Night Owl Cards

  We're all dealing with our various life issues. I, for example, look at the stacks of cards in the card room and the separate pulled cards for half-finished blog posts and think "what can I blog quickly in the hour I have to spare?"   But I know I have it good. Other folks can blog maybe once a week (maybe I should try that), or even once a month. Nick, of the blog Dime Boxes , put his blog on hiatus a couple of months ago to tackle those real world demands.   We few survivors in the card blog community often wonder what those departed bloggers are doing. Do they still read blogs? Do they still collect? Have they turned away from the hobby for a life at the country club? Are they wandering the streets aimlessly? What has become of them?   Well, I can report that Nick is alive and well. He is still "lurking" he says and, from what I received from him about a week ago, he is still going to shows/collecting like he's always done. There is no sign that real l...

  My first COMC order of the year arrived Monday -- two days after I attended card show, I really need to learn how to space these things out. It would help with the lean months. Part of the order (I'll get to the majority of it next week) was me finding the final cards to complete the Allen & Ginter frankenset that I have been working on for years. The final cards filled the last empty spots as well as replaced some players who were repeated in my frankenset binder. Here are the final dozen: My inspiration for choosing each of these last 12 was the same for finding a card to fill each of the 350 slots -- it just has to be interesting to me. But sometimes there aren't any very interesting cards at a particular number, so then I pick someone who isn't offensive/annoying. My frankenset is a mix of regular backs, A&G backs and black borders/gold borders. I have no desire to create separate frankensets (and binders) for each individual parallel. It was difficult enough ...

  My hobby's chief responsibility is to balance out life's negatives.   The hobby is fun for me. It's my No. 1 source for it. It counters the drudgery, the responsibilities, the weather, the medical issues, the unnecessary drama and the relentless work schedule. It's the balance in my life.   That's why I look askance at anyone using the hobby exclusively to shill or take advantage of people. Cards are not a business for me (though I sell when it's a no-brainer), but a free pass away from the business side of life.    In the last 5 or 6 years it seems like fewer people in this hobby understand that, but fortunately there are still many that do. Not by coincidence, a number of those people still run blogs.   I received an unexpected package last week from Rod of Padrographs . I don't really know why, but he's very good at just-because packages. He's also very good at knowing what the hobby should be about for most people: Not super-serious, not cranky...