Jessica Lunsford Blog

Half the fun of collecting comic books is hunting for rare editions on sale. This can be pretty challenging if want to buy editions that are very rare and harder to locate. On the other hand, you may just want the newest editions of your favorite comics. Here are some tactics to get you started.

New comic books for sale

Your nearest neighborhood comic book store probably has all the recent comic book issues you want at regular prices. You can also get new comics at toy stores, bookstores and even some corner markets. But, it you want to buy comic books in large quantities and at wholesale prices, try going straight to the source - the publishers themselves.

Older comic books for sale

Finding older comic books can be difficult, but with some persistence (and a willingness to extend your budget), you can find rare comic books in no time at all.

You’ll be surprised at the number of back issues comic bookstores carry - so don’t be afraid to ask the sales attendant for help. The Internet is a good source. Go to auction sites and search f to find the comic book titles and editions that you are interested in.

You can also join comic book fairs where a lot of comic book enthusiasts buy, sell or exchange older comic books. Trade fairs are a great way to meet comic book fans, and you can eventually exchange, buy and sell with the folks you meet.

Anyone selling their rare collection of comic books has a hard time deciding whether to sell or not, but you sometimes have to do it in order to stock in order to enhance your collection.

If you are in a hurry, try offering your comic book to a comic book shop. Just remember that they need to make a profit, and they will never offer you what your comics are actually worth.

If you are willing to wait a little longer, you can sell your comic books on auction sites. Carefully study the payment and shipment rules to protect yourself from scam buyers.

One of the most popular party favors is a framed picture of the party guest taken at your kids party. He or she could be showing off a silly hat or party costume, performing an outrageous party game stunt, or wearing a face full of frosting and ice cream.

Having party guests create their own make-and-take frame to display this memorable photo makes it an even greater treasure for the memory box.

Start with a plain square of cardboard with an opening the size of your picture. When the decorating is done, simply glue picture to the back of the frame.

Here’s a brainstorm of frame ideas and decorating materials kids can use:

*Cut your photo into a circle and glue to the center of a nice shiny CD. Decorate with star stickers.

*Cut frames from different colored craft foam. Layer the foam squares for a unique effect. Decorative foam pieces in many unique shapes and themes are available at your craft store.

*Make a simple craft stick frame and decorate it with faux gems, sequins, sparkles, or stickers.

*Fashion a frame with craft clay.

*Use faux craft fur to make a really “wild” looking frame. Great for a jungle themed party.

*Tie one end of a long length of colorful yarn to your cardboard square. Wrap the yarn around and around the square until it is completely covered.

*Glue tiny Barbie doll accessories such as combs, brushes, sunglasses, and purses. Ideal for a Barbie party or little girl’s dress up party.

*Brush a square of cardboard with white craft glue. Sprinkle craft sand onto the glue in different colors and patterns. Shake excess sand onto newspapers and let dry.

*Use outdoor treasures such as tiny pine cones, leaves, and small stones to make a nature frame. Perfect for a garden party or bug party.

*Colorful buttons in various sizes and shapes can be laid out in an interesting design.

*Apply geometrical shapes of felt in a creative pattern.

*Cover your frame with pretty fabric.

*Apply colored clay shapes to your cardboard square.

*Hard edible sugar decorations for cakes come in a variety of themes. These can be used to decorate your frame.

*Different shapes of macaroni make interesting frame decorations. Try elbows, wheels, bowties, and fusilli.

*Tiny colored pompoms make a cute soft frame. Apply complementary colors in rows.

*Tear off one inch pieces of multi-colored tissue paper. Pinch between fingers, dip in glue and apply to your frame.

*Small dried beans or peas laid out in intricate patterns make a unique frame.

Kids will love the hands-on party activity and parents will enjoy their child’s picture displayed in their own uniquely creative frame.

Copyright 2005 Kids Party Paradise All Rights Reserved

Patricia B. Jensen is a mother of three and kids party enthusiast. She is the webmaster and owner of Kids-Party-Paradise.com - a complete resource for kids party ideas including invitations, cakes, decorations, games, costumes, favors, and food.

