The Piccadilly Polaroid Picture Door
Phew! Holidays over. Waaaaaay more orders than I would have thought humanly possible but I survived. The blog didn’t fare as well, but that’s okay, you still love me. While I am cranking up the gears to begin posting again I thought I’d post a few shots from the Piccadilly Polaroid Picture Door that I scanned in last year so you can take a mental walk down memory lane with me. Not an actual walk, just mental. Unless your brain has sprouted legs like those weird body parts on the Coke Zero commercials (which are funny, but don’t put me in the mood to ingest anything while I am looking at tongues with legs) and then I guess you can do both. But that’s weird, so don’t tell me about it if you do.
This pic is technically from Kipps Lane, not Piccadilly, but since the Polaroid Door was started at Piccadilly all the pics belong to that set. In my mind. Where it doesn’t matter. Why am I explaining? They’re my pictures and I’ll call ‘em what I want. Plus nobody cares.
For some reason I keep writing “The Piccadilly Polaroid Picture Dorr” and then have to correct myself. Figures. Out of all the words in that title, “door” is the one I spell wrong. Surprised it wasn’t “the.”
The Opposite of Portland
Remember when I asked Colin what the opposite of Portland was and he said Florida? Well, It turns out the opposite of Portland is actually somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Huh.
Antipodr.com – find the other side of the world for anywhere you want. Not sure why you’d want to, but it might come in handy if Jeopardy ever gets big again or you ever meet Ken Jennings.
Watching the Past, in the Future…?
Since Colin and Emily moved to Orie-gone they are enjoying a west coast time zone, and are consequently three hours behind us. We always tease them that we are calling from the future, and how is it there in the past, anyways? Of course the joke gets old, but that doesn’t mean we stop saying it.
Adam and Colin have both just signed into i-Chat on their Macs to watch the end of the world series together (virtually) and talk about the game just as if they were in the same room, like we do for a lot of things since they have moved. But Adam is watching on Fox, Colin on TBS and fox is about 20 seconds behind. The i-Chat has no delay, but this means that Colin’s TV is essentially 20 seconds in the future. So now they’re trying to figure out how Colin is watching 20 seconds into the future, from three hours in the past.
Of course, Adam has had a few Steamwhistles and I am sure Colin is lubricating his World Series Experience in a similar fashion, so it makes the whole thing a lot harder for them to figure out too. They’re both quite befuddled about it now.
Breast Cancer Fundraising at Sixth & Elm
Fellow Etsyian, Loopy4ewe is participating in the 60km Weekend to End Breast Cancer Walk next June, and she is attempting to raise $2000 to participate. Once she let the other Etsy sellers know what she was up to, they responded en masse by donating tons of items they have made – large and small and mostly pink – and listing them for her, all proceeds to go toward her walk. She didn’t even ask for donations, but she didn’t have to.
I added my little bit by adding the most popular item I sell, the Scripted Box, stained in Antique Pink in honour of the cause. I sanded it down a bit it looks cute and vintage-y – like a little Parisian treasure. All of the money I raise from the sale of this item will go to Loopy and hopefully get her close to her goal.
Here is a list of some of the other Etsy sellers who have listed or donated items as well:
How can you help? Easy, buy something from someone on this list!
AYS
I walked into St. Andrew’s church, by the front doors, this time. Years of finding my way to the sanctuary by the side door had led me to forget there even was a public entrance, and it was odd to see the double doors thrown wide, light spilling onto Central Ave. The plush teal-blue carpet had the same slightly musty smell, my footfalls puffing up little invisible clouds of long-stale incense and candle smoke. There were more lights then there were on my Tuesday evenings spent there – large stage lights that gave off a heady heat. I imagined the feel of them on my face as I looked over the packed pews and was a little thankful that I would be sitting down, behind the glare tonight. It was the only thing I was thankful for.
I was to be a Christmas celebration. Not a mass, a concert. Secular and sacred, modern and traditional, the few hundred gathered had come to hear them sing. Some for the first time, some for the hundredth. Some, like me, for the first time on this side of the pews.
The first of the girls entered by the back door behind the altar. I pictured the line running down from the little staircase and the girls quickly checking that the folders were on their audience side. The light flashed mutedly off the silk of their cream gowns as they walked to their places in a double synchronized line. Smile to the audience. Don’t move a muscle.
He entered first, she following, heading to the conductor’s stand to bow. She sat down as the Pianist entered and bowed. The first song must be one of his. I hadn’t taken a program. I don’t know why, but the glimpses I caught of the familiar titles as I walked past other listeners seemed to pain me. I would listen, and try to be ignorant.
I missed it. My Tuesdays were empty now, my Saturdays filled with a new crop of activities. I had to leave it behind eventually, but deciding that then was the time was a hard decision. It had been part of my life for 10 years. Trips to Europe, Winning the CBC choral competition every year we entered, singing in Carnegie hall and representing Canada in international competitions. Things that made me proud. And the girls, best friends all with funny traveling stories and concert mishaps. Pranks, skits, little sisters and the new generation. I was 11 when I passed my audition to join the choral elite, but it was a hell of a lot more than a choir to us. You can’t sing as National Champions at that level without putting your whole heart into it, and we all did. And some of us left our hearts behind when we left.
