The short answer, Gentle Reader, is no. You may be thinking of the phrase “Sleepy Hollow,” which is the name of a town in Massachusetts and is included in the title, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” THAT is indeed an incredibly terrifying ghost story which the Walt Disney Company made into an animated short in 1949, and which I saw at age 8 in the 1970’s, and which terrorized my dreams for years.
According to imdb the company STILL gets complaints about the film being tooo scaaaaarrrrryyy!!! Figgy Hollow is something completely different.
I live at Figgy Hollow. I happen to have a lot of time on my hands these days, and in an ironic twist, this was not creating a hive of productivity at my house. I had briefly fallen into a de-pressurized stupor, following months and months of being very stressed and over-worked. So- I have some unblemished, empty calendar pages which is an unfamiliar luxury. I suspect this happens now and then to other people too… some of us choose to get up and make a snack. Some turn on Netflix. I decided to try to start a blog. In fact I’ve already succeeded because this is my blog. If anyone is reading this, I have TRIUMPHED!
I’ve been thinking for a long time about starting a blog. I bought this domain name literally years ago, and I’ve been selfishly sitting on it. Lurking, if you will, and batting away all other soon-to-be-disappointed seekers trying to nab the domain, “Figgy Hollow.” Why Figgy Hollow, you ask? Well, when picking something that is going to be around for a while, such as a tattoo design or an important grouping of words (email address, name for a pet, title of a blog) it’s my theory that it’s a good idea to choose something with lasting qualities.
Figgy Hollow is the name I’ve given to my home, or more specifically the parcel of Los Angeles property upon which my house sits. The whole 5500 square feet was dubbed, “Figgy Hollow” when I bought it in 2013, and this is because at the time there was already an enormous, mature fig tree in the backyard. A fig tree is a mixed blessing- leafy green and wonderfully cool and shady in the summer… and of course a seasonal mess of dropped fruit and later dropped leaves. It is the very definition of deciduous- not a dangling leaf remains when it’s finished with Shedding Season. I should probably call it Raking Season.
Figgy Hollow has become the title of my blog because I intend for this blog to be around for a while. So I’m following my principle of choosing a title with potential longevity. Anyone who knows about Prop 13 in California will certainly understand that if you are able to buy property at a relatively low price (as I was in 2013) you DO NOT SELL THAT PROPERTY! If you’re not up on the California tax law I won’t hold it against you, but I’ll ask you to just take my word for it: Figgy Hollow and I will be a team for many many years, if not the rest of my life.
Lots of interesting things happen at Figgy Hollow! My partner is a Plant Man/Mad Scientist/Tinkerer/Philosopher. I have an adorable miniature poodle. I love to sew, knit, and create. I probably would have started this blog long ago, except that much of what I do is under the auspices of an NDA. That is LA-speak for “non-disclosure agreement” and it means that I’m making secret things for TV shows and films that you haven’t seen yet. If I were to publish photos of how I spend my time on most days, it would constitute a leak and I’d get in BIG TROUBLE! There are a few exceptions, and I plan to post those photos with glee and abandon! For example, when I am writing about a personal project, or something I did as a favor for a friend, or perhaps photos of something that you watched on NBC a couple of years ago… that’s all fair game.
I hope to connect with fellow bloggers who work in The Business, i.e. entertainment production, and also to see if there is perhaps a place for me in the Pantheon of sewing bloggers. I used to feel both alone and accomplished in my personal sewing journey, and through the ’80’s and ’90’s that was much more true than it is today. I’m super-impressed with all the younger people who have taken this hobby to heart with a fervor that was dreadfully out of fashion back when I …
Wait. Any sentence that includes “…back when…” shall henceforth be re-written. I’m not interested in telling y’all how things used to be. Who cares!? If anyone WANTS to know anything I’d be happy to try to write about your questions. (For example: How on earth did anyone meet up for drinks before they had cell phones??) But overall, I feel that I have ridden the current Sewing Nouveau Wave along with the rest of us, starting with Colette or Sewaholic like the rest of us, pumping up my blog roll with personalities as so many have. It’s a great little world, isn’t it? And so I say, enough with the passive consumption of content. I’m part of the community, I have a voice, I have love and compassion to share, and I’m stepping out of the shadows today.
Figgy Hollow 