Ghostly soles

Plaster dust is still everywhere. The bottoms of all of my shoes are white.


Rain rain rain. Slow going at the house. They did sand and prime the doors. Pretty new doors. So now everything is matchy matchy. Everything's the color of plaster dust.


Even outside. Primed, and waiting for final color paint. There's still some texturing to do with the stucco, but everything's wet.


Barn doors. The "bling" part of the remodel. This will be the last time I use that word. No more. Now that all the suburban white bread moms are using it. So passe now. I may have to invent a new word to describe the house's badunkadunk.


Photos from new camera. Not sure if quality is any better. Will have to do more testing.


Lumber lumbering around. I nearly trip over these boards everytime I head to the head.

Tuppence a bag

Despite the insufferable V-day, feeling slightly better tonight. The red itchy ears have yet to return tonight. I'm taking that as a good sign. Be gone strange allergic reaction. Be gone.


Ugly door banished. Svelte sexxy one has taken it's place. Hopefully more ugly things in my life get replaced with svelte sexxy things.


Topping. Topping. Topping. 5 bags. Instead of the traditional hot fudge, caramel, strawberry flavors. These are Jesus flavored toppings. You can tell by the fish on the top label. Blessed walls be.


Right now, there's plastic protecting it from the rains again. Plastic obscuring the view. Though, I could probably do a pole dance behind it and have the silhouette give the neighbors heart attacks.


Very fine wood shavings from a block plane. Not sawdust. I am a nerd for knowing that as there are no saws or planes lying nearby.


I've given up on the seedling starting project this season. The seeds do great and sprout, but then conditions in the house aren't conducive for optimal growth. Not enough light inside from all the plastic sheeting on the east side of the house. And though the heating mat is great to get the seeds to sprout, room temperature is still in the 40's at night. Stunted, and then withers away. Hhmmm... kind of sums up my love life.


One of the casualties. The lamp is sad.

This little piggy stayed home

Strange allergic reaction this weekend. The ears became red and itchy. Not suitable to show in public. Benedryl canceled Saturday night plans. Sigh. Absolutely annoying. Reaction certainly stress related, but I have no clue what triggered it. Shampoo? Cashews? Chocolate? Allergic to construction dust? Post-rain mold? Work related? Allergic to love?

I do have to be careful over the next few days with my moodiness. Seems possible that I can become majorly depressed again. I've not been very happy this past week. How did I wind up like this? What the hell am I doing?

For some reason, this description of the new episode of Monk struck me as interesting.

"Mr. Monk Gets Stuck in Traffic"
Monk must deal with being in a traffic jam, caused by a car, containing a corpse, abandoned in the middle of the road.

Sort of rhythmic in a Clue boardgame and tur-duc-ken sort of way. The butler, in the study, with a wrench. A chicken, stuffed in a duck, stuffed in a turkey.


These piggies showed up in my dinner. A bit of levity in an otherwise sad and lonely, red and itchy Saturday night. Humor surely welcome, but very temporary. Tasty though.


This week's cherimoya harvest. As these ripen, I will freeze them. They're normally too sweet to eat by itself, so I'm going to save them for later to cook with. Perhaps cherimoya bread, or more cherimoya ice cream.


I miss Preston.


He misses me too.


I'm tired. It's been nearly five months now. And well, the house thing isn't really that important to me anymore. Fun and exciting in the beginning. Definitely it will be very beautiful when finished. And I'd very much enjoy living in the house once more. But really, it's just a self-indulgent shrine to myself. With all the crap at work, in my social life, and at home right now, I'd like some of them to come to some sort of resolution, but everything is just dragging on. Feeling powerless and alone. What the hell am I doing?

Hurry up dammit

After days of inactivity, I was surprised to see progress when I went outside this morning. Not much progress, as this is maybe 3 hours work for one person. Things are happening v e r y s l o w l y ......

dammit.

But I have to say that they did a very good job in getting the slats to line up with the corners and space them so the fall just right around the pipes and outlets. The door has to go though. I don't like it. A bit on the fugly side. I will make them change it. Make it so.

dammit.


Seedlings transfered to outside. Air circulation is good for them. And they need to be toughened up for the colder outside temperatures. I hope some critter doesn't eat them right now. They're just tender inexperienced youngsters.

dammit.


Wood paneling, homage to New Jersey family rooms.

Well, it's about bloomin' time

Seedlings! Must move them closer to the window. It's quite difficult to grow these in my bedroom. Like the rest of this country, the seedlings are now leaning slightly to the right.


Collard tree. Part of the Dr. Suess collection of plants. They remind me of the tree that Yertle the Turtle sat on the nest.

Skinny collard, yet to be tall
Will take time, summer or fall.
No cute turtle perched upon it's leaf
Maybe a squirrel, damn fruit thief.


Rosebec tomato. A rare Canadian variety. So rare that nobody except Jimmy knows anything about it.


Green Zebra. Is this growing? Don't all of these tomato plants look the same? How am I supposed to tell them apart?


