booker street

shotgun!

2009-01-19T08:43:00.005-05:00

as i sit at my little desk and gaze across booker street, procrastinating because i have to do some work and purging/packing this morning, i know that i will be so sad to leave the two shotgun cottages that sit across from me.

i fell in love with these two cottages, which are mirror images of each other, on the first day i visited booker street, and i'm convinced they are the only two in cville. i've often imagined buying them and saving them from the ravages of time and neglect. they are very plain little houses, with their white-on-white paint scheme and faded, grey shingle roofs. they are more than a bit rough around the edges, but gorgeous to me, nonetheless.

miss francie lives in one and she has been the most caring and kind neighbor. in warm weather she sits on her stoop and quietly watches over our short little street. i hear her leave each weekday morning, earlier than any person should have to go to work. her little house is in jeopardy of being sold out from under her, being listed for sale on the MLS as a "teardown" without her knowing. her landlord still denies it's on the market. she has been an active caretaker of her little home, mowing the large yard each weekend and making each minor repair as she's able. i worry about her and her home, and will worry even more when i'm gone.

the other shotgun has been vacant for more than two years now, used as a junkyard for the owner's 3, or sometimes more, crap cars, parked both in the yard and on the street, and as an occasional pit stop for folks who are clearly not residents of the neighborhood. it's more than a little uncomfortable to have a vacant house across from your own, but we're used to it on booker street, where there are 3. the city seems not to care about my little hidden part of the city. out of sight, out of mind, i suppose. the vacant shotgun has one of the largest, most gorgeous, and stately trees i've seen. (there are quite a few notable trees in my neighborhood and all will be missed.) i think it's a hickory, as it drops thousands of nuts each year. this tree needs some TLC, but it is generally in great shape for its age, which must be as old or older than my house (90 yrs). in the summertime it provides an unbelievable canopy of shade from the rising sun. i worry that the tree will meet the same fate as the shotguns. the power co. is bound to decide it needs to come down to protect the awfully ugly and haphazard overhead power lines.

should anyone in any position of change read this, please try to protect these little gems. they are truly unique in the cville landscape and deserve to be preserved and cared for.

last days on booker street

2009-01-15T19:49:00.003-05:00

i have few remaining days on booker street, so i thought i might post about what i'll miss in the 'ville, cva, and my life here generally. not sure there'll be many things to miss, but we'll see what i come up with.

the first thing that came to me this morning as i thought of writing this post, during my long commute to the office, is that i'll miss the winter raptor sightings. each morning during the cold months i can spot at least one and sometimes up to five, red-tailed hawks perched high in the trees scoping out their prey. they see to stand sentry over my winter commute keeping me safe as i cross the windy, icy mountain pass. their robust white breasts are stand out so boldy from the bare trees making the hawks very easy to spot. yet i wonder if anyone else even notices them. (i probably watch the landscape more than i should while crossing afton mountain.) this morning i think i even saw a pure white hawk.

i don't know what kind of wildlife i'll encouter on my walks around chicago, but maybe i'll document them from my new 'hood in the windy city.

antiques roadshow

2008-01-07T20:22:00.001-05:00

when someone finds out that the painting they bought for 100 bucks at the thrift store is really worth 50-70k, what do they do with it? why is it so exciting? are they validated that their investment was a good one? are they gonna run out and sell it for the cash?

wonder if any of my investments will ever pay off like that? don't know if i could ever part with any of my pieces, though.

the best things are the most challenging

2007-12-19T06:39:00.001-05:00

raising a brody is the most difficult endeavor i have ever undertaken, but man, he's a good snuggler.

ebay

2007-12-19T06:35:00.000-05:00

why is it that when i browse ebay for that thing, that one thing, that i must have right this instant, there are 65 other people who want it too? and i thought i was unique.

condie rice

2007-12-19T06:32:00.001-05:00

when condoleeza rice make and unannounced visit--say, to iraq--does she worry that no one will be home to meet her?

small wonders

2007-12-15T13:32:00.000-05:00

today i broke a nail. believe it or not, this has never happened to me before. damn it. it was just getting long enough to HURT!!!!!

toast with butter and preserves is my new favorite food. as a result, butter has become the new favorite food of the canine member of my household. everytime he hears the oven door open (no, i dont have a toaster) he comes a runnin!

2007-11-19T16:00:00.001-05:00

oh how i loathe the word eclectic. please, merriam webster, can't we have it removed from the lexicon?

in case you're wondering

2007-11-15T19:42:00.000-05:00

chief brody turns 18 (months that is) on saturday. these next 6 months are considered the puppy terrible twos. oh boy!

it's official

2007-11-13T19:05:00.000-05:00

well lovely ladies and handsome gentlemen, it's official! i am now associate editor for the center for american places at columbia college. it's been three years in the making and the opportunity could not have come at a better time - serendipity shines on me. this is a dream job, and it's all mine mine mine!

here is a sampling of center books that i'm especially proud of:

marking the land

the last harvest

on city streets

industrial perspective

start again!

2007-11-02T01:16:00.000-04:00

i'm compelled to start again! it seems i've come to quite the x-roads in my life, and things are really topsy-turvy. what better time to return to blogger for some much needed therapy. but how to start again? hmm, let's start with a little teaser: columbia acquires center imprint

see the keen eye

2007-01-29T11:47:00.000-05:00

so me and ms. em have launched our new endeavor - the keen eye.

check it out here!

has it been so long?

2007-01-16T09:31:00.000-05:00

it has - i know - and i'm sorry (to all three of you who read my blog). new post with pics coming soon.

the sleepy strange(r than fiction), 11/11/06

2006-11-20T09:55:00.000-05:00

ida “shrug” (remix) from shhhh
m83 “in church” from v/a stranger than fiction soundtrack
the stranglers “golden brown” from a best of the stranglers
essex green “primrose” from everything is green
gorky’s zygotic mynci “fresher than the sweetness of water” from blue trees
the skygreen leopards “william and the sacred hammer” from disciples of california
susan christie “for the love of a soldier” from paint a lady
+/- “leap year” from let’s build a fire
spoon “the book i write” from v/a stranger than fiction soundtrack
versus “raining” from afterglow
benoit poulard “la guerre de la sept ans” from precis
jean-claude vannier “le roi des mouches et la confiture de rose” from l'enfant assassin des mouches
nerd “she wants to move” from v/a dfa remixes chapter 2
jody watley “don’t you want me” from the makeover
ida “shotgun” fromm shhhh
azure ray “if i fall” from v/a shortbus soundtrack
tara jane o’neil “this beats” from in circles
emily haines & the soft skeleton“winning” from knives don’t have your back
voxtrot “sway” from your biggest fan
the lesser birds of paradise “the devil’s rope” from space between
vangelis “la petite fille de la mer” from v/a stranger than fiction soundtrack
the dears “you and i are a gang of losers” from gang of losers
eastern conference champions “nice clean shirt” from s/t
spoon “my mathematical mind” from v/a stranger than fiction soundtrack
sun kil moon “lilly and parrots” from ghosts of the great highway

songs in bold are new releases.

the chief is growing up

2006-10-30T08:56:00.000-05:00

sometimes i marvel at how lucky i am to have this puppy in my life.

where'd you go?

2006-10-20T09:47:00.000-04:00

david gordon green, i adore you. where have you been?

2006-10-10T14:25:00.000-04:00

rachel in furs, 2002, by john currin. thanks to the sartorialist for introducing!

friday random 10

2006-09-29T11:46:00.000-04:00

guess these friday random 10s are pretty random. this is a pretty good one, though.

1. Juana Molina, Rio Seco, from Son
2. Neil Young, Daddy Went Walkin, from Silver and Gold
3. The Kinks, Animal Farm, From The Village Green Preservation Society
4. Cat Stevens, Wild World, from Tea for the Tillerman
5. Beirut, Scenic World, from Gulag Orkestar
6. Gétatchèw Mèkurya, Yèné Hassab Gwadègna, from Éthiopiques 14: Negus of Ethiopian Sax
7. The Beatles, What Goes On, from Rubber Soul
8. Johnny Thunders, You Can’t Put Your Arm Around A Memory, from So Alone
9. Captn Beefheart, Dirty Blue Gene, from Safe As Milk
10. Danger Doom, Crosshairs, from The Mouse and the Mask

love this

2006-09-28T14:57:00.000-04:00

via chimpomatic

2006-09-14T09:37:00.000-04:00

i love this photograph of arthur rimbaud.

eureka!

2006-09-06T14:58:00.000-04:00

forget scrapbook, it's a commonplace book.

i knew it would come to me!

the sleepy strange, 08.26.06

2006-08-31T20:40:00.000-04:00

ride vapour trail
chapterhouse pearl
the verve butterfly
trash can sinatras thrupenny tears
blur she's so high

charlatans feel flows

stone roses standing here
adorable homeboy
suede the drowners
roxy music love is the drug
house of love shine on
pulp babies
pulp she's a lady

the smiths oscillate wild(e)ly

morrissey every day is like sunday
the innocence mission follow me
the sundays i won
morrissey alsatian cousin
prefab sprout when love breaks down
james sit down
the beautiful south 36D
the smiths unloveable
the housemartins get up off your knees
the syle council my ever changing moods
pulp like a friend
charlatans opportunity 3
chapterhouse mesmerize

2006-08-30T08:53:00.000-04:00

my conception of this blog has started to morph a bit. i started it as a reno blog, to document the progress on our house. but it quickly became more of a general blog as the work on our house became more sparse and stressful. now i'm starting to think of bookerstreet as something of a ~~scrap book. (as much as i hate that term, i can't seem to come up with a better way to describe what i mean.)~~ commonplace book.

so today, in keeping with the scrap book theme, i feel i must post this image. i found it via designsponge, who in turn found it at print&pattern. it's a postcard by mocchi mocchi, and i adore the graphic. i hope it makes you as happy as it makes me!