For all the latest party news, read her
Kids Party Blog.

Do you have shoeboxes full of photos of birthdays from years past? Are your family vacation photos languishing away in the dark corner of a cabinet or closet, stuffed into the envelopes the developer put them in? Most of us do, and though we have great intentions to get organized and put the pictures into albums, it’s hard to find the time.

When we do finally find the time, it’s difficult to find the motivation to match. The great news is that today, with the digital camera age, that disorganized stack of photos may be a thing of the past. Imagine being able to organize your photo album with the click of the mouse!

Photo album software today allows you to import, organize, enhance, and share your digital photos. Photo album software offers great solutions for editing and organizing your photo album.

Many software programs now allow you to view, archive, and share your digital pictures with friends and family. With the click of a button you can archive your digital pictures from your camera’s memory card onto a CD-R, and the plug into your TV set and view instantly!

Some tips when organizing your digital photo album:

When in doubt, keep it…

Don’t make hasty decisions about which photos you keep and which you throw out. One that you delete because it’s imperfectly composed may turn out to be irreplaceable. Besides, you can fix and enhance many photos by using the photo touch-up software.

Back it up…

Backing up your pictures on optical discs minimizes risk and simplifies a future move to a new computer. A blank CD can hold between 600 and 1,200 two-megapixel images, depending on its compression level. A blank DVD can hold about seven times as many. Store them at a location other than your home.

Secondary backup…

Prints are still a good idea, just in case something happens to your digital copies.

Just to be safe…

Online. A number of online services will store your photos on their computers, from which you can retrieve them. The main advantage is shielding your photos from fire, flood, or any other natural disaster.

These great software programs can replace all the clutter of disorganized photo albums collecting dust in your cabinets and closet. Best of all, you can easily take the CD along with you to show off. Toss the CD into your pocket and you’ll be ready to pop it into a computer and show off those fabulous vacation photos with ease. Say goodbye to the disorganized photo collection today, and have fun organizing your next digital photo album!

Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching, gardening, and art. For more of her articles organization and photography, please visit Digital Cameras and Accessories.

Every woman can think back to her childhood and reminisce about her favorite baby dolls. Perhaps her most treasured dolls were popular dolls with ever-changing outfits and accessories, dolls that had long tresses that could be brushed, or collectible porcelain dolls handed down for generations and displayed in a special case or on a special shelf. These treasured memories are the reason that collectible dolls are so popular today.

Today’s collectible dolls aren’t necessarily antique dolls; more often, they’re contemporary dolls that are, in essence, artist dolls - collectible dolls in limited editions that are carefully crafted by artists. Some of the most popular and treasured collectible dolls today are made by the following companies and artisans:

Adora Doll Company: The Adora Doll Company makes two types of baby dolls, those that are affordable and therefore accessible to many collectors, and limited editions that appeal to serious upscale collectors. Adora baby dolls are available in all races, eye colors, and hair colors, making them welcome additions for any doll collection.

Lee Middleton: Although the company’s namesake passed away in 1997, this popular and award-winning company continues to produce baby dolls that have amazingly realistic and unique facial expressions.

Robert Tonner: Robert Tonner, known throughout the world for his award winning dolls and fashions, began his career as a head designer for Bill Blass after graduating from the Parsons School of Design. Robert Tonner has many lines of popular collectible dolls, including Mary Englebreit dolls, Betsy McCall dolls, and Tiny Betsy McCall dolls.

Zawieruszynski: Polish-born Zofia and Henry Zawieruszynski have won many awards, such as Dolls of Excellence and DOTY, for their collectible porcelain dolls that have hand-painted faces and human hair. These high-end collectible dolls are signed and are accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

Uta Brauser: Each of Uta Brauser’s collectible porcelain dolls are one-of-a-kind and are so unique that they’re often found in art galleries.

Nancy Latham: Nancy Pedroso Latham was born in Havana, Cuba and came to the United States in the early 1960s. Her collectible dolls, “The Wistful Children,” are inspired by antique photographs of children. The dolls are costumed to represent these children, and accompanying some of the dolls are photographs of the children they portray. The dolls’ bodies are made of cotton, while the faces are structured and covered with cloth, and then hand-painted.