Many Alumni are still involved with the choir heavily. Not me. More than geography, it is my heart that keeps me away. You can never go back home, they say, and Amabile was home. I learned after that first concert how hard it is to sit and watch, even now, almost 9 years since I have left the choir myself. I enjoy singing with the old group for “Amabile weddings” or other group reunions, but I can’t sit in the pews and watch while trying to stop the notes from spilling out of me with every ounce of restraint I have. It will always be this way, but that’s okay. Amabile was a huge factor in who I am today, who my friends are and what I believe is important, and that’s not bad for 10 years of work on John and Brenda’s part. The choir has done what it can for me, more than I can imagine, and now I need to do the rest myself.
We’re Back!!
Well, the trip to BC was amazing. We spent 4 days in Vancouver, Surrey and Whistler, then drove down (in a rented car) to Eugene, Oregon to see Emily and Colin (we miss you guys!) and came back up to White Rock for Sue & Chris’ wonderful wedding on Saturday before flying out of Vancouver again back to Toronto. I’ll be uploading my pictures (as soon as I find the damn cord for the camera) and talking about each day in detail, but for now I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite pictures of Adam’s and links to the rest of the set.
Roomies…
Our best friends Colin and Emily have lived beside us for years, either in the same house (before we were married) or just across the street, and people marvel that we survived the roommate thing and all still remained friends, but we did, somehow. For the past year we have lived across the street in the same complex and we are always seen carrying different combinations of furniture, food, cats, guitars, alcohol, workout equipment and electronics back and forth as we hang out at each other’s houses. It has been great having them so close.
Sadly, the legacy must die, as Colin begins his Master’s of Athletic Therapy at the famous University of Oregon. As they prepare for the move to the states we offered to let them to stay with us for a bit so they can be free to look for a place in Eugene without being hampered by needing to finish a lease here. To pay us back for the room, Emmy has been cleaning non-stop since she got here. It has been magnificent. I haven’t lifted a finger since she got here, and the house is spotless. She even organized my spices, streamlined by stovetop collection of seasonings and cleaned the backyard.
My only problem? Since she is so good at putting things away and finding a good space to put everything, can’t find anything in my house now if she’s not around to ask. What am I going to do once they leave?
The End of the Dock
A weekend at the cottage is never complete without certain required traditions, and the creation of some new ones. Here are some of my memories from our most recent cottage expedition, to celebrate “Old Man Wallace’s” 30th birthday.
Getting “While you’re upped,” which means getting sent for a beer when you’re not actually up.
Colin and Aiden getting inducted to the “I’ve tipped in a canoe” club, of which I have been a proud member for years.
Ollie trying to eat a caterpillar, a chipmunk and that ugly bug with wings we found in the cabin.
Learning that Aiden does not require sleep. We think he’s a cylon.
Adam taking record 2 Gigabytes worth of pictures in 4 days.
An 8-foot bonfire for no reason on a perfectly warm night.
Sleeping 15 people in a cottage that is supposed to sleep 10.
Adam endlessly poking the fire because he can’t let it alone, and me endlessly bugging Adam about poking the fire because I can’t let it alone.
Watering the flowers in the rain because “it was a directive.” The weather was great, except for the fantastic thunderstorm as we were leaving, and it was a perfect mix of hilarity and clarity, of laughing so hard our cheeks hurt and sitting still for almost a full hour to stare at the perfect sunset. With Colin & Emily’s move to Oregon just around the corner, our cottage days together are numbered. But even when they are over, we’ll still have all these stupid memories to keep us laughing.
A Cacopha……What?
Like all great ideas from the depths of Colin’s consciousness, this one was born of many, many, many glasses of beer and a conversation that was way too serious for the current blood alcohol saturation level. Back in October of last year a pact was entered into by Colin and Adam to embark on a great baseball quest (searching for….?) this season, and the first stage took place just over a week ago. Inexpertly titled “A Cacophony of Epiphanies,” the rules, as outlined by a fading Adam and Colin on that fateful October night, are outlined at the end of this post. And near incomprehensible.
The quest was officially started with a trip to The SkyDome on Retro Jersey night. 12 of our closest friends, a few questionable baby-blue retro jersey purchases, a two-day Rock Band marathon (with some actual guitar playing thrown in for fun) and a mini-keg for the 6 of us left at the end of the adventure sure made this crazy idea seem kinda logical as we all had a great weekend. More pictures can be seen here, and here (the second set is Adam’s).
The Official Rules are listed after the jump, for anyone interested.
Eye Candy
A couple of my favorites from Adam’s flickr photostream…
From some flowers he bought me a little while ago. Awww… isn’t that sweet….