This is "Hell." It's had many reincarnations since we moved in here. It started as a nasty one car garage with open roof beams and no sheet rock. There was almost no light and we filled it with all the things from my last house that I could not seem to part with.
About 4 years ago we had an idea. Since the space was NOT being used as a garage anyway, why not turn it into a room - with an attic above it for storage! We did - and it became "the music room" or "hell" because we'd painted it blood red with black carpet. Oh it's still a garage. The door opens and everything. Take up the carpet and voila.
We added a skylight and new doors and a window. We had a red velvet couch in there that pulled out to a sofa bed. We used HELL as the guest room. I loved telling guests to "go to hell."
Then it became Ben's office - We put a multimedia set up in there and he used it for about a year that way until we both got too lonely being in separate rooms (albeit just a one room apart).
When he moved back into the office with me - we moved the huge desk and art supplies to Cas's old room - so now that is our second office when we need space and where we do fine art and illustration. The red velvet couch moved into the living room and a futon moved into the art room for "guests". Some guests even enjoy playing with all the art supplies! I even have coloring books and crayons in there.
Hell - went back to being the music room, but in the past year it had turned in to literal HELL. The attic is stuffed and I've been afraid to go up there for over a year. And the floor of Hell became where EVERYTHING landed. Nothing was put away and Ben had to climb over stuff to get to his drum set, which itself was a dusty mess. He TRIPPED over the stuff one day and sprained his ankle, but it was not enough to get him to clean up. There was no place for Ben to have friends over to play along with him. There was no room for him to set up his light box and do photography.
Today I FIXED ALL THAT! We moved everything out and cleaned it all. (Dust gone!) Ben repaired all his drums and put on new heads. We found all his sticks. I replaced lights. I replaced a black curtain with a white blind. AND I added 16 feet x6 feet high of open chrome shelving! (hurray for costco - at $79 each these were a steal) I bought a ton of boxes for when I DO get the stuff out of the attic and I put all the stuff that WAS on the floor onto the shelves. I was able to get the stuff off the floor from EVERYWHERE in the house onto these shelves. AND there is room for all the stuff I still need to put there!
I know - to you the photos above might still look like a mess - but to me it's blissful Hell!
And the trees were pretty too! I love where we are now. Yes, it's been over a decade - but I swear every decade gets better than the last!
I read A LOT. I taught myself at 3 and proceeded to work my way through the children's library in Ellinwood Kansas. I rode my bike CONSTANTLY and dreamed of trapezes and unicycles. The closest I got to circus skills was when I would go to the park and PRETEND I was in the circus. I would walk across the top bars of swing sets and pretend it was a tight rope. I would take any swinging bar and pretend it was a trapeze. And I spent hour after hour doing back bends and walk overs.
It started with the corner closet that was belching its contents into the hall - then moved to the kitchen where items moved to places now available in corner pantry closet. Then I found myself folding and storing all the cloth napkins in the dining room (I love cloth napkins!) and organizing all the dishes and silverware. BOXES of kitchen things got moved into my car. Feeling like driving a full load to goodwill would be better than a half load - I moved to the living room. I emptied the Mexican box I use as a coffee table and organized all my yarn and knitting stuff. I emptied my hutch and MOVED IT - then in a frenzy moved EVERYTHING! I vacuumed under everything and moved my navajo rugs around and moved one couch back under the wall of masks. NOW there is room to actually play Wii!
But seeing how the cords looked and all the TV components a jumble and UNPLUGGED EVERYTHING and rewired it all! YES me. I've been confused forever by the set up. When ever I want to watch a movie or TV out there I had to ask Ben or Aaron to help set it back from whatever game system they were using. Now I have it all set up, and my speakers for surround and I got to be out there in my "new" living room space with candles watching a movie last night! The Wii needs a new remote, so I unhooked it all till it comes. When it does I am SO gonna make sure I know the set up - and changes needed for TV watching.
Last night I dreamed how to clean up the rest of the house - so this morning found me with measuring tape planning my attack on "hell." Hell is our garage/office/laundry/ben's room for drumming and photography. It's an long narrow space with black carpet and a HUGE drum set along one of the sides. I bought 3 huge chrome bookshelf units 6' x 18" by 4' wide and will have a 16' wall of shelves across from his drums. I bought 12 rubber made boxes. I also bought a new curtain and rod to cover the corner closet (we have folding doors that are a MESS and broken and Ben likes curtains) I got a rack to hang part of our bow flex when not in use. I stocked up on food at costco, medicine for both Ben and Wail and managed to get in a second trip out for fresh veggies. I still have LOTS to do. Once I get the new shelves up - I need to attack the attic. Its a HUGE mess full of stuff and dust. I need to clean out the art room/guest room/ bowflex room for Ben's mom to stay in (she comes on SUNDAY!) I love Pat! And I need to clean our office. REALLY clean it and go through all the files and drawers etc.
