This is great! I have been challenged by each one of the suggestions. I admit to having become cynical after so many times of feeling powerless. Your post gives me hope.
I agree with the tip to give positive feedback. The service folks get so little of it and when they do they almost drop to the floor in gratitude. When I have exceptional service, I always ask to spek to the manager oo the way out and tell them how great it was. I admit its kind of funny to watch the trepidation of the manager thinking he is about to get yet another complaint.
Yep, I agree, there are many great places for buying both original art and prints online from really great working artists. Deviant Art is good, but Imagekind (http://www.imagekind.com) has better quality prints and more variety.
I have to say, if I was headed to Chez Panisse, I might actually just forego wine altogether. I completely agree with the assessment that it is incredibly fun to sip a nice red from a fishbowl-sized glass with a teeny stem, but if I'm going to be even slightly frugal about going out for a fabulous meal, I might skip the booze altogether, or imbibe at home. Or, order by the glass. I'm sure that pegs me as a total foodie outcast, but I'm thinking that a large corkage fee pretty much counteracts the point of the BYOB concept to begin with.
two buck chuck is a friend of mine. especially for using in recipes, but i certainly have it straight from the glass every now and then. and i do believe it'd be totally fine to carry a bottle to the local curry house or somewhere equally casual. just don't expect the sommelier at chez panisse not to look at you funny when he takes the corkscrew to humble chuck. then again, if you're paying a 50 dollar corkage on a 2 dollar wine, i'd look at you funny too. =)
Don't be hatin' on the Chuckster. Can I pour my Charles Shaw into an empty bottle that used to contain an expensive wine, or do they check the integrity of your cork at the door?
I did laugh out loud at your second recommendation:
2) Marry your boyfriend. From the brief description you gave, I predict he will be a millionaire in less than 10 years. If he doesn’t propose to you, then you go ahead and ask him. Trust me.
Andrea, Thank you for participating in the Carnival of the Storytellers. I hope the comments I made about your post on the Carnival don't bother you- was just having a bit of fun.
Good tips. I find one basic rule goes really, really far:
Don't curse and don't raise your voice. Just don't. The moment you take it to that level of obvious anger, you are about 99% more likely to get zippo. And it'll just serve to make everyone around you uncomfortable.
You can get away with expressing your anger or disappointment as much as you want or can if you don't do those two things.... and CSR's will often stay with you about making you whole.
I think there is great value especially for the artists who contribute and sell in this way. The artist gets more exposure while refining his/her techniques and still is able to pay for materials through selling the art itself. I did a post about this on the 23rd on Artist Hideout. I'd love to see more people promoting these artists and helping them get their start.
These are very helpful tips. I have always been too lazy to write these type of letters. Maybe all I need is a little help and extra incentive. Thank you for the extra push.
"An artist is crazy to waste his time and talent to make $20 or less on a painting.... That is humiliating to make below minimum wage."
Maybe to some people the act of creating art and sharing that art with other people are inherently valuable experiences that are beyond the measure of pure monetary value.
98% of the art on eBay is total junk. Any good art is totally underbid. An artist is crazy to waste his time and talent to make $20 or less on a painting. The time to paint, the materials, the time to administer the sale is hours and hours. That is humiliating to make below minimum wage.
i found a great artist on ebay by the name of steve keene. his goal is to make art available like music is, so he does hundreds of paintings every week and sells them for ridiculously low prices. you don't know what you're getting, but for $20 you can get one fairly big painting (20x26 I think). he also sent me 5 extra paintings for free.
My apartment is also decorated with Ebay stuff, though not all paintings. I've got drive-in theater posters, bowling stuff and LOTS of old paint-by-number paintings. Nothing cost me more than about 40 bucks, and most was in the range of 12-20 bucks.
[...] Ethnic Markets: Feel worldly for cheap at Wise Bread is unarguably the best post I have read this week! As one of the reader comments, this article “should come with a warning label: do not read while hungry. Or perhaps: Drool-proof your keyboard before reading”. If you are a foodie like me, you should check it out! [...]
This is great! I have been challenged by each one of the suggestions. I admit to having become cynical after so many times of feeling powerless. Your post gives me hope.
I agree with the tip to give positive feedback. The service folks get so little of it and when they do they almost drop to the floor in gratitude. When I have exceptional service, I always ask to spek to the manager oo the way out and tell them how great it was. I admit its kind of funny to watch the trepidation of the manager thinking he is about to get yet another complaint.
thanks!
