The Renegade Craft Fair was great. My M went with me and he actually bought something (magnets made from airline safety brochures). The recurring themes of items included the following:
buttons
weird stuffed animals
baby clothes
cute stationary
purses (tons of purses)

I bought none of that. I bought a groovy little necklace with an octopus on it. Not an animated octopus, but a shadow of a what a real octopus might look like had they been caught under glass. It's cute, believe me. I also bought a book about weird library patrons and a little wallet to carry business cards. I picked up a lot of business cards from folks I unfortunately can't remember exactly what they were selling and I probably won't buy a knitted critter in the shape of an elephant anytime soon. I also thought that $40 was too expensive for a sock monkey. It's a sock monkey! Not a sock gorilla!

I always feel that there is a lot of the same stuff at these things but I can't quite figure out exactly what is missing in terms of somethin I would rush headlong and pay a bunch of meny for. There was a lovely local artist selling artwork with a Southern flair. Why didn't I think of this? He had cut up a bunch of stuff that was Southern (corn, Hank Williams, pigs) and put them into collages. Very folk art without being preachy or something you see at the House of Blues gift shop. I could sooooo have done that. Charging an arm and a leg for them too and they were really nice. Here is his website. Click on the "About" button to check him and his grooviness out. I dig the hat especially. I dream of having his art one day. It seems to fit my way of thinking.

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day! My favorite holiday where you can wear an eyepatch and scowl at people with your good eye.