Dear Housewives of Orange County
& all the other Housewives prancing on TV….
Bored and nothing else on, I turned on your show last night. Now, I admit I have caught a few shows every season but because of the drama and this ‘strange world’ you live in, it’s never kept my attention. Every now and again I hear someone say, “I am not ashamed of having it so good.” and I can see the point of that. However, I wonder how much is ‘too much’? How many necklaces do you need that costs thousands of dollars? How many needles need to be shoved into your face just to keep your husbands interested? How many cars do your kids need and how many designer jeans that they probably wear once…and will never wear again. And finally, do YOU really represent the true women of Orange County because if you do then I am so damn glad I don’t live there.
I’m not quite sure what this show is supposed to represent? Is it to give us a glimpse of the ‘other side’ and how ‘the others live?’ Because aside from a few interesting trips, I don’t see how anyone is living all that fabulous. I mean aside from Lynn and her husband, everyone else looks miserable with theirs. Oh, except for the new housewife who made the sick statement last night, “Our marriage comes first, God second, and our kids third” or last…I can’t remember what exactly she was speaking about.
Why was it sick? Well…it should be “OUR KIDS FIRST, then your God (if you are that spiritually into it) and THEN your marriage.” Why God before marriage? Well, because without those so called morals then you would have no marriage based on everything you bragged about concerning your husband, how god spoke to you and so on. And your kids come first BECAUSE you brought them into this world as your responsibility which MEANS…they should be held above all else.
The husband constantly bitching about his wife’s skirt being held down was hysterical as well. I mean he doesn’t mind it if her boobies are damn near combusting out her hooker-neckline but in no way can the wind whip up the hemline and show a fanny covered with panties—that is to say of course the worlds next TV evangelist mascara thickened wife even wears them.
I don’t think these people should even TRY to bring God into a show that represents people in general so badly.
lol That entire situation just didn’t make a lot of sense to me and possibly, it all came across wrong. Sad to say, I don’t think I will ever know because at this point, if nothing else is on, I’ll watch paint dry.
Whenever I see TV portray a bunch of women that is supposed to be REAL life—and all they care about is boob jobs, shopping, partying, bickering, Botox, and whatever other materialized other crap, it really breaks my heart. ESPECIALLY when all they do is go after and try to cut the throat of another woman—a sister of their kind—for reasons they spend hours and hours and hours if not days attempting to justify so that the entire world agrees with them.
THAT is not the way real women are or should be. Women embrace their sisters or should and they don’t spend all their time judging them, backstabbing them, and whatever other nonsense. I hope the world sees that each and every time THESE women go out of their way to attack one of their FRIENDS or so called associates then it shows the weak links and unhappiness in their own lives.
The only thing I can see that these shows are proving is that money does NOT buy happiness, friends, or love. And that while these women are bragging because of the wonderful lives they have….all I can see is that they are horrible lives because of the pointless drama and horrible attitudes. Maybe they need to volunteer namelessly at a charity that doesn’t involve wine glasses and dresses that cost thousands. Or maybe they need to go to New Orleans, dig in some dirt and build a few houses. Or maybe they need to REMEMBER that they are representing women and whatever fame and fortune they are getting paid to represent us on TV isn’t enough to give the world the impression that all we care about is a man spending bucks on us, getting bigger boobies, and having the house, car, and jewelry that beats out the Jones.
Seriously, I think the real women need to stop watching these shows and just run these damn fools off the television until they can come on and act like they have some freakin’ sense. I mean do you know the GOOD they could be doing with their fame? But what are they doing with it? They certainly aren’t saying or doing anything positive.
P.s.
I don’t blame Jeana for leaving. RUN JEANA! Rune like hell!
Women Issues
I am blogging today over at The Pagan & the Pen so if you want something new…check out…
The FTC Can Suck it
lol Sorry FTC. Do you know how much trouble you are causing? And well, after watching The Land of the Lost—a DVD I bought with my own money—where Dr. Rick Marshal (Will Ferrell) yells “Matt Lauer can suck it!” I couldn’t resist.
