Friday, September 25, 2009

Ant and the Grasshopper and how times change

OLD VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.


MODERN VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.' Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant 's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Ant Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government. The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ants food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Love hate relationship with the garage sale


Rummage sale, tag sale, yard sale, lawn sale, whatever it's called in your part of the world, I love and hate them simultaneously.
Not going to them and finding bargains-that's fun!! It brings out the serious hunter gatherer along with that giddy feeling when you score something extra special.
It's the hosting of one that brings out my ambiguity. At first you are optimistic: yeah, this will sell, more room, get rid of junk, I'll donate the few things left over, my friends will help, I'll make a little money, woo hoo! etc, etc,. Then reality sets in...
It's a lot of work physically-going through everything, dragging out tables, pricing, staging, putting an ad in the paper, signs up etc. It can be hard on the psyche too-as you set out and price items, you are reminded of "seemed like a good idea at the time" purchases, "I can wear this when I lose 5lbs" clothing or lame gifts from relatives. Your friends have stuff for the sale but all they do is dump off a box for YOU to hang/price/stage and no they can't come and help you sell, but will swing by to get their money later. There is also the let down period after the sale is over when it dawns on you that you've spent all this time putting the sale together, there is still too much crap left and you only made 5 cents on the dollar....really??
After every sale I say, "Never again!" because to quote Rain Man, "...About a hundred dollars" is all I ever make and I decide it's not worth the effort. I'm usually pretty true to that-only about a year later do I start thinking about it again because there is too much stuff clogging up my world: clothes that no longer fit, toys , kids stuff, broke down furniture or other items that have been replaced-stuff "too good" to donate just yet, but not good enough to sell on eBay or Craig's List. So, it all gets hauled out to the garage and/or driveway again....
hmmm, it seems this poster needs to reread this post, rinse, lather, repeat! OR maybe just stop putting so much thought into the anatomy of a garage sale-Over thinkers Anonymous here I come!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

let's start with a new look

In my continuing quest to retrieve my creative mojo from where ever its been hiding, I decided to overhaul my blog for starters. I found a site called the cutest blog of the month (and I'm certain I'm the LAST one to board that train!) and found a background I liked. I'm still in the tweak stage, but am liking my new look so far.

If you haven't seen this site yet, click on the logo on the upper left corner of my blog to go there.

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The first inspiration!

http://flight-fancy.blogspot.com/

Flight Fancy was kind enough to share thoughts on how to ditch "creator's block" and has a beautiful blog and Etsy store. Show some love by stopping by!

Add your comments to be linked, too!