Painting Progress

We made visible progress on the dining room this weekend. It's very exciting to think that we'll be able to have our dining room back again soon! On Saturday, we went to buy our paints and primers and implements. Then we sealed ourselves into the dining room and sanded down all four walls. We had spackled over many holes and cracks, so we sanded to reduce the texture of the walls. 97 year old plaster walls have enough personality already, without us adding to it!

Here you can see the two colors of primers that we're using. Since the room was wallpapered, we had to use oil based primers, and if I never do that again, it'll be fine with me. (Never mind that whole living room waiting for us....) I still have paint on my legs, but at least my hands aren't gray any more. That light primer is actually very close to what the final color will be on the East, North and West walls.

We painted the primer on Sunday, and then to celebrate Adam went to Willow River St Park with Chris and Jesse. He came home with a lovely head wound from climbing behind the waterfall. He had Monday off, and I came home at 2pm, but instead of doing more painting, he had a violent allergy attack. I did laundry while he popped antihistamines, and then we indulged in late night Ceasar salads at Figlio. Poor guy had to have something good happen to him!

So, it was Tuesday morning before we managed to put two coats of the red up on the South wall. We wanted to be able to brag to all of our party guests that afternoon, and we did get a lot of complements. It was also nice to be able to show exactly why our house is a terrible mess. Good thing the party was outside! Stay tuned for party pictures tomorrow!

We need more sleep.

"You love me for who I am, for my personality."
"I love you for who you am--"
"Not just because I solve your problems."

"You are simultaneously the cause and solution of all my problems."

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"That's not romantic."

"Philosophical stuff is romantic."

"Philo-sophy isn't ro-mance. Telling me about Socrates's cave isn't going to make me hot."

"Socrates is stupid. There's no cave here, we're not in a cave. He knew shit."

"You know shit."

"Hey, I read books. Books that say things. Things that are right. Then I say those things, and that makes me right."

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Love in the Time of I Don't Want to Talk to You

Adam and I spatted on Friday, sparring to win the title of Most Selfish Spouse. Adam won comprehensively in the Social Calendar round, but I took many points in the Silent Treatment and Revenge Shopping rounds. And then we weeded and drank some beer and looked at Jen's and Chris's vacation pictures, and all was well.

Weeding, like every other house project, has it's own set of tools/props/stuff. The Revenge Shopping happened at Home Depot, where I picked up a grass shears and a new sprinkler. (How very exciting!) It's amazing, though, the difference that an hour's weeding in a flower bed can make. I did the bed in the front of the house, and partway down the front walk, while Adam chased Creeping Charlie in the backyard. After Adam cut the grass Sunday morning, we went around with the weed whacker and finally trimmed up the fenceline along the South side of the yard. The grass had happily grown up into the fence, which is okay if you're going for that Little House on the Prairie look, which we're not. Adam also trimmed up around the verbenas along the curb walk, using the new grass sheers, which resulted in 6 plants looking nice and 1 plant chopped in half. Oops.

It's finally been raining usefully, a lovely slow soaking instead of a harsh downpour, so that's been helping everything in the yard. I've been putting some used coffee grounds by the new hostas, and watered almost everything else with some MiracleGro. We're getting the first ripe raspberries, which we picked last night as our super-fresh dessert. Joanne and John Jongsma were over grilling out and hoping our dogs would get along (which they kind of did), and after dinner we all ate a handful of raspberries straight off the bush. A few more hours of weeding, and we'll be ready to relax on the outdoor chores for a little while. Just in time to start the final push on the dining room!

Getting Schooled

Here are the two tricks that Arrow knows, and the two that we've just started working on.

SIT:

DOWN:

And I can't remember if this was supposed to be UP, or was a failed attempt at BEG:

Keeping up Northern Relations

Adam and I took Arrow up to the Chapman's place outside Wahkon. Their house is right on Lake Mille Lacs, and we were treated to a lovely sunset over the lake on Saturday night. Marc grilled some fantastic ribs, and Becky made us yummy wild rice, which had been gathered and dried in the Indian tradition. There was lots of World Cup Soccer, eating, and good conversation.

Arrow normally doesn't appreciate the car very much, so we gave him a couple of Benedryl, and then he slept the whole way and didn't pull his usual trick of foaming at the mouth and puking. We'll have a couple of other trips this year, so we're happy to find something that keeps him relaxed in the car. And before you all call the ASPCA, the Benedryl was recommended by our vet!

Urban Jungle

Catching up a bit on yardwork this weekend, and took some pictures to let you see what's been going on outside the house. Oh, and let me explain the change to the Comments section. You can still post a comment, you just have to do a little word verification dealio.

Arrow, on the steps next to the bush that he tried to dig up:


What the raspberry patch looked like before I started digging things up:

The rhubarb tree (one of six) that I dug out of the raspberry patch. That's right, all you people who keep telling me how much you love rhubarb, I dug it up. If you had come over and picked it like you said you would, it wouldn't have come to this, but now it's too late. Bye bye, Rhubarb Trees! (And yes, that is my 5' tall shovel standing next to it!)

