Sale ! 10 Years of Selling Online!

Wow! how did that happen?
went by soooo fast. Well, free shipping in the US and Canada and half off International postage....for 2 days, September 6 and 7, Pacific time US.
refund by Paypal or by arrangement.

Here's a tiny sample of what's in my etsy shop....

The Best of Tacoma....

well, it's baaaack...
The Volcano sends you its Best...
of Tacoma issue.
or whatever.
So, Thanks! to Julie Bennett of urbanXchange for giving me, funkoma vintage, and Laurel of Orange on Broadway some sweet PROPS!
yes, we rule.
We are the BEST !

oh yeah...
new stuff is arriving daily in my shop...
and on etsy......
click the etsy link over there --->


@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@
*********2 year etsy-versary*********
**Buy 2 * Freeeee Shipping in the US *
**Buy 2 * Half Off International Shipping *
..................................................
yes I discount shipping for multi-buys.

Oh yeah, did you notice that Flaming Dragon Tattoo is moving up on the hill, on Pacific Ave...way up the hill to about, oh Pacific and S. 34th, in that weird stone building???
If you ran into the building, wearing just your skin....
it would really really hurt....

Whilst waiting for my nail polish to dry...

I find that a Tacoma escort was interviewed to find out if The Sex Trade is suffering in the Bush Hangover Economy............& whilst I was surfing the Web....not like the Economy serfs the worker.....and in a discussion titled:

Why Men Are Losing Their Jobs, and Women Are Keeping Them

on a NY Mag blog titled: Daily Intel............ in a comment, is this comment with a link:

----

While a few sex workers who advertise their services on craigslist.org hung up when contacted by a reporter, one Tacoma escort said business is still good.

"I don't think our business really gets affected," the 27-year-old woman said. "Even when people are broke, they always seem to find the money to indulge in this kind of entertainment."

Zdork, the psychologist and sex therapist, said people do tend to have more sex in times of economic uncertainty. Sex is an inexpensive way to relieve stress, she said, explaining that oxytocin and other feel-good endorphins are released by the brain during sexual activity.

"The sex industry, I don't believe, will be affected quite as much as other industries," Zdork said. "In times of stress, people would rather have sex than shop."
-----
http://tinyurl.com/beweuf

So, following this tinyurl link I arrive at NOLA.com, the New Orleans newspaper online edition (which I subscribe to via email since I love NO....)

As a side note...NOLA.com published this article in their Entertainment section...not in the CrimeBlog, or BusinessBlog.....no, booze, ass, and drugs according to the New Orleans paper of record is Entertainment !

Anyhoo, it seems NOLA.com republished a Seattle Times article titled:

Tough times or not, 'sin industries' prosper

from January 13, 2009 9:55AM

that is referenced up there in purple, which I found in a NY Mag blog.........

But the POINT is that a Tacoma escort says "Bidness is Good".......
A Tacoma escort....
Because I'm sure, that only a Tacoma escort who advertises on Craigslist would go on record about all the SEX in Washington State.....man, I smell a set-up by a Seattle Times reporter .....

Tacoma and Sex....goes together like Peanuts and Poison..........

so even tho Zdork the psychologist and sex therapist said ...

"In times of stress, people would rather have sex than shop."

I'd beg of you....forgo some sex, and come and shop with me !
Please.

Tacoma Winterfest .....What a Feeling !

Working furiously to craft the specialness that is funkoma.....plans are that my daughter Annie will come man the funkoma vintage booth with me December 13.....yippie....Annie and I used to do shows together when she was a baby/toddler/young'en. And she was an integral part of our Organic Farm and when we used to sell at the Gig Harbor Farmers Market in the early 90s.
She took this picture...I love it.....


Here's a very small sample of the kinds of things that will be with us at the show.......
Handmade T shirt dresses and tops.....










Winter coats....




Men's Vintage


For the home


Random Jewelry




Kid's vintage


Party !


For the home and for Fun!






And here's the official Tacoma Winterfest space....wow is it pretty....



angela asks for this.....Help Out !

