Saturday, May 26, 2012
RANDOM HOARD
1 of my 1st plates. i got it at a antique show. i still love it.
Vintage BOOK MATCHES Adv. MORTUARY BURIAL FOOTWEAR Shoes New Castle INDIANA Odd-$9
The older I get the less it takes to really tick me off. Most days I’m awakened by two cold noses, one on each cheek. One belongs to Sammy the Cat; the other to Huckleberry the Wonder Pup, so I’m usually in a pretty good mood before I even roll out of bed.
It isn’t until I start interacting with people, or the products of people, that my mood begins to sour. Take yesterday, for example.
The school bus stopped out front of the neighbor’s house; stopped, put out the warning sign and waited as the little girl leisurely strolled from her front door toward the waiting bus, which already had eight or ten cars stopped. Everyone waited as she dillydallied slowly along. She reminded me of Prissy from Gone with the Wind. Cars started honking. There went my day.
Then this morning, I opened a half-carton of old book matches from an estate.
What the @#$^#!?!
Burial footwear? You gotta be kidding me! I’ll bet they cost a fortune, and all they have going for them is that they lace up the back.
That picture shows you all three things that got my blood to boiling. First is the very idea of burial shoes. Why put shoes on a dead person anyway? And, if you must, why not use a worn out pair of sneakers?
Second: My camera has turned against me. The books of matches aren’t actually bright blue. They’re grape/wine color – very nice, but not blue as they appear in my pictures.
And finally: See the statement on the top of each book? “The Finest for those who Care Enough.” So I guess that implies that if you don’t buy a pair of these lace-up-the-back shoes for your Mamma, you didn’t love her quite enough? (Now I’m steamed. Veins are popping out on my forehead, and my face is turning red from anger.)
Listen . . . I’m really sorry about my little outburst, but you’ve got to understand how difficult it can be for old codgers like me. We walk that thin line between reason and senility, and it’s easy to wander off the path at the least provocation. The space between a minor annoyance and outright rage becomes blurred in our semi-petrified brains.
. . . pause . .
. . . pause . .
. . . pause . .
RANDOM ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
FAUSTINA, ANNIA- wife of marcus aurelius, daughter of antonius pius + the empress annia gateria faustina augusta, her husband, whose original name was marcus annius verus, was the son of her maternal uncle, annius veus; + both thru their grandfather annius verus, consul for the 3rd time in 126 ad traced their decent from numa pompilius. besides commodus, f had 6 children whose names are known, annius verus, annia lucilla august a, vibia aurelia, sabina, domitia faustina, fadilla, but supposed to have 11. f was either one of the most profligate or the most maligned of women. welnd appears to be her few apologists; in her own day(if we accept the testimony of her contemporaries) the only ma who belived in her virtue + goodness was her great + wise husband, who ought to outweigh the gossip of dion cassius. on the other hand, but her husband might be wrong about her as he was about his son commodus, the buffoon of the imperial purple(georgee! + does that make faustina bar?!?). the empress impunity amid her alleged vices + the emp's patronage of her supposed paramours, have been deemed unfavorable to the reputation for judgement + sincerety of one of the noblest men of antiquity. f died in 175 in halalac cappadocia, whither she had accompanied marcus on his expedition against the rebel avidius cassius. aurelius, in her memory raised the obscure village to the rank of city, w/ nme faustinoppollis, also founded charitable schools for orphan girls-similar to those that antonius had established in honor of his wife, the elder faustina . the title mater castrorum 1st appeared on the wins of the younger faustina. marcus aurelius placed his wife's statue in the templeof venus, + f was numbered among the guardian deities of rome.
RANDOM 341 OBJECTCC COGNET Chalard 1880s Folding POCKET KNIFE with TURNED WOODEN HANDLE-$76
There are two reasons I’d love to call this a “rare” knife. First, I’ve never seen one like it; and second, a fairly intensive search of the Internet hasn’t turned one up either. Still – I’m not a knife expert – just an enthusiast.
Friday, May 25, 2012
RANDOM 341 OBJECTAntique ENALMEL DECORATED Japanese LOBED PLATE /Shallow Bowl, SIGNED, Ocean WAVE-$9
It is a custom around our house that each and every morning my dear spouse, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, and I have an argument about something. This morning it involved this dish. I said it was Japanese, and she said it was Chinese. I won the argument, but neither of us knows beans about old Asian porcelain. (So you can take her side if you wish.)
