Ribbon!

Some of you may know that I really like ribbon (and fabrics, and buttons,and beads, and yarn). I don't really much like sewing, but sometimes I can talk Charlotte into making something with some of the stuff (listed above)that I feel compelled to accumulate. In NYC there are whole street selling such things. This is one of my favorites of these places. I thought some of you might enjoy see the photos too. I'll let you know if i actually do anything with this most recent haul.

Basically Done in NYC (for a while)

Here are a few pictures of some of the work we did there. I am aware that these photos are in no way professional or "good" they are not for my portfolio, but I figured there were probably a few people that have been wondering what could possibly be taking me so much time out there . Of course many of the "little" things we did (that take an enormous amount of time) don't show up in pictures at all. like color matching all the 139 light rings and many of the switch-plate covers. Actually many of the really big things don't really show up in the photos either.

The kitchen here is a good example the walls in this room got painted more than 8 times as the color was slightly changed (as either the home-owner, her designer, or the architect changed their minds. We were using metallic pants so each color needed 3 or more coats. The final color is a light blue/green/gray with a slight pearlescence. The "hood' shape over the island is finished in a kind of oxidized aluminum look to match the tile trims. It is a careful balance of several colors of spray-paints in specific brands. kind of dusted layers, and LOTS of rubbing with steel wool. you can kind of see the light rings there sanded down to their actual aluminum, and a little black heat paint.

Below is the Powder room the walls are a creamy marble and alternating light and dark shell covered tile, detail in horizontal strips on the ceiling we did and alternating cooper and silver leaf over a dark brown Venetian plaster. The metal leaf is gently, chemically aged.


This is the guest bathroom ceiling. The edging is in a eggshell crackle in a tan on a black ground. The ceiling is red lacquer with a polyurethaneclear-coat to give the large crackle over the whole ceiling. the star pattern is black lacquer with alternating silver leaf and copper leaf. The leaf is also aged here.


Another of the light rings.


This is the dome over the spiral staircase it is another aged silver leaf application. this one is about 4 layers with the dome aged after each layer. So there is about 4 subtly different levels of aging. As with any leafing, the real work is in prepping the surface. With a finish this shiny ANY kind of imperfection shows . We usually use a prepping process similar those for automotive finishes, including body filler skims and wet sanding to at least 600grit sand paper.





This is the wife's master bath the walls, floor, and the white part of the ceiling are white marble, with mother of pearl details. the inset of the ceiling (the part we finished) is a gold leaf, 18kt Moon gold I am not sure what is different about moon gold it is one of the common "colors" gold leaf comes in (along with lemon gold, rose gold, and of course white gold). It is much less yellow than most of the gold leaf almost a brownish tone to it, making it more neutral. It is also a bit more expensive than many of the other gold leafing options.


This is the Ceiling of the husband's master bathroom it is a painted pattern in three colors with additional patterning of thin translucent veils of a mica powder that is clear but reflects copper. it gets progressively stronger with each layer. The effect is quite similar to an iridescent silk.


These are more images of the Master bedroom finish I described in an early post or comment or something... I will find the location and put a link here (eventually). Under that plastic is the wall to wall hand-dyed silk carpeting. I wasn't able to actually get a picture of it before it got covered, for some reason it got cover amazingly fast... go figure...




This is the wife's master closet. The walls and ceilings are a yellow metallic in large squares, because it is almost (if not actually) impossible to get such large areas rolled out evenly with a metallic as they are always translucent or semi-opaque at best. In some of the squares, "randomly" distributed, there is a stencil of a pearl white, in several (like 12-20) coats. It starts to have a "puff print" like look to it .










Not shown at all are several things that just cant be photographed in any worthwhile way, like the ceiling in the girls room - blue with a pearl veil fading to opaque pearl, the master bedroom ceiling - the same yellow metallic as the wife's closet with no stenciling, the ceiling of the dining room where we color-matched the fabric covering the walls and added a few band of some other colors at the edge of the ceiling and on the wall above the back-lit crown-molding, the ceiling of the entryway- Aluminum leaf with a pearl veil, that is all but totally covered with the light in that recessed area.

