It's a Beautiful Day

I've had all sorts of ideas for good things to talk about since the poop entry, but have been distracted by exchanging stuff at IKEA and some really fun Emma Holly books that showed up in the mail - thanks for the loan, Jr's mom! If you read Emma Holly, you know why I wasn't paying attention to the blog. So now I have a bunch of scattered thoughts. I might actually expound more on some of the later, but for now, here's a non-poop entry.

• Today was gorgeous! 72F and sunny blue sky at lunch.
  
• I've gone out to eat with people 3X this week. Luxury!
  
• A friend made the comment that porn is like wine. What's good or too much and what isn't is entirely a matter of taste.
  
• Last weekend I was awake all day saturday (not so much on sunday). I had a goal of getting some veneer to fix a couple cabinets. It required going to about 5 different stores but I finally got a lead on a place where the service was *fabulous*! Turns out my neighbor bought cabinets and countertops from them and is happy with them and the install and they do look nice. The customer service guy got me free scraps of veneer from the neighboring cabinet company (and possibly his own stash) after I told him the sizes I was looking for. He also sent me home with about a dozen samples of baseboards, crown, and edge molding, which means I've narrowed my options from 50 to 2. And they will recommend contractors for install. I like to think I will do it myself, but I think having it done well is more important right now.
  
• In the hardware/art store scramble, I remembered a string of Antique stores that I had been meaning to check out. Just through sheer dumb luck I found a readable copy of a book someone had recommended to me only the week before. I'd planned to get a copy of "Two Years Before the Mast" from the library, but I found an 1895 copy with some gold leaf worked into the flowing, abstract cover design and some lithographs inside. It's a relevant story even though it's from the 1830s because it's about a guy who dropped out of Hahvahd and sailed as regular crew for 2 years on a voyage out to CA. There are more than 4 fur trader's shacks on the shorein San Diego now, but the whole MA-CA voyage is fun to consider.
  
• In "Girls Next Door" on E, and LA Ink, it always amazes me how much family interaction they show. Hef's girlfriends' parents and siblings are always showing up, and it's clear how much Kat and her family care for each other. It's weird to think about celebrities having families. Kids I'm used to, but not parents, cousins, sisters, especially when they're normal, loving, and supportive of the celeb.
  
• There's a hip-hop station in the area that comes in better than anything else on my car radio. (Despite getting something on every single FM station, it's mostly staticky and fades in and out.) It's one of those stations that has just a few songs in rotation and they play them endlessly. I listen to it enough that I can sing along to their 6 current songs. They're really good energy for the drive home and they mix them front to back for the drivetime slot like we were in a club. Shorty got low, low low low low low low, is on pretty much any time the channel is.
  
• On Tuesday, the Yahoo news page only showed pictures of Hillary, none of Obama, and an occasional one of McCain. Even though the HRC captions were mostly negative, I wonder how many people compulsively scanning the headline news got a subliminal dose of her all day long, then went out to vote.
  
• I'm so psyched for the return of daylight savings time, and more sun per day. Today was my first farmers market trip not made in the dark in months.
  
• Thanks for all your poop comments! (I got a few by email too.) I found it really entertaining. BTW, if you find yourself craving ice, get your iron levels checked.
  
• I don't think I posted my design collage yet. I got this idea from Jenny Crusie and the fact that a friend sent me a bunch of clippings of things she thought I'd like (thanks sis!). I made it 2 pages into an adhoc design scrapbook to take shopping with me when I decided I needed something different. I'd been reading argh ink by JC and the answer became clear. Plus I had a ton of pictures and a large sheet of tagboard.
  

I went through my huge stack of saved magazines and ads and papers and cut out anything that caught my eye. I sorted like with like (I can learn!) and made piles of couches, cabinets, etc... I chose my favorites and some backups - sometimes the scale on my first choice was off - and came up with a coherent idea. I now have one remaining borrowed magazine, a tiny stack of leftover cutouts (too agonizing to toss them), and a lovely collage. The collage is arranged roughly matching my layout.

..Bathroom ..... Bedroom ... view
.........Archway/hall.........Patio
..kitchen/dining..entry...Living Room

Some of it is real, some is idealized. I'm amazed at how much Pink kept popping up. Purple kept a little more quiet than I thought. Green and Orange are front and center, natch. Also, I stayed in the lines, mostly. And somehow, a little "e" popped up, totally without conscious design choice on my part. If anyone can help me interpret it a bit more, I'd love to hear it. To that end, each of these pictures was saved with many pixels. If it pleases and sparkles, open them up in larger format for better viewing. The first is my initial dry fit. The second is the glued down version which now resides over the fireplace.



Sunshine!