I sold some things on Ebay over the weekend and while I did not make as much as I thought I could or would... it has been an experience for sure. For one, I discovered that I own a rare out of print UFO-nut book. That was interesting as I paid nothing for it and now it is worth almost 200 bucks. Go figure.

The other thing... there are pieces of the Berlin wall for sale on Ebay as well. Some come with authentication certificates and everything. It makes me ill. How can you certify a piece of concrete???

I have pieces of the Berlin wall as well. They were sent to me by a friend that was still stationed over there and happened to be in the midst of the whole "Let the people go" movement. I do however, still recall all the news stories of people being shot on live TV for the mere desire to be free. West German TV stations reported on this about as regularily as we watch the news on the Arab world these days. The folks "over the wall" were...well, lost souls and at the mercy of the Stazi and the KGB. I watched them try to jump the wall, navigate the barbed wire and try to escape the lights and AK-47's. Most of the time they did not. I saw a young guy, maybe 18 or so, try to jump the wire and the wall, desperately making a run for it - only to be mowed down, and left hanging in the fence for all the world to see. I think that picture got a prize of some sort. Morbid.

I have pieces of the Berlin wall in my possession. To me, they are much more than just memorabilia. They are part of my life, my history, my heritage - ugly as it was. I had not taken them out in almost 10 years but today I did. I looked at them in their unremarkable splendor. Just pieces of grey concrete, occassionally marked with ugly blue or green spray paint. No certificates. No authentication. Nothing. Other than what lingered in my memories.

Is it kosher to sell part of your life? How desperate would I have to be to sell these? Surely, to the average collector they are only worth a couple of bucks and the fact that they can state, "I own pieces of the Berlin wall." So what? If you did not live through it, you do not deserve to own them. Collectable or not.

Just my two cents.