do totally have a laugh track that plays in my head as I watch this sitcom that is my life.

Aces

I was walking and saw this card sitting in the gutter.  So odd, so random - so of course I took a picture of it. What I thought though when I saw it was that even Aces can wind up in the gutter.  Good thing is that they do not have to stay there.  The next day I went on the same walk and it was gone.  Ah life is a mystery.

Salvation

Since my raise things are moving in the right direction.  I am so much better with money now after all of this but I continue to buy and resell on eBay.  Even though it is hit or miss - I never know what I will find, I have to find it at the right price and then I never know how well it will do or not - it has paid off, helped and I like doing it.  It is like a treasure hunt and then once I post them it is like gambling.  Today I had a really good day with my sales.  I had 17 items posted and 12 sold - for a good profit.  I focus on men's shirts - mostly polos and tee shirts.  I know all the brands that do well and what too look for, I have shipping down pat and just have the whole system worked out for myself.  It helps a lot too that the Salvation Army near here is like magic! I have all their sales down pat and work them to my advantage.  I feel a little bad making money off the Salvation Army but I am in need and I never play any games like asking for more discounts or anything.  It is insane though.  Last week I pulled out 3 Under Armour shirts and paid $8 in total for them - today they sold in total for $55 -- thumbs up.  One of those shirts even had price tags still on it!  This past Friday while looking for inventory I really did the happy dance - I found not 1 but 3 Burberry Brit polos for $2 each -- they are $150 shirts brand new.  I am super fussy to make sure that everything I get is in really good condition and these were excellent.  I could not believe it and even wondered if they were fake but I checked them over with a fine tooth comb with research on the internet and I believe they are real.  I posted each one for $10 with as much info and as many pictures as possible and they all had bids bids within an hour of posting them.  So I am already happy and if they get higher by time the auction ends in a week well then all the better.  

Domino

I watched a movie about teenagers and high school angst the other day.  It was alright but during the movie the female character references a song called "Pearly Dew Drops Drop".  That is a song by the Cocteau Twins which were very popular in the 80's so of course I was thinking about when I was in high school.  There was a bunch of us misfits.  I cannot even say were were all the braniacs because some of my friends I never understood how they even passed the test to get in.  Well one friend was kinda artsy and one was kinda rough and the artsy one introduced us all to the Cocteau Twins and got mad that the rough ended up liking them a lot.  It caused this huge, dramatic riff that made sense in the high school world but is laughable in the real world.  So silly and although I do remember all the details vividly I will just leave it at that - oh high school drama.

Today I was still thinking about the Cocteau Twins.  They were really amazing.  The singer sings in the amalgamation of languages, real and fake, and yet she still coveys passion, meaning and strength.  I pulled out my Treasure cd today and listened to it as I did stuff in the house.  It is one of my most favorite cd's of all time - Treasure is such an apt name for it.  I was enjoying the music and being productive but then my mind wondered as it tends to do on the weekends.  It wandered onto the fact that I have not made a video in ages and the Cocteau Twins would be perfect to make a video with.  Most of the images are ones that I found on the internet - a lot of stairwells and doorways - but I like them.  Plus it shows I do not just surf porn LOL.  I do not think I did the song justice, completely, but it is not a disaster either.  It was a creative wandering so I am glad with my Saturday activity.  Your thoughts?

PS If you do watch it - click to get rid of that annoying ad banner and then click to make it full screen.

Soon

I booked my flight for August.  I arrive on Wednesday 08.07 and leave on Tuesday 08.13.  I am very excited and cannot wait.  It is always fun  to visit in August and we will be having a 50th Wedding Anniversary dinner for my parents - so they will be thrilled.  I just booked my flight yesterday and the odd part is that since I have booked it, I so excited to visit.  Truthfully since booking the ticket, I feel homesick.  Of course I want to be see my family and friends but also I just want to be in New England.  You do not see pictures like this in California.  I rarely get homesick so this has thrown me a bit.  Along with the homesickness I feel a touch of loneliness.  Some days I just do not want to go it alone.  I wanna stop over my sisters' houses unexpectedly just to gab.  I want to see green landscape and brick and houses painted colors other than sand.  I want to have good seafood and Chinese food.  I want to know where I belong in this world and know where I am going.  I want to speak like everyone else and maybe even get bitten by a mosquito .  It has me thinking and thinking and thinking and I cannot wait to visit.  

Carnegie Libraries

I intrigued as of late by the development of America especially in the late 1800's when we really come together as a country.  A lot of fortunes were made, both above and below the table, but when Andrew Carnegie became the the wealthiest man in the world, he left it all and focused on philanthropy.  Some say it was his guilt from having so much "dirty" money.  His prime focus was to build libraries across the nation and his foundation paid for 1,689 libraries in the early 1900's.  When something like this grips me then of course the next thing I think of is,  "I want to go to one".  Escondido had a Carnegie library but they tore it down.  As a matter of fact California had the second largest number of Carnegie libraries of any state and the majority of them are gone.  It kills me that California has no interest in its history.  Perhaps that is the Yankee in me coming out.  And speaking of Yankee, I then wondered where the Carnegie libraries were in MA.  After I looked that up, I became very happy as it turns out I have already been in a Carnegie library (several actually) -- the library in Melrose is one!  How exciting.  I spent plenty of time there.  Also Carnegie libraries are in Chelsea, Reading, Stoneham, and Rockport.  Wow so that went on and off the bucket list very quickly - how awesome.  Still leaves me with a sad feeling though.  Why does CA care so little it its history.  I know time marches on and you cannot save everything (there I said it) but somethings are worth saving.