Collectible dolls are a wonderful way to recapture the joys of childhood, while at the same time building a foundation that can be passed on to future generations.

1

Woman from Alabam’

I once known a woman from Alabam’
Who would kiss with a slam and a bang!
And-all I could smell, when we made love,

so well,
Was cabbage, snuff and chicken-wings.

#1196 2/10/06

2

The He-bee

The He-bee
Said to the she-bee
“Stand still a while,
I’m going to make you smile;
Give you some honey~!”

#1195 2/10/06

3

The Nut in the Rut

Here’s to you ‘Nut!’
Who’s stuck in a rut,
With slimy hips and all;
I’d rather die, in some
Pumpkin pie, than kiss

Those drippin’ lips!

#1197 2/10/06

Flat on her Back

Flat on her back she
Called to me
Said she had something
And it was free…
But something for nothin’
Didn’t include pussy…!

#1198 1/10/06

Note: you see in Siluk’s poetry a zest for life, with some sparks; he lives in a world that is his own, for the most part, most of the time, and has lived in most places he’s written about. He lived in Alabama for 2 1/2 years in the late ’60s and again in the late 70’s. His German poems, take the road he traveled in Germany, as well as his time in Seattle, San Francisco, Minnesota and Peru. Some with humor like the ones on African American Poetry, and some on tradition which deal with Peru; and some on the winters of Minnesota. Thus, he seems to reach to whatever his mood is for the places he’s been to. Rosa

See Dennis’ web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

My wife noticed that I was doing the Sudoku puzzles in our local rag instead of the crossword. They start easy on Monday and increase in difficulty towards the end of the week. She decided I should have a thick book of Sudoku puzzles to take up the next twenty years. She bought me a copy of Jumbo Sudoku for Christmas. You can get your copy by calling 1-800-327-6388 (Time, Inc.). Tell them that Taylor Jones, the hack writer, sent you.

The puzzles in Jumbo Sudoku are rated easy to fiendish. However, watch out for the ones labelled “easy.” Some are easy; others are harder then those labelled “fiendish.”

To solve a puzzle you just look at it. Pretty soon the right side of your brain will solve it for you unless you are left-handed. I’m not sure what you do then.

Look at a sub square. What numbers are missing?

Look at a full-length row. What numbers are missing?

Look at a full-length column. What numbers are missing?

Okay, write in the missing numbers.

Easy, right? What, you still have missing numbers?

Try this: Look at the three sub-squares forming a 3 x 9 column. Say there is a “9″ in the left column of the top square. There is another “9″ in the right hand column of the bottom square. Surely, there must be a “9″ in the MIDDLE column of the center square (and I didn’t call you, Shirley).

What, the nine is already there? Good!

If not see if you can determine which of the three elements is the “9.” If there is only one blank space, it is the “9.” If you can’t determine which square it is, then put a tiny “9″ in the boxes it could be in.

Keep doing this until you are done.

If you can’t solve even an easy Sudoku puzzle, may I suggest having a friend help you?

You can also switch to the Danish board game, Husker-du®? Don’t play this with little kids. They forget nothing and will beat your pants off.

If that doesn’t work, RUN!

The End

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com, a retired VP of R&D for Lenox China, is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering, humor), poetry, etc. Former editor of Ceramic Industry Magazine, Jones is Executive Representative of International Wealth Success. He calls himself “Taylor Jones, the hack writer.”

More info: http://www.tjbooks.com

Business web site: http://www.bookfindhelp.com (IWS wealth-success books and kits and business newsletters / TopFlight flagpoles)

We all know someone who is difficult to buy a present for. Someone who has everything they need and would not appreciate ‘normal’ gifts. Often this will be your parent or an older relative or neighbor, and they can be a problem to buy something for.

Well, this is a simple way to make a unique gift that they will be happy to accept. When you take the time to produce something that relates only to them and their interests it will always be happily received.

The idea is to make a picture that includes something that they are especially interested in. This could be a hobby or any other interest they have.

