The Buzz and the Bazaar
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What I blew my paycheck on this week
by Jennifer Johnson
Dec 06, 2007
The Buzz
While the Internet is a fantastic way to try out new music, I still relish getting in my car and driving to a real store where I interact with live people. I’ve been listening to My Chemical Romance songs, both old and new, on the band’s Web site for a couple weeks. I’ve successfully bothered my neighbors with my late night singing and foot stomping (I wear headphones to keep the volume issue non-existent but forget that singing at the top of my lungs along with the music is counterproductive).
My MCR habit boiled over last week. I spontaneously grabbed a jacket and was out the door before the thought fully realized itself in my head. I arrived at Buzzard’s Videos & Discs, next to The Swiss, and found that one copy of MCR’s newest CD, The Black Parade, was up for grabs for $9.99 used. Yes, I could have gone to a mall, Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart or the like, but I enjoy spending my money at privately owned shops in my community. Give it a try.
[Buzzard’s Videos & Discs, 1916 Jefferson Ave., Tacoma, 253.591.0183]
The Bazaar
Holiday bazaars offer a chance to sample local designers all in one place.
Often there is such a wide variety of things being sold that one can get many, many Christmas presents in one shot, including handmade jewelry.
Handmade jewelry has always been of interest to me. In my teens and early 20s, I tried my hand at beading and made necklace, earring and bracelet sets for friends and for myself. Last weekend I stopped by a Christmas bazaar held at the Old Town Music Society on North 30th Street in Old Town Tacoma and came across a talented jewelry maker in Lisa Johnson. Her jewelry ranges from whimsical plastic candy-shaped earrings ($3) to elegant freshwater pearls in luscious glowing browns and amber colors strung on copper wire ($20). Johnson also uses carved metal and wood beads, semiprecious stones and crystals among other items in her work and was very agreeable to making a pair of earrings on the spot to match a necklace I was purchasing while I perused other vendors’ tables.
Over at S’ Marti Hats, Marti Lambert sat in a chair, fingers working busily on a new creation while I tried on wool, fleece and cashmere hats and scarves she’d knitted. I settled on a black wool cap with a swirling knit pattern ($6).
Here are a few bazaars happening this week:
- Holiday Artists Market, Dec. 6-9 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Theatre on the Square, 915 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5439.
- Holiday Native Art Fair, Dec. 7 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Dec. 8 noon to 5 p.m., Evergreen State College, 2700 Evergreen Parkway, Olympia, 360.867.6413
- South Prairie Marketplace, Dec. 7-9 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Highway 162 and Emery Street, South Prairie, 360.897.8141
- Duck The Malls Crafts and Arts Sale, Dec. 9 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Capitol Theatre, 205 Fifth Ave. E., Olympia, 360.754.3635
