Comments (60)

1. (1) Dusty/dirty side table that when cleaned up actually had beautiful in-laid wood design. I’ve had someone offer me several hundred for it (paid $15) but I won’t part with it.

   (2) House was broken into about 10 years ago and they took the typical electronics, cash and guns but for whatever reason they also stole 2 handmade Christmas ornaments. No, never got any of it back.

   (3) “Love Story” by Taylor Swift has been going through my brain non-stop for 3 days now.

   (4) I don’t understand the general facination with awards shows…do they really draw in a large audience, how many are created just for TV and who really cares?

   posted by Carol on 11-7-2008 at 3:18 pm

2. 1. a game called ‘pig mania’, where instead of dice you rolled these small plastic pigs, and were awarded points based on how they landed (on feet, on side, leaning forward, etc). Very odd.

   2. I lent the bass guitar I’d used all through playing in bar bands in high school to a friend, and it got ripped off by a roommate of his. It had lots of sentimental value so I was pretty sad, but it got put in perspective pretty quick: when the friend came clean about it being stolen he also told me he had cancer. He died a few long and hard years later at age 28. I think I can live without the bass.

   3. ‘The roof is on fire’ by the bloodhound gang. I’d never heard it before, but it was streaming on a website today. I keep hearing ‘the roof . . . the roof . . . the roof is on fire . . . the roof . . . the roof . . .”.

   4. I’m always very pleased with the TED talks you post. I don’t have time to dig around the TED site too much, so if you ever find anything good please post it.

   posted by EV on 11-7-2008 at 3:29 pm

3. 1) I remember being a young boy and going to garage sales with my grandma. At one, I found a huge box of GI Joe figures for $.25 each. I poked around the box trying to decide which one I would ask her to buy me. When she saw my deliberation, she picked up the first one she saw and said, “Do you have this one?” I said, “no” so she put it in a bag. She grabbed another and asked the same question. With the same response it too went in the bag. And so this went until the bag was buldging with America’s Elite Anti Terrorism Task Force! Come to think of it, I probably owe her lunch for that!
   2)7th Grade, I had my Jean Jacket Stolen out of my locker. I even know the degenerate that took it, but principle did not believe me. sigh
   3) Last week, sick in bed with a fever, I couldn’t get “This is Halloween” from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” out of my head. I tried to force it out of my head by replacing it with any random song. The track my brain came up with : “Close to You” by the Carpenters. Where did that come from?
   4) Star Wars Christmas Special. Never seen it, but I heard its wretchedly aweful!

   posted by Ryan on 11-7-2008 at 3:33 pm

4. 1. Garage Sales – I love garage sales, I found one recently where a lady was selling a vintage Fisher Price Farm in good condition with all the pieces for $5. I knew what she had, she obviously did not, I talked her down to $3 and sold it on eBay for $80 + Shipping.

   2. In college I had 2 DVD players stolen in one year. In the first semester my door was kicked in while I was in class, the next semester in a different dorm building my roommate left our window unlocked and it was stolen during Spring Break. My roommate WAS an idiot, but I still think he took it to a pawn shop.

   3. The election just ended but I still have a song stuck in my head for a candidate for County Judge (“Da-vid Minceberg, he worked for Mayor White. When Houston’s got a problem, you know he’ll make it right!”) Click my name and it will take you to the YouTube of the song.

   It is really funny, Harris County (Largest County in Texas) got Obama fever and before election day every county wide office was held by a Republican, on election day there were 32 (I think) county wide races on the ballot, the Democrats won all but 4! David Mincberg was one of the 4 who lost. Some say everyone was impressed by Judge Emmett’s leadership during Hurricane Ike, I blame Houstonians annoyed by Minceberg’s song.

   4. Do an article on Flossiest Christmas gift ideas, you can plug some things from your store, but find something really cool that I might want!

   posted by Witty Nickname on 11-7-2008 at 3:35 pm

5. 3. Not recent, but when I was in law school a commercial for the Bozo TV show on WGN would ring through my head on random occasions. Just the part where someone said, “Bonkers for Bozo” and a chicken replied, “I’m clucky for that clown.” Guess I was working too hard….

   posted by Merlinsmom on 11-7-2008 at 3:46 pm

6. 1 – When I was younger my mom’s girlfriend was having a garage sale and had this gorgeous quilt. I begged her to keep it and give it to me and she made me a bargain that if it didn’t sell, I could have it. I won, and it’s still on my bed to this day!

   2 – I had my wallet stolen once while I was at work. When I called the credit card company to cancel it, they told me that the guys who stole it spent $15 at Taco Bell and then tried to make more purchases but the card was declined. I hope they learnt their lesson – never steal from an actor/writer. They rarely have money.

