I am trading my skateboard for a house...Looking for Trade #3
My name is Chris Damitio aka The Chairman of the Fukn Bored. When I first heard about Kyle McDonald, the guy that traded a paperclip for various items until he reached his goal of a house, I was stoked. I had written about using the same ideas in Rough Living: An Urban Survival Manual , a book I self published a few years ago that tells you how to get what you want from life and how to survive with little or nothing. I freely admit however, that Kyle brought a mentality of abundance to the game and exceeded more than I had imagined possible. I'm not too proud to join the game late and so I decided that I would like to get a house too, only instead of a paperclip, I would start with my battered old skateboard.
My girlfriend and I laughed about the possibility. We live in Hawaii and rent a tiny cottage for way too much. The idea of owning a home anywhere seems pretty far out to either of us as most of our income (mine from student loans as I attend University of Hawaii and from selling used books at Fuknbooks ) goes to paying our bills and taking short trips on the cheap.
Surprisingly, lots of people wanted to help me or to get my old skateboard. After weighing all the offers, we decided to accept an offer from Bryan Dodd , an artist in Georgia who wanted to use my old skateboard in his art. Bryan generously agreed to trade the Red Devil above by R.A. Miller, a folk artist that recently passed away and painted his work on the tin from old chicken houses. This is a very kick ass first trade. The Devil arrived today. I am totally stoked and surprised to find that it is 21 x 13 inches and painted on both sides. Bryan met R.A. and was given the following information about the devils he paints in different colors:
white- "Little ol' White Lie kind of devil."
Blue - "That's a devil that give you the blues!"
Red - "That's a devil that will get you in trouble and say 'who me? I didn't do nothing' "
Black - "That's a mean ol' devil!"
I've been surprised to look at online galleries and find out that R.A. Miller's red devils will typically sell for $750 and up! The reason for this is that R.A. Miller was one of the original Georgia folk artists along with Howard Finster, Moses Tolliver, and others and sadly that R.A. has recently died. In the art world, that is like leaving Jennifer Aniston for Angelina Jolie. Hot to hotter.
I have just accepted an offer from Susan in Alaska to trade her PEZ collection for the Red Devil. Awesome. Now we just wait for the mail.
How it Works
Since I am in Hawaii and not wealthy, trades need to be either by mail, in Hawaii, or somehow we need to arrange transportation. Help me do the impossible by helping me trade up...somebody out there must have something that is unique and cool that they are willing to trade for this fabulous piece of folk art...Maybe you have a collection of presidential pins that your great aunt left you that you don't know what to do with, perhaps you can arrange for someone to have a personal lunch with Bill Clinton or Lenny Kravitz, maybe you know someone that would be willing to provide a recording contract, or you have 15 gazillion frequent flier miles you will never use...be creative, I'm not looking for cash or tupperware, of course, if you have a house...I'll take that straightaway...
Chris Damitio
for this red devil by American Folk Artist R.A. Miller....
email me with your trades at chris@fukn.us