Tragic dimensions to what we do?

[MrNewportCustom]

That what you were after was a world, and there might not be a place for you in it?

I'd felt this way most of my life: That I just didn't fit in anywhere. But, since joining the Fedora Lounge and getting back into photography, I've found the opposite to be true.

The objects I'd collect were just that; lost, broken and abandoned objects. I was collecting what I, myself, was allowing myself to be. But the Lounge and photography have opened a new world for me. I now have friends and a renewed interest in those things I collect. More than that, I'm beginning to narrow my collections down to those items which are most suited to who I'm now becoming, and finding out just who I am.

I'm no longer lost, no longer broken and feeling abandoned. I am now collecting friends, and I'm discovering something new . . . Life!

One cannot be lost, broken or abandoned with friends.

We're often dominated by what we fear.

Exactly. I've spent years being exactly what I feared most; being alone. That is why I am now collecting friends. Not to have them there to fill a void, per se, but to also be there for them.


Lee

 

[Foofoogal]

OT: A bit.

For all of the FL who didn't fit in. This one is for you!! Wow and Wow.

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4853639/12942069

Never judge a book by the cover. You may miss a jewel. I cannot quit crying everytime I watch this.

 

[Inky]

OT: A bit.

For all of the FL who didn't fit in. This one is for you!! Wow and Wow.

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4853639/12942069

Never judge a book by the cover. You may miss a jewel. I cannot quit crying everytime I watch this.

amen to that! She is FANTASTIC!

 

[Foofoogal]

I think her dream just came true. I hope they don't try to modernize her. I would buy a record today. Who needs Simon?
What a jewel.
--------------------
I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life woth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used
And wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung
No wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame.

And still
I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms
We cannot weather...

I had a dream my life would be
So different form this hell I'm living
so different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Wow! What a voice! Beautiful! Anyone with the slightest appreciation for music will love this lady's talent; I certainly do. Absolutely beautiful!


Lee

 

[Foofoogal]

Back on topic. I have gone a bit overboard on collecting. My daughter says the first thing is admitting one has an addiction. lol
I have very recently begun to at least collect small things like sweater guards. My idea of reining it in.
Moving recently I was made clearly aware of my overcollecting. I think several times I used the word, "obscene." It all has come together slowly and was not a problem when I was selling like hotcakes but with the economy slowdown it is now a bit of a burden. I was always a collector and seller since 1996 and online since 2002. It is like a plumber or pilot or whatever. It is what I do. Like Marc I find such good deals it is hard to pass them by.

One problem is that with time, I've learned how to find really great vintage cheaply. In terms of money (though not time and energy), too cheaply. It makes the obsession that much easier to feed.

I feel God not only gave me my gift but the means to do my profession.
Doors have closed lately and ones opened and I am reevaluating this fact. He is in control so it is just a different time and season.
The selling is almost a side note for me. I feel I am sort of rescuing this stuff from extinction. It is like the universe brings me stuff like a magnet. It though could be a way of carrying on my depression era parents ways possibly.
I was half watching a show the other day (reality show wife swap I believe) In it one whole family did sweepstakes all day long, all the time to the point of neglecting the children. It did make me pause and think about at what point does it become an addiction. I once heard a pastor say to look at your checkbook and see where your money goes to know who or what your god is.
I did not collect so much when my children were young and this was not an issue though.
Some collect, some fish, some bowl etc.
This is an interesting subject and I will think more on this. Where is everyone anyway?

 

["Skeet" McD]

I feel God not only gave me my gift but the means to do my profession....I feel I am sort of rescuing this stuff from extinction. It is like the universe brings me stuff like a magnet. It though could be a way of carrying on my depression era parents ways possibly....I once heard a pastor say to look at your checkbook and see where your money goes to know who or what your god is....This is an interesting subject and I will think more on this. Where is everyone anyway?

Dear FFG, The last question first: did you mean "why aren't people posting?" or (more literally) what neck of the woods we're in?