Colocasia esculenta

2006-08-29T20:44:00.000-04:00

these are my (elephant) ears. they make me giddy with joy every time i stumble onto the porch.

the sleepy strange, 08.12.06

2006-08-12T22:52:00.000-04:00

what is it about
saturdays and weather changes
that make me sniffly?
(an almost haiku for today)

japancakes "and begun" from belmondo
mountain goats "in corolla" from get lonely
six organs of admittance "bless your blood" from the sun awakens
kingsbury manx "let you down" from let you down
ida "dream date" from ten small paces

japancakes "theme from a film" from belmondo

kings of convenience "the weight of my words" from quiet is the new loud
alexi murdoch "song for you" from time without consequence
jose gonzalez "heartbeats" from veneer
regina spektor "fidelity" from begin to hope
jennifer o'connor "exeter, rhode island" from over the mountain
cassavetes "my heart, your beat" from funny story
spoon "i could see the dude" from soft effects

japancakes "always stuck with leaving" from belmondo

venice is sinking "CSX" from sorry about the flowers
the white birch "your spain" from come up for air
lambchop "i would have waited here all day" from damaged
micah p. hinson "the dreams you left behind" from the baby & the satellite
m.ward "post-war" from post-war
bonnie prince billy "cursed sleep" from then the letting go
blood meridian "good lover" from kick up the dust
norfolk & western "porch destruction" from a gilded age
the long winters "hindsight" from putting the days to bed
bears "walk away" from s/t
headlights "on your old street" from kill them with kindness
hylozoists "la fin du monde" from la fin du monde

it's never over at the yard

2006-08-01T10:31:00.000-04:00

i spent the past weekend in baltimore - my new favorite city. i saw two games of the o's v. white sox series, received minor contusions from a major league foul ball (which is now mine); saw the police station where homicide: life on the street was set, ate brunch at the waterfront hotel (also known as the WTF Hotel, and another locale for homicide), and generally had a fantastic weekend exploring the clipper city. for some reason i didnt take any pics of the city or the waterfront - just the games. so here ya go:

this is the guy who fouled at me, ross gload. he hit a grand slam in friday night's sox win.

sunday's home run by jermaine dye. he hit one in saturday's game too.

and finally, me, intently watching the sox die a slow death on the last day of the series.

hail to the chief!

2006-07-20T02:48:00.000-04:00

chief brody is coming home on friday, after almost 9 weeks of waiting. we think we're all ready for him, but i'm sure that optimism can quickly turn to abject terror at having a two-month old canine in a house with two felines.

i promise this blog won't become a dog blog (although you'll want to check for periodic updates, of course), but for now, i can only seem to focus on my big (~25 lbs) little bundle of joy. for those of you wondering how we came up with the name chief brody, i have to give full credit to dj husband for that. he's a huge fan of JAWS, and has always wanted to name a dog after the reluctant hero of the movie - the distinguished and brave chief martin brody of amity.

anyway, wish us luck. we're thinking of easing the puppy's transition to his new home with a plush toy with which to snuggle in his crate. you think he'll be scared?

sleepy strange, 7.15.2006

2006-07-15T23:51:00.000-04:00

spoon, mountain to sound, soft effects
japancakes, sleepy strange, the sleepy strange

consonant, little murders, love and affliction
codeine, loss leader, the white birch
chisel, bliss, nothing new
french kicks, one time bells, one time bells

japancakes, down the elements, down the elements

juana molina, hay que ver si voy, son
calexico, all systems red, garden ruin
norfolk & western, porch destruction, a gilded age
neko case, star witness, fox confessor brings the flood

cassavetes, my heart, your beat, funny story
cursive, the night i lost my will to fight, domestica
david grubbs, don't think, rickets & scurvy

macha, light the chinese flower, s/t

aberfeldy, slow down, young forever
camera obscura, tears for affairs, let's get out of this country
the rosebuds, make out song, birds make good neighbors
superchunk, make out bench, incidental music
the little ones, lovers who uncover, sing song

japancakes, soft n ez, the sleepy strange

built to spill, fly around my pretty little miss, ancient melodies of the future
the promise ring, my life is at home, wood/water
rosie thomas, farewell, when we were small

japancakes, soft -n- ez, the sleepy strange

the little ones, lovers who uncover, sing song
built to spill, fly around my pretty little miss, ancient melodies of the future
promise ring, my life is at home, wood and water

it's been a while since i've been on the air. i guess it will be a month almost when i'm on again next saturday. tune in - wtju.net

this may become a dog blog

2006-07-06T21:55:00.000-04:00

2006-07-06T21:54:00.000-04:00

2006-07-06T21:53:00.000-04:00

summer reading

2006-06-27T10:56:00.000-04:00

it seems that all i want to do these days is lay out in the sun (if it were to ever return) and read book after book. i'm grateful to have rediscovered a love of fiction and reading for pleasure. i suppose it has to do with the fact that i am no longer editing all day every day - for me, editing really killed the reader-for-pleasure in me.

anyway, right now i am slowly getting through I Am Charlotte Simmons, by Tom Wolfe. i am enjoying it for sure, but it is terribly long. i bet wolfe could have cut it by 200 pages and still made the same very timely and scathing observations of college culture. i'd be done with it by now, if only he'd asked for my editorial input!

once finished with charlotte simmons, i plan to move on to one of these fabulous-sounding books:
The Stolen Child, by Keith Donohue
The Whole World Over, by Julia Glass
Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
The Stolen Prince, by Hugh Barnes

now to figure a way to get to the beach for a week or two for some summer reading!

the sleepy strange, 06/24/06

2006-06-25T14:13:00.000-04:00

blur, tender, from 13 (crap album but great song)
supergrass, late in the day, from in it for the money (love supergrass lately)
mojave 3, breaking the ice, from puzzles like you (new mojave 3 record)
japancakes, sleepy strange, from the sleepy strange
charlatans, indian rope, from the indian rope single on dead dead good (one of my treasures)
stone roses, i am the resurrection, from s/t
stone roses, fool's gold, from s/t (these two sounded sadly dated)
radio 4, dance to the underground remix, from v/a DFA remixes
bis, dead wrestlers, from music for a stranger world
belle & sebastian, electronic renaissance, from tigermilk
sufjan stevens, year of the monkey, from enjoy your rabbit
juana molina, no seas antipatica, from son
bonnie prince billy, may it always be, from ease on down the road
james yorkston & the athletes, tender to the blues, from moving up country
norfolk & western, porch destruction, from a gilded age (i should be in this band)
sun kil moon, carry me ohio, from ghosts of the great highway
neko case, star witness, from fox confessor brings the flood
broken hips, spiral bound, from s/t ep
king creosote, grace, from v/a dream brother: songs of jeff buckley
rose melberg, take some time, cast away the clouds (sounds just like the softies, lovely!)
hylozoists, the 50 minute hour, from la fin du monde (la fin du monde is terrific beer, too)
calexico, roka, from garden ruin (calexico never ceases to amaze and surprise me)
black mountain, drugonaut, from s/t (i had to end with a rocker!)

this is not a dog blog

2006-06-24T19:36:00.000-04:00

2006-06-21T09:02:00.000-04:00

puppy love

2006-06-15T23:58:00.000-04:00

everyone, meet chief brody

2006-06-10T07:21:00.000-04:00

my new passion

2006-06-06T12:28:00.000-04:00

passiflora caerulea
isn't it gorgeous, now if only mine would bloom!

i have a friend in australia

2006-06-06T09:31:00.000-04:00

my friend in australia is called david, and he's really a top guy. we met almost 5 years ago at a history of urban planning conference in philadelphia - we share the same esoteric interest in the built environment.

so david, he's got this blog called lorraine crescent, which is also the name of the street on which he, his lovely wife and adorable beagles live (i think lorraine crescent is the name of the street - how would i know, i've never been there). anyway, my point in telling you all this is that i finally got 'round to linking to his blog on my blog and now i'm encouraging you to check it out. he's hilarious, living the highly-coveted academic life, and has fabulous taste in music.

so, david, sorry i've not been in touch in an age, but i promise to check in more often. hopefully my few adoring fans will now become yours and that will make up for my less-than-perfect friendship.

love,
bls

the sniffly strange

2006-06-04T19:50:00.000-04:00

last evening was i was overcome by a sudden and dreadful allergy which marred my presence on the airwaves. i was a sniffling, whinging mess. that, compounded by the unfortunate fact that we're down a cd player (leaving 2) and i didn't bring any records, made for a tough show. i was a twitchy wreck - hopped up on antihistamines and anxiety, all the while feeling very sorry for myself and my red, runny nose. not sure if it comes out in the playlist or not, but what these songs do have in common is that most of them are 4 minutes plus, allowing me a brief moment of rest, here and there.

tales of endurance, supergrass, from road to rouen (not ruin - don't even say it that way!)
siberia, echo and the bunnymen, from siberia
john the baptist, afghan whigs, from 1965
john saw that number, neko case, from fox confessor brings the flood
galaxies, laura veirs, from year of meteors
immaculate heart I, american analog set, from set free
immaculate heart II, american analog set, from set free
she's a lady, pulp, from his and hers
what else is there?, royksopp, from the what else is there? single (guilty pleasure)
razzle dazzle rose, camera obscura, from let's get out of this country (seriously, let's move to canada)
rubber ring, the smiths, from the world won't listen
change my life, spoon, from loveways EP (swoon)
mystique of the locomotive, mahogany, from the dream of a modern day (de rigeur train song)
for real, okkervil river, from from black sheep boy (this may be the sexiest song ever)
she will come, royal city, from little heart's ease (totally underrated record, f you p fork!)
chicago at night, spoon, from girls can tell (yes, i am allowed to play mutiple songs by spoon in one show!)
black history month (braxe/flake remix), death from above 1979, from romance bloody romance
speaking in tongues, the kadane bros, from the score to hell house
red right hand, nick cave and the bad seeds, from the best of nick cave and the bad seeds
at my window, sad and lonely, jeff tweedy covering woodie guthrie, from mermaid avenue sampler
the well, tarnation, from v/a (i forget which)
hold on, hold on, neko case, from fox confessor brings the flood
new jersey, red house painters, from s/t
answers to your questions, loose fur, from born again in the USA
orange sky, alexi murdoch, from time without consequence

the sleepy strange kept me awake

2006-06-02T14:10:00.000-04:00

no friday random 10 for me this week - although i'm sure it would be a great one now that i have 2200 new additions to my library. oh well, you'll have to be satisfied with the playlist from my most recent radio broadcast. it was a marathon 3.5 hours and it came together fantastically well.
here ya go.

soft -n- EZ, japancakes, from the sleepy strange
i do believe you're blushing, unrest, from imperial ffrr
time machine, whysall lane, from s/t
little things, ida, from i know about you
my street, the oranges band, from on TV
these are the fables, the new pornographers, from twin cinema
tears for affairs, camera obscura, from let's get out of the country

sleepy strange, japancakes, the sleepy strange
i play myself on film, tim seely, from funeral music
accused of stealing, the delgados, from the great eastern
take some time, rose melberg, from cast away the clouds
love, seekonk, from pinkwood
chicago, sufjan stevens, from illinoise
chicago, bis, from return to central
the facts of life, black box recorder, from the worst of
brimful of asha, cornershop, from when i was born for the eleventh time
lovers who uncover, the little ones, from sing song EP

there's hell in hello..., jim o'rourke, from halfway to a threeway
fever pitch, wilderness, from vessel states
the dugout, ladyhawke, from s/t
brendan #3, fugazi, from repeater+3
black grease, the black angels, from passover
goin'against your mind, built to spill, from you in reverse
my mathematical mind, spoon, from gimme fiction
emotional rescue, rolling stones, from emotional rescue
skin of my yellow country teeth, CYHSY, from s/t
take me to the river, talking heads, from more songs about buildings and food
i can see my house from here, the glands, from s/t
burning airlines, brian eno, from taking tiger mountain (by strategy)

my pal matt spelled me for a bit (thanks matt!), otherwise i would have been on for four consecutive hours and up way past my bed time. here's what he played (i think he's fond of madlib):

the comeback, madlib
the payback, madlib
i wake up, yellow swans
velocity of the yolk, yellow swans
oscar see through the red eye, boards of canada
la baumette (broker/dealer remix), margo
wasting a fall, lawrence
hold down the rhythms..., kieran hebden and steve reid
the machines, kieran hebden and steve reid
magic says, dabrye
steam and sequins for larry levan, matmos
transformer, gnarls barkley
offbeat, madlib
pyramids, madlib
eternal broadcaster, madlib

you can tune in to the sleepy strange, if you're up that late, from 11pm-1am on saturday nights. check out wtju.net for our streaming broadcast.

