well.. as of monday night, 79 bonair street is officially ours. it was supposed to happen last friday, but thanks to the glorious new england snow, it was delayed. i had planned to do things there.. but.. yaknow..
i started attacking the wallpaper today. it was ridiculous. there seems to be 2 layers in the office. one layer that goes all the way up to the ceilings, and another that goes just to the glorious drop ceilings. the dining room has turned into a wall paper excavation. there was one wall that seemed.. loose, we'll say. i pulled at the seam of the wallpaper, and one huge panel peeled off. i was able to pick at that one panel and identify 4, possibly 5 patters of wallpaper and at least one layer of paint mixed in. all of the rooms in my house (except for the rental downstairs.. that only has some wood paneling) have wall paper that's been painted over. i now have a completely new hatred for people who paint over god-damned wallpaper. under all of that paper, i discovered horse hair plaster. i absolutely have my work cut out for me. while it may seem like i'm complaining and grouchy about it.. i'm actually really excited to do all of this work. it makes me really warm and fuzzy inside to map out all of the plans and see it in my head as steve and i's new home. he's excited to move, perhaps mostly because his portable game system chargers were accidentally packed, but has been musing lately that he's a little sad to see our time here on russell road come to an end. i feel the same.
for all of the cosmetic work that has to be done on our second floor apartment. i feel like i won a bit of a lottery with the rental unit. a good scrub, refinishing the wood floors, carpeting one room, and painting all of the walls is all that needs to happen for it to be rented out. it seems like our future tenants may move in before we do!
the packing is continuing slowly.. we plan to move some things over slowly, but the wintery hell that mother nature has been throwing at new england lately has made that idea move sloooowly.
more later!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
packing: day 1
on saturday, stephen and i went to buy boxes at home depot. 2 large ones, 8 medium ones, and 8 small ones. i see now that i've made a mistake and should have actually gotten about 20 small ones and scrapped the rest of them. everything we have is mostly books. lots and lots of heavy books. oh, and video games. those mother f*#&ers are HEAVY. this house is going to be nothing but boxes..
i pulled out the packing tape gun and started putting a box together. the first screech of the tape gun and a few of the cats perked up to take notice. i'm about 5 boxes in, not making a lot of noise mind you, and they are slinking around like i'm going to pull a machete out of a box to chase them around the house. my reward for trying to relax my little panic monster, kumori, was for her to slice my hand open while trying to escape. darn cat. oh well.
my goal is to have the video game shelf, the board game/book shelf and at least half (but really means all of) my craft cabinet packed. if i do this, i will feel accomplished for the day. :)
perhaps pictures later..
i pulled out the packing tape gun and started putting a box together. the first screech of the tape gun and a few of the cats perked up to take notice. i'm about 5 boxes in, not making a lot of noise mind you, and they are slinking around like i'm going to pull a machete out of a box to chase them around the house. my reward for trying to relax my little panic monster, kumori, was for her to slice my hand open while trying to escape. darn cat. oh well.
my goal is to have the video game shelf, the board game/book shelf and at least half (but really means all of) my craft cabinet packed. if i do this, i will feel accomplished for the day. :)
perhaps pictures later..
Monday, January 3, 2011
resolutions 2011
last years resolutions.. commentary is in blue.
1. actually draw the comic.
i've had this idea for a comic in my head for months now.. i find that my friends and i lead a somewhat amusing life (but simple.. that last statement sounded a little egotistical). sometimes they (and me) seem to get into places or times that are really very funny. or sometimes steve will do these things that are just ridiculous and hilarious. i started using myself as a model to see if i could cartoon someone... and i had a really fun time doing it. i took a series of snapshots of myself making all sorts of faces.. happy, angry, sad.. just a whole bunch, and went to town with my micron pens and markers. more to come as soon as i find a scanner :D
my main inspiration is girls with slingshots . i've also been combing through all of my old "calvin and hobbes" comic books and steve's "get fuzzy" books.
i also have no idea for comic names.. please feel free to leave suggestions!
weeeeeellll... i didn't hop on this one completely until just about christmas time. i received a pentel pocketbrush for christmas (which is like a sharpie with a paintbrush tip, and no smell. its COMPLETELY RAD), and a book called "entertaining your indoor cat". i'm usually very methodical about my drawing. do things in light pencil first and then use my micron pens to ink everything out. i could do that with the pocketbrush, but it doesn't feel right. i started just letting my hand get very loose and unrefined, and i came out with some interesting characters. the book lent me the name of "entertaining your indoor cat", because really. i have 5 cats. they do ridiculous things. pair that with my sometimes nutty life adventures and you may have something there. cats and adventures. lets go with it? below is the start of my cat characters. i colored them with prismacolor markers, and they are drawn on bristol vellum. i've also drawn a few little other cartoons of the kitties, but i haven't scanned them yet. this drawing was more of a release from the mind and experimentation to see if i could run with a loosey-goosey drawing style.
you guys.. can still tell they're cats.. right? ;)
2. continue to get rid of junk.
this really should have been listed as #1, but.. c'est la vie. if we are looking into buying a house and moving this year.. there is no way in heck that i want to take it all with me.. period.
i have been ROCKING at this. i recently packed up my "studio".. i whittled it down to 7 medium-largeish boxes and there are 5 enormous lawn and leaf bags of crap waiting to get tossed. this is a big step for me. i plan to keep going.
3. keep up the health stuff.
also pretty self explanatory if you read the previous years resolutions :)
i've also been doing pretty well at this one. about halfway through the year, i dumped planet fitness because i was doing myself more harm than good and not seeing ANY progress on the damn treadmill or elliptical. i then joined the boston sports club and started swimming. not only do i feel awesome, but i've started seeing some (still very small) changes. i don't leave the gym in pain, and i am usually looking forward to going back the next day. it's good stuff. i've also been continuing the healthy cooking..