Now back to the beginning If anyone has read more than one or two of my posts, they probably know that my religion (Roman Catholicism) plays a rather large role in my worldview ...so I don't disregard in any way the thought that this MIGHT be what you're supposed to do: variety of gifts, quoth Paul! And, religious or not...there is much to be said for your take on rescuing stuff from oblivion. In my life with antiques, it's pretty clear that the first 50 years or so is the danger zone for objects, just like the 20s are for humans ; if they make it through that period, they will probably survive to full term. For that first 50 years, stuff is just "old and unfashionable:" that's when it will hit the dumpster. If you, or someone else, gives it a home--or sends it to a home--where it will be protected until the REST of the world decides it has some value...you probably really HAVE saved it from extinction.

I think your pastor is right....In a rough way, "following the money" is a valuable way to see where your priorities are. But I do think it's somewhat more complicated than that...and this is tied in with the paragraph above.

Not to get too religious---but you're obviously a Christian: one of the major points our Lord made when He was here among us was that....motivation is more important than the letter of the law; I think that the good Lord is more interested in WHY we do something than WHAT we do. If you are buying stuff to, as you say, save it from extinction---that's a horse of a different color from buying it to hoard it, or to puff yourself up over what you own. The expenditure, monetarily, might be exactly the same: but the meaning of that expenditure could be very, very different.

Or so I think.

"Skeet"

 

[Foofoogal]

I have been on a long journey with my stuff. I can look at it from many aspects.
Where to start? I have no intention on hoarding it. I actually have a deep desire to somehow use it to feed people as I have worked in a food pantry. I once upon a time started a clothes closet but for reasons beyond my control it was sort of stolen from me.
Nothing is by accident I believe. All things work together in fact. It does amuse me though how things are done by the Lord.
Noone will ever convince me He did not teach, direct and give me the means to do my business. I actually won the means to open via a game show out of the blue. I wish I could go into the miracle and how it was played out but will not here.
I also think sometimes we are saved from ourselves when we think it should play out a certain way. We as Christians should not dictate to God how it should be done.
I find myself in another state even now. I don't know why but just know I am supposed to be here now.
It may of started as a hobby but it is way more now. I know this.
I first felt the joy of sharing my stuff when I saw how much joy it brought others. I sort of see myself as a dealer as a clown must see themselves. To bring joy to people is a good thing.
Some of my stuff I see as very special and share it with others including children. Children still have wonder sometimes and I get satisfaction from creating that wonder.
I watched one time a very old man come into my booth looking like he was dragged there by his wife and was not having fun at all.
Then he spotted a piece of ruby glass I had. I am not kidding when I say he morphed into a 9 year old boy right before my eyes. His eyes got all teary and he told me of how during the depression he and his brother saved for weeks to buy the ruby glass for their mother for Mothers Day.
Stuff like these are my motivating factors.

 

[Lotta Little]

OT: A bit.

For all of the FL who didn't fit in. This one is for you!! Wow and Wow.

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4853639/12942069

Never judge a book by the cover. You may miss a jewel. I cannot quit crying everytime I watch this.

SO moving. They seemed so ready to write her off. Truly only one side of her, and a side I hope to see more of. Where can I buy her new album?

 

[Lotta Little]

I also think sometimes we are saved from ourselves when we think it should play out a certain way. We as Christians should not dictate to God how it should be done.

May it ever be said "The Lord works in mysterious ways..." I have often (looked for and therefore) seen his hand in my own life, mysterious and reassuring. I couldn't go on if I didn't know it and believe it.

 

[Foofoogal]

I already forgot about my promise to buy small. What is it about Art Deco that makes my motor run. I love anything remotely Art Deco style. [huh]
I have to open my shop back soon. I am like a fish out of water. :eusa_doh:

 

[Undertow]

This is true, but contains a paradoxical problem: though all this stuff is now out there on the Internet, it's all stored in various ways, some of which will be entirely obsolete in even five years. We can still listen to records, but will we be able to decode, say, MP3s in 200 years? We have enough trouble reading tape from 20 years ago, or importing databases
created in version X when we've upgraded to version X.Y....

