http://www.colourmod.com/
A Dashboard Widget allows you to select any color you want and find its Hex, HSV or RGB values without opening a graphics program.
ColourMod allows for selection and input of colors and values, and updates style sheets.
Colorcombos.com covers more detail on ColourMod's versatility and benefits.
Visit the Combo Tester page, click on the pencil and paper icon to play with the ColourMod, or on that tab from the colourmod site.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Why Blog? for Business Managers, CEOs and Evangelists
Blogging is an inexpensive marketing tool for business leaders with embryonic marketing budgets. Blogging links your writing and images to different kinds of search engines so people can find you automagically!
Blogging: Attracts the fine minds of your clients to your fine products and services through the many search engines and shifting forms of information retrieval. It is easier and less expensive for them to find you, than it is for you to find them.
It encourages two way communications with your customer base who will spread the word even further through their community webs; this is even more so among researchers, intellectuals, computer geeks, and specific communities, such as Spanish speakers, etc. (via Blogging functions Comments and trackbacks.)
Presence on the web is an ongoing quality, kept fresh by your blog; you and your company become real people to your clients.
One to many – blogging enables you to communicate to many readers at their convenience. This can evolve into a community base of people with similar needs and challenges communicating with one another.
Your expertise and knowledge is made openly available – if you are an industry expert it is apparent.
As you write on subjects you document where you learned about it, from who, and what specifically, extending knowledge and communication, possibly your education growing in the field as a result.
Blogging: Attracts the fine minds of your clients to your fine products and services through the many search engines and shifting forms of information retrieval. It is easier and less expensive for them to find you, than it is for you to find them.
It encourages two way communications with your customer base who will spread the word even further through their community webs; this is even more so among researchers, intellectuals, computer geeks, and specific communities, such as Spanish speakers, etc. (via Blogging functions Comments and trackbacks.)
Presence on the web is an ongoing quality, kept fresh by your blog; you and your company become real people to your clients.
One to many – blogging enables you to communicate to many readers at their convenience. This can evolve into a community base of people with similar needs and challenges communicating with one another.
Your expertise and knowledge is made openly available – if you are an industry expert it is apparent.
As you write on subjects you document where you learned about it, from who, and what specifically, extending knowledge and communication, possibly your education growing in the field as a result.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Quick Start Blogging for Growing Your Business
There are lots of reasons to blog to promote and grow a small business, but the ‘how’ part is the most important to get started. There are two kinds of blogging: public and anonymous.
First and most importantly there is public blogging linked to your professional website, where you identify who you are, with information on how you can be contacted, and encourage two way communication on the yummy goodness of your product.
Second there is true blogging where you write anonymously about any subject matter you choose, including your business, and if you have time for a creative outlet.
This is the Jekyll and Hyde of blogging. Because you write naturally, you should set up both blogs, because ideas and thoughts will occur to you as you write that may not be in your best business interest to publish on your public business blog, but remember –
here your Good Fairy Marketing Manager reminds you never, ever tell anyone who you really are in your anonymous blog even if you become famed writing it, not your wife, best friend or worse enemy, in person, over the phone, or in email. Keep yourself free.
Hyde (anonymous) blogging makes you a more interesting person to keep a secret, and gives you a sense of personal power as well as being an outlet to muse freely on any subject as true self expression without fear of reprisal, in the market or any other way.
The Free Stuff ---
Business Blog
To start blogging you need your business email address and I recommend starting out in Google’s Blogger http://www.blogger.com/ because you can link your blog easily to your existing Website, and “best of all it’s free!”.
Secret Blog
Blogging software works very similarly from application to application, and there are clusters of similar bloggers using the same platform, but for the Hyde blog I recommend you choose MSN Spaces http://spaces.msn.com because it is integrated very well with other Microsoft products and very easy to learn to use, and it is free also.
MSN Spaces is dedicated to a good user experience and freedom of speech (despite Press saying they don't, those working on Spaces take it VERY seriously, they believe in freedom of speech) and Microsoft Terms and Conditions spells out that you own your own content, MSN Spaces just publishes it on the Web for you.
For anonymous blogging over Spaces, first create an email address on Hotmail because you will need to sign in using your Microsoft Passport.
If you link your business blog yourself to your business site, on a UNIX based server system the file name for your blog in a unique directory should be index.html (or your choice of appropriate extension), if a Windows based server system the file name should be default.html. These settings and more are configurable in just about any major league blogging software.
By being connected to two very different blogging markets you are also covering more turf in terms of search indices and engines.
However, if you have a little money and some time, and you want to start with the best publishing platform software which is very configurable, try MOVABLE TYPE or TYPEPAD, http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/, http://www.typepad.com/ Typepad currently has a 30 day free trial offer.
So, that is just to begin. Go out without doing anything else and set up both your blogs right now.
Write your blog in some other software product, such as Microsoft Word, so that you do not accidentally delete it in the online format and you have a backup of your text. As of this writing Spaces can not easily control the appearance of fonts but that is expected to be remedied very soon.
Remember you can edit, change dates, delete, and otherwise change anything you publish.
In the case of your product, as with many services on the Web, it is actually more cost effective for your clients / customers to find you than it is for you to find them, by attracting their fine minds to your fine product.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Bloggers Unite to Make Hunger History
Dave Sifey on Backstage Blogging competition
Go to one.org and watch the video and sign the declaration. Get up to speed on what Live8 is all about.
Go to live8.technorati.com and put one of the badges on your blog. It is pretty easy to do, you just need to add the code on the badge page to your weblog template.
Go and read the posts about Live8 on Joe Trippi's blog and on Powerline - this is a nonpartisan effort.
