e-commerce? e-likely!

I am chipping away at gaining the technical wherewithall necessary to build a happening e-commerce site. In the meantime, the dozens and dozens of you clamouring for one-of-a-kind pieces from Sycamore Hollow will have to be satisfied with looking at pictures and e-mailing me with your order. Actually, this option isn't really possible because I don't have very many photos loaded onto the site. But all that is about to change. As of this week, I am currently taking photos and entering the upload netherworld. I really don't like this part of the business, but it seems that one can no longer fill a retail space with interesting things and expect people to rush in and fill their arms with purchases. They prefer to fill a shopping cart online. I am trying to catch up to the 21st century - I just bought an ipod nano - can't deal with the big version (1,000 songs? What person over 18 has the time to load this device with 1,000 songs? My apologies to you if you are just such a person). Anyway, the store is now filled with the crisp, bell-like sound of my baby ipod, instead of the crackle of that dinosaur, the CD player (may they fill landfills in peace). Well, enough about me; let's talk about the store. I've been covering scallop-edged boxes in the wonderful, amazing Japanese paper I carry. I get a glimpse of what it must be like to be happy each time I look at them. I also came into a pair of beautiful hand-cut glass vintage lamps this week - they, too, provide moments of joy. Until next week...

Crazy-time in Rockport

The 4th of July in Rockport is a lot of fun... If you're a six-year-old in search of free candy and not afraid to scrabble around in the street for it after a grown man parading by tosses it at your face. The rest of us have a pretty good time as well; the day holds sights not easily viewed in a small New England town the rest of the year. Lots of naked flesh on display, some to happy effect, some not. Last year I took a picture of a rain-soaked shirtless middle-aged man with the ensuing paunch strolling along the sidewalk barefoot and sporting a mounted deer's head with the antlers decorated for the occasion. This parade of strangeness is followed by Rockport's grand old tradition of setting afire a 20-foot-high gasoline-soaked tower of pallets. It is a sight to behold, and as other towns eliminate fireworks due to budget cuts, our bonfire rages on. Oh yeah - and I do open the shop's doors, just in case someone is dying for a vintage planter in the shape of lovebirds and can't wait another minute to buy it.