A complete discussion of which verges dangerously close to the shores of OffTopia of course, but ultimately the point is that collecting hard copy (like 78s) is still relevant and important. Just ask fans of Doctor Who. *grin*

I was looking over this excellent thread again, and saw your response - thought I would address it and revive this interesting topic.

I know exactly what you mean, IRB. There is an old flight simulation game called Retaliator that I used to love. Both planes were real mock-ups of experimental models during the 80's and 90's (or so said the game). In any case, it was a DOS-based game. After the birth of Windows XP, I could no longer load and play the game, period. I'd tried emulators as well as command prompt (haha) but it simply wouldn't work. That game is now lost to history - unless the game is reborn onto an updated medium.

Have any of you noticed how there is this implied push to collect DVDs on blu-ray? How many people threw away VHS tapes and converted to DVD? I kept all my VHS tapes, especially rare copies of low-run movies that would never see the light of modern day.

The format war has raged since wax drums recorded music, and it will continue to rage well into the future (until 2012 wipes us all out? [huh] )

In the meantime, many things will be lost.

 

[John in Covina]

I watched one time a very old man come into my booth looking like he was dragged there by his wife and was not having fun at all.
Then he spotted a piece of ruby glass I had. I am not kidding when I say he morphed into a 9 year old boy right before my eyes. His eyes got all teary and he told me of how during the depression he and his brother saved for weeks to buy the ruby glass for their mother for Mothers Day. Stuff like these are my motivating factors.

******
I find that I am attracted to things of meaning and things that have a story. Also if it's something I can relate to and make a connection. The ruby glass story hits me because my father's aunt and uncle had a big collection of that ruby glassware that was used daily. I can see the glasses in my mind and it reminds me of being over in their house which contains a lot of happy memories but some sad ones too. So when ever I see ruby glassware I think of them very fondly.

There is an element in collecting that sometimes addresses the underlying concept that as time moves on we abandon the past for the present and the future. The idea of the latest and greatest is a driving factor in the idea of posessions. For some of us there is a sense that we should not simply abandon evrything at the drop of a hat simply because there is something new and maybe better.

I collect vintage fountain pens and find that I tend to like inexpensive to moderately priced new pens too. (What happens with the high end stuff is I find the payoff for the pricey stuff is not great enough to warrant the expense more times than not.) I love my Esterbrooks and in that collection I'd would like to get one of each of the generally available ones. But there is no rush right now.

 

[Pompidou]

There's no one thing I can say I collect, because I'm not interested in the sorts of things that lend themselves to collecting. I'm still as materialistic as possible, but I focus my efforts onto electronics mostly. I'm more interested in having just the one best of a thing rather than a collection of it. My hat situation is a good example - I've tended to replace rather than add. Same with sunglasses and computers and keyboards. I get a superior model of something and I no longer want the predecessor. Thus two people have a first fedora, a third will eventually, and so on with prior computers and whatnot. I've got an addiction to bragging rights, I suppose, and an addiction to giving stuff away. Both make me feel good, great in combination.

 

[Foofoogal]

Hello Sandy,
I just wanted to write to let you know that the raincoat arrived yesterday. It is beautiful and fits me well. I had sentimental reasons for purchasing the coat- my grandmother had one just like it in the 1960s and 70s which she gave away years ago.
This photograph was taken around 1972. I am so happy to now own the twin of this coat.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
-----------------------
Here is another one John. Stuff like this keeps me going. Truly.
I once sold some china to a granddaughter of a woman who the china was actually named after.
Seems the maker had a crush on this woman but she spurned him for another but did stay friends with her. So he named the china after her. Her granddaughter now searches for pieces of it.

A dealer since 1996 and online since 2002 I have heard tons of stories like this. Usually at Christmas when I was mainly a doll dealer and glass I would almost like clockwork get a letter from someone ecstatic to find the baby doll that their mom or grandmother threw out by mistake or not. lol
Some things have great emotional attachment. The other day I sold a mug to a woman who had broken hers that her kids gave her years ago for Mothers Day.
You would think the mug was made of gold. I do have passion for this and people because I completely understand it as many do on this my hangout.