Shoes Shoes Shoes

How I get from shoes to Midcentury Modern to downtown parking and Urban Design........(vodka is involved)
Mark and I have an obsession with shoes. Why? I'm not sure. We pretended to be middle class and we went to TGIFriday's and The Mall looking for bona fide tennis shoes for Mark because he is teaching John to play tennis.

TGIF's is decorated in a 1970s era flea market junk on the walls motif....flip through some old Better Homes and Gardens and look for the Faux-Funky Granola decorating of the faux-hip of America's Decade of Last Gasp.

We had a waiter at TGIF's who had a Sleeve Tattoo!!!!!! wwweeeeeeeee!! Yes, the Tattooed Ones are getting jobs in the most uptight places now....Way To Go youngsters!

(as a side note.....since my tat is on display because it's Summer....I'm getting tons of compliments. It's Sailor Jerry so it's a beaut, and the artist was Adam Craven of Electric Rose in Oly. I went there because my youngest daughter Annie, the mother of Ruby, told me he was fab, since that's where Annie got a tattoo.) My next one will be done by the wonderment that is Polly...Dreamer's Chant....coming soon to an upper arm near you!!



Back to our adventure in Middle Class world....The reason we had to have a drink and a snack before going to The Mall......is because it takes alcohol for us to brave The Mall..

Tho Tacoma's mall is a delight for its Mid Century Design !!!!!
It's a dreadful depressing place full of failed American dreams of commerce and excitement. It's everything Mark and I despise about America. We wish we could have gone to the Cascade Room at the Bon Marche.....alas, there is no more cocktail lounges in the malls of Tacoma..... back in the good old days, they understood, Americans needed a drink to shop the mall. There were trying to mimic Downtown. A bar or 2 on every block. From the links just above: Jason said: ...Tacoma's "Cascade Room" with outdoor dining courtyard with more lights-in-rocks and a George Tsutakawa fountain. I'll miss them all dearly...

The Mall, built in 1964, ruined downtown. Then of course, downtown turned into a sleazy war zone. But those days are over because the city and the state has encouraged development downtown. Huzzzah !
For years I tried to move downtown.....every time I saw a space that was affordable (ie..the same rent as a comparable 3 bedroom house)..the landlord went all Straight Laced about people breaking zoning laws!!! yes, it was and is still quite illegal to live downtown unless you pay a lot of money or are willing to get Official Approval.

Since I'm not willing to lie to my landlord....it is Where I live after all.....I went for years without living downtown.....'course I live in the outskirts of dt now....I'm pretty darn happy.
Now if we could just get "affordable" housing downtown.....and we can, but developers don't want to be caught dead doing anything that remotely resembles socialism...they didn't spend all those thousands to get their MBA's for nuttin'!!

If they wanted to do social work after getting a Higher Education, they'd have gone to Evergreen.....

As we approached the back door of the Macy's/Mall entrance we walked over to the fenced in area where the patio of the restaurant used to be, a fellow walked out. Mark asked him what the restaurant is now.....Fellow replied: worker's lunchroom and storage. You haven't been here in a decade I take it! That place closed down a long time ago.
Oh dear! yes, we knew that, I type, as I sneak a peek at my vintage front-strike Bon Marche matches that list all their restaurants in the stores in Washington.
Poke your head in the fenced in area sometime and check out the fountain, and the sweet little slice of paradise that was.

This is what drives me to dislike many of the changes in Tacoma. But I do like living downtown, so welcome condo dwellers! And welcome, cafes, bars and restaurants, oh, and shopping establishments, and arts and entertainment.

Which brings me to my other rant for the day......I got a parking ticket for parking in front of my shop on Broadway. Some days I have to drive since I have to bring fresh merchandise in. But we can only park for an hour !!! In the middle of the day !!!!
Yes ! That made sense when there were 3 places to shop on Antique Row. But now there is so much to do that one cannot do it all in One Frigging Hour !!
My bitch is that : First they invite you downtown, then they make you leave!!! Any wonder that so many businesses don't do well.....unless alcohol is involved?!?!

