Wednesday, June 29, 2011

It's snowing flowers....and one random dude...

The backyard on a sunny day.....green grass, the beans and sunflowers are growing....the lobelia, fuschias and geraniums are making pretty colors....Of course, it's not growing fast enough for me....the green grass is growing fast tho....
;-)





Here's the lovely locust trees in full bloom.........it looks like white wisteria....and they are cousins in the flower world.......Pea relatives....they are........and they have a gentle fragrance.........
they look harmless, eh?





and then the wind blows....... the rain falls....and we are in a flower storm!
that white stuff......millions of little white pea-shaped blossoms......






And on Tuesday, Mark and I were weeding and mowing, and dude was just walking down the street playing his guitar.....He must have been at least 113 years old....


Monday, June 27, 2011

Painting is coming up

and how do we know this? we picked our bathroom wall color that's why. What color, pray tell......hmmmm, it's this but with a lot of white. It's a little color I like to call...."Chocolate bar left on the dashboard and then put in the freezer". It's mostly that freezer burn White but with some chocolate stirred in for warmth.
It may make me lick my walls.
I love the color in my living room. So, same thing, but....pale pale pale.
My color here, is from Ace Hardware, the color is Truffle. (food)


The color I want doesn't have a name. I'm buying some eggshell Ivory paint, and then drop in some of that chocolate/freezer/burn color....a bit like this below.... Safari. So me.






The curtain across the shower will be raw silk that I used on the couch. I'm making a driftwood mobile to hang over the shower. Painting the golden oak and the light fixture.....White-ish.
No pics yet, but I did take some Befores. Here's a peek.....a door stop of driftwood.

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These 2 pics came from My Fave and My Best. I don't really like her modern Jonathan Adler/LA/modern/glam thing.......and I'm pretty sure she hates burlap (which I love!), but I like her bravado.(Jonathan Adler has it easy ...since all he does is re-do the 70s, yawn. Not the 70s (awesome) but that he just copies it and makes Bank)




Someone asked her, Jenny at MFAMB, to write a book. Wow. Since she cusses worse than me (yes, it's true), one might think she shouldn't write a book......but she's writing a book. I know I'll never get someone to publish the books I'm working on, so I'll have to self-publish, but that isn't gonna stop me from working on them.

What I love about the bedroom up there ^^^ (which is gonna get an update too), is the burlap, duh, and the white and the green. I hate that stupid hanging lamp thing, which I'm seeing on a lot of happy shiny bloggies. I think it's IKEA. OK, I like it, but it's not for me.

The living room below.....has stripes. One room in the house....the bath, the living room, the kitchen, or the bedroom...is gonna get some stripes....Trust Me.


Home Obnoxious Home

so, there's this new blog/photo/thing.....you take a pic from your past and go back and take the same pic again.....Dear Photograph.
Oh how much has changed.....Yes, you can go home again...but it always hurts. (meaning "pain, ache")
This is why we call it Nostalgia ---
from the wiki entry --
The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of νόστος (nóstos), meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and ἄλγος (álgos), meaning "pain, ache". It was described as a medical condition, a form of melancholy, in the Early Modern period, and came to be an important topic in Romanticism.[1]

Definition of NOSTALGIA
1
the state of being homesick : homesickness

2
: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition; also : something that evokes nostalgia
nos·tal·gic adjective or noun
nos·tal·gi·cal·ly adverb
nos·tal·gist noun
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Let's Play.....Here's my mom and dad, me, Jan, and Fritzi in mom's backyard at 2020 Monroe St, Yountville, on Easter 1973.
Simple. Poverty Acres. Somethings to sit on. A barbeque. Quiet. Trees. Weeds. Affordable for the working class.

 
yeah, I'm 19. Notice the little locket on a chain.And the authentic buffalo toe sandals from India. My mom's Keds, and my dad's hippie watchband. Jan's cuteness speaks for itself !

so, then my mom was taken by my sister. Then my sister, her MBA son, and blonde daughter owned the house (surprise!) and then some bigger douchebags bought my moms house and built this....
The furniture on the left side is about where my mom is sitting. Dad is sitting near the open doorway. Jan and I are behind the fountain. (scoot us all backwards a bit)

The "casita" on the left is the size of the house my mom lived in.........the abortion on the right side is about 2700 sq ft. The Real Estate listing  says "The stone walled courtyard, fountain, outdoor kitchen, fireplace & saline water lap pool are ingredients for the good-life."
The Good Life , asshole rich people, is to care about your Carbon Footprint. And Not taking up the same amount of resources of a small African country. For the rich to bastardize Aristotle's, and Helen and Scott Nearing's simple meaningful life philosophy....Is more than sickening...it proves the rich are both illiterate and uneducated in the Classics.