Remember when I bought that flat of verbenas? Most of them ended up here, on the North side of the backyard, in front of the peonies. Only two of them look like they're not going to thrive, so those might get replaced in the fall by verbenas from the flowerpots.

The Flowerpot Tree:

The rest of the verbenas ended up here, on either side of the front walk:

And finally, the poor trampled hostas, with the perpetrator in the foreground!

PS: Sara, your pothos plant is doing fine!

Time to do a picture page...

Okay, here is the massive catch up on our latest pictures. I'm breaking them up, instead of posting 500 pictures in one post, so keep scrolling down, especially if you haven't checked in lately (as if you have anything better to do!).

Arrow on the front porch. You can see that he's wearing his red walking harness. It's designed to keep your dog from pulling too much on the leash when you're taking a walk. It actually helps quite a bit, but we've also stopped walking so much and started going to the dog park where he can run around with the other dogs off leash.

Adam and Arrow indulging in their favorite pasttime:

Next week, pictures about yard work. But now, on to some Darwinistic fun!

The Dining Room Evolution

We started redecorating the dining room in January, after the Lam Christmas Invasion was over. We were supposed to be done in February.

Here, you can see three stages of progress. First, you can see wallpaper still hung on the right side of the window. Second, you can see where the wallpaper has been removed from the left side of the window. Third, you can see what the underlying wall looks like after steaming off the adhesive backing paper left from the wallpaper.

Here's another shot of the north wall after pulling off the wallpaper but before steaming (ignore the Devil Dog in the kitchen):

This is the step that we just completed. We had to scrape off as much of the old primer layer as possible, so that the new primer didn't go on over flakey, adhesive-ey grossness. (That's a technical term.)

While scraping walls by hand might be one of the tortures of hell, it can't compete with the agony of trying to clean up the dust afterwards. And just think, the step we are about to start is fililng in holes and cracks with spackle, and then sanding everything down. Do you think AxMan carries EPA suits?

Kitchen Evolution

Old school:

Hand powered:

Itty bitty chopper:

Finally, a respectable food processor:

Imagine this much corned beef and cabbage (16 quarts):

Wokka wokka!

A sadly picture free update

I keep meaning to post pictures here of the dining room progress. We have finished scraping all four walls, and now we need to spackle over all of the holes and cracks and gouges. After that comes a bit of sanding, and then it will be time to talk paint.
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In outside news, Adam and I finally used our gift certificate to Gerten's. A big thank you to Tom and Marsha Ochs for that housewarming present! We picked up some little fences to try and keep Destructo Dog from trampling the hostas worse than he already has. We also brought home a flat of verbena, for me to use in my container gardening. It wasn't until I started potting them that I realized exactly how many plants are in a flat. After I filled up my flower pots, I still had 50 plants left. Yikes! So, I gave some away to our neighbors, Mary and Brant. They have lovely flower beds all around their yard, and they were happy to adopt a few verbena plants. Then I just decided that since verbena is a perennial, I might as well just plant a bunch in our yard, too. After all, what fun is having a yard if you can't just dig it up and plant stuff? Hopefully, they'll be able to winter over, and we'll have another section of yard planted with low maintenence perennials.
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I was at the Many Voices reading last night, which was highly enjoyable. Each scene or play had to be about 11 pages long, and there were several that I didn't want to see end. I was mostly there for my friend Kiesung, who had written a piece called Love and Chicken, which was wacky and existential, hilarious and thought-provoking. It's so nice to be done with Midsummer, so I can catch up on all of the other theatre going on!
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The rest of this week will be taken up with laundry, and cleaning, and other business. That's to leave the weekend free for more fun, so stay tuned for that!

Because everyone needs a little dose of carbon

Mmm...the puppy's nice and tender...time for...

Grilling With Thornes!!

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When: 6:30pm, Friday June 2

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Where: Thorne House

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Who: You, your friends, your dogs, your kids

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Why: Hello, people, it's FRIDAY! Bring your favorite grill food or side dishes, and your favorite summer beer. All utensils provided.

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No puppies were harmed in the writing of this blog entry.

Houston, we are go for container gardening

I found the most brilliant example of, "recycle stuff you already have into neat-o crafty type thingies." I have made flower pot holders out of wire hangers. Look out, friends and neighbors! Soon you will not be able to pass our house without admiring the flower pots hooked onto the fence!

The process was easy and nearly painless. Just bend the hooked part up so that it is perpendicular to its previous plane of existence. Then, snip the bottom wire in the middle, bend it around the flower pot you want to hang, twist the wires around each other and snip off the excess on either side. Viola! Instant hanging flower pots! Just don't stab yourself in the thumb with one of the sharp ends of the cut wire, or you'll end up getting a lecture on tetanus from your hypochondriac of a husband.

To celebrate our soon-to-be-lovely fenceline, Arrow and Stella trampled the hostas along the front walk nearly to death. [sigh] Anyone looking to give any hostas away, I'm your huckleberry!

