Craigslist: Helpful Resource or Endless Source of Amusement?

Today I posted something on the "Here, it's free, just come and take it away" board on Charlotte's craigslist.  It was a Tivo that my parents gave us and we never used.  I've tried to sell it on craigslist a number of times with no takers.

Come to think of it, if no one has it by the time you're reading this and you're local, you can have it, too.  As long as you behave better than these people below.

Here are some actual quotes from emails I received today.  Maybe it's just me, but I find some of these HILARIOUS.  I enjoyed opening them all day long.

1. Hi is it still avail. if so please call me  abrupt, to the point
2. Whats tivo  whats wikipedia. or google.
3. I would like to come get.  I would like to finish sentence.
4. Good morning.  My name. Is felicia and I can pick up the listed item at your convenience.  Please. Email. Location.  Thank you. xxx-xxx-xxxx this is my cell. Number   Felicia dear, you flummoxed me with this one. I couldn't read it silently what with all the creative capitalization and punctuation.  I had to read it out loud. I wish I could give you a prize.
5. Do you still have it & when can I pick up?  see #1
6. Are u sure you selling it ??....Cause am very interested in it ??  Well I was very conflicted until right now.  But now I sure I selling it, cause are very interested in it ..
7. Love go have this   Pretty sure this guy just missed his "T."  But that doesn't make it OK that this was the entire content of his email.
8. yes I would like it  I read this one out loud and my husband said, "In the ad, did you ask people if they would like it?!" as if it were my poor turn of phrase that resulted in this response.  NO.  NO I DID NOT ASK.
9. Hi my name is Lynn.What is TIVO? I have know Idea but I am curious as to what it is call me please lol.  Lynn, you are my favorite.  So optimistic, wanting to take a free item and having no idea what it is.  So naive, thinking I would take the time from a busy Saturday to call you and explain what a Tivo is. lol

I'm thinking about posting a dummy ad every Saturday morning just to liven up the weekend.

We'll Look Back on These Tears as Old Tales

...we shouldn't be here at all, if we'd known more about it before we started. But I suppose it's often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that's not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually – their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on – and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same – like old Mr Bilbo. But those aren't always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we've fallen into?

-Sam

This idea came to mind as I watched the conclusion of the Harry Potter film franchise Monday night.  I had many emotions as the film played out on the screen...sadness at the loss, happiness at the fulfillment of promises, and awe at Rowling's imagination.  The mysteries and events that conclude the long march towards good versus evil are mind-boggling.  I know I could never dream up something so creative.

****I am pretty sure everyone knows the story by now, but I feel the need to warn of the next spoilery paragraph. ****

I watched Harry in Dumbledore's office for the last time, coming to terms with the fact that he would have to die to save his friends, and the scene of Christ in Gethsemane kept ringing in my brain.  He set his face like flint, said goodbye, and went out to face death, the last great enemy.  It was worshipful.

"And that's the way of a real tale. Take any one that you're fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of a tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don't know. And you don't want them to".  - Frodo

Both quotations from The Lord of the Rings,
and title quote from Andrew Peterson's song "After the Last Tear Falls" 

Watermelon

 It is the chief of this world's luxuries, king by the grace of God over all the fruits of the earth. When one has tasted it, he knows what the angels eat. It was not a Southern watermelon that Eve took; we know it because she repented.

- Mark Twain, in Pudd'nHead Wilson

One Thousand Gifts 7.25.11

138. I just looked at my calendar for last week to make sure I didn't miss anything.  It was quite full last week, and I would like to first of all express my gratitude that I was able to meet my heavy load of commitments without losing it.  Not a joke.  Thank you, Lord.
139. a houseful of men praying
140. quiet prayer times with my journal
141. the Word -- living, active, sharper than any two-edged sword
142. renewed commitment to staying accountable, striving towards self-control and discipline
143. a great week at camp for the boys -- Ben went down the zipline even though he was terrified
144. Cameron's steady progress in piano, and a wonderful teacher who is worth the drive
145. Cam's striving to understand the sermon better. On his own. Without me pushing him.  (when will I learn to just calm down and stop freaking out about things?!)
146. Air conditioning in the ugly-hot days of July
147. a new trampoline
148. our pumpkin is turning orange
149. enough basil for bi-weekly pesto
150. time playing with little Haddon...he is so sweet :-)
151. watching Maddie go out of her way to get a laugh out of Ella...it doesn't take much
152. the gift of time...right on time, never late, and learning to trust God to provide it

Overheard - The Vulgarity Edition

Scene: Breakfast is concluding.  Jonathan pushes himself back in his chair and gets up.

Mom: OK, buddy, you done?
Jonathan:  Yes, I am the F word.

Momentary panic while Mom considers what word this could possibly be.

Mom:  Oh...you're...full? (hoping, hoping)
Jonathan:  Yes, I am so full!

An Evening at the Ball Park

One of the nights that we were in Indiana, we took in an Evansville Otters game at Bosse Field.  Bosse is one of the oldest ballparks in America -- only Fenway and Wrigley are older.  It's also where the movie A League of Their Own was shot...

...which means that the girls who work at the park wear these old-timey women's baseball uniforms.  Cute.

I think that also means that this is the dugout where Tom Hanks did his "there's no crying in baseball" diatribe.  (PG-13 for language)

It was quite hot so ice cream was an absolute necessity.

I played with my camera quite a bit.

David snagged a foul ball.

And we took in that favorite of minor league games, the in-between innings entertainment.  In this case, it was two kids sumo wrestling...

as well as one I hadn't seen before, the "Prevent Colon Cancer -- Pluck a Polyp" game.
I'm still having nightmares.

