Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Sunday Marketeering

Ah well, I've been a very bad blogger. I have no excuse except that the approach of the Sunday Market season, then the actual arrival of same, has kept me from pounding the keyboard blog-wise. Been slaving making new images for months, but not doing much else computer-wise except those damn online jigsaw puzzles, which are rapidly becoming some sort of weird addiction.

Sunday Market has been a revelation this year. And I don't mean in a good way. The gas prices have made things unpredictable at best. People who travel to Astoria have spent so much money on gas to get here, and to feed themselves once they arrive, that there is little disposable income left for frivolities like photos. Heavy sigh. It just ain't my year.

And it's getting to be a bummer to be there every Sunday, what with all the empty booth spaces all over the place. It looks like a ghost market. So this will be the summer of passing out business cards. Seems like a hell of a lot of work, emptying the car and setting up the tent and schlepping all that heavy crap under it, but hey, what the hell.

You may ask why I bother. I wish I could say I had a rational answer. I don't. Perhaps it is sheer masochism.

I tried the Grays Harbor Market, a good idea in theory. Yes, indeed, there is a parade of traffic going by on either end of the market, but ... there's no way to stop the traffic, and no place for the cars to park if they actually did decide to stop. Another heavy sigh.

Like Bette Davis said, getting old [and marketeering] ain't for sissies.

Click here to see Elleda's photography at the Astoria Photografpix web site

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its sad to see all the attempts at turning Astoria into a tourist trap. It's insulting for it's citizens to have to want to depend on such low means to get by. This was not too long ago a bustling industrial little city, but now these new people think it should be like Tiajuana or someting

Elleda said...

Well, the Astoria Sunday Market has been around since 2000, so it's not by any means a "new" thing.

Anonymous said...

hopefully it will pass into history. the sooner the better.

Sweeti said...

I personally enjoyed visiting your Sunday Market and I loved the music. We stayed at the Hotel Elliot and could open our window and listen.
I don't think these types of markets detract from the city, I'd live there, and the Sunday market would be on my list of things to do.
Astoria has a regal charm about it that is not by no mean cheapened by a Sunday market, On the contrary, I think it brings family fun and enjoyment to locals and vistors alike.

Unknown said...

I like the Market (been doing interviews and such for the E-newsletter) and have put in several Sundays beginning to end.
I understand how difficult it is, it's the hardest when there are little to no sales.
Interesting that I see people walking away with huge gobs of baked goods, but spending little on things they'll have for a lifetime...
I hope the Market finishes here on a higher note for all...just a month of Sundays left.
Good luck to you.