Countdown

Summer fun minus three performances and counting....
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The Lam parents are here to see Midsummer and to celebrate Mom's birthday and to hang out on Memorial Day. So far, they've fed Adam a shrimp dinner, and fed the dog another Netflix movie. [sigh] The dog has the bad habit of eating mail. I cannot express how irritating it is to have to call an insurance company and tell them that your dog ate the information on your policy.
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I don't know exactly what the plan is for tomorrow, but my mother mentioned a chocolatier and Adam wants to finish scraping the dining room walls. I keep taking pictures of our progress, and he never posts them. It's all his fault.
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Sunday will be a matinee and then strike. I'll be skipping the cast pot luck to take Mom out for birthday dinner--most likely to Gasthof's (woo hoo!).
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Which brings us to Monday, when I will finally do laundry. (Gotta love the clean socks!) And then, it will be on to the long, long list of other projects that we'd like to do: finish redecorating the dining room; plant more perennials in the front yard; buy and sell stuff at yard sales; install the doggy septic tank; reorganize the tools in the garage; take the shelves down in the basement; hang artwork in the stairway; fix the leak in the mudroom roof; clean out the gutters; and HAVE PARTIES!!

Theatre ruins everything

I was looking forward to a rousing game of ultimate frisbee tonight, at Nokomis Park. But instead, I put on my last pair of clean socks this morning. Which means only laundry fun for me.
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[sigh]

Better than my Word A Day

Just found this link on Blurbomat. An original sci-fi story a day? Life gets better and better!

What my Mom wanted for Mother's Day

Dear Mom,

Here's the letter that you asked for. You know what they say about being careful what you ask for....

I called the city yesterday to make sure that our property taxes had been paid out of our escrow account. Does that make me a grown up?

I am thinking of taking a second job so that I can put more money into our savings and my IRA account. Does that make me a grown up?

I listened to my actresses talk about how none of them see marriage as an exciting goal, and I thought, Thank God I’m not that young anymore. Does that make me a grown up?

Every day, my priorities are becoming more refined. The more time I spend away from Adam and our house, the more I feel that I am being cheated out of something. Perhaps it’s simply because this current production has been unrewarding. Perhaps it’s because we haven’t made the desired progress on house projects. Perhaps I’m just tired. Or perhaps it’s because my real priority all along, my whole life, was home making.

Whatever the reason, the decision has been made: I’m officially taking a break from theatre. Three shows last year, and two already this year, have added up to even less patience than I normally have, mostly because the two directors I’ve worked for this year have been less than inspiring. Partly, too, because I finally have a job which I’d like to put more energy into, and feel is personally rewarding. Summer promises to a time when I can really develop some projects at work and at home, and that is what keeps me optimistic right now. I want time to clean the house and the garage. I want time to have a yard sale. I want time to plan yard improvements for next year. I want time to fix the bathroom tile, and time to repair the mudroom roof. And when that starts sounding more exciting than rehearsing a play, it’s time to take a break from the theatre.

That break might be a long one. With my mind turning more and more to home and family, I am feeling impatient to do house projects and improvements. I have been thinking of adding perennial flower beds against the front fence line. I think that we could have a lovely bunch of color there, which would be pretty and welcoming and would keep the grass from growing up through the fence. On the south fence line, I’d like to plant some easy generic little bushes. I’d like to cut the tree down and transplant those tiger lilies to the northwest corner, which is ugly and bare right now. That tree does nothing but aggravate me. It drops little seedy pods, it isn’t pretty, and it’s a poor excuse for a shade tree. I haven’t decided what should go there instead—we’ve even talked about putting in a rain garden and routing all of our gutters into it. Or we might simply plant a little pine tree. I had the thought that a lilac bush might be nice, too. We’ll have to see about that later. Adam wants to buy a little outdoor fireplace of some kind. I figure we could just cut the tree up and use it as firewood. I also have plans to make us a little doggy doody septic tank. We’ll be using an old waste basket and creating a top for it from some scrap plywood. I have hopes that this will inspire more doody picking up.

The garage and the basement are both in need of a good clearing out already, and we’ve only lived here 9 months. I think that part of the problem was that we weren’t sure exactly where we were going to store things, and where we wanted to leave space. It’s also hard to keep things exactly organized since the garage isn’t attached. Things like hand tools tend to wander back and forth with little rhyme or reason, and end up on the basement stairs for 3 months. It’s pretty sad when the first place you look for a screwdriver is on the basement stairs! Hopefully, too, I’ll be able to put together some yard sale fun, and we’ll get rid of some of the stuff that has been hanging around since our apartment days. Then some shelves in the basement need to go away, and then we’ll be able to use the Bowflex without kicking the dryer. (It will be good to start using the Bowflex again—I’m feeling a little wussy these days.)

