Sarcastic Voice: "Well, That Was Easy"

Someone just reminded me that I never posted pics of the final end results of the bathroom renovation. The main reason behind that is because it's JUST NOW FINISHED. Anyway. One day I'll post the whole long involved story so you can all be warned away from ever undertaking any sort of project whatsoever. But in the meantime, here are the pictures.







There are a couple of things I'd do differently but overall, it turned out almost exactly as envisioned.

Cold & Warm

No news! I just wanted to post a pic of my house in the little bit of snow we got today.



And also of my dog curled up in a basket!

I'd Like to Thank the Little People...

A few years ago, when I worked for a film production company, my friend Jason called because he needed a video done really inexpensively for his alter-ego children's act, Farmer Jason. We were able to help him out and I felt very protective of it because I had been in on the creative meetings for it and had basically begged everyone at the company to practically work for free on a Saturday. With children. And animals. In the woods. It's a miracle any of them are still speaking to me. Wait. Only two are!

ANYWAY. We made a really funny and charming video on verrrrry little money and we delivered it and then promptly heard nothing forever. A studio/label was involved for a while and I don't know all the smoky-back-room details, but it ended up running on the local PBS affiliate as interstitial material, along with three or four other videos Jason had the affiliate shoot. And they got nominated for a regional Emmy for Outstanding Chidren's Programming.

And Saturday night they won! So that's very exciting. My name's nowhere near it, so I don't have an Emmy sitting on my mantle right now or anything, but I'm really happy about the way it turned out. The Farmer Jason project is just a fantastic concept and I really think he deserves to be huge.

You can watch the video here.

It's Moving Day In America!

I wonder if Bush had to pay for that coffee table he broke when he choked on that pretzel....

Eureka Springs Eternal

Last week, I was delighted to spend a few days with some old friends high atop an Ozark mountain in northwestern Arkansas, just a mile or so north of Eureka Springs, land of $1.29 gas and egregious misuse of the letter K. We almost just left the pump running all over the concrete, it was so cheap.



We spent all five days in an astonishingly well-equipped ginormous cabin, sipping wine and throwing logs on the fire and watching Valley of the Dolls. Here's some craziness from that. Luckily, it doubles as documentary footage from my college years! It's an endlessly quotable movie but what surprised me is that the one we probably quoted the most was "I'm not the butler, Neely." That comes in handy, trust me. When your mother asks "could you pass me the butter?" just yell I'M NOT THE BUTLER, NEELY. Hours and hours of mirth will ensue.

We went on a long hike down from the cabin to some crazy dam where something strange seems to have happened to my hairdo.



ANYWAY. One day we went down the mountain into town and went in and out of about five million pottery shops and stained glass suncatcher shops and hand-carved pencil shops or WHATEVER and it kind of wore me out because I don't really care about any of that stuff. I have enough pottery, thank you, not to mention pencils. There were six of us and I was just a tiny bit dreading the dinner decision - it was our only night out of the cabin and I didn't think we'd luck into anything good, if only because we all have different likes and dislikes. So, indecisive until almost the very end, we asked our cocktail waitress (yes, there were afternoon cocktails at a fancy hotel) and she said - without hesitation - "Local Flavor." And it was great. The slightly plain-sounding menu might not give that impression but really, everything was just perfect. So if you're ever in Eureka Springs to take the cure, stop by and have dinner there. You can thank me later. Oh and ask for Rick, who was a complete bitch in the best way.

I hope I get invited back next year. I tried really hard to not be as bossy as usual and I think I only slipped up once. But maybe no one noticed. Someone did notice that I drank all the vanilla vodka, though....

What's That In the Corner?

It always surprises me when I catch of a glimpse of part of my life - like clothes or the car I drive or I hear myself talking about something - and that glimpse reveals that I'm a different type of person that I had planned to be. Not better or worse, just different.



For example I always thought I'd end up in some groovy Palm Springs-type sleek house, with low-slung armless sofas and Barcelona chairs. Instead I live in a dark little Tudor Revival house. My father made furniture his whole life and the various arms of the Strong family are chock full of it. I recently ended up with this corner cupboard that he made. I never thought I was a corner cupboard person - I mean, what's next? A butter churn? But you know what? I really love it. It's handsome - solid cherry - and not fussy and offers a world of storage and let me tell you: Tudor Revivals are a little skimpy on storage closets so that really does come in handy. And I get to display my skull and crossbones crystal! And Sister Meg's girly china.



I'm still not used to it yet; I catch it out of the corner of my eye and think for a second "what the hell is THAT?" But then I remember that that's what type of person I turned out to be. A corner cupboard person. Huh.

Pussies in Heat

Well if you're looking for my cats this winter, look no further than the nearest heating vent.

Here's Miss Ellie, fat and fluffy. She likes the one behind the dining room door.



And Fanny, a hundred years old and about three pounds soaking wet. She prefers the living room, being an elderly spinster. I think she's waiting on a gentleman caller.



This, by the way, is the famous Fanny. As an added bonus, you get to see how dirty my house is in this picture and also what looks like a little cat vomit on the vent. Mmmmmmm!