Dear Andrew—There must be a “D’OH” fest going on that I stumbled upon by accident. Yesterday I posted a cartoon featuring Homer Simpson’s famous interjection, then I saw another cartoonist, UK’s Peter Brookes do the same on February 8, and now your post today. All I can say is, “D’OH!!”
Oh man, I was just about to post the exact same Al Yankovic link before I read until the end. Taking away all of my weapons before I can use it, 8 mile style.
But crazy to know you were selling on eBay back in the day. I'm pretty sure it took me a while even to start shopping online.
Nowadays, most of my shopping apart from daily groceries is done online. How the times have changed!
It's funny - I did the opposite with a cell phone. It seemed like everyone around me had one by the time I got one, but I was way out in front on internet stuff, at least in the very beginning. Stuff moved really fast, but being a denizen for so long still has some advantages... like how Substack reminds me of web 1.0 even still.
Sold most of my comic collection on eBay 3 years ago. All the valuable ones. It was a blast building up my seller cred, figuring out the grading game (don’t do it) the right pics to take, how to price the auctions (look at previously *sold* items) as well as length and timing. I had one really valuable book and I saved it for last - Amazing Spider-Man 300 with the iconic Todd MacFarlane cover. It went for over a grand! Was super fun
By then eBay was getting a little long in the tooth from a tech perspective. Newer auction/ecommerce sites have better performance, features, but they have the advantage of first to market - heck defining the market - so they’ll have to work harder to screw that up. In the 2010s I had a chance to go to their HQ to help one of their engineers install a demo of a new system of ours and it was cool. All the corporate art was made up of stuff people had sold on eBay. Like collages of irons, grapplers made out of BJJ gear. ok i made that last one up, but you get the idea.
Me and the engineer went out for Ramen after in the valley. Most of the Valley companies hated Microsoft so it was always fun when I had a chance to mingle down there
Tell me about the Ramen! Ramen was all about survival (6 for $1 during the mid 90s where I lived), so when I found out about good ramen years later, I had to learn more.
I once met a grappler made out of BJJ gear. That guy just kind of sat there, but he was fun to train with.
The gap between $1 top Ramen and TOP Ramen is big. Vast. Have you seen Maslow’s lesser known hierarchy of Ramen? No? Top Ramen shoots for the top but comes up short, paving the path to the bottom. My eBay Ramen perhaps made the upper half of the pyramid - Silicon Valley has excellent ethnic dives - but you can do better. If you haven’t seen, I recommend the 80s classic Tampopo. That is the way of Ramen.
My kids swam. It was a good thing to do over the summer. Swim meets are the worst. You wait around an hour for your heat and then another hour for the next. You always start early cuz it takes all friggin day and so of course you are cold in your little wet suit. Cup-of-noodles was the cure.
Nice. There are so many of those activities that just take all day when you get to a competitive level. I feel sorry for parents of kids at jiu jitsu events, especially since most of the ones I attended were poorly organized (part of the motivation for forming a company eventually, go figure).
Haha. I used to have an ebay store, an etsy store, redbubble, Society6, Zazzle, paypal and many things.
I never got to actually SELL much of anything though. Personally, I think that there was some sort of internet block so that people couldn't see my things. I don't know how to do that but know that's a possibility. It has to do with coding, etc. I've met some REALLY REALLY SMART people who DO know how to do that.
Of course I also had my site that is still up today too but I used to actually have pages up selling my art. They both went white one day! It's funny because without knowing how to make my site, I wouldn't have one. Seeing as how web designers cost $1000s per hr. I hate making my site, which I've done a few times over the years.
That come easily to me but I don't know alot of that coding stuff that those who I've worked with know.
I honestly would have NEVER thought that I'd even have the option of working when I grew up...it was completely different for me. Yet, not.... Although REALLY if those weren't able to give a monthly payment, I would have no option of making very much off of them. I have absolutely NO option right now due to technical issues.. I can't even put my credit card on here without getting fraudulent charges.