Pick the show that's nearest to you - and send an email to me, Joe, and to John with the following information:
Your name and age
Your blog name and URL
Which show you want to go to (please only pick one show), and
Your snail mail address (so we know where to send the show packets)
Go and blog about Live 8, and tag your posts with the Live 8 tag (instructions on how to do this are here). You've got to put the badge up on your blog and have posted at least once about Live 8 with the tag to get selected.
Keep an eye on your mailbox. Given the incredible time crunch, we'll let you know what's up no later than Thursday June 30th.
Tell all your friends. The goal here is to get 100,000 blog posts out before the G8 summit, and to get as many people out there blogging about Live 8, third world debt relief, the plight of the hungry and poor everywhere and what we can do about it.
There may be additional credentials that we can get from the Live 8 people, and Joe, John, and I are going to work our butts off to get credentials for the other shows as well, including Toronto and the shows in Great Britain. More to come. In the meantime, please go out and listen, read, and blog - together perhaps we can help to shift the conversation, and influence country policies to help to make poverty history.
Live 8 Blogging
Go to one.org and watch the video and sign the declaration. Get up to speed on what Live8 is all about.
Go to live8.technorati.com and put one of the badges on your blog. It is pretty easy to do, you just need to add the code on the badge page to your weblog template.
Go and read the posts about Live8 on Joe Trippi's blog and on Powerline - this is a nonpartisan effort.
Pick the show that's nearest to you - and send an email to me, Joe, and to John with the following information:
Your name and age
Your blog name and URL
Which show you want to go to (please only pick one show), and
Your snail mail address (so we know where to send the show packets)
Go and blog about Live 8, and tag your posts with the Live 8 tag (instructions on how to do this are here). You've got to put the badge up on your blog and have posted at least once about Live 8 with the tag to get selected.
Keep an eye on your mailbox. Given the incredible time crunch, we'll let you know what's up no later than Thursday June 30th.
Tell all your friends. The goal here is to get 100,000 blog posts out before the G8 summit, and to get as many people out there blogging about Live 8, third world debt relief, the plight of the hungry and poor everywhere and what we can do about it.
There may be additional credentials that we can get from the Live 8 people, and Joe, John, and I are going to work our butts off to get credentials for the other shows as well, including Toronto and the shows in Great Britain. More to come. In the meantime, please go out and listen, read, and blog - together perhaps we can help to shift the conversation, and influence country policies to help to make poverty history.
Live 8 Blogging
Sunday, June 19, 2005
The Deep Web
http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/pKwv3XqPkSM6sx/Yahoo-Releases-Beta-Deep-Web-Subscription-Search.xhtml
Saturday, June 18, 2005
New Interface Update for CNN
Today CNN.com updated it's main page interface with an easier to read index page. Why is it easier to read? The are leaving the strong blue headers and replacing them with greenish light grey section headers, adding new organization to each header, such as video.
The CNN UI / UX team added lighter colors, and some vertical text, self referenced with similar colors. The color pallet is much more interesting, and feels more transparent. There is a much stronger focus on video, with easier access throughout the initial page.
Green is one of the most easy colors for the human eye to differenciate, as more of our visual range is assigned to it.
One of the interesting things about how they are doing this update of the interface, is adding new changes gradually, almost so you wouldn't notice. This way readers/customers can become accustomed to the changes slowly, and not feel as if they are lost.
Speaking of lost, I was so excited to see how well MSNBC.com was doing with their UI design. But suddenly they introduced page long Flash ads that one has to close in order to read the page contents. Their team has somehow suddenly forgotten the idea of User Experience!
FI! I can hardly wait until they have driven away enough customers to put the ads back in their place! I was so hopeful!
The CNN UI / UX team added lighter colors, and some vertical text, self referenced with similar colors. The color pallet is much more interesting, and feels more transparent. There is a much stronger focus on video, with easier access throughout the initial page.
Green is one of the most easy colors for the human eye to differenciate, as more of our visual range is assigned to it.
One of the interesting things about how they are doing this update of the interface, is adding new changes gradually, almost so you wouldn't notice. This way readers/customers can become accustomed to the changes slowly, and not feel as if they are lost.
Speaking of lost, I was so excited to see how well MSNBC.com was doing with their UI design. But suddenly they introduced page long Flash ads that one has to close in order to read the page contents. Their team has somehow suddenly forgotten the idea of User Experience!
FI! I can hardly wait until they have driven away enough customers to put the ads back in their place! I was so hopeful!
Monday, June 13, 2005
UI / UX Interview with Microsoft
Today I interviewed for a perm position at Microsoft to help redesign a product's training Web site.
What was cool about it was that in the course of our conversations I was shown the original designs for the Web site, and I quickly analyzed it and got everything right in terms of what they had already done and the improvements they needed to make.
But better than that I knew exactly where I could take them successfully to the next stage in functional design.
I discussed what basic changes to make it user friendly and easier to read and negotiate. I mentioned, because the audience would be predominately male, that the images and shapes should be attractive and relaxing to the eye, and begin with some females, then show people, including people of color working together on systems, laptops and with handheld devices.
Also I showed that the straight lines were too formal and tended to zoom the enduser's eyes right off the screen.
Then the interviewer showed me the next design, executed by two additional designers which surprise! surprise! surprise! - showed curved lines and a pleasant looking woman. It was "sexier" in the sense of appealing, and more relaxed.
Each time the interviewer showed me a new revision, I discussed what needed to happen - and I was correct each time - what an ego booster!I showed him some modern designs of a group of programmers and IT guys working in a friendly environment, but using futurist fonts, with a slightly Star Trek style design, that it was much more appealing to the audience they are designing the site for.
