Introtojournals

The good folks at tripod.com gave me this free web page on the condition that I updated every month. This update could be something as minor as a punctuation change but in an effort the kept this site minty fresh & clean I decided to throw in a section on the many tapes I get through the month in an informal journal so here we go with ...

Good will Hunting

Intro

Before we jump into it let me tell you about my surroundings. I reside in the Pacific Northwest, about 2.5 hours from Seattle in a small depressing town called Sequim Pop 4200. To get a mental picture of this place let me throw out a few words into your collective consciences- Twin Peaks, Ted Bundy, pine trees, bears strolling into your yard and summers that rarely go above 55 degrees. 60 percent of the population is over 60 which puts a bit of a damper on my social life but on the positive side I can’t think of a better place to find old 8-tracks and equipment. Read - Estate Sales.

I’ve become completely spoiled on 8-tracks since I moved here and in the last 6 months have had no problem locating 4 amazing portable players, tapes by artists like The Stooges, Sex Pistols, Monkees, loads of quad tapes and I’ve never paid over .50 for any of these cartridges (Goodwills’s going price is .39 per tape and The Salvation Army is .10.). Eat your heart out Ebay.

To clarify things I'll throw in a few names and addresses of thrift stores in the area, if your in the vicinity feel free to drop in but remember I was probably there 5 min. ago.

Goodwill Super Store *****
603 S. Lincoln
Port Angeles
Voted best thrift on The
Peninsula 3 years straight.

Salvation Army****
1st Street across from the cinema
Port Angeles
If only they had a faster turnaround.

St. Vincent De Paul***
116 8th St.
Port Angeles
STVDP's big mistake is catering to the collectors crowd (Read
Inflated prices on crap)
and ignoring the fixed income
customers who really need thrifts. I think
the Pope should revoke their religious
status. It also sports the only Jesus picture I'd be proud to
display- The one where he's walking by the UN building just
like a holy Godzilla. It's not for sale

Serenity House**1/2
425 E. Wash St. (RIP)
Sequim
I bought out all their old 8-tracks for
a song. Now they reopened in my hood.

And my favorite...
Community Thrift Store*****
1411 SR 20
Port Townsend
This is a great old school thrift store (Super eclectic where you might find 8-tracks next to a pile of wigs) and the front entrance is blocked by decaying furniture and a warped sign in the front that probably won't make through this winter. Its tape section can't be beat. And the guy who used to wear the Fleagal the Beagle costume in The Banana Splits works down the street at the docks.

Sadly, this place has sucked in recent times because a lot of thrift pirates steal the merchandise left in front of it before it opens and the owners have gotten greedy and raised the prices. And the clothing there is spotty at best

And I've sinced moved to Olympia

The Olympia Thrifts
Olympia is a bigger city and in the pursuit of keeping up with the Jones they are pushed back into the landscape and have more of a stigma. It's harder to find "the good stuff" since most of it was tossed out in 1973 for something "New and Improved".

Value Village (2100 Harrison Rd Ave NW) **
They don’t have much of a turnover and while they are a secondhand store occasionally act like The Bon Marché with announcements over the PA about how "you can find treasures" and make you pay for the discoveries. What I find amusing is when it’s slow you can watch the underpaid cashiers read copy from a cue card about the big sale going on right now with the gray tags. I wonder if the Bon Marché does this?

Dumpster Values (117 Washington St SE)**1/2
It’s run by college students and is part of a record store too so we get lots of faddish clothes and the staff has their hair dyed dark black. The art is a little more selective so you can find black velvet paintings. Fortunately for me they had a cool sculpture that said "weird wood art $15" on it but little did those philistines know that this was a knock off by William Westenhaver’s so I got to play Antique Roadshow and have it in the den. Too bad Art 101 ends with the postmodern era and skips the kitsch one or I’d be broke.

Goodwill (400 Cooper Point Rd SW)****
All the Goodwills in the area get the booty from the magic one in Tacoma. This one is strange because unlike my old one in Port Angeles whose hardcore customers are mostly ebayers this one is made up of people with booths who sell their wares in fairs and swap meet. I should do well here.

Then moved to Port Angeles...

Serenity (544 First St)
Great for vibrating Lazyboy chairs and a media room with a bench for easy browsing and if you really like it there you can volunteer to mind the store. I may do this for inside information.

...also check out the Port Townsend Goodwill in a town that is artier than thou and won't let you forget it. When I drive my unwashed car there I feel like I'm making a social statement.

And Here We Go...

Page1 Learning the ropes Feb-March
Page 2 Getting somewhat introspective March
Page 3 Serving 2 masters, Me and Ebay April & May
Page 4 Back on the winning "track" May-June
Page 5 July is the cruelest month of all (Not really, but I like the sound of that)
Page 6 August in the doldrums
Page 7 September Still in an 8 score track score afterglow
Page 8 November, what's wrong with this sequence?
Page 9 A Brand New Year and supplies dwindle
Page 10 This ain't no April Fool
Page 11 Spring is in the air, pretty girls are everywhere
Page 12 The holidays approach, and why does everyone act all pious when they surround a Turkey?
Page 13 Change in inevitable (I get boring and we get a whole year on one page)
Page 14 Blah, Blah Blah,
Page 15 A New Year and like the Star Trek Movies hopefully the even numbers will be better.
Page 16 Out Like A Lamb or maybe a pug
Page 17 Baby, baby where did our tapes go?
Page 18 If things don't pick up I may start publishing my high school journal
Page 19 An obsession becomes a career
Page 20 This life is becoming like a TV rerun, stuck in a loop

HOME