Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Discover...

Finding oneself
within oneself
is a most precious gift.
It is then that
we are truly
awake to life.



thank you, Brigid.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Our very own Rantin' Ron...

tells the story of when he was kissed by
Farrah Fawcett.

I swear, that man's stories are never ending.
And, I believe every word.



what? I'm doing my best to keep ya'll entertained here
while I work on theponderingstore. Soon. Soon.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

How exciting, for me, to still have

so much to learn.
You, however, must be terribly bored.




(shirt? mug? bumper sticker?)

Sunday, June 21, 2009

lackanookie U. ...

meditate.
pontificate.
graduate.

oh my, don't cry,
it isn't over yet.
there're more to come
so don't you fret.
he wasn't the first
won't be the last
one of those
dime-a-dozen-boys just
passin' through.
don't cry for him
he won't remember you.
there are plenty more
where he came from
so stay away from there
or you will find
more dime-a-dozen-boys
to wear you down.
you're not much
of a prize, yourself,
you know
when you're howlin'
about what shoulda been.
the dime-a-dozen-boys
are fine for playin'.
not worth a damn
if you want 'em
to stay(in).

Friday, June 19, 2009

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Work Work Work...

Sparrow the Slave Driver is going on a cruise and
still schedules her weekly Haiku Challenge.

You guessed it, the topic is: WORK.

UPDATE: Because Sparrow is in a different time zone,
the voting is being extended to 3 p.m. Friday. Go vote!

my entry:

Doing what you love,
loving what you do. Rewards
are more than dollars.

Monday, June 15, 2009

*UPDATE* Even best laid plans are better with back-up...

*UPDATE: Spent the morning at the market booth.
Paperwork, cleaning. Hot. Melted.
Approved another 5x7 proof for printing.
The three mug orders with the Good Mug Company are
in process. Might have them on the 25th.
Life is good. Too friggin' hot but, good.
*

Remember my recent ranting about Yucky Mug Company?
Yeah, well, they managed to bite me a good one.

I got notice that my three orders of mugs came in.
Good news, right? Not this time.

Forty-eight mugs per order = 144 mugs ready for me.
Except... they were ALL WRONG. Dammit.
Apologies were offered, along with a promise to call
corporate headquarters about correcting the issue ASAP.
At first, I said okay, after letting them know I had expected
to have the mugs available for sale in my booth at the
market on June 19. Eight days from the disaster discovery.

Considering this order took them almost a month to fuck up
and deliver, why would I expect miracles in a week?
So, I went home and stewed for about an hour and decided
to let them know I was cancelling the order, demanding a
full reimbursement and going to another supplier.
Oops for them.

The Good Mug Company will save me, almost.
I got on line and emailed them and began the process of
sending the .pdf files so they know what to print, back and
forth with proofs a few times until I see exactly what I want,
confirm the order and begin the paperwork process.

The first order from Good Mug Company took two weeks
from order to delivery. So, it will take a miracle (as in,
paying extra for rush processing, which I cannot afford)
to have these mugs by the 19th. I might... might... have them
in time for the second weekend.

I'll only have two mugs, one shirt and a gazillion Frame-ables
to start with. But, it's okay. I will simply overload the space
with more Frame-ables than planned and set out twice as
many of the two mugs to fill the space.

There is good news, too.
I finalized the arrangement at the market and will take
possession of the booth Monday morning. That gives me
four full days to get organized and set up for Friday.
Plus, I drafted a friend to help and she is thrilled.

I think all I have left to do is go to the hardware store today
and buy seven padlocks and have them all keyed the same
(don't ask). Oh yeah, I need a table skirt.
And, copies of my driver's license, business license and sales
tax cert for the credit card machine guy. And, I need to start
putting more Frame-ables together. And, I need to put together
a tool box to take with me. And, I need to get the car loaded
so I can get an early start tomorrow after I meet my friend
for breakfast. And, somewhere in all this I need to get the
other blog set up for on line sales....

If ya'll don't see me around here a lot, re-read this post.

p.s. I finally bought a simple digital camera for uploading
pics of the mugs and such. Pray for me. I got so frustrated
with the first digital I bought that I gave it away.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Pretty in pinks, peonies, poppies, petunias...












portulaca, plumbago, pansies,et al, et cetera
and so on.

*ahem* sorry. Got a teeny bit carried away.

This is all about Sparrow's Haiku Challenge for the week.

.........................The topic is FLOWERS.......................

It's time to VOTE for your favorite haiku of the week.
Be there before 11 pm Thursday. And, remember, the
winner has a Deluxe Care Package sent in their name
to a member of our great military serving in harm's way.

my entry:

spotlights of color
snuggled in greens, praise the sun,
dream under the moon.


Monday, June 08, 2009

Picture perfect...

looking for a
picture that matches
the one in my mind
of you and me
on the beach in the rain
slow dancing to our own
music. the rhythm only
you and I have together.

sipping raindrops from your lips.
you wrapping my hair
around your fingertips.

barefoot in the foam
at the edge of low tide
toes sinking in the soft sand
moonlight sparkling off the
ocean. and us.

And us. sparkling and
swaying and tasting the
rain. on each other.

Perfect picture complete.

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Exhausted, anxious and happy...

I can barely keep my eyes open but I realized
that Friday snuck up on me and I haven't posted
since Tuesday. The new venture is keeping me
fully occupied and I'm loving every minute of it.

If my plans stay on schedule, I should have a
nice space in a very busy flea market and a good
amount of products ready to sell on June 19th.
I hope to have the other blog set up and ready for
business shortly after that.

The first order of mugs came in this week (from the
Good Mug company) and the next order of mugs
(from the Yucky Mug Company) are due to be
delivered next week. That will be four designs for a
total of 216 mugs to start with.

I hope to have six Frame-ables designs completed
next week. I forget how many frames I bought so far.
75? 100? Maybe more. I forget. I'm sleepy right now.
I do remember that the 5x7 prints will total more than 800.

I only have one t-shirt design right now. I'm too poor, after
all the other expenses, to afford more shirts until after
the other items start to sell. I'm hoping that the race fans
coming to town for the July 4th speedway events will
fatten the t-shirt budget. After the booth rent gets paid.

If this doesn't work out the way I hope, I'm going to
have a life-time supply of Christmas and Birthday presents.

Crap. It isn't Friday any more. It's Saturday.

Ya'll have a great weekend. I need sleep.


Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Wordsmith Haiku Challenge...

Once again, Sparrow picked a doozy of a topic for
her Weekly Haiku Challenge.

We all love it or we wouldn't be here, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WRITING~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please
vote for your favorite by 11:00 p.m. Thursday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes words are not
enough. But, in those times, they're
often all we have.

Monday, June 01, 2009

I could use some advice...

I've spent some time looking over the PayPal website.

It gave me a headache. Holy crap. Details. Details. Details.

I want to make it easy for folks to buy (read: spend money)
at the Pondering Store. I want to be able to set up a cart
system in case someone wants to buy more than one item
at a time. I'd like to be able to accept credit and debit
cards.

What I need from you folks is this...
are there other sites besides PayPal? Are they better?
Easy and simple is my goal here. If possible.

Anyone who has had experience with on-line selling,
please leave ideas and opinions in comments or send me
an email.

My head is spinning and not in a good way.
Remember, I am still a tech-tard.