Went to a fascinating estate sale a couple weeks back.

Big house. Full of stuff. Down in Milwaukie. The guy was a “Shipping Man” and based on some the trinkets for sale, he had been ALL over the world in his career. I got down there good and early, and there was the ugliest line of people you’d ever seen, with me coming in at the top of the list. Gross. I didn’t help things.

Here’s a scene from the “sweaty, pre-game wait” titled, “What It Looked Like While I Was Waiting To Get In” or, “Looking at Middle-Aged Asses, Volume 452, Scene No. 5634.” You pick.

The first thing I picked up was a little guide promoting some new container operations in the Portland port. Get in good and close on what I was looking at. And be sure to savor the type, the color and the shit-ass halftone grain. So good.

Detail 01: “Containerized Now…”
Detail 02: “Under Construction.”

So I rummaged through all the paper and collected a shoe box full of stuff. Let’s just call them,”Things I couldn’t live without.” Lots of shit falls under that classification in my life.

Here’s a couple things I saw, that I wanted to share:
01. “A whole collection of old calendars on a staircase corner.”
02. “A black and tan Gary was on one of them.”
03. “Things were just better back thenâ„¢.”

So I’m standing there, digging through this box of treasures and like a locomotive it hit me, yet again: “This was a guy’s life. All this stuff around you. And that life is done. And here you are, digging through it. Some stuff is valuable. Some stuff isn’t. But, it’s all his.”

Basically, I needed a little check in the “Have Some Respect” department of the big picture. Motherfuckers were fighting over glassware to my left, parting out the “vintage” clothes from the uh, “non-vintage” old clothes to my right and, one guy in a daze unrolled a big-ass port map—maybe the most beautiful thing in the house—took a “mint check” gander and then rolled it up and placed it under his arm. I know that guy’s face. He’s the guy that goes and resells stuff to someone else for a monster profit. I won’t get specific.

Nevertheless, to whatever ghost who’s wondering, know this: The stuff I took out of the house is in good hands.

And, I hope the guy who scooped up that map has it on the wall of his study right now. Maybe.

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GOOD DESIGN FROM A STATE WITH A GREAT FLAG: Tons of amazing logos over at 3 Advertising down in Abuquerque, NM. Nice stuff. Lessons to be learned from their handiwork. Our favorite is the “measure twice” mark. So good.

That flag we were talking about. Love it. Envy is felt each time I see it, then, happiness knowing just under a couple million people get to stand proud behind it.