Speaking about flexible design (such as with CSS) and how to communicate process I showed him some designs that include process, and discussed how showing breadcrumbs and numbering processes is OK, it sets the enduser's expectation that it is a process, and how many steps to expect.
He also showed me some very bright red designs that covered the entire screen - I had to agree that it was more than a bit overwhelming. Color as used by a trained artist, who is also a colorist and understands the physiological and physical responses people have to strong color can be a useful tool, or it can fail to achieve useful goals if misused or misunderstood.
I discussed four primary design elements and strong design considerations for Web page design:
1. Who is your audience?
2. Where is the most useful real estate on a page and why is that vital?
3. What is the golden rectangle or golden mean and how is it used to direct the eye in refined designs?
4. How mammals, including human beings react to being presented with any screen or vista.
For me design is often spontaneous, it comes complete, or nearly complete in a flash of insight. Which is not to say that there are not going to be any changes. Often too I draw things on paper and evolve, consult with others, redesign, and rework until it is very close, and then do a final version which is submitted to be tested.
The UI testing, such as performed by information architect testers, often will uncover unexpected or unanticipated design flaws, which can be fixed and retested on an iterative basis.
In the case of working with Developers I found that they are readers pure and simple - if something is a huge red circle reading BUY ME HERE RIGHT NOW, they will skip it, and probably perceive it as an advertisement. But if it is in even a small font and reads, Buy name of product now then they will perceive it and click on that text.
This is exactly what the world's leading experts have been saying all along about design. For those interested in what is new in the field, considered checking out and subscribing to Dr. Jakob Nielsen's http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ current issues in Web usability.
Microsoft is a great company that has a lot of wonderful technology at it's fingertips - getting things right with the human - computer interface and interaction is a bit more difficult.
What was cool about it was that in the course of our conversations I was shown the original designs for the Web site, and I quickly analyzed it and got everything right in terms of what they had already done and the improvements they needed to make.
But better than that I knew exactly where I could take them successfully to the next stage in functional design.
I discussed what basic changes to make it user friendly and easier to read and negotiate. I mentioned, because the audience would be predominately male, that the images and shapes should be attractive and relaxing to the eye, and begin with some females, then show people, including people of color working together on systems, laptops and with handheld devices.
Also I showed that the straight lines were too formal and tended to zoom the enduser's eyes right off the screen.
Then the interviewer showed me the next design, executed by two additional designers which surprise! surprise! surprise! - showed curved lines and a pleasant looking woman. It was "sexier" in the sense of appealing, and more relaxed.
Each time the interviewer showed me a new revision, I discussed what needed to happen - and I was correct each time - what an ego booster!I showed him some modern designs of a group of programmers and IT guys working in a friendly environment, but using futurist fonts, with a slightly Star Trek style design, that it was much more appealing to the audience they are designing the site for.
Speaking about flexible design (such as with CSS) and how to communicate process I showed him some designs that include process, and discussed how showing breadcrumbs and numbering processes is OK, it sets the enduser's expectation that it is a process, and how many steps to expect.
He also showed me some very bright red designs that covered the entire screen - I had to agree that it was more than a bit overwhelming. Color as used by a trained artist, who is also a colorist and understands the physiological and physical responses people have to strong color can be a useful tool, or it can fail to achieve useful goals if misused or misunderstood.
I discussed four primary design elements and strong design considerations for Web page design:
1. Who is your audience?
2. Where is the most useful real estate on a page and why is that vital?
3. What is the golden rectangle or golden mean and how is it used to direct the eye in refined designs?
4. How mammals, including human beings react to being presented with any screen or vista.
For me design is often spontaneous, it comes complete, or nearly complete in a flash of insight. Which is not to say that there are not going to be any changes. Often too I draw things on paper and evolve, consult with others, redesign, and rework until it is very close, and then do a final version which is submitted to be tested.
The UI testing, such as performed by information architect testers, often will uncover unexpected or unanticipated design flaws, which can be fixed and retested on an iterative basis.
In the case of working with Developers I found that they are readers pure and simple - if something is a huge red circle reading BUY ME HERE RIGHT NOW, they will skip it, and probably perceive it as an advertisement. But if it is in even a small font and reads, Buy name of product now then they will perceive it and click on that text.
This is exactly what the world's leading experts have been saying all along about design. For those interested in what is new in the field, considered checking out and subscribing to Dr. Jakob Nielsen's http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ current issues in Web usability.
Microsoft is a great company that has a lot of wonderful technology at it's fingertips - getting things right with the human - computer interface and interaction is a bit more difficult.
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Friday, February 04, 2005
Intuitive Understanding of Systems and Design - new word "urbanophile"
Well nothing as deadly to a blog as posting a poem, so much for being a rule breaker!
All the real bloggers' rules I am breaking - you know who, where and what I am because I have associated my writing with my business, or at least with my business resume. And because I want you to know. But blogging in a freestyle with energy may be more effective and fun if you don't know the author, and if the author doesn't let on who he or she is.
It's like putting your business sign on your car - it's fine if you are a careful and considerate driver, but if like to drive your sportscar fast and you cut someone off accidently or they take offence, it is your business that is represented on the road.
Reading the real bloggers you don't even know what gender they are (Say hello George Sands). The wild and woolly days of self expression on the information hiway are here, to stay. There are ways to control traffic and monitize these sources of information, but real writing by real people is out and loose in the world.
So why did I do it this way-- because as a creative it must be sort of well, restrictive? Yes, well fundamentally it is, one only has so much time to do things like write. But for the greater good as both a left and right brained person, I want to have the left brained ones be able to find me so they can make clever use of my right brain & left brain bridges to help build a better world.
