Mick and Holly's Stuff

The Hunger Games!!!

2012-01-20T16:47:00.000-08:00

This is my (Holly's) latest obsession. Our daughter's 5th grade teacher read the first book to the class and they were all hooked. Gen kept bugging me to read it and I finally gave in. All I can say is WOW. I hadn't heard of the book and as soon as I started reading it other fans popped out of the woodwork to gush about it. And now there's a movie coming out on March 23. Good thing I didn't read it until recently or I'd have been going nuts waiting for the film. This is probably the most excited I've been about a movie since Return of the Jedi. I can't get enough of the promos, news and interviews. My daughter got me to start a Hunger Games facebook group, where I'm posting all my favorite scoops. If you would like to join in with scoops of your own we're happy to have you. Just keep your posts kid friendly.

Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor!

1/06-1/08/11 Mick and Holly Are Clearing Out Books!

2012-01-06T16:38:00.000-08:00

In order to make room for some super cool new books we need to clear out the old! Almost every book in our store (www.mickholly.com) is 40 - 50% off right now, many with FREE SHIPPING. Plus if you buy 2 or more books and ship them together we'll send you a Starbucks e-gift card! Have a coffee on us as our way of saying Thanks! (supplies are very limited, so act fast!). Happy reading!

12/15-12/18/11 ENTIRE STORE ON SALE!!!

2011-12-15T14:29:00.001-08:00

That's right! EVERYTHING in our store at www.mickholly.com is on sale! Most items even have free shipping in the USA! Buy 3 or more items, ship them together and get a $5.00 Starbucks e-gift card (while they last)! Grab stuff while you can. Happy Holidays!!!

RIP Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

It's the end of an era, as my best friend said yesterday. I was saddened by the news of Steve Jobs' death. The man was an icon and an inspiration to many. I never knew him, but I did meet him a couple times when I worked in his building at Apple Computer (1998 - 2001). It was great to be a part of history, being on the campus for the launch of the flat screen iMac, the iPod, iTunes, Final Cut Pro, iMovie, iDVD and so much more. My heart goes out to Steve's family and friends, as well as the Apple fans who mourn him today.

-Holly

Mick's Latest Project - Batman and Robin #1 Sneak Peek!!!

2011-08-25T22:06:00.000-07:00

Mick latest book with Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, Batman and Robin #1 is coming out in September! Here are a few images to wet your appetite! Check Mick's facebook page to see bigger versions.

Mick Gray Signing at Hijinx Comics Today!

2011-07-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the late notice. If you're in the San Jose area head over to Hijinx Comics today between 11am and 1pm to say hi to Mick, get him to sign one of his books and check out his latest project Batman and Robin over Patrick Gleason. Hijinx is celebrating 25 years of business in the San Jose area. Show your support for small local business by dropping in and buying something. Comics are still one of the cheapest forms of entertainment around today!

Mick and Holly's 4th of July Sale!

2011-07-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 4th EVERYTHING in our eBay store will be on sale! Many items even have free shipping! Treat yourself to some cool stuff. You deserve it! Have a happy Independence Day, but please be careful with those fireworks.

Mick's Latest Project For DC Comics - Batman and Robin

2011-02-12T21:10:00.000-08:00

Here is a great review for Mick's new project Batman and Robin #20 with Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason and Alex Sinclair. http://weeklycomicbookreview.com/2011/02/09/batman-and-robin-20-review/

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

Help us pay off those holiday credit card bills by buying something from our store! You know you want to!

Mick and Holly's Holiday Ad

2010-11-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

I put a funny ad together this week to let you know all the cool things we're giving away to get you ready for the holiday season. Enjoy!

Princess Of Power - What A Find!!!

2010-09-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

I unknowingly bought an ultra rare action figure at a garage sale this weekend! Saw one on eBay going for $650, but I started my auction at just $9.99. Visit www.mickholly.com

She-Ra Princess of Power was a 1985 animated series spun off from He-Man Masters of the Universe. Girls were given their own powerful heroines to root for.

Worst Marvel Toy Ever! LOL!

2010-09-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

Check out this link to read more http://www.cartoonbrew.com/bad-ideas/worst-marvel-cartoon-toy-ever.html

Mick and Holly party with Steve Wozniak!

2010-08-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

Mick met Woz and his wife at a Steve Poltz show earlier this month. The Wozniaks are big music fans just like Mick so they really hit it off. The surprise party was at the Tech Museum and was so much fun! There were food stations throughout offering treats from simple hot dogs to fancier lobster mac & cheese. The theme was Bob's Big Boy, which I assume is Woz's favorite restaurant. A friend of his designed this amazing Big Boy cheeseburger cake that would rival any Cake Boss creation!You can see more photos on facebook. Big thanks to Janet Wozniak for her generosity in inviting us. We had a great time!