   3 – “Love…love will keep us together…think of me babe whenever…”

   4 – I’m really curious as to why Christmas is such a huge turkey day. You never have turkey in May or June, just for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. Why turkey? I can understand potatoes and carrots…but it’s practically immoral to not eat turkey at Christmas. Is it eaten everywhere or just in North America? Maybe it’s a “too much oven heat” thing…is it eaten in the Southern US as well?

   I think that’s the most I’ve ever thought about turkey…

   posted by Jenny on 11-7-2008 at 3:52 pm

7. 1. Never bought anything good from a garage sale, unless you count and old Are You Afraid of the Dark board game for old time’s sake…

   2. while visiting my mother’s grave on my eighteen birthday (the first time in ten years) me and my friend had our purses stole right out the car. This included her cell phone, which had the two way (beep beep) on it. no, we never got it back, but her mother hit her phone up and the two thieves actually answered.
   “You two g&@ d3@# N#G%#@ give my daughter her phone back or I am calling the cops because this phone HAS GPS on it and I will hunt you down myself how dare you do something so despicable on a holy graveyard…” it went on and on, their only response was “Give us more money” and that was “you took my last five damn dollars”
   no, i never got my checkbook back, and had to do years of police filing and such on that. damn.

   3. I had the Safety Dance stuck in my head for a week. And yes, I danced because I wanted to, and i sure as hell left my friends behind…

   4. A Christmas Story – and the marathon that has been my family tradition since FOREVER. It never gets old, especially when Santa uses his boot to push Ralphie down the slide. and him beating the snot out of Farkas. And the tounge-stuck-to-the-flagpole. And the Christmas goose at the chineese restaurant. oh, the memorie!

   posted by MamaBug on 11-7-2008 at 3:53 pm

8. 1. I bought a teacup with daffodils on it for fifty cents when I was nine years old. I still have it and use it to make tea in my college dorm.

   2. In middle school someone stole my religious medal–a silver image of St. Joan on a chain–from my gym locker. I flipped out because my grandmother had given it to me and I had worn it every day since.

   A few days later a girl returned the medal to me, saying she found it in the hallway. I never got the chain back, but that was easily replaced. To this day, I don’t know whether she was in on taking it in the first place, but I am thankful to her for returning it.

   3. Not a recent song, but the who’s Pinball Wizard. I just unlocked it in Rock Band 2, and I love it to death.

   posted by Rosie on 11-7-2008 at 4:00 pm

9. The song that’s stuck in my head is the one from the Discovery channel commercials: “I love the (blah, blah). I love the (blah, blah, blah).”

   Boom de ya da

   posted by Craig on 11-7-2008 at 4:01 pm

10. 1. I just recently went to my sister’s garage sale and ended up getting a lot of my old stuff back that I had as a kid that she had for sale. We didn’t realize she took one of my boxes when moving out of our parent’s house. She didn’t charge me anything!

    2 I live in the oldest part of Jacksonville, FL close to downtown where there is a church that feed a lot of homeless people at lunch and then kicks them out to roam the streets until they go to shelters at night. Them breaking in to houses are pretty common but one time about 2 years ago one of them hit my house and decided to shower, shave and make some dinner. He was there for a while. He also took one of my gym bags and stuff it full of jeans and t shirts (I guess we were the same size to bad he was walking around girls pants) Anyway about 2 weeks after the break-in, I saw a homeless man walking down the street with my bag (it was embroidered with my name) Had I not been told that the man who broke was caught and confessed to multiple break-ins I would of tackled the guy. He must have gotten the bag from the crook before he was caught.

    posted by Jennifer on 11-7-2008 at 4:02 pm

11. 1) Best purchase: I bought an old 6 sun himitsu bako (Japanese Puzzle box) for $5. The person didn’t know what it was and labeled it as a decorative block.

    Most memorable: I bought a little junk monster… some little sculpture made of welded nuts, bolts, springs, spark plugs, etc. made to look like a creature. My wife hates it and occasionally “misplaces” it while cleaning. I occasionally put it out in a prominent place and “forget” to put it away…

    2) I’ve had my car stereo stolen… and never got it back. While they were at it, they ripped out the dash and generally trashed the interior of the car. That was years ago though and I no longer have that car.

    3) I can’t get the theme to Mario Bros. out of my head ever since your Koji Kondo post yesterday.