This is a quick and easy technique. You simply choose your theme (their hobby or interest), paint a silhouette of it onto a colored background and frame it.

You could paint a colored background onto a canvas panel or use already colored paper. I noticed my local art store had colored card that had a range of colors merging into each other, this would be ideal for this technique.

The theme of your silhouette is really the creative part. The easiest thing would be to use their hobby as the theme.

Look through some copyright free clip art until you find an image that you could use for the outline of the silhouette.

If they like fishing it could be a fisherman/fish/fishing fly. For a golfer it could be a set of clubs/golf hole with flag. For someone who likes to cook it could be related to cooking. If they are keen church-goers a silhouette of their church may be appreciated.

A lot of people like to receive a silhouette of their home. For car enthusiast a silhouette of their car is a good idea. In which case you could use a digital camera and take a picture of their church, home or whatever you have decided to include in the picture.

You really can use your imagination for this. When using clip art you have a huge range of options (probably too many!) to choose from. You don’t have to be great at drawing!

Also, you can use a computer graphics package to blend together two or three images for your final silhouette shape. Be sure to adjust the size of the final image to make it the correct size for the painting surface you have chosen, and print it out. As this is a gift you can make it whatever size you choose.

Once you have painted or found a suitable background, then trace around the outside edge of the image for your silhouette shape. Use carbon paper for this.

The silhouette shape can be painted in using acrylic paints - don’t make the paint too thin though! Another alternative is to use a permanent marker, not a normal marker as it will fade over time, and that would be disappointing for the person receiving the gift.

Silhouettes look very effective and traditional in black. However you could use a darker shade of one of the colors in the background for an alternative look. For example if the background was a pale green the silhouette could be in a dark green. This all adds to the uniqueness of your gift.

If you are using a colored card it will be better to use a permanent marker as the water in the paint may cause the card surface to buckle.

Fill in the silhouette shape and leave to dry. Then frame the silhouette picture.

**A distinctive gift for a special person.**

This type of personalized gift is always appreciated and shows that you have put some thought, time and effort into the present.

Another major benefit is that no one else will be giving exactly the same gift!

This is an excellent technique if you can’t find a suitable card. You can make your own special card. It is most effective if you choose a very simple shape for the silhouette when using this method in card making. Cards are generally a lot smaller and look best when you use less detailed shapes.

Use this system and say goodbye to gift buying problems for that hard to please someone.

Catherine Calder is the author of the Acrylic Painting Course. This step-by-step course teaches you how to paint using acrylic paints. All stages of each of the 12 painting are illustrated. Ideal for beginners or anyone new to using acrylic paints. For a free preview of the course visit
http://www.learnanddo.com/acrylic.asp
Sign up for the free report on ‘How to Paint Abstract Pictures for Pleasure and Profit’ at
http://www.AcrylicPaintingCourse.info

Baseball card collecting has been around since the 1800’s, and millions of young and old enthusiasts collect baseball cards. Serious involvement shown by some enthusiasts who invest a lot of money and some even pursue a career in baseball cards. Baseball cards are sold for as little as 10 cents while a few cards are traded for as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Baseball became an increasingly popular sport in the USA after the Civil War. In those days when there were no modern printing techniques, a type of baseball card was made out of photos of baseball players or teams pasted on a small piece of square cardboard.

Peck & Snyder, a sporting good company, first printed baseball cards in the late 1860’s. These baseball cards carried advertisements of their products and were given away like flyers for free. The popular hobby of the 1870’s and 1880’s was to collect trade cards that had various themes including baseball and pasting those into a scrapbook.

The mass production of baseball cards started in the 1880’s. Goodwin & Co. a tobacco company in New York produced these cards as cigarette pack stiffeners and to boost sales, as this became popular, others joined the competition. Allen & Ginter, Buchner & Co., Mayo and Co. and Kimball produced quality baseball cards and inserted them into the cigarette packs.

After a brief lull, baseball cards again became a rage from the early 1900’s. In fact, the period from 1909-1915 is regarded as the golden period in baseball card collecting. T206 Honus Wagner is one of the most famous cards that belonged to this era. The T206 Honus Wagner card is currently valued at around $500,000 and there are only 50 of them available in good condition. Some of the popular players who adorn the earlier cards include Ty Cobb, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Cy Young, Honus Wagner and Napolean Lajoie.

