here is it, but two weeks before Christmas day, and I'm doing more plaster work in the dining room, filling in damage left behind in the plaster after removing the wainscot from one wall, and replacing all the door and window trim... at least Mrs. SOG and i are in agreement that the room will not be completed before the holidays, so our guests are going to be treated to the work in progress... i'm going to be painting the wainscot on the remaining three walls bright polar white, putting in new corner beading and chair rail, as well as painting all the woodwork the same white. as much as it pains me to paint nice wood, the room really needs some brightening up. we're going to be putting wallpaper on the odd wall, trying to find something that looks like realistic brick that doesn't cost a hundred bucks a roll... i'm also going to be reworking the raised hearth and making it level with the floor, which means removing the giant mantle and doing some sheetrock work, as well as all new trim. i might even go so far as to open up the old firebox, put in a stainless steel chimney liner and a woodburning insert, and getting rid of the coal stove. but that's for next year. so today, we're off chair shopping, we need at least six more chairs to go around the new table in the dining room, it's huge. almost 4 x 8 as it stands, it opens up to 12 feet. perfect for large scale feasting. then, it's off to the family Christmas gathering. enjoy the rest of your weekend..
don't get excited... i didn't pull Karen out of the memory box again, i was just thinking about something that Jim of Parkway Rest Stop posted today, on the most auspicious event of the 9th anniversary of his most excellent blog, which was last week... he commented on how many, present company included, have stopped blogging and fallen into the social network trap of Facebook. i mean, it does work, if you're interested in making sure your dribblings hit a pretty much captive audience, rather than the hit or miss reality of a regular blog. it's easy to fall into the comfort zone of it. it really is like cheap sex. it's the social handjob network syndrome... you either stroke yourself or get stroked by everyone else and you feel really good about yourself because you rubbed out some asinine comment or drop kicked a link from somewhere else. and everyone either sticks their thumbs up or drops a pat you on the back comment for being so fucking witty... but it's never enough, it's like adolescence all over again, that fourth trip of the day into the bathroom with your rag-tag copy of Stern magazine that you're always dragging around because, you tell everyone, it's really good to practice reading for your seventh grade German language class, but it's really for all those damned saucy adds they have for German girls underware... ok, you guys get the idea, right? that's Facebook... mental masturbation for the masses... well, that's about enough of that, don't you think?
all that sort of talk dragged up a particularly rancid episode in my affair with the fore mentioned Karen, she who lived over the cafe on the left coast, in Coronado, California. she who never wore clothes. she who always made a damned good pot of coffee. she of the famous black hair... one of these days, i'll finish telling those tales. but now, i need some bourbon. i'll be right back.
ah, how thou doth warm and cheer, Wild Turkey... my mood is better already. i almost wish i hadn't quit smoking, a nice, unfiltered Camel would really hit the spot right now. it's been just over six months without any tobacco, i'm looking forward to my one year anniversary, i'm going to light up a nice mellow cigar to celebrate. i think if i get one year under my belt, i'll be able to enjoy a stogie or my pipes once in a while without getting hooked on the coffin nails again. or not. at this stage of life, i'm beginning to wonder if it even really matters... it's funny how looking into the gaping maw of mortality puts things into a different perspective. a lot of crap that used to matter, just doesn't anymore. and some things that were just hanging there have suddenly become the most important things in the world. i guess it will all work itself out in the end, huh?
so. i'm going to endeavor to spend more time here and less time in the bathroom with Facebook. really. you'll see...
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