    4) Nothing I’d really want to see featured, but I’d love the see the search function return to the blog. I really miss it. Oh, and I agree with EV, I do like the TED talks and science topics that Chris Higgins posts.

    posted by Jason! on 11-7-2008 at 4:06 pm

12. 3. My windshield wiper blades right off my car. Why anyone would want used windshield wiper blades, I’ll never understand.

    posted by KJ on 11-7-2008 at 4:06 pm

13. 2. When I was studying in Europe I lost my wallet – twice – and got it back both times.
    First time was in the Geneva train station. I took 450 francs out of the ATM for that weekend’s road trip, put it in my wallet, and immediately lost it. My friends and I searched the train station for about 30 minutes. Then a young backpacker walked up to me and handed me my wallet. I hugged and kissed him and then he just walked off. The 450 francs were still there.

    The second time was in an internet cafe in London. I saw my backpack shift as the guy behind me got up and left. Just to be safe, I checked and, sure enough, my wallet was gone. I chased the guy down the street and grabbed him from behind. He stopped very cooperatively once I caught him, and he offered to show me where he had stashed my wallet. I got it back and, again, everything was intact. I consider myself extremely lucky.

    posted by Shannon on 11-7-2008 at 4:10 pm

14. 3) I always get that Target commercial song stuck in my head!

    This is a brand new day
    And its getting better every single day
    This is a brand new day
    And im feeling better when you say
    La la la lala lala love…

    posted by Me on 11-7-2008 at 4:20 pm

15. 1. I haven’t gone to a garage sale in a long time (too poor, no time, blah, blah, blah) but one of the most useless things I bought at a sale was a pair of New Yorker cartoon collections. I took them home and only understood about 70% of them and laughed at about 50% of those. Then put them in OUR sale pile. The circle of useless crap continues :)

    2. I’ve been fairly fortunate so far to not own anything worth stealing, but when my family lived in Hawaii, someone broke into our garage and stile about $5000 dollars worth of my dad’s power tools. the police took a statement and we never heard about it again.

    3. ‘Love Lockdown’ by…a rap artist, I forget. My roommate plays it every day and I end up going to work with it stuck in my head.

    4. I’d rally like to hear about how other countries celebrate April Fool’s day. In Japan, they try to pin paper fish to each others’ backs.

    posted by heather on 11-7-2008 at 4:21 pm

16. 2) When I was in highschool, I had my most prized possession (at the time) stolen from me: my Sony Discman and my Lifehouse “No Name Face” CD. I had the headphones around my neck and the Discman on the table behind me. I had turned around to talk to a friend and when I turned back, someone had unplugged my Discman and taken it, CD included. I was so upset!

    Later my CD was returned to me…in about 10 different pieces (found on the football field outside.)

    I never found out who took it or why they chose to destroy the CD…I eventually bought a new CD but am now WAY more careful about watching out for my personal things!

    posted by Kyla on 11-7-2008 at 4:27 pm

17. You appreciate this Jason. I got the Elmo theme stuck in my head. My 17 month old daughter luvs him so I am trying to learn it on piano.

    posted by Marty on 11-7-2008 at 4:33 pm

18. we want the search function!! we want the search function!!

    not a garage sale, but i found a great side table at a local Goodwill for $3.48. it’s sturdy solid wood and looks great.

    i’ve had my car keys and some jewelry stolen from the locker room in HS. i was bummed to lose the keychain, but i was lucky to not have had my most valuable jewelry taken, just some cheap stuff. i never saw them again. fortunately, my parents had spare keys to the car.

    i’ve had “Like That” by the Black Eyed Peas running around in my head for the past several days. very catchy tune.

    posted by the creature on 11-7-2008 at 4:37 pm

19. We’re having a garage sale tomorrow.

    posted by Sara on 11-7-2008 at 4:42 pm

20. 1)I bought a wooden chair with a neon orange cushion for $5 from an elderly woman and her middle aged son. The man pulled me aside and thanked me for “making an old woman’s day.”

    2)I used to work at a bookstore in Naperville, a rather affluent suburb of Chicago. I parked in a garage, and I never locked my doors, thinking no one would steal my 1991 Dodge Caravan or anything inside. One day, I came back and my boombox was gone. Boomboxes come and go, but my copy of “Transatlanicism” by Death Cab for Cutie was inside at the time. I loved that album.

    3) “Waste” by Phish. It’s a pretty song.

    4) I was always entranced by the luminaria. Otherwise, I think all of our Christmas traditions are queer amalgamations of Polish, Bohemian, and Welsh customs all mashed together.

    posted by Bob on 11-7-2008 at 4:43 pm

21. 1. Last summer I went to a yard sale and spoted tons of vintage 40′s, 50′s and 60′s eyeglass frames. Just as I was taking my choices up to the owner it started pouring rain. I helped the gentleman pack up the yard sale items and move them into the garage, and he gave me the glasses for free as a thank you. I’m going to have my perscription put in one pair (mint green cat’s eye w/rhinestones!), and the others I think I’ll either sell or have sunglass lenses put in.

