Thanks Shag!!

Opened the Orange County Register this morning to find a lovely lil story on Shag. Woke me up. This tiki girl has been in a Tiki-coma since June. I haven't thought about tiki too much this summer (personal grief) and I haven't even (shame shame) dropped in on TC since then!!
But when I saw Shag and his ultra cool pad and the ART. Well...the poto got a tingle. Moved up to my scalp. YEZZZZ. This is IT! Ultra swank.
What was i thinking? How could I go cold turkey from all things Tiki? How could I let the sun set on my Tiki life style?
I blew the dust off my BOT. I actually had to look at the cover to even remember what the real name of the book was!!
I looked around my dining room and lanai for the first time in a long while. I felt like I had scales fall from my eyes as i took in the artifacts I had so zealously collected over the years. They are covered with dust and a few spiders have taken up housekeeping amongst the Eames lamps.
My beautifully carved sentinels peered back at me with quite disdain. The had been abandoned in my quest for sanity. My heart begin to thaw. In their presence, I folded to the floor. I whispered to them all that had taken place. The deaths, the illnesses, the rampages, the struggle to clear the mist from my brain (sadly, not created by man made concoctions of alcohol and fruit!). They were silent. But I think their glares turned into acceptance and then, forgiveness. They gathered together (spiritually-I'm not that off the deep end!) and made a resolve to forget and go on.
As I dusted and oiled them, they seemed to glow! I felt a renewed warmth and anticipation of all things Tiki returning to my life. Before, this was just a dusty room I sometimes passed through. Now, it will return to being my center of swank! The Tiki are feeding me good mana. I can't wait to have a weekend long shin dig again!
As I restore this place back to it's former glory, I try to remember the names of the dear, talented folks that had a hand in all I see before me. They are hard for me to remember right now. But Shag set it off for me this early morn. I would like to thank all of you who are so religiously worshiping here at TC. You repeat offenders. You know who you are- you never let the ice melt, you keep carving and creating, you laugh at convention. You keep coming back. You continue to share with the world this Tiki. Because of you, Tiki lives!! THANK YOU!!

(oddly enough, as I was returning from Sacramento back to The OC the other day, I saw a directional sign on the 99: Hanford Lemoore. I believe I felt a jump in my gut...something was breaking through in this foggy brain! I have to actually look on the bottoms of my Tiki to see the notes I put there to tell me when and where I adopted them and who created them! I am leafing through my BOT and scrolling around on TC to refresh my memory. I feel like a lost soul returning from a barren desert to this Oasis.)

I am feeling something I have not felt for some time. Can you feel it?...

Welcome back, looks like you are in for one Sweet ride. That was a Beautiful piece you wrote after reading the Shag article, made my tiki heart melt.
Thanks.

Dagnabit...someone stole our Saturday paper...

Nice story dude. Glad to have you back too. The heathen gods save another soul :)

Thanks for your great story, Hau 'oli Tiki! Here's a link to the Shag article in the Orange County Register (you'll need to sign up to access the article, but it's free, and I've never gotten junk email from them): http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/life/homegarden/article_762689.php

It's a nice article, and they included pics on the website. It's interesting to learn a bit of Shag and his wife's personal philosophy for designing and choosing pieces for their family's space. I've been fortunate to be a guest briefly at Shag's house, and it really is lovely and very comfortable in person. They have some fabulous and unusual vintage pieces through the house -- his mug collection is extensive! My favorite part about the visit, though, was his young son, Zach. Zach is almost criminally adorable.