Night Owl Cards

I have a couple unspoken rules when it comes to collecting sets: 1. Don't attempt to collect a set older than you. 2. Don't attempt to collect a set that was issued before you knew what baseball was. There are both emotional and practical reasons for these rules. On the practical side, I need to feel like I actually can complete the thing -- meaning I won't run out of cash, or have to go on a three-year hunting expedition for certain cards. On the emotional side, I need to feel a connection to the set. The easiest way to find that connection is to complete sets from when I was around, watching baseball. I know the teams, I know the players, I know the times. Connection made. This is the reason I've completed every Topps flagship set between 1974-91. I know these guys. I saw them on TV, sometimes even at the park. But more recently I've been venturing outside of my familiar zone. The 1971 and 1972 Topps sets are complete. The 1973 Topps set is less than

I've got a little housekeeping to do, tidying up several recent posts. I'll start with the 10th Anniversary Giveaway. I've sent out about two-thirds of the packages. I'm going to try to get to the rest in the next week or week-and-a-half. I didn't think ahead and realize that I would be sending out all these cards during the gift-giving season. So I have to wait a bit for funds to regenerate to get the rest of the cards out the door. Here is a look at my progress in sending out giveaway envelopes: If your name is crossed off it means I have sent your giveaway prize. Hopefully it is in your possession. The two most recent envelopes I sent went to Henry Blanchette and sg488 so they probably haven't arrived yet. I have packaged up cards for three Canadian readers but I need to send those all at once when I have funds because of the cost of sending cards "overseas." Also, I've struggled to find a good box to send Corky his 1993 Leaf cards

Memory has been on my mind, even more than usual. For the last seven months my family and I have been dealing with my mother's declining health and memory. Doctors haven't been able to provide a concrete diagnosis and health care workers and assisted living personnel have visited my folks' house so often we should install a turnstile. It's a draining situation for everyone and the demands on people's time and resources are enormous. The baffling part is my mother was an extremely healthy individual for the first 77 years of her life One day, when I was a kid, our sugar cereals disappeared out of the cupboards and my mom began cooking "healthy-alternative" meals. From that point forward, she was an encyclopedia for healthy living. The mental aspect was important to her, too. I'm still turning up crossword puzzle books at my parents' house even though she can't do them anymore. I've been reading articles about restoring mental capa