Drop off and pick up

Let me preface this with a statement: I don't dumpster dive with any kind of regularity. Occasionally, I have scoped out the stacks of random ikea furniture, office chairs, and even crapped out bicycles that are thrown away by people moving out of my apartment building. The bike was fun, although I learned the brakes didn't work. Painfully. And, yes, I have a few books that I picked up off the curb that someone had set out to be picked up by the garbage man. That's about the limit.

I carted a large box of odds and ends out to Goodwill today. I honestly wasn't sure whether there would be anyone available to take it, but the website assured me that they are available everyday. It's not far, at any rate.

Pulling up to the donation center, it seems that the website lied. There was no one to be seen to receive the goods. However, it soon became obvious that didn't stop people from leaving items behind. There's a small white picket fence around the steps leading to the donation center, and there were several items waiting for a new home: stereos, bags of clothes, forlorn appearing toys, and an old, beat up dress form.

I took some time to examine the last item after wrestling the box I was delivering out of the back seat. It was pushed behind stacks of donations, and had the look of having spent a substantial amount of time in an attic. There was, in fact, something slightly creepy about it. This was more likely my own paranoias speaking though - I find something about mannequins slightly disquieting, and there's something about an adjustable torso that just makes me feel uneasy. However, a unique find shouldn't be ignored. But what use for a dress form in my apartment? None.

Driving away, it sprang to mind that there was at least one person that could find a use for such a thing. A quick phone call, a quick U-turn, and back to Goodwill. Only to find that the center was no longer unmanned - in the 5 minutes away from the place, there was a man loading items into a truck for transport. Not to be dissuaded, I approached him and spoke. A blank stare. I tried Spanish. Bingo. I pointed to the large box I had just deposited and asked whether I could trade one for the other. He shifted from one stance to the other, hrmmed, shook his head, no. I would have to wait for it to be put on sale at the center. I must have looked disappointed. I have a tendency to get sad puppy eyes when that happens, and suddenly, he looked around and said (in Spanish), "Look, I really don't care. Let me get this other stuff loaded up, drive off, and then you're free to take it." I lended him a hand, waved him off, stuffed the thing into my back seat and drove away triumphant.

So, a cool find. I look forward to seeing it being put to good use living up to all it's creepy potential.

And on a quick note...

According to this test, this is what my feet say about me.

You are pretty average in your expressiveness. You can express yourself well, but you don't always want to. You are a very passionate person. You are highly charged and easily inspired. You are an assertive person at times. You'll pull out all the stops to get what you want, if it's worth it. You take a while to fall in love, but once you do, you stay pretty attached to your partner. You are not easily frightened, but you have a few strong phobias. You are very practical and down to earth. You're more concerned with action than thoughts. You are an amazingly hard worker. You aren't spoiled and you don't mind getting your hands dirty. You are easily influenced by other people. You're quite impressionable, so you should only be around people who are a good influence.

I have to say, I agree overall. What do your feet say about you?

Damn you mentioning these tests, biscuithead. I need to be studying!

The Beige Knight

I've discussed graffiti before. Actually, on several occasions. And while I have stated that I have some appreciation for the more whimsical styles that pop up, I dislike the ones that are the equivalent of a dog marking a wall to tell all the other dogs he was there.

In fact, this weekend I had mentioned to a friend that I wished there was a gang out there who's territory was notable for lack of tagging and litter. We even discussed that perhaps their initiation rites might involve (since they would, of course, still be thugs at heart with a need to instill terror) kidnapping homeless in their domain, followed by giving them a thorough cleansing and new clothes before releasing them again. "Stay away from those clean freaks, man!" We even considered what their gang getup would be. We decided they would probably go for a plain white t-shirt with a gold hoop earring, a la Mr. Clean.

Okay, it got to be a silly conversation.

Strangely enough, yesterday while flipping through the Quick (a free newspaper filled with short, interesting blurbs from the main paper), there it was.

Granted, no Mr. Clean getups. And probably no terrorizing of people with excessive BO. But a vigilante anti-graffiti task force. Sweet!

Again, interesting

While taking a break from studies, I found the following quiz:

What punctuation are you?

Somehow, I'm not surprised to find out that I am the comma. And, apparently, I get along well with the question mark. Very, very spiff.

Learning when you're wrong

"And how is the universe going to correct me?"

"The universe generally shows us that we are wrong when it takes away what is most important to us: our friends."

-Paulo Coelho

I'm going bananas

An interesting explanation to the song Hollaback Girl.

Wow, it makes so much more sense now!

Pictures of you

Earlier this week, I was talking to biscuit head about her recent travels and looked at pics from her trip. She had a lot of great shots, but one that I particularly liked was a shot of a shady chair on a deck with a cup of coffee and an open book beside it. This, my friends, is a picture that didn't need her in it to let you know who it was.

It got me to thinking, which is always hazardous.

Wouldn't it be kind of fun to come up with a series of pictures that represent someone without necessarily having them in a single one? I suspect this isn't a terribly original idea. Doesn't make it any less cool, though.