ENNUI IS ME
Not so long ago I could just sit down and write and let whatever flow out onto this page, but I just feel so , how to say it... STUCK. I know I should write just to break the seal on the cling-wrap that is holding everything in but it just seems so tight and too difficult to tear through. I will give it more effort, but I am afraid that miscellaneous ramblings about not being able to write or think or know what the fuck is going on with myself is all you will get for a while. What a bunch of whiney crap this is. That is what is up with me these days though. I have no clue what it is all about either. I even started smoking again (just a little). What the fuck is *THAT* about? How did I get to be suddenly unhappy? I am one twisted fuck.
EDITED TO ADD:
I went to Cattra's page and saw that she might be leaving. That royally sux. Her journal gave me the idea of adding myself as my own friend... maybe that's what I need: be my own friend. I haven't been very friendly to myself lately. Ugh.
Not so long ago I could just sit down and write and let whatever flow out onto this page, but I just feel so , how to say it... STUCK. I know I should write just to break the seal on the cling-wrap that is holding everything in but it just seems so tight and too difficult to tear through. I will give it more effort, but I am afraid that miscellaneous ramblings about not being able to write or think or know what the fuck is going on with myself is all you will get for a while. What a bunch of whiney crap this is. That is what is up with me these days though. I have no clue what it is all about either. I even started smoking again (just a little). What the fuck is *THAT* about? How did I get to be suddenly unhappy? I am one twisted fuck.
EDITED TO ADD:
I went to Cattra's page and saw that she might be leaving. That royally sux. Her journal gave me the idea of adding myself as my own friend... maybe that's what I need: be my own friend. I haven't been very friendly to myself lately. Ugh.
MY POOR NEGLECTED SAILBOAT MISSES ME.
Shame on me.
Clover's set is up. SUPA-HAWT!!!
Drove a long way for Thanksgiving. Driving back through Northern Virginia SUX.
Shame on me.
Clover's set is up. SUPA-HAWT!!!
Drove a long way for Thanksgiving. Driving back through Northern Virginia SUX.
To install or not to install...
The GIGANTIC 36" 6 burner commercial stove/oven in this house... should I install it? I mean, it is a SERIOUS pain in the ass to install a REAL commercial stove/oven in a residential setting. You have to have all these clearances and install non-combustible surfaces around it, put in a gigantic hood, and all sorts of crap. Sounds like a serious pain that is not worth the effort.
I think I'm gonna just sell the thing instead. I got it cheap.
The GIGANTIC 36" 6 burner commercial stove/oven in this house... should I install it? I mean, it is a SERIOUS pain in the ass to install a REAL commercial stove/oven in a residential setting. You have to have all these clearances and install non-combustible surfaces around it, put in a gigantic hood, and all sorts of crap. Sounds like a serious pain that is not worth the effort.
I think I'm gonna just sell the thing instead. I got it cheap.
Livin' in the Lame Life
Wow, I feel like the most interesting thing that happened to me since the last post was I sanded and refinished the floors in The Project From Hell. I guess that isn't true though. Maine was very cool. We went kayaking and had some fun with that. It was very pretty and peaceful.
I went to Florida for work this week. I stayed at a fleabag hotel on Palm Beach. I was not aware that there were any fleabag hotels in Palm Beach, but apparently I was mistaken. Think aging, grubby polynesian facade with standard issue urban doors-to-the-parking-lot scuzzy hotel. I was not sure my door was going to stay shut. The hotel apparently had something of a beach before the hurricanes this season, but now the stairway down to the "beach" is mostly destroyed and the water breaks up against the seawall, spraying the tables between the top of the 20 foot seawall and the small swimming pool. There was good surfing there though, and people other than I were enjoying it on boards. I had no hot water for the shower in the morning. I'll be sure to stay there again REAL soon if I can remember to bring my own Clorox and hot water heater.