Back to School

2010-08-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

Our daughter went back to school today and boy was she happy! Back with her friends, a cool new teacher and stuff to do every day! Summer is boring. Our kid likes to be busy and learn new things. Now that school is in again, be sure to slow down and watch for kids crossing the street.

Toy Story Got Even Better!!!

2010-08-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

We just saw Toy Story 3 (thankfully NOT in 3-D). I think this was the best of of all of the series. They just seemed to get better each time. The scene at the end with Andy and the little girl made us both cry!!! Now we are selling our vintage Toy Story toys to a serious collector. Visit www.mickholly.com and click on the SALE banner.

Be Joyful

2010-08-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

Today's message at The Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, where Mick and I have attended Sunday services since 1995, was all about being joyful. Pure joy comes from within, so the next time you are stuck in line at the supermarket or cut off in traffic put a serene smile on your face. Don't allow others to take away your joy!

It was such a great reminder. Of course, right after we left the temple grounds I was immediately annoyed by something. LOL! But I stopped and remembered to smile. I hope you'll all do the same.

I love having a business that makes people smile, too! Joy may come from within, but it's so much fun to find that long lost toy you've been searching for!

Will TRADE For Toys!!!

2010-07-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right! If you've got something to trade let us know! Click on the Trading & Donating link at the top of the page to see our wish lists!

Batman Toys that WIN and FAIL

2010-05-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

Just discovered this guy's video on YouTube. He's freakin' hilarious! Check out his product review of the vintage Batman water gun. This toy may have been a FAIL, but we have some winning Batman toys in our store. See our BATMAN STUFF on eCrater.

FYI, this video may be inappropriate for kids. Watch and decide for yourself.

Jay and Silent Bob Music Video!

2010-04-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

We've got these awesome action figures that are being watched by several people on eBay. Little do they know they could buy them for less from our eCrater store! Check out why we love these crazy characters...

Vintage STAR WARS Commercials

2010-04-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

Holly has been collecting Star Wars toys since 1983. Her favorites are the Micro Collection diecast figures. We have many of the figures in our store, and some that are not listed yet. If you are looking for a specific figure please use the Send A Note link above. Enjoy the video!

Mick & Holly's eCrater Sale

2010-04-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

At our eCrater store we are offering a special deal just for our facebook fans! Buy one action figure and get one half off!!! The lower priced figure will be marked down when you join our facebook fan page. After you join be sure to send us a pm via facebook and request your discounted invoice. Visit Mick & Holly on eCrater.

Anybody Remember Sixfinger???

2010-03-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

Topper Toy Sixfinger. This was one of Mick's favorite toys as a kid!

Again... Why eBay???

2010-03-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

Well, eBay has done it again! They are raising fees in the guise of "Look at this great deal we've created for you!" At first I was excited that Fixed Price items were going to be marked down from 35 cents to 5 cents if I upgraded to a Premium store. I would get more exposure and could write off the extra expense on our taxes, even though it's really cutting into profits... which weren't much to begin with. But then a good friend and fellow eBay store owner called me and told me what was really up. Store items are going away completely to be replaced by Fixed Price. Whoa. That's quite an expense. I remember when we first opened our store, how affordable it was. For $16 per month we could organize everything as we wanted it and have a landing page to send people. Insertion fee was only 1 cent per item and our stuff still showed up in the marketplace!!! The following year the insertion fee went up so our monthly expense went from around $30 to $75. Big jump! And our items disappeared from the marketplace unless there were only 30 or less of said item. Then things changed again when final value fees were raised and our monthly fees went up to around $160!!! Starting in April we'll have to tack on another $75 per month. When will it end???

I had the good fortune to speak with a Stores rep this week and voiced my concerns. He just couldn't see what the problem was. eBay used this model in Europe with great success, and the joy of those store owners. He looked at my store and told me that I was doing everything right and that the exposure will help. I told him I would let him know if my sales increased. Sadly, even if they do increase, I'm still paying an additional $75 in fees... and that's with my 20% power seller discount!!!

But in the end it all comes down to these simple facts...
I don't have to pay for rent in a mall.
I don't have to sit behind a counter waiting for people to walk in.
I don't have to worry about anybody knocking something off the shelf.
I don't have to pay for lots of other fees involved with running a brick and mortar business.

So eBay is still a pretty good deal. Having said that, I am still pursuing other avenues...

eCrater is totally free, so it is our preferred site.

Save Money With Figure Lots!

2010-02-04T12:05:00.000-08:00

We are combining similar figures to save you money, both on the figures AND on shipping! Visit Mick & Holly's Stuff today!

Before you shop, sign up at BIG CRUMBS first to save $$$ On ALL your future eBay Purchases!!!

Mick's Surprise Party!

2009-11-04T21:21:00.000-08:00

Mick turned 50 on October 23rd. My friend Terri helped plan the whole thing! Mick was stunned. LOL! It was a small group of Mick's closest friends and family. He always wanted to dine in the Pope Room at Buca Di Beppo and he finally got his wish!