Yep, I agree, there are many great places for buying both original art and prints online from really great working artists. Deviant Art is good, but Imagekind (http://www.imagekind.com) has better quality prints and more variety.
I have to say, if I was headed to Chez Panisse, I might actually just forego wine altogether. I completely agree with the assessment that it is incredibly fun to sip a nice red from a fishbowl-sized glass with a teeny stem, but if I'm going to be even slightly frugal about going out for a fabulous meal, I might skip the booze altogether, or imbibe at home. Or, order by the glass. I'm sure that pegs me as a total foodie outcast, but I'm thinking that a large corkage fee pretty much counteracts the point of the BYOB concept to begin with.
two buck chuck is a friend of mine. especially for using in recipes, but i certainly have it straight from the glass every now and then. and i do believe it'd be totally fine to carry a bottle to the local curry house or somewhere equally casual. just don't expect the sommelier at chez panisse not to look at you funny when he takes the corkscrew to humble chuck. then again, if you're paying a 50 dollar corkage on a 2 dollar wine, i'd look at you funny too. =)
If only it were that simple. :)
Don't be hatin' on the Chuckster. Can I pour my Charles Shaw into an empty bottle that used to contain an expensive wine, or do they check the integrity of your cork at the door?
I did laugh out loud at your second recommendation:
2) Marry your boyfriend. From the brief description you gave, I predict he will be a millionaire in less than 10 years. If he doesn’t propose to you, then you go ahead and ask him. Trust me.
Andrea, Thank you for participating in the Carnival of the Storytellers. I hope the comments I made about your post on the Carnival don't bother you- was just having a bit of fun.
DigitalRich (http://digitalrich.blogspot.com/2007/01/carnival-of-storytellers-2nd-edition.html)
Good tips. I find one basic rule goes really, really far:
Don't curse and don't raise your voice. Just don't. The moment you take it to that level of obvious anger, you are about 99% more likely to get zippo. And it'll just serve to make everyone around you uncomfortable.
You can get away with expressing your anger or disappointment as much as you want or can if you don't do those two things.... and CSR's will often stay with you about making you whole.
You can also buy original prints from Deviant Art (www.deviantart.com)
awesome, ispf! I hope you make good use of these tips. Then, I hope you invite me over for dinner!
I think there is great value especially for the artists who contribute and sell in this way. The artist gets more exposure while refining his/her techniques and still is able to pay for materials through selling the art itself. I did a post about this on the 23rd on Artist Hideout. I'd love to see more people promoting these artists and helping them get their start.
agreed. etsy is great. i keep away from that site though because once i start browsing i want to buy everything.
Etsy.com is also a really great place to find terrific art. There are a lot of very talented and creative people.
These are very helpful tips. I have always been too lazy to write these type of letters. Maybe all I need is a little help and extra incentive. Thank you for the extra push.
"An artist is crazy to waste his time and talent to make $20 or less on a painting.... That is humiliating to make below minimum wage."
Maybe to some people the act of creating art and sharing that art with other people are inherently valuable experiences that are beyond the measure of pure monetary value.
98% of the art on eBay is total junk. Any good art is totally underbid. An artist is crazy to waste his time and talent to make $20 or less on a painting. The time to paint, the materials, the time to administer the sale is hours and hours. That is humiliating to make below minimum wage.
i wld like to see your art work
i found a great artist on ebay by the name of steve keene. his goal is to make art available like music is, so he does hundreds of paintings every week and sells them for ridiculously low prices. you don't know what you're getting, but for $20 you can get one fairly big painting (20x26 I think). he also sent me 5 extra paintings for free.
http://stevekeene.com/
You don't neded to buy ebay stuff...with my website i gave away my art because i think that free art = free artist...
painting, photgraphy...just choose and i'll send you the artwork for free
Great article. I've also bought some great paintings on eBay that would have cost me at least 10x more in an art gallery here.
And if you like Swinton, try Gus Fink:
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZgusfink
My apartment is also decorated with Ebay stuff, though not all paintings. I've got drive-in theater posters, bowling stuff and LOTS of old paint-by-number paintings. Nothing cost me more than about 40 bucks, and most was in the range of 12-20 bucks.
[...] Ethnic Markets: Feel worldly for cheap at Wise Bread is unarguably the best post I have read this week! As one of the reader comments, this article “should come with a warning label: do not read while hungry. Or perhaps: Drool-proof your keyboard before reading”. If you are a foodie like me, you should check it out! [...]
Great advice :) I'm loving the idea just thinking of this ^^ Lifehacker once again linked to a great blog :)