a garden grows on booker street

2006-05-17T14:11:00.000-04:00

my garden has been flourishing these last few weeks. we've finally started to overcome the rain deficit and the weather has been lovely and mild. spring time in the 'ville is truly gorgeous, when it sticks around for a while. as a result of the last month's climatic perfection, most of my garden glories have emerged from their winter slumbers. thought i would give you an update on what's growin' on.

i uprooted a number of poorly-located rose bushes in the fall of 2005. all but one weathered the disruption of the transplant ahd the winter, and of those, only one is not in bud. i currently have a gorgeous salmony-pink tea rose in bloom. it looks alot like this one called leaping salmon.

i have an amazing white rose - not sure what variety - that is covered, absolutely covered, in blooms. the blooms are unlike tea roses, which are the classic roses, in that they are very loose and amorphous. the petals have little or no strength in them, so when fully open they are very droopy. it's obviously an old garden variety like this one, called frau karl drushki.

i have been transplanting a number of wee clematis paniculata vines along our chain link fence. as you long-time readers may recall, my garden is a veritable oasis of this wild clematis variety. the transplanting and training along the fence worked wonders last summer and fall for concealing the ugly chain links in clouds of green tendrils and thousands of tiny white stars. just like this!

my elephant ears have multiplied (naughty elephants!) and they are slowly emerging from the mulch and unfurling their enormous leaves. i have tried to infill the spaces between the sprouts with wild cranesbill geranium, like this. you know i adore geraniums, of all varieties.

my next project is to root prune two very large flowering quince shrubs, so that i can transplant them to pots or different spots in the garden. flowering quince is my favorite shrub, and i can't believe i was so lucky to find a house with three mature specimen. for that matter, could i have gotten any more lucky with all the variety of plants i inherited from the cary family. a garden grows on booker street, for sure.

knowing is half the battle, part 2

2006-05-17T09:45:00.000-04:00

in december i posted knowing is half the battle, in which i came clean of my absolute obsession with furniture. well, my obsession abated slightly (only very slightly) for the last few months - as i was preoccupied with other things - but friends, i confess to you, i am consumed again.

i think about furniture all the time. i am haunted by the pieces i have seen but not acquired. what was i thinking? no amount of money is as dear as the pleasure i get from touching the oiled form of a teak lounge chair and gazing at the intricate weave of a roped seat. or, sigh, the combination of both teak and rope, such as the pair of folding chairs to the left and the little round beauty below.

i will have this round, roped chair if it cleans out my bank account. it is simply stunning in its simplicity of form and complexity of construction. S I G H

chairs are really my primary objets du desir, but the forms and shapes of other pieces attract me as well. vanities (such as the one to the left) and dressing tables are of particular interest, but modern interpretations are hard to come by. somehow i misjudged the market for this vanity and let it slip through my fingers for a mere pittance (i am still flagellating myself for losing it.)

i have been suffering in silence over the last few months as a result of the pieces i have loved and lost. so, in order to keep the memories of them close to my heart and fresh in my mind, i thought i would post images of them here. i hope you enjoy the objects of my obsession as much as i do.

i fly COACH

2006-05-16T09:28:00.000-04:00

i have been traveling a lot lately. and while i generally like to travel, these recent trips (really, the time spent en route) for work have been wholly unrewarding. on my most recent trip to tallahassee fl, i came to the conclusion that i find airports to be the most loathesome environments. take my adventure from charlottesville to charlotte, for instance. i wrote an account of it while sitting in charlotte, waiting for a very late connector to tallahassee. i was forced to wait for a very late flight because i missed the earlier flight that i was scheduled to take. this was due to my flight from charlottesville to charlotte (which originated in charlotte) being delayed for two hours. mind you, it was delayed two hours, but only in 20 min intervals, so it wasn't like i could go home and wait for it.

while i waited in the charlottesville airport for my never-arriving flight to charlotte, i was surrounded by numerous giants of the basketball-playing type. they were high school students and one or two excessively boisterous chaperones who were also waiting on the flight to charlotte. with the stench of cologne, the incessant bouncing of basketballs, the a capella, off-key singing, and the out-right demands of special attention, they were the most obnoxious airport ignorati. this was just the beginning of my bad travel kharma.

so i finally made it to charlotte and was looking forward to sitting somewhere and catch up on some blog reading. with a gradiose name like charlotte douglas international airport you'd expect luxury and convenience. no chance! i trekked up and down that very spread-out and poorly-organized airport to find a damn wi-fi connection. the only wi-fi connection is in the middle of the f-ing central terminal (i landed in one of the most remote terminals) in a tiny room full of business men. you can not connect to wireless anywhere else in the terminal (umm, WTF?). so, nestled in that little cocoon of wi-fi comfort, i was about as far away from my gate as i could possibly be, with no idea whether my plane was on time, not coming, nor if it even exists. what's worse was that on my many strolls through terminals A, B, C, D, and E, i could find no mention of my flight on the “tv screens,” as the monitors displaying flight info are called by the announcers who implore you to check them for your flight info. seriously people, are we so ignorant as to not know that a monitor showing flight information is just that, a monitor, not a “tv screen”? and, btw - why did you never post the status of my flight? good thing i had the sense to get to my gate a bit early and ask!

but maybe the majority of travelers are that ignorant – i certainly came to that conclusion after even the shortest jaunt through charlotte douglas. i was appalled at the outfits people travel in. what are they thinking? wedges and miniskirts; velour sweatpants, athletic socks and flip-flops; hoochie hot pants and high heels!

now don’t misunderstand, i'm all for traveling in style. i do not advocate for schlubbing around in lounge wear when traveling. however, there is an aspect of travel fashion that demands common sense. when you are hustling through the terminal along with hundreds of others, do you really need to show the world how incapable you are of walking in wedges, or how much of your fat ass is spilling out of your mini skirt, or, god forbid, both!

speaking of ignorance and outlandish fashion sense: the young woman, clad head-to-toe in COACH labels (from sweater to shoes to shopping bag - sort of ironic when you're (i assume)traveling first class), in the queue with me at the starbucks (nope, no wi fi there!) heard me order a tall double latte. she turned to me and asked “what is a tall double latte”? i just about choked. could she be serious? did she just fall of the back of the most remote convent/boarding school pick-up truck? just happen to wander into the starbucks because it looked appealing? i mean, i make no assertions that a starbucks latte actually resembles a real-live, delicious espresso beverage, however i thought the abundance that is starbucks had fully educated the public (every public) of the myriad of espresso and milk combinations. anyway i was visibly flummoxed by her question, and she, sensing my hesitation, worked it out for sherself in her fashion-adled pea brain. is it a latte with two shots, she asked. i could barely muster a yes and a head nod.

i am sure there was much more shock and awe while i was in charlotte, but it has now been supplanted by the lovely time i spent in tallhassee. i stayed in a downtown bed and breakfast called the inn at park avenue with an amazingly lovely hostess and enjoyed wine on the screened porch in a glorious southern afternoon thunderstorm. my time spent in tallahassee more than made up for my misadventures in getting there.

friday random 10 (i hope this one is better) 5/5/06

2006-05-05T11:45:00.000-04:00

banquet (phones disco edit) by bloc party, from the bloc party ep (i heart bloc party)
the green green grass by amanset, from set free (fab song, but they appear every week)
beretta by manishevitz, from city life (finally some variety)
twelve fold chain by the books, from lost and safe (more variety!)
loss leaders by spoon from soft effects ep
seems so long ago, nancy by palaxy tracks from twelve rooms
vanishing point by new order from the best of...
on repeat by lcd soundsystem from lcd soundsystem disc 1
music is happiness by the octopus project from one ten hundred thousand million
these are the fables by the new pornographers from twin cinema (finally some neko)

interesting mix of pop and new wave, albeit a bit unbalanced. not a bad random 10, little pod!

2006-05-04T16:33:00.000-04:00

dear e,
my blog is mussed up. the sidebar is now the bottom sidebar. can you fix it? do you remember my password?

love,
b

friday random 10, 4/28/06

2006-04-28T16:03:00.000-04:00

all night long forever by black lipstick from sincerely black lipstick
palindrome dome by tristeza from a colores
bloodhounds on my tail by the black angels from passover
in the right place the right time by spoon, b-side to jonathan fisk/stay don't go
immaculate heart I by amanset from set free
grandma airplane by black lipstick from sincerely black lipstick
black pepper by bis from return to central
blood on our hands (justice remix) by DFA 1979 from romance bloody romance
hotel by broken social scene from broken social scen
i got it made by special ed from profilin' the hits

seriously what is it with my ipod and the records i like least? i guess i just need to delete them.

friday random 10

2006-04-14T16:43:00.000-04:00

here is my friday random 10 for 4/14/06

robotic by bis from return to central
if the shadow suits you by nethers from in fields we will lie
pet eunuch by clinic from walking with thee
hearts of oak by ted leo and RX from hearts of oak
joe #1 by fugazi from repeater +3 songs
get out the state by spoon from soft effects
december '91 or so by paul newman from reissue, re-package, re-package
blues from a gun by the jesus and mary chain from 2 years on the leading edge
no mercy by black lipstick from sincerely, black lipstick
space hoes by danger doom from the mouse and the mask

again, not really that impressed. but i do like the sequence of 3--7 pretty well. but with 800 songs, you'd think we'd be getting a better variety. give me some neko case as that's all i want to be hearing these days!

exciting news

2006-04-14T13:46:00.000-04:00

man, am i glad it's friday. i'm flat out pooped and feeling pretty under the weather too. i have a shallow cough that is so unsatisfying, a stuffy nose and constant low-grade headache. all the smoothies in the world aren't easing my pain.

but i do a smidgen of amazing news. our dear favorite canines have conceived and our little brody is growing growin growing in his momma's womb. we are so excited, we can hardly see straight. there is a bit of drama, however. momma anatolian, angie, was bred to two deceased poppa anatolians. thus, brody could be the offspring of angie and hoja, or angie and kapi. we won't know until he is 6 weeks old. but who cares when two potential poppas look like these guys and momma is as gorgeous as she is. some pics below. honestly, i think hoja is the best looking dog ever and i hope brody looks just like him, but either way we've got ourselves a winner! from top to bottom, HOJA, KAPI, ANGIE

friday random 10

2006-03-31T10:14:00.000-05:00

ok here's another. i quite like this exercise, although today mr. ipod let me down. this is a very disappointing random 10, if you ask me, especially considering all the new stuff i filled mr. ipod's belly with! hope next week is better.

i’ll be your mirror, velvet underground from rock and roll
bleeding powers, ted leo and the pharmacists from shake the sheets
world, new order from the best of new order
leif erikson, interpol from turn on the bright lights
nytol, the reindeer section from y’all get scared now…
winter ’68, the black angels from the black angels EP
halfway to a threeway, jim o’rourke from halfway to a threeway
clap your hands!, clap your hands say yeah from clap your hands say yeah
time trap, built to spill from keep it like a secret
someone something, spoon from kill the moonlight

as for aerial pink - not sure, david, i know they are fairly popular at WTJU but i haven't listened to it. i hope you liked the pink mountaintops - i love them!

tomorrow is don't mess with texas for the 2006 WTJU spring fund drive. hope you'll tune in. you can listen on the web at wtju.net. you can also pledge on-line if you're so inclined. you're sure to hear both spoon and the black angels.

friday random 10

2006-03-24T12:17:00.000-05:00

here's my friday random 10

( i love posts that i don't have to generate myself - thank you mr. ipod!)