Paul Robeson. A Russian variety named after the opera singer and civil rights activist. This variety won best of show at the 2000 Carmel TomatoFest. Unlike the mustard green seedlings, this tomato leans towards the left.


Goosecreek. Jimmy's family heirloom tomato. I quote heirloomtomatoplants.com

"This delectable, historical family heirloom is the rarest plant we offer. The flavor and color run deep in Goose Creek, a stunning ruby-red globe, juicy, very sweet and intensely tomatoey as if injected with concentrated tomato flavor, just ambrosial. I've rarely tasted a tomato to compare. Averaging 6-7 ounces, with very few seeds; it has now made my top 3 list.

This family treasure comes to us from renowned edible landscape expert, Jimmy Williams, owner of Hayground Organic Gardening in California whose home garden we found to be an enchanting escape. Jimmy and his Native Island Gullah-Geechee ancestors are descendants of slaves brought in bondage to the coastal islands of the Southern United States to grow rice for plantation owners.

The seeds of this sublime fruit have been passed down through generations since the 1800's when Jimmy's great-great grandmother, a young Caribbean slave, smuggled them with her aboard ship. When the ship docked at Charleston, near Goose Creek, South Carolina, she had the treasured seeds with her, hidden deep in her pocket, and planted them that first spring. Jimmy's grandmother, Elouise Watson, shared this precious heirloom with him more than 42 years ago, assuring Goose Creek's place in his family's garden for generations to come. Jimmy's son Logan didn't like tomatoes until he tasted Goose Creek; now he loves tomatoes and will one day give Goose Creek seeds to his own children.

Among its extraordinary qualities: A very high fruit yield, and remarkable cold-tolerance along the cooler coastal areas where the fruits continue to set and ripen through November and December. And, Goose Creek has two distinctly different and superb flavors during two phases of its growth: when partially ripe and still showing some light green at the shoulders it has a citrusy fruity-sweet taste, and again at full rich-red ripeness when it develops an intensely rich, extremely sweet flavor and luxurious texture.

Very prolific, this exquisite variety was featured recently in Fine Cooking Magazine, The Los Angeles Times Magazine and Visiting with Huell Howser on PBS station KCET."

I love Jimmy's plants. And he's a really swell guy too.


Rains make calla lilies go crazy. They're growing like weeds. But pretty weeds.


Look! Some self reflection. It says I'm shallow.


Not so sucessful with these. They're growing very slowly. Pooh! Not enough light I guess. I may chop down the grapefruit tree that shades this area. Nothing but bitter grapefruits from this tree. It must have been unlucky in love to be this bitter. Maybe after it's gone, I won't be so bitter about love too.


The giant orange tree is about to bloom. You'd be able to smell this tree even blocks away. It was so fragrant that last year, I had headaches indoors even with the windows closed. Too much of a good thing. It IS possible to OD on the scent of orange blossooms.


Strange flower stalk. I have no idea what this is. It's the first I've seen a flower stalk. I guess that means I'm doing something right. Might be some sort of bromeliad. If it's pretty, I will pot it up in a container. Otherwise, it will be mulched.


What you see when you walk through the front door. It's supposed to be designed to elicit a "HOLY SHIT! THIS IS UNEXPECTEDLY COOL!" reaction. Right now, it more "HOLY SHIT IT'S NOT DONE THERE'S SO MUCH CRAP AND DUST EVERYWHERE HOW DO YOU LIVE HERE."


Aloes blooming. Hummingbirds love these flowers. These kinds of hummers in my driveway are the nice blue state kind. GM Hummers in the driveway are the red state kind.


Blood orange blossoms finally appear today. I'm protecting these. Didn't get many fruits this year, and so delicious. I will baby these to get a larger crop next year.


Japanese auralia. Parrots love to eat the little black fruits. There is a human auralia theif in the neighborhood. I can tell because he uses hedge clippers to cut off the berries. Squirrels don't know how to use hedge clippers. Damn thiefs.


Garden variety weeds. I've been lazy in this part of the yard.


Bird of paradise. I will draw scary eyeballs with a sharpie pen on the flower to scare off the thieves. Damn theifs. I brought a giant one into the office for Henie last week. Some creepy guy tried to pick me up in the elevator.


Henie made me one of her signature flower arrangements from her kalanchoe succulent plants. They're great because the leaves look like worms floating in the water.

I so sorrow

This morning's harvest. French sorrel. A tangy spinach type leafy green. Sadly I must give it away, as I have no implements to process and consume this. I have sorrow, over my sorrel.


Scaffolding taken down. Stucco up. Doors and windows chaulked. Already the house is quieter. So close to done, yet so far from done.


Wind storms caused all sorts of debris to collect in the pool. Poor Mr Yoo has to clean this up. No electricity to the pool yet. It's super chlorinated that your hair would probably fall out if you went for a dip. Which reminds me, I should toss into the pool my white shirts and towels that are pink due to an errant red article of clothing.


Plastic wrap taken off the outside. Glorious morning sunshine. Filtered only through glass. It's a sunshine day. Now I've got that stupid Brady Bunch song stuck in my head.