Work at the museum continues to be interesting and challenging. We are about to lose one of our hourly part-time employees to his semester of student teaching, so that will make some small changes. Summer is the slow time here, with school out, so my goal is to redo our retail cases, and develop new tours around some of the other MN state standards. I’m going to try to write some economics lessons, and some geography lessons. The retail promises to be less fun, but it’s slowly coming under control. This was the first week that all of our inventory counting matched with no fudging. I’ve started taking inventory every week, so that it’s easier to reconcile. For a few months it was “garbage in, garbage out,” as we moved from no rigor at all to whatever discipline I can bring in. It’s rather a shame that Historical Services as a department doesn’t have a more standardized way of dealing with retail and inventory, but we’re working on it. My boss, Megan, tends to be supportive of my initiatives, which is a welcome change from the corporate strangulation at Ameriprise. It’s been pleasant to come to a job where I can make a noticeable difference every single day, even if it’s just writing the weekly sales report. So far today, I’ve exchanged a small flour sack for a large one, called to confirm tour requirements for a group next week, put together the materials to get mailed to the folks who volunteered for History Day 2006, complained (again) about Kinko’s, continued to read a book that I'm supposed to write a study guide for, and reviewed a memo from Megan on visitor interaction. Guess what’s not on that list: data entry.

I have to find the information to roll over my 401k from Ameriprise into my 401k here. Does that make me a grown up?

Someone asked what makes you a grown up, and I can’t get it out of my head. My answer at the time was that I feel like a grown up when I realize how much growing I have yet to do. I counsel others to patience more often than I succeed in being patient myself, and when I realize that this show will take me away from everything else important to me until June, I am more than a little irritated with my choice. Which is one reason why I didn’t want to write this letter last week. So, there it is. A stream of conciousness from me to you, with lots of love included.

Why I forgot a load of laundry in the dryer for over a week.

Mu Performing Arts and the Southern Theater present

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

A Theater Mu Infused Classic

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Rick Shiomi

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Dates: May 13 – 28, 2006 (Mondays, Thursdays – Saturdays at 8:00pm; Sundays at 2pm)Description: Shakespeare’s most beloved comedy graces the stage this spring with its confused lovers, thespian mechanicals, and fantastic fairies. Infuse this Western classic with Japanese taiko drumming, Korean mask dance, and Kabuki sword fighting and you have a Mu-style Midsummer the Bard could never have imagined.

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Schedule:

Friday, May 12 at 8:00pm (Preview Performance)

Saturday, May 13 at 8:00pm (Opening Night & Post-show Discussion)

Sunday, May 14 at 2pm Monday, May 15 at 8pm (Pay-what-you-can Night)

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Thursday, May 18 at 8:00pm

Friday, May 19 at 8:00pm

Saturday, May 20 at 8:00pm (AD/ASL Night & Post-show Discussion)

Sunday, May 21 at 2:00pm

Monday, May 22 at 8:00pm (Pay-what-you-can Night)

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Thursday, May 25 at 8:00pm

Friday, May 26 at 8:00pm

Saturday, May 27 at 8:00pm (Post-show Discussion)

Sunday, May 28 at 2:00pm

Venue: The Southern Theater (1420 Washington Avenue S, Minneapolis)

Tickets: $20 (Thursdays - Sundays) Pay-what-you-can (Mondays)

$2 discount for students & seniors

Children under 12 half off general admission price

$4 off groups of 10 or more

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Box Office: 612-340-1725

Website: www.muperformingarts.org

Perspective

"What if I get a second job, instead of doing theatre, and you never see me because I'm never home, and then you divorce me?'
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"Did the dog fart?"

pre-bagel ramblings

The bullet point update.

• Adam is sadly neglected at home, but has managed to console himself by taking the dog to different parks and buying Halo 2.
• I am in rehearsals for Mu's Midsummer Night's Dream, which is going well.
• My work is going well: I have started giving 4th/5th grade tours, and am writing a tour for a group of college finance students.
• The dog continues to grow and has been celebrating his first Spring by digging holes in the yard. Destruction wears a cute puppy face.
• The dining room continues to be a source of mess and frustration. A few more weeks should see us ready to prime, though, and then paint, after which we will return to the question of how to refinish the trim.

It's hard to believe that the first quarter of 2006 is almost over, but I am looking forward to summer dinners eaten on the front porch.

Haiku for Tuesday

Oh, puppy, not that!
Why don't you chew on a stick?
Now that bowl has holes.
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It was warm enough this weekend that I put a plastic tub outside with water for Arrow. This morning, I came out of the house, and he was laying on the lawn chewing on it. When I grabbed it from him, he looked so pathetically sad that I gave it back. And now you must picture the dog running joyfully around the yard carrying a big Gladware tub. Laughter starts the day off right!

Love in the time of rain

In honor of rainy April being National Poetry Month, here is the the un-official favorite love poem of Thorne House:

Love is not all: It is not meat nor drink
Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain,
Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink
and rise and sink and rise and sink again.
Love cannot fill the thickened lung with breath
Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;
Yet many a man is making friends with death
even as I speak, for lack of love alone.
It well may be that in a difficult hour,
pinned down by need and moaning for release
or nagged by want past resolution's power,
I might be driven to sell your love for peace,
Or trade the memory of this night for food.
It well may be. I do not think I would.

--Edna St Vincent Millay


Post your favorite poem in the comments.

