Everyone's magic is a little different. Sure, there are basic tenets, laws of contagion and similarity, the Rule of Three, karma, that sort of thing. But beyond that, it depends on your internal landscape, the metaphors that matter most to you, the ones that shape your dreams, your thoughts, your internal landscape.

For example, Danny, the guy who taught me, used thrift shops too. But he wasn't looking for shirts, the way I do. He was looking for what I call the Sad Orphans. You know them. The handmade plaque reading, "For Grandma Lolo from Susie." The personalized mug that says "Kitty C. Needs her caffeine." Peeling trophies and wooden boxes decoupaged with awkward puppies or pyrographed with western designs of bluebells and skulls in charred brown lines.

He could use those. He tapped into what might be unused, forgotten history -- I don't know what you call it, but he could harvest it, use it. Personalize an object and you're creating ties that a magician can use if he or she has the right handle on it.

Me, I use clothing. And a particular kind of clothing. The more fine-tuned you are, the more powerful. There are mages that can use anything, anything they pick up or are in proximity to -- and I do mean anything -- but they're low voltage, not much juice at all.

I use Hawaiian shirts.