Music and Concerts – Rachel Greensleeves

June 13, 2017April 1, 2018

Getting Ready for a Yard Sale

This time of year my neighborhood has “Yard Sale” signs popping up on every street corner every weekend. It’s the perfect time to get serious about clearing out your clutter and getting ready to sell it off to strangers who happen to drive by and see all your stuff in the yard – or garage. Most of the houses on my street have a garage that faces the street, so if it happens to rain during the yard sale, we just move it all into the garage and people will come.

I’m the first one to admit that I have hoarder tendencies, but I try to keep everything organized and clean. About twice a year I will do Spring Cleaning and toss a bunch of things that I don’t want into some big plastic tubs that I keep in the garage in anticipation of having a yard sale. There are some things that were easy to discard, such as all the old VHS tapes that I’ve had since the 1990’s, a bunch of old CD’s that I have to admit that I don’t listen to, and this weekend I will be purging my closet of clothes that don’t fit.

Today I realized that I have 4 media shelving units full of DVDs and they are covered with dust. I seriously cannot remember the last time I walked over to the shelves and looked for a movie to watch. Everything is pretty much on demand digitally, so why are all these old movies taking up space and collecting dust? I’d be better off selling the old DVDs for a little cash and put that money toward my vacation this summer.

My last boyfriend was a big movie fan and loved to collect DVDs. It seemed like every time we went to WalMart, he would pick up one or two movies to add to our collection. The only problems is that they are all guy movies. You know, the action movies with Bruce Willis or Mel Gibson. A few comedies with Adam Sandler or Ben Stiller. And those crime dramas with Robert De Nero or Al Pacino. As far as I’m concerned, once I’ve watched those kinds of movies, I’m not really interested in watching them a second or third time. So, what’s the point of having them on the media shelves?

There are probably only 4 or 5 movies in each different genre that I can watch over and over again. Maybe I should grab 10 desert island picks from each genre to keep and then just sell off all the rest. My boyfriend left them all behind when I had to kick him to the curb, since I’m the one who actually paid for most of him while he was “looking for a job” for so long. It will be nice to having a little extra money when I head to the beach in August, and selling the DVDs – that I don’t even watch – in a yard sale is a pretty painless way to raise that extra cash.

June 16, 2013

Scored Big on my Yard Sale!

Tonight I am exhausted but over $600 richer than I was this morning before my yard sale. I really scored big on getting rid of so much stuff today. I even sold my futon for a good price and now I have a ton of room in the spare bedroom to organize all my crafting and sewing supplies.

I had set the alarm clock for 5:30 am – which is almost a crime for a Saturday morning! But I knew I needed to get an early start on setting up the tables and hauling all the stuff out to the front yard. At first I was going to just use the driveway, but realized that there was no shade over the driveway, so I used the front yard where I could be a little cooler in the hot sun. Good thing – the temperatures almost hit 90 degrees today. But there was a little breeze and the shade made it much cooler.

I was able to unload two old TV sets, a small bar with 2 leather seated bar stools, lots of kitchen gear that I never use (who needs three crockpots, anyway?) the futon, and some old jewelry that I never wear anymore. I sold about 40 CDs for $5 each. I didn’t think anyone would pay $5 for a music CD, but this younger guy stopped by and said he was starting a mobile disc jockey business and needed to get a lot of music together that people like me would dance to at weddings.

All together, it went really well and I had almost nothing left over – just a few clothes and old pocketbooks. So I tossed them into a big box and dropped them off at Good Will. That $600 is going to my vacation fund – that will come in really handy this summer!

October 15, 2012

Fell in Love with the Avett Brothers

Riding home with a friend, you end up hearing new songs on the radio if they happen to like a different radio station than what you listen to in your own car. This friend had Sirius Radio and a station I’ve never heard before, that played in the background while we rode together.

The song that caught my ear was called, “Winter in My Heart” by a group called the Avett Brothers. It’s a simple little song, not complicated musically, but it was very touching. I think that is the hallmark of a great song – bringing forth an emotion with lyrics that touch your soul.

April 10, 2012

Big and Rich Surprised Me

Not a big fan of country music lately. So much of it sound exactly the same and it is boring. How many times can you sing about beer and pickup trucks?

The group, Big and Rich is probably more accurately described as a duo but I don’t know and don’t care enough to look it up. But they do have a couple of good songs. I was surprised when I heard the song called “Faster Than Angels Fly” to find out that it was a Big and Rich song. So they got a little more respect from me tonight because I do like that song and its not the same typical bland country song.

February 18, 2012

Old CDs

For years I have been buying music CDs for my “collection” and I just now realized that I have over 400 CDs and I never listen to any of them anymore. I honestly cannot remember the last time I took a CD out of its case and played it on a CD player. I know it has not been in my car for a very long time – I only lisen to the radio in my car.

It has probably been several yearssince I played CD but I have bought new ones as recently as Christmas. I have several CDs on the shelf that I bought and never even opened yet.

This is crazy! I’ll not be buying any more CDs. In fact, I should get rid of all of these that are taking up so much space in my living room.

November 7, 2011

Soothing Music

Sometimes I want to have some soothing music playing while I work on my computer. If I am cleaning house I like the more peppy music – it keeps me motivated. So I went online and searched for calming and peaceful music and found a lot of “New Age” music by artists that play all kinds of instruments. I especially like the catalogue of albums published by the label called Windham Hill. I sampled several of their tunes and really like them.

July 17, 2011

Four Play

Four Play is a jazz group that I like. Once in a while I like to listen to a jazz station and have some soothing background music playing while I sort through paperwork or other tasks. There are no jazz stations on the radio here, so I rely on the internet to stream music from a station on the west coast. Thee are two excellent jazz stations in California – one is in San Francisco and the other is in San Diego. Sometimes I think moving to California would be worth it just for the cultural experiences out there.

June 24, 2011

Street Concerts

I miss the days when people would just block off a city street and have a party. We used to blockade the street by the community center and have a street dance on Friday nights. A local band would play for free or sometimes we had a DJ. It as a family event – all ages would show up and dance in the street. It was a great way to spend time with our neighbors and the parents did not have to worry about getting a babysitter to have fun.

August 17, 2010