The bathroom scale read 194.6 pounds this morning, so I went for a seven mile run. It was my first attempt at running in over a month. While I was running I had all kinds of ideas for brilliant, clever, witty posts for this web site. You won’t be seeing any of those witty, brilliant, or clever ideas  in this post… or in the near future, like as not.

I run slowly. My pace was about 10:40 per mile. Somehow I ended up looking at a couple of fitness websites today. I hate most fitness websites. They leave me feeling hopelessly slow and fat. Fitness bloggers are always talking about doing “a slow and easy 8 minute mile pace” during ten mile runs and stuff like that.

So I got all depressed and drank a lot of Pepsi Cola all day while deboxing toys and dolls in the Room of Doom. I spent, like, four hours taking dolls and toys out of their boxes. It’s a slow, laborious process.

Why do I have all these dolls and toys in the first place? Why do I have all these toys and dolls sealed up in their boxes? Mostly it’s because I buy things when I’m depressed, lying to myself that these things will appreciate in value if I keep them mint in box. I made quite a lot of money with the original Monster High figures. If I’d purchased more of them, all that I could afford, I would be sitting on a potential goldmine right now. Well, mostly. The prices for even some of the “First Wave” figures have begun to soften. But if I’d stocked up on Lagoona Blue figures, which was my inclination, that $16.00 figure is now routinely selling for $100 and up.

But I don’t have First Wave Lagoona Blue figures in my stash. Almost nothing I’m currently holding is worth more than I paid.

I also tend to buy toys and figures that feature amazing packaging artwork. Most Monster High figures fall into that category. I have a difficult time resisting the creative and clever Mattel packaging. I’m having a tough time tearing open the boxes. But space has become a premium, worth more than my hoard of boxed toys. I’m opening up the toys and stashing them in plastic storage tubs for now. They take up a lot less space that way, and eventually I’ll “part out” some of the figures, selling clothing, accessories, and doll bodies separately on eBay. That’s the intent, anyway. Right now, the first step is to reduce the storage volume by getting rid of all those beautiful, lovely packages.