Did you miss me?! My break was unintentional; I played hostess and tour guide for a few days to a good friend visiting from Auckland, and thought I would have time to blog as well... underestimating how much sleep the elderly need, and how long the elderly take to recover from a night of tv and gin & tonics. It's a wild life we lead down here in Port Chalmers. And there has been DRAMA! This morning I discovered my feedly had disappeared, so I spent an hour re-filling it, and lamenting the fact that if you type in Dogtown Vintage, a million other vintage blogs pop up, even though none of them have 'dogtown' either in their title or their content. I'm tempted to create hundreds of google accounts just so I can follow the blog and improve its position, but that seems too much like something Aaron Gilmore would do...
Anyway, to the shares.
1. We're still waiting on the builder's report and quote, but I'm getting into the design of the shop and, if you want the truth, it's a bit exciting (sentence structure a tribute to Holden Caulfield). I love community; knowing your neighbours, and saying hi to strangers, and I've always wished there was more of a hanging out on your stoop/porch culture here in New Zealand. If I had my way, shop owners would sit outside their shops on beach chairs until people came in, playing chess with each other, talking to passers-by, and yelling out to people on the other side of the street. My shop is on the first floor which means there'll be no sitting on the street for me, so instead I want to create a sitting-room in the middle of the shop, where people can come and hang out with me, or just sit quietly and read or think or draw. There's a little kitchen off the side, so I'll be able to make pots of tea, and I hope you'll come and visit me, even when you're not in the mood for shopping. There's a guy in Auckland who sets up his chess board at tables near the windows of two of the Burger Kings on Queen Street, and he looks out at people and beckons for them to come and play with him. It's sometimes sad and sometimes weird, but I always like to see him, and I love seeing people playing chess with him. I may become that man.
2. One of the things I love about vintage is that it decreases waste. I'm going to talk further about this later in the month, but suffice to say, for now, that I like things that last, and I like things that give new life to old or obsolete items - even those crazy tyre swans people make into planters. I may not want one, but boy do I respect the attempt. This morning I came across Ocean Sole on dream hampton, a Kenyan company that recycles the jandals that wash up on its beaches, threatening marine life and looking pretty awful, into cute toys and curtains and Christmas decorations. Cool.
3. There aren't many magazines I like. This is one I love. Maybe you've heard of it, but in case you haven't, may I recommend Anthology. It's pricey, but worth keeping forever (and it's a quarterly, so you won't be inundated anyway). They make a little video to go with each new issue, which I think is a really nice idea. This is the video for the second to last issue, which looks excellent.
4. It's exactly three weeks until my birthday. I'm trying not to be too excited because five people in my family have theirs first (and that's not including my Dad, whose birthday was yesterday), but it is NOT EASY. You know what else isn't easy? RESTRAINT. The internet is full things, some of which I would like, and some of which I just like to admire. If you need ideas for a present for somebody, send me an email. I have IDEAS.
1. Crystal cocktail ring from Meadowlark 2. Nausea by Jean-Paul Satre 3. Variegatum Dress from Adored Vintage 4. Octopus from Fab 5. Braided Sky high Swedish Hasbeens 6. Drumkit (sketch from wikipedia) 7. Jackie Ohh by Ray Ban 8. Gav sandals by Dolce Vita at Need Supply Co 9. Beloved by Toni Morrison 10. Simulations by Jean Baudrillard 11. Magenta Cotton Cushion from Trade Aid 12. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
5. A song we've been marvelling over. How was he real? How?
5. A song we've been marvelling over. How was he real? How?
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