Vintage Beast Wars Toys!

2009-10-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

Remember Beast Wars? They were figures that transformed from animal to robot and some of the figures even fit together to create super robots! Read all about them HERE. See our great collection of Beast Wars toys HERE. Before you shop, sign up at BIG CRUMBS first to save $$$ On ALL your future eBay Purchases!!!

eBay Top-Rated Sellers!

2009-10-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

Mick and Holly are now eBay Top-Rated Sellers!!! This little badge tells buyers that they can trust that we will sell them quality merchandise for a good price, charge fair shipping and send their item out right away! I find myself looking for this little symbol on other sellers auctions. Thanks eBay!

VISIT OUR STORE Go HERE first to save $$$ On ALL your future eBay Purchases!!!

M.A.S.H. Model Kits

2009-09-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

Remember the hit 70s TV Show? MASH was one of my favorites! Although the setting was a bit depressing, the characters were brilliant! They all managed to make the show humorous yet poignant. Celebrate one of the greatest TV shows of all time with these Revell model kits!

BID NOW! Go HERE first to save $$$ On ALL your future eBay Purchases!!!

General Hospital's Beauty & The Geek

2009-09-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

Holly's favorite TV Show is General Hospital, especially because of character Damian Spinelli aka "The Jackal". He's a geeky comic book loving computer hacker who won the heart of the show's sexy bad girl, Maxie Jones. Today was Spinelli and Maxie's wedding day on the show and it was absolutely brilliant! Everything a soap opera should be! GH had been sucking over the last couple of years, but they hit gold with this unlikely couple. And just to win the hearts of we toy fanatics, Spinelli's girl bought him Superman Christmas ornaments last year! Here he sits stunned as he holds up his Maximista's special gift. She truly understands him.

Spinelli and Maxie may have made it to the altar, but the groom halted the ceremony. In a moment of maturity Spinelli realized that the love of his life was not ready to get married. But the quirky couple are more in love than ever!

RARE Donkey Kong Figure

2009-09-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

Remember Donkey Kong??? It was one of the most popular video games of all time! It first became an arcade hit in 1981, where kids dropped in their quarters in order to help Mario (yeah, THAT Mario!) rescue the damsel from the giant gorilla. Over 20 years later and kids of all ages are playing it on their Nintendo at home. To celebrate this beloved game a line of toys was created by Toy Site in 1999 featuring the various characters. We have a VERY RARE Cranky Kong figure up for auction this week! BID NOW! Go HERE first to save $$$ On ALL your future eBay Purchases!!!

Tim Burton's 9 Film and Promo Cards

2009-09-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

We went to see Tim Burton's 9 last night to surprise Genevieve, who had been dying to see it! She loved it, although said it was very loud. Mick and I both enjoyed it. We agreed that the ending should've gone in a different direction, but despite that it's one of the most beautifully animated fims we've ever seen! While we were at Comic Con this year we managed to get those awesome 9 promo cards! We currently have a complete set up for auction! BID NOW! Go HERE first to save $$$ On ALL your future eBay Purchases!!!

Yakky Doodle Came To Town

2009-09-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

According to The Cartoon Scrapbook, Hanna-Barbera's cartoon duck Yakky Doodle made his first appearance in 1960 in an episode of Augie Doggie & Doggie Daddy, which led to his own segment on The Yogi Bear Show. He was never quite a huge superstar like Yogi, but he did later appear in Wacky Races and Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics.

We currently have this very rare Warner Bros. Studio Store Yakky Doodle plushie up for auction! BID ON YAKKY! Go HERE first to save $$$ On ALL your future eBay Purchases!!!

Win A Gift Card To Sideshow Collectibles!!!

2009-09-14T19:00:00.001-07:00

We will draw one lucky name out of a hat on or around September 30th. To enter the contest simply join our Facebook Group and send us a PM with any suggestions you may have to spruce it up! We want to create a fun and interactive community of toy lovers!

This is a time sensitive contest because the gift card expires at the end of December. You'll have an extra $25.00 to buy some cool collectibles at one of the hottest toy resources around!

Why eBay?

2009-09-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

With all the griping and complaining going on it's probably surprising to find some people still sticking it out with the giant auction site. We've been ebayers since the late 1990s and we still love it. Yeah, there have been problems and irritations, but where else can you have a storefront, a ready clientele, free accounting services and a brand name for much less than it would cost to have a physical store??? I still have a complaint about the final value fee structure, but for now I'm content to write the expenses off on my tax return. It is a real business after all.

In the weeks to come I'll throw out my insights about the various eBay pros and cons, for those wanting to buy or sell with them. Stay tuned!

Why Toys?

