i’ve gotten a few more things i bought on ebay…
back in 1999 or something, i picked up a garden gargoyle (fake stone) at lowe’s. i got it home and put it on top of the entertainment center. not too long later, i decided i wished i would have gotten a second one so i could put them on the corners (instead of just having one in the middle). by the time i got around to going back to lowe’s, there were none to be had. i figured i’d wait and they’d have some more, but no. over the last few years, i’ve looked online from time to time. a year or so ago i found a place in england that had a picture of a match, but shipping would have made it pretty expensive. well, a couple of weeks ago, i typed in gargoyle statue (which i’d done before over the years) and another of mine was listed! it was $10, and with $10 s/h it came out to $20. but considering how often i’ve seen them over the last 8 to 10 years, i decided i should go ahead and do it. i watched it and no one else bid on it, so at the last minute i bid and got it. interestingly, it’s the same thing but it’s not quite crouched as much and it’s a little lighter in color. but it’s close. and i now have the pair sitting atop my speakers.
years ago, tamara and i picked up a softcover copy of the day i swapped my dad for two goldfish. it’s written by neil gaiman and drawn/painted by dave mckean. it’s also gaiman’s first children’s book. we had it upstairs at our old house in the red room, which was decorated with a lot of kid’s stuff. unfortunately, where it sat was in direct sunlight for several hours a day, so over time the cover got pretty bleached out. partially because of that, when i saw a new version had come out, i went ahead and bought a hardcover version of it. (it also includes a cd of neil reading the book.) anyway, a couple of weeks ago i saw a hardcover version of the original pop up on ebay. it originally cost $22, and they wanted $20 plus $4 s/h (so $24 total). i figured i would have paid that for it brand new, so i was willing to pay that. no one else bid on it, so i snatched it at the last minute.
neilgaimanbibliography.com has been a great help to let me know what gaiman material exists, how many versions are around, who published them, when, etc.
awhile back i was looking around for madman comic book stuff, and i learned that allred has started a new madman series a couple of years ago. issue 13 was the latest. so on ebay i managed to pick up a single lot of madman atomic comics 1-12. friday i went and picked up 13 at bedrock comics.
i’ve read through 11. the artwork is pretty nice, and some of the concept stuff he’s been doing is pretty interesting. the storyline has been kind of bizarre. i mean, it’s always been that way, but it seems kind of disjointed to me this time around. like sometimes it feels like things are paced oddly. there have been some typos or misspellings as well, which makes it feel kind of sloppy or hurried in my mind, even if it’s not. comic books also don’t seem like a cheap thrill to me like they used to — i’m not sure if their relative cost has gotten out of control, or if it’s just me. i guess i also feel like movies, books, and cds seem expensive as well. movies should be about $5 or $6, paperback books should be $5 to $8, cds should be $10 to $12, and comics should be $1 to $1.50. am i just living in the past?
i got several shirts i had ordered from strange candy ink. they have shirts related to madman and the atomics. i got a black madman exclamation bolt short sleeve and a black and white madman exclamation bolt 3/4 sleeve. it took a while to get my order, but when i got the package there was a free blue yellow ringer atomics logo t-shirt in it.
i’ve gotten a few of the things i ordered on amazon:
- mom: music for our mother ocean – various (surfdog/interscope)
- like a pen cd single – the knife (brille/mute)
- marble house cd single – the knife (brille/mute)
i picked up the mom compilation for the helmet cover of bjork’s “army of me”. (thanks for pointing out where i could get it, ash.:) that’s really the only reason i picked it up. although there are a few other tracks i’m insterested in checking out (brian setzer orchestra, reverend horton heat, primus, no doubt, beastie boys).
this past monday i got home from work and ended up falling asleep. i woke up to my phone ringing. i groggily answered it, and it was the guy who backed into my motorcycle. he said he was on 59 near kirby and wanted to know where to go. half asleep, i gave him somewhat confusing directions to my street. he said he’d call me back when he was at the turn. over the next minute or two i woke up more and realized maybe i should have just met him somewhere. after a few minutes i texted him and asked him if he wanted to meet me somewhere if that would be easier. he replied pretty quickly and said whataburger. so i drove over there and met him. he gave me $260, but i told him $250 was fine. he was paying in $20’s so he asked if i had a $10, so i told him $240 was fine. so i got paid. it’s nice things worked out with an accident, unlike the last two times when i got hit by someone.
i had tried calling a local bike shop earlier in the day to get their price on the fender, but they’re closed on mondays. so i called them on saturday (yesterday) to inquire. their price? $400. haha! i had found that one online for $263. (both oem honda parts.) the dealership’s part number didn’t match the one i’d found though, so i got their part number and looked it up online. i found other sites that had them, all a fair bit below $400. so yesterday i ordered one online. total price with shipping? $269.
friday was downtime at work, so that’s why i was able to do some stuff during the day. like going by bedrock comics. i also got stuff printed at an office depot, so yesterday i used the mat cutter to frame some things. i jacked up one mat, so i’ll have to go to Texas art supply and buy another mat. but the other two i did came out pretty well. the only thing left i really need to cut a mat for is the russian political poster i got back when i was working at nasa.
yesterday evening i went over to the potts house and had supper with the family. when i arrived the kids all got excited and started giving out all of their valentine’s day presents. we ate supper, the kids went to bed, then the adults watched snl. as i was leaving, sue asked about the status of my dating life. the rumination on that (along with finding out about yet another marriage of people i know likely falling apart) is what led to my post last night i suppose. maybe one day things will be good in that department. but i’m not holding my breath.