Monday, July 16, 2007

Weekend Art





Bathroom



The Kitchen



Snippy

And The Market !




Sunday, July 15, 2007

More weekend



The Weekend




Monday, July 09, 2007

Billy Collins ( With thanks to C&D for sharing )

"The Lanyard"

The other day as I was ricocheting slowly
off the pale blue walls of this room,
bouncing from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one more suddenly into the past --
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sickroom,
lifted teaspoons of medicine to my lips,
set cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift--not the archaic truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hands,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

The BEFORE pictures




















We looked today at more color choices for the kitchen. I thought we were doing SUNBEAM yellow, but I think instead it will be GOLDEN SLUMBER. It's pretty bright. I let Kelly pick as it's more her space than mine. There's a complimentary color called FLAX that I may use on one of the walls that wraps around the livingroom and hall. I just can't see bringing that really bright yellow into the livingroom. Who knows. I'll buy paint tomorrow, so I get to sleep on it. As you can see, there is a lot of " stuff " in the kitchen. I can't wait to CLEAN and purge ! I've got some ideas for organizing...

In other developments, we have three companies coming tomorrow to give us bids on installing central air in the house. Crossed fingers it's relatively easy and reasonably affordable. ( yeah, right ...)

And now I must share a picture of Snippy. I think she believes she's hiding ...


Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Stuff




















So, my latest project was the bathroom. I think I'm in my " green phase ". The colors are actually AQUA and BLUE BLOOD, but it seems along the green corridor of the color wheel to me. I love it. It turned out peaceful and serene and I'm glad to have brought more natural stuff ( bamboo woods ) in, and some of the crap ( hair products ) out.

And speaking of hair products ... I hate mine right now. I like the IDEA of having it longer and kinda hanging in my eyes, but the truth is ... it's driving me bat-shit. I'm thinking to myself " when did it happen ? " when did I start getting more old than young ? ".

People ask me all the time about retirement. I think they must think I'm either rich or old. And I seriously doubt they are mistaking me for the rich chick. So when did it happen ? When did I start going to bed while it was still light out ? ( Not that I can actually sleep, mind you ... but I'm IN BED before 9 most nights ). When did I start to lose muscle tone and get those annoying little wrinkles in the corners of my eyes. When did my music and clothes from high school become vintage collectibles ? ( and why didn't I have the presence of mind to keep all that crap ? )

It's such a subtle shift.

One day you wake up and realize you've been 18 years at the same job.
That you didn't touch a drop of alcohol your entire 30's.
That it's impossible to guess people's ages anymore because INSIDE you're still 25 and nothing outside of your self seems connected to any kind of reality anymore.

Maybe it's not so subtle.
It's like falling off a cliff in slow motion ...

I don't feel old exactly. I mean, my body is certainly slower and tighter in the AM. But I "think" better...clearer, now. I wish I had this sensibility when I WAS 25. I write to people younger than myself but it feels like we're contemporaries in all the ways that count. And I think really, ultimately it's our age INSIDE that matters most.

Again, I'm reminded that I can't keep using the same old crappy yardstick. I can't compare myself to anyone else. That's a fools game. Because there will always be someone more or less fortunate than you in any number of ways. The key is be genuine. Be authentic. Not care what people think. Measure how you feel by, well ... how you FEEL. Not by how you feel based on any circumstance or any real or perceived threat of inferiority.

I'm older than I was yesterday.
But I'm feeling fewer aches today.
So, my hair is a bit screwy. At least I still have it.
So what if I'm slower ... I'm taking more IN.
And I'm missing out on a lot less.

I'll keep brightening up my world.
The kitchen is next !
Sunbeam yellow !

One more get-up for me ...
And then it's on to vacation ...

WOOT!