I see at least 2 more car fulls going to goodwill (took a full load there today) and I will probably have at least one trip to the dump and will list some stuff on craigs list.
This is a spring cleaning FRENZY.
:-)
I’m in an office building looking out onto the street. I’m about 10 floors up. I hear what sounds like an explosion and then see things fly from the building next to the one I’m in. I run down the stairs and through the lobby into the street.
A plane is sticking out of the other building. There are soldiers everywhere. One is standing on the plane and I take his photo. They seem so proud they have this under control but they don’t. I look up and see more planes – and bombs coming down. I am now running through the streets and a building in front of me has it’s facade crumble. I try to call Ben, to let him know I am OK, but the phone is not working.
I look around for the best path out of there and see I am about to be buried in debris. I cover my head and accept I might not survive.
I am on a path through woods. People are surviving as best they can. Someone has left a rusty axe near a pile of wood. There is a book lying there too and I pick it up and begin to read. The book is mostly illustrations, a story told by 2 authors – brothers. Each draws the same bit of the story in their own style. Similar, but different . One page catches my attention. The drawings are one above the other and are mazes with bees in them. The bee drawings are beautiful.
The brothers are on a poster – the poster is animated and the brothers are each drawn in their own style. They are talking and telling their story. It is interactive. You can ask questions and the poster answers. I feel like they are really there.
I am one of the brothers – living out their story. Their mother told them they where going to camp, but really she wanted to live without them. She had fallen in love with a relative who was married. She dropped the boys at the “camp” and left. It was really an asylum of sorts. The brothers were interviewed and shown around and they found they could not escape. There was a fight in the hall. A boy of about 8 was beaten by the nurse. It was brutal and the other boys just looked away. I was given a shot so I would just sleep. My bother was gay. He seduced a one of the “guards” but was treated badly. I was locked out ot the room while he was raped.
The boys grew up in this horrid place.
Their posters showed the evidence of a hard life. Their faces had been beaten and had not healed well.
There were girls there too – and they put on bizarre plays and pretended it really was a camp. Every one was excited the day we arrived because one of the girls had just had a baby. I could not understand how they could accept this “life.”
The "boy" bottom left is my nephew Mark who is Luke in the upcoming run of ALTAR BOYZ in Austin Texas as the ZACH theatre. You KNOW I'll be flying to austin at some point this summer to see him in this show! If you are from the area - GO! Not only is the show fun but then you can tell me you saw my nephew! :-) He's a total sweetheart.
June 5 - July 13, 2008
ZACH's Kleberg Stage
Wed.,Thur., Fri., Sat. at 8:00 &
Sunday at 2:30
Wilde Party Night - June 19, 2008
They’ve got the moves, they’ve got the sound and they’ve got a faith stronger than their hair gel. They’re the newest boys on the block the ALTAR BOYZ!
This delightful new musical stars five Apostles of Pop – Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham (he's Jewish) – who will raise your spirits with their spectacular music, sinfully hot dance moves and uncanny ability to drop the funk in fantastic five-part harmony. With choreography that rivals Justin Timberlake and 'N SYNC, the ALTAR BOYZ share their message of brotherhood, love and the power of good hair products. These heartthrobs will rock the masses at ZACH this summer with angelic voices and hysterical lyrics such as "Girl, You Make Me Wanna Wait" and "Jesus, Called Me On My Cell Phone." This winner of the NY Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical will be a “holy hit” for all ages!
Ben and I drove up into the Santa Cruz mountains just above Woodside. Its only about 20 min from our house.
We did a good hike though redwoods. I know I was feeling it.
We stopped at BUCKS in Woodside for dinner. I opted for a veggie pasta plate. It was AMAZING. I think it was the sauce that got me. I could not stop eating it. I asked the waitress what it was and found it to be just wine, butter and garlic reduction. Thats's all? omg it was so tangy and yummy. Even I the salt woman did not salt this dish nor did I add the cheese.
Both Ben and I chose to ride our motorcycles on errands rather than use the car. I've ridden my scooter two times today and I really had forgotten how much FUN it is! I've given up trying to get Ben to sell his bike. He loves it and it makes a perfect alternate transportation. We'll ride what we have until we find a better bike for him that we can ride together - then we'll have even less trips in the car!
Barbara's Fish Trap again - just 30 min or so from our home in Halfmoon Bay. After a delicious late lunch - we walked through the pier past boats and then past 2 breaks that secure the harbor and a second that creates a public launch area. The last area is called Mavericks and it's where people surf. There were tons of people on the waves when we headed to lunch, but only a couple after. The tide got high and the waves were breaking too close to the rocks.
Fresh Crab Sandwich. It was DELICIOUS.
I think they just sold through craigs list - took about 10 min to find a buyer... wow.