I flew out of Orlando yesterday and almost got screwed because our esteemed Vice President Dick was flying in close to the time I was going through security and I think the TSA people were freaking out. I accidentilly left the little portable speakers/amp/dockingstation that I use with my iPod in my bag instead of removing it. Well, those assholes must have looked at the stupid image of my bag for like 8 minutes. Truly. No lie. The guy called over his supervisor, then the supervisor's supervisor, then the supervisor's supervisor's supervisor, and finally a cop came over and kinda laughed, then they FINALLY pulled my bag out and asked me if I had a radio, so of course I said, yeah, and they opened the bag, pulled it out, and scanned it with some extra-special-scanner, then sent me on my way. Fukin' A.
That is all for now. Maybe I will post a pic or two if I can drag my ass out to get them developed.
Wow, I feel like the most interesting thing that happened to me since the last post was I sanded and refinished the floors in The Project From Hell. I guess that isn't true though. Maine was very cool. We went kayaking and had some fun with that. It was very pretty and peaceful.
I went to Florida for work this week. I stayed at a fleabag hotel on Palm Beach. I was not aware that there were any fleabag hotels in Palm Beach, but apparently I was mistaken. Think aging, grubby polynesian facade with standard issue urban doors-to-the-parking-lot scuzzy hotel. I was not sure my door was going to stay shut. The hotel apparently had something of a beach before the hurricanes this season, but now the stairway down to the "beach" is mostly destroyed and the water breaks up against the seawall, spraying the tables between the top of the 20 foot seawall and the small swimming pool. There was good surfing there though, and people other than I were enjoying it on boards. I had no hot water for the shower in the morning. I'll be sure to stay there again REAL soon if I can remember to bring my own Clorox and hot water heater.
I flew out of Orlando yesterday and almost got screwed because our esteemed Vice President Dick was flying in close to the time I was going through security and I think the TSA people were freaking out. I accidentilly left the little portable speakers/amp/dockingstation that I use with my iPod in my bag instead of removing it. Well, those assholes must have looked at the stupid image of my bag for like 8 minutes. Truly. No lie. The guy called over his supervisor, then the supervisor's supervisor, then the supervisor's supervisor's supervisor, and finally a cop came over and kinda laughed, then they FINALLY pulled my bag out and asked me if I had a radio, so of course I said, yeah, and they opened the bag, pulled it out, and scanned it with some extra-special-scanner, then sent me on my way. Fukin' A.
That is all for now. Maybe I will post a pic or two if I can drag my ass out to get them developed.
WHO KILLED MR. MOONLIGHT?
I just got finished painting, wainscoting, hanging doors, hanging cabinets, and pulling the tools, trash, unused fixtures, etc. out of the bottom floor of the duplex I have been renovating. I don't even recognize the place any more. To think when we bought the place it smelled like pee and was full of tremendous amounts of junk boggles my mind...
The hardwood floors still need a lot of help, but I'm just glad they looked as decent as they did after I pulled the nasty ass carpet off of them.
The front porch still looks like the fucking Beverly Hillbillies live there, but WTF. One step at a time I guess. Upstairs unit is next on the list! At least that project won't be as difficult.
I am looking forward to taking some time for myself after busting ass for so long. I am going to Maine with my GF this weekend. It is her birthday on Thusday.
L8R!!!
I just got finished painting, wainscoting, hanging doors, hanging cabinets, and pulling the tools, trash, unused fixtures, etc. out of the bottom floor of the duplex I have been renovating. I don't even recognize the place any more. To think when we bought the place it smelled like pee and was full of tremendous amounts of junk boggles my mind...
The hardwood floors still need a lot of help, but I'm just glad they looked as decent as they did after I pulled the nasty ass carpet off of them.
The front porch still looks like the fucking Beverly Hillbillies live there, but WTF. One step at a time I guess. Upstairs unit is next on the list! At least that project won't be as difficult.
I am looking forward to taking some time for myself after busting ass for so long. I am going to Maine with my GF this weekend. It is her birthday on Thusday.
L8R!!!
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY...
Makes me want to go crazy!!!
Must finish project...
Must finish project...
Makes me want to go crazy!!!
Must finish project...
Must finish project...
BLOWN AWAY
Just got back from Florida. I went down to bring generators and plywood to friends and family. That was a serious clusterfuck.
I went there with my friend John and we had to revise our departure time like 6 times and ended up leaving Saturday evening rather than Friday morning--the hurricane kept slowing down and getting bigger. We drove down in his Freghtliner Sprinter truck and towed a utility trailer.