The techies, the geeks, and nerds thought we had our brave new world in our hands - even some retired before the snakeoil salesmen took over what had been a grand fun time leading up to the high tech craze and crash of 2001. Nothing was as hollow as the white man's getto of Silicon Valley in 2000.
I even laughed off my "psychic friends" who warned me, prior to 1995, that things were going to hit the wall and turn ugly after about 2000 - they warned me that money would be more difficult to come by. Look at all this money I am making I thought! Hey I'll be able to buy a house, continue to travel and meet some of my nerdy interior goals. It doesn't even matter that I left millions of dollars worth of stock on the table at Microsoft in '93 and at RealNetworks in '96.
But my feeling that despite how much torture I had to endure in the linear thinking, instructional based, right brain repressive, non-expressive universe of the technical knowledgeworker, that some day it would be worth the trauma appears to be coming to fruition.
In the old days my heart hurt alot. After working in tech my personality changed significantly - I became kinder, truer, and gentler. I found that there is no where to hide and nothing to defend, because you are always with you. The wildchild was tamer, but rather than sensing immediate changes, continued to use my intuition to sense things as they might become - with some accuracy. I gave the first public speech at Microsoft on the advent of the Internet, asking the user education folks to store their files intended for printing instead of deleting them so we could distribute them in the future.
Being fundamentally (one could say 'terminally') creative is not something you erase by working with technology, but it is important to get along with people in the world. To me not just get along with them, by hopefully to teach by example, and encourage them on their mission in the world. It is not my job to change others, I found, only myself.
The tech industry now needs me to be a nexialist - a jack of all trades - a designer with an INTUITIVE urbanophile understanding of systems, software and design so we can more effectively combine it with meeting human needs.
We are very much in the early days of technology, and even if I and other can see clearly into the future, it is step by step that we meet that future creating it as it arises.
Yes, I still love Paul Simon's melodic ballads and Green Day's rants, En Vogue is major eye candy but who cares? I can't spell worth a darn because I still think words can be spelled all kinds of different ways. Sometimes I have to hear something twice to memorize it. I was made to feel terrible about that in a work review 15-20 years ago - "Some times Linda has to hear information twice". But then I was reading the life story of one of the world's great ancient pandits, and there it was, "Sometimes I have to hear something twice" What a relief! If the smartest man in the world admitted that sometimes he had to hear something twice, what hope is there for the rest of us?
All the real bloggers' rules I am breaking - you know who, where and what I am because I have associated my writing with my business, or at least with my business resume. And because I want you to know. But blogging in a freestyle with energy may be more effective and fun if you don't know the author, and if the author doesn't let on who he or she is.
It's like putting your business sign on your car - it's fine if you are a careful and considerate driver, but if like to drive your sportscar fast and you cut someone off accidently or they take offence, it is your business that is represented on the road.
Reading the real bloggers you don't even know what gender they are (Say hello George Sands). The wild and woolly days of self expression on the information hiway are here, to stay. There are ways to control traffic and monitize these sources of information, but real writing by real people is out and loose in the world.
So why did I do it this way-- because as a creative it must be sort of well, restrictive? Yes, well fundamentally it is, one only has so much time to do things like write. But for the greater good as both a left and right brained person, I want to have the left brained ones be able to find me so they can make clever use of my right brain & left brain bridges to help build a better world.
The techies, the geeks, and nerds thought we had our brave new world in our hands - even some retired before the snakeoil salesmen took over what had been a grand fun time leading up to the high tech craze and crash of 2001. Nothing was as hollow as the white man's getto of Silicon Valley in 2000.
I even laughed off my "psychic friends" who warned me, prior to 1995, that things were going to hit the wall and turn ugly after about 2000 - they warned me that money would be more difficult to come by. Look at all this money I am making I thought! Hey I'll be able to buy a house, continue to travel and meet some of my nerdy interior goals. It doesn't even matter that I left millions of dollars worth of stock on the table at Microsoft in '93 and at RealNetworks in '96.
But my feeling that despite how much torture I had to endure in the linear thinking, instructional based, right brain repressive, non-expressive universe of the technical knowledgeworker, that some day it would be worth the trauma appears to be coming to fruition.
In the old days my heart hurt alot. After working in tech my personality changed significantly - I became kinder, truer, and gentler. I found that there is no where to hide and nothing to defend, because you are always with you. The wildchild was tamer, but rather than sensing immediate changes, continued to use my intuition to sense things as they might become - with some accuracy. I gave the first public speech at Microsoft on the advent of the Internet, asking the user education folks to store their files intended for printing instead of deleting them so we could distribute them in the future.
Being fundamentally (one could say 'terminally') creative is not something you erase by working with technology, but it is important to get along with people in the world. To me not just get along with them, by hopefully to teach by example, and encourage them on their mission in the world. It is not my job to change others, I found, only myself.
The tech industry now needs me to be a nexialist - a jack of all trades - a designer with an INTUITIVE urbanophile understanding of systems, software and design so we can more effectively combine it with meeting human needs.
We are very much in the early days of technology, and even if I and other can see clearly into the future, it is step by step that we meet that future creating it as it arises.
Yes, I still love Paul Simon's melodic ballads and Green Day's rants, En Vogue is major eye candy but who cares? I can't spell worth a darn because I still think words can be spelled all kinds of different ways. Sometimes I have to hear something twice to memorize it. I was made to feel terrible about that in a work review 15-20 years ago - "Some times Linda has to hear information twice". But then I was reading the life story of one of the world's great ancient pandits, and there it was, "Sometimes I have to hear something twice" What a relief! If the smartest man in the world admitted that sometimes he had to hear something twice, what hope is there for the rest of us?
People have their own problems, it does not one twit of good if we take it on ourselves.
