http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2010/12/you-can-do-magic.html
I’m moving on from writing blog posts for ALA TechSource. My final post went up today. I do plan to return on occasion as a guest blogger. Today’s post is about MAGIC:
I also want to tell you a story about ten year old Michael. He really enjoyed afternoon reruns of shows like Gilligan’s Island, I Love Lucy and the like. A particular favorite, however, was I Dream of Jeannie. It was silly fun: a genie, a master and a Bottle. Do you remember the bottle? I do. I always wanted one. I daydreamed that the studio might someday mail one out to the biggest fans of the show or make them available in the stores. Never happened.
Fast forward twenty some years to the launch of eBay. I taught “How to eBay” classes at the public library for several years and one of the examples I used was searching for the 1964 Jim Beam decanter that was used for five seasons as Jeannie’s bottle. There was a big market for the bottles back then – and still is.
Fast forward another 15 years or so to 2010. I visited some good friends in Michigan a few days before Thanksgiving and discovered they owned one of the decanters! I had never held one in my hand until that day. Later that night, back home, I pulled up eBay and commenced bidding. 7 days later , delivered to my door just as young Michael had often wished, was a pristine 46 year old bottle. It lives on my sideboard now in a place of honor. It’s hard to describe how happy owning this silly piece of history makes me. Call me silly but the first day I had it, I’d stop and just look at it or pick it up. It made me feel good. Why did I wait so long?
This is my last regular contribution to the TechSource blog. I’m very proud of the work I did there. It all started in May 2005 when Theresa Koltzenberg invited me and Jenny Levine to dinner while we were in Providence, RI for presentations. She asked us both to sign on to a brand new blog under the ALA TechSource banner. Who knew what amazing things it would lead to! Thanks for reading my posts at TechSource.