We stopped in Virginia and bought plywood. After we loaded up, tied down, and drove away, we saw like 4 people beating the shit out of some guy and his car with baseball bats right in the middle of the street at a stop light. We decided not to hang out and watch the action being as how we had so much cargo. We drove off, refueled, and came back. Everybody left and not a single cop showed up. Odd.
At one point, we waited on the Georgia/Florida border for hours waiting for the storm to move far enough inland for us to continue south. We watched it on the big screen TV at the truck stop and it was covering the ENTIRE state of Florida from Miami to Jacksonville. Holy shit. We waited until it started getting close to Orlando and made our move. We were towing a trailer with 50 sheets of 1/2" CDX plywood, 20 5 gal. cans of gasoline, and 2 cans of diesel. Inside the truck we had 16 generators loaded in, 2 chainsaws, and all the tools we might need to patch up houses, hook up generators to electrical panels, etc.
So, here I am, on my birthday, thinking it may be my last. I'm driving a FUCKING BOMB through a hurricane. What a dumb shit I am. We did stop right after midnight at a Waffle House and the large black woman working as a line cook sang me the greatest and most soulful rendition of "Happy Birthday" I have ever heard. I was definitely "wowed." Why she is working as a death shift line cook I can't say, but I'm glad she was doing it that night.
After we got the generators distributed, the owner of the house we brought the plywood down for decided he didn't want to board it up. We told him he was FUCKING INSANE being as how there was another 'cane coming, but what the hell. He made it though this one with no windows busted. So, there we are, in a FUCKING WAR ZONE trying to make a RETURN of 50 sheets of plywood to Home Depot. Mind you, this load retails for like $1000. We probably could have sold it on the street for 3 or 4 times that. Why? Because there is no more fucking plywood in all of Florida, that's why.
Do the people working at Home Depot lift me up on their shoulders and parade me around the store, anouncing my name on the loudspeaker, calling me the Triuphant Bringer of Bountiful Plywood, Conqueror of The Storm? No, they just give me a bunch of shit and send me from person to person to person before I finally get fed up enough that I keep asking for people's bosses until finally I get the person who must be the head manager of the store to realize that I have exactly what she needs, and she marches out, verifys the wood is good (we encapsulated it in rain tarps for the trip), takes my receipt, elbows everybody else out of the return line, makes the computer do its thing, and starts trying to get her people out there with a forklift. They made the first delivery directly off of our truck. By the time we had it unloaded, she had already sold half of it.
On the way back I stopped in to see my parents, sister, and nieces and nephew. We also stopped to see John's parents.
Do I get to rest after this grand sleep deprivation experiment? No, I get to cater my GF's party. At least I like to cook.
OK, enough of that epic story. Thanks for all the B-Day greetings!
Just got back from Florida. I went down to bring generators and plywood to friends and family. That was a serious clusterfuck.
I went there with my friend John and we had to revise our departure time like 6 times and ended up leaving Saturday evening rather than Friday morning--the hurricane kept slowing down and getting bigger. We drove down in his Freghtliner Sprinter truck and towed a utility trailer.
We stopped in Virginia and bought plywood. After we loaded up, tied down, and drove away, we saw like 4 people beating the shit out of some guy and his car with baseball bats right in the middle of the street at a stop light. We decided not to hang out and watch the action being as how we had so much cargo. We drove off, refueled, and came back. Everybody left and not a single cop showed up. Odd.
At one point, we waited on the Georgia/Florida border for hours waiting for the storm to move far enough inland for us to continue south. We watched it on the big screen TV at the truck stop and it was covering the ENTIRE state of Florida from Miami to Jacksonville. Holy shit. We waited until it started getting close to Orlando and made our move. We were towing a trailer with 50 sheets of 1/2" CDX plywood, 20 5 gal. cans of gasoline, and 2 cans of diesel. Inside the truck we had 16 generators loaded in, 2 chainsaws, and all the tools we might need to patch up houses, hook up generators to electrical panels, etc.
