The Craig's List Experiment

Earlier this month I conducted an experiment on Craig's List. Here is the posting. It's pretty bizarre, to say the least. Also, I want everyone to know that it was only up for slightly more than twenty-four hours. So, when the above link dies, here is an image capture of the posting:

The buyer who contacted me proposed a third payment option: five dollars worth of his wife's holiday baking. I went with that in a heartbeat. More Christmas cookies and one less Cole MacGrath statue for me. The cookies disappeared quickly; I even shared with my roommate. This is the last one:

Let's talk about art. This cookie is art. It tastes as good as it looks. I would know, I'm eating right now, getting powdered sugar all over my keyboard. Festive.

Demotivational Properties of December

December has felt like a severely-off month. For the first time in my life, I'm bothered by commuting to work in the dark and returning home in the dark. It weighs on me. Makes me feel like doing nothing. Not even video games. I've been on a four day Skyrim break. After work, when I get home, all I want to do is watch T.V. or sleep. Of course, I don't actually watch television; I threw in disc 1 of the Full Metal Alchemist series and hit play all. With eight discs of this anime (I don't have, nor have I seen Brotherhood), I can continue for seven more business days. The weekends don't count, obviously. I find things to do.

During these dark times, I find myself returning to my PSP and Disgaea while bundled up in bed. Flipping between Dark Hero Days and Afternoon of Darkness takes its toll after extended stays in the item world. The Demotivational Properties of December. If this observation were a natural law, classified and categorized by scientists, it would have that title. Perhaps this subtitle: "Winter's Return to Disgaea." I'll draft the abstract as soon as winter is over. In May.

It's a scary thought, but this observation does confirm something I've long suspected. If I could only ever play one video game, that video game would be a Disgaea game. Which game in the series? Well, I'm working on narrowing that part down.

I've heard this diagnosed as seasonal depression, which doesn't seem accurate because:

1. I'm not depressed, just feeling lazy.
2. If this were truly seasonal, shouldn't it happen during other seasons too?
3. Where does the affinity for my favorite SRPG come in? That does not make sense.

Wookies don't live on Endor.

"One theory is that reduced sunlight during fall and winter leads to reduced production of serotonin in the the brain." Thanks, WebMD. Now I'm paranoid. The good news is that this laziness has not crossed into my work life. I'm just as distracted as I always am.

Anyway, here's my prescription: grind in the item world until geo panels make you hurl, return to Skyrim, kill a dragon, feel awesome, and (finally) make fun of the stupid guards.

Five Bucks, Sour Gummy Worms, Or Best Offer

It's time to start thinking about the future. I have too much shit. And I'm not talking about all the crap I have stuffed in a dresser at my house in Whiterun.

When I first moved out of the dorms and into an apartment, I could fit everything I needed into my full-size conversion van. After moving off campus, I lived in an apartment for a year with friends. At the end of the year, we packed up and moved to a new place. I did this for three years in a row. By the forth move, I had found a stable job and an awesome roommate. With so many moves under our belts, we decided to stay in our apartment for a while before packing up and moving again. Well, it's been four years. Now it's time to move again.

And I am not excited.

Eight months and my lease is up. That's plenty of time, right? Maybe. Maybe not. I need to get rid of some crap. I've amassed a strange collection of junk; assuming there's someone else out there who likes the kind of junk I like, maybe I could sell some of it.

I'm not one to toss everything in the dumpster; I'm a huge fan of thrift stores and I'll probably donate at least a couple boxes to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. I'm also going to try and sell some things on Craig’s List, which will be a whole new experience. As an avid browser of Craig's List, I kinda know how it works, but I've never bought (or sold) anything on there.

I already have my first item in mind. A total splurge and fandom impulse buy, I picked up the Hero Edition of inFAMOUS 2 for the game (obviously) and for the rockin' Sly Cooper/Cole MacGrath sling pack; this special edition also included in-game items, a comic book, and a statue of Cole. I absolutely don't care about the statue. Maybe some inFAMOUS fan will really want just the statue? Maybe some crazy inFAMOUS fan will want two statues? I guess a pair of Cole statues could make good bookends. Or PS3 game case-ends?

That's my idea for my first Craig's List sale. Is five bucks overpriced? Maybe I should ask for candy, instead. Sour gummy worms might as well be currency, in my opinion.