Nevermind the lottery--I'll take the free bagel

Every morning, one of the building's cleaning crew comes in to dust and vacuum in the museum. Normally, it's a nice lady named Marta, who is prompt and thorough. Once I've opened the doors for her, and turned on the lights, I normally go across the street to Au Bon Pain to get my breakfast. I usually get an everything bagel with plain cream cheese, and sometimes a cup of coffee. ABP has a stamp card for coffee, and today was my free coffee day.
Now, I don't know how long they've had their stamp card, but it's got to be at least a year. So you'd think that they'd be used to ringing up free coffees. Every time I use my free coffee card, though, I always end up paying something different. It's the strangest thing. Today, the guy at the register got so frustrated that he gave me my bagel for free. I figure it's the universe making up for the fact that my Powerball ticket was a loser. I love karma that gives me free food!

29 plus one

Happy Birthday to me, and every other March baby I know, which is many. We are legion.

Adam and I had a fun weekend. On Saturday, I was going to do our taxes, but ran into a roadblock in the form of my desktop 'puter. It works great until you want to use any program written after 1999. Irs.gov wouldn't load up the PDF files because my Adobe was too old, but I can't download a newer version because my o.s. is too old. And then, adding insult to injury, my printer drivers freaked out, which meant that none of the computers could print. Adam's ancient laser jet died a while back, and the ink jet was routed through my computer, which we could have changed, but we decided that we should go to the library and get paper copies of the tax forms instead. Which evolved into a long series of errands including:

1. Home Depot, so we could get supplies for the next step in the Great Dining Room Redecoration.
2. Office Max, to look at new laser printers.
3. PetSmart, so we could look at a new walking harness for Arrow, to curb the pulling habit.
4. Target, so we could get toothpaste for Adam and various other things.

That's the order they happened in, too, which was good because it meant that by Target, I was tired of shopping and content to leave with only the 5 things we actually meant to buy. Otherwise, I'll spend 2 hours finding 14 more things that I really didn't need. I'm sure you're familiar with the phenomenon.

At Office Max, we found a major deal on a new printer. A $150 instant rebate on an HP network color laser jet. Super cool! We hadn't meant to spend a lot of money, but when you see exactly what you want for a lot of money off in a rebate that ends that day, it's a sign from God. Which meant, of course, that we've been able to print off tax forms. Which means, of course, that we've had aching heads ever since. In the best tradition of post hoc ergo propter hoc, that printer is nothing but a headache!

If Adam Dies I Will Marry Anyone Who Can Keep Up With The Dog

Adam had a work dinner last night, which both of us thought would get him home around 7pm or so. Boy howdy, were we wrong.

I got home at about 5:30, and took Arrow on a long walk until about 7pm. I thought that would be enough to work off some of his energy, but when we got into the mud room at home and I took his leash off, he went totally crazy. I thought he was going to break my knees. So, I let him out the back door, and he took off like his tail was on fire.

See, the stupid mutt still has stitches. He's supposed to say quiet. He's not supposed to do anything strenuous. And if you think that's going to happen, you're crazier than he is.

By the time Adam got home at 9pm, I was drowning my sorrows in whiskey and The West Wing, and Arrow was on his second two hour time span outside. Sometimes I think he annoys me just so I'll kick him out of the house. Thankfully, he settled down when we went to bed, otherwise, he might have spent the night on the back steps.

Oh, and Mom, I think he ate all of the clematis plants. Dumb mutt!

What Today Means

29 years ago today, C. Karbo was one day old.

One year ago today, the shootings at Red Lake High School. A moment of silence at 2pm.

Every year today, the first day of Spring. Gardeners rejoice!

This year today, Arrow is at the vet to be neutered and micro-chipped. He had to fast last night, which was not a fun process. Adam ended up kicking him out of the house for most of the evening. We were watching The Day After Tomorrow (which is a dumb movie) and making corned beef and cabbage. Arrow has lost all of his little fangs, now, and his molars are still growing in, so the chewing everything to bits continues. It's easier to let him go outside and chew on sticks than try to keep enough toys around for him to chew on inside. Thank God for the fenced yard!

Mel's Birthday Observed

Who: You and anyone you bring.

When: Saturday March 25, 9pm

Where: Nye's, of course!

I was going to write a little paragraph here about how we're going to have fun and everyone should come, and then I thought, It's my birthday. You don't need any more reason! Woohoo!

Please note that gifts are not expected, but gift cards to Barnes & Noble and Home Depot are always deeply appreciated.

The Word a Day Calendar says

It's St Patrick's Day! If anyone wants to drink whiskey in celebration, call me up.

It's 10 days before my birthday! Kudos to my brother and sis-in-law for being the first to send a present: The New York City Ballet Workout. Perfect for teaching me lots of stretches I can do at work. Anyone else looking for gift ideas?

It's Friday! If anyone wants to drink whiskey in celebration, call me up.

Tuesday Peeves

1. People who can't understand the concept of shoveling the sidewalk. How freakin' hard is it??

2. People who can't understand the concept of moving towards the nearest exit on the bus. Yes, you stupid dumb, there are two!!

And one from yesterday: People who charge you $2 for a cup of coffee, and then only fill it 2/3 full. Aaargh!!

Picture Page!

Some fuzzy pix of Adam's 30 gallon tank, in the living room:

Some fuzzy pix of the new 55 gallon in the basement:

Some pix of taking down the wallpaper in the dining room:

Some pix of Destructo Dog:

In like a what?