1. Can you do that dance?, Pink Mountaintops from s/t

2. Fuck this…I’m leaving, American Analog Set from “Set Free”
3. Film School, Film School from s/t release
4. Just when you thought it was safe, Leaders of the New School from

“A Future without a Past...
5. Romantic Rights (The Phones Lovers Remix), Death from Above 1979 from

“Romance Bloody Romance”
6. Someone Something, Spoon from “Kill the Moonlight”
7. Daft Punk is playing at my house, LCD Soundsystem from s/t
8. Manipulation, the Black Angels from Passover
9. Festival of Grot, Nethers from In Fields We Will Lie
10. Chicago, Bis from Return to Central

fave song: tie between Festival of Grot and Manipulation
fave record from the list: Kill the Moonlight
least fave song: Romantic Rights it's not my fave remix of that song)
least fave record: i love them all

happy birthday to me!

2006-03-20T08:57:00.000-05:00

wow - i have been spoiling myself - in honor of the 29th anniversary of me (well, not quite yet)! first thing this am i received a notice from gemm.com that they had two copies of the rare and out-of-print spoon ep, soft effects, which i have coveted now for many, many years. years ago i set up this notify thingy with gemm to let me know when one of their suppliers had the record on hand. since i set that notify thingy up forever ago, i have only received one notice prior to that which i received this morning. that first one was snatched up so quickly - obviously by someone else who had the notify thingy set up - that i didn't even have a chance to get my greedy little mitts on it! but i got this one, by golly, from the same source that dj husband found my bright yellow, and scary, copy of telephono.
my spoon collection is virtually complete! i even have a copy of the golden millenium 7" - not sure if i boasted about that one after i got back from SF last year... i know, i know, this obsession is a bit excessive, but it's one of the few obsessions i do have, so indulge me a bit, will ya?
anyway, as for the spoiling, i also treated myself to some minor sartorial indulgences, which was nice. and i did need them, for sure. funding for that came from a bit of unexpected compensation for my first publication, which is available now. i am so proud of it. and what's even better is that i have been asked to speak about it at a local architecture week event! not sure how i'll pull that off - the fear of it makes me want to barf. well, i'll cross that bridge when i come to it, i guess. for now the pride and satisfaction of seeing my words in print is enough!

and that's enough for now. more soon!

in the crapper

2006-03-12T17:53:00.000-05:00

toilet #2, fully repaired. i am no plumber (maybe i'm well on my way), but even i know that you have to use non-corrosive metals for assembling the toilet. whatever f-ing moron installed the two comodes in my abode used plain old steel and they corroded. imagine that. not only did they corrode, they corroded to the point that no amount of strength or will would pry them loose. i finally had to use the reciprocating saw to saw the last bolt off. in case you're not familiar with a reciprocating saw, or. more colloquilally, a "sawzall," have a look at this thing. it is not an easy tool to use, especially when you're trying to saw through steel. but, by god, i got that damn bolt out of the toilet and reinstalled it properly. toilet #2 ready for you!

i also hung a snazzy metal shelf in that bathroom for my plants and other tschotskes.

in garden-related news, i transplanted numerous baby clematis along the front fenceline, raked many barrow loads of leaves, and mulched the front beds. we are desperately in need of rain around here and the 80 degree temps this weekend were not pleasant.

more trim has been put up and the living room is well on its way to completion. just a few more trim pieces to go up and painting.

guess that's about it for this update. more to come hopefully. in anniversary-related news, i think this blog has just passed its one year mark. happy birthday booker street.

not quite a month

2006-03-04T22:35:00.000-05:00

it's not been quite a month, has it? really? well it's been a busy month that's for sure. right now i'm in the refridgerator (really the office) at WTJU trying like crazy to stay awake for an 11-1 am slot. third week in a row i've filled in for those slackers and it's catching up to me. now i remember why i prefer making the station run to hosting a regular show. but it's been fun, i can't deny. i do love a good radio show and i can program one, if i do say so myself. this will have to be my last until the upcoming fundraiser in which i'll host "don't mess with texas" a show featuring all that is redeeming about texas (rock). this should be a fun marathon, i think. god damn it better be - it's been hell to program.

my new job is both fun and challenging, which is a nice diversion. i'm still on the fence as to deciding if it was the best career move, but at this point there is no sense in revisiting the decision.

my first publication has hit the bookstore shelves. if you google my name you can find a link to it. the book is very nice looking, and i am pleased with the way my afterword is presented. and, it's pretty cool to see your name on a title page. i guess dj bacon fat beat me to it, but that's ok. he deserves the fame more than i do.

got to go get on the air now. just finished watching "how to succeed in business without even trying." netflix it - you won't be sorry!

xoxoxox

post 101

2006-02-10T15:23:00.000-05:00

miss petite pomme had to remind me to post in my blog. i was wondering what to do with myself today and totally didnt even consider posting. duh. what's wrong with me!

happy post 101 to me.

the forsythia is blooming and the bulbs had started to shoot up and now it is FREEZING outside. we're supposed to have a big snow this weekend. blech. winter blows...snow! ha! no really, winter really blows.

last night i saw nada surf - what a great show! i love them. i am not ashamed! i love power pop!rogue wave opened and i wasn't all that impressed. the king of france opened for rogue wave, and i did like them. god i had to saty up so late and that was miserable. and also it was miserable that it was such a fratty scene. ugh - the worst part of living in a college town is the fratties! the many amenities hardly make up for that!

am going to be on the radio tomorrow night. that'll be fun. haven't broadcasted in a long time!
have no idea what i'll play - we'll see.

new job is ok. a little slow to get started but i think it'll shape up soon!

that's all for now!

post #100

2006-01-24T09:15:00.000-05:00

what a milestone - this is post # 100 for booker street. funny that it won't be related to home improvement, as that's what this blog was really intended for. i think it has morphed over the course of the last year into more of a way to keep you guys - my favorite guys - in the loop. i tend to keep my thoughts to myself and am not very good at volunteering them. having this blog allows me to dump them all out and sort through in a way that i wouldn't normally. maybe i should rename it "booker street sees a therapist"? i digress...

i do have a new job now - although it is a job i was slightly ambivalent about when i applied. it's far from my dream job, but i do think it will be rewarding. it will at least get me out of the job that i currently hate and into a new experience.

speaking of dream jobs: i've been thinking alot about this subject lately. i feel decidedly depressed about my career and the reason why is that i see myself drfting further and further away from that career-place where i envisioned myself at 30. (no, i am not yet 30 - i'm almost 29 - but really, what's the diff?) the longer i stay in legal publishing (almost 3 years now) the further i get from humanities publishing and the least likely i am to be a strong candidate for any humanities position for which i might apply. sure i can keep my feet wet, but only be volunteering my free time for free - and while that doesn't seem all that bad, it hasn't really been working out. i have literally been volunteering my life away. i used to scoff at my dad when he would say "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free" but he was right. (he's usually right, but that's a different story!) i have been taken advantage of over and over, and the *experience* i have gained has only served to make me more and more skeptical of people and their motives, and my career prospects.

i keep asking myself, is it wrong to have a job for which you are not passionate, but that pays the bills and allows you to live a comfortable life. i REALLY wanto to convince myself that yes, it is OK, that a person is not defined by his or her work. but honestly, i don't feel OK about it. everyone around me works in the field of their choice, even dj husband. and he didn't even try to get the job of his dreams - it was practically handed to him on a silver platter (i am only slightly resentful). and i have worked so damn hard to figure out what i want to do and how to achieve it and i can't even get spit on.

so what do you guys think about all this. you are what you do, or do you do what you can? obviously you do what you can cos you have to, but when do you give up looking for that dream job?

bleargh

2006-01-12T10:42:00.000-05:00

could i be more bored? jesus, i do hate my job, but i like to be busy. i am not busy. seriously, who knew knew the interwebs could provide only finite entertainment? apartment therapy does not update enough to keep me entralled. and, they never post my good questions, damn them.

what are you stylish girls thinking of my spectacle selection? i think i like pair #2 best, but pair #1 is pretty sharp too. i bet you're saying, "i can't even tell the difference." make like an architectural historian and look closely, you'll see. and then you can help me decide! do you think silver or black is preferable? i'm thinking black - to make more of a bold statement. but maybe silver is more refined? tell me, tell me!

home depot is having a sale on behr paint (the best afordable paint available) this weekend. that's just the impetus we need to buy and begin to paint. walls in shades of persimmon, olive, and chocolate sound yummy!

not sure what else to post today, so i'll keep this one short. current obsession moving from furniture to art...

four eyes

2006-01-11T10:45:00.000-05:00

i need new glasses. will you help me choose?

pair #1

pair #2

pair #3

pair #4

updating classic america

2006-01-10T12:09:00.000-05:00

dear unfailing supporters,
today i mailed my proposal for Foursquare: Design Ideas for Renovating, Remodeling, and Building New to taunton press. holy shit, i finally did it.

allow me a brief moment of self deprecation because i am worried i may be a little too late. maybe they may have already begun this book with someone else - afterall, i did send my original email proposal last august. ugh, i will be devastated if someone else gets to write this book.

you might be wondering, "what was the impetus to finally send off the proposal?" well, if you'll indulge me a brief moment of bragging, i will tell you that yours truly has recently been published. i was asked to write the afterword for a collection of photographs by William Frederking of his home, a foursquare, in oak park illinois. realising that this had finally come out and that i am mentioned on the cover of the book gave me a little confidence to send in my proposal.

