Sep 07 2010
Domestic Snapshots
Big changes going on around the domestic environs – we’re prepping the house for a series of home renovation projects. The first one is replacing the floors on our main and second floors. We have an old and damaged carpet upstairs (4 furry animals + 2 humans + nearly 9 years of occupation doesn’t bode well for low “builder”-grade carpet) and we will be replacing that with a bamboo flooring. The same bamboo flooring will extend down the stairs onto the main floor, where we now have oak floors that have also seen better days… It’s going to be a lot of work, especially because we are planning to do it ourselves, but I just know that it will be a good thing in the end.
In preparation for all of this, Kris and I have begun to clean out all sorts of things. There are very few things that are making my cut, and we have been making frequent trips to the second-hand shop to drop off lots of things. It’s very cathartic! We did buy ONE new thing, however… more of a test run for the upcoming project:
These are the FLOR carpet tiles, the customizable 16″ square tiles that can cover a whole room or (like we used them) an area rug. We’ve only had them for a few days, but so far, I LOVE them. They are easy to clean, and in the events of an animal accident, you simply pick up the tile and clean that (or replace it if need be). They are held together by super duty stickers. So far, that is working out just fine.
Like I said, this FLOR rug is a test run for the wood floor/stairs project… we are planning now to put the carpet tiles on the each stair edge and the landing. That should make it less slippery for both dogs and clumsy humans.
More on this project as it develops… it’s gonna take a lot of time and patience (and furniture rearrangement as we move from room to room!) but I think it will look great!
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In the middle of August, Kris and I got on serious canning bent. It was our way of trying to keep up with the LOADS of veggies coming in from our garden.
…and that’s only one night! We also had 12 more jars of salsa (to say we had tomatoes coming out of our ears would be an understatement…) from the previous week.
All of this canning made me think that it would be fun to do a canning swap. I knew several friends from Twitter were also into canning, so I organized a small group (12) to swap with each other. Fun way to share the bounty! I traded some salsa and got these goodies from Melissa at The Boastful Baker!
Oh. My. Goodness.
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Earlier this year, Chandler (and a few of her friends) created a series of “Dead Feminists” broadsides - quotes and accompanying artwork and Chandler made them available on her Anagram Press Etsy shop. I have long admired her work, and when I saw the Rachel Carson piece she released earlier this summer, I wasted no time in acquiring my own copy. Once I received it, I started planning where to display it in the house… and I took it to the frame shop to make an extra special “home” for it…
I chose this teal and gray double matting, a simple dark nickel frame, and (my favorite part) the float mount to show off the paper edge of the piece.
The piece is hanging in my kitchen/dining room area and it is one of my favorite things in the whole house. Makes me smile every time I look at it. Chandler’s site features many of her beautiful pieces, as well as her stories and photographs about travel, her artistic process and collaborations, and general good things. Highly recommended 
by Craig Thompson :: I read this huge (600+ pages) in a few hours – mind you, it is a graphic novel. As I turned the last page, I wiped the tears away from my eyes. It was a profound story, and one that hit so close to home. One of the most beautiful graphic novels I have encountered, and probably one of my favorite new books altogether. Thompson has a few other graphic novels, and another one in the works (
by Emmanuel Guilbert :: This graphic novel was my second by Guilbert (the first was 
by Justin Cronin :: “Where’s Lolly?” “No idea… haven’t seen her in awhile…” – This monster book came along with me to the beach - and once we arrived, I disappeared with this book (and a bottle of beer). It’s been called epic. Yes, it is that. Can’t put it down. Yep, that too. And when people ask me what it’s about, I can’t quite figure out what to say other than “Military experiment gone wrong – viral vampires, post-apocalyptic… The Road… I am Legend…” and because this is similar to many of the other books I have been reading of late, I usually get an eye-roll and a smirk.
by Josh Bazell :: Probably my lowest rated book to be included – but the subtitle here is “highlights”, and it is definitely something I won’t be forgetting any time soon… A crazy trippy ride. This book was my companion on an inter-continental flight -read it cover to cover on the plane. I was conscious of my seat mates reading over my shoulder… and there was slight embarrassment as this book is full of expletives and explicit scenes. But hey, it’s about mobsters. It’s kind of their “deal” to be like that. It’s a hell of a story – parts of it really grossed me out and I am not usually squeamish. Other parts were very informative. Bazell is a real doctor and he shares lots of information on anatomy, pathology, etc. I figure if any one asks me about this book in the future, I will most likely remember the gross parts as they are the ones that stick with you. I will never think of shin bones the same way. Style reminded me of Irvine Welsh and Chuck Palahniuk – raw and gritty but ultimately good storytelling. [
