A year ago this weekend I was busy preparing a speech and slide show on the history of handbags for a fund raising luncheon here in Houston. A guest who heard the talk recommended me to the group in Temple who will host a luncheon benefiting Komen for the Cure on Thursday, April 12.

The presentation is a good one and so I am really happy to be giving the talk again, especially for a cause such as this. Proceeds from the event support programs for breast cancer education, screening and treatment in Central Texas.

It was easy to launch a PurseStories blog. Trouble is, I’ve not gotten my act together to make the blog meaningful for readers and all the folks who visit the Purse Stories website. Guess this blog has been a place holder to date. We’ll work to change that. In the meantime, know that I am clearing clutter, not from my handbag, but from my house. Will post soon again – something substanative.

Who knew this day would come? When Purse Stories actually has a blog of its own? The original www.pursestories.com website was born in 2002 when most folks weren’t blogging, maybe weren’t even sure what a blog was. The website was quite interactive for its time. Anyone could log on and leave a story of their own and contact the site, but the whole notion of conversations with a readership where everyone could follow along and become a part of the dialogue on individual stories was not part of the plan.

The story collection continues to grow and dozens and dozens of women have written and submitted wonderful stories and poems about purses that hold a special places in their hearts.

I’ll be working now to link this new blog to the Purse Stories collection. In the meantime, consider this blog an offshoot of www.pursestories.com and I will welcome your suggestions for making connections between the two.

Just a bit of history: Purse Stories evolved from a collaboration with the Weave Dance Company in Houston, TX. Together, the dancers and I worked on a full length dance called Womans p a c e and we used the purse as a metaphor for women’s private interior space. Womans p a c e premiered at Stages Repertory Theater in Houston in May 1999.

During the months that I worked with Weave, conversations with friends began to generate stories about remembered purses. These wonderful stories were incorporated into an installation of photo collages and antique purses called “Purse Stories.” The installation was a part of “Mama Said…Nine Interpretations”, a group exhibition at FotoFest 2000.

Many women left me comments when they saw the gallery installation and from them I gathered leads for more stories. A book seemed inevitable. However, the book idea quickly turned into a website because of the potential for growth and an ever more diverse and varied collection.

Now, with a pursestories blog, anything is possible.