Alexandra Bogdanovic's Blog: That's life... - Posts Tagged "rest"

Yes, I'm back.
Sorry it has been a while since my last post, but I've been swamped with work-related deadlines and other fun stuff.
Among other things, I created a new blog for the animal shelter where I volunteer. You can check it out here. I also do three posts per week on my business site so feel free to stop by and let me know what you think.
It seems like I never stop writing. So when I have had a chance to relax, I've wanted to make the most of it.
With that in mind, I was really looking forward to making my first trip to a (somewhat) nearby flea market this year. In fact, I was so excited about it that I woke up at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday. Mom and I left bright and early, and arrived at our final destination around 9 a.m.
To make a long story short, the place was packed. The parking lot was a zoo. We couldn't find a space anywhere. So we turned around and went home. I was so pissed I swore I'd never go there again.
This past weekend, we went to another flea market in upstate New York. The traffic was horrible, but at least we actually found a parking place. For more than two hours I fought my way through crowds and emerged with only a couple of treasures. As we were leaving, hundreds of people were still waiting to get in. Mom estimated the traffic was backed up for about 10 miles.
"It makes you wonder why everyone else thinks they need to be here," I said.
Maybe they wanted to go because the TV show Flea Market Flip was being filmed there that day. Maybe they wanted to go because it is in the middle of nowhere and there's nothing else to do. Maybe they just wanted to go because it was a beautiful day and they figured they could find some good bargains. Or maybe they figured going to the flea market would make them seem really cool. If that's the case, here's newsflash: it doesn't.
Some of us have been going to yard sales, tag sales, flea markets and so forth for years. Some of us have been finding treasures at our local landfills since before it became popular.
Personally, whenever anything gets to popular, I walk away. I photographed polo in Greenwich, CT for almost 20 years. But when "everybody" decided Conyers Farm was the place to be, I stopped going.
When "everybody" was rooting for American Pharoah to win the Triple Crown last year I was rooting for him to lose.
Now that everyone is rooting for Leicester City (a 5,000 to 1 longshot) to win the Barclay's Premier League title I'm rooting for a last-minute collapse.
No, I'm not a killjoy, although it may seem that way. I am just a contrarian. I firmly believe in individualism and I march to the beat of my own drummer. As my father once said: "Why would you possibly want to be like everyone else?"
I don't.
Until next time, "That's life..."