Hello fellow FA Artists, Writers, Fursuiters, Crafters, Model Builders and other highly creative people.

I recently went through a spate of mail ordering collectables such as diecast model cars, CDs, DVDs and plastic model kits. Now the companies I was buying the goods from was pretty reliable in the past, but it had been more than fifteen years since I've ordered anything through mail order. One of the reasons for the lack of the activity was that I was still broke after the disastrous series of events that left me financially stressed and moving like every two years or so until finally settling in Pasadena. I must confess that even though I enjoy collecting model kits, I have no place to build them, -Yet. Nevertheless, I cling to the hopes that one day I might be able to build them, maybe after building a little shop in the garage. Then, there's my practice of "Zen Modeling" where I'll open up the box, study the instructions and imagine how I'd build and modify the kit to make the finished build uniquely mine.

Things are quite different from the time when I moved into the "Old Folks Home" with "More money than brains," as it was when I was ordering my model kits, collectables and comics through many catalogs and of course I lived in the vicinity of two major hobby shops and several craft stores. It seems that since the pandemic, most of these catalog sales have switched over to online sales to compete with Amazon and other sites. This might be a good thing for me as I'm reluctant to slap down the "Plastic," (My credit card.) for online sales. I got burned once, and I don't want that to happen again.

I've recently discovered that there are still plastic model selling sites that still do catalog sales, but their selection can be limited and subject to sellouts. So, the trick is to get the models I want while they're still available. However, two of these catalogs that I suspect could be one in the same, use the practice of slapping a "NEW!" label on the picture of a kit that has been recently introduced to the catalog. What they DON'T tell you is the "New" kit is either slated for distribution later on in the month or year or possibly held up in production for some reason. Recently I've had two instances where I've had to wait for almost a month after I had ordered the kits but thanks to the companies supplying me with updates on my orders and providing my tracking numbers, my models arrived safe and sound.

So now in my lineup, I have a trolley car, two tow trucks, a collection of motorcycles, several antique cars from the 1930s and a squadron of Anime related giant battle robot kits on the shelf, awaiting that spark of creativity that will inspire me to get back into my second favorite hobby. After this situation of dealing with the ordering backlog, the waiting and worrying about porch pilfering, I feel it might be best to take a break from my "Zen Modeling" habits and devote more time to my drawing and story writing. After all, it's all in the mind.

"Peace."