2009-09-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

What is it about toys that makes people just light up from the inside out? Perhaps it calls up a fond remembrance of childhood when things were so much simpler. Or maybe it's the bright cheerful colors, the crazy characters, the silly names? No matter the reason, we sell toys and have been making people happy all over the world! We hope you'll visit our store and see the many different collectibles we have to offer. From Disney to DC and Marvel superheroes to long lost TV shows, we've got the toys you've been searching for!

The once a year blog post!

2009-09-13T16:22:00.001-07:00

OMG! I cannot believe it has been over a year since we posted on this blog!!! I think I'm only keeping it open until we change Mick's website. I am not going to update every single page just to change the link to the blog. So let's get an update going...

Mick finally printed his first ever Al B. Mouse book! It's called Al B. Mouse's Abecedarium and it's a wacky ABC book. It's gotten rave reviews from the kids in Gen's class, as well as people at Comic Con. We only printed 200, but we're not heavily promoting it so you might be able to get a copy. Go to: Al B. Mouse's Abecedarium to buy your copy.

Genevieve just started THIRD GRADE!!! She's still loving school. Yaayyy!

Holly is still running the family store, Mick and Holly's Stuff. She is trying various marketing strategies, including starting a blog for toy fans.

We are currently saving up for a trip to Disney World. If you would like to contribute $5 or $10 to make our vacation a reality, you may do so with our blessing...

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog!!!

2008-07-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

You MUST go see this NOW!!! Funniest movie EVER!!!

The Once Every Six Months Post! LOL!

2008-07-12T00:33:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I did it again!!! I think I just have too much going on and too many other blogs. I'm still trying to figure out which ones are working best for me. So... what's been going on...

Well, the economy is sorta sucking, but we're hanging in there. I keep thinking if I could sell 50,000 t-shirts either via Super Soap Fans or One Smile Can Change The World we would have it made. What sort of shirt would you buy? Maybe some great gimmick that everybody would want to take part in?

We've been doing more consignments on eBay lately! I love consignments! Especially the vintage kind! Check out www.mickholly.com to see what we have left on auction!

Mick will be signing with DC Comics again soon. He took a detour over at Marvel, but got a call from DC right after. Marvel is cool, but Mick is a diehard DC fan through and through! The Joker Dark Night hardcover is finally finished (it only took a year!) and will be out in October. They had hoped to get it out this month for the latest Batman film, but it didn't work out that way. I guess it will be out for the video release.

San Diego Comic Con is this month and Mick is looking forward to chatting with fans. He loves to meet new people! If you go by Artist Alley, please bring him some cool SWAG. He rarely gets to walk around, so it will mean a lot to him! Sodas, bottled water and pizza is also greatly appreciated. LOL.

Gen just finished up a really fun science camp where she learned about amusement park rides, circus feats, 1960 pop art, Egyptology and crime scene investigation! She loved it all! She's also been taking piano lessons and has been loving them as well. We're hoping to win the HGTV Dream Home next year so we can have a real piano in our house.

Holly's latest obsession is Damian Millhouse Spinelli on General Hospital. I am going to create a website for "The Jackal" similar to my Zander and Zoe sites (all found at www.supersoapfans.com). For those of you non-GH fans... Spinelli is yet another totally offbeat soap opera character. He came onto the show in 2006 as a cyber-geek hired by a rival mob boss to create incriminating evidence on a jump drive. Spinelli (aka The Jackal, ace of cyberspace) ended up joining forces with the "good mobsters" and has been a permanent fixture on the show ever since. He has an incredible way of speaking, like he just walked out of a Dungeons & Dragons video game. Currently Spinelli and Maxie are one of the hottest supercouples on daytime TV right now (even though they're just best friends)! They've been dubbed "Beauty & The Geek". The photo below was from a fantasy sequence in which Spinelli imagines himself as a "Sam Spade" type detective and his sultry siren, "the wounded blonde one" as he refers to Maxie.

The hacker and the hitman aka Damian Spinelli and Jason Morgan. The odd couple of GH. "Grasshopper" and his master "Stone Cold". LOL!

Where To Begin?

2008-01-30T08:59:00.000-08:00

I had considered closing this Blogger account because I didn't think anybody looked at it. But recently somebody asked why we hadn't updated it and I realized I need to keep it going. I've been playing around with different networking sites to see which one works best, but I'll keep this one going as a general family "What's Happening" type of page. So here's the scoop...

Shortly after my last post here, Mick's dad Pete passed away from a long battle with heart failure. It was a very difficult 2 years. He's in a better place now, but we all miss him a lot. Pete was a friend to everybody. Even if he'd never met you before he was instantly your best friend! His memorial service was a full house with many people I'd never met coming up and telling their best Pete stories. It was a very special day.

We had lots of work done on our house (new linoleum, laminate, vinyl, paint, etc.) which ended up costing twice as much as we expected, which pretty much wiped out our entire savings. The house looks nice, but we've been scraping by ever since. If you could refer friends to our eBay store www.mickholly.com or tell your friends about Mick's original comic book art, that would be a big help.