Anyway, for those who have no idea what I’m talking about concerning the FTC—read HERE.
Basically what the FTC is trying to do is bring transparency to the table. Now, hearing both sides of the argument, I think it has something to do with celebrities being paid to push products or others being paid to praise stuff that they were given—possibly giving them means to say good things.
You know I am sure we have all wondered if Oprah has really tried all those crazy diets. And I mean for more than a day mind you. Yeah, Oprah, just because you swallowed a spoonful of berries once or twice doesn’t mean you actually did the diet and had success.
And what about all those people raving about penis enlargers on their blogs? Did their penis really grow ten feet just by swallowing one pill?
But here’s the problem—book reviews. All over Blog-averse people (book reviewers) are throwing up disclaimers just so they are not wrongfully sued or made an example of by the FTC. Now that’s what I want to talk about and explain because writers have it hard as it is. AND I do not want readers thinking that just because they read a Review (a good Review) of a book on the internet, that, that suddenly means the Reviewer was paid to say those things. Not so…
You have, out there, thousands and thousands of writers who are literally struggling. They can barely make the rent much less pay ten or more reviewers to read their books. I mean if you saw some of them dig in the sofa for coins just to send off a submission, you would grab the Kleenex.
If and when a writer has a book published, they are still a very small bleeding fish trying to survive in a gigantic pool of piranha. Not everyone receives advances and those who do aren’t running off to Macys to spend millions in diamond studded gowns. With that being said, every writer tries to advertise their work as many ways they can and as FREE as possible. The problem with that is, most writers are forced to do the same thing as all the other writers– only in an attempt to do something as different as they can. They use Blog, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Contests, Youtube when creating Book Trailers, Interviews, podcasts, and most importantly…have their book reviewed.
There are tons of sites out there that will review a book. In the circles of writers, some are very well known. Every site has its own guidelines concerning submissions but I can promise you this, every site has one thing in common—they Read and Review our work for FREE. And what do Writers silently agree on? We agree to take a chance.
There is a chance that someone will yell, “Hey Writer!!!Your Book Can Suck it!!!”
There is a chance that we will receive what we consider a great review only with some minor things the reviewer didn’t like, and that will in turn cause readers to X out the page and not buy our books.
There is a chance that 3 reviewers will rave our books and a chance that 1 big reviewer will crush us to dust.
There is a chance that offering our books up for reviews will kill us and a chance that we might sell one book out of 100 readers looking at the Review. (See small rewards for big chances taken)
Whatever our chance, I can promise you this…
Tomorrow, we will still be a bleeding fish in a pool of blood thirsty piranhas.
And I can promise you something else…
We, the writers, the true hard core, trying our damnedest to succeed in this business, don’t mind the slightly awful reviews. We want to better ourselves and in order to do that, we need the opinion of obsessed readers—and those are the reviewers.
However the point is this…just because a review site receives a book for free, does not mean that they are promising a dishonest and awesome review. If they like it, they say so. If they hate it…unfortunately they say so.
But how does a reader know whether or not to take a review seriously, especially when you are searching for new or not so well known writers? I mean the reader wants something fresh, right? They don’t want the New York Times telling them what a Best Seller is…*winks*
That’s easy.
A book will receive more than one review. Google it or check the author or publishers web site. They will list them. If you are worried that they are only listing great reviews…again…Google. Every book will have a mix of both or you will find critical sites that make a point to give you both. Search the archives of those sites. Are they madly in love with EVERY FREAKIN BOOK THEY READ?????? No? Yes?
The thing is, while the FTC may have a specific problem they are going after, some very small bleeding fish are going to get a new one ripped open from this…
That is, unless readers and people in general understand the in’s and out’s and why’s of all this.
And there you have it…hopefully you understand now…if not…
C.H. Scarlett can SUCK IT!!!! lol
Yep, I fell for it!
