Lookee What I Can Do.
So I bought myself an iPhone (yeah, I know) because they’re cool and useful and mostly because I think Adam was going to bite my head off if I asked to borrow his iPhone one more time to play that neat solitaire game while we wait for a train. So now I am able to write you a blog post WHILE I GET MY HAIR DONE – like I am live on the scene. I know, cool, eh? Except there’s not really much to report on since I’m in, well, a hair salon, after all and not much is going on. The hair guy isn’t even here because I waited till he walked away to do this because I feel bad doing stuff while he is trying to cut my hair and making small talk about his dog and stuff. But the point is I CAN write a blog post in the hair salon and that is what matters.
AND… everyone here keeps calling me “Hon,” and that would nomally bother me but it seems quite normal in a salon for some reason.
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.”
I Bet Robin Hood Never Had This Problem…
For absolutely no reason I want to take archery lessons. I wonder if I can find a place with lessons that aren’t full of 8 yr olds. I don’t have a problem with 8 yr olds, but I do have concerns about armed 8 yr olds.
When in Doubt… KITTY!
Lucy, a tiny little Tortie with a Calico face is our newest family member and complete distraction. She is the cuddliest, snuggly-est little kitty on the planet. Her favorite pastime is burrowing under the covers and hugging our legs as we sleep, or nuzzling our necks and falling asleep herself.
She LOVES her big brother Chuki, who is a little unsure what to do about her. He gets along with her so much better than any other cat, even Ollie, allowing her to cuddle up to him at times and even giving her little licks on her head. But she wants to snuggle with him ALL the time – when he is asleep, when he is eating, when he is walking across the room, and he either ends up stepping on her by accident or getting pushed over himself.
She is definitely our cat – the first night she was home she sat very patiently for Adam’s photo shoot and poses quite nicely for all the random camera moments so far. She doesn’t seem to understand the human respiratory system since she tries to sit on our heads at night and nearly suffocates up, but she is learning…
Lucy was rescued with her three brothers Jude, Sgt. Pepper (“Sarge”) and Maxwell by Toronto Cat Rescue who are still looking for homes for one of Lucy’s brothers who is just as snugly and playful as she is.
Sixth & Elm Now Available at ShopGirls Gallery Boutique
After about 5 minutes in the store, I had my shopping list picked out. ShopGirls is my new favorite obsession, a classy boutique on Queen Street West in Toronto’s Parkdale district that features fine art and fashion from an all Canadian Artist base, with an emphasis on local work. Shop Girls is now carrying many Sixth & Elm pieces in their beautiful shop, and my work is in very good company there.
I fell in love with many items including some beautiful and unique jewellery, scarves and some very amazing mixed media pieces. Okay, fine, I actually did buy a necklace and pair of earrings and I had to keep reminding myself I was there to sell, not to buy in order to stop myself buying more. I have a feeling any money I make there will not last long and will quickly be used right back up buying goodies there for myself. Oh well, groceries are over-rated anyways.
Questions you Were Afraid to Ask
Is my Etsy ID different from my Etsy Username? How do I find my Etsy ID?
Your ID is different from your username. Your username is the name you chose and the one you log in with. Your ID is an Etsy-assigned number that you can easily find by simply going to your store. If you use a bookmark or if you type your “friendly” store address (www.username.etsy.com) you will always get redirected to an address that looks like this: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5034807 That one is mine. Pretty ugly and not very catchy on a business card, right? That’s why Etsy gives you the friendly address and it just redirects automatically to this one, I guess. Your Etsy ID is the set of numbers at the very end of the address after “id=” … so mine is 5034807.
Hope that helps!
Sixth & Elm on Moue Magazine
Moue Magazine »Indie Retailer of the Day: Sixth & Elm
Sixth & Elm was Moue Magazine’s Indie Retailer of the Day this past week. Check us out. We’re so cool.
Book Review: The Graveyard Book
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I find this book hard to rate.
It is an inarguably well-written and creative book, full of interesting characters and imaginative mini-adventures. It has a touch of the macabre about it which I enjoy, even in children’s books because it explores an entirely new set of imaginative ideas and goes to interesting and unpredictable places. In addition, Neil Gaiman is such a renowned author and such a great person that I felt I should like this book.
Yet, I found my mind wandering as I was reading it and I did not feel the familiar pull to find out what happens next whenever I had to put it down. I’m not sure how to judge this because this book was, after all, written for children and I clearly don’t fit the category. It’s true that there are many many children’s books that I find gripping and thoroughly entertaining, but is the ability to appeal to adults a requirement of good children’s fiction, or just a property that certain books of this genre possess?
I don’t know how a child would react to this book. As I said, it is creative, unique and the graveyard world of Nobody Owens is wonderfully well described. The characters are, for the most part, interesting and likeable, though I only felt a real interest in the Nobody (the main character) once he spent some time away from the graveyard and interacted with other children. I felt he didn’t have much of a personality up to then but when faced with bullies and other “outside world” issues he starts to show some character. He seemed to lose his personality again at the end of the book and he simply plays out the story. He shines in the middle.
The adventures he encounters are interesting, but again, not gripping. The only thing I can conclude is that is was an artfully written book that simply didn’t appeal to me as much as others in this genre can.
The Secret Ingredient
I found the secret ingredient for Chili!
Soya Sauce!
Yup! Soya Sauce is the secret ingredient for making shitty, weird -tasting Chili.
I Have a Good Excuse
An online conversation I actually had today:
Online Friend: “So, did you vote yesterday?”
Me: ‘”No, I’m Canadian.”
Online Friend: “That’s no excuse!”
Really? I thought being legally ineligible to vote in a country I don’t live in was a pretty good excuse, actually. But I guess that’s just my opinion…