More info on Bosse Field is here.

Goodbye, Taylors

Yesterday afternoon I finally sat down and watched the series finale of Friday Night Lights.  It has a been a while since a dramatic television show has hooked my interest like this one did.  I think the last one was Ed, a show about smalltown America that was on in the early 2000's.  It, like FNL, was critically acclaimed but didn't get the audience it needed for a long run.

At the center of FNL is the marriage of Eric and Tami Taylor, a marriage so believable that you might find yourself wondering if the actors are married in real life (they're not).  There was one moment in the finale yesterday that summed it up well for me:  he is frustrated at their daughter and is blowing off steam about the situation.  As he storms out of the room, Tami shrugs her shoulders in confused frustration and says, "Well, I don't know why you're yelling at me...."  They're just very real characters, and they serve as the bedrock of the series.

I am sad to see this series end and I hope it can serve as a model for future shows.  Here's a good Relevant article about the end of the show (thanks, Erica).

One Thousand Gifts 7.18.11

126. two cooler days when we opened the windows all day and night
127. long walks and talks
128. cookies
129. watermelon limeade
130. another shower -- marriages!  babies! God's blessings on our little church
131. afternoon sunshine in the living room
132. successful errand runs with the kids
133. kids who love straws
134. husband crunching numbers, trimming the budget, being diligent
135. progress in school shopping and planning
136. a pumpkin in the garden!  this is new to me
137. boys off to camp.  a first for them

What I Bought at the Store

Here's what we bought at the grocery store in David's hometown.  We felt the need to inject some money into the local economy.  And we wanted a snack.  So we bought some ice cream, and...

Yum.  What's that?

It's like a peanut butter cup but with marshmallow.  I know they have them around here but they're not too common and I felt it met some deeply-seated need in my psyche at that particular moment in time.

We have one more picture.  I feel the need to apologize in advance for it.

This is what sometimes happens when you eat a Valomilk.

I bought one more item.

Fels-Naptha is possibly the most expensive part of my cheapo homemade laundry detergent.  It's around three bucks a bar here in Charlotte.  In Bicknell it was one dollar.  So I bought two, which should last me through next summer.

I also thought about texting all my friends who also make the laundry soap and asking them if they wanted me to pick up a bar or two for them.  Sorry friends.  I didn't feel like toting twenty bars home in my suitcase.

Lowbrow Entertainment

Here are a few of the kids' favorite youtube videos right now.  Judge for yourself whether we are doing a good job as parents.


#1 -- Who Needs a Treadmill? (youtube seems to have been invented for cat videos)




#2-- (this has been on the blog before) Tim Hawkins' Fire Ants song




#3 -- here's an oldie from Rhett and Link, who are now living in LA and have a TV show and are going on Conan next week. We knew them when they were doing stuff like this. (Should I be worried that this is a favorite?)




#4 -- since yesterday, when Abraham posted it on his site: Guy Falls Off Building Proposing to His Girlfriend

I Can Breathe in a Small Town

Today I will give you a tour of the town where my husband grew up.  If you're interested in my hometown, you can look here, though I must warn you that true to form, most of the commentary is sarcastic.

Here is Main Street in the thriving metropolis of Bicknell, Indiana.  Ever seen Cars?  This is Radiator Springs:  the little town that time forgot.

Our first stop was the elementary school where David attended.  Only my husband could get the kids interested in the pebbles when there's a playground beside them.  I tried to get him to pose face-down on the pavement in the schoolyard, 

reenacting the time he broke his nose, but he refused. Spoilsport.

Jonathan wasn't falling for the whole "there might be fossils in the gravel" thing.

self-explanatory

Here's the little Catholic church where David's family attended faithfully each Sunday, 

along with a lovely shot of the smashed bugs on the windshield.

And here's his house.  I love it when we drive by, because David starts yelling things out uncontrollably.  "THEY RIPPED DOWN THE PEACH TREE!  LOOK HOW BIG THE PINE TREE IS NOW!  WE PLANTED THAT!  THE TRIM IS BLUE NOW!"  It's all very amusing.

Here is North Knox High School, where David attained cross-country and golf glory.  He threatened to get out of the car and run the cross-country loop for our entertainment but I managed to talk him out of it.

Hello, Midwestern Water Tower.  You are so quaint in your turquoise-ness.

As we left town, we stopped at the local grocery store and picked up a few items, which I'll show you another time.  Sure enough, we ran into two people David knew.  Small town.

This is How We Roll

We're seeing a lot of Lego creations around here lately.  I try to think about these smiling moments when I am screeching in pain from having stepped on another wayward Lego.

One Thousand Gifts 7.11.11

I knew when I started doing these posts that there was no way I would be faithful to do them every Monday.  I know better than to expect perfection from myself!  But I do enjoy them.

Counting more blessings this week:

113.  a safe trip to the midwest to visit family
114. Rowdy card games with siblings, parents, niece, and children.  Indiana's game is Euchre -- they look placid enough here, but it got quite loud towards the end.

115. fireworks
116. health and strength
117. waterslides
118. cousins together
119. a double date with my in-laws -- mexican food
120. time to read
121. kids who laugh out loud at Garrison Keillor.
122. another baby shower
123. a California friend, come to stay for a bit
124. eating in the big booth at the Diamond
125. watching the jukebox work with Andrew

The Witness of U2

I just read this post over at the Rabbit Room and thought some of you might be interested...Walk On:  The Witness of U2

The best part is the end, so don't miss the video clip.