Holy Smokes

Wow - this is my niece - how good does she look.  She is a sophomore but went to the junior prom last week - what a stunner.  I love all the color in this picture too.  I spoke to her tonight and she had an awesome time so I am very glad.  In addition to being attractive she is a very nice girl - very sweet and polite.  This picture makes me both happy and proud.  Yay.

What is the Date?

Today I had a lot of shit in my head.  Nothing horrendous just some days I more stuff in my mind than mind to handle it.  I got home and made dinner.  I was comfortable as I had the windows and doors open and was happy to feel what a terrific southern California night it was.  I was thinking about the million things I needed to do after dinner and a movie started up on the channel the tv was on.  It was a silly romantic comedy called Leap Year with Amy Adams.  Within the first 10 minutes I knew the full story line but it had Amy Adams and she is just so sweet and lovely.  Next thing I know I was watching the movie totally engrossed and pleased and figuring all that crap in my mind could wait for a while.  Good decision   I have a smile and head off to bed felling very relaxed, comfortable and happy.  Hope the same for you.

Happy Mother's Day

To all you groovy moms out there - you ladies rock!  I hope you all had a fantastic day.  I love and appreciate you all but none more so than my own - who totally is the anti-Carol Brady (and I am so glad she is).  My mom is nuts and I adore her for that.  

Deja Vu

I was going through vintage Escondido postcards on the web and came across this one of the Lake Wohlford Cafe.  Yes we have a lake and yes it has a cafe.  Across from the lake were vacations cabins which are now turned into a quasi trailer park.  The cafe is still there and it is really scary - even more so than the killer in the woods cabins turned section 8 housing.  How do I know this, well Carla and I were in that area recently, as the lake is very scenic, and since we were hungry so I foolishly said, "Let's go there".  Although this is a vintage postcard, this is exactly what it still looks like and the funny part is this is exactly where Carla and I sat.  When I came across this I was dying thinking, who the hell is stalking us???  I sent it to Carla because I just could not get over it. She with her ever present wit replied, I actually thought it was us for a moment - lol.  Needless to say the cafe is vintage creepy not vintage cool so it was a once in a lifetime deal.  Been there done that, no need to go back and if I ever get the odd desire to return well I can just look at the postcard.

I Need to Stop

I bought these to resell, I really did.  They are made by a pottery company called Hagen-Renaker in San Dimas founded in the late 40's and they also had a San Marcos location in the 80's.  San Marcos is one town over from me but the factory closed way before I got here.  Judging by the colors and the tag on them these are from the late 60's. They are in excellent condition, no chips, cracks or hairline scratches.  The company is focused on miniatures but the large owl is 6.5 inches and the small owl is 4.5 inches so these are definitely not miniatures   I only paid $5 for the set which is excellent.  They have been sitting on my shelf and now I have grown used to them.  I like them a real lot and so I am not thinking they will be resold.  Oh well it seems I have inadvertently added to the hoard.  But they are cute!

How My Brain Works

I have not had a day off in ages so I took yesterday off just to relax.  I used my time to go around to look for things to resell because I enjoy doing that.  While I try to focus on just reselling items sometimes I drift and find little treasures for myself.  I came across a couple decks of vintage cards.  I counted the cards and there was only 32 cards in each deck not 52.  I was bummed that they were not a full deck but thought the images were great and since they were only 25 cents a deck, I decided I would get them and maybe could use them for greeting cards or something.  While I was home I kept thinking about the deck.  They were obviously vintage but they came in boxes and the cards fit perfectly in each box.  I thought it odd that they would fit perfectly in the box and I thought about it a lot.  If they were short cards well then shouldn't the box be too big?   There was writing on the boxes but in a foreign language that I did not know so I translated them.  Turns out that they were German from made in Stuttgart and for a game called Skat.  Now this set me off on a path and I found out that 32 is the normal amount of cards that in vintage German decks.  They have 4 suits and go from 7 though Ace for each suit.  So very intriguing to me and fascinating plus now I am gripped by curiosity so I am wondering about the image on the outside.  Turns out it is for a steamship company that operated in the early 60's that went from Germany to New York City.  I even found pictures of the actual ship and it looks just like the image on the card.  I was so excited by all this information that I found plus solving the mystery and knowing that I had full decks. Guess at the end of the day it does not matter but that is how my brain works.  I get stuck on something and then wonder about it for awhile and off I go searching the internet.  I make fun of a lot of the things the internet brings to the world but I am also very happy I have it to indulge me.

the Wonder City!

I found this image and it so made me miss New York City.  I have not been there for like 4 years.  I guess I am supposed to have new things on my bucket list but going back to New York is on my bucket list.  Hmmm but so is returning to London.  Hell at this point I will be glad to return to SD - haven't even been there in ages LOL.  But things are all moving in the right direction so I am sure my bucket list will be having some checks sooner or later.