So this girl walk into the shop this afternoon…

 

She’s probably in her 20s, dyed pink hair, baseball cap, coat way too big, chunky high heel booties and no socks (it’s 23F and blowing at around 14mph so me, I’d opt for socks on a day like this). She’s got a tattoo around her neck, and some stars by one eye. She’s high on something or maybe coming down, very soft-spoken, and weepy. She talks to herself a lot.

I am simultaneously repulsed and sorrowful. Repulsed because she’s so out of it, so not here, and who knows what she’ll do? Steal stuff? Freak out? Sorrowful because whatever road brought her to where she is has not been a happy one.

She has keys and a car she can’t drive because she doesn’t have a license. Her friends left her. One of her boyfriends beat her so bad she has brain damage. She has a son. She likes the fake gold snake belt and matching bracelet, the samurai sword with the leopard sheath, and a gold plate necklace. She trades a knife for the sword.

She was still there when I left, freaking out over the fact she was much further away from home than she thought (she didn’t even know what town she was in), and I wonder what will happen to her. Where will she go? There are no homeless shelters in rural Maine. How will she get home? What kind of friends leave someone under those conditions? Did they just ditch her because she’s a pain in the ass? I mean, I didn’t enjoy having her about so I can’t imagine anyone else would. But still, pretty shitty.

Then there’s the car. Who drove if she didn’t? Did they leave on foot? Because it wasn’t nice weather to be out in for any length of time unless you were dressed for it. She sure wasn’t. But I didn’t see who (if anyone) she came in with.

Now, why am I telling you this sad story?

Two reasons. One, something about her made me think about her and her story and how shitty it is right now and I needed to share it. Two, because maybe we can think of a happier ending for her. Does group positive thinking/prayer work? No idea, but it can’t hurt so that’s my challenge. Think of a happy ending for this girl. A way off that road and onto a better one.

In my perfect world, there would be someone to call to help, or at least offer help if she needs it, a ride home maybe. Sometimes it only takes a small act of kindness to make a change and it never hurt anyone to be kind. Anyway, I hope she can find her way out to a happier place, and I sure hope she finds some better friends.

***

 In other news, I’ve read three books this year so far:

 

The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu – winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel – hard scifi and over my head at times, no characters to care about, but I couldn’t put it down

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt – Horror. Imagine living in a town with a witch and a vow of secrecy.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune – fantasy starring a very unlikely hero who works for The Department of Magical Youth and the magical youth he’s sent to investigate. Among them, Lucy, aka Lucifer, a six-year old boy, a boy-creature whose dream is to become a bellhop, a gnome, and some locals who don’t particularly like have an island full of potentially dangerous magical youth next door.

Currently reading The Death of Jane Lawrence, watched The Witcher and am so bummed I have who knows how long before another season *sigh* also watching Star Trek: Discovery, Killing Eve, and The Great.

 ***

Finally, an amazing chalk drawing my sister did, preserved in digital form only since it was for school and every week or so she erases the old and puts up a new one.

 

The Pawn Shop

I've been remiss in updating what's new at the pawn shop. Some things have come and gone very quickly, like an awesome mid-century modern bar set in orange and chrome we had for only a few days. On the same pick my boss got this amazing atomic sputnik light

I know. Unbelievable, right?! I think it takes like 40 light bulbs. Then there's this shelf of toys (I do love toys...and tins...)

and we have neon signs, which are always fun

tin paintings ( I like this one, probably because it has my favorite colors together)

the weird and tacky (I mean, hello? There are no pink flamingos in Maine!)

These are fun, too. They had flavored syrup in them and doubled as banks once the syrup was gone

And finally, some art, an abstract I happen to like

In other news revisions are going well and I finished Winter by Marissa Meyer. What a great series. I adored Winter. She might be my favorite.

As for the weather report, I heard this November might go down as the coldest on record here in Maine. The good news is I'm visiting my mum in Florida in two weeks and it's guaranteed to be warmer there than here.

The Pawn Shop & History

This flag came into our shop recently and my question is, does anyone know why a 39 star flag might be valuable?

I'll tell you why a 39 star is valuable, but first I'm going to show you some other fun stuff we have at the shop, like this shelf. My favorites are the clocks and the two paperweights next to them.

Then there's the new antique tool room, which even if tools aren't your thing is still very cool.

We also have this old Stone shield depicting...possibly some manifestation of Shiva....?

And these very cool fish decoys...

my fave

Now, why is a 39 star flag valuable? The obvious answer is that it's rare, which is correct. But why is it rare, you might ask? The reason is because back in 1889, flag manufacturers tried to to get a jump on sales in anticipation of a new state being admitted. But instead of one state, we got two: North and South Dakota. So, there never was an 'official' 39 star US flag.

Meanwhile, I'm working on chapter 21 of THE EXECUTIONER, reading Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, and very much enjoying Les Revenants, which the American series The Returned was based on.