Holy moly--I can't believe it's already March. Cowboy vs Samurai closed yesterday, with a good crowd and an easy strike afterwards. Rick Shiomi, the artistic director of Mu Productions, then treated us to a feast at Peking Garden. It was huge and yummy and a really nice way to end the day.

I came home to see that Adam had started taking the wallpaper down in the dining room. He thinks that it will be a much easier task than stripping the woodwork. From his mouth to God's ear! That will be the main task for this week. The process so far goes like this: Tear off a big piece of wallpaper, then steam off the under-layer of paper and glue using the steamer we got for Christmas from Mom and Dad Thorne (Thanks!! I can't wait to take the rugs outside this summer and steam them all. Yay!). There might be some light sanding after that, but we'll have to see.

I just got the rehearsal schedule for Midsummer Night's Dream, which starts April 11th. So, if you've been dying for a long phone conversation with me, I recommend that you call before then.

I was just looking at the puppy pix on the blog and realizing how out of date they are. One more thing to add to the To Do list......

plagiarism and the web log

I had to post this picture entry from Dooce.com because it made me laugh. This is one of my favorite blogs to read every day. Enjoy!

Like a vacation, but painful

My coworkers at AMP used to wonder why I never took time off. It's because whenever I do, life goes haywire.

My last day at AMP was Friday February 10. Yay, me! I had a little breakfast in my honor, and some of the ladies took me out to lunch. It was nice. I had to have a ride home from Adam because I underestimated the amount of stuff that I had accumulated over the last three years, and it was too much to take on the bus. But we got it home okay.

That week had been the second week of rehearsals for Cowboy vs Samurai. As of that Friday, I had spent a little over 50 hours in rehearsal, with 10 more to go over that weekend. Monday February 13 was the start of tech week. Now, tech week is always a little crazy, so I thought that I would plan well and start at Wells Fargo on Monday February 20, which would give me tech week off of a day job. All was going well, until we actually opened the show.

Friday February 17, I walked into the theatre to find it 57 degrees inside the building. It was about -10 outside, so it took me a few minutes to realize that I was still pretty cold. We tried all of the contact numbers that we had, with no response. Our poor audience for opening night had to shiver through our show, huddled in their winter coats! The show itself went well, though, so they weren't disappointed in that respect.

The morning of Saturday the 18th, my cell phone woke me up at 9am. I went to get the information for the caller, and promptly fell down the stairs, flat on my back. I only felt my head bounce twice before I managed to brace my foot on the pet gate and stop my downward slide. The dog got scared and tried to hide underneath the couch. Lassie, he ain't. Poor Adam was very nice, and let me lay down that afternoon instead of strip paint like we had been planning.

Sunday the 19th seemed set to be a lovely day, and we thought we'd get some breakfast before I had to be at the matinee. We were driving in my car when I suddenly notice the oil gage reading very low. So, we stop at a gas station, pour two quarts of oil in, start backing out of the parking place and then we see a lake of oil where my car was. Two quarts of oil, not inside my car engine. We get a ride home with friends, Adam takes me to the theater. Then he has to meet the tow truck with my keys, and talk with the repair guys while I'm running the show. We picked it up Monday night, to the tune of $500 of repair plus towing.

I've been at my new job for two days. I like it. I'm never taking time off again.

Par for the course

In honor of my first work out on the Bowflex, I am now going to eat cookies.

Talk Elevator

Woman: We just got a puppy and I'm exhausted from getting up in the middle of the night.
Me: It gets better faster than you'd think.
Woman: How fast?
Me: Well, our dog is 16 weeks and he mostly sleeps through the night.
Woman, as the elevator doors close behind me: Oh, my God. 16 weeks? From right now? [mumbly groaning]

A thru F

On the A list: Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond, which is a really interesting book. I can't say too much, because Adam is reading it next, but I enjoyed it very much. Diamond uses a lot of different studies and evidence to further his ideas, and makes a lot of science and history accessible to the reader.

On the F list: 1421: The Year China Discovered America? We watched the DVD, which explained the book's theory, but then went on to challenge some of the book's ideas. It was clear that, although it's an interesting hypothesis, there is little to no evidence supporting it. I was glad to save myself the time and money that I might have spent on the book itself.

Who Could Forget?

Friends, there is a man I want to tell you about. A man who, a long time ago, gave a lot to his community. A man that unselfishly helped those around him. A man who now has a holiday that we can celebrate every year. No, it's not Jesus, it's Grant Kjos. I figure you already know about Jesus.

It was probably late 2003 when I went to the Olive Garden in downtown Minneapolis and met Grant Kjos. (Kjos = ch + oh + ssss) My wife (then girlfriend) and I were having dinner with Marc and Becky, and we were waited upon by GK who told us (among other things) that he has a holiday. Evidently he wrote a bunch of grants (heh) and gathered up a pile of money to pay for a skate park in his home town. Community leaders were impressed.

