One Man's Junk...

Is another man’s treasure.

Some random thoughts that are not really related but for which I will force a theme.

A weird thing happened when I was moving. I threw out a few bags of stuff, not as much as I should have -- a burnt pot or two, some knick-knacks, a shedding boa, a cheap cowboy hat…

On my third or fourth trip out to the trash I was startled to find a man dumpster diving through my stuff. He looked up, nervous, and said, “I’ll clean it up, I promise. There’s good stuff in here!”

Good stuff???

He had the contents of one of the bags laid out systematically, like he was shopping: yes, no’s, and maybe’s. It was a little sad to see remnants of my life laid out like on a check out counter. There was the body lotion from a hotel visit three years ago and a cheap vase in the yes pile, some jelly jar glasses and empty cd cases in the maybe’s, and a giant life size poster that an ex had made for me in the definite no's. I should have thrown it out years ago, but I’d kept it behind a bookcase, because, well, it reminded me that the ex once loved me, or at least thought he did. And that I loved him.

The poster was the only thing in the pile I’d debated over whether to get rid of. And it was the easiest thing for dumpster diver to send back to the trash. Obviously he’s not a sucker for sentiment like I am.

And today I did my own treasure hunting. I finally visited one of the antique malls here (there are several in Berkeley Springs) and was pleased to see that while organized and well laid out, it still required some hunting and picking. After all, half the fun of antiquing is in the search (as the anti-drug commercial so famously said -- I learned it from watching you, dad!) I also visited the shop that one of the ladies here who doesn’t like me owns, and I have to say – she’s got great vintage finds at really good prices.

In the afternoon though, I really struck gold. We visited an old beauty school in Hagerstown, Maryland that a friend of one of our actresses owns, and he took us to the back room full of “stuff we don’t really use”. It was a veritable trove – hydraulic chairs, sinks designed to wash hair in and the chairs that lean back into them, manicure tables and little rolling stools, bags upon bags of rollers and clips – really everything that this play requires (and it requires a lot) and then some. We would have spent a mint if we’d had to resort to shopping on ebay. And here it all was – ours for the borrowing. I think our set designer will be thrilled when he sees the pictures.

If nothing else, this play is going to look great.