    2. When I was in middleschool I had my backpack stolen out of my mother’s car. It was the most awesome and durable magenta eddie-bower backpack (which I probably also got at a yard sale), but the real loss was the school library books I had in it. About a week AFTER explaining the situation to the librarian, she pulled me out of class to tell me that a friend of her’s had found several of the books thrown haphazardly into her yard, and several more in her neighbor’s yards. I explained to her that the thief was probably throwing the books out the window as he drove in the search for more valuable items. I still feel a little hurt when I remember the tone in which she accused me of mistreating her books.

    3. “I kissed a girl and I likes it” by Katy…whoever. I’ve never actually heard the song, but the girl in the next cubicle sings along with her radio while I try to drown her out with my NPR.

    4. Rocky. Horror. Picture. Show. …and a search function.

    ReCaptcha: Englishmen on

    posted by Mandragora on 11-7-2008 at 4:57 pm

22. 1) I once had a garage sale at the same time as a neighbor who had an Amish friend selling baked goods. I was able to trade a bucket of cloth straps for a pie – pretty sweet deal.

    2) In high school, I had a pair of shoes stolen. Not fancy, expensive shoes, old worn out leather loafers. They were taken from a shared locker room during a wrestling meet. I think they were taken for spite.

    3)I have the Nokia ringtone stuck in my head – I don’t know if that counts. dada da da dada da da dada da da da…repeat.

    posted by SDK on 11-7-2008 at 5:01 pm

23. 1. Not me so much, but my brother always scored at garage sales as a kid. One day he came home wearing an air raid helmet and dragging a mannequin arm with him. Another time he scored a very excellent telescope for $5.00. I think he still uses it. And one time he got an entire ham radio tower – huge- for free just for asking for it. He was like 12 at the time and all the old men who were ham operators just loved this punk who would join them for Marconi day every year. Well, one guy died and the widow gave my brother his old tower. Gotta love it.

    I did once sell a broken tv set for $5.00 and also a bunch of crap that I hated, except my mom was there and got really offended that I was selling gifts she gave to me.

    2. I had a big plastic candy cane taped to my car antenna at Christmas time last year, and some jerk stole the whole antenna, not just the .79 cent candy cane. ugh.

    3. “What’s This?” from the Nightmare Before Christmas…..have I possible gone daffy?

    4. Definitely the Yule Log…..hours of video of a fireplace…. can’t get more ghetto than a tv broadcast of a burning yule log for those that don’t have a fireplace….except maybe for those cheesy cardboard fireplaces that were popular in the early 1970′s.

    posted by qt314159265 on 11-7-2008 at 5:05 pm

24. 4. “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas” — it was my favorite holiday special as a kid, and it’s still not the holidays without it for me, but so many people look at me like I have four heads when I mention it. I think it actually broke a lot of ground, too, for Muppet technology.

    posted by M on 11-7-2008 at 5:05 pm

25. great, now I have the safety dance stuck in my head.

    Thanks MamaBug!

    ..we can dance, we can dance, everyone look at your (hands? pants??)…

    posted by SDK on 11-7-2008 at 5:06 pm

26. 4. I just remembered…..The muppets Christmas Special with John Denver. I had the soundtrack on 8 Track tape. Man, I miss the Piggy puddin’.

    recaptcha: Juanita ration

    posted by qt314159265 on 11-7-2008 at 5:10 pm

27. 2. my dodge neon was broken into a few years back. they got my stereo and a 100 disc cd collection (most of it awful, im sure the theives were dissapointed). they had pried my door open to get in, luckily i was able to bend it back in place. only a slight crease indicated there had been a break in. a couple of times since then, i had locked my keys in the car. i loved watching my friends expressions when i would casually say “no big deal” and peel back the passenger side door to get to the lock. “i am very strong” :)

    3. that darn “womanizer” song by britney spears won’t stop playing in my head

    4. i too love “a christmas story”. some interesting facts or a quiz would be nice. the flossy gift guide would be nice too.

    posted by tiffany on 11-7-2008 at 5:13 pm

28. 1. For my something old I bought a decent looking old costume jewelry set at a garage sale. It needed cleaned, but had a victorian look. Actually it turned out to be depression era costume jewelry worth more then the $2 I paid.

    Another time I bought a piano for $5 (they wanted it gone). It turned out to be a 1905 schulz (?) player piano. I was having it restored when our house burned.

    2. Most recent was my husband’s loss. He left his cell phone on his desk and went to the rest room. He knew who took it but couldn’t prove it.

