This is a story about an act of serendipity that happened yesterday. To tell it, I have to begin with something that happened in 2000 or thereabouts.
Category: Arts and Aesthetics
All things creative. All things beautiful, profound, and moving.
Mohit Satyanand talks about how he gave up full-time work and why he highly recommends it. One might wish he addressed the economic realities more clearly. Or at all. But he waxes lyrical about the delights of doing nothing. (I can wax lyrical on the subject of creative idleness, too. And no doubt will do so after I’ve finished the ceiling, met my next deadline, caught up on my email, and spent some time contemplating how I’m ever going to get the house foundation repaired and the plumbing replaced.)
Yes, it’s conclusive now. I was insane to begin this project at all and plugging at it for most of two weeks has not improved my mental health. Quite the contrary. You may soon read news reports of some poor, pathetic nameless woman picked up by police after running down the street, covered in sawdust and sheetrock mud, babbling wildly about cursed beadboard and claiming to be possessed by demonically acute angles. But though it may have cost the final threads of my sanity, it’s getting close to done now. A couple more trim pieces. Lots of caulk, two coats…
Intriguing DIY all-terrain cart/carrier. (H/T MJR) Drawing — by hand, even doodling — enhances memory and other cognitive functions. Remember last week’s remotely hacked Jeep? Chrysler has now recalled … well, basically every car it’s made lately. No need to take your auto to the shop, though: just wait for the USB stick or download the software. OTOH, given the company’s record of mishandling recalls, don’t be too optimistic. New micro device delivers drugs directly to the brain. Not my brain, buddy! “Don’t Blame Trump; Blame America.” Once you get past the offensive title there’s a lot to agree with.…
So I linked to (yet another) article about small houses. Which led Joel to link back to me and also to a very funny blog about people who actually live in the things. Which reminded me of tidy-up celebrity Marie Kondo (because you have to be mega-tidy to survive small-house living).
Which reminds me that, now that I’m living in normal-sized houses again, it’s time for another perspective in tiny-house living.
The “Mo” inspiration table is done. Since I have a tendency to overwork art projects (eventually “perfecting” them straight into ruination), I forced myself to stop early by varnishing the tabletop even though there were still elements that were either unfinished or not to my satisfaction. That the painting is rough-edged and imperfect is a feature, not a bug. Having forced myself to quit putzing with the painting, I glued seed beads all the way down the grooves in the legs and affixed larger baubles where the legs join the top. Above are the baubles and beads on the legs…
Okay, these small houses may not be “tiny” in Tumbleweed terms. But boy, I’d take any of ’em in a heartbeat. What a diaper-wetting crybaby. Using the government to ease his hurt feelings, of course. Upon his 85th birthday, Thomas Sowell looks back on the uneducated people who helped raise him above his roots. People who radically change their spending habits via radical rethinking. They’re inspiring. Entertaining. Great examples. But how come they always seem to be young urban dwellers without, you know, gigantic house remodel projects going on? Or six kids to feed? Don’t get me wrong; giving up…
Been a little quiet lately, I know. Partly this is to do with the protracted deathwatch for Robbie. He’s 14 and hasn’t been in good health for a long time. His “doggie Alzheimers” gives him anxiety attacks that increasingly override his pharmacopia of meds. He’s got bad legs that look like they shouldn’t hold him up (but somehow do). Now add a hacking cough of mystery origin. But he’s still happy, hungry, and eager to go for walks. Never mind that he spends more time sniffing and peeing than actually walking. So hard to know what to do or when…