After working as a copy editor at a newspaper for a year soon after graduating from college, I snagged a job with a local startup that ran charity auctions. It turned out to be run by crooks, and after waiting around for weeks before I had a computer (I was editing printed out copies of the web site) and then enduring a few pay periods sans paycheck, I finally left, along with many other employees who, when informed that mandatory layoffs were coming, scrambled to be among those laid off.

We did conduct a few auctions, though, one of them for a foundation linked to the country music industry raising money for I forget what cause. Items included things like tickets to events, memorabilia, celebrity-owned instruments, and so on. One item was an event labeled “Guns N Dozers” the winning of which awarded you the opportunity to visit the ranch of a country singer (I don’t recall which one), with whom you would shoot guns and drive farm equipment.

To me, the most memorable item up for auction was the recently harvested pony tail of Billy Ray Cyrus. What’s more, it came with a Billy Ray doll. Don’t believe me? Check out this old news item. Anybody can own a fake Billy Ray Cyrus pony tail getup, but somewhere out there, a fan has the real article, probably encased in glass, framed, and hanging on the wall.