Sale in Garage 2
SCORE!
My friends Dave and Mimi, Joshua Brody, and my wife Amy gathered together today for the sacred sacrament we call the garage sale. Much crap was unloaded on others in exchange for small amounts of money. Came away about 250 bucks to the good, I would say. Not bad.
Annoyances: the 60-something Russian lady who only wanted to pay four bucks for the blender (I asked for five), and wanted me to plug it in to see if it worked, then saying, "Giff me bag," when the deal was concluded. All requests were reasonable of course, but her attitude bothered me. This is why I'm not in retail.
It is fun, but strangely exhausting hanging out on the sidewalk for eight hours with my friends, nickel and diming our way to the successful conclusion of a business day (well, it was more quartering and dollaring our way, this being the 21st C).
Weirdness: the 70-something Chinese man who examined a weird little turtle-shaped candle holder (capacity: one thin birthday candle), on sale for a quarter, for at least ten minutes, before setting it down and walking away. He looked at nothing else. I have no idea where that candle-holder came from in the first place. A good third of the stuff I was trying to sell I HAD NO IDEA of its provenance.
Wonderful moment: An hour after the sale was over, the doorbell rang. Two breathless boys stood there, having read on one of my fliers that I had gaming systems for sale, and hoping against hope that I would still be willing to part with them. I had and would. Nintendo and Playstation (not the latest incarnations), theirs for twenty bucks. With six Nintendo games (Playstation games having been snapped up earlier, at a buck apiece- I tell you folks, I priced stuff to move).
They said they would pay, and ran back to their house, three blocks west, and ran back, showing up breathless and excited, with two ten dollar bills. I gave them the grocery bags full of goods, and felt great about capitalism, or at least the low end of it. I always love getting stuff to people who might get a kick out of it.
DVD
I saw the rough cut of the Ducks DVD. The Ian Shoales bit was cut (I'm Ian Shoales by the way), which was fine. It was a weak element, to be honest, performed hesitantly, and not quite fitting with the rest of the show. I could have done better, but time was short, and I will reserve my (erm, Ian's) best for the DVD commentary, which I can actually write, and read at a pace accustomed to me.. Memorizing Ians is a pain. Ian talks too fast. (See ianshoales.com, should you desire more.)
But damn. We sure are funny. After thirty years, you'd think I'd be jaded. Well, I am, but I still think we are really goddam funny, and deserved more than what we got. (Our personal dysfunctions had nothing to do with our lack of success! It was all Bush!)
My friends Dave and Mimi, Joshua Brody, and my wife Amy gathered together today for the sacred sacrament we call the garage sale. Much crap was unloaded on others in exchange for small amounts of money. Came away about 250 bucks to the good, I would say. Not bad.
Annoyances: the 60-something Russian lady who only wanted to pay four bucks for the blender (I asked for five), and wanted me to plug it in to see if it worked, then saying, "Giff me bag," when the deal was concluded. All requests were reasonable of course, but her attitude bothered me. This is why I'm not in retail.
It is fun, but strangely exhausting hanging out on the sidewalk for eight hours with my friends, nickel and diming our way to the successful conclusion of a business day (well, it was more quartering and dollaring our way, this being the 21st C).
Weirdness: the 70-something Chinese man who examined a weird little turtle-shaped candle holder (capacity: one thin birthday candle), on sale for a quarter, for at least ten minutes, before setting it down and walking away. He looked at nothing else. I have no idea where that candle-holder came from in the first place. A good third of the stuff I was trying to sell I HAD NO IDEA of its provenance.
Wonderful moment: An hour after the sale was over, the doorbell rang. Two breathless boys stood there, having read on one of my fliers that I had gaming systems for sale, and hoping against hope that I would still be willing to part with them. I had and would. Nintendo and Playstation (not the latest incarnations), theirs for twenty bucks. With six Nintendo games (Playstation games having been snapped up earlier, at a buck apiece- I tell you folks, I priced stuff to move).
They said they would pay, and ran back to their house, three blocks west, and ran back, showing up breathless and excited, with two ten dollar bills. I gave them the grocery bags full of goods, and felt great about capitalism, or at least the low end of it. I always love getting stuff to people who might get a kick out of it.
DVD
I saw the rough cut of the Ducks DVD. The Ian Shoales bit was cut (I'm Ian Shoales by the way), which was fine. It was a weak element, to be honest, performed hesitantly, and not quite fitting with the rest of the show. I could have done better, but time was short, and I will reserve my (erm, Ian's) best for the DVD commentary, which I can actually write, and read at a pace accustomed to me.. Memorizing Ians is a pain. Ian talks too fast. (See ianshoales.com, should you desire more.)
But damn. We sure are funny. After thirty years, you'd think I'd be jaded. Well, I am, but I still think we are really goddam funny, and deserved more than what we got. (Our personal dysfunctions had nothing to do with our lack of success! It was all Bush!)
posted by Merle Kessler at 9:36 PM
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