A Much Sadder Photo of the Same Bear.

I find this one much more interesting however.

Hidden Panda

I saw this little guy in a trash pile on the street here in NYC. I couldn't resist sticking him in some nearby trees. I thought my little guy would enjoy this picture.

I Think I Am Getting Old

In high school I actually wrote poetry on a regular basis. Almost hard for me to believe now. I tried to write a little something for Charlotte for our 12^th anniversary which just passed. It has been a frustrating and ultimately disappointing exercise. Someday I will have to try to find some of that old stuff I wrote back then. I wonder if any of it was as moving as I remember thinking it was at the time. I would guess probably not. From this recent failed attempt I am guessing it was more likely the result of the inward pointed idealism of youth, that made any of those lines seem special. This delusion seems to be totally gone now, at least where these poetic efforts are concerned (I still have some pretty far-fetched notions about the communicative value of some of my other efforts). Now I am just left with the realization that any talents I may have lie elsewhere.

This was, again one of too many anniversaries spent apart, and the second in a row where we didn’t get to see each other for at least a week before AND after the date. It seems like way too much of my life since meeting Charlotte, we have been many miles apart. I don't think I really remember how it feels not to have this longing for her as part of my daily existence. Maybe its always been there maybe even before I met her, I don't know. I have been trying to come up with a little something written (not really a poem, but a little poetic at least) to tell Charlotte in words how much she still means to me. How thankful I am to be a part of her life. I know she doesn’t actually need to have it said. She has got to be the most independent person I know. Even just thinking of her stirs some powerful emotions. Powerful enough I need act in some way.

I think the closest thing I have experienced that I think most people can relate to is when one of our beautiful children is being really cute, and I just have to nuzzle their neck- “get some sugar” as I think Charlotte’s Mamma always called it. I suppose that kind of urge isn’t all that uncommon as the pervasiveness of the phase “I want to just eat (them/her/him/it) up” seems to attest to. This kind of a thing seems to have a pretty logical outlet however – at least for me as described above.

The feeling I get from these thoughts of my Wife (that title still sounds a little like pretend to me I wonder if I will ever get used to it) is much more powerful and the yearning doesn’t seem to have a natural outlet. Of course marriage has its special shared moments. As beautiful as these are they seem to only make this yearning stronger. I haven’t been able to find an action that it seems to be directing. It’s like an emotional reaching. Like I want to actually have my mind touch hers, or hold hers, or be held by hers. I think maybe this is one of the many kind of feelings that are being descried but that totally inadequate and so often misapplied word; LOVE.

The most interesting part of these thoughts and the “feeling” that I have so often tried to describe to Charlotte has truly physical sensations associated with it. The rather stereotypical “shortness of breath” I am just so filled up there isn’t room for my lungs to fully expand. And my heart gets louder, and faster. I can feel every beat kind of warming my temples and to the front behind my eyes where there is a slight pressure. Like that is where my mind will make its escape for its rendezvous with hers. And the quickened heart beats pulse in my fingertips. There is also that feebleness right behind my knees like I need to pay close attention if I am going to be standing of walking , but is accompanied by an almost weightless feeling on my feet , like the pressure sensors all numbed in some way.

As I have been trying find some words that accurately portray this feeling it strikes me how clichéd so many of these descriptions are. I know there is no way she is going to understand how potent this continuing experience is for me with such apparent triviality. I suppose this is especially true with the amazing reality of your life together. I am not sure how I was able to maintain her interest. I met her way too early. Mostly because I stretched out my adolescence much too far into what should have been my young adulthood. I hope I am doing better now, but I know I have a lot to make up for. Somehow she was willing to give up on so much to tie herself to me. Even more amazing to me is that with my immaturely oriented and formulated goals, and my favorite inane distractions, I was somehow smart enough to maintain my pursuit of this girl. I know in a lot of ways it wasn’t very fair to her, but very soon after meeting her this intense sensation, I have so poorly explained, began to quietly blossom. Then as I got to know her and her family it became very clear to me that she going to be the best mother I possibly find for my children. Despite the ridiculous “plans” I was fantasizing about, I really always wanted, and thought I would have, children. How could I not do everything I could make sure that I gave them the best mother they could have after finding her. Unfortunately I has proved more difficult to make sure I am also giving them the best father I can. I am improving, I know, but there is just so much I want to change. Our kids are truly amazing and she has spent her whole life acquiring all the tools she would need to match her fierce commitment to help them reach the greatness in each of them.