NOTE: Torture is a word so uncommon to my use that I looked it up on the front page of CNN - some woman named Linda is happily married to some man named John and they love to torture kids in Florida by pulling out their toenails and beating them with a hammer - and people worry about Jackson - harm comes in all kinds of ways and affects people really differently. I could not spell torture well enough to find it via Dictionary.com - technology is for me not against me - at least I can spell it.
Friday, January 21, 2005
House done back to Work! The Olympus Spa
So we completed the renovation of Jeanette's house, and it is stunning. We invited a realtor to come and view both before and after and all she could do is compliment us over and over again - "it is amazing! amazing!, simply amazing! I would certainly recommend you to my clients," she told me,"The colors! Just everything!"
So I returned to work in the software industry the very next week, which is a challenge and a delight!
The job entails working with "Spaces", Microsoft's new blogging software, a subject after my own heart - communication via the Web!
When possible I will add a link to my new blog.
Oh, and by the way, I moved out of the lovely turn of the century house I was renting, the front retaining wall collapsed! So I am staying with friends, camped out on Julie's floor, as she makes plans to move to Algeria for 6 months.
Jeanette took a well-deserved vacation to Baja with Sara, watching whales from a small skiff.
I've been invited home to Alaska to enjoy the summer with two groups of friends - I was teased by Alaskan tourist photographs someone at work has as their screensaver - the color of the light is so unique I could tell right away where it was.
My idea of a vacation is to travel to the largest metropolis I can, Hong Kong is a kick for instance, and so is New York City. I really felt I was on a spiritual high in San Francisco overlooking the city from Twin Peaks for Christmas of 2001, a refreshing change from the completely lonely white man's getto of Silicon Valley at that time.
It doesn't make sense to me to save travel mad money for some distant time in the future when I may be too old to walk around, just touring in long buses peering out from that cool dark microclimate into the real world as if it were a moving tv set. But then I think of the Indian heat and am just glad we all have choices in our potential adventures.
Everyone is talking in thirsty whispers about the Korean-style women only "Olympus Spa" in Tacoma,
8615 S. Tacoma Way Lakewood, WA 98499
Phone: 253-588-3355, 253-582-6625 Fax: 253-588-3367
http://spas.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Folympusspa.com%2F
No swimsuit kinda serious about health place - 3 different temperature of hot tubs and a cool pool with a waterfall, with a massive exfoliate attack - whirlpools, sauna, steam room. Living like a queen sounds really right to me somehow, body scrubs, wraps, honey and cream moisturizing, massage, reflexology, and paraffin treatments for hands and feet. Honey I can take it really I can! I gotta gotta do it, and bring some friends soon.
So I returned to work in the software industry the very next week, which is a challenge and a delight!
The job entails working with "Spaces", Microsoft's new blogging software, a subject after my own heart - communication via the Web!
When possible I will add a link to my new blog.
Oh, and by the way, I moved out of the lovely turn of the century house I was renting, the front retaining wall collapsed! So I am staying with friends, camped out on Julie's floor, as she makes plans to move to Algeria for 6 months.
Jeanette took a well-deserved vacation to Baja with Sara, watching whales from a small skiff.
I've been invited home to Alaska to enjoy the summer with two groups of friends - I was teased by Alaskan tourist photographs someone at work has as their screensaver - the color of the light is so unique I could tell right away where it was.
My idea of a vacation is to travel to the largest metropolis I can, Hong Kong is a kick for instance, and so is New York City. I really felt I was on a spiritual high in San Francisco overlooking the city from Twin Peaks for Christmas of 2001, a refreshing change from the completely lonely white man's getto of Silicon Valley at that time.
It doesn't make sense to me to save travel mad money for some distant time in the future when I may be too old to walk around, just touring in long buses peering out from that cool dark microclimate into the real world as if it were a moving tv set. But then I think of the Indian heat and am just glad we all have choices in our potential adventures.
Everyone is talking in thirsty whispers about the Korean-style women only "Olympus Spa" in Tacoma,
8615 S. Tacoma Way Lakewood, WA 98499
Phone: 253-588-3355, 253-582-6625 Fax: 253-588-3367
http://spas.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Folympusspa.com%2F
No swimsuit kinda serious about health place - 3 different temperature of hot tubs and a cool pool with a waterfall, with a massive exfoliate attack - whirlpools, sauna, steam room. Living like a queen sounds really right to me somehow, body scrubs, wraps, honey and cream moisturizing, massage, reflexology, and paraffin treatments for hands and feet. Honey I can take it really I can! I gotta gotta do it, and bring some friends soon.
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Nearing Completion - Wallpaper up & Done Stuff
Today, the 15th of December was the planned end date for our project.
We are still painting and cleaning and shuffling things around.The upstairs area has been beautifully and effectively wallpapered by Gypsy and Liz, "Deck the Wall" professionals who gave us a great deal.
The hallway on the top floor between the two bedrooms just became a marvelous castle with white swirly walls above the bleached "Alaska Oak" paneling, and between a matched set of new doors stained to look like light oak, the white bead board closets line the wall opposite the raised texture of the wallpaper.
The new blonde colored Berber style carpet Jeanette picked out is wall-to-wall throughout the top floor of the house which polishes and elevates the feeling to one of intimate security where you and your kids are safe.
The seams that came loose were reglued with seam paste. All the smallest detailing after the carpet was laid, accomplished.
The corner cabinet that Sara Storm painted white and envisioned toile wallpaper decorating it is complete - it is near idyllic as French Country Hobbit has a right to be. It is very feminine, and needs some masculine objects, a bit heavier in feeling and what it evokes.Staging is next.
