Where's the beef?

 

It is National Beef Burger Day, National Hamburger Day, and National Brisket Day. So it is not a good day to be a cow. Ironically, it is also National Senior Health and Fitness Day. Technically, seniors should not be participating in the other day days. 

It is also National Flip Flop Day and I can't decide whether to celebrate it or not.

I still crack myself up at times.

All in a day's work

 

Sometimes people ask me what I'm going to do when I retire. Sometimes I try to explain my passions for collecting and reselling thrift store finds. But people inevitably ask me what kinds of stuff do I look for.  It's hard to explain. The photo above is my haul from two thrift stores today. It's a hodge podge of stuff, but it is all things i think people will want. 

Though some things just appeal to me like the large white Happy Buddha and the small weeping buddha. They fit in the category of things I don't care about not selling because I like them. The other stuff is cool, but I'm anxious to flip it. 

I also look for things on sale, like the African mask and the flue cover in the foreground. They were both blue tag items at Goodwill and both were 50 percent off. The African statue, the sugar skull, the Funko Pop, the pottery oil lamp and the cup made out of a tree branch were from the Deseret Thrift store run by the Mormon church. Collectively I don't think I paid more than $16 for them and I'm hoping to sell the lot for maybe a couple of hundred.

All in all, it was a good day.

The real tragedy of Orpheus

 

The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice tells the tragic love story of Orpheus, a gifted musician whose melodies could charm all living things—and even the stones. When his beloved wife Eurydice dies from a snakebite, Orpheus journeys to the Underworld and, through the power of his music, persuades Hades and Persephone to let her return with him to the world of the living. However, the gods impose one condition: he must not look back at her until they have both completely left the Underworld. Overcome by doubt just before they reach the surface, Orpheus glances back—and Eurydice vanishes forever.

--My good friend ChatGPT 

My daughter just finished a production of "Hadestown" in which she played Fate #3. If you are living under a rock and aren't aware of "Hadestown," it is a modern musical based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.  It is an amazing show with amazing music. But what irritates me the most about the story is that Orpheus just can't just man up (or muse up) and keep walking out of the underworld. He is just about to exit the Underworld and he turns around. Eurydice immediately goes back to hell and Orpheus starts playing gigs at local casinos and drinking too much.

Okay I embellished the story, but I mean, how hard is it to keep walking a few more feet and waiting until he is out of the Underworld to turn around. Worst case, Hades fooled him and Eurydice wouldn't be there. So he had nothing to lose by keep on walking out of Hell. Went he was consumed with doubt and decided to look back, there was no winning. At least by keeping on walking, he had at least a 50 percent chance of rescuing his wife. 

I realize that Greek myth is an allegory and a major comment on human frailty. The Greeks loved that shit. And they don't seem to accept a great deal of responsibility for their actions. They conveniently blamed everything on the Gods assisted by the Fates. Orpheus had a few moments to demonstrate the power of love and free will and he squanders it with a glance back.

In "Hadestown" they speak of the myth as an old song that we play again and again. And I suppose the message is that if we repeat it enough times we'll get it right.

Or we will just keep beating our head against a rock.

Enter the dragon

 

I found this at a thrift store on Friday. It is fairly large, almost 10 inches across. I assumed it was resin. Though it is pretty heavy.   Of course, a search on Google lens turns up the exact same dragon had been listed and removed, but they said it was Kutani ware from Japan and they were asking $359.99. 

Okay, I didn't just fall off from the potato truck yesterday. But after many discussions with my AI friends I listed it for a couple of hundred. You never know until you try.

I feel like eBay sales have dropped off a bit since Trump crapped all over the economy.  It's not like I sell essentials, but at least there aren't any random tariffs on my stuff. 

For some reason I sell many things to people living in Florida. I'm assuming either their thrift store market doesn't have the stuff I find so it intrigues people there or people in Florida spend too much time on eBay. Regardless, more power to them. I can look past their state's politics and the fact that the Orange Menace's home lair is there.

So if you are from Florida an reading this, this dragon's for you!

Take a picture if you will

 

Okay, it's National Twilight Zone Day. So I took a risk and posted this image on my Red Bubble account. ChatGPT says "Picture if you will" can't be copyrighted. But I've been burned before. 

Of course, it's also National Train Day, so I post my Trainbie design.

It's a dead on image of a train foamer.

Trainsssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

Making the collection

 

I have to be careful when I begin a sentence with, "I collect..." I tend to be obsessive about acquiring things. Which is why it is good that I sell as much as possible on eBay (despite the assholes).  Obviously, I have had an interest in Elvis for years that waned when I discovered it doesn't appreciate in value and millions of everything about Elvis are out there.

I also collect things I am interested in like anything associated with New Orleans. I, of course, collect Tiki mugs and things related to them. I have a bit of a fascination with pirates (I think it is the beard thing). And I have lately been accumulating spiritual objects and figures such as Buddha, Kwan Yin, Ganesha, Mary, Jesus and the occasional saint.  Yet, I am about as non-religious as can be.

I also dabble in collecting tribal masks, Mexican art and Native American art.

Of course, there are my guitars. 

Over the years I have also been a bit obsessed with swords, knives and bayonets. I particularly like antique swords. I swear I was a soldier in a past life and I wouldn't be surprised if I died by a sword in one of my incarnations. I get a bit squeamish at the thought of being cut.  But at the same time I am fascinated by blades. 

I wonder what Freud would say about that.

Being a collector, I am drawn to things at Thrift stores that feed one of my collections. Because if something doesn't sell, at least I can add it to my collection. The problem is that  I am running out of space and even I have limits to how much clutter I can tolerate.

So I selectively take things back to Goodwill...except for guitars, Tiki mugs, swords and Elvis.  I've got to draw the line somewhere.