We apologize for any inconvenience some of the problems with the old systems might have caused you. We’re not a big company with vast resources at our disposal. We’re a small company with a staff of well less than a dozen, and nearly everything we do we’ve had to do ourselves. Floozees Doozees is the very epitome of an independent company determined to make its own way so that we may keep our relationship with our customers very personal and one-on-one. Sometimes we’ve failed you because we don’t have an I.T. department or a handful of tech experts who can come running whenever we have a problem. But we’re committed to you, our customers, and that makes all the difference. Sure, we screw up, but our heart is in the right place, and you mean a lot to us. We’ll always make it right. For you.

We probably won’t post another update until after the new infrastructure goes live, after which we expect to post more frequently. We’re looking forward to finding out what our customers think of the new store. We’re fairly convinced that you’re going to love it!

Stay tuned for the next phase of Floozees Doozees!

~ Victoria, the Head Floozee

Long-time customers and friends no doubt already know some of the problems we’ve been having. In the last six months or so our infrastructure has deteriorated. We could blame that on a lot of different things, but mostly it’s been the general migration of the Web to HTML5 that hurt us the most. Some of our existing infrastructure turned out to be not so up-gradable, and problems cascaded from there.

The new systems we’re putting in place will address these problems across the board. We’re not just upgrading a few scripts, we’re rebuilding our databases and infrastructure from the ground up. As a result, what our long-time customers and friends will soon experience is more robust and stable Floozees Doozees store. And yes, we’re fixing that annoying USPS Priority Mail glitch that has driven us all crazy for so long.

In short, what you’re about to have is a new and vastly improved Floozees Doozees. We’re excited, and hope that you’ll drop in when we announce the new store in a few weeks.

We appreciate the support you’ve given us through the years, and hope to continue serving you and your family.

Thank you so much!

~ Victoria, the head Floozee

Thank you for your support of Floozees Doozees through the years. And please bear with us as we put these new upgrades into place. We are very happy to have finally reached the level of service where we can bring together the site functionality that we’ve always wanted to have.

Customs and Traditions

The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn’t get the job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship.

The Pagan Saint?

Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity he became a Christian and adopted the name Patrick.

He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training he got the notion that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity.

His wishes were to return to Ireland, to convert the native pagans to Christianity. But his superiors instead appointed St. Palladius. But two years later, Palladius transferred to Scotland. Patrick was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland.

Spreading the “Truth”

Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. And this fact rightfully upset the Celtic Druids, who had their own native religion. Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his indoctrination of the Irish country into Christianity.

His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick’s Day ever since.

Maewyn Myths

Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick’s Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated.

Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.

Symbolism

One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.

The St. Patrick’s Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick’s Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston.

Good Things Come from Pagan Conversions

Today, people celebrate the day with parades, wearing of the green, and drinking beer. One reason St. Patrick’s Day might have become so popular is that it takes place just a few days before the first day of spring. One might say it has become the first green of spring.

(Saint Patrick’s Day info respectfully pilfered from Wilstar.com)

Jane Holland was always a floozee, of sorts. At first it was snooker. She ranked 26th in the world when she was banned from playing on the Isle of Man, where she now lives, for allegedly “bringing the game into disrepute”. After deserting the game in disgust at her treatment, she turned to poetry, and set up another platform from which to battle against the odds – Blade, one of Britain’s gutsiest poetry magazines.

Her first full-length collection of poetry, The Brief History of a Disreputable Woman, was published in 1997. In it you will find poems that are up front, honest, and razor sharp – poems with plenty of sass and attitude, in other words. At least from our perspective.

If you’re a fan of poetry without pretense, work that is honest and from the heart, you owe it to yourself to experience the work of Jane Holland.

Rain becomes my season.
I walk out under the dark clouds
like a missionary,
preaching the world of the wet.
I kneel on the earth,
put my face to the dampness
like a child hidden
in her mother’s skirt.

Holland’s first collection was in the mainstream British tradition, generally as a “nature” poet rather than an urban stylist, citing Ted Hughes as a major early influence. Her more recent work includes a long narrative poem sequence written in the voice of Boudicca and a translation of the Anglo-Saxon poem, The Wanderer.

Links

• The Brief History of a Disreputable Woman @ Amazon.com
• Disreputable – Kindle version @ Amazon.com
• Jane Holland – Official web site

• Drink Less Alcohol
• Eat Healthy Food
• Get a Better Education
• Get a Better Job
• Get Fit
• Lose Weight
• Manage Debt
• Manage Stress
• Quit Smoking
• Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
• Save Money
• Take a Trip
• Volunteer to Help Others

Long story short, we’ve moved to a new server. If you’ve visited our store before, you’ve no doubt noticed how much faster everything is. That’s all part of the plan. We’re always looking for ways to serve our customers better, and we realized that our old web server was actually getting in the way of that. So we’ve moved.

These problems are transitory. We expect to have them worked out by the end of the week. So please bear with us as we continue to grow. And thanks!

~ Victoria, the Head Floozee

www.FloozeesDoozees/mobile

Or, of course, you can just scan the QR code included in this post. Yes, we know. It seems counter-intuitive to post a QR code on a web site that you’ve likely visited on your desktop computer or laptop, but we just wanted to let all of our habitually mobile customers know that they can now access Floozees Doozees from anywhere. We’ll be including the QR code on our advertising from here on out, and hope that the mobile store will prove useful to our customers.

Please write us with any question or suggestions you might have about the mobile store or how to use the QR code. As ever, we are here to serve you, and we love to hear from you.

~ Victoria, the Head Floozee

Floozees Doozees is pleased to have been mentioned in the Grlfashionista’s Blog “Is That A Feather In Your Hair?“. The author, a lovely young woman named Megan, describes herself as “a true writer at heart as well as a HUGE Vintage enthusiast!” and explains that she is “dedicated to the discovery of unique women’s vintage and to provide my readers with top Vintage stores.”

Megan featured our Aztec Cat Adjustable Feather Hair Extension in her blog post and summed it up with some very nice comments.

“I am love with this feather extension from FloozeesDoozees! The earthy colors are perfectly matched together and I love that all the feathers are different sizes to create one long extension. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like long feathers, but I just think these multiple short feathers are clumped together very creatively and are so adorable! Plus, the kitty charm just adds to the allure of this extension and secretly my favorite part about it.”

If you have a taste for eclectic fashion, we highly recommend that you visit the Grlfashionasta Blog. Megan reviews online boutiques and uses a TON of Etsy vintage stores and Ebay shops in her posts. To stay up to date on her blog, follow her on bloglovin. Tell her that Floozees Doozees sent ya, and that we send our best regards!

Links

• Grlfashionista’s Blog
• Is That A Feather In Your Hair?
• Aztec Cat Adjustable Feather Hair Extension

We haven’t forgotten our International customers, though. While it’s cost prohibitive to offer free International shipping, we are able to offer a flat rate fee which will constitute a savings in shipping costs for most of our International customers. Please refer to our new shipping rate chart to determine shipping costs for your region.

As always, we greatly appreciate the support you’ve shown us through the years. We hope that our free shipping and flat rate offers will help bring some small amount of relief during these difficult economic times. Every little bit helps, right?

Anyway, thanks again. We look forward to serving you in the years to come.

~ Victoria, the Head Floozee