4. try new things with steve.
sometimes as a couple.. we tend to split off and go our own ways. this happens mostly because we have very little in common. we are both guilty of sometimes neglecting the other, but when we do spend time together and go places, we have the best time ever. i want to have more adventures with steve and also try some of the things he likes even if they aren't really my interest :)
i'd say we both did pretty well with this one. a successful resolution!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. keep drawing!
in addition to this one, i wasn't able to scan most of my "daily sketches" because i've had to resort back to my (f*^&ing) PC. however, i am going to try to take a photo a day. i believe it's called "project 365". we'll see.
2. keep swimming
just like dory says :)
3. try to keep my thumb green
i've recently started to become obsessed with plants and the need to have green things in my house. my mother was a serial plant murderer.
over the past 2 summers, i've managed to keep a small herb garden on my porch going. i've expanded that a bit to include succulents. (so far i've got a few jade plants, a cactus, and a pair of aloe plants.) i moved my garden in this winter. but the thyme got eaten by the cats and i killed off the rosemary. i didn't even bother with the basil because of the cats. but my mint plants and the lemon verbena are living happily in my kitchen, while the catnip is exploding on the high piano window sill in my living room. since we'll be moving.. i'll have garden space in my front yard and side yard. i'm so excited to find a lilac bush, peonies, and a hydrangea for the front yard, and on the side yard, i'd really like to try my hand at some vegetables. oohh.. and a composter! i'm excited.
i think 3 resolutions is enough for now.. if i think of any more i'll add them
happy new years everyone!
1. actually draw the comic.
i've had this idea for a comic in my head for months now.. i find that my friends and i lead a somewhat amusing life (but simple.. that last statement sounded a little egotistical). sometimes they (and me) seem to get into places or times that are really very funny. or sometimes steve will do these things that are just ridiculous and hilarious. i started using myself as a model to see if i could cartoon someone... and i had a really fun time doing it. i took a series of snapshots of myself making all sorts of faces.. happy, angry, sad.. just a whole bunch, and went to town with my micron pens and markers. more to come as soon as i find a scanner :D
my main inspiration is girls with slingshots . i've also been combing through all of my old "calvin and hobbes" comic books and steve's "get fuzzy" books.
i also have no idea for comic names.. please feel free to leave suggestions!
weeeeeellll... i didn't hop on this one completely until just about christmas time. i received a pentel pocketbrush for christmas (which is like a sharpie with a paintbrush tip, and no smell. its COMPLETELY RAD), and a book called "entertaining your indoor cat". i'm usually very methodical about my drawing. do things in light pencil first and then use my micron pens to ink everything out. i could do that with the pocketbrush, but it doesn't feel right. i started just letting my hand get very loose and unrefined, and i came out with some interesting characters. the book lent me the name of "entertaining your indoor cat", because really. i have 5 cats. they do ridiculous things. pair that with my sometimes nutty life adventures and you may have something there. cats and adventures. lets go with it? below is the start of my cat characters. i colored them with prismacolor markers, and they are drawn on bristol vellum. i've also drawn a few little other cartoons of the kitties, but i haven't scanned them yet. this drawing was more of a release from the mind and experimentation to see if i could run with a loosey-goosey drawing style.
you guys.. can still tell they're cats.. right? ;)
2. continue to get rid of junk.
this really should have been listed as #1, but.. c'est la vie. if we are looking into buying a house and moving this year.. there is no way in heck that i want to take it all with me.. period.
i have been ROCKING at this. i recently packed up my "studio".. i whittled it down to 7 medium-largeish boxes and there are 5 enormous lawn and leaf bags of crap waiting to get tossed. this is a big step for me. i plan to keep going.
3. keep up the health stuff.
also pretty self explanatory if you read the previous years resolutions :)
i've also been doing pretty well at this one. about halfway through the year, i dumped planet fitness because i was doing myself more harm than good and not seeing ANY progress on the damn treadmill or elliptical. i then joined the boston sports club and started swimming. not only do i feel awesome, but i've started seeing some (still very small) changes. i don't leave the gym in pain, and i am usually looking forward to going back the next day. it's good stuff. i've also been continuing the healthy cooking..
4. try new things with steve.
sometimes as a couple.. we tend to split off and go our own ways. this happens mostly because we have very little in common. we are both guilty of sometimes neglecting the other, but when we do spend time together and go places, we have the best time ever. i want to have more adventures with steve and also try some of the things he likes even if they aren't really my interest :)
i'd say we both did pretty well with this one. a successful resolution!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. keep drawing!
in addition to this one, i wasn't able to scan most of my "daily sketches" because i've had to resort back to my (f*^&ing) PC. however, i am going to try to take a photo a day. i believe it's called "project 365". we'll see.
2. keep swimming
just like dory says :)
3. try to keep my thumb green
i've recently started to become obsessed with plants and the need to have green things in my house. my mother was a serial plant murderer.
over the past 2 summers, i've managed to keep a small herb garden on my porch going. i've expanded that a bit to include succulents. (so far i've got a few jade plants, a cactus, and a pair of aloe plants.) i moved my garden in this winter. but the thyme got eaten by the cats and i killed off the rosemary. i didn't even bother with the basil because of the cats. but my mint plants and the lemon verbena are living happily in my kitchen, while the catnip is exploding on the high piano window sill in my living room. since we'll be moving.. i'll have garden space in my front yard and side yard. i'm so excited to find a lilac bush, peonies, and a hydrangea for the front yard, and on the side yard, i'd really like to try my hand at some vegetables. oohh.. and a composter! i'm excited.
i think 3 resolutions is enough for now.. if i think of any more i'll add them
happy new years everyone!
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