Mick is no longer on contract at DC Comics, so he's now a free agent and can work anywhere he wants. He hopes to do more animated kids comics, like his recent job on Teen Titans Go! Mick really wants to be involved in more projects that help young kids learn to read. He's currently working on a project starring his very own character, Al B. Mouse!

One of the things we're going to do is have a series of polls that allow readers to add their own captions to different comic strips. I'm just trying to figure out where that will take place. Probably at Mick's message board, once I get that back up and running.

If anybody can offer advice on the best sites for marketing our eBay store that would be very helpful. What has worked best for you?

If you're in Silicon Valley and have any vintage toys you would like to get rid of, let us put them on consignment for you! Check out our store to see what we're selling. We do have a separate eBay account for non-toy items, so we can sell anything collectible for you.

I'm working on a book of soap opera fan stories. If you know somebody who is a soap fan and has a story to tell, please send them over to the Super Soap Fans message board.

I'll try to update more often. (yeah, where have we heard that before?)

Holly's New Website!

2007-05-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

It happened again. I fell in love with another soap character. This one also starts with a Z. The character was Zarf (All My Children) who later became Zoe. This transgender woman was the best character to come to daytime TV since... well... Zander (General Hospital). Kudos to Jeffrey Carlson for giving her such heart and making her so believable! Any other actor would've probably fallen flat. The storyline was very entertaining, but also informative. If you've never known anyone who was transgender, this was a total eye opener! This young woman was born a boy and struggled with trying to maintain the lie her entire life, just to please her family and society. But then she met someone who made her realize that hiding was not going to serve her in life. She came out and it was not an easy transition for her. Eventually she began her life as a woman and was happier for it. I hope that everyone who missed this brilliant storyline will visit my website, Zoe's Journey - www.zoesjourney.info. I created a bio and a one hour documentary that features clips, musical montages and captions. The highlights of the story are there. Hopefully I captured the essence of it.

Because Zoe has left the show I've been missing Jeffrey Carlson's acting (he better get the Emmy next year!!!). So I'm heading to Washington, DC next month to see him play HAMLET at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. It's an expensive trip, so I'm begging for donations. Visit my site to see what a $20 donation will get you! But every little bit helps!!! Enjoy the video teaser for Zoe's Journey...

Slacking Off Again!

2007-02-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so it's been over 3 months since my last post. Sorry, but it still feels like October to me. The time has flown by! It's true what they say about life speeding up as you get older. Maybe it's the perspective of things. When you're young, time is so much bigger than you. But when you're older time is a fraction of what you are. And I'm babbling. On to the fun stuff...

Mick is still working on Supergirl & The Legion Of Super-Heroes with Barry Kitson. He's been crazy busy inking all those figures on every page!!! But Barry's art looks amazing, so it's worth it.

Genevieve is enjoying kindergarten very much! She especially loves all the friends she's made this year. We had her 6th birthday party with her whole class at The Jungle this year thanks to them sending us a winning certificate for a free party! I hope we win another one next year. That place is expensive!!! In addition to school, Gen is enjoying her piano classes on The Music Bus that comes to her school each week. They make lessons affordable for everybody!

I have been an insane eBayer and achieved Power Seller status as a Christmas gift!!! Too bad I'm not making a powerful profit. That's okay, I use eBay as a way to market the other things in our life like Mick's website and my t-shirt designs. There are a lot of soap opera fans out there! Glad I can make such fun gifts without infringing on anybody's copyrighted material.

Speaking of soap operas, I've given up on Days Of Our Lives. As much as I adore Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans' Steve & Kayla, I just can't handle the writing on that show. It's sooooo boring. And most of the actors are too over the top. Kudos to the actors who play Billie & Nick. Loved that one night stand!!! Sadly, they aren't enough to keep me taping the show.

One show that now has me totally hooked is ALL MY CHILDREN. What an exciting storyline they have going with the serial killer! Just when you think you know whodunnit, they throw in a monkey wrench! Love love LOVE the trans-gender storyline with Zarf/Zoe!!! Bravo to AMC for taking such a big risk!

We want to remodel (well, sorta) our house this summer. I've started a new blog begging for help, input, advice with creating our dream house on little or no money. The link is to the left, HELP OUR HOUSE.

I'll try to write more sooner than later.

Holly =]

Catching Up...

2006-10-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

So the biggest adjustment this year has been Gen going to kindergarten. We have to keep track of all the different papers that come home, special weekly assignments, library books to return, volunteer responsibilities, etc. But at least we have a block of hours to work without interruption which is great!!! And Gen loves school, so that's even better!

Holly has become a garage sale maniac (Mick is learning to love them) and having pretty good luck finding treasures to sell. Profit margins are small, but at least it keeps the store interesting. Garage sales really are like treasure hunts, though you have to wade through a lot of crap to find the gold. It takes a special breed to love these events.