You had to mention Weird Al didn't you?! LOLOL I LOVE that guy! I would post his new videos about whats going on today but for some reason, they won't show up so I'll share this one... warning it's cartoonish. I kinda like that personally but I love visual art too. Anyway, check it out though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvfD5rnkTws Gotta love a bunch of Weird Al songs though... Great post!!! P.S. I'm gonna draw your dog one day...I promise!
Yes I know it's serious and it's not like that would happen to EVERYONE. I just also grew up around some who are used to getting their way, etc. and met a few odd characters outside of theatre. I've also had ALOT of drama and abuse in my high school days so one of my abusers may have targeted me. *Shrugs* All it takes is the money to hire those who have the technical expertise to make someones life harder and TRUST ME....I sadly know some who have that much money. I also have some in my family who have the technical expertise needed. That's why I'm kinda confused as to who or why all of these things happen to me. It's extremely sad to know that they could be behind any of this craziness. Either way, that would be why I'm so poor... Some don't want their name damaged by the fact that they have participated in allowing harm. I also tend to think some like to have financial control over those like me. Stopping me from making money to buy food, etc. gives some financial control over me. People can also use that as a way to control how much a person eats because they have to be able to actually buy the food before eating it. If someone had the technical expertise they can also block most things so that a person only has the choice of buying one outfit, etc. or something in one colour, etc. It's sad that some will go to THAT extreme and it's even sadder that it is often overlooked. That doesn't happen to everyone but really shouldn't happen to ANYONE. It's a VERY GOOD thing that I know life is worth more than a computer. I love Weird Al, he still makes me laugh. He probably always will. Have you seen the movie about him with Daniel Radcliffe? If you have, what are your thoughts on it? I think Daniel doesn't really LOOK like him but he does a good acting job. It explains how he became Weird Al. I just don't know 100% which parts are fact and which parts aren't because it's Weird Al ya know?
I have never used that site- the auction element of it never appealed to me. I would much rather pay for something in full on or off-line.
Put yourself into my late 90s hooves, though: there simply was no alternative.
Very few, other perhaps Amazon in its infancy.
Yeah. But of course, I couldn't sell old comic books on Amazon.
Dear Andrew—There must be a “D’OH” fest going on that I stumbled upon by accident. Yesterday I posted a cartoon featuring Homer Simpson’s famous interjection, then I saw another cartoonist, UK’s Peter Brookes do the same on February 8, and now your post today. All I can say is, “D’OH!!”
It's a 20th century classic!
Oh man, I was just about to post the exact same Al Yankovic link before I read until the end. Taking away all of my weapons before I can use it, 8 mile style.
But crazy to know you were selling on eBay back in the day. I'm pretty sure it took me a while even to start shopping online.
Nowadays, most of my shopping apart from daily groceries is done online. How the times have changed!
It's funny - I did the opposite with a cell phone. It seemed like everyone around me had one by the time I got one, but I was way out in front on internet stuff, at least in the very beginning. Stuff moved really fast, but being a denizen for so long still has some advantages... like how Substack reminds me of web 1.0 even still.
Sold most of my comic collection on eBay 3 years ago. All the valuable ones. It was a blast building up my seller cred, figuring out the grading game (don’t do it) the right pics to take, how to price the auctions (look at previously *sold* items) as well as length and timing. I had one really valuable book and I saved it for last - Amazing Spider-Man 300 with the iconic Todd MacFarlane cover. It went for over a grand! Was super fun
By then eBay was getting a little long in the tooth from a tech perspective. Newer auction/ecommerce sites have better performance, features, but they have the advantage of first to market - heck defining the market - so they’ll have to work harder to screw that up. In the 2010s I had a chance to go to their HQ to help one of their engineers install a demo of a new system of ours and it was cool. All the corporate art was made up of stuff people had sold on eBay. Like collages of irons, grapplers made out of BJJ gear. ok i made that last one up, but you get the idea.
Me and the engineer went out for Ramen after in the valley. Most of the Valley companies hated Microsoft so it was always fun when I had a chance to mingle down there
Tell me about the Ramen! Ramen was all about survival (6 for $1 during the mid 90s where I lived), so when I found out about good ramen years later, I had to learn more.
I once met a grappler made out of BJJ gear. That guy just kind of sat there, but he was fun to train with.