Right before Christmas we rushed around to do our shopping. Money was tight this year (how many can relate to that one) so we basically focused on the kids. It’s all about the kids anyway, isn’t it? So we go to a mall in a city called Harrisonburg where we hope to find some better deals. While we were leaving, this girl grabs my arm. She is selling some sort of lotion. Well that annoys me, having anyone ‘grab’ me especially when I don’t know them. But I tolerate it or let it go simply because she quickly explains, “My English not so good. I am from Israel and I just moved here.” I said, “Really? Did your family move with you?” She answers with a sad face, “No, it is only me and my sister. The rest of our family is still there and its very dangerous for them with the bombing and everything.”
Well my heart sunk, cracked, shattered, however you want to put it. I stood there talking to her for sometime because I felt so awful for her. It was Christmas and she was all alone except for her sister and her family, well you can imagine.
She tries to sell me the lotion. She works on commission. Its a small bottle of lotion and I nearly die when she says its 49.95. Now I explain that it’s Christmas and money is very tight. If i spend that money on the lotion then I have to short my kids a gift. I tell her I am sorry but I can’t swing it right now. I feel really horrible about this. So horrible that I go back to my truck with my husband and try to figure out a way to strength and bend things to free up that 49 dollars. We simply can’t manage it and on the way home I feel absolutely worthless. I get a little sentimental during the Holidays. Every Christmas I try to do one good thing for someone else but this year, I just couldn’t swing it. All I could do this year was invite some people I knew to Christmas supper knowing that it would help them out so they didn’t have to worry about getting the money for their own. Other than that, I really couldn’t do much else. It really sucked. (excuse the term but it really did)
So during Christmas, I thought allot about this woman and her family especially seeing the bombing and so forth going on in Gaza. I was still thinking of how I could buy that lousy lotion lol even if I’d never use it. I really hoped that her family was safe and I even lit a candle for her a few times.
Yesterday, my husband went to another city near us to take our boys to Game Stop. They received a Gift Card from a relative. While there my husband notices someone very familiar. When he comes home he explains all about it. He says, “Remember the woman selling the lotion who was from Israel? The one you have been worrying about?” I said, “yeah, what about her?” He says, “Well I saw her today at Game Stop.” I said, “Really? Did you find out how her family was doing?” He said, “Well I started to but I was trying to wait until she stopped talking to the salesman but then once they were done, I changed my mind.” I asked him how come? He said, “Because I don’t think she was from Israel after all. In fact, her accent sounded more southern than yours.”
I was absolutely floored.
I know people run scams all the time but this one seemed absolutely ruthless. To try to make a buck on the sympathy for a country being bombed was just …well there are no words or at least no words that I can think of which wouldn’t be offensive. Needless to say, my husband heard those words and just what I thought of this girl. And he couldn’t really argue because his words were pretty much the same thing.
The entire situation just makes me want to scream. I am glad that I didn’t buy that lotion and I am glad that girl didn’t make a commission based on my stupidity.
Signs of Abuse: Mentally & Physically
A friend of mine, “Gate Lion” and I were discussing abuse. She had been reading a book and was kind enough to type out many of the warning signs, etc and send them to me. She was also kind enough to let me put it on my blog. You might be wondering what this has to do with fantasy and so forth (which is what I write, that and Paranormal). Well in my books I like to write about strong women or characters. Not all of them start out that way but eventually they find the strength that each of us have. Eventually they stop living a Fantasy that lacks a happy ending…until they leave that is. There is the happy ending or beginning of one. Let me also say that women are not the only ones stuck in these types of relationships. Men often find themselves with ‘women’ who hold these warning signs as well.
Some important things to remember…believe in yourself. Love yourself. You can not save people no matter how strong your love is for that person. People have to be willing to save themselves and if that person is leaning on you to save them, then that means they have no intensions of doing it themselves. Relationships are work but they are not a prison sentence. If the person brings you harm and things are NOT getting better…leave. Don’t waste your time on someone who doesn’t deserve you.