Julie and Jay have completed installing all the tiles in white - like dentals - and the protective coat on the grout to seal it will be the finishing touch.
The most changed room is the Kitchen without a doubt, with the much lighter shades of yellow on the walls and white trim, and the piece de resistance is the wide old steel 1930's sink that Jay sprayed with commercial grade white enamel, without mistake. Factory white without fail! Jay! Our hero! Of course artist that he is, he wanted to do it again!
The office has made great strides forward and every one loves the curtains, bought on sale at JC Pennies, made in a formal new style of gold metallic lace, in a vertical wave pattern.
The best news is that Rossy was able to complete work on sewing all the curtains before she left for Mexico for Christmas with her daughter, Ariella. Amazing amount of sewing.
Since now is the time to begin to stage the house, sleep is required for accuracy in hanging goodies. Still need two more pieces of curtain decoration and a twin bed, as well as a frame for it.
Renovation
Seattle
Redesign
We are still painting and cleaning and shuffling things around.The upstairs area has been beautifully and effectively wallpapered by Gypsy and Liz, "Deck the Wall" professionals who gave us a great deal.
The hallway on the top floor between the two bedrooms just became a marvelous castle with white swirly walls above the bleached "Alaska Oak" paneling, and between a matched set of new doors stained to look like light oak, the white bead board closets line the wall opposite the raised texture of the wallpaper.
The new blonde colored Berber style carpet Jeanette picked out is wall-to-wall throughout the top floor of the house which polishes and elevates the feeling to one of intimate security where you and your kids are safe.
The seams that came loose were reglued with seam paste. All the smallest detailing after the carpet was laid, accomplished.
The corner cabinet that Sara Storm painted white and envisioned toile wallpaper decorating it is complete - it is near idyllic as French Country Hobbit has a right to be. It is very feminine, and needs some masculine objects, a bit heavier in feeling and what it evokes.Staging is next.
Julie and Jay have completed installing all the tiles in white - like dentals - and the protective coat on the grout to seal it will be the finishing touch.
The most changed room is the Kitchen without a doubt, with the much lighter shades of yellow on the walls and white trim, and the piece de resistance is the wide old steel 1930's sink that Jay sprayed with commercial grade white enamel, without mistake. Factory white without fail! Jay! Our hero! Of course artist that he is, he wanted to do it again!
The office has made great strides forward and every one loves the curtains, bought on sale at JC Pennies, made in a formal new style of gold metallic lace, in a vertical wave pattern.
The best news is that Rossy was able to complete work on sewing all the curtains before she left for Mexico for Christmas with her daughter, Ariella. Amazing amount of sewing.
Since now is the time to begin to stage the house, sleep is required for accuracy in hanging goodies. Still need two more pieces of curtain decoration and a twin bed, as well as a frame for it.
Renovation
Seattle
Redesign
Thursday, December 02, 2004
Spa Feeling for Bathroom - Amazing Transformation
Almost all the walls in the small bungalow we are working to renovate, paint, and clean will be in a lovely gold light yellow, with white trim – except for the bathroom – done with puttycolored brown walls (paperbag perhaps?), with a brownie purplish grey trim. It looks great! It is so modern to go with the tiles around the Jacuzzi in the same colors. It is positively AMAZING what some filling, spackling, sanding, and a fresh layer of paint can do for a small, older bathroom.
Over the bathroom basin we are installing a mirrored 3 light vanity fixture to go with the 1930’s engraved style mirror I picked up from Lowe’s for $34, and framed with a gray picture frame ($24.) to match the grey trim. I replaced that one with the one shown in this photo for about $68.00 and used the other mirror in the kitchen.
This toned down grey and brown treatment for the bathroom has a very modern spa feel to it. Coupled with the new light fixtures (which one visitor to the house termed “classy” ha ha!) and a new lighted fan should emphasize the house's many water features - it’s koi pond out front and backyard gazebo housing a large wood hot tub (4 people comfortably). It always feels like you are being gently boiled by some good witch when out in the gazebo soaking after a long day working.
A great rule for staging a house for sale is:
“perfect -- where you look, and where you touch”
in otherwords it is worth your time and effort to detail those places in house where you first look and then are likely to touch. Kitchens and bathrooms are the most likely to be grungy and also are very important when refinishing a house to sell.
Both men and women are focused on the kitchen and bathroom of the house being livable and usable – upon moving in, and that means immaculately clean and perfect. It is true that smaller places require more time to detail, and small bathrooms are extremely important to detail out with spackle, sanding, and painting. Nothing should draw attention to itself and the focus should be gently directed to the room’s best features – in this case the giant Jacuzzi tub.
One interesting thing I corrected - with this house’s bathroom the light shines directly down on the door showing every bump and surface irregularity. If the door was new or had not much use and fewer levels of paint it would be easy to make it look good, but of course this is not the case here. The solution? Paint the inside of the door brown-grey to go with the trim! It hides the many flaws of the door and still maintains the modern spa appeal.
As part of the spa look we took the old standard mirrored cabinet from over the sink and painted it several layers of semi-gloss pure white. In the back of the cabinet I cut out and placed a piece of the toile wallpaper and set the shelves back into the cabinet, and placed it onto the wall above the toilet. The toile is a sweet visual surprise to anyone opening the cabinet!
What’s next? Painting the wall sizing for the wallpaper in the stairwell and small hallway, where the new bowl shaped African trading bead inspired light fixture illuminates the area in a warm glow. Completing the trim and corners in the last upstairs room.
Bowl shaped lighting fixtures have a certain positive Feng Shi aspect to them, of encouraging freeflowing energy and also wealth, as the bowl is full of light. As the top light fixture in the most private recess of the house, I think it is an excellent choice for many reasons.
