MystyrMystyry
06-15-2011, 12:33 AM
They had mid-yearly sales on today, and over the arbitrary period the retailers have decided upon, which is always a good chance to see how much they've been overcharging us the rest of the year.
I went for a window browse, so to speak, for actually I like a bit of tactlity in my browsing, and smearing my greasy finger and nose prints over the glass doesn't bode well for the storekeeper.
So the first stop was a tobacconists to procure some pipecleaners with which I had the idea to bend into monsters and the like with a view to animating the creations videographically - a brilliant idea I'm sure you'll agree, because there results no sticky residue from the plasticene (Hmmm - Monsters from the Plasticene? I wonder if it's been used before...)
Now this particular tobacconist is also a novelty/gift shop, and for those with a keen eye for the possibly useful to the outright useless (such as myself I'm not ashamed to admit) stores like these are a veritable treasure trove of both ideas and crap.
You may find life-sized molded plastic skulls adorned with Celtic engravings; unusual junk jewellery that would almost be passable if it were made of actual gold, silver and jewels; sunglasses fitted with mirrors in order to see behind you; key-chain multi-tools complete with torch and laser beam; scale models of Harley Davidson Electraglides for your mantelpiece if you're taste is so inclined; all manner of bottle-openers (one was designed in the form of an eyeball and was called the eye-opener - there were variations on this, but I won't go there); pocket strobe-lights and colourful metallic flashlights; quite a variety of stuff.
The thing that caught my eye wasn't anything out of the ordinary in any sense, but rather a gold pen behind the counter laying next to its silver partner.
Now there weren't a stack of these, merely the two side by side, and I was brought to ponder about their ancestry.
I enquired after the gold, for that was what interested me, and by holding the item learnt that it was an 'actual gold' pen, just not from a renowned manufacturer; rather it was made somewhere in Taiwan by persons unknown.
It did seem as though it was a clever copy of a more famous exclusive design, but my pen knowledge is not what it could be were I to devote more time than it could actually be seen to be worth, and regardless, it's done with watches - why not writing implements?
Whichever, at six dollars for a pen which both felt good in the hand and wrote well I thought 'no drama to my wallet' and purchased with nary a second thought.
I must say I was quite chuffed about this new acquisition, it fulfilling and actually surpassing the requirements of my initial inspection, being both comfortable and actually useful, and was in this mood casually playing with it in the open, watching the shine flash between the ribbing as I twirled it between my thumb and index.
At a certain point, and I can't say why, it occurred to me that an onlooker may think this was rather puncy behavior, but as I was not doing it to entertain anyone but myself, I dismissed it as an action meant to impress.
As I walked through the mall engaged and preoccupied in such as described, it came to my notice that people were being inordinately friendly - my usual experience of a stroll through the mall is of folks with their eyes diverted at every opportunity, darting from strore fronts to people who aren't watching them, typically away from my admiring glance.
But on this occasion people were suddenly saying hello to me out of the blue, as though they'd seen me around but had never realised that I was approachable - and I certainly couldn't tell if I'd ever seen hem before, there being so many in the course of a usual day at a place like a mall.
I also observed a change in behavior with the service who often ignored my presence, were now making a beeline to assist me, and serving me before shoppers who had clearly been waiting longer than me, if only for an inquiry.
Most unusual I began to think, after about the sixtieth or seventieth person helloed me and the fifth store I entered - perhaps it has something to do with the subconscious effect of gold on the human psyche.
I've never been much of a gold wearer, though I will confess to a love of looking at and touching the metal, so I don't know what the actual bearing on this new circumstance may have been.
It was time to put the pen away and experiment - were people made happier and more outgoing by the presence and sight of the glinting metal? Or was it me, was I exuding some new friendlier pheromone?
Well it must have been the internal delight of the article, because it did not cease the remainder of the time I was there - so this is of course inconclusive, and will have to be re-conducted once the novelty wears off.
Now it is a certain something I have for Sheaffer pens - not all, but there are some which strike my happy nerves in a unique way - and upon departing the mall, I soon arrived at an op-shop nearby, places which I'm quite partial to poring over and peering into every nook and cranny for that item one may not discover anywhere else.
I bought a camping can opener from one once which was so small that it defied physics, patented in 1914 and the like of which and it's ability to function - perfect to this day, far surpassing all other can opener I have tried - I'm yet to encounter; I've bought clothes and shoes, and a complete leather bound antique set of Dickens, a pair of erstwhile expensive bicycle tyres and front forks; I've bought fans and cooking ware - all useful stuff and barely used, and very inexpensive compared to its new counterpart.
But that's as may and on this day the Gods themselves must have been smiling down upon me from their vantage points, for located in a glass case was a pen set, golden, and totally Sheaffer - the original black velvet box contained a gold fountain pen and a gold semi-twirl ballpoint with the same diamond etch design in both barrels - beautiful!
Beautiful both to the eye and touch, and beautifully balanced, and in a comparative test, subjectively much better than the no-name gold pen I just purchased that morning. Did I mention these were Sheaffers?
And so a quick perfunctory asking of the price - a mere five buckaroonies - I found myself in the possession of three gold pens, and nothing to complain about.
It was not until I bought them home that I observed a small flat area on the side of the Sheaffer semi-twirl in which was inscribed a name - proof of its pre-loved status, and sure to provide a source of speculation for the years ahead.
