A Long Overdue Update
Aug. 17th, 2007 05:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
d_aulnoyDear LJ:
I passed my driving test! Ahahahahaha! Weep for the poor suckers on the road beside me ... or, alternately, don't, as during today's test I saw three people leaving their blinkers on for blocks and blocks with no apparent intention of turning, one guy who swerved into my lane so suddenly that my driving instructor was moved to wonder if he, too, was taking the test (being alone in the car, he was not, apparently ... just a scary-bad driver), and, if not a partridge in a pear-tree, at least four insouciant peacocks wandering the streets of Arcadia, which has to be a much bigger distraction than one blonde from NY.
So what, you might ask, willd_aulnoy be driving? Well. It's a decade old red Ford Taurus that has been christened my Ashtray, as it's the one indoor place in this gods-benighted state where I get to smoke. (The Gnu is pushing for Cardinal Richelieu due to the red, but, well, he's A) had ten years to name the damned thing, and B) is pushing for Kaiser Wilhelm for his new ride, so I figure he's overridden. He might get the compromise choice of Cardinal Ashtray, but only if we name the new (German) vehicle either Jacob Grimm or Catherine the Great.) And where, you might ask, will my Ashtray be housed?
Why, in the garage of our new home. Funny story, that. Remember how I was raving about the place with the loft? We stumbled across that one in our hunt just a leetle too late ... it was already taken. But the broker kept in touch while we were away, and found another one in the same building, almost identical ... just, not quite. Whereas the other one had felt spacious and sophisticated, this one felt weirdly ... well, furtive. How can an apartment be furtive? Well, for one thing, instead of having a normal-against-the-wall-loft, this one had a strange catwalk stretching over the top of the kitchen/living-room which felt more like a treehouse than anything else (great place to put our eventual pool table, I suppose, but aside from that ... ?) as well as a thieve's den.
Yes, you read that right. A real, honest to god, hidden-room, thieve's den, carved out of the crawl-space by the loft. It was the most tempting part of the place, truth be told. Aside from that, the layout was just ... weird. Especially given that it was a tad pricier than the one we'd originally fallen for ....
... but, in an effort to convince us that it was well worth it, the broker sent us a bunch of other listings for similar places in the same area, one of which caught the Gnu's eye as we were literally heading out the door for a second, make-or-break peek at Loft Deux, and, well. Pool. Patio. Balcony. Townhouse.
Need I say more?
I am currently engaged in the process of painting everything indigo and crimson and gold (expect a long and outraged post about paint color names soon, because, honestly, if you've ever stared, aghast, at the nomenclature of nail-polish? Oh, honey, you've barely touched on the thin edge of the wedge ....) and the Gnu is currently engaged in desperately trying to dissuade me from gilding either him, the cat, or my Ashtray.
Hell, if you're going to pray for anyone, I suppose you might as well pray for him; after all, not only does he have to drive with me, he has to live with me.
Love,
A Long Absent Moi
I passed my driving test! Ahahahahaha! Weep for the poor suckers on the road beside me ... or, alternately, don't, as during today's test I saw three people leaving their blinkers on for blocks and blocks with no apparent intention of turning, one guy who swerved into my lane so suddenly that my driving instructor was moved to wonder if he, too, was taking the test (being alone in the car, he was not, apparently ... just a scary-bad driver), and, if not a partridge in a pear-tree, at least four insouciant peacocks wandering the streets of Arcadia, which has to be a much bigger distraction than one blonde from NY.
So what, you might ask, will
d_aulnoy be driving? Well. It's a decade old red Ford Taurus that has been christened my Ashtray, as it's the one indoor place in this gods-benighted state where I get to smoke. (The Gnu is pushing for Cardinal Richelieu due to the red, but, well, he's A) had ten years to name the damned thing, and B) is pushing for Kaiser Wilhelm for his new ride, so I figure he's overridden. He might get the compromise choice of Cardinal Ashtray, but only if we name the new (German) vehicle either Jacob Grimm or Catherine the Great.) And where, you might ask, will my Ashtray be housed?Why, in the garage of our new home. Funny story, that. Remember how I was raving about the place with the loft? We stumbled across that one in our hunt just a leetle too late ... it was already taken. But the broker kept in touch while we were away, and found another one in the same building, almost identical ... just, not quite. Whereas the other one had felt spacious and sophisticated, this one felt weirdly ... well, furtive. How can an apartment be furtive? Well, for one thing, instead of having a normal-against-the-wall-loft, this one had a strange catwalk stretching over the top of the kitchen/living-room which felt more like a treehouse than anything else (great place to put our eventual pool table, I suppose, but aside from that ... ?) as well as a thieve's den.
Yes, you read that right. A real, honest to god, hidden-room, thieve's den, carved out of the crawl-space by the loft. It was the most tempting part of the place, truth be told. Aside from that, the layout was just ... weird. Especially given that it was a tad pricier than the one we'd originally fallen for ....
... but, in an effort to convince us that it was well worth it, the broker sent us a bunch of other listings for similar places in the same area, one of which caught the Gnu's eye as we were literally heading out the door for a second, make-or-break peek at Loft Deux, and, well. Pool. Patio. Balcony. Townhouse.
Need I say more?
I am currently engaged in the process of painting everything indigo and crimson and gold (expect a long and outraged post about paint color names soon, because, honestly, if you've ever stared, aghast, at the nomenclature of nail-polish? Oh, honey, you've barely touched on the thin edge of the wedge ....) and the Gnu is currently engaged in desperately trying to dissuade me from gilding either him, the cat, or my Ashtray.
Hell, if you're going to pray for anyone, I suppose you might as well pray for him; after all, not only does he have to drive with me, he has to live with me.
Love,
A Long Absent Moi
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no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 01:18 am (UTC)Also, even though the car's name is Cardinal Richelieu, there will be no gilding.
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Date: 2007-08-18 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 01:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 01:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 05:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 05:17 am (UTC)(Yes, curiously, I would rather have a dead 17th c. dignitary in the garage - I've gotten quite attached to my Ashtray.)
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Date: 2007-08-18 05:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 05:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2007-08-18 02:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 04:43 am (UTC)(and let's make this a game in the comments, possibly to be reposted in the next post)
A) An unused gallon of Wisteria which looked good on the chip, but not so good in the house,
B) A quart of Victorian Red,
C) A gallon of Calypso
D) A gallon of Summer Gold
And numerous cans of spray paint. Now, guess what colors any of these names actually designate?
no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 05:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 12:23 pm (UTC)A. a light blueish purple. Or just straight up lilac.
B. bright red. Probably more blue than orange.
C. Totally stumped. Either blue grey or wicked navy.
D. Orange-yellow.
On the one hand, I'm totally tempted to just use the colors I loved again in the next house, on the other hand, I'm lured in by the idea of playing with all those swatches again.
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Date: 2007-08-18 05:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 01:58 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2007-08-18 08:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2007-08-18 08:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-20 06:29 am (UTC)(Apologetically, me)
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Date: 2007-08-18 02:05 pm (UTC)You sound very happy. It's good to hear.
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Date: 2007-08-20 06:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 03:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-20 06:30 am (UTC)P.S. - You were right; it *is* like having a giant purse, and thus, utterly delightful.
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Date: 2007-08-19 03:26 pm (UTC)Ah, go paddle your own Gnu.
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Date: 2007-08-20 06:31 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2007-08-20 06:34 am (UTC)