It sold eventually for about a million & a half dollars. Asshole douchebags have this Much Money because they slashed your job, lowered your wages, and denied your right to organize for higher wages, so they have 98% of our money. And this is what they do with it. They build grotesque mausoleums to their banality and lack of care for anyone but themselves. Narcissism. It's the Disease of the Moment.
"Narcissism is the personality trait of egotism, vanity, conceit, or simple selfishness. Applied to a social group, it is sometimes used to denote elitism or an indifference to the plight of others."
Yeah, Dear Photograph, going back is gonna hurt. 
But think of the material I get to work with when I move back home....to the Napa Valley. 

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Summer Cook out

Mustard....

1950s vintage Tiki barkcloth Swimsuit shorts, are a hot mustard with lime and black and white in an atomic floral.



Rudi Gernreich rainbow forks potholder is everything 70s....after designing Mod clothes, he retired from the crazy and got into crafting...designs. It was the 70s..



Blue Kool-Aid...

1980s vintage swimsuit shorts, are bright turquoise, hot lime, navy and surf blue nylon.
Inside, they're lined in net made of purple polyester.




Mod midcentury Space Age lamp has amoeba shapes of crushed glass in medieval church colors of turquoise, grass green and aqua blues.



Hot dog Buns...

1970s vintage khaki tan summer Swimsuit shorts, are a creamy tan with an edge of bright orange.
Cut high, they are the shorts that made the 70s sexy.




Superfly big eye aviators in the classic tortoise mottled browns and rust !
Vintage gray colored sunglasses, these 70s aviator sunglasses are glass in tortoise rust and black mottled frames.
Glass lenses in sturdy plastic frames in that classic 70s style...Aviators!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

It is time to go jump in the lake or swim in the ocean....

Swimsuits for the ladies....or men who want to look like ladies.....

a maillot, a one-piece swimsuit....the all-in-one bathing costume....so easy.....and everyone looks good!
Add a big towel, the sunscreen, a jug of water, don't forget your sunglasses....bring a good book to read.....
no worries ....and that, is what summer is for, right?



High cut legs, 80s blue and black stripe vintage swimsuit....is ....so.... 80s.


a small - medium, and the pink one is a medium - large.



Pink and black squares Vintage gathered Swimsuit





Perfect playsuit...one piece ultraviolet purple 70s bathing suit


A size Xsmall - small..... and the blue one is size large.


Tiny flowers knit has a deep neckline, and a gathered skirt that has Shorty Shorts..one piece 70s bathing suit





This suit has a deep neckline, and a gathered skirt ....a one piece 70s bathing suit is quite sweet!



Blue with white flowers is a medium  , and the polka dot one is a size small to medium.

Navy with white vintage polka dots this swimsuit is ready to jump in the lake....or the pool, or just hang around with denim cut-offs.





Sparkle one piece bathing suit shines like the sun!
Bronze and gold metallic sparkles swimsuit is a nice change and a different one from patterns and solid black. Reminiscent of those glamorous suits in the 50s....that were all about laying around and looking fantastic!

It's a size medium to large.


water........and......sky.......


Monday, June 20, 2011

Summer Rainbow Cakes

I was blogggg hopping and I kept seeing rainbow cakes....so here !
Since summer is the best time of the year in the PNW...it seems time to bake a pretty yummy cake....to kinda celebrate some sunny days that actually occur for more than One day in a row.

From Absolutely Beautiful Things blog...
To see cute kids making and baking the rainbow cake at the Count It All Joy....blog...click here.

It involves cake batter (duh), food coloring, and small cake pans equal to the number of layers...say, 4 - 6. Some frosting....and ....some candles....some gooey stuff to write neat things on top like EAT ME





and then from Oh Happy Day blog, via Not Martha blog, this little cutie...
The Leprechaun Trap cake....

ooo high concept....This one involves:
Craft, crayons, pretzels, lots of frosting, little bowls, a scale, and little plastic baggies...squeezed into an Angel Food cake pan....yeah.
Set aside a whole afternoon for this one....But Wow!
Not Martha has the whole multi-paragraph instructions.





and a Gluten free Carrot Cake  made from Betty Crocker Gluten Free cake mix !!
........no rainbows unless you think orange is enough color for a rainbow.....


Ingredients list........check the pantry and make a list for the grocery store....the big Safeway, Fred Meyer, and Albertsons...has all this stuff. Click the Betty Crocker link up there for the whole recipe and instructions.