Journal of the Senate
Thursday February 15, 2001

Senator Larson introduced--
Senate Resolution No. 62: A Senate resolution commending Grant Kjos of Alexandria,
Minnesota, on receiving a Prudential Spirit of Community Award.
Referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Ok, it doesn't say anything about a holiday, but the actual existance of the holiday isn't important. The important part is that Grant was funny and entertaining, and that he gave us his email and I promised to send him email on Feb. 28 to celebrate Grant Kjos Day.

Some Things about Grant Kjos:
- He used to wait tables at the Olive Garden downtown, but now that Olive Garden is closed, I think.
- He was in college at the time he served us, but I don't know about that anymore.
- He is a skater. He says he wrote for some skater magazine somewhere, and claimed to know some people who were 'really good'.
- He is/was involved in competative hackey-sack (footbag).
- February 28 is Grant Kjos Day.

There's more, but I won't tell you. My friends and I send 'happy GK Day' email to Grant Kjos on Feb. 28, and the only response I've ever heard of was along the lines of 'who are you? what is going on?' This is a real person, who doesn't remember talking to me or giving out his email. I don't want the poor guy to feel like there is anything going on that isn't good, clean fun. There is a definite temptation to go for the most extreme Grant Kjos stalker episode evar, but don't give in. Have a little sanity.

That being said, I hope that everyone can celebrate Grant Kjos Day! Have a beer! Kick a hackeysack! Eat Italian! Send off a GKDay email!

The Monday Afternoon Update

Mel has a new job! I have accepted a job offer from the Wells Fargo History Museum, to be the Assistant Curator at the Minneapolis museum. I'll be working closely with the local school districts to develop tours and lesson plans that fit their standards and curriculum. I'm very excited to move back into my degree fields, and still have a job that allows me to do theatre on the side. My last day with Ameriprise will be Friday, February 10. I'll start at Wells Fargo on Monday, February 20, after Cowboy opens.

Stay tuned for an annoucement about celebratory drinking!

The Monday Update

Short and sweet:
I'm starting rehearsals tonight for Cowboy vs. Samurai, which will run 5pm-10pm every weeknight for the next two weeks, with some weekend times TBD (just for fun). God help me.

No puppy class on Saturday, which left Arrow wondering all weekend why we didn't go to see his puppy friends. Thankfully, he managed to wear himself out digging holes in the yard. God help us.

Adam made good progress on stripping the large window in the dining room. Only two or three more coats to go. God help him.

The moral of the story is, don't call me, call Adam!

Happy New Year!

2006 is the Year of the Dog

Puppy Picture Post

You want it. You need it. The desire burns in your veins. Well take a deep breath and calm down, I'm here with your fix. That's right. More pictures of the puppy.

Arrow has been growing quickly. Around 8 weeks, if you'll recall, we hit the vet for the first time and Arrow weighed in at 12.5 lbs. The 12 week visit had Arrow tipping the scales at just a hair under 20 lbs - I'm sure he's crested that mark by now.

We're doing some puppy obedience classes Saturday mornings. He's so gloriously exhausted for the rest of the weekend after that. When his energy levels are on the rise we take 'em back down with "Pint Sized Play" on Tuesdays. PSP is for dogs less than 20 lbs. Arrow is so awsome that the people running it are quite convinced he'll be able to come for a while yet. I'll bring him for as long as they let me - when he's too long away (come Thursday, Friday) he starts to go hyper-spastic.

Folks at the classes seem to like Arrow quite a bit. Perhaps it's the mystique of the mixed breed dog. Perhaps it's Arrow's dynamically physical demeanor. Maybe it's just an excuse to come speak with the handsome and rugged, yet sensitive owner. Or maybe it's just proud papa syndrome. Whatever the case, everyone in the classes seems to know Arrow's name.

Alright, enough with the jibber-jabber. Get with the pictures, already.

Nice photo work from Mel. It's hard to frame an active puppy.

When Arrow builds up too much steam it's out in the yard with 'im. Thank goodness for the fence.

Arrow with arch-nemesis and companion SqueakyMonkey.

Stinky puppies get to have a bath, even if they don't want it. I promise I'm wearing swim trunks here. Jump-up-puppy is far to dangerous to go au natural.

Wipeout - are you kidding? I totally meant to do that.

Ah, peace and quiet.

But other than that

it was a nice weekend. Friday night I dragged Adam to see a play reading at Mu's New Eyes Festival, and then we went out to Azia for a while to have a drink and visit with people. We always stand around trying to think of somewhere else to go, and then we always end up at Azia anyway. I should just start making reservations there whenever I'm going out with Mu people.

Saturday morning we were at Puppy Class. Arrow was trying so hard to be the teacher's pet. He would stare at Molly (the instructor) as she was working with other dogs, and follow all of the commands that she gave. Then he would bark when she gave treats to the other dog and not to him. When she did come over to work with us, Arrow was so excited to see her that he could barely sit still. It was very funny. At home, we're working on the command Leave It!, which he does pretty well unless he already has your sock in his mouth. Then you have to physically take it out of his pointy little teeth. He was very good yesterday when we were working on the trim. We had been tying him out in the living room, but at one point, he came in from outside and sat in his crate and just quietly watched us. That was nice.

