well,  what can i say ... i was trying to rehab my insulted rotor cuff at the pool table in my cellar the other night, but it was too much for me.  i sat down and started pulling things out of a bookcase at the end of the table.  hadnt checked it out in years. trout fishing in america by richard brautigan caught my eye and i remembered what a trippy little read it was... inspirational as a creative writing example.  this guy was something.  its been a long debate about exacty what kind of something he was, but for a couple hours you can really be entertained.  below are just two examples of the 40 or so short essays available in its 112, five and a quarter x 8 inch, pages.  catch it if you can ... click the pages to read them ...

 

and in case you were wondering ... i give you here, the mayonaise chapter.

found some old 35 mm slides too ... well get to them later ..

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phillip johnson builds a gingerbread house

well, i really wasnt trying to copy his glass house.  kit just asked me if i wanted to make a gingerbread house, and, if i did, what kind of walls did i need.  over the last 20 years or so, we have made a few basic styles, but this year i thought i would go just a little outside the box and do something a little more modern.  click the photos to enlarge them ...

i had to have some gingerbread so i started with a rectangular back wall with two large windows above the kitchen cabinets.

and then i made an end wall and a door wall with pieces of pine and saran wrap.  at about that point, phillip johnson came to mind and i frittered achoice more than a couple hours coloring my interior walls, building some simple kitchen cabinets, an actual leather covered couch and a spalted maple coffee table.  i even stuck two andy warhol stamps on the walls for colorings.  it was a rainy saturday, ok?

i dont see any majestic wood stoves in the images above, but when i started fooling with the big gumdrops, i just couldnt resist thinking about them ...i remeber them from the 70s ...

there it is below, in the front left hand corner.  if you blow up the picture, (click it) you can see the couch and the coffee table lurking against the far wall.

 all in all, a fun time was had by all, and we got our quota of houses built and bottles of champagne drunk.

 

 you can see the typical concentration level required in the photo below.

    

 ive got one or two more posts in the works and i may get to them before christmas since it will be a four day weekend, but if not, you all have a fine holiday season ...

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