Day 4: Be careful what you wish for...
The4ts requested: name something you have purchased / acquired but wish you had never, ever set eyes on (and why) and one thing you secretly covet.
1.) Name something you purchased/acquired but wish you'd never ever set your eyes on (and why)
Hmm. See, thing one, is a little tricky as the person in question may yet be lurking reading. Still, we can't live our lives without a little risk :)
Which sort of cuts to the heart of the story, but I digress.
So. I was at a convention, probably a Trek con, though it might have been a Buffy or Highlander con. It was definitely after the start of Angel: the series, for reasons that will become apparent.
I was wandering around the dealers' room with a friend, let's call her Caspian, and I spotted something on a table. It was a wooden box with a pyrographic angel drawn on the front in the style of the Angel business cards, and inside was a black goblet, a black rose, a small vial of 'holy water' and a wooden stake, all neatly organised on dark purple fabric. It immediately struck me as the perfect birthday present for Caspian, who was into Angel like nothing else at that time. I glanced around: Caspian and her boyfriend had wandered away down the aisle of dealers, so I had a moment to get a quick look inside, yes, definitely good, I glanced up again to see if I could buy it discreetly, but Caspian was coming back so I hastily made as though I was looking at something else.
She spotted the box, and commented on how awesome it was, and I agreed is a kind of 'yeah, it's okay, I guess' kind of way, and proposed going to find books.
Nobody is ever surprised when I disappear in search of books, which is tremendously useful sometimes.
Anyway, later that day I went back to the dealer's table to get the Angel box for Caspian's birthday, only to discover that it was gone! It was one of a kind, and I would have to think of something else. Ho hum. I thought of something else, and gave it to Caspian when the time came, and thought no more of it.
Until it got to my birthday.
Which is when Caspian presents me with a large wrapped parcel, and I start tearing it open, and I have this moment of 'oh shit, no!' as I put together the size and shape and the emerging wooden exterior before laughing and saying, 'oh wow, you got me the *Angel box* from the con! That's amazing! They had it and when I went back it had gone!'
'Yes,' she says, grinning happily at my confounded surprise, "I bought it because I saw you looking at it at the dealer's table, you looked like you really wanted it, but wouldn't."
And I laughed, and agreed, if perhaps not for the reasons she thought, and let it go.
I still have my Angel Box; I love it not because I like the box, which isn't really my taste, but because Caspian thought I loved it and got it for me when I wouldn't get it for myself.
Nonetheless, I still sort of wish I'd been caught staring thoughtfully at something else :g:
2.) Something I secretly covet
This is surprisingly tricky. I mean, I'm pretty up front with most of the things I want, and some of the things I secretly covet aren't really for sale, if you know what I mean :g: (though you know, put RDJ on a block and I will liquidate every asset I own). (also: not exactly a secret :g:)
There's things I ought to buy (like a new fridge freezer), and things I'd like to have (a wingback chair, a state of the art htpc) which I don't covet, precisely, so much as am waiting for exactly the right spec to come along, at which time I'll just buy them. I've put a fair amount of effort into not buying things that I'm not going to use, and the more so as time has passed and the space available in my flat has decreased (mmm, boooooks).
The only thing I seriously covet, I think, are some of Alyse's shoes. For those who don't know, she has the most amazing collection of absolutely gorgeous high heeled shoes, including a Marvel comics pair which she lent me once for a Connotations Mostly Tidy Dinner. I have no need or use for them, nowhere I would wear them, but they are beautiful, and I *want*.
(Ask me a question... Dreamwidth | LJ)
Cross-posted on Dreamwidth, with
comments.
1.) Name something you purchased/acquired but wish you'd never ever set your eyes on (and why)
Hmm. See, thing one, is a little tricky as the person in question may yet be lurking reading. Still, we can't live our lives without a little risk :)
Which sort of cuts to the heart of the story, but I digress.
So. I was at a convention, probably a Trek con, though it might have been a Buffy or Highlander con. It was definitely after the start of Angel: the series, for reasons that will become apparent.
I was wandering around the dealers' room with a friend, let's call her Caspian, and I spotted something on a table. It was a wooden box with a pyrographic angel drawn on the front in the style of the Angel business cards, and inside was a black goblet, a black rose, a small vial of 'holy water' and a wooden stake, all neatly organised on dark purple fabric. It immediately struck me as the perfect birthday present for Caspian, who was into Angel like nothing else at that time. I glanced around: Caspian and her boyfriend had wandered away down the aisle of dealers, so I had a moment to get a quick look inside, yes, definitely good, I glanced up again to see if I could buy it discreetly, but Caspian was coming back so I hastily made as though I was looking at something else.
She spotted the box, and commented on how awesome it was, and I agreed is a kind of 'yeah, it's okay, I guess' kind of way, and proposed going to find books.
Nobody is ever surprised when I disappear in search of books, which is tremendously useful sometimes.
Anyway, later that day I went back to the dealer's table to get the Angel box for Caspian's birthday, only to discover that it was gone! It was one of a kind, and I would have to think of something else. Ho hum. I thought of something else, and gave it to Caspian when the time came, and thought no more of it.
Until it got to my birthday.
Which is when Caspian presents me with a large wrapped parcel, and I start tearing it open, and I have this moment of 'oh shit, no!' as I put together the size and shape and the emerging wooden exterior before laughing and saying, 'oh wow, you got me the *Angel box* from the con! That's amazing! They had it and when I went back it had gone!'
'Yes,' she says, grinning happily at my confounded surprise, "I bought it because I saw you looking at it at the dealer's table, you looked like you really wanted it, but wouldn't."
And I laughed, and agreed, if perhaps not for the reasons she thought, and let it go.
I still have my Angel Box; I love it not because I like the box, which isn't really my taste, but because Caspian thought I loved it and got it for me when I wouldn't get it for myself.
Nonetheless, I still sort of wish I'd been caught staring thoughtfully at something else :g:
2.) Something I secretly covet
This is surprisingly tricky. I mean, I'm pretty up front with most of the things I want, and some of the things I secretly covet aren't really for sale, if you know what I mean :g: (though you know, put RDJ on a block and I will liquidate every asset I own). (also: not exactly a secret :g:)
There's things I ought to buy (like a new fridge freezer), and things I'd like to have (a wingback chair, a state of the art htpc) which I don't covet, precisely, so much as am waiting for exactly the right spec to come along, at which time I'll just buy them. I've put a fair amount of effort into not buying things that I'm not going to use, and the more so as time has passed and the space available in my flat has decreased (mmm, boooooks).
The only thing I seriously covet, I think, are some of Alyse's shoes. For those who don't know, she has the most amazing collection of absolutely gorgeous high heeled shoes, including a Marvel comics pair which she lent me once for a Connotations Mostly Tidy Dinner. I have no need or use for them, nowhere I would wear them, but they are beautiful, and I *want*.
(Ask me a question... Dreamwidth | LJ)
Cross-posted on Dreamwidth, with
comments.