    3. I’ve had this one stuck in my head for months. I finally get it out and they would play the political commercial again. The song — “Bob the Builder”

    4. Mistletoe
    “and chisholm” is the catchpa’s contribution

    posted by Lorelei on 11-7-2008 at 5:16 pm

29. In Concordia, KS a few years back I bought a small cardboard motion toy for 50 cents. Turns out it is a over-100 year old zoetrope, worth about $500.

    posted by JFS in IL on 11-7-2008 at 5:35 pm

30. 3. so as reading all these posts almost every song played in my head and now i have a headache…
    4. i would so love an article about the word “got” my pet peeve…did you get that movie instead of understand that movie…or did you get that email instead of receive that email…and so on…

    posted by Julia on 11-7-2008 at 5:45 pm

31. I will look for a new working search bar at the next neighborhood garage sale.

    In the meantime, if you’re looking for something specific, you can email me — jason at mentalfloss dot com — or send an instant message (on AIM) to flossyjason. I’ll try to point you in the right direction.

    posted by Jason English on 11-7-2008 at 6:19 pm

32. 2. When my husband and I were in college, I took a load of blue jeans down to the laundry room in our apartment complex. I went back to our apartment to get more laundry, and when I walked into the laundry room, the washer where our jeans had been was standing open, with soapy water all over the floor, blue jeans gone. We called the cops, and they actually caught the guy. The cops said they needed to keep the clothes as evidence…we never saw them again.

    posted by Erika on 11-7-2008 at 6:59 pm

33. I once bought a box of books for $2 at an auction. It contained mostly history books. I took them home and put them in the bookcase. Months later my husband said “did you know that Eisenhower book was signed?” ONe of the books was “Victory in Europe” by Dwight Eisenhower and there was a letter signed by him pasted inside the back cover. I took it to an auction house and sold it there for $200!

    posted by Annette on 11-7-2008 at 7:08 pm

34. 1. I always find something I find temporarily fascinating, then realize it’s really not that cool, then give it to GoodWill b/c I’m too lazy to have a garage sale…
    2. Early 90′s, convinced my BF that it was safe to park on a side street in New Orleans. The side window got broken out, only MY suitcase got taken, and it had my favorite pair of perfectly broken in jeans and a great pair of Tevas in it. They left an expensive camera AND the extra set of keys to the car! Obviously never saw any of it again. The car had no A/C, in Louisiana…I would have traded the car for those jeans any day…
    3. 2nd the “Bob the Builder” song. Both b/c my 3 year old was Bob for Halloween, and it’s inevitably what I mentally sing whenever I hear an Obama “yes we can!”
    4. We officially begin the Christmas season Thanksgiving night or the day after with “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”…great story, great trivia, love Dr. Seuss!

    posted by ashleyrobin on 11-7-2008 at 8:40 pm

35. 1. My former neighbor is a handyman. When people hire him to clean out basements, garages etc., he can usually keep anything they don’t want, and he has tag sales a few times a year. Once he had a decent coffee table that was grubby and the top was scratched up. I bought it for $3 and figured I’d paint it. I started cleaning it and the wood started to look really bright. I pulled the drawer out and there was a name printed inside. After looking online, I figured I’d better not paint, just in case. Willett rock maple (dang thing is heavy) currently isn’t as popular as cherry, but you never know. I covered the scratches with a doily and it’s a beauty. (I am still kicking myself for not buying the sign he was selling, “Brain surgery while you wait”)

    2. I lent a book to a former co-worker, and when she returned it I forgot it at work overnight. It disappeared. I had no idea that a Joseph Citro folklore book was a hot commodity.

    3. I had this stuck in my head off and on for a few weeks ’til I bought it on iTunes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vUqeDPZZ80

    4. I add my huzzah to the mention of the various Jim Henson / Muppet holiday specials.

    posted by steph on 11-7-2008 at 9:32 pm

36. 1) Dark Tower – It was an electronic, fantasy based board game. The game play was kinda stupid, but got more amusing the more alcohol one had imbibed. We had a rule in college that no game may start prior to 3am or continue beyond sobriety.
    2) A couple years ago I had a breakin at a house we were moving out of. Most of our good stuff was gone, but there were some valuable items. Instead, they opted to steal a Sega Genesis…not exactly cutting edge and it avoided the whole “why do you still have that” conversation with the wife.
    3) I keep getting Groovie Ghoulies songs stuck in my head…which is okay with me.
    4) So how come no one ever plays ‘A Wish for Wings that Work’, the Bloom County Christmas special. Yeah, it wasn’t great, but it can’t have been worse than some of the ones that do get played. I only remember it being played one time. Also expanded Arbour Day coverage.

    posted by rexology on 11-7-2008 at 10:10 pm

37. 1. A book from the 1940s about how to choose a mate. It’s hysterical!
    2. A pair of jeans and my favorite black bra…by a psycho ex-roommate. I will never get them back.
    3. The “it’s a small world” song is currently stuck in my head after looking at that Lego post.

    posted by rachel on 11-7-2008 at 10:26 pm

38. 1) I don’t have any good stories about garage sales but my friend found a 1950s cabinet Victrola phonograph once. It is way cool.