Slowly tobacco slipped away from the baseball card scenario, and candy and gum companies filled the void. The cards produced by Goudey Gum Company of Boston are among the most popular baseball cards ever produced. The cards included pictures of famous baseball stars like: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx. Gum Inc produced cards that include the photo and stats of such greats as Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio.

Bowman Gum Co. started the baseball card industry as it currently is. Bowman sold baseball cards with a stick of bubble gum. Topps Chewing Gum company joined the process in the 1950’s, and the 1952 Topps # 311 Mickey Mantle is one of their most expensive cards.

At present, other than Topps companies like Fleer, Donruss/Playoff, and Upper Deck are producing baseball cards. Every year baseball cards hit the market featuring the top performers. A ‘rookie card’ is a first card of a player and generally costs more than other cards of the same player. However, the tobacco baseball cards are still considered the best of all baseball cards. In addition, the Honus Wagner card is considered the ‘Mona Lisa’ of baseball cards. A Honus Wagner card that was previously owned by Wayne Gretzky was auctioned off on eBay for $1.27 million.

When the number of cards collected really grows big, it will not be easy to manage them. Retrieving cards at will and replacing them would require the proficiency of a library science degree holder. To solve this problem there is software available that will manage baseball card collections efficiently. There is a variety of software to choose from depending on the complexity of the collection details that needs to be stored. One program that stand’s out is ‘Baseball Card Collector Professional’, it is made for any baseball card collector, from novices to professionals, and it cost under $15. ‘Baseball Card Collector Professional’ may be downloaded for free at this website address:

http://www.rb59.com/bccp

By Robert W. Benjamin

Copyright © 2006

You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter or on your web site as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification except for formatting needs or grammar corrections.

Robert W. Benjamin has been in the software business on the internet for over 5 years, and has been producing low-cost software for the past 25+ years. He first released software on the AMIGA and C64 computer systems in the late 1970’s-80’s.

RB59 Software

http://www.rb59.com/software

25) “Catedral de Sal”
(Zipaquir, Colombia)) by Bogot))

Colossal pillars gleam,
At their insuperable posts,
Who guard the holy Cathedral
(hundreds of feet blowin the deep
salt mines of Zipaquir).

And flames in a silent cross’s
Deep in the dominion of the dark,
Tremble forth its inviolable
Breast,
Remote in solitude
it rests…;

Ere…everlasting twilight;
A heritage of fates!…
The Cathedral de Sal:
The grandest Cathedral of Today
…near the mountain city of Bogot!…

Note: Some have thought this to be a legendary church underground, in the outskirts of Bogot, but it is real, as real as the earth above it. Written after visiting the church, 11/4/2005; #918. The Church took four years to build; is close to 100-feet underground, or 570-feet deep, or 187-feet receding. It can hold 8000-people at any given time.

26) The Donkey Men of Bogot

The Donkey Men, walk up and down, Bogot’s streets; joystick in hand, tin containers bobbing along, along the sides of the donkey…pulling them along, from café to restaurant, from restaurant to café: picking up bits and pieces, leftovers, ‘remains,’ to feed their pigs another day. Happy they seem with the simplicity of things.

Notes: A way of life in the old city of Bogot, (meaning: ‘Fertile Valley’), are the Donkey Men, let’s hope they keep their old customs, it gives me chills to see such cities carrying on with old traditions, something America has almost completely lost. 11-5-2005, 6:00 PM; written in the evening, after seeing the Donkey Men.

26) “The Legend of El Dorado of Guatavita”
(1200 AD, Colombia)

The Legend is of the chief (cacique) in the village of Guatavita
In,
A nearby lake, he, the chief is covered with gold-dust, on a wooden craft in the solitude of the lake: celebrates his good fortune to the earth, by giving back to the waters, a ting of gold and emeraldshence, for a future date.