C.H. Scarlett
The book is “Why does he do that? Inside the mind of angry and controlling men”. It talks about how that type of a man IS in fact ABUSIVE even though he never strikes her. Instead abusing say drugs or alcohol he abuses women.
Here is a list of “warning signs” to watch for to see if these people will become abusive, and the are signs of abuse itself are;
Speaks disrespectful of his former partners.
Nothing is ever “his” fault.
Does favors for you that you don’t want
or puts on such a show of generosity that it makes you uncomfortable.
Is self-centered.
Is possessive.
Is controlling.
Has double standards.
Abuses drugs or alcohol.
Is distrustful towards you.
Intimidates you when he is angry.
Treats you differently around other people.
Appears to be attracted to vulnerability.
Has negative attitudes towards opposite sex.
Gets serious too quickly about the relationship.
Characteristics of abuse in an argument
Sees the argument as “war”.
The other is always wrong.
Has an array of controlling tactics in conflicts.
Sulking,
Sarcasm,
Ridicule,
Swearing,
Interrupting,
Walking out,
Playing victim,
Provoking guilt,
Towering over you,
Yelling out shouting,
Blocking a door way.
Threatening to leave you.
Distorting what you say,
Threatening to harm you.
Name calling, insults, put-downs
Not listening, refusing to respond,
Walking towards you in an intimidation way.
Criticism that is harsh, underserved, or frequent,
Changing the subject to his grievances,
Turning your grievances around to use against you,
Laughing out loud at your opinions or perspective,
Smirking, rolling eyes, contemptuous facial-expressions.
Using a tone of absolute certainty and final authority – “defining reality”
Accusing other of doing what “he” does, or thinking the way “he” thinks,
Other forms of physical intimidation, such as getting too close while he’s angry.
Making sure “he” gets “his” way one way or the other.
Shadow People, Shadow Beings, Shadow Spiders & Other Worlds Part 3
Part 3:
A little bit more on Hypnagogia –I wanted to comment on some of the information out there.
In the period of waking up or falling asleep sufferers of hypnogogia feel awake in the mind but paralyzed in the body.
The above statement is not completely true. Not all people experience paralysis. For those who do, they do not experience it all the time and some people only experience it in the beginning, if at all. Let me also point out that if you are going to research this, it is spelt Hypnagogia not hypnogogia. Hypnogogia is a common misspelling of the word.
That’s all I am going to say about Hypnagogia for now. We will go back into it later on once I weed out the info concerning it.
So what is on the agenda for today? Let’s go back to the Shadow People.
To refresh your memory:
Shadow people (also known as shadow men, shadow folk, or shadow beings) are supernatural shadow-like creatures of both modern folklore and traditional native American beliefs. According to folklore, they appear as dark forms in the peripheries of people’s vision and disintegrate, or move between walls, when noticed.[1][2]—Wikipedia
Possible explanations for Shadow People :
*Other World—dimension: Some people theorize that these beings come from another level of existence, other world or another dimension. Some believe that this dimension sometimes overlaps with ours, letting us catch a glimpse of them.
*Watchers: Some believe that these beings are what they call, “Watchers’. Now theories vary here and you will find people who actually relate them to the Watchers of the Fallen Angels. Some relate them to the Watchers of the biblical sense which did not fail God, or they have a whole other legend following. I think its important that people wash the ‘evil’ sense away from these theories though. As long as we fear it, hyping ourselves up, we will never discover the truth. Personally, I believe this is your own back yard. Nothing can hurt you unless you let it. Until we figure out what these beings are, its best we keep the fear at bay. This way we can come to some conclusion and investigate.
