   Current Post On Trae’s Blog:
My grandmother died last night. This wasn't a shock or a surprise. Her health has been on the decline, and she's been in hospice for the last month. She lived a long life, and in her final days she was surrounded by her three adult children.
My grandma was a kind woman. She wasn't perfect, but I always felt loved in her presence. She was a retired kindergarten teacher, and was still working when I was a kid. I have so many happy memories sitting at her kitchen table, and I'm going to carry those with me for the rest of my life. She was also proof that anyone who claims that you get more conservative as you get older is full of shit, because she certainly didn't.
I think it's interesting how the body processes grief sometimes. I don't know that I'll cry, but over the past month, knowing this was coming, I've felt a tension in my gut. Now that she's passed, instead of relief that tension is replaced by a sense of emptiness. That something is missing that should still be there. Something has been taken away, and I feel it.
Of course, as I wrote that, I immediately started crying... so I guess my body processes grief in pretty ordinary ways too.
I wanted to come up with something profound linking this to Beltane, which we sit in the middle of right now, but it just seemed hackneyed. Like I was trying to dig out some greater significance when the truth is death comes whenever it wants. The only predictable thing about it is that it's the end of all of our journeys. I hope that when I pass I'm so lucky to have lived such a long life with people that I love around me in my final days.
For the record, I will be fine. I just needed to get these words out while they were still in my head. I don't have some rousing conclusion or deep insight to tack on here at the end, just that gut feeling that something is missing.
Because it is.
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Of course a former vender would know this stuff.
I almost said something of ‘only suckers buy anything before Sunday’… but on the other hand, I’ve missed out on a lot of cool stuff because there weren’t any left by the time I tried to get one.
I have mixed views on this. I often will buy over the weekend but only for stuff I really want because of Vendor apathy.
When I used to be a vendor I would make a big deal on Sundays about how I was slashing my prices so much.
…yeah, I was totally lying. They were the same prices I was offering all weekend. But people like to feel like they’re getting a deal. 😛
Do you do that as an artist alley vender/artist?
No – It isn’t really something you can pull off when a preprinted price list is in front of you. 🙂
Print up a second list. Same list, but with ‘SUNDAY REDUCTION PRICES!’ in big letters at the top. Or laminate the list so can scribble over the top with easy wipe markers.
In some parts of the world this is considered false advertisement, and thus illegal.
Grin – When my daughter was small, she went for a last walk through the dealer’s room and came back with a stuffed toy almost as big as she was from a vendor who had to fly back… 🙂
For me, I only had that work once. I collect figures of magicians. While at RI Comiccon, I found someone selling plushies at a major discount and got a Hinkle the Great plushie at a great price. The wife says; “What are you going to do with that?” I looked over at HER dresser which is covered in Mickey Mouse and Pikachu plushies and just sighed.
Last con i went to was only on sunday this year next year ill be thinking of this