Made you look.  ;-)

Seriously, while reading LWK's "pissed" post 
(which I can understand the motivation for, though 
it was handled all wrong), all I could think of 
was my #1 competitor.  We started collecting 
around the same time, a little over a year ago.  
And we both had a penchant for Tenchi cels.

It took me a while to realize who this person was. 
 I don't know if it was the fact that every 
overpriced auction was the result of our two 
competing bids (leaving sensible folks far below 
us, LOL) or whether someone complimented the other 
about a recent purchase, thereby starting a 
dialogue.  Either way, when I saw his gallery, I 
saw every cel I'd narrowly missed out on for one 
reason or another.  And I saw tons of cels that 
fit my aesthetic perfectly.  In several 
cases, if we combined our collections we 
could recreate specific scenes!  ^_^  Rather than 
become bitter rivals, we became the best of 
friends.

I'm not saying this could work for everybody.  
Some folks are all about competition.  But we 
talked about cel resources, prices, and art in 
general.  We worked out a system where we would 
notify each other of good finds and then discuss 
privately how much we each wanted it.  In every 
case where we both wanted something, one of us 
agreed to step aside, perhaps getting dibs on the 
next great find.  In a year of such deals, 
covering dozens and dozens of purchases, I've had 
nothing but satisfaction and joy.

Our tastes have changed over time.  I'm still a 
cel whore, and he's refined his collection 
somewhat, but I still find it IMMENSELY gratifying 
to know that I can e-mail him and talk about my 
latest find, knowing that he will appreciate it as 
much as I do.  And being able to share my joy like 
that beats the hell out of ogling my books in 
private.

Please blame this overly-sentimental post on 
Blair.

^_^

JP