Note: The legend and the story I just wrote is well known in Colombia, although I picked it up in Bogot, at the Gold Museum, where I witnessed the golden raft (24kt gold); most beautiful. 11-5-05 #920 (Written in the evening after visiting the museum and an emerald store, and talked to a tourist guide, trying to get the correct story on the legend, by all three sources).

It should be mentioned, the people of Bogot are most accommodating, full of life and warm.

Three Poems written while in
Flight from Lima to Bogot

The Wine of Madness

27) The lost Road

He walks the road, hour after hour
With all its splendor and gold:
A strange road, round road, cracked road:
All covered with blood and stones.

A bleached road, carved with thin bones;
A fools road, that winds and winds.
But it’s the only road he knows
And it’s the low road that leads to hell.

Note: written while in flight, from Lima, Peru, to Bogot, Colombia; #914, 11-4-05.

28) “Howard’s Wish”
(Dedicated to Robert E. Howard))Poet/Author))

How now is Hell, little swine?
Who wrote his little Hellish rhymes!
How now is Hell, bellied-slave,
Ye have nothing more to say?
Fare dead, in your Hellish grave.

Note: #915, in-flight to Bogot, Colombia, 11/4/2005

00) To my Brother

Of irrecoverable days…
Now memories with tireless sight:

What love shall wake thy gleaming eyes?
What love shall wake thy yearning feet?

As one that, hopeless, longs to hold
Hold perhaps the paths that wait thy feet…

Are the paths hidden too deep, too deep?
The winds of Eden now long gone…;

The gardens strange now have come.
Lost isles, where youth once belonged

Now is dark with woeful grounds
Now memories with tireless sight…

Note: Written while in flight to Bogot, Colombia; #916, 11-4-2005. My wife asked why I wrote such alarming and strange bits of poetry while in flight. I said, “It just came out of me,” what more can a poet say, or an artist, or a musician? I call these three poems in flight, “The Wine of Madness”

See Dennis’ web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

There is no such a thing as a free lunch,” but we keep on searching for it. In the same way as the alchemist is trying to turn lead into gold. We are able to believe many issues to be right until proven otherwise. So we will have to wait for the lawsuit to get the real story about the personal wealth of Fidel Castro.

But in general you should be skeptic when someone offers you an interest rate quite above the official levels.

Collecting stamps in Spain is still reasonable popular, much more than in other European countries. In the centre of Madrid you are offered a unique impression of little shops around the corner, showing stamps behind the windows.

There is even a fairly big company – Forum Filatelico – that is offering stamps in the construction of a mutual fund. The idea is that you invest some money as you would regularly invest in a fund by adding a monthly payment to such a mutual fund. The fund manager will buy company shares with the payments that are received. And if the rating of the fund (Morningstar) is acceptable and the performance of the fund is reasonable, the fund will experience a positive cashflow.

The formula of Forum Filatelico works about the same. You are to save periodically and this money is invested in a fund, but the collateral is build up by stamps rather than anything else. New cashflow is invested in stamps and this collection serves as a patrimony. Where the performance of a mutual fund will be generated from price increases and dividend (of the underlying stocks) the performance of the stamp fund is generated by…?

The performance will be determined by an increase in the value of the stamps one and secondly by an increase of the other investment (other than stamps).

Strangely enough, the long term trend in stamp values is declining. This could be related to the increase of financial investment and the load of success stories of the last decades.
Yet it is still very difficult to determine whether a six to seven percent annual investment return (against two to three for official savings) is extreme. Forum Filatelico is a company with offices in all big cities in Spain. But these are closed for the moment. As is their website (www.forum-filatelico.es). Another interesting fact is that this forum is not even a financial institution - which makes it difficult for the clients to get their money back, in the case the alleged fraud is correct.

But this is still a speculation. It may be the case that the police raid of the forum and a related company which happened yesterday is just a mistake. But probably not if you read that a large insurer already in 2004 refused the company as a client.

As for those 350,000 people who are involved - they have learned at their cost.

The Spanish Spitting Image, the puppets that caricature the Spanish society (Las Noticias del Guinol) made a joke out of it; “I offered the President of Bolivia to trade stamps for Oil, but he denied.”

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days.
You can apply for a free demo account