When pigs are fly

This picture is only notable because the woman is riding an orange creamsicle flavored scooter.


I walked past this abomination in Chinatown on the way to Dim Sum. The sheer wrongness of this is mind boggling. What part of this is most disturbing?

Statue of pig.
Statue of pig wearing uniform.
Statue of pig wearing police uniform.
Statue of pig wearing leather police uniform.
Statue of pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts.
Statue of angry pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts.
Statue of arms akimbo angry pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts.
Statue of arms akimbo angry pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts in front of naked women statues.
Statue of arms akimbo angry pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts in front of naked groping women statues.
Somebody made a statue of arms akimbo angry pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts in front of naked groping women statues.
Somebody made a statue of arms akimbo angry pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts in front of naked groping women statues AND thought they could sell a statue of arms akimbo angry pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts in front of naked groping women statues.
Somebody made a statue of arms akimbo angry pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts in front of naked groping women statues AND thought they could sell a statue of arms akimbo angry pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts in front of naked groping women statues AND will have moved said statue of arms akimbo angry pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts in front of naked groping women statues in and out of the store everyday.


Still in the midst of Farmer Davy Fad. That's not tin foil. It's water condensation. There's Mexican sunflower. Some sort of mustard green. Criola Sella and Purira hot chili peppers. Chives, garden variety, and the Chinese garlic chive kind. My seed starting setup is actually right by my head when I sleep. I'm hoping that the seeds will sprout sooner with the strange brain waves emanating from my head when I dream about creamsicle scooters and statues of arms akimbo angry pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts in front of naked groping women statues being moved in and out of a store everyday.


These are the bricks I found digging around the backyard doing the Farmer Davy thing. Half of them were buried in the Panda habitat. The other half scattered about randomly. There may have been some foul play involved with those pandas. CSI should really come back to my house and do a show about disembowled pandas. Though I suspect the pig did it.


Sunlight! It's been ages since this area of the house has seen sunlight. The new barn doors are like a new electronics toy. It still has that plastic that needs to be peeled off.


Scaffold put up to finish stuccoing the exterior walls. Santa Ana windstorms this week. Note the tarpaulin in the pool. Exterior work coming along. Soon, I will be able to install next to the staircase the statue of arms akimbo angry pig wearing leather police uniform with shorts.

Different sort of digging around

So nerdy. Doing a bit of sleuthing around. Better than doing budget or taxes.


Found original blueprints of the house on the internet. Started the research on USC's web site, since USC runs the Gamble House in Pasadena. Which has a link to the Greene and Greene Virtual Archives.

"The GGVA is made possible by a generous grant from the J. Paul Getty Trust under the Electronic Cataloguing Initiative of the Getty Grant Program. With the objective of creating a single, visual resource for Greene & Greene researchers, homeowners, students and the general public, the GGVA brings together selected material from the four major Greene & Greene collections: the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University in the City of New York; the Environmental Design Archives at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB); The Gamble House, University of Southern California (USC), in Pasadena, California; and the Greene and Greene Archives, USC at The Huntington Library in San Marino, California."


These old blueprints are housed in some musty drawer at the Avery Library in Columbia University in New York City. Digital versions hosted at Berkeley. This blueprint shows the garage (my house) as a single story. As the garage was built a year later than the main house, there should be drawings later than this one that depict it as a garage with an apartment above. But the first floor is mostly the same. The laundry area is now the kitchen, and the maid's room is now the guest room. Sink and toilet locations remain to this day. Nerdy Nerdy.


The main house shortly after it was built. See, no landscaping, and no neighbors behind. It may be the angle, but it's likely my house hasn't been built yet. (Recorded as built in 1917.) No sign of a driveway or short retaining wall on the northern edge of the property. This area was once poppy fields.


This photo was taken where it is now the deep part of the pool. I may attempt to recreate this angle from an inflatable raft sometime in the future. Hope I don't drown trying. If you look through the balcony and across the street, you can see part of the house the Vanderbuilts built for their doctor.


Aerial photo from March 29, 2004. I spent a half hour trying to figure out whether the dark smudge underneath the fire pit is Preston. Inconclusive. From the angle and depth of the shadows in this picture, it leads me to believe that it was taken around 2pm-ish. Hence my car wasn't in the driveway, as it was a Monday and I'd be at work. (Also wasn't on business travel that day.) Nerd.


Aerial photo from June 6, 2002. Might have been the day I closed on the house. Certainly my car wasn't there, as the previous owners rented back for another week or so. And the dark smudge in this picture would be my entire house.


Topographical map from July 1, 1976. Survey says, my house, or more precisely my pool, is exactly 1200 feet above sea level. Coincidentally, also the elevation of Art Center where I went to school only a stone's throw away. (I've taken into account the effect of the earthquakes on elevation since 1976.) So extremely nerdy I am.

longitude= -118.12722
lattitude= 34.18138

I am King of the Nerds.