08.01.2006

(off-site links open in new windows)

Don says:

I know that promotion is a really big deal on the web.   Whether you're trying to actually sell something, thereby making a living, or spread-the-word about your philosophy, ideology, theology, whatever it is that you feel passionate about; to get the job done, you've got to learn how to promote it online and to do that you've got to give it 110% of your energy, riding it like a wild horse, never missing a single opportunity to get in a plug for your website.

So where does that leave us?   Lisa and I don't make any money from the site and we don't have any particular axe to grind.   On the topics of philosophy, ideology, and theology our views are mostly neutral with a dash of cynicism thrown in for balance.   We don't really have anything to sell.   Sure, we want people to be happy, but we don't believe we can tell them how to be happy; we're just happy when they are and more than ready to celebrate it with them.


I've continued to sell off my packrat pile on ebay and I think my gains are slightly ahead of my losses but I've always been an impoverished packrat so I'm about out of portable wealth.   What I mean by that is simply that I've already sold whatever small things I had which possessed any obvious intrinsic value so now I'm starting on the piddly little things that may or may not attract any affluent bidders.   I guess I'll know soon anyway.


Lisa has signed me up for an online Science Fiction Book-swap where I earn credits by mailing paperback books I've listed to persons who request them. It's not quite as good a deal as a used bookstore but there isn't a worthwhile (for Science Fiction) used bookstore anywhere near here. I've sent two books to persons in the U.S., each of which cost me $1.59 but I clicked "OK" and agreed to send one to Australia before "doing my homework".   That one cost me seven dollars and fifty cents which really hurt my feelings but it's hard for me to turn down a fellow reader when this might be a book he or she is just itching to get ahold of.   That's a feeling I can very much identify with.   Not long ago I grabbed a Poul Anderson book entitled "The Last Viking" and later noticed the rest of the text on the cover; it says " Book #3, The Sign of the Raven"   Argh!!!!   That means I can't read it until I find the other two.   *sigh*   I do so hate when that happens.   *gloom*


Furthermore, the next person who want's me to send a book overseas may be out of luck.   Postage shouldn't exceed the cover price of the book; that's all there is to it.   *frown*


*snicker*

Lisa says:

Once I studied physiognomy, the art of face-reading. Of course by now all I learned is forgotten, and a good thing too.  At best it is a "silly science", but the characteristics of one facial feature, the eyebrows, were supposed to tell you if a person was a good "starter", a good "finisher" or both.  What they meant was there are certain people who get really excited about a project and only care about it while they're enthusiastic, then they drop it and leave bits and pieces dangling, often leaving others to finish.  Other people have a measured, slow start, sometimes afraid to start something they may not finish, but they complete projects and then move on to the next thing.

I'd like to be both, my eyebrows say I am *grin*. Hopefully I can be enthused about a new project, like digging a big flowerbed, planting it, and then watering often enough to survive the Texas summer. Or taking on a big sewing project and then seeing it through. Or having friends and family remember that I said I would do something and did it. I'd like the people I know, and especially the ones I care about, to think of me as a " good finisher ".

Recently I had a commission from a sewing client.  He wanted to give a 30 year old alpaca rug with sentimental value to his son. It had been in non-climate-controlled storage for 30 years, folded and refolded. The biggest problem was that the cotton thread used to stitch the individual skins together had rotted; the rug would tear as you unfolded it to look at it.  Additionally, the skins had become dry and somewhat brittle, so while I stitched it back together with waxed quilting thread they would tear a bit while I worked. When the stitching was finished it could then be glued.  Dennis Guerra at Tandy Leather Factory in Austin, TX helped me to find the right leather glue for the job and shipped it quickly.  With Don's help I glued and weighted the rug to a sturdy piece of cotton duck.  Hanging loops at the top, sewn on before the gluing process, gave the client a way to display the rug with no further damage.  Hopefully the piece will give many more years of satisfaction.

Restored alpaca rug