Saturday Morning, April 4, 2026
Who Could Ever Learn to Love a Beast
They are soo...weird! A gaggle of girls glanced across the classroom and giggled. Boys, lost in a computer program, stopped, and looked up. Strange, aren't they? said one lad. Their laughter echoed back. A standoff. Glances and stares filled the gap. Where are all the normal boys? exclaimed one girl. A boy snapped back. Certainly not attracted to you!
Landscape of characters. Beauties, beasts, & flying monkeys.
Poster signed by Ray Bolger & Jack Haley. 29½" x 23½"
Mary-Lynne Moffat art creations. 7½" L.
Each saw the other differently. An arbitrary judgement. Normalcy, a consensus based on what? Riddle me this. Who among us can stand as judge and jury on this determination? Many opine, most supine. A comment occasionally heard in the gallery. It's not the normal crowd. Au contraire. Diverse characters enrich the room and the world each week and every day. Each of us believes he or she to be normal. You know, it's alway the other guy. This, the beauty in the beast.
In a Galaxy Far, Far Away
A classic scene in a legendary movie. Star Wars' Cantina. A stopping point for every outlaw, gambler, pirate, and criminal in the galaxies. The humorous scene is underscored by a 1920's style clarinet melody, reinforcing strangeness in the landscape. Every shaped creature haunts the bar, speaking multiple unrecognizable languages. Tempers flare. Conflict ensues. Confrontations pass. All returns to as it was with nobody seeing anything. We, the viewers, judge it quirky. But those who line the bar and fill the tables and chairs, well, it is just another day in this intergalactic watering hole.
A character captured in time. Daguerreotype, ca. 1850.
Never Kick a Puppy
Bullying is the easiest predicament to fall into. He is different. Three words to create mayhem. When youngsters gather, the lure is ripe. Ridicule and insults rain down upon the victim. Piling on is a natural curse. Participants fall inline more so from fear. Tomorrow they could be the target, so why not join the crowd. Strength and safety in alignment.
Here is one cool cat, who should never be kicked either.
Mechanical tin windup toy. 9" H.
Pair of cast iron bookends. The gridiron, a magnificent place to vent.
The bully finds power in this weakness. The outcome is intervention, usually from parents. The better solution is a hard right hook to the jaw. Bullies have a quick way of folding. All this boils down to who is getting bullied. It is normally a person who sees the world far differently. People like Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Plato, and Johannes Gutenberg.
Better to stroke than smack. Never kick a puppy.
So, who among us on a Saturday is normal? Hopefully, no one. Our bouillabaisse is one delicious dish. The strength of the auction system relies upon this. Monday mornings find many absentee bidders arriving to pay their bills. It is here, far from Saturday's busyness, one can learn what makes each person who they are. Rewarding conversations indeed. Politics aside, similarities are apparent. Each one blazes his or her trail through life, and those trails can be fascinating. He is different. She is weird. You bet. The gallery is a garden with many flowers, offering different blooms, endless paths. Life as it should be.
Cast iron dachsund, 8½" L.
Doors open 8 AM. Auction starts 9 AM. PA AU 1265L [bb]