Posts Tagged Thanksgiving
Happy birthday mom – there’s nothing better to be thankful for
Posted by Bev Barnett in Creativity, Inspiring People, Teenagers on November 27, 2008
My mom's birthday often falls on or around Thanksgiving. Today, Thanksgiving 2008, is an "on" birthday. So I'm going to get a little mushy here, be forewarned. Today, I am most thankful for my mother.
I've been thinking a lot about the mother daughter thing lately. My own daughter is 17 and in the midst of applying to colleges, which means I have less than a year to enjoy her then she'll be gone. My step daughter will be 18 in four months and is working very hard to be independent, which means we have even less time with her. Mother and daugther relationships are tricky business indeed.
My own relationship with my mother has developed as I suppose most do over the years. I've grown to appreciate so many wonderful qualities and insights that she has, things that I was not able to see when I was younger and she was annoyed by the greasy cold water left standing in dirty bowls in the sink (and yes, now I complain about that to my own kids).
My mother is an artist – a wonderfully sensitive and creative artist. Her works in watercolor and hand made paper now adorn my walls and I think of her every day as I enjoy them. Even though I never call to tell her that. Although I didn't realize it while I was growing up, I know now that she's had a tremendous impact on the way I view the world. Seeing through the eyes of an artist means everything is possible, everything has beauty and everything can be shaped into something new.
One of the most touching and loving things my mother has ever done for me was to send me a note in the mail after a phone conversation we had, which told me she understood one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make. With the soft image of hyacinths, she wrote this Persian proverb:
If you of all your goods are suddenly bereft,
and of your worldly store two loaves alone to thee are left,
sell one and with the dole
buy hyacinths to soothe your soul
I love you mother. Happy Thanksgiving, and happy birthday.
The holiday garage sale experiment
Posted by Bev Barnett in Blender Bits on November 22, 2008
We had a garage sale today. We had to start somewhere, to weed out all the stuff each of us has accumulated over the years. And yes, we can still have garage sales in November in the Bay Area.
We were going to load up all our stuff and take it to Goodwill – that's what we usually do – but instead we decided to buck up and do the garage sale. And my approach to the garage sale is to get rid of as much as possible, not necessarily to get the best price. I have, after all, already made my decision about its value at that point.
On the 25 cent table, for example, I had everything from the green and pink plastic margarita glasses (they didn't sell) to the stove top smoker (it went to a very happy woman who watches Emeril Lagasse). Value, you see, is dependent on how much I want to get rid of something.
I pulled out the kids' Beanie Babies and put them in a bucket with a $1 each price tag. No takers. But in the back of my mind I was thinking they might like to have those when they're older, looking back on the trends of their childhood.
One of the things most people hate about having garage sales is that first thing in the morning you'll be visited by "the dealers." These are the folks who fill up a bag, bring it to you and say "one dollar?" Well, I usually counter with "two" and figure if they are going to take it to the flea market and sell it for a profit, then more power to them – that's capitalism, right? I just take a quick peek to make sure that Grandma's crystal vase isn't tucked under my old trade show T shirts in that bag.
So the net result is we got rid of at least half of what we put out to sell, and we raised enough money to buy the turkeys we committed for the Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Sunnyvale Presbyterian, cash for the Giving Tree at Barn Concerts annual holiday concert that we're playing at next weekend and various other holiday donations to try to make the holidays a bit better for a few people.
And there are a few dealers who will be at the Flea Market next week with some stero speakers, video games and a hand vacuum cleaner – and hopefully they'll make a good profit on those, and they'll have a better holiday season as well.
So in the end, the whole cycle of cash works out pretty well.
The Blender Brain
Welcome to Bev's Blender Brain, the Web home of singer, songwriter and technology communications consultant Bev Barnett. Left and right brain thinking blend as I explore changes in technology and how we communicate - as well as presenting ideas and tips for how creative individuals can break through the stigma and fear of marketing to embrace the practice of finding, nurturing and building an audience. The answers aren't always black or white.