If you work downtown and only need to bring an iPod, a bottle of Dasani and a box of breath mints, for the love of the Baby Jesus, take public transportation!!
Because workers drive into downtown for no good reason, the city has punished all drivers by limiting us to a measly one HOUR ! Some of us have real lives that require real work, real physical labor, such as involved in running a retail shop.....
Shoppers mostly need their car to pack it full of stuff they buy from the few, tho rapidly expanding, merchants downtown......
It's definitely time for the city get smart about this. I understand they want to force everyone into public trans, and that's good ! BUT, not everything that goes on downtown now is about working in a tall building. It was , for a long time, especially since The Mall ruined downtown Tacoma. But times change. They've changed again. It's time for the city to stop punishing shoppers, but maintain their enforcement of office workers who park on the street, or chain park.
This is my argument I'll be making in Muni Court on November 14, 2008, at 9 am. TGIF !!!!!

The Last Days Chronicles

So I am asked why aren't I open more.........Because no one shows up except Friday or Saturday......
I've sat here all day ...... all by myself !
Sadly, I'm closing.....not for lack of business but for lack of Room !!
Weird huh?
I don't have enough room for all my stock.....well, I don't need to display all my stock.....
Just most of it !
You would not believe what landlords want for rent !!!
So, I'm scaling my business back to internet only.
That's what happens when landlords think they're in A Big City....
Tacoma isn't ......not yet.
And the rents landlords want for crappy marginal space is INSANE !!
They have this crackhead idea that just because The Glass Museum is in Tacoma...
And because SOMEDAY the LeMay Museum will come.........
That justifies the HUGE rent jump in the last 2 years.
So Tacoma Small Business will suffer.
And now you know why new small businesses are rare....
In areas you want to shop in, in areas you will shop in.....that is.......
That's why you get corporate....and landlords are content to be empty for years........you've seen it.......you've driven by it.....
There's no way you'd come to the areas where the rent is affordable.....


If I was selling Booze, Beer....or Food......I'd be rich.....
Oh wait......I did sell Beer And Food......
well, root beer and Food.
I started STEILACOOM FORGE DELI
People will Go ANYWHERE to get drunk....and eat !!
But I'll keep looking around town.....
So Bye Bye!!

-- 2 -- 2 Fun things in one...

One of my favorite blogs..Lulus vintage..did a lovely post about buying vintage for Christmas.....great advice for any holiday or birthday.....
Now on to Biba ..one of my favorite clothes designers....here's a vid..



And by way of Senorita Hollywood comes word of an article on Biba in this month's BUST ....

and take a trip to 60s London.....

Why Buy Vintage ??

Mmmm, because when you buy something that was made a long time ago,with materials that have been already harvested and finished......and with a good chance the shop was union....or not...
Well, the best reason is that when you buy something vintage, you are not exploiting todays workers and the environment !
in other words, the damage has been done.....
We can't change the past, but we can fashion the future !!

I have been railing against buying from 3rd world countries...like China for nearly 2 decades....
and now that we are bombarded with recalls of nasty merchandise and toys and toothpaste we need to find a better way ....Disney, Pirates of the Caribbean, Boy Scouts products have been recalled...........
and do you want to know who makes your "distressed furniture" imported from China? Do you want to know the conditions that exist where they make the toys we buy for our kids?
It doesn't have to be disgusting !

Click here for a shocking expose on conditions in China
From the SLC Tribune:

Charles Kernaghan, the director of the National Labor Committee, told Dorgan about factories with forced 70-hour work weeks, where overtime wages are withheld. Workers sleep in "primitive dorms," with a dozen people in each room on metal bunk beds. They have substandard food, no hot water and take home 46 cents an hour.
Kernaghan held up a Barbie produced under these conditions. The labor cost the factory 19 cents. The U.S. company paid $9 to ship it here and then charged the consumer $30 for the doll.
"There is enough money here to make toys safe and to treat the workers in China with dignity and respect," he said.

Sure -- shop funkoma vintage and the other used and vintage shops in T*Town...
Look where the thing was made......if it was made in Europe or the US there is a very good chance
that there were environmental laws and worker safety laws and decent wages laws in place when/where your widget was made.........
It's not a perfect world...but there is something Good to be done about this !

I'll post Over there on the right side under the TACOMA Stuff !
of great places to shop right here in T*Town...places that offer good old-fashioned stuff made safely & fairly, and things that you can feel good about buying and owning.....
It's not just about Being Green......it's about being a moral person !