So, here I am, on my birthday, thinking it may be my last. I'm driving a FUCKING BOMB through a hurricane. What a dumb shit I am. We did stop right after midnight at a Waffle House and the large black woman working as a line cook sang me the greatest and most soulful rendition of "Happy Birthday" I have ever heard. I was definitely "wowed." Why she is working as a death shift line cook I can't say, but I'm glad she was doing it that night.
After we got the generators distributed, the owner of the house we brought the plywood down for decided he didn't want to board it up. We told him he was FUCKING INSANE being as how there was another 'cane coming, but what the hell. He made it though this one with no windows busted. So, there we are, in a FUCKING WAR ZONE trying to make a RETURN of 50 sheets of plywood to Home Depot. Mind you, this load retails for like $1000. We probably could have sold it on the street for 3 or 4 times that. Why? Because there is no more fucking plywood in all of Florida, that's why.
Do the people working at Home Depot lift me up on their shoulders and parade me around the store, anouncing my name on the loudspeaker, calling me the Triuphant Bringer of Bountiful Plywood, Conqueror of The Storm? No, they just give me a bunch of shit and send me from person to person to person before I finally get fed up enough that I keep asking for people's bosses until finally I get the person who must be the head manager of the store to realize that I have exactly what she needs, and she marches out, verifys the wood is good (we encapsulated it in rain tarps for the trip), takes my receipt, elbows everybody else out of the return line, makes the computer do its thing, and starts trying to get her people out there with a forklift. They made the first delivery directly off of our truck. By the time we had it unloaded, she had already sold half of it.
On the way back I stopped in to see my parents, sister, and nieces and nephew. We also stopped to see John's parents.
Do I get to rest after this grand sleep deprivation experiment? No, I get to cater my GF's party. At least I like to cook.
OK, enough of that epic story. Thanks for all the B-Day greetings!
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY...
My apologies for being out of touch lately but I have been crazy busy.
I spent all day cutting and laying tile for the duplex I have been renovating. I have a tenant who is moving in on the 1st so we are busting ass on getting that unit ready for human habitation. I don't think we are quite there yet, but at least we are getting close. The kitchen is going to be INCREDIBLE. We did the kitchen floor in 6" x 12" off-white porcelain tiles set in a herringbone pattern 45 degrees off a rectangle of squared and mitered full tiles outside a border of 3" x 12" dark, dark green-black porceliain tiles with the same sort of texture as the 6" x 12" tiles. That was a WHOLE lot of tile cutting for that sized floor, but fully worth it for the effect. We are building a peninsula for extra cabinet space and the 6 burner Viking commercial stove and oven we found for a great price. The unit will have a black fridge with a underneath drawer freezer that will go well with the stainless of the commercial stove and oven. This place is going to be SWEET! My GF and I have decided to move in together "officially" in the upstairs until of this property and she will rent out her house in Federal Hill. We have been going crazy working on this house this past week, but it is finally starting to come together.
Wish I could write more, but it is late...
My apologies for being out of touch lately but I have been crazy busy.
I spent all day cutting and laying tile for the duplex I have been renovating. I have a tenant who is moving in on the 1st so we are busting ass on getting that unit ready for human habitation. I don't think we are quite there yet, but at least we are getting close. The kitchen is going to be INCREDIBLE. We did the kitchen floor in 6" x 12" off-white porcelain tiles set in a herringbone pattern 45 degrees off a rectangle of squared and mitered full tiles outside a border of 3" x 12" dark, dark green-black porceliain tiles with the same sort of texture as the 6" x 12" tiles. That was a WHOLE lot of tile cutting for that sized floor, but fully worth it for the effect. We are building a peninsula for extra cabinet space and the 6 burner Viking commercial stove and oven we found for a great price. The unit will have a black fridge with a underneath drawer freezer that will go well with the stainless of the commercial stove and oven. This place is going to be SWEET! My GF and I have decided to move in together "officially" in the upstairs until of this property and she will rent out her house in Federal Hill. We have been going crazy working on this house this past week, but it is finally starting to come together.
Wish I could write more, but it is late...