Mick has been going to lots of concerts, thanks to his new volunteer job with Slims and The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. He can go to almost any show he wants for free! You can read his concert reviews on his website (www.mickgray.net).

BIG PROMOTION IN OUR STORE THIS MONTH!!!
Spend $25.00 or more in our store and get a way cool Superman Returns PROMO Daily Planet newspaper!!! A big THANK YOU to Legends Of The Game in Morgan Hill (ph: 408-776-0725) for providing these goodies for you!!! (Any local shops interested in providing small promo items will get free worldwide promotion for your store!)

New items in Holly's One Smile Can Change The World Shop (www.onesmilecan.com). A holiday section has been added, just in time for Halloween.

And there's a new Current Events section featuring SANTA CRUZ The Original Surf City.

Mick Is Selling His 1957 Ford Fordor!!!

2006-07-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

Mick is selling the car that made me swoon over him! He was Buddy Holly, I was his buddy Holly and Bessie was our cool car! This classic was restored back in the 80's thanks to Mick's dad Pete Gray (of the famous Gray's Thunderbird Nest). Pete is no longer able to help us maintain our lovely car, so we're going to let her go. Parting is such sweet sorrow and this beauty is a sentimental piece. We're not selling cheap! We started the bidding at eBay Motors at $8000.

The Emmys Were Awesome!!!

2006-05-16T15:18:00.000-07:00

I had such a great time and didn't make too big a fool of myself as I walked down the red carpet and had our cameraman film the crowd and me. I spoke to several soap stars, some of which I didn't know, but many I did. I used to watch several different shows. The only time I got nervous was when I thought we'd be late or when I forgot what I was going to ask at one point. Other than that it was a great experience and I hope to do it again next year.

Gen is selling her original refrigerator art to help save up for a Disney World trip. We told her it would probably be a few years before we can go. If you'd like to help, please visit Gen's Gallery for more info.

Holly Does HOLLYWOOD!!!

2006-04-27T17:43:00.000-07:00

Holly will be playing host to DaytimeTV.net's very first livestream! I will be actually at the red carpet interviewing the celebrities, so I'm told. We'll see what happens. I'm driving down tongight with my friend Valarie who runs The Dot Net Group. She has faith in me, so I guess I just need to have faith in myself, eh? Wish me luck!

Mick had to give up a concert tonight so I could leave early. He's very supportive, but I feel bad.

More to come soon!

We Started Some My Spaces

2006-04-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well, Blogger doesn't seem to bring in any traffic, so I decided to start some MySpaces and so far so good. You can visit our spaces at http://www.myspace.com/albmouse, http://www.myspace.com/zandersmith and http://www.myspace.com/onesmilecan. I'll still be popping in here from time to time to talk about the whole family.

So right now I'm gearing up to put together some online seminars for Mick. He'd like to teach inking techniques to young artists. We're trying to figure out how it can be done via web conferencing. More to come on that.

Gen is eagerly anticipating Kindergarten. She asks me almost daily if she's starting yet. I hope she enjoys it as much as she thinks she will.

We're visiting a friend in Austin, Tx next month. We're currently looking for the best deal for travel. I know we gotta book soon or we might not get a flight at all.

Sick Sick Sick

2006-03-24T21:36:00.000-08:00

Poor Mick has been sick since early February! He's finally over it (knock on wood). But it was one thing after another! First a cold, sore throat, flu, allergies and migraines. It's a miracle that Genevieve and I didn't catch it. I think I've been a lot healthier since getting my tonsils out a year ago, even though I think the doctor left part of my left tonsil in.

Mick has been able to work a little bit between relapses. Legion of Super-Heroes is doing very well. He's having a great time inking over Barry Kitson. It's especially a blast to be working on Super Girl. He also wrote two new concert reviews: Danzig & The Misfits and The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Visit www.mickgray.net and go to the music section to see all of his concert reviews.

Gen has been going to dance class every Saturday at The Little Gym. It's a combo tap, free form, ballet and gymnastics. I love that it's non-competitive. They just want the kids to have fun and learn coordination without feeling stupid for doing something wrong. And now she has a foundation if she ever wants to take more advanced dance or gymnastics lessons. Of course she'll have to sell more of her art on eBay to help pay for the classes (she loves having her own store!).
So if you know of anybody in need of some lovely refrigerator art and would like to help support the arts (ha ha), send them over to Original Art by Gen.

I have been busy with my t-shirt designs. I created two new sections at my shop, One Smile Can Change The World www.onesmilecan.com . The first is inspired by punk, goth, new wave and retro, but it's all for kids and families. Some of the designs may look ominous, but the messages will be purely inspirational. I call it Cutie Punk and I got the domain name to go with it www.cutiepunk.com. I really wanted to do something that would make people look, yet they would get positive messages rather than rudeness. When I say that one smile can change the world, I mean for the better, just as one rude comment will spread negativity no matter how innocently it was meant. Click on pictures to see the designs on shirts and stuff.

