Appliances!!

I knew I had to do it at some point but I always thought that it would be during some lull after the dust had settled. The ‘it’ being the ordering of the appliances. What overcame me recently was the fact that the calm so yearned for will never come. In its place there is only a rush to the finish line. So, who cares if the timing is slightly off and large kitchen appliances sit in the middle of the living room for a few days while I lay the cork flooring in the kitchen? Better to order everything and get it here. It’s not like the living room is being used for anything more than tool storage at present.

Here are thumbnails. When we sublet the place we will honestly be able to tout “brand new appliances”. There will be a few dinner parties for family and friends during the month of July but that is hardly going to age these fella’s.







By the way. Has anybody heard the voice-over on the new Toyota Tundra truck TV commercials? I hope the guys being paid a fortune because he's fabulous. Makes me want a truck again.

Tidbits And Tantalizers

Wow. Only two posts in the month of May. I suck.

The remodeling of my neighbors bathroom is complete. The buzz around the building is that it is a success. The neighbor directly below has yet to complain about a wet ceiling. It was a $6500 dollar tab and after materials and outside labor and services I have about $12.75, enough to buy a sandwich. But for me, it’s not about the money, it’s the work. No wait. That’s my acting mantra! Oh no!

GREEDY, the new play I’m currently rehearsing is a week and a day from opening. I find myself wandering aimlessly into oncoming traffic, hoping for some graceful exit. But I know that all that stems from barrels of insecurity. My cast mates (gloriously talented folks) seem upbeat and positive about the process. I try to join the fun but become occasionally paralyzed by the notion that they are all looking at me thinking, “if only he were better”. When I did I AM MY OWN WIFE, I often complained about my fellow cast members, and I am sure that this behavior is coming back to roost. Barrels and Barrels.

The tile for the back splash has finally been procured and will arrive in two weeks or so. Meanwhile I am constructing the “entertainment center/bookcase” on the window wall of the living room. It will house the tv, the stereo, books, records, the printer and other big ugly peripherals, and house the radiator as well as offer a window seat with storage inside. It will be a painted unit to keep the cost down but it should turn out fairly well. It will join this unit in look.



















During my free time I built a pot rack on the cheap.



And bought a wine rack and paper towel holder, sticking with the wrought iron theme.








Meatier posts soon to follow. A shout out to all those toiling away in Iowa City making the Bard spring once again to life.

Rule of Thumb

Yesterday I hit my thumb with a hammer. I haven’t done that since I was maybe seventeen. There is a blood blister under the nail but is not big enough to threaten it, thank the lucky stars. I’m wondering what the connection is between this ridiculously amateurish accident and other current events. Here is a thumbnail sketch of a recent head-scratcher that I have been dealing with while remodeling a bathroom in my building.



This is my first shower enclosure from scratch. Was I short-circuiting a “thumbs up” gesture regarding the hopeful success of the shower by trying to incapacitate the digit?

Here’s another theory. I often tease my cats by wiggling my thumbs at them, or rapidly touching the tip of my thumbs to each of my four fingers in quick succession, all the while intoning, “opposable thumbs baby, opposable thumbs! Bet you wish you had’em”. Could this callous treatment have yielded a kind of cosmic retribution?

Another thought: It’s a long shot, but I was recently cast in a world premier of a commissioned play titled “Greedy” by Karl Gadjusek, produced by a theatre company named Clubbed Thumb here in NYC. Hmmm. Am I trying to qualify as a worthy Clubbed Thumb member? Am I looking for a ritual or rite that will gain me entrance and acceptance and therefore I forgot decades of hand-eye coordination and landed my hammer on my thumb? Or was it just a stupid accident?