Fogcity, Two Businesses, A Cold

Talk about Raincity, they should call this place Fogcity. We have had a week of continuous fog. The sun is trying to peek out today. If it does, I fully expect people to point up and say, "What the heck is that big yellow ball!"

Speaking of this place, the thought occured to me: how long can I keep saying I'm a new Vancouverite? In April it will be two years...wow...unbelieveable. I am extremely glad I moved here. It has been very therapeutic to be involved with setting up two businesses. And of course, being a mere three blocks away from my daughter and granddaughter is also terrific. And so many good things: being close to my sister, finding a new business partner. Life is good.

So, my second business will be open next Wednesday. My partner, A. and I will be having Open House from 12:00 noon to 6:00 every day for the rest of January. I'll be taking pamphlets around to the other jewellery related businesses to try to drum up business. Anyone reading this blog is welcome to come to suite 320 - 736 Granville St. in Vancouver and see Sapphire Jewellery Studio Inc. in action. We expect our major income to be from the rental of benches and tools for jewellery makers. We have all the toys: tumblers, polishers, a gas torch for soldering, a rolling mill for making our own wire, dapping tools and so on. We even have a scroll saw and a sonic cleaner. The website is under construction.

As for my other business, Prairie Crocus Jewellery, I have an appointment on Wednesday with the buyer for the B. C. Ferries gift shops. I am hopeful that I will have some sales. I have applied to sell at Portobello West, an upscale craft market the last Sunday of every month. I'm still waiting for a reply on that.

I am home today with a bit of a cold, so I am taking it easy, napping, reading, doing some laundry. Take care out there!

Take care and TATA......and PEACE

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. ~Bill Gates, Business @ the Speed of Thought

City Bureaucracy Construction Blues

Here is Remy on the Jolly Jumper. She is really starting to enjoy this. We keep it at Granny's because there isn't room at Remy's. I took 8 pictures trying to get one of her smiling, but by the time the camera focuses and takes the picture, the smile has disappeared in favour of the "what the heck is that?" look.

This morning I got a copy of a letter from the city ordering the owners of the block we are renting our studio from to comply with the inspector's orders or they will shut us down. Apparently they still have not shown that the construction meets the specs of the building bylaw. The real estate agent and the architect keep assuring us it is only a formality and we should go ahead with business as usual.

That's easy for them to say - they aren't the ones that will be slapped with a fine if caught doing business without a licence. But at this point we are too far in to go back without losing two months' rent. So.......we are going to trust these people know what they are talking about. Big leap of faith!!!

I went to see The Reader. Powerful movie. I shed a few tears. Another one that makes one think. What would I do if I were in that situation?

There is road resurfacing going on just outside my block. It's pretty noisy during the day, of course. But, because they moved the bus terminus it has been much quieter at night. I slept well last night. I wish they would move the terminus permanently.

One day, someone showed me a glass of water that was half full. And he said, "Is it half full or half empty?" So I drank the water. No more problem. ~Alexander Jodorowsky

New Year, Synecdoche, Pipes, Wrestling and Rehearsals

Happy New Year to all!!! The top picture shows New Year's Eve Party and the bottom picture is of my sister and I on New Year's Day.

For the past couple of weeks, my partner and I have been setting up the studio. We plan to have it ready by Tues. Jan. 20.

I have also been on my yearly pilgrimage to theatres to see as many movies as I can before the Oscars. I have seen Doubt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Wrestler, Marley and Me and Synecdoche, NY. All good movies, many excellent performances. I have a list to see yet.

Synecdoche. Quite surreal in many ways, terrific performance by Phillip Seymore Hoffman. He also gave a great performance in Doubt. Can this man act? Yeah, remember Capote? I don't think he's capable of a bad performance.

I saw this movie in a huge theatre. I was one of 10 people (I did count) at this showing. At the end of the movie, all 10 of us sat there staring at the screen as the credits rolled by, trying to make sense of what we had just seen. I love movies that make me think.

Charlie Kaufman, the writer and director, was up to his usual craziness. The main character is a director of stage plays. He mounts a play about his own life and gets people to play him and the others in his life. Actors drop out of the play (one literally) and he has to recast parts. It was all slightly confusing trying to keep track of who was playing a role and who wasn't....oh, wait...they were all playing roles. Except me...I wasn't playing a role...I think. Well, what can one expect from the writer of Adaptation and Being John Malkovich. He has made 6 movies now and I have seen 5 of them.

Anyway, this movie had me going to Wikipedia to read everything about Charlie Kaufman and going to my Oxford dictionary to look up synecdoche. Sin-neck-doe-kee, with the accent on the neck. I kid you not, that is how to pronounce it. I assume since the che is pronounced kee that the word is from a Greek word. Synecdoche means: extended acceptation by which when a part is named, the whole it belongs to is understood. The examples given by the Oxford: 50 sail (for 50 ships) and England beat Australia at cricket (England's cricket team and Australia's cricket team). So then I spent hours trying to come up with other synecdoches. The only one I am sure of is a Canadianism. The goalie stood in front of the pipes (for the net). I just thought of another one. Mickey Rourke plays in "The Wrestler." I guess we could call him the muscle of the movie. Let me know if you think of any others. No wonder darling daughter calls me a "word nerd."

And I am left wondering about how the meaning of synecdoche fits with the movie. The obvious, I suppose, would be that a biographical movie or a play is a part of a life that stands for the whole life. I want to see this movie again to watch if there are any synecdoches in the script.

A character in Synecdoche says: Everyone is the main character of their own play and there are no extras. Food for thought. I really need to see this movie again.

Tonight, the Golden Globes. Woo hoo. Is it the dress or the tech rehearsal for the Academy Awards? I don't know, but it is always interesting. The actors get free booze and many of them are a little snockered.

Much affection to the cast of my life.

My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot. ~Ashleigh Brilliant