Welcome new visitors! Yesterday I was informed that an individual on the state affiliate board had been digging into me, found this site, and has been contacting people about it. Thank you, I guess? He’s now told more people about this site than I have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I first joined the party, I had two different individuals tell me they believe he is gay, but why would I care about who someone else loves, so I gave it no thought. Yesterday in a conversation while openly pondering his obsession with me, they too indicated that it was believed he is gay and maybe he has a crush on me. It’s okay little man, I know you’re obsessed with me, but I hate to break it to you – I’m straight and married (besides. I’d never go for an insecure bald guy even if I was gay). It’s 2025, come out of the closet, no one will care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also had another member write a lengthy comment but I won’t be approving it. If he wants more details about the pending lawsuit and information the whistleblower claims to have, he can ask them when\/if they reveal themselves. This is not a “Libertarian Blog” nor is it a site to debate the pros and cons of petty authoritarians in administrative positions with no real<\/em> power believing they are kingmakers. This site is for me and whatever the fuck I want to write about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So anyhow, now that the PSA is out of the way…<\/p>\n\n\n\n I finished going through the boxes of books to research and price, and while there are a handful that I will need to do more research on, that part of the project is done. I knew I owned a lot of rare and\/or valuable books, but I didn’t quite realize the extent. When I would go scouting, I’d grab anything that looked like an unusual title or private a publication. One of the books I picked up for a buck at a thrift store seems exceedingly rare and the lowest price I found for it was $950. That was one I had in my personal collection, but I have no particular affinity for it (though it does have one of the more interesting covers in my collection – what caught my attention in the first place) so I’ll likely be adding that to my stack to sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Going through all the books to sell got me thinking about my personal collection, and the books I am still looking to acquire. I’ve long collected copies of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”<\/em> and have numerous editions including the true first 35\u00a2 Ballantine paperback. I still need a copy of Galaxy Science Fiction from February 1951 which has “The Fireman,”<\/em> the predecessor short story to the novella. My holy grail, however, is the limited asbestos edition that had only 200 copies released. The current lowest price I have found for it is $18k though I did have an opportunity to pick up a copy for $14k a few years ago (we were preparing to buy our property at the time and that was a battle I had no desire to fight). Years back I had a chance to pick up a copy for just $8k, but it was quite damaged as the original owner (as the story went, a pre-teen) tested the reputation of the asbestos and tried to set it on fire. It was covered in scorch marks and the cover had become detached, but I couldn’t justify buying it in that poor condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Years ago, when I was a member of a book collectors club that issued small limited run book reprints, we tossed an idea around of releasing a 50th Anniversary edition bound in Nomex, but unfortunately that never came to fruition. I would have loved being a part of the team that put that together and released one of my favorite books ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continuing with the book immersion, I also ended up ordering several more to fill in some spots. While researching a book, I stumbled on a listing from a bookstore we visited on our trip to Denver and I ended up going through their online inventory. When we visited the physical location, I was impressed by their collection of esoteric topics and we purchased several books (I also managed to snag a signed first edition copy of Foucault’s Pendulum<\/em> at a shop across the street). I ended up buying three more books from them – two I didn’t have and had been meaning to add to my collection, and a 3\/4 leather bound copy of a book I already have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Books have always been a part of my life – as a kid, my mother would take me to a nearby bookstore and I would visit often, even biking there on my own once I was old enough – and it is one of the things that my wife and I bonded over when we first met. On our first date (that I didn’t realize was a date) she made herself comfortable in front of my bookshelf and spent a couple hours going through my collection as I sat on a nearby couch chatting with her (and that was just one bookcase worth of books – we have seven filled to the brim right now and many more still boxed up). I have often joked that she only married me for my books and cats, but she kept me past the warranty so she’s stuck with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyhow, now that the pricing and research is (mostly) done, I need to set up our light box and take photos of each as well as build a new website…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song of the day: Voices<\/a> by Dream Theater<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n I think we are going to go to New York to experience this: “\u2018Masquerade\u2019: \u2018Phantom of the Opera\u2019 Like You\u2019ve Never Experienced Before<\/a>” – “The swanky immersive staging of ‘Masquerade’ brings you face to face with the man in the mask\u2014and his booming, beautiful singing voice.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nInteresting Tidbits<\/h3>\n\n\n\n