ASSHOLE ART THIEVES
An interesting take on the story is at this page
There was a time when I primarily thought of myself as a visual artist, so it always seems to personally affect me when I hear about things like the theft of publicly displayed artwork. This is so true that I first heard about the theft of "The Scream" and "Madonna" from my mother, who sent me an email about it. Youch. I hope they catch the bastards and find an antique set of stocks to hold them on display in the place where the paintings were before they stole them at gunpoint for as long as it takes for their art restoration team to check for damage and re-preserve the paintings. Maybe they can sell rotten eggs and buckets of porta-potty scum for the patrons to hurl at them. I guess they would need to build a little enclosure of plastic and such around them to contain the flung filth. I guess that is appropriate considering that is probably what they will do to the paintings now, just like they did to the Mona Lisa, which is in my opinion second-rate (or perhaps third-rate?) art compared to these stolen works. The thieves had better hope the cops find out who they are before I do because their bodies will never be found otherwise.
It is such a shame to see this happen, because it brings us ever closer to a time where artists will not be able to get close enough to famous paintings to discern the details that only being right up close to a painting can reveal. There is so much to learn from studying the brush strokes of the masters. The growth of future artists will be forever stunted if masterpiece paintings are all put under glass and museum patrons are held at bay by velvet ropes and armed guards. It is a sad day for artists everywhere.
It is perhaps a little ironic that this happened right after I went to NYC for the first time in way-too-long this Friday. I always associate NYC with fine art, and my uncle Benji, who is an accomplished fine artist (I like his oil paintings the best--he has such a distinct style!!!). I drove up with my friend John and we had lunch with his brother and my uncle. I stopped in a Tiffany's and bough my GF a bracelet just 'cuz she puts up with my crazy and confused ass. I do love the NYC vibe. Can't wait to go back!
Thanks for playing along with me on my rant-and-rave journal post last week. I especially like the rant of Mercie... Being a divorced person myself, I can totally identify with that...
OK you kewl SG peeps, feel free to rant with me about the art theft pulled off by those chicken-shit dumbasses.
out
ANYONE WHO APPRECIATES THIS SITE SHOULD BE ABLE TO APPRECIATE WHY THE LOSS OF THIS PAINTING IS SO HORRIBLE:
An interesting take on the story is at this page
There was a time when I primarily thought of myself as a visual artist, so it always seems to personally affect me when I hear about things like the theft of publicly displayed artwork. This is so true that I first heard about the theft of "The Scream" and "Madonna" from my mother, who sent me an email about it. Youch. I hope they catch the bastards and find an antique set of stocks to hold them on display in the place where the paintings were before they stole them at gunpoint for as long as it takes for their art restoration team to check for damage and re-preserve the paintings. Maybe they can sell rotten eggs and buckets of porta-potty scum for the patrons to hurl at them. I guess they would need to build a little enclosure of plastic and such around them to contain the flung filth. I guess that is appropriate considering that is probably what they will do to the paintings now, just like they did to the Mona Lisa, which is in my opinion second-rate (or perhaps third-rate?) art compared to these stolen works. The thieves had better hope the cops find out who they are before I do because their bodies will never be found otherwise.
It is such a shame to see this happen, because it brings us ever closer to a time where artists will not be able to get close enough to famous paintings to discern the details that only being right up close to a painting can reveal. There is so much to learn from studying the brush strokes of the masters. The growth of future artists will be forever stunted if masterpiece paintings are all put under glass and museum patrons are held at bay by velvet ropes and armed guards. It is a sad day for artists everywhere.
It is perhaps a little ironic that this happened right after I went to NYC for the first time in way-too-long this Friday. I always associate NYC with fine art, and my uncle Benji, who is an accomplished fine artist (I like his oil paintings the best--he has such a distinct style!!!). I drove up with my friend John and we had lunch with his brother and my uncle. I stopped in a Tiffany's and bough my GF a bracelet just 'cuz she puts up with my crazy and confused ass. I do love the NYC vibe. Can't wait to go back!
Thanks for playing along with me on my rant-and-rave journal post last week. I especially like the rant of Mercie... Being a divorced person myself, I can totally identify with that...
OK you kewl SG peeps, feel free to rant with me about the art theft pulled off by those chicken-shit dumbasses.
out ANYONE WHO APPRECIATES THIS SITE SHOULD BE ABLE TO APPRECIATE WHY THE LOSS OF THIS PAINTING IS SO HORRIBLE:
