This is the tale of a dream. It will explain how a clueless mother of 3 pulled herself from a haze of Brownie projects and car pools to reach past all logical limits for a reason to leave the house more often. Shocking? Perhaps. Reasonable? Unlikely, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it. Our story begins in 1985....
CHAPTER 1
Long ago and far away in a basement of avocado green and harvest gold, a dream was born. It started small; real, REAL small. Why couldn't a 30+ year old woman who grew up looking at Norman Rockwell drawings and Life Magazine, find a way to make pictures? Yes, pictures that other people would pay for and cherish forever 'n ever? Why should she be limited by the fact that she had no camera and no idea how to make a business out of photography? She bought a camera, undaunted.
The woman shared the idea with all who would listen and a few who wouldn't. Slowly, it began to happen. Little babies, small children, families and brides came to the subterranean studio and actually paid for her photos. The woman was thrilled...shocked, but thrilled. The wrought iron lawn furniture gave way to used office futniture. Sure there were a few bullet holes here and there, but she felt like a pioneer and it suited her mood.
And then the unthinkable occured to her. The woman was taking a portrait of a family of large, round people in her petite camera room. She had artfully squished them against the backdrop, check to jowl, in positions so uncomfortable that she knew this appointment would be over in no time. As she gracefully maneuvered herself past the heat ducts and accumulated family castoffs, the woman realized that she had reached the pinnacle of underground portraiture and the time was right to climb the stairs into the light.
It was time for a move, but that would mean a big change. She would have to pay rent, get insurance and stop wearing her nightgown to work. The challenge beckoned. The woman's eyes teared with the dream of a "room of one's own", a place where she could make the rules and be queen and she'd call it, ummm, errrr, ahhhhh CLIX photographs & savables, inc. And someday when smart people invented the internet she would have a website and register it as CLIXvilleUSA.com and it would be good.
CHAPTER 2
A new place was found to set up the camera. It was big...very big. Something was missing. the woman had brought lights, negatives, computers, but it still felt empty, and then she had a brainstorm (You thought maybe that it was Hayley's Comet that lit up the sky?). Stuff, we need stuff! Cool, photo stuff that is hard to find. Beautiful photograph albums and journals covered in Italian leathers, handmade papers and fine fabrics. Of course, she needed to sell frames too: inlaid wood, pewter, painted, crackled finishes, glass, suede and anything that was unique and faaaaaaaabulous. The hunt was on.
The woman covered a lot of ground, shopping was her mission. It was a dirty job, but she HAD to do it. Her new business opened while she continued to discover more cool stuff in each of the two main categories: photo stuff and what-the-hell's that-got-to-do-with-photography stuff. She gathered smart creative people to help deal with her mania and to make sure that she put film in the camera, made the right change for customers and bought TP as needed. Sure, there were dark clouds on occasion, but staff, customers and family helped her to see that many of her ideas weren't as stupid as they looked and she was bound to make a little money at some point. The woman pressed on.
CHAPTER 3
It was just a matter of time before she joined the e-world. Wait till all the dot coms tank and people get all worried about the economy, she thought. THAT will be
the time to expand to the internet. And, Ye, it happeneth and she joineth the fray
and it is good. Or she hopes it will be good. The years have been kind, if fleeting, and the woman is as ready as she ever will be cause she ain't getting any younger and the possibilities are just too tempting for this camera-clickin' mama.
Our future is with you, dear reader. Will you like what you see?
Will you actually put down some coin or just browse? Will we mess up your order or serve you as well as we mean to? Will you tell every living soul you ever have met that this is the coolest site and that if they don't visit us this INSTANT they may miss a moment of a cultural evolution that few witness? ... (OK, OK that was a bit much). Will we get to know you and will we please you? We hope so. We truly hope so.
And the woman smiled and waited for the next chapter to unfold.
