2004-08-30 - 10:58 p.m. So, back to the Antiques Roadshow. We had been in line for hours with a woman who was carrying the most ridiculous looking, flourescent pink stuffed animal. It might have passed as a gangly version/ knockoff of the pink panther. This was something you would not even consider paying 25 cents for at a thrift store. As the hours passed, she and her "item" became the focus of some snickering down the line. Surely, the appraisers would roll their eyes at someone bringing in such an obviously silly and worthless item. (Or so we thought!) Later in the afternoon, she was in an appraisal line next to us. My antique, hand~colored photograph that had belonged to my Great-Grandmother in the 1920's, was appraised at $50........her stupidly bright pink stuffed animal from the 1980's was worth $100 to $300!!!! WTF?!!! That was the most shockingly valuable item we saw! But the crowd was full of excellent people watching opportunities. We decided that there are only a few hundred body and facial categories that everyone fits into, and all of them were at the show. I suppose you had to have been there, but it was a fascinating crowd. The percentage of crazy people made it all the more entertaining. One couple, we named *The Sweaty People* because the guy could not stop perspiring! Both he and his wife had these little matching portable fans that they could not put down, and even with those, the guy was soaked with sweat. We wondered if he would actually live through the experience! Both of them were just obsessive about their squirty fans (the fans had a water bottle attached so you could have a little mist with your breeze). And it was not that hot in there! He was dressed in neon green polyester, and his little fan was bright green too. They were very odd. Of course, they'll probably make it onto the show! And about the appraisers! Some of them were actually very knowlegeable about their subject, but others (especially the furniture appraisers) acted a little more like TV psychics. They would ask the person to tell them everything they knew about the item.....then the appraiser would just expound on that. You could tell that they were fishing for clues from the people that owned the item. A few times, I got the sense that the appraiser had no clue what the item was worth, but was just making it up on the spot! Also, we found out that if there was something they thought might be particularly valuable, they went in the back to frantically Google it. (Who woulda thought?!) Anyway, it was quite the experience. I definitely would like to go again if I ever had the chance. (But next time, I would bring a flask!!) comments??? (1 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2004-08-30 - 10:53 p.m. Long time, no internet! I think I was starting to get the shakes. Let's see: ~2000 miles ~3 states ~3 really crummy motels ~6 bars (one of them 3 times) ~1 casino ~dinner on a floating island ~dinner with parents (both sets, twice) ~seeing long lost friends ~getting hugged at a bar where they think you're a regular, even though it's 300 miles from your nearest home And I haven't even finished telling you about the Antiques Roadshow! Stay tuned, people! comments??? (0 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ previous - next Of course, you know, all of this is copy right protected. None of this information may be reproduced without my permission.