Yay Ebay!

Friday May 9th, 2008 - Lake Villa, IL

I love Ebay. What a great idea that was. A world wide rummage sale that gets people to bid against each other on a third party of people’s junk. Brilliant! I wish I’d thought of it. I’ve yet to learn how to sell anything but I sure have mastered the buying part. I’m hooked for life. I enjoy it even if it’s just browsing to see what other people are trying to unload.

There are baubles and trinkets and outright garbage and that occasional treasure that has kept me coming back. I’ve fished a lot of cool things off the cyber dung heap including an entire collection of Mad magazines and several out of print comedy albums I have looked for for years. Today my latest treasure arrived in the mail and it juiced me up once again.

I won a framed autographed red necktie of my comedy hero Rodney Dangerfield. A few years ago I was hosting a charity show and saw one at their silent auction. That one went for $275. This one cost me $50 with shipping. It also came with an unused ticket from his show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and a certificate of authenticity. I totally love it.

Maybe I’ll keep it and maybe I’ll give it to my friend Mark Shilobrit who’s having a big birthday this year. I’ve known Mark for 25 years and he was in the group of comedians in Milwaukee that started just before I did. He’d been doing it a few years when I started but we worked together hundreds of times over the years. He loves Rodney as much as I do.

Mark and his wife Tracy just built a beautiful house out in Waukesha, WI and it would look great on one of his walls. I move around like a gypsy and never know where I might hole up in any given year so the logical choice would be to let Mark have it and enjoy it.

I really do enjoy giving more than receiving. I loved the feeling of winning the auction for what I thought was a great price but the real joy would be to see Mark’s look when he opens it. That’s what I love more. If it were up to me I’d give presents away every day.

I try to do that when I can as much as I can. It doesn’t have to be a big money gift, only a gift from the heart that means something to that specific person. I always pack boxes of sports cards for my friends who have kids who would enjoy them. They aren’t worth any money but when the kids open them and see that huge box of cards they always light up.

Recently I found a huge box of toy cars I’d been saving for whatever reason and I gave them to a woman I know who has a five year old boy. She’s a single mom and can’t really afford a lot of extras right now and that box put the kid on cloud 999. She said he loved it so much she thought she might have to change his underwear. That’s what I love to hear!

I have far too many faults as a human to list and I am trying very diligently to live a life of honor and peace. I fail way too often and am far from where I want to be or thought I’d be but the spirit of giving is one thing I learned to love early. That’s one of the reasons for me being a comedian. When I can light up a room full of strangers and let them forget the troubles of their day it makes me feel like I do have an actual reason for living after all.