 

[John in Covina]

Childhood Memories and collecting

The Christmas season has so many traditions bringing the past into the present built into it and the idea even for the secular that it is a time to reflect on family and friends lends itself to replacing what was lost to bridge the gap in time. I know many people that search for items from their childhood to replace the lost and broken dreams that went with what is a touchstone or talisman for the connection back to the past. Christmas seems to bring those needs to the forefront.

It's a bittersweet thing to have those pangs of nostalgia for earlier times.

Over in Pomona, CA there is a block of Antique Stores on Second Street or Avenue. There are a number of them that have some great items from my childhood era that a walkthru is sufficient to bring on those pangs. With pang triggers as simple as those Welches Grape Jelly jars that were also glasses with the Flintstones decals on the outside. I drank from one as a kid and it makes me happy to see them.

I have several glass milk bottles that I associate with early childhood and also a visit to Denmark to see Mom's family. When I look at milk bottles I am reminded of childhood and that visit to grandma's house in Varde. Also I like the round bottles even more than the square ones although we had square ones delivered at my parents house. MAybe the Danish ones were round. In the US the round ones were earlier than the square ones usually.

 

[The Lonely Navigator]

Fletch: We deal with old, lost things. Where you find them you will typically find lost people - those who are withdrawn or limited or broken somehow. So we have to deal at some point with lost people, and the possibility that we might become lost ourselves.

Who else here thinks their passions might have limited them somehow - that there might be a cost you didn't expect, that you weren't prepared to pay? That what you were after was a world, and there might not be a place for you in it?

Sounds like the story of my life in a nutshell - right there.

 

[Honey Bee]

Sounds like the story of my life in a nutshell - right there.

Me too.
When our children were growing up, we stayed as often on these ten acres, grew or hunted what we needed as much as we could and were content to do so, taught them manners, respect, love for country and God. When the kids each got older, off they went into the big world, lived their own lives...they made good livings and explored it all... and scoffed a bit that we lived simply and that we didn't care about the modern fads, longed for "the good ol' days"...and I did feel like a failure for not getting them to see the happiness that came from family and simple things.
It's taken about 10 years but now they see our home as a shelter from that craziness and WANT to be here, to know about their family history, traditions... I admit, I am happy about that
Our first grandbaby, a boy, was born this morning and this grandma can't wait to "protect" him from all the modern world insanity...his mama and papa said I could too =)
What size is the smallest fedora?

 

[Puzzicato]

Our first grandbaby, a boy, was born this morning and this grandma can't wait to "protect" him from all the modern world insanity...his mama and papa said I could too =)
What size is the smallest fedora?

Congratulations to you and your family! What a great joy to have.

 

[Dewhurst]

Who else here thinks their passions might have limited them somehow - that there might be a cost you didn't expect, that you weren't prepared to pay? That what you were after was a world, and there might not be a place for you in it?

Your musings are near to my heart. I am constantly buffeted by doubts concerning my desires and obsessions and the only realistic way to avoid them has been to kill the desire or curb the obsession. Which basically equates to not doing whatever it is that is causing me trouble.

Can I do this? Is this what I am? Do I have to change everything in order to like this? Can I do this when I am 50? Is this enough for me, substantial enough? Is this really worth doing? Who am I? are all questions that zip 'round my mind on a regular basis. And, truth be told, I still don't know exactly who or what I am (hobbies and obsessions factor so heavily into our "identity equation"). I have education, I have a loving wife, monetary needs are being met, I have ample free time to pursue an understanding of me through reading and writing and my artistic work, but problems and lack of understanding have persisted.

My hobbies and obsessions are things I want to do, but they cause me lots of doubt and much questioning of identity which are consequences and questions I did not foresee, especially when I start or stop them enthusiastically or become anxious and discouraged and no longer pursue them which queues yet more questions, more time wasted, higher costs, and a narrowing of the possibilities for my inclusion in my worlds.