Thankyou T.P.Collins, whoever you are
I went for a window browse, so to speak, for actually I like a bit of tactlity in my browsing, and smearing my greasy finger and nose prints over the glass doesn't bode well for the storekeeper.
So the first stop was a tobacconists to procure some pipecleaners with which I had the idea to bend into monsters and the like with a view to animating the creations videographically - a brilliant idea I'm sure you'll agree, because there results no sticky residue from the plasticene (Hmmm - Monsters from the Plasticene? I wonder if it's been used before...)
Now this particular tobacconist is also a novelty/gift shop, and for those with a keen eye for the possibly useful to the outright useless (such as myself I'm not ashamed to admit) stores like these are a veritable treasure trove of both ideas and crap.
You may find life-sized molded plastic skulls adorned with Celtic engravings; unusual junk jewellery that would almost be passable if it were made of actual gold, silver and jewels; sunglasses fitted with mirrors in order to see behind you; key-chain multi-tools complete with torch and laser beam; scale models of Harley Davidson Electraglides for your mantelpiece if you're taste is so inclined; all manner of bottle-openers (one was designed in the form of an eyeball and was called the eye-opener - there were variations on this, but I won't go there); pocket strobe-lights and colourful metallic flashlights; quite a variety of stuff.
The thing that caught my eye wasn't anything out of the ordinary in any sense, but rather a gold pen behind the counter laying next to its silver partner.
Now there weren't a stack of these, merely the two side by side, and I was brought to ponder about their ancestry.
I enquired after the gold, for that was what interested me, and by holding the item learnt that it was an 'actual gold' pen, just not from a renowned manufacturer; rather it was made somewhere in Taiwan by persons unknown.
It did seem as though it was a clever copy of a more famous exclusive design, but my pen knowledge is not what it could be were I to devote more time than it could actually be seen to be worth, and regardless, it's done with watches - why not writing implements?
Whichever, at six dollars for a pen which both felt good in the hand and wrote well I thought 'no drama to my wallet' and purchased with nary a second thought.
I must say I was quite chuffed about this new acquisition, it fulfilling and actually surpassing the requirements of my initial inspection, being both comfortable and actually useful, and was in this mood casually playing with it in the open, watching the shine flash between the ribbing as I twirled it between my thumb and index.
At a certain point, and I can't say why, it occurred to me that an onlooker may think this was rather puncy behavior, but as I was not doing it to entertain anyone but myself, I dismissed it as an action meant to impress.
As I walked through the mall engaged and preoccupied in such as described, it came to my notice that people were being inordinately friendly - my usual experience of a stroll through the mall is of folks with their eyes diverted at every opportunity, darting from strore fronts to people who aren't watching them, typically away from my admiring glance.
But on this occasion people were suddenly saying hello to me out of the blue, as though they'd seen me around but had never realised that I was approachable - and I certainly couldn't tell if I'd ever seen hem before, there being so many in the course of a usual day at a place like a mall.
I also observed a change in behavior with the service who often ignored my presence, were now making a beeline to assist me, and serving me before shoppers who had clearly been waiting longer than me, if only for an inquiry.
Most unusual I began to think, after about the sixtieth or seventieth person helloed me and the fifth store I entered - perhaps it has something to do with the subconscious effect of gold on the human psyche.
I've never been much of a gold wearer, though I will confess to a love of looking at and touching the metal, so I don't know what the actual bearing on this new circumstance may have been.
It was time to put the pen away and experiment - were people made happier and more outgoing by the presence and sight of the glinting metal? Or was it me, was I exuding some new friendlier pheromone?
Well it must have been the internal delight of the article, because it did not cease the remainder of the time I was there - so this is of course inconclusive, and will have to be re-conducted once the novelty wears off.
Now it is a certain something I have for Sheaffer pens - not all, but there are some which strike my happy nerves in a unique way - and upon departing the mall, I soon arrived at an op-shop nearby, places which I'm quite partial to poring over and peering into every nook and cranny for that item one may not discover anywhere else.
I bought a camping can opener from one once which was so small that it defied physics, patented in 1914 and the like of which and it's ability to function - perfect to this day, far surpassing all other can opener I have tried - I'm yet to encounter; I've bought clothes and shoes, and a complete leather bound antique set of Dickens, a pair of erstwhile expensive bicycle tyres and front forks; I've bought fans and cooking ware - all useful stuff and barely used, and very inexpensive compared to its new counterpart.
But that's as may and on this day the Gods themselves must have been smiling down upon me from their vantage points, for located in a glass case was a pen set, golden, and totally Sheaffer - the original black velvet box contained a gold fountain pen and a gold semi-twirl ballpoint with the same diamond etch design in both barrels - beautiful!
Beautiful both to the eye and touch, and beautifully balanced, and in a comparative test, subjectively much better than the no-name gold pen I just purchased that morning. Did I mention these were Sheaffers?
And so a quick perfunctory asking of the price - a mere five buckaroonies - I found myself in the possession of three gold pens, and nothing to complain about.
It was not until I bought them home that I observed a small flat area on the side of the Sheaffer semi-twirl in which was inscribed a name - proof of its pre-loved status, and sure to provide a source of speculation for the years ahead.
Thankyou T.P.Collins, whoever you are