The gap between $1 top Ramen and TOP Ramen is big. Vast. Have you seen Maslow’s lesser known hierarchy of Ramen? No? Top Ramen shoots for the top but comes up short, paving the path to the bottom. My eBay Ramen perhaps made the upper half of the pyramid - Silicon Valley has excellent ethnic dives - but you can do better. If you haven’t seen, I recommend the 80s classic Tampopo. That is the way of Ramen.
Hey neat! I kind of want you to illustrate the Ramen Pyramid now, but that also feels like one of those deep rabbit holes.
Tampopo sounds really cool too.
My kids swam. It was a good thing to do over the summer. Swim meets are the worst. You wait around an hour for your heat and then another hour for the next. You always start early cuz it takes all friggin day and so of course you are cold in your little wet suit. Cup-of-noodles was the cure.
Nice. There are so many of those activities that just take all day when you get to a competitive level. I feel sorry for parents of kids at jiu jitsu events, especially since most of the ones I attended were poorly organized (part of the motivation for forming a company eventually, go figure).
Haha. I used to have an ebay store, an etsy store, redbubble, Society6, Zazzle, paypal and many things.
I never got to actually SELL much of anything though. Personally, I think that there was some sort of internet block so that people couldn't see my things. I don't know how to do that but know that's a possibility. It has to do with coding, etc. I've met some REALLY REALLY SMART people who DO know how to do that.
Of course I also had my site that is still up today too but I used to actually have pages up selling my art. They both went white one day! It's funny because without knowing how to make my site, I wouldn't have one. Seeing as how web designers cost $1000s per hr. I hate making my site, which I've done a few times over the years.
That come easily to me but I don't know alot of that coding stuff that those who I've worked with know.
I honestly would have NEVER thought that I'd even have the option of working when I grew up...it was completely different for me. Yet, not.... Although REALLY if those weren't able to give a monthly payment, I would have no option of making very much off of them. I have absolutely NO option right now due to technical issues.. I can't even put my credit card on here without getting fraudulent charges.
You had to mention Weird Al didn't you?! LOLOL I LOVE that guy! I would post his new videos about whats going on today but for some reason, they won't show up so I'll share this one... warning it's cartoonish. I kinda like that personally but I love visual art too. Anyway, check it out though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvfD5rnkTws Gotta love a bunch of Weird Al songs though... Great post!!! P.S. I'm gonna draw your dog one day...I promise!
Yes! Weird Al has been close to my heart for over 4 decades now. That's some serious consistency.
Yes I know it's serious and it's not like that would happen to EVERYONE. I just also grew up around some who are used to getting their way, etc. and met a few odd characters outside of theatre. I've also had ALOT of drama and abuse in my high school days so one of my abusers may have targeted me. *Shrugs* All it takes is the money to hire those who have the technical expertise to make someones life harder and TRUST ME....I sadly know some who have that much money. I also have some in my family who have the technical expertise needed. That's why I'm kinda confused as to who or why all of these things happen to me. It's extremely sad to know that they could be behind any of this craziness. Either way, that would be why I'm so poor... Some don't want their name damaged by the fact that they have participated in allowing harm. I also tend to think some like to have financial control over those like me. Stopping me from making money to buy food, etc. gives some financial control over me. People can also use that as a way to control how much a person eats because they have to be able to actually buy the food before eating it. If someone had the technical expertise they can also block most things so that a person only has the choice of buying one outfit, etc. or something in one colour, etc. It's sad that some will go to THAT extreme and it's even sadder that it is often overlooked. That doesn't happen to everyone but really shouldn't happen to ANYONE. It's a VERY GOOD thing that I know life is worth more than a computer. I love Weird Al, he still makes me laugh. He probably always will. Have you seen the movie about him with Daniel Radcliffe? If you have, what are your thoughts on it? I think Daniel doesn't really LOOK like him but he does a good acting job. It explains how he became Weird Al. I just don't know 100% which parts are fact and which parts aren't because it's Weird Al ya know?
Yes! That movie was great. I loved how they made Radcliffe (young Al) look so buff too. I thought the film came out all right!
Radcliffe did a dang good acting job but I have to confess I have a thing for Weird Al. Weird Al was perfection....yum.