    2) The same friend lost/had stolen a very special camera that belonged to me. I was in Rome, wandering around a beautiful church when my camera was stolen from my pocket. I so, so upset about it…mostly because I had been warned about pickpockets so I should have known better than to keep things unprotected in my pockets. Later, I found a camera store with a clerk who did not speak any English. I knew no Italian. I pantomimed what kind of camera I wanted and she helped me as well as she could. I bought a pretty good camera from her and proceeded to take pictures of St. Peter’s with it. I loved that camera (as much as one could love a camera) because of how I had bought it. When my friend went to Rome the next year, I lent it to him as he didn’t have his own camera. He left it on a bus seat in Rome… I was so very mad at him for doing something so stupid, but in a way, I’m glad that the camera was lost in its “home”.

    3) A lovely song from True Image from Spike Lee’s Acapella special from the 90s.

    4) No idea. I do love the Claymation Special from the 80s/90s but I don’t know if that’s worthy of an article.

    posted by Carrie on 11-7-2008 at 10:59 pm

39. 1+2) My ex and I had a garage/yard sale one time with just junk that we had collected over the years. All junk except the 500mm camera lens I was looking to divest myself from for a really good price, about $200. I was a really hot day with only a small turnout for the sale and I ended up taking the kids to the local swimming hole. When we returned several hours later the wife told me she had sold the lens. I groaned at the thought, I never told her how much I was looking to get for it. She said the lady who bought it took off like her pants were on fire. Hey, we got a whopping $20 for it.

    posted by Owen on 11-7-2008 at 11:23 pm

40. 3) I just watched the first season of Mad Men on DVD and I have the theme song in my head.

    4)The history of Christmas lights.

    posted by Gina on 11-7-2008 at 11:23 pm

41. 1: I don’t go to many yard sales, but my mom had one this last summer and I was able to take a cool looking glass and metal server set that my grandma gave her to sell. I’m gonna look it up on eBay to see if it’s worth anything!

    2: My best friend always steals my stuff (mostly my expensive perfume) but I usually am able to get it back. Although I usually have to be sneaky about it…lame.

    3:I have “womanizer” from Britney Spears stuck…especially since it was playing when I got into a car accident today!

    4: Something about Kwanzaa or an article about “A Christmas Story” would be pretty sweet!

    posted by Lindsey on 11-8-2008 at 12:08 am

42. 1. Nothing interesting, but a friend of mine and I [and our moms] had a joint garage sale together at least five years ago and somehow, a game we played together as kids got left at our house. Sadly to say, both my friend and her mother passed away almost two years ago in a car accident, and now I don’t let anybody mess with that game. [Sorry for being such a downer...]

    2. I lost my digital camera. I haven’t seen it in years and have since invested in a new [and much better] digital camera. There’s no telling how much stuff I’ve actually lost over the years, the camera just sticks out the most.

    3. “You Don’t Know Me” by Ben Folds, “Polite Dance Song” by the Bird and the Bee, and “Don’t Leave Me This Way” from the Blackpool soundtrack.

    4. Monty Python. Even if it’s already been done, this site needs more Python! In fact, I just happen to be a freakin’ font of Python information. (:
    I also agree on the Rocky Horror suggestion as well, but be sure to include Shock Treatment as well.

    Have a good weekend!

    posted by Myleti on 11-8-2008 at 12:08 am

43. 1. I found boxes and boxes of comic books from the 80′s and early 90′s at a yard sale once. I got 150 comics for $15.00. I don’t know if they’re worth anything but they’re sure a lot of fun.
    2. I can’t recall somebody stealing anything important of mine–maybe calculators at school, but my brother, just recently, got his glasses stolen when he took them off for a few minutes in the boy’s locker room.
    3. “When You Were Young” by the Killers and “You’re Nobody till Somebody Loves You” by Dean Martin.
    4. Yes to Monty Python and Rocky Horror Pictureshow.

    posted by AJ on 11-8-2008 at 12:28 am

44. 2. i got my purse stolen from a fast food place on new years eve last year. i forgot it under the table and came back within 5 minutes and it was gone. i spent the first 45 minutes of the year canceling my cards. the next morning i got a call from the police station located in sfo. the person who stole my purse decided to throw it out of the window of their car on the off-ramp to the freeway. nothing was missing.

