item 33 and 34: Treasure hunt plus *lottery.

I just got back from a wintery NYC.

Soon, i'll do a little account of my job with the Black Keys over on my furry tiger road blog. What a blast we had! Howard Stern's birthday party and then a show at Roseland....all during the SuperBowl weekend.

item #33: three for #33... (It's not so easy now that it's the second month of my "swallowing diamonds" project and the items no longer correspond with the actual date...)

one of three free pens left on the street in NYC!

I twittered their locations in photos... SuperKate, Amanda's heroic assistant even hid one for me.

pen 2:

pen 3:

her photo:

also the key of your dreams is hidden now in here...the most BEAUTIFUL bar in NYC.

item #34: FREE to good home!

WIN this chalkboard slate by telling me your favorite movie and why... post in the comments, if problems posting (why I don't know) email me: neverwear@gaiman.net

The fabulous Chloe won the Neil-card, with her creative suggestions on writing & distractions. Thanks, girl!

what else? OH!

It's down to the last few hours of the sale price for our DAVID MACK/NEIL GAIMAN Valentine print that is etched upon the skin...

Read Neil's account of it HERE(& watch his GREEN EGGS & HAM reading that is tearing up the inter webs...)

It's up 'til tonight at midnight PST at the $25.00 price, then it'll go up to $38.00-- save yourself a little cashola!

*ALL PRESALE ORDERS WILL BE ENTERED IN A LOTTERY TO WIN A SIGNED-BY-NEIL PRINT.

CLICK HERE TO GET TO THE PRINT.

item #32: FREE to good home, a writer's mantra

item #32:

One part of my job that I love doing for Mr. Neil Gaiman is to take care of fan requests.

A growing subsection of this is requests for quotes written out by Boss that people get permanently inked upon themselves.

An popular quote for Neil to write out, is the funny but true statement: “Writers are liars”- and in this case, he wrote it three, count ‘em, three times—to make sure the person etching this on their skin had options.

He is kind.

This little card will go free to good home anywhere in the world, sent at my cost, a writing mantra that you can post above your trusty Underwood, if you tell me this:

What have you, as writers, found to be the most effective trick used to shut out distraction while writing?

Please use the comments section of this blog (or either of the others) & I'll pick in a day or two where it goes.

Speaking of tattoos, last year, Neil and David Mack teamed up to do a beautiful little 8” x 10” print of a poem that @Burtzor got tattooed on his back.

We have sold out completely of the red sash silkscreens, I have only 7 remaining blue variants, click here for those.

but the red sash version is gone gone gone. GONERS, I say! The delicate silkscreen work by my friend Brian Rise out of Rise Ink in Austin was so gorgeous, I cried real tears of joy when they arrived.

David and I were chatting recently and he said, well if those are gone, why don’t we release the version that Burton actually got tattooed—so here they are, I announced them this morning:

A bigger version, clocking in at 11” x 17”, printed right down the street in West Hollywood—

again, we will split the run, David getting the evens and me holding the odds.

Hand-numbered, limited edition full color run of 500 this time, all stamped with the @Neverwear seal.

ONLY $25.00 for the next few days, until Feb 4, 2014 at midnight PST, then they go up to $38.00

A Valentine etched on the skin by Neil and David, a little reward for those early supporters.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER!

PS. don't forget, this key will be hidden somewhere near the best dive bar I can find around my hotel...more clues tomorrow.

NEW PRINT by NEIL GAIMAN/DAVID MACK--"original" version I WILL WRITE IN WORDS OF FIRE.

Whie we call this NEW version of the I WILL WRITE WITH WORDS OF FIRE...it's not.

This is the actual version that Burton had tattooed on his back, the color scheme that David chose & illustrated for him. A skin friendly script written by Neil Gaiman.

They are a hand-numbered, limited edition of 500. a dreamy hand pulled print run in 11" x 17" full color, the design really pops at this size. David has even numbers, we have odd. A Libra split! A Valentine's arrow in to the heart.

Printed right here in Hollywood, California. These are offered unsigned and will be $25.00 until Feb 4 midnight PST, when they will go up to $38.00. CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOURS.

By the way, to track down these travelling men, it's a full-time job-- that's why they are unsigned at this time.

here are some past photos of the original version, long since gone. THIS VERSION WILL ALSO GO QUICKLY!

Neil reads the tattoo poem.

A PORTION OF EACH PRINT PRICE WILL GO TO BENEFIT THE GAIMAN FOUNDATION.

in 2012, Neil and his lovely daughter Holly started a program to benefit those championing the written word. The foundation supports freedom of speech, and literary education, generally doing good where it can. The CBLDF is one place they are directing their funds, we are all working together.

here is the entire text of the beautiful poem Neil composed:

I will write in words of fire.

I will write them on your skin.

I will write about desire.

Write beginnings, write of sin.

You're the book I love the best,

your skin only holds my truth,

you will be a palimpsest

lines of age rewriting youth.

You will not burn upon the pyre.

Or be buried on the shelf.

You're my letter to desire:

And you'll never read yourself

I will trace each word and comma

As the final dusk descends,

You're my tale of dreams and drama,

Let us find out how it ends.

-Neil Gaiman

items #29 and #30: BATMAN & a key in NYC...swallowing diamonds

I write this on the plane to JFK, where I am going to work a quick 2 shows with The Black Keys— originally thought Neil was going to be in NYC at this time, so I was trying to meet up with him, but instead, it’s me flying solo.