Yesterday we also had a tourist – a woman who works as a children’s advocate who came to see the progress – it is interesting to see that as a project comes closer to completion people can begin to visualize what the additional goodies, like wallpaper will mean to the completed project.
Jeanette also helped keep us focused on the right design path – when we found a lovely nude painting, and spoke briefly about including it as part of the staging she said “what part of French Country Hobbit” is this?” Good point! – it may be perceived as inappropriate by some buyers and it does not suit the mood of the presentation. So we stick to the original design!
Renovation
Seattle
Over the bathroom basin we are installing a mirrored 3 light vanity fixture to go with the 1930’s engraved style mirror I picked up from Lowe’s for $34, and framed with a gray picture frame ($24.) to match the grey trim. I replaced that one with the one shown in this photo for about $68.00 and used the other mirror in the kitchen.
This toned down grey and brown treatment for the bathroom has a very modern spa feel to it. Coupled with the new light fixtures (which one visitor to the house termed “classy” ha ha!) and a new lighted fan should emphasize the house's many water features - it’s koi pond out front and backyard gazebo housing a large wood hot tub (4 people comfortably). It always feels like you are being gently boiled by some good witch when out in the gazebo soaking after a long day working.
A great rule for staging a house for sale is:
“perfect -- where you look, and where you touch”
in otherwords it is worth your time and effort to detail those places in house where you first look and then are likely to touch. Kitchens and bathrooms are the most likely to be grungy and also are very important when refinishing a house to sell.
Both men and women are focused on the kitchen and bathroom of the house being livable and usable – upon moving in, and that means immaculately clean and perfect. It is true that smaller places require more time to detail, and small bathrooms are extremely important to detail out with spackle, sanding, and painting. Nothing should draw attention to itself and the focus should be gently directed to the room’s best features – in this case the giant Jacuzzi tub.
One interesting thing I corrected - with this house’s bathroom the light shines directly down on the door showing every bump and surface irregularity. If the door was new or had not much use and fewer levels of paint it would be easy to make it look good, but of course this is not the case here. The solution? Paint the inside of the door brown-grey to go with the trim! It hides the many flaws of the door and still maintains the modern spa appeal.
As part of the spa look we took the old standard mirrored cabinet from over the sink and painted it several layers of semi-gloss pure white. In the back of the cabinet I cut out and placed a piece of the toile wallpaper and set the shelves back into the cabinet, and placed it onto the wall above the toilet. The toile is a sweet visual surprise to anyone opening the cabinet!
What’s next? Painting the wall sizing for the wallpaper in the stairwell and small hallway, where the new bowl shaped African trading bead inspired light fixture illuminates the area in a warm glow. Completing the trim and corners in the last upstairs room.
Bowl shaped lighting fixtures have a certain positive Feng Shi aspect to them, of encouraging freeflowing energy and also wealth, as the bowl is full of light. As the top light fixture in the most private recess of the house, I think it is an excellent choice for many reasons.
Yesterday we also had a tourist – a woman who works as a children’s advocate who came to see the progress – it is interesting to see that as a project comes closer to completion people can begin to visualize what the additional goodies, like wallpaper will mean to the completed project.
Jeanette also helped keep us focused on the right design path – when we found a lovely nude painting, and spoke briefly about including it as part of the staging she said “what part of French Country Hobbit” is this?” Good point! – it may be perceived as inappropriate by some buyers and it does not suit the mood of the presentation. So we stick to the original design!
Renovation
Seattle
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Progress on FaceLift of 1930's Bungalow
Jeanette's house renovation is going much faster with a larger team - an architect, a landscape designer, a goldminer wintering south in Seattle (no kidding!), and a few more friends are stopping by to lend a hand - we are focused on getting the house on the market before Christmas.
The living room and dining room have the finish coat painted completely twice - second time by the excitable dance paint and joke team of Sara and Jay - there are small corrections on the trim here and there. The laundry room needs the eggshell white trim to be done, but the walls are done (I took the racks down over the washer and dryer and spackled prodigiously). Plain looks good - wouldnt it be wonderful if we could live like this in a plain uncluttered manner?
Eggshell trim and flat wallpaint are the perfect combination for an older house that has had a lot of use. Then there is also the perfect $10 armchair I purchased on a whim at the secondhand donation place for temporary seating at the house because all the furniture was removed; it is so popular someone is always in it, including the fat gray cat, Nermal. We plan to recover it for "Day of Show".
On the bathroom I started yesterday by mixing up a grey slightly purplish trim paint and light brown wall paint to match the putty - gray colored tiles - covering more of that pasty orange tooth-fairy colored paint. I removed the small mirrored medicine cabinet from above the sink and placed it over the toilet, replacing it with a 1930's style lightly engraved mirror instead. The rings for the shower curtains are matching mirror pieces in the same engraved style - time to find a shower pole thingie of the correct width and length.
Then someone (perhaps moi?) will sand the bathroom door frame, fill it and paint it the gray color which matches the bathtub grout - both sides of the door will be white semi-gloss. I am using matchstick blinds for the window next to the sink but am not sold on them - the shower curtain warms up and livens up the bathroom with a relaxed Italian ornamental look with tone on tone grays and browns, and a little simplicity of the Japanese hot tub feel. Sort of unusual for a small bathroom but the huge Jacuzzi tub and large gray tiles dominates the room so it works best to emphasize it.
Next up is to complete the south bedroom painting with the wonderful golden yellow color and white trim - the new lighting fixures couldn't be better. Then the closets at the top of the hallway are to be painted pure white semi-gloss. The walls in the hallway that our architect friend David spackled extensively will be painted with wallpaper prepping paint and size, and I hope this week to have the wallpaper installed by Liz our professional - we'd all feel better about getting one story of the house completely finished. After the trim in the bedroom and the stairwell are painted white then the rugged off-white carpet can be laid.
