Tarot 101

 An easy-to-use version of the Tarot deck. Could be useful. Saw this in the Toy Joy window. 

Bye, Bye, Dolly.

 Saw this cute little doll on a trash pile the other day while walking. 

I'll bet it was some child's favorite years ago. Kids move on to other toys. Kind of sad.

Funny Farm!

Here is a nice example of making something whimsical to spice up a neighborhood.

Toys wanting a kid!

All kinds of cute toys wanting to have a home. This is another photo from the Settlement Home Garage Sale.

Too much cooking wine!

We saw this oven mitt in a South Congress window the other day.

How Much is That Kitty in the Window?

We saw this little 'good luck' cat in the Window of Toy Joy over on Second Street the other day. FFP immediately went inside to buy one. But all the others were sold so he bought this exact one in the window. (For less than ten bucks, I think.) It has a little solar cell and waves its paw when it gets some light.

Lost and found! Well, still lost!

This cute little bear was perched out on a strut under the MoPac Bridge one Saturday when I walked past. Two days later it was on the lost and found pillar near the north end of the path. I wonder what someone went through to retrieve it!

Hey kids! Let's build something!

This is one of Linda's favorite toys from her childhood. She loved putting things together with the parts in it. It still has a place of honor in our bedroom.

Nau's Has Toys

In a case at Nau's Enfield Drug store robots and mechanical toys appear. I don't think they are for sale but you never know!

Austin Landmarks in Lego

We've been 'working' hard at SXSW (film), but we haven't been to the convention center since Friday. In the interim Lego has put up a city with a bridge like the iconic Pennybacker over Lake Austin.

When I first posted this I failed to give credit to our friend Jackie for providing this picture.

Our nod to Christmas decorating

We've never been into having real trees for Christmas-- but Linda went to the trouble of carrying a huge container of bendable Santas and other little guys up from the storage unit a few days ago. I found this tree in it and put it on our counter. Hey, it's pretty festive!

Creativity is All

"Creativity is All, All is Creativity" seems to be the theme for SXSW. What we see above are some creations from the Lego pit (inset) that SXSW sets up in a corner of the Convention Center for some play time.

Thousands of Blocks

Wednesday night FFP and I bounced between two events celebrating milestones for themselves while making the case for your donation dollars. After a birthday party for The Ann Richards School for Young Women leaders at Lowell Lebermann's new home we dashed across town to the Center for Child Protection in their new location east of Austin. Both worthy endeavors benefiting kids. At the Kozmetsky Center for Child Protection someone had come up with an awareness campaign based on children's toys and games. Outside the center there were thousands of blocks representing the number of abused children in the county.

Souvenirs

A little personal aside today. This picture was taken in a 'spare room' at our old house where a toy collection and souvenirs of travels were collected on shelves. (Picture was taken in August 2001.) We have given away so many things and yet our condo is piled with stuff and we are still taking mass quantities out of the house. I'll try to return soon to Austin's icons from ridiculous to sublime.

Toy Joy

Toy Joy is a very unusual store on Guadalupe near the UT campus. While it is certainly possible to buy things for kids here (on my visit last Saturday they had a supply of an interesting Italian rubber riding toy) they cater more to college kids (and people who never grew up, like me). My friend and I walked around the store Saturday after eating a Greek salad and splitting a gyro across the street at Milto's.

While we admired a supply of two-headed babies (Halloween item?), a large man held up a rubber ducky with horns and ask the cashier, "Is this a UT tradition?"

"No," she said. "It's just an evil ducky."

Well, the horns did look a little burnt orange to me, although they were devil horns, not longhorn horns. Gives you an idea for a new variation on the rubber ducky, though.

"I'm from out of town so I had to ask," the large man said but not with much apology in his voice.

I used to collect toys before I became the downsizing queen. (More on that at The Visible Woman.) And my favorite thing to collect were "Bendable, Posable, Collectible" figures. You know like Gumby and Poky , those claymation characters brought to life with rubber with wire inside. I didn't buy anything on Saturday. Back in my collecting days I would have been tempted by Simpsons figures in Halloween costumes and some Gumby figures in outfits. But no more! My companion bought some bubble gum. I filed away things they had for kids for future reference.