so we'll see. i hope to at least receive an acknowledgment of receipt of my proposal. best case scenario is that i'll get a book deal. holy shit, book deal.

thanks for all your encouragement, pals.

love,
hip to be square

i am not vain...i just want to find my vanity

2005-12-29T12:54:00.000-05:00

when it rains it pours, i suppose. i found another vanity - although this is more likely a desk - on ebay that i fell in love with. alas, i was outbid. i prolly would have bid more had shipping not been estimated at $165.00 from british columbia. seems to me that ohioans, pennsylvanians, and british columbians have a real corner on the danish modern ebay market. anyway, here it is in all it's glory. it trumps the malmsten by bodafors if you ask me. but it slipped out of my grip...

no matter, i will find my vanity someday. in other furniture related news, i did score 5 danish dining chairs - mfg'd by farstrup mobelfabrik - at local shop circa yeasterday.
they are very similar to these: upholstered in black pleather, in pretty bad shape. but i think i can easily redo them. and for $75 bux, i couldn't pass 'em up.
i don't even think i could find a single nice chair for the price of all five of these.

i also scored a small print by rosado - not as moderately priced as the chairs. not sure who he/she was, but i have seen a few other of his/her pieces that i quite like and think i found a real treasure. now if only our walls were painted then we could hang our ever expanding art collection. soon...it must be soon.

not much other news to report. embarking on january is scary to me. it's such a financially long month. dj husband has a number of gigs coming up which should be fun. he's thinking of calling his gigs either "popscene" or "town & country" - i'm more fond of "town & country."
some job interviews coming up - maybe 2006 is the year for me. we'll see.

hope you're all very well. happy new year. xoxoxox

in keeping with that theme

2005-12-15T10:14:00.000-05:00

i swore to dj husband that after buying the bench in the previous post (it's mine, all mine) that i was done scouring ebay and other proprietors for furnishings. but i just can't help myself.
and lo and behold, what did i find? the piece of furniture that has been eluding me for months. don't misunderstand, i wasnt aware that it existed. but i knew, just knew, that out there somewhere there had to be a dressing table that fit my image of what a dressing table should be. simple, small but well proportioned, elegantly crafted, with a small mirror and not UGLY!

"let me see it," you demand? well, alright. it's not like any of us can afford it!

so there it is - my dream designed by Carl Malmstem and manufactured by Bodafors. oh how i wish it could be mine, but at $1250.00, it's not even remotely possible. at $125.00 i might be able to justify it - you think i could talk to the seller down? hmm, doubt it.

just to give you all an idea of what's out there and what makes this beauty stand out, have a look at this one by Heywood Wakefield:

could the two be any more opposed? i am so not into the Heywood Wakefield look of blond maple, top heavy pieces. there seem to be two schools of mid-century fans: those who love chocolately teak and walnut and those who love blond maple. i am firmly among the former! blond maple - YUCK, i say.

anyway, now you see that i am utterly addicted to furniture. add curator of modern furnishings to top 5 careers of all time.

shumai, glad you like the bench. i was wondering where the hell you'd been!

the bench in question

2005-12-08T10:57:00.000-05:00

the bench in question

what d'ya think?

knowing is half the battle

2005-12-07T16:10:00.000-05:00

friends, i have a problem. i am addicted to furnishing. i love furniture. i covet chairs, couches, lamps, tables and art. seriously, this is turning into an obsession. i visit the local overpriced junk store every weekend and find a new treasure that i want to rescue from its retail hell and give it a good home on booker street. currently, i am the high bidder on a mid century slat bench for our entry. i should not even be considering purchasing this piece, but i bid on it anyway because i was compelled to have it. that's an addiction isn't it - when you can't control yourself. the bench longs to be in my home, i know it, and i long to enter my home and close the door and sit on it to remove my shoes and don slippers.
(for god's sake, you can't wear shoes on our new floor. heathen, what are you thinking?)

often when i fall in love with a piece i'll scheme to get a friend to buy it. that way, i'll know it has a good home and be able to visit it often. this has actually worked and i'm pleased to say, the pieces have a good home and look fabulous!

perhaps, in addition to my new calling as a men's stylist, i should also take up interior design. i'd be so good at both and have a way to deal positively with my addiction.

dear lord

2005-12-05T08:51:00.000-05:00

will someone please kill me. i do no - repeat, do not - deserve the torture that is this job.

why oh why am i so forsaken by the career gods. please someone help me...

happy holiday to everyone

2005-11-23T11:56:00.000-05:00

i like thanksgiving - not for the turkey (blech), but because it is a secular holiday to be spent with friends and family and a time when we are encouraged to reflect on what we're thankful for.

i'm thankful for all of you, my dearest pals, and for my hubby and my house. i'm not thankful for my job, although it does allow me to have my house. so i can be grateful for that.

sending my love to all of you on thanksgiving. back from mexico on monday 12/5. hopefully with a glowing tan...

quick update

2005-11-21T09:29:00.000-05:00

just a quick update to let y'all know i'm still alive and functioning.

have major deadlines at work and home. got to get a book out by wednesday (not sure if that will happen) and have to get drywall hung by saturday (will happen come hell or high water!)

going to mexico on monday...so freaking excited!

finallly acquired a digital camera (secondhand). once i find a usb cable, i will upload some photos of the house and the vacay!

the floor and drywall will be finished by our amazing contractor friend hope while we're away. then all we'll have to do is trim out the openings, paint and move back in to the downstairs. i hope to do that by xmas.

VA elected a democratic governor and a republican lt. governor. how the hell does that happen.

saw echo and the bunnymen on friday night. it was great, but not as great as pixies, spoon, and teenage fanclub. indeed this is the year of the monumental shows.

ok, back to the book. i bet i know more about NYC police procedures than most NYC cops on the beat. how exciting for me!

oneiric

2005-11-09T10:31:00.000-05:00

funny that my word of the day was oneiric, which means "pertaining to or suggestive of dreams" and this morning i had one of the most vivid dreams i can ever recall having.

it involved a professor whom i haven't seen in years and with whom i just reconnected this past weekend. in the short time i studied with him, i came to love him dearly. he was one of the most encouraging people i've ever had in my life. not to be too saccharine about it, i flourished under his guidance. this came at the time that my academic career was ending and i could not be more grateful to him for his support.

there was also some of that delicious older male professor/younger female student dynamic of which i am so (unshamefully) fond.

anyway, this past weekend i was at his home for a party. i hadn't been there in years. it was exactly as it had been, but i hadn't thought about it. we had wonderful conversation and i tremendously enjoyed being there.

so this morning i dreamt about being at his house again, this time as i would be if we were close friends. i was working in the garden with him and his wife and we were uncovering all these fabulous bits and pieces - artifacts, maybe, but not in the academic sense - from the earth.
we were enjoying ourselves tremendoulsy and the closeness i felt with them was unparalleled. that feeling is what i have come away from the dream with.

the details of their home, in my dream, were different from what i saw when i was there this weekend. i can most vividly remember seeing a blue geranium (i have never seen a blue geranium before, but apparently they do exist!) on the windowsill.

what does this dream mean, i wonder. i suppose it means that i really did adore this professor and that reconecting with him - if even just for a sunday afternoon - was a meaninful moment for me.

a bit better, but not for long

2005-11-02T14:27:00.000-05:00

more bad news on the job front.

back down in the dumps and probably there to stay for a while.

a bit better

2005-11-01T11:43:00.000-05:00

i am feeling a bit better. thanks for your concern, em and e.rod. it's all about not having the career i want and seeming not to be able to even come close to attaining it. i also think it had a bit to do with the FREEZING cold weather we were having early last week. today it is GORGEOUS and i do feel happy. it helps to be wearing pointy pink shoes, which make me very happy.
honestly, though, the feeling i have been experiencing most lately is covetousness. there are so many beautiful things i want desperately. funny that most of them are peripherally related to my desire for a fulfilling and rewarding career and a life filled with beautifully designed objects.

here are a few of my current (and long-standing) obsessions:
this is a "rolodex" of sorts, made from bits of found paper contained in a maple box. i envision this on my tidy stainless steel desktop filled with the names of all my contacts in the biz! view more details here.

this is a piece from rena tom's holiday collection and if it isn't in my stocking on xmas morning then my husband is going to find himself visiting singles' bars on new year's eve! it's a chunk of aquamarine (the fave gem of yours truly) on a delicate golden chain. rena is my favorite jewelry designer and one visit to her site will illustrate why.

one each of every color cashmere long-sleeve t-shirt from jcrew. yes i realise jcrew is very bourgie, but i love love love these sweaters. honestly, i love just about any article of clothing from jcrew and would outfit myself completely in jcrew were it financially possible.

i am a materialist, for sure.

more to come soon, we're making major progress with the house and hope to have photos soon!

glum chum

2005-10-25T13:27:00.000-04:00

i've been feeling pretty glum lately and not really into the blog.

i'm sorry - i hope to be back soon.

why do i need apartment therapy?

2005-10-04T11:17:00.000-04:00

i'm not sure why i need apartment therapy, but i do. i am addicted to this wonderful blog/website documenting all things urban and apartment-like. thanks, em! i check it a bazillian times a day for insightful and entertaining posts on design, furniture, nesting, and great links. also, it makes me feel a little bit closer to my pals who are living the urban dream.

alas, i have a single family home with a yard and driveway. i'll swap with you urbanites in a minute! in the meantime, apartment therapy will keep on keeping me posted on all things lovely and beautiful for the home, whether it's teeny-tiny or a foursquare with a front porch.

i am no frog

2005-10-04T10:32:00.000-04:00

in a vain attempt to stay fit and trim i have enrolled in a masters' swimming class. now, don't misunderstand, i am no master swimmer. i'm barely a novice swimmer, but masters' swimming was the only class that didn't involve little tikes in swim diapers and water wings. ugh.

so i signed up.

at the first work out i quickly realised that i have no idea how to breathe properly while swimming. i HOLD MY BREATH while my face is in the water and then force myself to quickly exhale and inhale when i turn my head. gasping, that's what it's called. i had no idea that you had to exhale in the water. who knew? i am no frog...

so i've been spending the last 3 workouts in the slow lane practicing breathing. this requires lots of kick drills while keeping my face in the water and glug glug glugging through my nose in order to exhale. then i turn my head up and breathe in deeply through my mouth. it works 2 out of every 5 breaths, or so; but i'm certainly improving. i can even freestyle two or three laps without holding my breath and getting a throbbing headache.

but, last night there was a severe wake in the pool - not sure why, it wasn't very crowded. must have been a very aggro swimmer a few lanes down. in any case, i swallowed so much of that disgusting pool water that this morning i feel as if i might have an intestinal parasite. ugh. i am fitfully trying to cleanse my intestines with fizzy water and it does seem to be helping a bit...

i suppose an intestinal parasite is a small price to pay for a long and lithe swimmer's bod and highly efficient lungs - if i don't croak before achieving it.

big big love

2005-09-30T08:19:00.000-04:00

g i g a n t i c

yes indeedy, the pixies rocked the magenta socks right off my little feet! holy crap! if i hadn't just recently seen spoon (3x) i would have to say the pixies show is the best i have ever seen. EVER seen! all i could think while watching the show - when not in blissful reverie of the joey santiago's guitar playing - was how much i LOVE rock music!

frank black may be a chunkster, and kim deal the cutest, sweetest, yey frumpiest, middle-aged bassist. joey santiago is the new love of my life (especially when he is yielding that gorgeous gold les paul! britt daniel watch out!*), and dave lovering is the most elegantly dynamic drummer in the universe. they rocked so hard it was shocking and exhilirating. i danced like a mad person and screamed "joey" like a 15-year old at a bon jovi concert.

it was a beautiful night in the wee 'ville, about 50 degrees and clear. there were so many people out on the mall and around the ampitheater. the show wasn't too crowded - although the percentage of falling-over drunk middle-aged fucks was way too high. (i really think alcohol should be prohibited at rock shows.)

i was surprised how successful the new ampitheater was for viewing. the ground is nicely sloped to allow for a clear view of the stage. there was a beautiful banner hung behind the stage. i wish i could find an image of the graphic. it had pixies superimposed over a stylized stingray. it was gorgeous.

they played for about an hour and a half. they covered neil young and the jesus and mary chain (that was the best!). of course they played all the favorite songs and they sounded as brilliant as the first time i ever heard them years and years ago. the pixies may be aging, but their sound is as new and fresh as ever!