    3. the other day my friend and i had the same song stuck in our heads at the same time. can’t stand losing you by the police.

    posted by britnish on 11-8-2008 at 4:26 am

45. @EV If you just sign up for the TED weekly newsletter, you’ll get the exact same videos that he posts. He’s just posting the video of the week.

    1. I got a first edition Ladders to FIre by Anaïs Nin for $1 and it ended up being worth about $150. Woohoo! I still have it since I collect first editions.

    2. Back in ’99, I lost my favorite wallet ever at Zilker Park. About a month later, I received a package containing everything that was in my wallet minus $20 and the wallet itself.

    3. I’ve been getting songs from Dr. Horrible stuck in my head lately. I don’t mind that, though.

    posted by nikki on 11-8-2008 at 8:16 am

46. 1. Framed Van Gogh print of “Irises” for about 3$. The frame was painted in swirls of color by a tween so I spray painted it black. It’s my only contribution to the decoration of my apartment and I love it.

    2. I attended a Halloween event at a local theme park one year and afterward went to Denny’s with all of my friends. After the meal was done the driver realized the keys were missing. We scoured that Denny’s and the surrounding parking lot for a good two hours. Some of the scare actors from the Halloween event were there and helped us look. It went something like “Hey remember in the clown house the ringmaster with the pink coat? I scared you guys! Now where did you last see those keys?” Eventually her dad had to drive (from an hour away) to bring spare keys. We finally left that Denny’s at 5am.

    3. Nickee Coco and the Invisible Tree by Of Montreal. They’re coming to my town in December so I have them on the brain.

    4. I second Emmett Otter. I haven’t seen it in years but it used to be my ultimate favorite. It’s one of those specials that only gets played once on some obscure channel and I always miss it.

    posted by NickeeCoco on 11-8-2008 at 10:49 am

47. I am all about Muppet christmas specials… any and all of them, muppet family christmas, christmas carol, emmett otter… even a very merry muppet christmas. Love them!

    posted by Shawn on 11-8-2008 at 1:24 pm

48. 1. Years ago my dad bought me my first (and only) baseball mit from a garage sale. It was worn in and an olive-y green color…I loved it. I hope to pass it onto my kids in the coming years.

    3. Earlier this week I had this link (click on my name) stuck in my head.

    4. I would love to see a post on how certain manners came to be (taking hats off when you enter a building, etc)

    posted by Christi on 11-8-2008 at 10:16 pm

49. 1. My grandfather used to always go to garage sales and i kept some as mementos when he passed away. One was wooden carving of a middle finger, another was a ceramic frog where if you turned it over you saw a surprise (it was a horny toad he always told me) and another was a dart board which i still have and use in my dorm today.

    2. I had this really nice head unit in my car that i got when i was 16. Unfortunately, someone decided to tear it out of my dash and after going through my change, he left my a present on the drivers seat: the ashes from his cigarette. Nice guy.

    3. Ooooooo that smell! Cant you smell that smell? Ooooooo that smell! It’s the smell that surrounds youuuuuuuuuuu!

    4. I agree with qt314159265, please cover the yule log phenomena on tv. And please profile the brilliant man who thought up that idea.

    posted by Ryan on 11-9-2008 at 12:56 pm

50. I found a 20lb ledger at an Estate Sale for $5. Bought it because of all the papers that were tucked in the pages. Turned out to be a 1901 ledger for the Mutual Wagon and Carriage Co. All their business conducted with companies needing vehicles and repairs are listed in detail. The papers were blotters and scratch notes on the back of blank letterhead. A true time machine.

    posted by Greg VA on 11-9-2008 at 1:26 pm

51. When I was in high school I had a crappy Mercury Sable that was all smashed up and none of the doors locked. It had a stock radio and nothing of value in it ever. It was broken into all the time. The potential thieves would throw my school books around looking for something good. I would always laugh at the suckers for thinking there was something good in such a crappy car.

    also a month after I moved to Chicago someone tried to mug me but I didn’t have anything to give him so I just yelled at him and told him I didn’t have anything. He tried to act tuff but after a minute gave up and told me to ‘get outta here’ as I walked away I realized how crazy I was. I should have just thrown him my wallet full of maxed out credit cards.

    posted by kat on 11-9-2008 at 5:58 pm

52. 1. I get great toys at garage sales – real toys that don’t require batteries and don’t blow my eardrums out. The best? A working microscope set (sans case) but with slides and samples and everything, for only 50 cents.

    2. Some pathetic excuse for a human kyped my wallet on the bus while I was 7 months pregnant and forced to stand. Got it back, minus the extra bus tickets and $5.