Looking forward to embracing the cold heart of winter. I am staying an extra day in Manhattan to do some buying for Neverwear, just like the good ol’ days of 9th Life…

A little behind on the diamonds, so here is a two pack.

item #29:

Holy 8 gig Japanese jumpdrive, Batman!

I bought this at Tokyo Hands, an overwhelming 8 story department sstroe in Shibuya district. I had to- HAD to- have it. What I have found most in my clearing-out process, these are things I should be letting loose into the world—be like the Buddha—let it go!

To add to the *value of this, I have put several files of art from the first issue of Sandman: Overture in to the little guy, *secret value!

this auction starts at 99 cents, and profits from this will go to benefit SPCA of LA. Protecting our cats and dogs since, not sure when, but they really seem to care.

click here for the ebay link.

item #30:

I will be hiding this key somewhere in NYC- a Very Heavy ornate painted iron skeleton key, fit for some unknown ghostly door. This key has been in my house for over a decade, I honestly do not recall where it came from. I love keys, and all they represent.

Clues to be revealed tomorrow—

tomorrow morning will also bring the announcement of a NEW DAVID MACK print.

stay tuned...

item #27 & #28: dreamy luggage tags--free to good home!

Have spent this whole day getting travel grids ready, I am off to NYC this week- on a mini-adventure.

so this one's a quickie diamond.

free to good home, this "Dream dangerously" metal luggage tag, for your favorite travel case.

just tell me your best travel plans (past or future) in the comments below. 2 winners...

thanks for following my "swallowing diamonds" project- I will have to get a few diamonds ready in advance since I'll be gone a couple days...

can't wait to get to the east coast and WINTER.

ps. this contest is open the world wide. will ship anywhere.

item #26: Neil gives some doodle love for Gillian Anderson's charity-

Still sick in the treehouse, but on the mend.

For the last several years, that do-gooding human, Mr. Neil Gaiman has donated a doodle or two to the Gillian Anderson (aka X-Files' Scully) charity auction for the Neurofibromatosis Network.

We have blogged about it every year, and I have also participated. It's so much fun!

I had Neil doodle inside one of our tour book itineraries from last summer's grueling but wonderful OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE tour. Check out the Cthulu clown shoes!

He also signed the cover.

For my donation, I made one of my "glass candy bar" pieces from Sandman, issue #73, out in Dec. 1995. Death as drawn by the mighty Michael Zulli. When Neil was here last week, I asked him to sign it for me, to up the value. It's a beauty!

So these two items will be going up for auction in May of this year, I will keep you posted. These count as Swallowing Diamonds items, because they are leaving the house!

I will be bidding on Barbara Eden's i-dream-of-Jeannie bottle sketch. I want that one!

there are things from Stan Lee, Malcolm McDowell, The Walking Dead cast, and of course, that dreamy David Duchovny ("why don't you love me, David Duchovny..")

here is a video of Neil, Benedict Cumberbatch and Gillian at Letters Live doing some auctioning- Nick Cave was also there that night, WHY was i not??

Alert!! TWO HOURS LEFT ON THE AMERICAN GODS NEIL HOUSE ON THE ROCK PACK. click here to see about winning.

winner of item #24: miss Helen Hedberg, for her tiger-themed music suggestion. Nicely done!

LATE! item #22, 23, 24 and 25 in my swallowing diamonds project.

Neil was in town this week, so great to see that bearded wonder. However, I was derailed by work and sick so am behind on the one-thing-a-day out of the treehouse project i have engaged with myself to do aka SWALLOWING DIAMONDS.

here is Neil reading his beautiful collection of COMIX BOOK from Mr. Denis Kitchen of Kitchen Sink Books, back in action under the Dark Horse roof.

item #22:

the item #21: the glass kitty cat must not have been found by a swallowing diamonds reader, because no one sent in a photo, so I am giving the GOLDFISH POOL print by David Mack to faithful twitterer @Mattncoley who has been my cheerleader for awhile. He (they) have encouraged me in the project and spread the word. i call it karma- enjoy, Matt n' Nicole w/my thanks!

item #23:

another one of the Neil Gaiman quote mugs is back on ebay: CLICK here, it's got ONE MORE DAY.

comes with 4 Chinese New Year chocolate dragon coins...go and bid, right now, it's only a measly 5 bucks.

item #24:

FREE! this lovely musical tribute to Neil: with tracks by Ego Likeness, Tori Amos and that hotty Voltaire. just put in the comments, some new (or old) music you are listening to, that i might like.

I really need some new music.

item #25: a two part GODSMACK tour swag package over on EBAY, click here.

My first tour was the mighty Boston-based Godsmack on a bill with the Deftones back in 2001.

We were out on 9/11 and that brought about the end of our tour.

Am putting up for auction a two-pack of embroidered goodness:

1. a 2001 tour swag shoulder bag with about a zillion pockets, never used.

2. a Dickies-brand work jacket with two pockets and two lovely embroidered logos, this one was from the 2006 tour Godsmack/Rob Zombie. it is a size small, and I wore it proudly.

Sully! What a sweetheart. I believe in a voice like that. One of my favorite tours, and in fact, the tour I met my beloved roadie husband and dear friend Red.

i'll throw in an old pass and setlist if i can find...

this auction is only available in the States, because it's going be a heavy send. starts at 99 cents, as all my auctions will.

(sorry the photos look so crappy, i need to learn to photograph clothing items)

as always, thanks for playing.