*i do find it interesting that britt played a gold les paul during his brief stint in golden millenium.

this is my want list for books

2005-09-29T13:54:00.000-04:00

here is the list of books (with links) that i currently desire:

wickett's remedy by myla goldberg

rising tide: the great mississippi flood of 1927 and how it changed america by john barry

row: trajectories through the shotgun house by david brown and william williams

walking the high line by joel sternfeld

anonymous: enigmatic images from unknown photographers by robert johnson and william boyd

landscape and images by john stilgoe (my hero)

modern garden design: innoavation since 1900 by janet waymark

what are you reading?

the wee pixies

2005-09-29T13:17:00.000-04:00

so who ever thought that i would be seeing the pixies in charlottesville va? not me, that's for sure. holy crap, i am so excited. coran capshaw and the starr hill mafia suck in so many ways, but they score big points for bringing this show to our wee little 'ville! the wee pixies in the wee 'ville, crazy.
i just walked through the ampitheater where they are setting up and saw joey santiago! not that i'm star struck or anything (he's no britt daniel!), but man, that's cool.
i am so glad that i got a hook up through wtju cos i couldn't bring myself to pay the 80 bucks for two tix. 8o bucks! that's such an unreal amount of money. but i know that i would be so regretful tomorrow for not going. so now, it's all working out! hooray!

in any event, this is a very remarkable year for shows for me: from unrest and versus to pylon to spoon (3x) to the pixies to echo and the bunnymen and all the goodies in between like teenage fanclub, of montreal, crooked fingers, caribou, the clientele, orenda fink, and many others that i can't recall.

on another note: i have been trying to post about a bunch of books that look really cool to me, but the blogger photo loader isn't cooperating. maybe i'll just post a list and you can look them up if you're interested! i bet you will be!

pixies here i come!

auction art!

2005-09-26T14:45:00.000-04:00

this is the silkscreen. it's signed moore '70.

this is the watercolor. it's teeny, only 2 by 3 or so. i love tiny pieces of art, they are like little treasures. it's signed illegibly and titled landscape 1969.

this is gears III by lee adler, numbered 4/55.

i like gears. it sort of looks like a strange projector of some sort.

sold!

2005-09-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

on saturday i went to an auction and boy, did i ever have fun. i made some fantastci purchases as well. harlowe-powell, a local auction house, had it's first dedicated "mid-century modern" auction (although the accuracy of that description is arguble). usually, i think, their auctions are a mish-mash of various estates and periods. but, i heard, that there is a concerted effort bring more mid-century pieces to the market and this was their first effort. i scored three pieces of art - a small watercolor, by an unidentified painter; a print, presumably made from a photo negative, also unidentified; and an original signed and numbered lee adler print of gears, aptly named gears III. adler is an aesthetic realist whose work is currently in the metropolitan museum of art, british museum, and the whitney museum of american art. his piece was my real prize of the day, but the other items i scored are fantatsic too. there was an amazing collection of pottery - most of which i could not afford - but i did get two neat pieces. i scored a neat piece of streamline moderne silver designed by norman bel geddes, who was a fantastic industrial designer. i bid on an amazing pice of pottery designed by raymond loewy - also a favorite industrial designer - but it shot way out of my price range very quickly. there were two prints on which i wish i had bid higher, alas.

also, i would have loved to score the single eames DCM chair, but it wasn't in great shape and the other bidder clearly had more money to spend than i did.

all in all, though, i had a great time, made great deals, and found really cool art. buying art has become a new obsession. i have read that, when buying art, you shouldn't think twice about the artist or the value of the piece. buy art that speaks to you, not for its appreciable value - which is not much unless you're buying monet or some other such crap.

now, if we could just stop demolishing walls in the house we'd have some place to hang the art!

friends of the high line

2005-09-20T09:22:00.000-04:00

i am becoming obsessed with friends of the high line. i can't quite remember where i read about it - maybe dwell - but i can't stop thinking about it, for many reasons. one reason is that it is an amazing project. the one and one-half-mile-long elevated rail corridor was built in the thirties to separate freight rail traffic from street-level traffic, thus ensuring the safety of pedestrians and, more importantly in that era, the efficiency of goods delivery.
i'm not quite sure when the line was closed to rail traffic, but it seems clear that the high line structure sat abandoned for quite some time. friends of the high line (fhl) was formed to promote the preservation and reuse of the elevated structure as a promenade of open space, providing a welcome swath of greenery in an otherwise very densely developed industrial part of NYC, a unique vantage point from which to view the city, and a history lesson on the prior industrial land use in a rapidly changing urban landscape.
friends of the high line drew precedent from another amazing preservation and reclamation project, the Promenade Plantee in Paris, which achieved the same end for an elevated rail line through that city in the early nineties. fhl has successfully enlisted the architects diller, scofidio + renfro (check 'em out, they're amazing) to reinterpret the high line as a pedestrian oriented public space. you can see their winning competition entry at thehighline.org.

i think the highline project is really a testament to the power of grass roots organizing and the importance of preserving liminal spaces. spaces like the high line, but not just rail lines, have a relevance that so far exceeds, but of course includes, their original use. they must not be removed from our cities and towns. rather, they should be preserved and reinterpreted. friends of the high line provide us with a usuable model - why isn't this happening across the country? i feel inspired to take on a project such as this one in my town.

shame on you

2005-09-16T12:19:00.000-04:00

this post is to shame all those readers to whom i send emails and don't receive responses.
email me back, damnit!

hello again

2005-09-14T10:06:00.000-04:00

the best thing about getting a coffee from the blue ridge store is that when you pick up an empty cup it is smooth and when you fill it with hot coffee it blisters in your hand. it's an amazing sensation and an ingenious solution to the scalding hot paper cup which requires a ridiculously-named "java jacket" or a second cup. this, and the cheapness, motivate me to get coffee at the blue ridge store, not the quality. definitely not the quality.

i was on the radio on saturday; well, no, it was sunday actually, 1-3am. what fun! i was on so that i could train a new dj - a girl who was relocated here from tulane university in new orleans. i felt that in some small way i was helping out. of course, this girl was hardly stranded on the roof of her house for days...

it was fun being on the radio again. i should really do it more often.

work on the house has stalled for the moment. the weather has just been too nice here and i can't stand to be cooped up in the house. i did transplant 3 rose bushes to get them out of the most ridiculous spots in the yard. i hope they survive the transplant.

all of the clematis i found in the spring have bloomed into the most beautiful plants. the vines are covered, literally blanketed, in tiny white, star-shaped blooms that have a light scent. they are stunning! i think it is called sweet autumn clematis (clematis paniculata). it looks like this - all over our yard!

my elephant ears and caladiums are doing great as well. the elephant ears are so big they have to be supported in order to keep them upright!

my caladiums are so varied in their coloration and fill in the space underneath the very tall elephant ears. i wish i were a landscape architect.

looks like i might become a published author... i was asked to write an afterword for a photography book that will come out next spring, i think. i'm quite pleased with my afterword and would be pretty proud to see it in print. then maybe i could convince taunton press to let me write updating the classic american foursquare as a result. i should really work on a proposal for that.

that's it for this post. i'm pretty bored at work, so maybe i'll come up with something else soon!

CMJ Top 30 9/5/05

2005-09-06T10:13:00.000-04:00

Top 30 for September 5, 2005:

1) NEW PORNOGRAPHERS / Twin Cinema / Matador
2) KINSKI / Alpine Static / Sub Pop
3) ROSEBUDS / Birds Make Good Neighbors / Merge
4) QUINTRON AND MISS PUSSYCAT / s/t / Rhinestone
5) STOOGES / Fun House / Elektra/Rhino
6) DUNGEN / Ta Det Lugnt / Kemado
7) SUFJAN STEVENS / Illinois / Asthmatic Kitty
8) FRUIT BATS / Spelled in Bones / Sub Pop
9) SONS AND DAUGHTERS / Repulsion Box / Domino
10) V/A / Broken Flowers / Decca
11) A BAND OF BEES / Free the Bees / Astralwerks
12) FREE DESIGN / The Now Sound: Redesigned / Light in the Attic
13) WOLF PARADE / s/t / SubPop
14) PEARLS BEFORE SWINE / The Complete ESP Disk Recordings / ESP
15) DEERHOOF / Green Cosmos / Menlo Park
16) ARIZONA AMP AND ALTERNATOR / s/t / Thrill Jockey
17) JOHN VANDERSLICE / Pixel Revolt / Barsuk
18) KALLIKAK FAMILY / May 23rd 2007 / Tell-All
19) PELICAN / The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw / Hydrahead
20) HOLOPAW / Quit +/or Fight / Sub Pop
21) LUNGFISH / Feral Hymns / Dischord
22) ALIAS AND EHREN / Lillian / Anticon
23) ORANGE JUICE / The Glasgow School / Domino
24) BLACK DICE / Broken Ear Record / Astralwerks/DFA
25) COCOROSIE / Noah's Ark / Touch and Go
26) RICHARD HELL / Spurts / Rhino
27) CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH / s/t / self
28) CHIN UP CHIN UP / s/t / Flameshovel
29) T.RAUMSCHMIERE / Blitzkrieg Pop / Nova Mute
30) SYBRIS / s/t / Flameshovel

ADDS
1) ARIZONA AMP AND ALTERNATOR / s/t / Thrill Jockey
2) SUPER FURRY ANIMALS / Love Kraft / Beggars Banquet
3) IRON & WINE/CALEXICO / In the Reins / Overcoat
4) FREAKWATER / Is Thinking About You / Thrill Jockey
5) M83 / s/t / Goom

so sad

2005-09-01T13:09:00.000-04:00

i feel so overwhelmed by sadness for what has happened on the gulf coast. i'm not really sure how to process my feelings.

i am surprised at how significant the damage is.

i'm shocked at how little i am hearing about collecting/sending aid to the region. countries around the world rushed to mobilize assistance for tsunami victims. but now, in the midst of our own disaster of (what i see to be) comparable magnitude, is no one rushing to help us?

i am appalled at the violence being carried out by people still in the city. steal food if you have to - that can't even be considered stealing. but don't steal guns, ammunition, and electronics, or shoot those who are trying to keep you from doing so. sure tradgedy brings out the best and worst in people, but senseless violence like this is simply unfathomable.

is there anything anyone can do to help? will my meager donation to the red cross help in any way? it sure seems unlikely.

we cancelled our cable on saturday, right before the storm hit. i am thankful that i can not watch video of the recovery on cnn 24/7.

gas was 85 cents when i first started driving, and i was shocked when it passed 1 dollar. a gallon of gas for three dollars was never even in my imagination. not to mention the skyrocketing price of natural gas - i think it'll be pretty cold in my house this winter.

where will all the residents of gulf coast towns resettle? how could they even conceive of returning.?

what happened to all the pets? this might make me more sad than anything else. they are so helpless.