Adam was the real star of Thorne House: The Strip Joint this weekend. He did two coats on the door frame, and one coat on the small window. I did detail work on the last baseboard corner, and then on the doorway. Otherwise, I was on laundry, cooking, and cleaning detail. Which worked out well, actually. We only have one more weekend before I start rehearsals, and I don't know what my actual rehearsal schedule is. So, we might be waiting a few weeks to finish up the stripping and start on the wallpaper removal. Unless someone else wants to come over and help Adam when I'm busy. Call now--operators are standing by!

An Open Letter

to the person who revved their car in my neighborhood for a long time at 11 pm:

Dude, what the hell is your problem? Let me set you straight on two things. One, that's not sexy. Two, a few weeks on my new/used Bowflex and I'm gonna come out there and find you.

Unless it's still this cold, and then you can just sit out there and freeze for all I care. Moron.

Sincerely,
Mel

Thorne House II: Return of the Blog!

Well, I can assure you that the lack of updates to this blog is due to the fact that we've been busy, not that we've been lazy. (At least, not any lazier than normal.)

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The ADD Version
After my family left, we had a day of work before New Year's weekend. I am in preproduction for Mu's Cowboy Vs Samurai, which starts rehearsals the end of this month. We are in Saturday morning puppy classes with Arrow, and Adam takes him to a couple of other play times during the week. We have also finalized our paint choices for the living and dining rooms, and begun the process of stripping the paint off the woodwork in the dining room. Viola, you're up to date, without all of that annoying editorializing that I am prone to do.

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The Peter Jackson Version

After my family left, we had a day of work before New Year's weekend. Adam was pretty smug that he had off all week, went to work on Friday, and then had a long weekend off of work. On New Year's Eve we went to a party at a friend's house. We didn't stay much past midnight, but it was nice to get out for a while. New Year's Day our friends Jen Cuff and Chris Smith had a brunch at their new house, just two blocks away from our house. They had plates of cookies, and fresh fruit, lots of coffee, a fantastic amount of pepper and chorizo omelette, and some delicious potatoes sauteed with butter, garlic and onion. Very, very good stuff!

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I have started preproduction work for the next show. Mu Productions is presenting Cowboy Vs Samurai, which is a play inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac. It is a story about three men in a small Wyoming town and how their lives change after the lovely Veronica Lee moves there. The script is very funny. I'm looking forward to seeing it come together. We'll have only two weeks of rehearsals, though, since the director is coming out from New York City, so we're having two read throughs before we start rehearsing and my actors have to be off book. It's a difficult way to work--it's much easier to memorize when you've got some movement to help you keep track of where you are in the scene. I just had a walk through of Mixed Blood Theatre, the space where we'll be performing. I've been there to see shows, but this will be my first time working there, which is exciting.

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Saturday mornings are now spent with six or eight other puppies, which is entertaining. Arrow is one of the youngest dog there, at 12 weeks. There's a Yorkshire Terrier pup who is 14 weeks. He's so small that Adam mistook him for a guinea pig! The other dogs are all about four months or older, but Arrow loves to run around and wrestle with them. We're pretty profficient at Sit, and we're getting better at Down. We've just started working on Stay and Leave It. Arrow is turning out to be pretty smart, which might cause all kinds of problems if we can't keep him occupied. He also has lots of energy, and he likes to make sure that you know that he's available to eat whatever it is you're eating, or play with whatever it is you've got in your hand. On Tuesdays, there is a small dog play hour, which Arrow is quickly outgrowing. At 8 weeks, he was 12 pounds. At 12 weeks, he weighed in at 20 pounds. Adam just bought him a new collar, which should fit him for a long time. (It has triangles on it, for Triangle Toss.) Our class instructor might start a second play hour on Sundays, for the dogs in the class, so Arrow would be able to go to that, even if he outgrows the first one.

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Just after Christmas, Adam and I finally bought an area rug for the dining room. We had been looking for a rug for a long time, trying to find something that we both liked, for a price that we could handle. The rug is a little over 8' by a little under 10', and we're very happy with how it looks. It's always fun to see how the room changes when you add a new piece to it. Now that we have the rug, we were able to choose the paint colors for the living and dining room walls. We're both excited to be rid of the yucky wallpaper.

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We've started stripping the paint off of the baseboards, and we've found that underneath the coat of white is a coat of mega-ugly pea-soup green. It's especially gross when it's mixed with the bright orange stripping gel. We're using a product called Citristrip, which is safe for indoor use. It smells like the biggest orange you've ever seen, but it's miles better than the usual chemical stuff. The baseboards are coming out a dark brown that was probably really beautiful when it was new. 96 years later, some parts are lighter, some darker, some pretty rough, and some still pretty nice. So, we'll see if we can get all of the paint off, and then then it will be wallpaper off, and paint on, and then we'll revisit the trim and decide how we'd like to finish it off.

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So, that's The Rest of the Story. Sorry it took so long to get this updated. Hopefully this means we'll now move on to returning voicemails, emails and letters, too. (And by we, I mean me.) Plus, stay tuned for more pictures!

Which religious leader do you most resemble?

Lao Tzu You two would probably really get along!

Founder of Taoism "In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present."

Take the test yourself!