green

OK, so maybe we’re still doing a few odd jobs during her stay…

I replaced the back doorbell today, and Ted mowed the back 40 with our new lawnmower!

By the way, we just saw American Beauty this evening - hands down, an excellent film. Good script, terrific performances…well worth seeing.

We are taking the week off to play host to Ted’s sister, Bethany, who is making her first visit to Los Angeles.

The past week (and probably next week, too) has been more of the usual - fixing little things, unpacking boxes–essentially, getting ready for an upcoming visit from Ted’s sister this coming Thursday. We’ve painted the entry and hallway Desert Tumbleweed, with the same Pearly Gates trim.

This is also day three of a string of unintended primary color references, starting Thursday at a screening of the newly digitally mastered version of Yellow Submarine. Friday, Ted and I dined at a local Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant, Red Moon (celebrating one month since closing!), and during our Saturday morning errand excursion, we ended up at a country café in Santa Monica: Blueberry. Piet Mondrian would be proud.

We have already identified our blue jays as Western Scrub Jays; still trying to figure out what the brownish birds are (long tail, light brown plumage, and they eat these small moth-like bugs). We also see some sort of sparrows (flying too quickly to identify), and a hummingbird.

A day of miscellaneous home chores: some tree pruning and raking, washing the car, wood-filling gouges and nicks in our front door and frame. Ted and I agree on a paint color for our entry and hallway.

We are invited by friends to join them at the movies. The film: Albert Brooks’ The Muse, a good idea somewhat poorly executed. The film had its merits–notably, good casting with Sharon Stone as the Muse, a fine bit of dialogue and performance in a party scene where Brooks is (trying to) have a discussion with someone whose English is less than perfect, or some of the many celebrity cameos (others were strictly gratuitous and showed it)–but what could have been an exploration of an interesting premise ended up being all about Brooks and his whining, offering little else in the way of character or story development. The last act, where explanations are presented and the story turns to its conclusion, felt cheap; a quick and unsatisfying way to end the film. My suggestion is to wait for it on video.

Spent the day with friends - an afternoon of dining and conversation, as well as a tour of the new house.

Still feeling a little crappy today, so I take it slow. Spent today taping trim, scraping paint from the windows (all 24 panes), and painting the walls. It’s looking good.

Mom visits, insists on cleaning our brass bathroom fixtures. Several hours of brass polish and elbow grease later, we have some attractive faucets! Fixtures I believed were beyond hope - encrusted in rust and unbelieveably ugly - are now making me re-think my no-brass stance. She’s amazing.

Dinner is take-out from Planet China (a member of our local Chamber of Commerce, BTW - support your local businesses).

My nose is starting to get stuffy, and my throat is tickling. I dosed up on vitamins and drank some juice.

Finishing sanding, and two coats of Pearly Gates on the trim in my office.

And for anyone who cares to know, these multi-paned sash windows and garden door are pretty, but a real pain in the ass to paint.

>yawn<