WTJU TOP 30 8 / 22 / 2005

2005-08-23T08:20:00.000-04:00

WTJU Top 30 for August 22, 2005:
1) DUNGEN / Ta Det Lugnt / Kemado
2) RICHARD HELL / Spurts / Rhino
3) JOHN WILKES BOOZE / Telescopic Eyes Glance the Future / Kill Rock Stars
4) NEW PORNOGRAPHERS / Twin Cinema / Matador
5) CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH / s/t / self
6) STOOGES / Fun House / Elektra/Rhino
7) FRUIT BATS / Spelled in Bones / Sub Pop
8) JOSE GONZALEZ / Veneer / Parasol
9) A BAND OF BEES / Free the Bees / Astralwerks
10) CHIN UP CHIN UP / s/t / Flameshovel
11) LUNGFISH / Feral Hymns / Dischord
12) FREE DESIGN / The Now Sound: Redesigned / Light in the Attic
13) HERBALISER / Take London / Ninja Tune
14) QUINTRON AND MISS PUSSYCAT / s/t / Rhinestone
15) V/A / American Rag Cie / Quango
16) T.RAUMSCHMIERE / Blitzkrieg Pop / Nova Mute
17) SONS AND DAUGHTERS / Repulsion Box / Domino
18) SYBRIS / s/t / Flameshovel
19) ALIAS AND EHREN / Lillian / Anticon
20) JUAN MACLEAN / Less Than Human / DFA
21) BRACELETS / s/t / Sector 5
22) TEENAGE FANCLUB / Man-Made / Merge
23) BECK / Remix EP #1 / Interscope
24) STEPHEN MALKMUS / Face the Truth / Matador
25) LALI PUNA / I Thought I Was Over That: Rare, Remixed and B-Sides / Morr
26) XIU XIU / La Foret / 5RC
27) KOJI ASANO / Final Insurance Collection / Soltice.Asano
28) ROYKSOPP / The Understanding / Astralwerks
29) KALLIKAK FAMILY / May 23rd 2007 / Tell-All
30) KINSKI / Alpine Static / Sub Pop

TOP 5 ADDS
1) NEW PORNOGRAPHERS / Twin Cinema / Matador
2) STOOGES / Fun House / Elektra/Rhino
3) V/A / Broken Flowers / Decca
4) WARLOCKS / Surgery / Birdman
5) DANDY WARHOLS / Odditorium or The Warlords of Mars / Capitol

i know, i know

2005-08-22T13:56:00.000-04:00

i know it's been a while since i posted. believe me, it's not for lack of trying. we've just been working our fingers to the bloody stumps on stuff around the house.

our actually flooring was delivered yesterday! now we just have to install it. holy cow.

i promise to post when there are more interesting things to say and when i have the photos downloaded. come to think of it though, we are discontinuing our internet at home for a short while. so photos might be a while.

treasure hunt

2005-08-08T15:53:00.000-04:00

this weekend we discovered a number of things in our house. most were found tucked inside the mantle - which, we discovered was not for a fireplace, but for a stove. the stovepipe held a dessicated bird which i had to remove because my husband was too grossed out. we also found two wheat pennies, one from 1930 and one from '56. two letters, one regarding divorce proceedings (1929!) and one from a secret society (1946). we found a pack of old maid cards and a few other random children's playing cards. we found a neat letter opener; a penknife; two photographs; a pack of vick's coughdrops; a lik-m-aid package; and, an id card. much of this stuff is in very poor shape - especially the photos - but i will try to scan some of it for show and tell. hope to get this done soon, but it's shaping up to be a busy week. i have atomic klatch tonight, publishing day committee tomorrow, rock hours on wednesday, happy hour on thursday. and i have to finish the afterword i am writing for one of the center's books for the deadline on monday. yikes!
in the mean time, anyone ever heard of the "grand temple's birthday party"? that's a secret society if i ever heard of one.

pandora's box

2005-08-04T08:18:00.000-04:00

steve and i heard an interesting story on npr a couple months ago. it was a feature on the music genome project which was then called savage beast and is now more appropriately called pandora. we were both pretty excited by the idea of the project - music genomes consume me (although i hadn't thought to call them that). i am constantly asking "well if i like so-and-so band then how do i find other bands that sound similar?" and that's the whole idea behind the music genome project. analysts and techies identify characteristics of a band you love (say, spoon, for example) and plug in some algorithms or some such something into a computer that will identify other artists who share those characteristics. so now pandora is in the trial stages and both steve and i are previewing it. i started this morning. first thing pandora asked me is to name a song or artist. so, after much thought, i chose spoon. and now i'm listening to spoon radio. first it starts with a very characteristic spoon song, from which it grabs certain musical characteristics and then it plays other artists. some of the the selections pandora made are based on "electric rock instrumentalisation, mild rhythmic syncopation, major key tonality [and] electric guitar riffs." some other characteristics they identify are "a subtle use of vocal harmony" and "punk influences." now, i'll be the first to admit that this is all very general and i could probably identify these other bands myself (or have steve do it), but it's neat to have your computer do it for you. it's got to be good for something, right? unfortunately, i haven't heard anything that really turns me on, but i think that's my own problem, not a fault of pandora. they've certainly featured a ton of bands i've never heard.
i think i'll see what comes up for the new year, and cornershop next.

wainscoting - a fancy word for paneling

2005-08-02T16:27:00.000-04:00

we are debating the pros and cons of beadboard and panel wainscoting for our dining room. finshed with the floor, you might ask. well no, but we're certainly making progress. (yes, i will upload the photos soon). the lower third of the walls in our dining room have been botched, i mean patched, so horribly that we really need to do something to remedy the ugliness. we could: a. patch the plaster (man is that a dying skill), b. remove portions of the plaster and patch with drywall (difficult to blend the seams, i think), or c. remove the plaster, mount some blocking and put in paneling. what a great idea, i think. it;s completely conceivable that a house like ours would have paneling on the first floor, especially in the dining room. well, now that that's settled, how do we compromise on the look?

do we go with beadboard? i think it looks too beachy/cottagey (and damnit, it's not what i like...)

do we go with a "picture-frame" style panel wainscoting? i'm pretty fond of it...

or, perhaps we tweak the tradition and design a more contemporary panel? very interesting idea...please disregard the fish

what do you guys like?

public emily!

2005-07-28T18:37:00.000-04:00

thanks e, the sidebar looks fantastic!

dahlias and zinnias oh my

2005-07-28T12:29:00.000-04:00

i have been thinking alot about gardening lately, although abstaining from the act itself. mostly i'm just wishfully thinking and planning. i thought i would share images of the two flowers with which i am currently obsessed: the zinnia and the dahlia. enjoy!

this last bunch is a brilliant group of zinnias, the other images are of the wide variety of dahlias! btw: i love the new upload images feature in blogger!

what i'm listening to

2005-07-27T15:44:00.000-04:00

i tried to make a sidebar feature to illustrate what i'm listening to (like the one at petitepomme) but i really struggle to bend html to my will and it usually wins the battle. so i figured i'd just make a short list of what i like right now.

the bees free the bees on virgin
controller.controller history on paper bag records
orange juice the glasgow school on domino
oranges band the world & everything in it on lookout!
we ragazzi the ache on self-starter

right now, though, i'm listening to "pure easy listening" on wtju.net.

four square and many years ago

2005-07-27T12:51:00.000-04:00

recently, i have been searching for stylistic information on the american foursquare building type. you know...what style of interior trim was commonly used, what kind of finishes, etc.

mostly i have been googling because there seem to be few published books pertaining to the style itself. even google turns up few results on the building type.

you can, however, find numerous sites dedicated to the game of four square. i'm not sure i ever played it. have any of you? i played a lot of hopscotch in my youth - this seems loosely related, although much more competitive.

like the game, the building type is named for the arrangement of four small rectangles grouped together to make one large square. in foursquare houses, this manifests in four rooms on the first floor and four rooms on the second. in grand center hall four squares, these four rooms are arranged around a central hall and stair, making it more like foursquare and then some. in a more modest foursquare like ours, with the entry hall off the side, the arrangement of the shapes becomes asymmetrical. still four rectangles are grouped together to make a larger single square, but the entry hall and stair become one of the "rooms."

the american foursquare building type is loosely drawn from the prairie style houses built in the early twentieth century. seems the only published sources i find on the prairie style focus on frank lloyd wright. he was great and all, but his work had little impact on the modest foursquare at sixthirtyone booker street. it was built as cheaply as possible and fitted with mass-produced, albeit lovely, interior details. flw's houses were most often dressed with custom made furniture and glass of his own design. our house certainly exhibits none of those niceties.

so far, this website is the best i've found, showing a variety of foursquares and interior details. as the old house web points out, the foursquare was a very common building type in the first third of the twentieth century and is found across the entire united states, modified for each climate and site. [i think it's funny that this website, while containing decent info, states that the "foursquare is what most people think of as 'the all-American family home' on Main Street USA." typically, the all american family did not live on main street, where most commercial activity occured.]

in any case, i'm on the look out for any info i can find on this building type. sadly there is little to be found. perhaps i should write a book?