*Evil: With the above being said, I have to mention that one of the most common beliefs out there is that these beings are Evil, a devil or demons and some people go as far as to say , it is Lucifer himself. I can’t agree with that, sorry. I do not want to judge other people on their experiences but once people get passed the fear, there are too many positive and interesting testaments out there concerning this phenomena. I doubt that if it were Evil, that would be so. Fear kills us from discovering the truth…from fear comes ignorance and from ignorance, blindness…period.
*Ghosts or Spirits: It is one of the most common theories out there hovering right next to the Evil, demon one. People seem to believe that the Shadow spirit or being is just another type of Ghosts or Spirits. I think it is too simple of an answer BUT, if that’s all they have, then I respect that. Like us, they are just trying to figure this whole thing out right? And it is way better than the Evil thing.
*Astral projectors: Some people seem to think that these beings are someone astral projecting either from another dimension or from our own. Like people, they can be good or bad.
*Karma: Someone said that people begin to experience these beings once they start clearing out Karma. That’s all they said but later, I found many others who felt the same thing. Now even though this is at the bottom of the list for reasons, I thought it worth mentioning because it is a spreading reason.
*Succubus or Incubi: This is also at the bottom of the list and also fits under the whole Evil/Fear explanation. Apparently these people are having sex in their dreams and it is leaving them absolutely exhausted or drained.
_______________________________________
I think that is enough reasons. So lets focus on the lore surrounding them and or the Shadow of a person rather. That might help.
Egyptians called the shadow khaibut. The Egyptians believed that the khaibut was one of seven souls that each person had. The Roman word for shadow was umbra, also meaning ‘the shade’ or the ghost of an individual who went to a place called the Land of Shades. The land of Shades was believed to be underground or part of an Underworld and after the person died, their shadow went there. In Greece, people were known to dedicate their shadows or give them over to a God such as Zeus. This was considered to be a marvelous sacrifice but at the same time or later on, fearsome. For instance, it was believed that if a person went to the temple or sanctuary of Zeus Lycaeus, they would lose their shadows. For those who do not know, Lycaeus was believed to be the origin of Werewolves and from this particular story, maybe some of the lore concerning werewolves became born. In medieval times, werewolves and vampires were a phenomena that said that anyone cursed this way, lacked a shadow or reflection. They lacked soul.
Also in the medieval times, cornering a witch and proving her to be one, the shadow played a big part. If someone sold their soul to the devil then they had no shadow—hence shadow being linked with the soul again. In Europe, people believed that the shadow beings desired blood and without it, couldn’t be reborn. Superstitions and fear spread like the black plague concerning a person’s shadow. People refused to let their shadows fall on graves, a rumbling river or near a cliff.
In biblical times, curses were spoken on a person’s shadow. For example in Numbers 14:9 –“Their shadow is departed from them.” Saying something like that meant undeniable doom and was the lowest of low. I gather that in today’s times, it would be worse than throwing shoes.
Now kicking aside the superstitious fear concerning the shadow, according to Pagans and those before them, in ancient times…a person who did not have a shadow was NOT a demon, a vampire, a werewolf or someone who had given their soul over to any devil. They were believed to have went into some sort of eternal bliss.
Plutarch said, “At the end of the world, the blessed ones would be happy forever. In a state neither needing food nor casting a shadow.”
So if we take into consideration what the Ancients believed concerning ‘Shadows, Shadow sightings and people’, is it safe to say that the Shadow experience you have had, is indeed a spirit or ghost or someone who has passed on to the other side? Maybe, but then again I have to personally wonder…why are so many sightings the same? Why is the image that we see of the Shadow person always a common one? Is it that all dead people wear hats, or cloaks or are seen staring at the floor? Why are the shadows able to take full form or any form—animal, creature, man, while other dead people can only become orbs or when they take actual form, look like an actual person?