The Pawn Shop

As some of you may recall, I work at a pawn shop. A lot of people come into our shop and ask what that means. What IS a pawn shop? How does it work? Basically, a pawn shop is where you go with an item of value to get a loan on it. Let's say you have a tool of some sort and the current market value is $100. We would loan about $40 max (because if you don't come back for your item we have to try to sell it for a profit) and the end of 31 days you come back with $48 and get your item back. Or you can pay the monthly interest of $8 and carry it over for another month. If you're smart, you'll get your item out right away. If you don't, you'll eventually pay more than your item is worth.

The shop I work at is called Mainely Pawn & Antiques, because we don't just do pawns. We also buy and sell antiques and vintage items. And yes, we get a ton of extremely cool items in, as evidenced by the photos that follow...

 

Insulators in the foreground. The Amber one is my fave.

 

 

Yup, that's me :)

 

Vintage Gaming Stuff

 

Oh, yeah, we have baseball cards

 

Love these old clocks

 

Need a locker?

 

In the mirror you can see the ass end of our mascot, Brody, an Australian Labradoodle. He's the most mellow dog

 

And Toys!!!

As you can imagine, it's a pretty fun place to work at. In other news I have not watched anything since the last time we spoke, I'm almost done with the third book in the Shades of Magic Series, and a new character has made himself known to me in my WIP.*

So. What's new in your world?

* It's like, hey, by the way, I'm barging into this story and no, I can't see the snow on the mountains because I'm blind so you're going to have to make some adjustments in the way you describe things. Oh, and the name is Edward, Margrave of Sontheim.

Sunday Pics - The Pawn Shop

As you might expect, the pawn shop where I work is always changing. Stuff comes in...stuff goes out. Recently, we acquired this photo of the Statue of Liberty while she was being built in France, which is pretty cool.

And this...I'm not sure what to call her except that supposedly her name is Zelda.

This boat is pretty neat, but hard to clean, as I can attest to having been given the task of dusting her out.

One of my favorite things to do is to arrange things as illustrated by this display...

I especially like what I did with the top shelf.

But by far the best thing that's come into the shop lately has been this guy

His name is Skippy and he's a chug (chihuahua/pug) and the cutest damn thing ever. This is him with his bunny...

As you can imagine, work has been very difficult lately.

Pawn Shop Finds

As many of you know, I work at a Pawn/Antique shop, and in addition to the wicked cool stuff we get in that will go up for sale, sometimes we get stuff that won't. Among these are some papers I found in an old Funk and Wagnalls dictionary:

I wonder who she means by Pat or Rick?

I looked up the Edith Doll, which was popular in the late 50's.

This is a resume from 1958 from a man who was 33 years old, graduated from MIT (class of '46 with a degree in Electrical Engineering), and had a wife and three kids. I wonder if he got the job. Maybe the dear Santa letters were written by his daughters...

This last was among a bunch of books that had never gotten priced and it caught my eye

How cool is that?

I started reading and decided I had to have it, and oh boy is it interesting. After a brief introduction to the time and place - Northern France, 1220 - the reader is introduced to the castle, and its defensibility. One of my favorite passages is this:

"Even if the foe should cross the moat, shatter the portcullis, and split open the heavy doors, he would merely be at the beginning of terrible hours of ax- and sword-play. He would be in a narrow and low vaulted passage, with many loopholes on either side for archers, and also with slits in the ceiling for pouring down boiling oil, seething pitch, molten lead, and other pleasantries; and if he rushed past all these forms of death into the courts, there, behind him, capable still of very stout defense, would rise the two strong gate towers, rendering every attempt to reinforce the original attacking party a dice-throwing with death...

Good times.

Anyway, fascinating book, describing in detail what people ate, what they wore, how they celebrated, and what life was like in a place like this at that time. My mind is whirring away...how can I use this?

Happy Hump Day and I'll be back on Friday with a review of The Star-Touched Queen for the Cephalopod Coffee House.

The Pawn Shop

As most of you know, but some may not, I work at a pawn/antique shop in Damariscotta, Maine and occasionally I like to share some of the cool stuff we have. Recently, we had an addition put on, and here are some pics from the new room...

Looking in...

Am extremely nice secretary with all kinds of cubby holes and shelves

A pair of gumball machines

I decorated this old farm table with fancy dishes and carnival glass

I know, can you believe it? An old street light.

A fainting couch

Vintage Toys (I love them)

Fishing Floats and a fun sign

More Toys (in the jewelry room)

Bottles and bells and porcelain figurines

And a very cool clock

We also have tons of artwork, tools, old car parts, signs, not to mention the best selection of movies in town, all alphabetically organized thanks to yours truly :)

If you ever get up this way, you should visit; it's definitely the coolest shop in town and the funnest place I've ever worked.