I also started a section for weird humor and my first offering is a lovely design for dogs and babies... I'm a Pooper. Hopefully I won't offend any Dr. Pepper fans. I just thought it was cute. Click on picture to see it on doggy and baby stuff.

I added a new section in SuperSoapFans GH. It's the Gospel Of Corinthos and it was created because of a line of dialogue that had Mick and me laughing so hard we had to replay the scene. Sonny had just found out that Alexis and Sam were mother and daughter. He realized that he had slept with both and got them pregnant. He said "What kind of creepy freaky crap is this?" And Mick told me I had to put that line on a shirt. And hence The Gospel Of Corinthos was born. He is after all the "chosen one" of Port Charles. He's always good for a laugh. We love our "gummi mobster".

I had to go back to work at IBM for a short term assignment. We needed the money and I figure I can handle it for a week. I really need to write a book--we are working on that--so I can become a famous writer and sell lots of copies!!! Then I'll be able to afford working at home on all my little projects.

American Idol has returned for a 5th season and we're enjoying the show very much! They got a great bunch this year and I've been very pleased with America's voting so far (except maybe Melissa--she had potential). Our unanimous choices for the final five are Mandesa, Katherine, Taylor, Chris and Elliot. Another show we look forward to is Rock Star. We enjoyed last years so much that we're hoping this year will be even better.

Well, that's all for now. Sorry it's been so long since the last post. I'll be posting more often now that my writing muse has returned.

Live each today like it's your last.

Love,
Holly

It's Been Over A Month???

2006-01-24T13:37:00.000-08:00

Well, slap my hand! So much for posting every week, eh? Time flies when you're busy. Here's what's been happening in the world of the Grays...

Mick has been catching up with work, finally! For awhile there things were pretty crazy with pages being behind schedule before Mick even had them in hand! Mick is really enjoying working with Barry Kitson. They've both wanted to work together for years, but the timing was always off. Now they're having a blast! It's truly a mutual admiration society for these two. Mick has been very lucky with his projects over the years. He's gotten to work with people he admires like Barry, J.H. Williams and Ryan Sook. To top things off, Mick was offered another 2 year contract with DC Comics! He was thrilled. It's an honor to work for such an icon, as well as feel your work is appreciated. He is truly blessed.

I, Holly, have been working around the clock to get items up on eBay, design t-shirts for the cafepress shops, update Mick's website and produce Mick's inker video. The video will be tons of fun, with lots of laughs and cameos from many famous artists. I'm also scrambling to get some marketing plan together for promoting our various projects. A new avenue I discovered is YouTube.com where I can post our videos for the world to see. If people enjoy the videos enough they'll hopefully check out our websites. Right now I have our wedding video, our entry for the Super Soap Weekend contest and my student film project from 1988. Next up I plan to make a short video of Gen doing her art and have an link to Gen's art commission page on eBay. For only 99 cents (or more... further donations are accepted) you can have an original piece of art created just for you to your own specification.

Gen is very excited about selling her art on eBay so she can save up to go to Rock School. We all watched the documentary last week (not realizing is was rated R!!!). But Gen LOVED it! She isn't bothered by foul language. She understands that some adults talk that way and kids shouldn't do that. She said she wanted to be a drummer. We have a budding young rock musician two houses down from us who has a drum kit. Mick is going to ask him if he would take a few minutes to show Gen a bit about the drums. We'll let you know how it goes. If anybody has an electric drum kit (with headphone jack!!!) to spare, we'll be happy to take it off your hands.

That's all for now. I'll try to update more often, I promise!

Holly :)

Time Flies!

2005-12-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I haven't been posting every week. Sorry. I can't believe it's already been a month! I feel like I haven't gotten anything done. That's not true, but there are so many things I need to get done that I haven't even started! So let's see what I've done in the last few weeks... Got a bunch of stuff up on eBay, updated a bit of Mick's website including making a neat little photo gallery for his Rock music book covers, started designing soap opera t-shirts because I figured there's a bigger market for that right now than Al B. Mouse (though I gave away a bunch of Al B. Mouse Christmas ornaments in my eBay packages and figure the word will spread eventually), updated The Zander Smith Memorial Website with a hair gallery (Zander fans will understand) and now I'm updating my blog--finally. Sorry if you tried to comment and it wasn't letting you. I had it set up so only members could leave comments. Now you can comment to your heart's delight.

Here are some of my latest soap opera designs. Click on them to see larger versions:

As you'll notice, I've changed the blog from Holly's Projects to Mick & Holly's Projects. It's easier than keeping track of two blogs. We'll also have Gen's projects thrown in. She's writing novels now. No words, but definite stories in pictures. We hope she keeps it up. She got a Reader Rabbit computer game for xmas so she'll probably be reading and writing entire sentences by the end of the year.