I am so thankful for the many “little” thing she does constantly to make each of our lives so much better. I wish I had the words to help her to feel as truly special and valued as she is to me and many other people as well.

A Long Answer to a Simple Question

This post is a continuation of an answer to a little question in a comment on another blog I read. Obscure enough? The question is, kind of, about paint so I couldn’t resist. If you follow the link above and read the comments it will make a little more sense – not so much why I am writing this as what I am writing. It is currently still in progress

Whites are hard to get right. I have gotten lucky a few times (usually by steering to one of my – or a designer’s “old favorites”, But more often it takes some on-site adjustment. The size of the sample is of course important, and I have a few designers I work with who are sure the only sample worthwhile when you are getting close is the entire room. I have painted the same room 4 times in a day and over longer periods of time (though in the same project) I have repainted a room many more times than that. Obviously this can become a bit expensive, but there are some people out there to whom it is much more important that is “RIGHT”. Often this kind of eye and hand color adjustment process eliminates the ability for large area touchup, repair of damage, or freshening the surface with the same color since there is no “formula”. Usually with patience and a few notes, a very close match can be obtained, but for large areas (basically anything more than a room) it makes a bit more sense to buy several quarts that are close to the goal. Usually I use different color decks from competing brands for more slight color variations A “competitor match” as the paint stores call it usually isn’t exact but here one of the crucial things is getting a FORMULA. And once you get it KEEP it! And it is pretty important you know what store (brand) the formula is from, and the base the formula is supposed to go into.

O the stories I could tell you of trying to finish a job when they had to finally fire their painter part way through the job! Often themselves actually. I am not sure how I got the reputation for being the one to call in such circumstances. Often I wish I didn’t have that reputation but nothing will make you appreciate the importance of truly good finishing (or a good contractor) then a recent bad one. Just ask someone who has had either and I am sure they would love to tell you all about it. Or maybe that is like people always asking a doctor to take “a quick look at _____”. Anyway white paints have very small amounts of colored pigments added. Significantly smaller amounts than even pastels, so any variation can actually show. There is always a little variation even with everything done correctly even from one gallon to another mixed at the same time . It is important to mix together all the paint for a project ( or at least each room) before starting to paint anything. Be sure to buy a little more than you are going to need and it will actually save you money and time.

It sounds like this project is just one room, and I believe it is safe to assume that you probably are not inclined to embrace the minutiae that consumes my life, so choosing the color from a color deck where you are buying the paint should work just great. Quickly I guess the guidelines I would give here are - don’t go quite as white as you think you need to, and stay MUCH MORE neutral (tannish or grayish or both) than you think you need to. Buy a quart and little roller if you don’t have one, and put some on a wall or two (or all) in as large a sample as you dare.

DON’T brush it on for the sample! The brush-stroke texture will always show unless you sand it off, which will make a spot with no roller texture (most walls have some roller texture unless it the first paint), and the smooth spot will show and then you will think you need to sand the whole wall and you will abrade your trim and it will need repainted too, and you will probably sand through to the drywall paper in at least some places and then you will end up floating out the whole wall with drywall mud and try to paint it before it dries all the way and not prime that new drywall mud and the new paint will bubble off the wall in huge sheets and you will end up firing yourself and trying to find someone else to finish the job for you so you can finally get your house back, because this little project is rapidly creeping out of whatever little room it started in, into every corner of your home, and you will curse the way “Trading Spaces” made painting look like it is so easy and could be done by ANYONE, overnight because they choose unreasonably loud colors that could only look good on TV (and often not even through that filter)and really shiny sheens so you can’t really see the paint just really bright reflections, so you can’t see in their walls any of the major flaws you got in your paint job even before the paint started hanging off your walls. I assure you they are there, and they are many. If they didn’t surprise the homeowners and make their good friends responsible, after seeing those walls for a few days those painters would be fired too. I think I was saying something … oh yeah choosing paint color. Well actually I think it should quickly be said that the main difference between a pro job and a homeowner one is prep which is no fun to anyone and should usually be well over half of pretty much every paint job. Homeowners usually just go for the fun stuff and jump right to the color. Usually this is probably adequate for the spaces they are painting, but it is hard to get a Crisp look with chunkiness all over, roller nap fibers, wavy lines at the edges, along with brush-strokes and the previous color peeking through here and there.

