TOPAZ HORIZON

I am so sorry for the absolutely-no-update week! I have been beyond deluged with inquiries about the leather bag Vince gave me. I am truly now in the bag business, folks! And if you're interested, go to this post to see the bag.

I'm so happy because our bag is proudly Pinoy made. I feel very good about giving business to a small group of Batangas leather artisans, headed by Uncle Buck, who had lamented to us that their craft is dying and that all their young people are moving to the city to become call center agents. They're happy that their kids are becoming office workers but they're sad that no one is taking up the craft. Soon, no one will know how to work with leather. And if you see my bag, it's really done well, lovingly made, perfectly stitched. If no one wants to be Uncle Buck's apprentice because there's no business, that craft will be lost.

Look at that craftsmanship!

I'm actually thinking of taking lessons from Uncle Buck. I don't know if I'll find the time but I have been looking for a craft ever since Angelina Jolie said she learned how to fly a plane because if world war happened again or some global crisis, who has use for actresses? Same with me. Who has use for entertainment magazine editors?

I was thinking carpentry actually because when I was in college, I installed my own book shelves. Bought plywood and nails, did some measurements, sawed away and put up the whole thing in my bedroom. They're still there today, 15 years later.

But now that I'm in the bag business, learning how to work with leather seems like a better option. How about you? What skill do you know that, in case of a massive global crisis, will be useful? Or if you're like me and don't know anything, what skill do you want to learn?

I fell in love with the Cambridge Satchel a few months ago and was over the moon when I finally received it. But I had a few issues with it: the leather is too stiff, the hardware is made of nickel, and the buckles, the buckles! They are a terrible inconvenience when you're accosted by mall entrance guards asking to inspect your bag.

A lot of people who bought the bag also had the same comments. So I told Vince I wanted to improve the satchel's design. That was a couple of weeks ago. Now you know that the Cambridge Satchel was Vince's Valentine's gift to me so he didn't like it that I was not completely happy with his gift. So Vince (the best husband ever!) found a leather craftsman, told him what I wanted, and had a bag made to my specifications.

On Monday, I shrieked and shrieked when Vince handed me this:

After a beautiful day today, I had a really bad evening. And it's all because of Google and its decision to consolidate all its products under one account. Google has several products--Gmail, Google Apps, Blogger, Picasa, Reader... a lot. Anyway, they decided that all these products should be accessed by a user under one account.

That's a really good idea (no sarcasm here whatsoever) so I did what they told me to do and consolidated my accounts. Here then was the unexpected problem, and I'll let Google explain it:


For at least 30 minutes, I lost access to my Blogger account because I used frances@topazhorizon.com to sign in to Blogger. My Blogger and Google Apps were in conflict. I was surprised at how I reacted when I logged in to Blogger and these words appeared: "The account does not exist." I gasped then panicked then, trembling, tried to recover my account then when those terrible words kept popping up, I wept. Wept!

I lost Topaz Horizon! I lost Topaz Mommy! I was literally shaking for 30 minutes. I felt nauseated and dizzy. I was so upset! Then I signed in again and this time I got through and a temporary email address was set up for me. You cannot imagine the relief that washed over me. I thought I was going to faint from it. I think the last time I felt this bad was when my mother died.

Fuck, it's so melodramatic. But it's true. All of the above hysteria did happen. If you follow me on Twitter, you'd have witnessed my meltdown. This just brought home the fact that I really truly do care about my blogs. I mean, I really do, but it's always just been a happy thing to do. Faced with their loss, I realized that they are far more important than I thought. Like I said, the last time I felt that bad was when my mother died.

Anyway, now I must move data. Or move email addresses. Still plodding through the whole thing. But I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think my blogs will be fine. Me? I don't know. I kinda feel strange that the supposed death of my blogs affected me like a real death.

I think I need to get a life.