This Ain't Easy!

2005-11-30T17:44:00.000-08:00

Okay, it's week two and I feel like I've accomplished almost nothing!

Well, that's not true. I created a cool looking storefront for The Al B. Mouse Shop. It looks like an extension of Mick's website. I had to use my limited web development knowledge to go in and doctor the CSS code for the template. It worked great! Here are some of the graphics we're using on the shirts... (click on picture to see larger version)

Here's a coupon for Cafe Press if you're interested in buying something.

I also got a bunch of stuff photographed for our eBay store. We actually sold quite a few items this past week!

For Dot Net, I'll be attending a Marketing conference in San Francisco next week. That should be fun. I told my friend, Valarie Beadle (Dot Net prez), that even if I never get paid I'm learning quite a bit that will help me with my own businesses. She in turn reminded me that the goal is to get all of us paid and she's happy to have me aboard.

Gen has been sick with a cold for almost two weeks. Poor baby. The doctor had me give her a decongestant, rather than cough medicine since coughing is "good". It prevents pneumonia. We're currently looking into lowering our Kaiser bill, since there is no way we can keep paying their new rate of $800 per month! We'll just get real intimate with their advice nurses and have the doctors call us at home to avoid the new $50 co-pay. I'm all for a government regulated health care system like in Canada. Discuss that issue amongst yahselves.

That's all for now. Back to work!

Tripping Into Uncertainty

2005-11-21T17:27:00.000-08:00

An historic event has taken place. Holly Gray has taken a giant step toward following her bliss!!!

Every New Year's Eve I promised myself that I would listen to my intuition, but I never followed through. I ignored that tiny little voice inside me that kept saying, "You don't belong here! You need to do what's in your heart!" That was referring to my job. And to my co-workers reading this, I want to thank you for making my time at IBM a very pleasant one. You were the only reason I didn't leave sooner. Well, that and the steady paycheck. But now I must strike out into the unknown and let go of my security blanket. It was tripping me up! I have so many ideas inside my head and I couldn't move forward with any of them. Now I will devote my time to making my dreams come true. Let's just hope the money doesn't run out before we make a profit. The only thing Mick is concerned about right now is not being able to eat out so much. That was our one addiction. If any of you were planning to buy us a gift this holiday season, we would love restaurant certificates more than anything else in the world!!! Seriously.

Well, today was the start of my adventure into uncertainty. There was no stress when the alarm went off. I considered not setting it anymore, but I enjoy hearing trivia and a bit of news on the radio so I know what's going on in the world. I got up, fed Genevieve, exercised a bit and went into the office. Some of my eBay items sold over the weekend, so I got the shipments ready to go. Then I helped Mick finish up some art pages so they could get back to DC before Thanksgiving. He really appreciates that I can assist him during the day now.

This past week, I began designing t-shirts and stuff at cafepress.com. I just wanted to market Mick's character, Al B. Mouse, but then I started getting all these other graphic ideas. So I'm not sure if we'll keep the name "The Al B. Mouse Shop" or not. Suggestions are welcome. The Al B. Mouse Shop (www.cafepress.com/mickgray)

The eBay store will have new items added each week. There will be no more than one page per section at a time, if I can help it. I'm still in the process of designing a new auction template. I'm going to incorporate Al B. Mouse into everything! www.mickholly.com

I've been in charge of the advertising for all of the Dot Net Group sites for about a month. Right now they just consist of banner ads for our affiliate programs. Soon enough I'll be getting real advertisers to pay us for front page ads and stuff.

There's a contest going on right now for anybody who registers at any of the Dot Net sites between now and November 30th. Go check it out, there are family friendly sites for just about any interest you may have! www.thedotnetgroup.net

And for those of you who don't know, Mick has been writing a monthly music column for Entertainmentwatch.net. It's pretty fun stuff, just his own take on today's great musicians, most likely some you've never even heard of! Mick's Picks. He also writes concert reviews, which I've posted on his website. Many of you are already on his concert mailing list, but here's the link anyway. Re-live the hilarity! Mick's Concert Reviews

Next month I will start writing the script for the Mick Gray video. Working title is "Inking With Mick". It'll be about more than inking, but that's a good part of it. Any of you who have advice to share in the field of video production, please send it my way. At the moment I'm just planning to do it in iMovie and iDVD, unless someone gives me a copy of Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro (or the express versions--is there an express version of DVD Studio Pro?).

For my fellow Zander fans, I created The Zander Smith Memorial Website, which will eventually hold all of my old fan fiction and videos dedicated to this ex-General Hospital character. Right now it just links to my fiction and videos site through a cool home page. I don't watch soaps anymore and I've stopped writing fics and making videos (for the moment anyway), but I will always have a fondness for Zander. I just wanted to have someplace to park everything. My EZ Board site will eventually fade away. www.zandersmith.net