The white colors show this imperfections more, as you alluded to the original comment because highlights and shadows on the wall have a broader possible range. The other colors you mentioned are probably going to be more forgiving though it is really easy to end up with a much stronger color than you intended especially if selected from only a color chip. The color can even turn out stronger than it looks on the sample even because it is going to reflect the same color off itself to the other walls. With some colors however they actually end up more muted than you thought on the sample, because the original color on your walls is no longer framing the new one. This totally changes the context you are seeing the new color in. Mostly this is determined by how strong the original color is. If you are priming do that before you paint samples or do a sample again after you prime.

Another important consideration is “sheen”, how shiny or glossy the paint is. Most people think of this as a flat or semi-gloss consideration. It seems that, it in Utah at least, usually they go for the semi-gloss, because “it’s washable”. Semi-gloss paint is more washable but having a shiny ceiling just so you can wash it if needed seems a little to me like keeping the plastic on a lampshade (or couch) so it will “stay looking good”. Semi-gloss also is almost impossible to touch up if the finish actually gets damaged. There are, with most brands, several options between flat and semi-gloss and usually one of those is going to work better than either of the extremes, all things considered. For a crisp look in a white nothing is going to look as good as flat. Partly because the flat will hide many of the imperfections. Flat paint touches up really well but it will show dirt easier especially on a white color. Flat is not washable ( thought here are some newer paint that do much better) mostly because you get shinny spots when you rub it. Unfortunately the shinny spots show from almost any touch depending on how good the paint is. Back to the concerns you expressed about white to begin with.

One way I have found to get around most of this, is going with a textured paint of some kind. The most commonly used are paints similar to Ralph Lauren’s “suede” (available from Home Depot) or “venetian plaster” (Behr has one available from Home depot).

The “suede” finish is basically latex paint with sand-like grit embeded to be applied in random strokes. this kind of application takes a bit more time but this finish's main problem is that it gets white patches whenever it is slightly scratched. With a white color obviously there wouldn’t be any problem with this issue. With almost any other color, even light light colors it is a big problem and this finish also can’t be touched up well at all.

The most commonly available “venetian plasters” aren’t really plasters at all but a synthetic water-based medium so they avoid many of the application, adhesion, flexibility, and repair issues associated with plaster veneers.

Oliver made us a Treat

Here is a little gift Ollie made before I left. I don't think he saw the camera,or at least didn't know I was filming him. I had it down near my leg so it's not the best cinematography, I know. He seems to be having a really hard time apologizing because he is so proud of his efforts. I think he really doesn’t quite believe that we aren’t more appreciative – later I think he finally "gets it" (not even close) and starts to explain that I “can have some.”





The most unfortunate part, I guess, is that he used 3 $7 containers of Stephen’s branded hot chocolate mix and one of their wassail mixes.
Also in there are a can of grits, the remainder of a can of instant oats, and as I was cleaning up I realized he did, in fact, put the strawberries in there, in that he had put like 4 individual size packets of strawberry flavored instant oatmeal.

I wonder how often our Heavenly Father thinks of our efforts summarily. I would think he must at least where it come to much of our economic “development”. Like turning the amazingly majestic trees of the redwood forests into railroad ties and mine timbers. I guess he might think it was great – or could care less for all I know. I am sure I can’t really guess which efforts he would think fit such an allegory better than another, his perspective is just too different. I do think there has got to be a lot of our efforts that he views as just as productive as I view Oliver’s’ in this instance.


What do you think might fit in this category?

Kissing the Frog

I just came across these pictures. I thought I would share them. They pretty much explain our reaction to Oliver's statement in Charlotte's post .