Where are the Shadow women? Not one person I have interviewed, have I heard or read any reports concerning a Shadow person looking like a woman. I have read and heard of small shadow figures being no bigger than a child but people do not connect them with actual children. it is only the size that they are compared to verses the others who can be up to seven feet or more in height. No women…unless you listen to the incredible but draining stories of sex that some seem to link with the succubus and incubus theories. With respect, those aren’t enough to me. There aren’t enough of them being told on or off the internet. So there doesn’t seem to be any pattern there for me except maybe someone is having some awesome dreams and the rest of us should be simply jealous lol.
If the Shadow beings are ‘Watchers’ then does this make them some sort of guardian? And why do some attack or is it like Carry said, it was her own fear doing this to her. If they are Watchers, then what are they watching? Surely they know more than we do. Is there a reason some see them and others do not? The ones who see them, do they have a link or connection to these beings while others may have a connection to some other paranormal type thing? I know it has nothing to do with open mindedness. I have interviewed to many people that had no knowledge and or belief in them. It just started to happen and that’s when they started looking for answers. Some incidents start happening when people are children while others happened as adults.
I think we will need to look more into the Underworld or Land of Shades, which again means there will be more parts to this subject. We also have to look into the lore of the Spider and try to help people figure out what that is that they are seeing. Like the shadow people, there are very few stories out there but even less concerning the spiders. The only answers that these people are finding is that either they are crazy, dreaming or it is being confused with some spiritual symbolism or dream analysis. These people like my friend Carry know that this is not a dream. So pretty soon we will explore that one and I am sure we will touch base with some of our previous subjects as well.
Shadow People, Shadow Spiders, Shadow Beings & Other Worlds Part 1
Shadow People, Shadow Spiders, Shadow Beings & Other Worlds Part 2
Shadow People, Shadow Beings, Shadow Spiders & Other Worlds Part 3
Shadow People, Shadow Spiders, Shadow Beings & Other Worlds Part 4
Resources:
http://www.sleepdex.org/hypnogogia.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Person
The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths & Secrets by Barbara G. Walkers
What we will do to make ‘Christmas’
Does anyone remember the Little House on the Prairie episode where Charles hocks his fiddle in order to buy his wife some sort of hair clips and she cuts her hair and sells it in order to buy him something for his fiddle? Maybe that’s how the story went, if not, you get the point and in case you don’t I am pretty sure it borders on sacrificing so that you can make someone else’s Christmas. The season of giving and all of that.
Despite the TV show, it seems that, that very spirit still exists. Today in the news I found an article which touched me greatly and reminded me how very hard people are struggling not only in the economy but for Christmas as well.
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CNN:
Unusual — and legal — ways to make money
Desiré Henriksen feared that there would be no Christmas for her two boys. She had lost her job at Denny’s, where she worked the graveyard shift. Her fiancé, who works as a glazier, was having a hard time finding regular work. And the couple fell behind on the mortgage last month.
So Henriksen, of Phoenix, Arizona, cut her hair and sold it on the Internet to a hair trader in the Netherlands.
“Everyone was telling me how beautiful my hair was,” the 27-year-old said. Her friends suggested that she sell it.
“I thought, ‘Why not? I’ll check it out,’ ” she said.
“We’re trying to keep our place here,” she said. “We don’t want to become like people right now who are losing their homes.”
With the economy squeezing the budgets of more Americans, some people are looking for creative ways to pay their monthly bills. Selling hair on the Internet is just one of those unusual methods.
“We’ve seen about a 20 percent increase in the last four months,” said Jacalyn Elise, co-founder of TheHairTrader.com, referring to the number of ads offering hair for sale posted on her site. “These days, some people are just in need of money.”
Henriksen was paid $1,200 for 27 inches of her tresses. But most hair is sold for about $300 to $900, says Marlys Fladeland of Hairwork.com. The hair is used to make wigs or hair extensions or is used in artwork.
The longer the hair, the more it is worth. Untreated hair is also likely to fetch a higher price, Elise says.
For Henriksen, cutting her hair was always in the cards. But she had planned to give it to a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces for children who lost their hair after cancer treatments.
