This life of mine
Saturday, June 20, 2009
At last! At last!
My builder/decorator starts work on Tuesday. I've been waiting so long for him to finish the big job he's been working on since last September, but he's now ready to do the work on my little flat.
But - OMG! - panic! I have such a lot of packing to do between now and Tuesday - putting all my clothes into suitcases, manoeuvering furniture into the hall (two chests of drawers and a double bed), boxing up all my bits and pieces. It's going to be chaotic for a few weeks, but so worth it when it's all done.
What am I having done? New wooden flooring throughout, all the old wallpaper stripped off and the walls painted a nice, pale yellow/peachy colour, a new fitted wardrobe in the bedroom, lots of storage built in the recess in the hall, with sliding doors covering it, a glazed doorway removed and replaced with folding doors, radiator covers, all cables hidden away, kitchen painted, new flooring in the kitchen ...
And there's all the extras that I'll need to buy as well - lampshades, bedspreads, curtains, blinds, rugs, a new sofa, a new TV, etc., etc. But it'll be fantastic when it's done, and I've been waiting so long finally to make this place my own. The current decor is all my ex-husband's taste and it's eight years since he's been gone, so a complete re-do is definitely long overdue.
I will never have to vacuum that crappy carpet again! Ever! Yaaaay!
And I've decided that when it's all been done and everything's looking good, I'm going to get a cleaner to come in once a week. That'll encourage me to be tidier (I'll actually have some storage space to tidy things into) and it shouldn't be expensive, because this is such a small flat. Probably about £20 a week, which will be money well spent. ¶ 3:28 pm 1 Comments
But - OMG! - panic! I have such a lot of packing to do between now and Tuesday - putting all my clothes into suitcases, manoeuvering furniture into the hall (two chests of drawers and a double bed), boxing up all my bits and pieces. It's going to be chaotic for a few weeks, but so worth it when it's all done.
What am I having done? New wooden flooring throughout, all the old wallpaper stripped off and the walls painted a nice, pale yellow/peachy colour, a new fitted wardrobe in the bedroom, lots of storage built in the recess in the hall, with sliding doors covering it, a glazed doorway removed and replaced with folding doors, radiator covers, all cables hidden away, kitchen painted, new flooring in the kitchen ...
And there's all the extras that I'll need to buy as well - lampshades, bedspreads, curtains, blinds, rugs, a new sofa, a new TV, etc., etc. But it'll be fantastic when it's done, and I've been waiting so long finally to make this place my own. The current decor is all my ex-husband's taste and it's eight years since he's been gone, so a complete re-do is definitely long overdue.
I will never have to vacuum that crappy carpet again! Ever! Yaaaay!
And I've decided that when it's all been done and everything's looking good, I'm going to get a cleaner to come in once a week. That'll encourage me to be tidier (I'll actually have some storage space to tidy things into) and it shouldn't be expensive, because this is such a small flat. Probably about £20 a week, which will be money well spent. ¶ 3:28 pm 1 Comments
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Terminal Bar
Clicking through the hundreds of TV channels I have available (and yet never seem to find anything to watch) I came across the most wonderful short film - Terminal Bar, by Stefan Nadelman. Just 22 minutes long, mostly in black and white, featuring portraits of the customers and pictures of the bar taken by the barman, Sheldon Nadelman (Stefan's father), over the ten years he worked at the Terminal Bar (on the corner of 8th Ave and 41st St) from 1972 until the bar closed in 1982.
It's a fascinating chronicle of how the bar changed from old New Yorkers (who mostly drank themselves to death) to a black gay bar. Sheldon looks through his pictures, which he numbered, and reminisces about the customers, some fondly, others not so much, many by name, others just by the number on their photograph. I loved it.
Here's a 3-minute segment to give you a taste of the flavour and atmosphere of this evocative film. A short film, but not a small one.
¶ 10:29 pm 0 Comments
It's a fascinating chronicle of how the bar changed from old New Yorkers (who mostly drank themselves to death) to a black gay bar. Sheldon looks through his pictures, which he numbered, and reminisces about the customers, some fondly, others not so much, many by name, others just by the number on their photograph. I loved it.
Here's a 3-minute segment to give you a taste of the flavour and atmosphere of this evocative film. A short film, but not a small one.
¶ 10:29 pm 0 Comments