    3. Karla Bonoff – taken all I’ve got and now you’re leavin’, ooohwooohoooo, baby don’t go…

    4. Interview Linda Barry about her Poseidon Adventure New Year’s, I agree with Crackling Fire Log video, Why did they stop showing the Little Drummer Boy?, and here’s what mystifies me – why can you only wear snowmen sweaters at Christmas, even though it snows from Nov to Feb? What’s so damn Christmas-y about snowmen, except for Frosty?

    And when, and why, oh why did everybody start calling them “pumpkins” or “carved pumpkins” instead of jack-o-lanterns, which is what they really are?

    (feelin a little grinchy today)

    posted by Marion on 11-9-2008 at 6:40 pm

53. 2. I was fourteen and traveling from Orlando, Fl to Louisiana by myself on the bus. I get car sick pretty easily, I was in the bathroom tossing breakfast when somebody stole my wallet. Thankfully most of my money was in my shoe and the thoughtless thief only got my lunch money, which I wasn’t planning on using anyway.

    Captcha: wrong privates hmmm? something I should know?

    posted by Tessa on 11-9-2008 at 8:23 pm

54. 1) Its not really a valuable treasure money-wise, but the week before I left for college (yes, I was 18), my mom and I found an unused Elmo coloring book and crayons for 50c. We spent the afternoon coloring… it was a lot of fun, really. I kept the coloring book when we were finished, of course. Its amazing what 2 quarters can do.

    2)I knit myself a pencil case in 7th grade and it was taken when I left it in class one day. I was telling a friend about it (why I needed to borrow a pencil a couple periods later) and he told me that another kid was running around with it, telling everyone that his grandmother made it for him. I don’t remember if I got it back, strangely enough. I was a little upset about being compared to a grandmother, though.

    posted by julia on 11-9-2008 at 8:31 pm

55. 2) My purse was stolen too. I had gotten up to go to the restroom at a restaurant and someone swiped it. I was less sad about the stuff in it, the purse was a birthday gift from my sister. And it was Coach.

    In Middle School, someone stole my scientific calculator out of my locker, which had the misfortune of being smack dab in the middle of a blind spot in the camera system. The dean of students finally got it back, though. I was able to identify it because the thief had tried to scrape off the nail-polish designs I had painted on it.

    3) My Eyes, from Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. Ok, so it’s the whole soundtrack.

    4) I’m just looking forward to all the yummy holiday posts!

    posted by Kieran on 11-9-2008 at 9:22 pm

56. 2) my heart was stolen by a guy who pretended to be someone he really isn’t…..not really an item, but still….you would think a 42 year old would be finished playing with girls!

    3) Oddly enough, I have had the song Kung Fu Fighting in my mind this whole weekend…..it’s driving me crazy!!!!

    4) A Christmas Story – the movie about the kid named Ralphie and his hilarious family….You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!

    posted by Elizabeth on 11-10-2008 at 12:11 am

57. 1. Probably nothing too special, but I can’t wait to have one of my own and sell off all the clothes from my little girls along with some of the larger toys.
    Shout out to EV in the second post, I remember that Pig Mania game as well, weird game.

    3. “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix a Lot and “Da Butt” by E.U.

    4. I like the Manners topic, I think that would be an interesting one to see how much things have changed in the past 50-150 yrs or so in how we treat others.

    posted by jmd on 11-10-2008 at 6:49 am

58. 1) One of my co-workers bought an antique desk at a garage sale. When she took out the drawers she found a total of $700 attached to the backs of them.

    2) A few years ago, I lent my disc man and some cd’s to my brother, while he was in the hospital, to block out his roommate’s snoring and various sounds. He was out of the room for another surgery when someone ganked my stuff from him. About 3 months later I get a mysterious package at my office. It was from the head of security at the hospital. I had tucked one of my business cards in the CD case, which is how he knew where and to whom to send the items.

    3) Nat Kind Cole’s Quizas, Quizas, Quizas

    4) You can’t forget the classic He-man and She-ra Christmas special.

    posted by Erica on 11-10-2008 at 1:49 pm

59. @rexology–

    A Wish for Wings that Work is available on DVD! I bought it on Amazon last year. I had a horrible taped off TV VHS version that I watched anually until I lost it. It’s just not Christmas for me if I don’t watch my 3 favorite christmas shows — A Wish for Wings that Work, The Pee Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special, and Christmas Eve on Sesame Street

    posted by Brooke on 11-10-2008 at 4:52 pm

60. ”Trying to find vintage 1980s g.i.joe action figures and vehicles in garage sales nowadays is TOUGH!,especially when you’re looking for the 1986 COBRA NIGHT RAVEN S3P JET PLANE! -Good Luck.”

    posted by ''raven'' on 3-30-2011 at 3:30 pm

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