Cake------
1 box (15 oz) Betty Crocker® Gluten Free yellow cake mix
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup finely shredded carrots (2 medium)
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts 
Frosting------
4 oz (half of 8-oz package) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1 to 3 teaspoons milk
1/4 cup coconut, if desired

Saturday, June 18, 2011

sometimes the light....

is soft and dreamy....

a book about the chemistry of funeral body preparation practice, and poetry from Delmore Schwartz




a few cameras, a nudie, and a snakeskin, the monkey dreams, and bowling guy....random piece of a sign that says something about the Denny Regrade.....



the lady and the snake plant....




hats....





the lamp like a golden harvest moon...
crow....

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Pretty as Pictures.

from Camp Comfort via the Vanessa Jackman blog, is this lovely pic of  Candice Lake...holding a pair of Converse....like the ones I have listed right now! oh yes.




Here...white Converse at funkomavintage....




And also from the Vanessa blog is Louise Ebel in a fantastic pair of vintage geeky frames....Hey, like the ones at funkomavintage ! awesome !




Big. Geeky. Vintage. Glasses. funkomavintage.


Bathroom re-do.

The bathroom...needs a re-do. With its Reagan-era golden oak accessories, the moldy plastic shower curtain, the hopeless goopy caulk...What's a renter to do?
It's never easy as a renter...always 20 days away from being homeless, living with the bottom of the barrel fixtures, cheap materials, and installers that had no talent for design, carpentry, plumbing or painting.
And, it's easy, EASY, to decorate a big house, but in a tiny house......Every trick I know about making it all look lovely and doing it on the cheap.....to create Delicious Home Gumbo from the Pig Ears and Chicken Shit that I have to work with, and what 99% of renters have, for their "Befores"....
I need Inspiration !!
Good ol' Apartment Therapy..........look !

Here's some pretty pictures....I gotta choose the wall color first and then everything else will be Easy-Peasy. Bye bye mold, gloom and doom !
 Once I get going........then you'll see my BEFORE picture....and the AFTER. It's bad. So So bad.


OOooooooo......Clean bathrooms. Pretty pictures.
I love the pale serene calm.... of course....
having beautiful vintage fixtures is very helpful but I don't have that as starting point.






This is tasty ! like French Vanilla ice cream... & I do have a black and white floor...so, this is a possibility. Of course, this room is exactly the same size as my whole house !






I like this little charmer too. All white with a happy pop of color.






White and gray and skulls! White, silver and gray. 





and now for something entirely different !






and if we decide to move into Outer Spaaaaace, this is perfect!





Add 100 orchids, ferns, palm trees and a rocking sound system, this is very near my dream.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

I. S. Y. N. Real Life is like a Painting

Here's dude wearing a nifty T shirt from prettypennyclothing on etsy..... and visit our shop, we are located @ 5488 college ave. Oakland, Ca. 94618.

........and here's my painting.

Co-inky-dink? I.S.Y.N.*


Yeah I Know !
I guess that's why I titled the painting "vintage urban Beatnik guy watercolor painting".



*I shit you not

Monday, June 13, 2011

T Shirts. Jeans. Boots.


always with the tshirts....the jeans....the boots....Yeah, but it's a good look. It was just work clothes..dungarees, sailor denims, undershirts, and work boots....and thanks to the hippies, the flower children, the drop-outs, the troublemakers, the war-enders, the kids that got the Go Local and Buy Organic thing going...yeah ....starting wearing them all the time to identify with the working class.

Besides wearing pants that look like the American Flag.....
Here's a thought for the upcoming Independence Day holiday....
There's 3 classes. The Wealthy class doesn't do any work, The middle class pretends to do work, and the working class holds them both up....
Well, thanks to the rich destroying the middle class over the last 30 years,  the middle class now feels like the working class....because they are ! Now. We're ALL holding up the rich....

Feeling flag? Feeling like protesting the Republican party? Wear these pants and be all Abbie Hoffman for the 4th of July !



Abbie Hoffman in his famous American flag shirt ....pic from Last FM.
mmm, I have that black belt listed on etsy, too. not the actual belt Abbie wore...one from the era and that style !





Jeans jeans jeans....




Vintage T shirts !

And then these Neanderthals of Butt rawk....Skid Row, World Tour? my ass. They never left the North American continent....
still, exactly the right tshirt to annoy your Tea Party jackass at the 4th of July picnic....disrespectful use of the American flag....Take that, you Don't Tread on Me idiot!




And a superfine perfectly faded Syracuse tee in navy with orange letters....Nice....



Electric rainbow Las Vegas Parrot Hibiscus vintage 70s t shirt....it's just so cute.





And some boots....and some vintage Converse made in the usa !!



Boots !