Yesterday I got a call from Suzen of the Village Gallery, where I have ceramics on display and for sale. Someone from New Jersey wanted to buy one of my vases, and wanted it shipped to New Jersey. The vase had a $15.00 price tag. What, Suzen asked, did I want to charge for shipping?

This was a first for me at this gallery, and one of only two times in my years of stuffmaking that the issue of shipping had come up. “It’ll be another $15.00,” I said in three seconds or so, feeling a) like I’d just lost a sale; b) trepidant that the customer would go for it, and the shipping would be more; c) super-stoked that someone wanted it enough to pay more to have it shipped. Suzen said she’d call me back, and in just a couple of minutes, she did: Sold!

So my mission is to get this puppy safely to Medford, New Jersey, and contain shipping and handling costs. Even if it’s more than $15 to ship, I will feel victorious, and grateful to New Jersey, not only for Bruce Springsteen and Kevin Smith, but for the fellow in Medford who made my day.