“Initially, I had grown my hair out to donate to Locks of Love in memory of my mother, who passed away from cancer last year. I was going to try to give back to people who didn’t have any hair. But it didn’t work out that way. Instead, I got my kids Christmas [gifts],” she said.
In addition to buying presents for her 10-year-old son and 3-year-old stepson, Henriksen paid off the overdue mortgage bill.
She was so pleased with how easy her hairy business deal was, she says she’s planning on growing her hair out again and selling it on TheHairTrader.com to help pay for her wedding.
A professional lab rat
Others are taking more drastic measures, becoming medical guinea pigs.
Paul Clough, 30, fell on hard times five years ago. A homeless man suggested that Clough take part in medical clinical trials, and now it’s his full-time gig.
Clough estimates that he brought in $28,000 this year by participating in seven medical trials, having his blood taken 500 times and ingesting about a dozen medications.
The Austin, Texas, resident has tested everything from cholesterol-lowering drugs to hepatitis C and HIV treatments. He even set up a Web site, Just Another Lab Rat, which explains how and where to volunteer.
Clinical research requires testing drugs on volunteers to determine whether the drug is appropriate for the market. The test subjects may be required to stay at a clinic or may have to visit the clinic a few times. Depending on the clinic and the trials they participate in, they may be paid $50 to $5,000 each time. Trials can last 10 days to a month.
Safety concerns include side effects or drug reactions, but for many volunteers, the payout outweighs the risks.
“Some people live study-to-study,” Clough said. “They have immediate bills to take care of. And a lot of times, when people don’t get into the study, they are concerned about how to pay those bills. They don’t know what they’re going to do.”
“Five years ago, it was mostly students,” he said. But today, he sees “Realtors, taxi drivers. … It’s any walk of life you can think of.”
Your personal gold mine
Jeweler Les Harrell of Littleton, Colorado, struck gold when he had the idea to give people cash for their gold — at parties.
It started out as a fundraising event. But seven months later, he has a Web site, Gold Exchange. He’s hired three employees, and he’s throwing gold parties seven days a week.
Friends and neighbors assemble to swap gossip, have drinks and get their jewelry appraised. Harrell pays cash on the spot for folks willing to hand over their gold. Later, he sells it on the market. He has operations in Colorado, New York and California.
Deanna Molinaro was skeptical when she was invited to one of Harrell’s gold parties this summer. But the Denver, Colorado, resident changed her mind after walking away with $700 for a wad of tangled gold bracelets, a herringbone necklace and some mismatched earrings.
“I was floored,” she said, when she first heard about the cash. “I made a lot of money on things that were lying around in my jewelry box for 20 years.”
Harrell says he typically pays $5,000 per party, not including the cut the hostess makes and the referral fee. And it’s not always jewelry he’s appraising.
“I’ve seen it all,” he said. “Grandma’s old dinosaur ring, gold teeth. I buy a lot of gold teeth, class rings.”
One item he remembers fondly: Uncle Louie’s bridge. “It weighed almost 2 ounces,” he said with a hint of amusement.
People have, on average, about $300 worth of gold just lying around, Harrell says, and liquidating that hidden treasure can help them balance the family budget.
Harrell’s parties were initially geared toward the upper class, but his clientele is changing. “What was fun money becomes, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is a big help,’ ” he said.
In reality, a drawer full of costume jewelry, broken chains, errant earring backs and muddled memories may turn out to be next month’s heating bill.
One woman, living alone on Social Security, recently turned over a shoebox full of jewelry to Harrell to see what, if anything, she could get for it.
“She really didn’t know what was real or not,” related Molinaro, who helped with the transaction. But she cleaned out everything she had. In the end, her shoebox was worth $350.
“She was so excited to get it,” Molinaro said. “I got a big hug out of her for it, too.”
~~~
You have to admire personal sacrifice and possibly, if your sentimental like me, go for the Kleenex. You also have to admire the spirit these people have and determination to survive.
C.H. Scarlett
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