friends indeed

2005-07-26T09:13:00.000-04:00

you guys are such good friends. thanks for still checking in to see if i'm alive and posting. sorry i haven't been keeping up lately. i've been feeling a bit down in the dumps and figured you all should be tired of my whining by now. but i guess you're not!
i wish that i had photos of the work that we've been doing over the last week or so. we have successfully ripped up floor, sistered floor joists, and installed the plywood subfloor - in one room...downstairs.
now, to be perfectly honest, this only took two full days of work, but we had to spread it out over a week because my ever graceful husband fell during the first days' work and sprained his ankle quite badly. he is improving steadily, but hasn't been able to do much. as a result we had open crawlspace in our dining room for a week.
the crawlspace, for those of you not intimately familiar with guts of houses, is the dirt cavity lurking under your floor. i know e&c's brownstone doesn't have one, nor is there one in e&t's loft. david's house may have one - or it may have a basement. in any case, our house has a crawlspace and it was completely exposed to the whole house for one week. that is - there was no floor. only joists and dirt. i was very unsure that i would come through the week a sane person, but i did. thank you to my parents for coming up to help me finish the room. now there is no more exposed dirt and joists - until we commence work on the living room. holy shit, what have i gotten us into? (i will try to post photos this evening.)
in other news, dj husband has had another gig at the atomic burrito. i hear it was better attended than the first night. he is still trying to come up with a clever dj name (i guess he doesn't like dj husband!). have any suggestions?
career developments are progressing slowly, which is better than not at all, i suppose. i know for sure that i want to work at the center, and i am, at least, a contributing volunteer, having sequenced a few manuscripts, reviewed one and copy edited another. now, if they would just hire me...
thanks for being loyal readers, guys. it's nice to know you're out there.

ladies and gentlemen

2005-07-11T16:34:00.000-04:00

the booker street blog is poised to become what it was originally intended to be - a house blog. spr and i are on the verge of our very first home improvement project, not counting the two-month long toilet repair or the constant yard work. this weekend we will rip up the flooring in the dining room, sister the floor joists and lay new plywood subfloor. then, when our new 5", solid white oak planks arrive we will install that. holy shit, what are we thinking? well, we're certainly not thinking logically. but were gonna do it anyway.

we've been making big plans for our house. reflooring the first floor comes first, then we'll patch and repair the plaster walls. at some point we'll strip the layers and layers of paint off the trim and the french doors. we'll install a second set of french doors off the dining room. we'll rebuild the porch and wrap it around the south side of the house. we'll excavate and back fill the yard, install a patio and put up a fence. and, we'll remove the crappy alluminum siding and repair the originally stucco exterior. maybe we'll even raise the roof, so to speak, and break it up with a dormer window. we really like the look of this florida foursquare with a wrap-around porch and the classic foursquare dormer.

this is the photo from restoration on 7th (thank you). compare this foursquare with ours, which appears at the top, they're very similar narrow, side entry foursquares. ours is very modest and we think it would look snazzy with a wrap-around porch and dormer. and we could certainly use the space. work upstairs will involve a complete bathroom redo, flooring, closet building and office design. who knows how long all of this will take. we're not going anywhere for a while.

anyway, no more whining for me, except maybe about how many spiders live in the crawl space. i'm sure booker street won't be all renoblog from here on out, but i certainly intend to document our disasters!

lame

2005-07-08T17:23:00.000-04:00

no new job for me, and i have poison ivy again.

tomorrow is another day...

2005-07-07T15:03:00.000-04:00

in staunton for me. i'm feeling rather jammed up about this particular tomorrow in staunton because i am really hoping to cross back over the mountain on the way home to charlottesville having taken a new full-time job. i feel pretty strongly that i could be making the biggest mistake of my life taking this job, but i also feel a sense of promise that this could be my dream job (except that it's in staunton). the real kicker is that i will most certainly have to take a pay cut. you know, a pay cut wouldnt hurt so much if i made a bazillion dollars. but i make a mere pittance and really don't feel that i can make much of a sacrifice. but i keep hearing from you all and from that little troll voice in my head that i owe it to myself and to my career to take this chance. so if the conversation goes the way i'm hoping it will ("why yes we're prepared to offer you a starting salary of $900,000") then i will return home associate director of the center for american places. holy cow, what a title! then i shall flee and be free of word processing and cubicles.

in other news, at the end of the month, i will be volunteering at a spay/neuter clinic at the vet's office in our 'hood. i will also be attempting to trap all the millions of little kittens that have been born to our colony in the last 2 months for spaying/neutering. i hope to trap the mamas and toms too. it's out of of control.

reading is fundamental, continued

2005-07-01T11:11:00.000-04:00

so i am currently reading a number of books - i also recently completed two books while on vacation. those were both *easy* light reading, but were good nonetheless. first, i read 40 watts from nowhere which is the story of sue carpenter's pirate radio stations, KPBJ in San Francisco, and KBLT in LA. i was pleased to find 40 watts at t's house as i had left one of the in-progress books at home. my love of good radio has recently been renewed thanks to KEXP and WTJU and reading 40 watts really restored my energy to participate in community radio. carpenter started and ran both pirate radio stations from her home, allowing djs to broadcast for most, if not all, hours of the day. The story is fascinating, both for her personal experience and for the tremendous document of mid-90s indie music it provides. i highly reccomend it.
i also found how soon is never by marc spitz at t's house. (funny to find books there as he claims not to read.) this was essentially a downer, although humorous and easy to read. this is the story of a man who was obsessed with the smiths while they were still a band and whose life was drastically (negatively) affected by their breakup. the book centers around the main character, having just turned 30, a rock journalist for headphones magazine (what a horrible title), striving to reunite the smiths under the pretense of writing a feature for the mag. all in all the story is one of the classic sad-sack smiths fan who never grows up, but entertaining nonetheless. i also picked up, as a thank you gift for t a book called meat is murder by joe pernice. yes, that joe pernice. this little book is a part of a brilliant series called "33 1/3" published under the continuum impint in which musicians, artists, writes and the like recount a fictional or factual story centered around a "critically acclaimed and much-loved album of the past 40 years." i began to read meat is murder but unfortunately didn't get to finish it. what i got through was great though; that joe pernice is a word master.
so now i am reading a bio of margaret bourke-white, who is one of my heroes. living in the early 20th century, she was entralled by industry and made a career and name for herself photographing the beauty and artistry of industry and industrial landscapes. i am also still reading the bio of frederick law olmsted, and hip: the history.
my love of reading (and radio) have been restored. hooray for me!

on the road again

2005-06-23T11:07:00.000-04:00

back home only to hit the road again. this time to good ol' athens ga! we're leaving today for a long weekend in the hot, hot georgia heat. looking forward to a weekend of rock music and baseball games. visiting with old friends will be nice too.
back on tuesday!
buon weekend, tutti!

home again, home again, jiggity jig

2005-06-22T14:31:00.000-04:00

home again and never happier. there is nothing like vacation to make you appreciate what you've left behind. i feel like i love my husband more than ever and hate my neighborhood less than i did a week ago. unfortunately returning to work was not so pleasant. in fact, there is nothing quite like vacation to reignite the hate you feel for your job. anyway, until i have the gumption to forsake my salary and benefits i'll keep my complaining mouth shut.

all in all i had a great trip to SF. the weather was beautiful, i was able to almost everything i had planned to do - like go to alcatraz. it was AWESOME. the audio tour was great, all the plants were in bloom, the little seagull chicks were up and about in their downy plummage. i couldnt walk the agave trail due to the nesting sea birds, but that's ok. i did me a really friendly and cute (female) park ranger with whom i had a great chat about the flora and the fauna and the natural history of SF and vicinity. i also had an amazingly fun time with my friend koray, who i had not seen since we graduated from high school 11 years ago. we picked up right where we left off and had a blast. he took me to baker beach and to the neatest, sweetest and saddest spot in SF - the pet cemetery. it's at the presidio and so most of the pets were military pets - but you wouldn't know that from the sentiments on the tombstones - yes tombstones. some were even granite and elaborately carved. one even had a p.s. inscription on the back of the stone. seriously i was on the verge of tears as i walked through it. what pet does not deserve proper memorialization?

seeing spoon again at two more sold out shows was also a little disheartening - for the reasons i have previously written about. the crowd at the fillmore shows were even more varied than at the 930. there were the very young, and very old, very drunk and very burnt out.
i feel a significant loss of innocence feeling - like what was once mine is no longer. i'm happy for them and all, but i still want them all to myself. i must say that i am so proud and impressed by jim and josh who are the most friendly, kind and gracious performers i have ever seen! i was a little put off by the fact that britt has a roadie for his two guitars and is always being photoed on the stage.
primadonna much?

the other weirdness from my trip is similar. i now know that no friendship will ever last and that makes me sad. after 12 years i think my friendship with t is over. this is the one friendship i tought would weather anything. unfortunately, it was very clear that we share so little in common now that if we did not have our history to fall back on then we would not know each other let alone be friends. it's tough too that he continues to treat me like the seventeen year old he first met. i just dont think we like each other anymore. sad, but i guess it's natural. another loss of innocence sort of feeling.
weird that i would lose one friend only to reconnect with another.

in any event i am so glad to be home. i do still wish that we could move to a new city - city life is so fun. but for the moment we can't and i am content to stay right here and enjoy my life in the little ville.

o-town

2005-06-16T18:47:00.000-04:00

i am now in oakland, or oaktown, as the locals sometimes call it. i'm pretty pooped after getting up at 230am est in order to drive to dulles airport for a 630am flight. now it's 345pm pst, which is 645pm est and i'm ready for bed. but i did have a lovely time strolling around north oakland this afternoon, despite the rain. i wanted to make it to mountain view cemetery which was designed by frederic law olmsted, but was sidetracked by an eight-acre oasis of a rose garden. it was stunning. most of the bushes were in bloom and the variety was tremendous - from hybrid teas to grandifloras, floribundas to climbers and miniatures. it was wondrous. getting to and from the garden i walked though streets and streets of the most perfectly beautiful california bungalows, craftsmans and shingle style houses i have ever seen. in anycase, i didn't make it to the cemetery due to an unexpected downpour. hopefully i'll make it on a more pleasant day this vacation.
this is my first time in o-town and the housing stock here is strikingly different than that of san fran across the bay. i would do anything to live in a little bungalow here. the residential gardens were also beautiful, filled with enormous jade trees, gracefully sad eucalyptus trees, so many kinds and varieties of geraniums, citrus trees, mounds of rosemary and lavender. these gardens are really evidence of the mediterranean climate of this part of ca. again, what i wouldn't do to live here!
tonight we are going to the cat club for dancing and tomorrow we are going to the cherry bar for dancing and djing. the weekend plans are visiting with a ton of people and seeing spoon at the fillmore! hopefully also a motorcycle ride and a trip to amoeba music. i hope to get to alcatraz on monday and on tuesday see a friend i haven't seen in 11 years!
i am very excited to be on vacation!

no blogs today

2005-06-14T16:48:00.000-04:00

none of the blogs i visited today had been updated since yesterday.
wtf, people, i need entertainment.