inexplicable aloha

I have done several yard sales to purge studio overstock culled during this huge studio revamp NikCo is currently undergoing.
[side note: anyone need glitter? anyone?]
Generally i have done an excellent job not looking at or purchasing other people's stuff.
Sure, i dropped 50 cents on a metal palm tree that i am going to refashion into a dragonfly and i bought a rubber stamp set that i have been eyeing for months and happened to find at 60% off, but that isn't really so much compared to how much stuff i have been able to off-load.
However, i did i have a moment of buyer frenzy at the SIA yard sale. You see, many of the members donated items to be sold, with all if the proceeds going directly to the club.
Margaret has been joking for months about a fabric Elvis she was bringing to sell. What is not funny about a fabric Elvis? It is exactly the kind of thing one would hope to find at a yard sale. Every time she mentioned it i envisioned a black velvet Elvis and was secretly excited to see it, but knew that it wouldn't be in the Niki price range (free to nearly free).
The SIA table ended up directly across the parking lot from me; after the first few hours of setting up and taking care of customers (would you like glitter with that?) i was able to take a little break and noticed Elvis propped up at the edge of their canopy.
Not a black velvet painting at all, he appeared to be a poster sized tapestry of the Aloha From Hawaii concert.
Oh, dear.
I have a real soft place in my heart for the Aloha From Hawaii concert.
It was the first satellite simulcasted concert, you know. Back in the early 70's that was a big deal.
We owned the double album. When i was in kindergarten it was only half-day. My mom would pick me up at lunch time and we'd listen to records while making lunch. Elvis was in heavy rotation in our living room, especially that record. We'd sing along while she let me stand on a chair to help stir the soup or watch the hotdogs boiling away. To this day it is my favorite Elvis album.
And there he was in all of his fabricky, spangled, leied, white jump-suited glory.
Since it was bigger than anticipated i was sure it was out of the Niki price range.
Time passed and i couldn't stop staring.
It is impossible to explain. I felt mesmerized, like i had been put under a spell.
One side of my brain was all business and practical:
Niki, snap out of it!
You don't have any poster sized space left anywhere in the apartment.
You can't afford it.
We are here to get rid of stuff and make money.
The other side was all:
 ELVIS!!! I LOVE YOU, ELVIS!!!
Margaret came over at one point to look at all of the crafty goodness i was selling. Though she did not bite on any supplies, she was interested in some Quirkees. While conversing i casually asked about the price tag on Elvis so that i would stop thinking about it.
I have it marked $10, but would consider any offers, she replied.
TEN DOLLARS?!?!?!?!
She really liked a pair of owl earrings with water tourmaline that were $8 so i suggested an even trade - the owls for Elvis - and she agreed.
Elvis was mine and i didn't even have to pay for him!
I mean, yes, technically he cost me $8, but there was no real cash exchange as Margaret just gave the SIA table the money.
After she finished looking at all of the other tables, Margaret picked up Elvis and brought him over to me.
As she got closer he got bigger. And bigger. And bigger.
Holy Schnikes!
Elvis is not poster sized at all.
He is basically life sized.
Oh my gracious, where am i gonna put that? and Mine, mine, mine, mine! competed in my head.
Much like the birthday glitter, Elvis was equal parts delightful and terrifying.
But i have no buyer's remorse.
Oh no, i am happy as a clam, people.
I just need to find a place to put an Elvis that is almost bigger than me.