In my somewhat long hiatus from blogging (I even took two weeks off from FDL…), I have been anything but idle. Three weeks ago yesterday, I set upon this condo, ripping out the shag carpets, knocking out the wall and closet between the kitchen and living room, getting rid of the dozen-odd louvered doors, removing [...]
Recent items in the news: The commandant of the marine corps said a few days ago U.S. forces will likely be at the “war on terror,” or whatever it’s called now, for a bit longer, maybe another decade. Or more. The marine leader’s remarks echo those by an obscure defense official overseeing undercover doo doo. [...]
The main reason I have been so distracted from blogging, aside from the imminent move to CHNN’s new World headquarters, is that I was busy painting the 1905 bungalow equivalent of a stripped 1972 Chevrolet Impala. I often attempt to recreate in my mind how a house came into being, and this time, I [...]
Prostitution in the old Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628-92), which then ran north into southern Maine and included the seaside town of Kennebunk (“So Close, Yet Worlds Away”), was a hanging offense. Times have changed however. And so on Friday a state judge in Portland accepted a plea deal from alleged Zumba dance madam Alexis Wright [...]
“Gentlemen, we have run out of money. It’s time to start thinking.” – Ernest Rutherford, British explorer – quoted sometime after 1910 Political analysts unaffiliated with The Onion suggested Monday that Silvio Berlusconi and upstart challenger Beppe Grillo may have enough votes between them to form a new, coalition government in Italy. If this [...]
Shortly after I got home yesterday, I received a message from the city of Portland that, until further notice, I and some 135,00o other westside Portlanders and suburbanites ought to boil our water before using it. This being only the second time such an order has been issued here in our admittedly short history, I [...]
Back during the housing bubble, several houses with especially nice basements I’d recently finished went up for sale, and I got quite a few calls from complete strangers who had seen them and wanted something similar, which is rather unusual for me. (The strangers that is, not the me-too types…) Of course, with the bubble [...]
I ran across a story at Huffpo today that pointed out the travesty that the already absurdly low minimum wage doesn’t apply to “tipped” employees; in most states it’s still $2.13 (!) per hour, where it has been stuck for twenty years due to (surprise!) restaurant industry lobbying. Needless to say, it is the worst [...]
Well, it’s Thursday, so I had to post at Firedoglake.com, and thus was left with too little time to slap something together for here. There are only so many hours in a day for unpaid work, after all…. H/T to commenter Avelna, who gave me an idea, which I sorely needed. See y’all tomorrow.
When my brother, Turd, bought this house, it was covered by shrubbery and painted pumpkin orange with sidewalk gray trim, but as you can see it was still a great find. Built in the early 1920′s, it had some of the best elements of the arts and crafts era that was just ending and the [...]