The other team is moving towards getting the reading room complete which means hanging the new door - I'll stain that to match the upstairs doors. They will paint the reading room the same as the living dining laundry with the Home Depot Behr yellow (not much of it left now). I love their fine paint - it goes on like butter on hot bread.
The old dryed up paint drops are being removed with GoofOff where ever there is wood floor. Then wood putty will go on the holes and a bit of stain applied. Goof Off strips the varnish too - so I will oil it when complete and then gently talk the main team into letting me varnish lightly with something to restore the wood's glow.
I am glad I stuck to my gut feelings on the choices I made - remain with the 1930's feel when the house was built - keeping everything in proportion, somewhat small but bright, with fine details like the mirrors, and toile curtains makes it all look very put together. The light golden yellow in the kitchen is going to calm that room down quite a bit. I am still amazed by what even a little old fashioned style chandelier can do for an old house to give it personality and gentle sparkle.
I have my seamstress making curtains for upstairs bedrooms and they are about 1/2 done. I replaced that square mirror tile in the small upstairs toilet with a finished round white mirror, and combined with the round white light fixture Jerry installed, it is looking much more normal, and discrete.
I was looking at this month's copy of House Beautiful magazine and was not too surprised to see that my golden tone on tone color choices, shapes and styles, such as hanging curtains up against the low ceilings to generate a feeling of height, well placed mirrors, right down to Jeanette's grandmother's old French tapestry were in an article about how to transform small rooms into larger looking ones. I guess I have learned the designer's tricks well.
That place is beginning to glow and when we are finished someone will have a bright, artful, fun, easy to live in place with a fishpond in front and an enclosed hot tub off the back deck. I always feel better when I end the day with a good soak with some of Jeanette's custom made bath salts, like "Jazz", and when I am done I can go inside and watch the paint dry.
Renovation
Seattle
The living room and dining room have the finish coat painted completely twice - second time by the excitable dance paint and joke team of Sara and Jay - there are small corrections on the trim here and there. The laundry room needs the eggshell white trim to be done, but the walls are done (I took the racks down over the washer and dryer and spackled prodigiously). Plain looks good - wouldnt it be wonderful if we could live like this in a plain uncluttered manner?
Eggshell trim and flat wallpaint are the perfect combination for an older house that has had a lot of use. Then there is also the perfect $10 armchair I purchased on a whim at the secondhand donation place for temporary seating at the house because all the furniture was removed; it is so popular someone is always in it, including the fat gray cat, Nermal. We plan to recover it for "Day of Show".
On the bathroom I started yesterday by mixing up a grey slightly purplish trim paint and light brown wall paint to match the putty - gray colored tiles - covering more of that pasty orange tooth-fairy colored paint. I removed the small mirrored medicine cabinet from above the sink and placed it over the toilet, replacing it with a 1930's style lightly engraved mirror instead. The rings for the shower curtains are matching mirror pieces in the same engraved style - time to find a shower pole thingie of the correct width and length.
Then someone (perhaps moi?) will sand the bathroom door frame, fill it and paint it the gray color which matches the bathtub grout - both sides of the door will be white semi-gloss. I am using matchstick blinds for the window next to the sink but am not sold on them - the shower curtain warms up and livens up the bathroom with a relaxed Italian ornamental look with tone on tone grays and browns, and a little simplicity of the Japanese hot tub feel. Sort of unusual for a small bathroom but the huge Jacuzzi tub and large gray tiles dominates the room so it works best to emphasize it.
Next up is to complete the south bedroom painting with the wonderful golden yellow color and white trim - the new lighting fixures couldn't be better. Then the closets at the top of the hallway are to be painted pure white semi-gloss. The walls in the hallway that our architect friend David spackled extensively will be painted with wallpaper prepping paint and size, and I hope this week to have the wallpaper installed by Liz our professional - we'd all feel better about getting one story of the house completely finished. After the trim in the bedroom and the stairwell are painted white then the rugged off-white carpet can be laid.
The other team is moving towards getting the reading room complete which means hanging the new door - I'll stain that to match the upstairs doors. They will paint the reading room the same as the living dining laundry with the Home Depot Behr yellow (not much of it left now). I love their fine paint - it goes on like butter on hot bread.
The old dryed up paint drops are being removed with GoofOff where ever there is wood floor. Then wood putty will go on the holes and a bit of stain applied. Goof Off strips the varnish too - so I will oil it when complete and then gently talk the main team into letting me varnish lightly with something to restore the wood's glow.
I am glad I stuck to my gut feelings on the choices I made - remain with the 1930's feel when the house was built - keeping everything in proportion, somewhat small but bright, with fine details like the mirrors, and toile curtains makes it all look very put together. The light golden yellow in the kitchen is going to calm that room down quite a bit. I am still amazed by what even a little old fashioned style chandelier can do for an old house to give it personality and gentle sparkle.
I have my seamstress making curtains for upstairs bedrooms and they are about 1/2 done. I replaced that square mirror tile in the small upstairs toilet with a finished round white mirror, and combined with the round white light fixture Jerry installed, it is looking much more normal, and discrete.
I was looking at this month's copy of House Beautiful magazine and was not too surprised to see that my golden tone on tone color choices, shapes and styles, such as hanging curtains up against the low ceilings to generate a feeling of height, well placed mirrors, right down to Jeanette's grandmother's old French tapestry were in an article about how to transform small rooms into larger looking ones. I guess I have learned the designer's tricks well.
That place is beginning to glow and when we are finished someone will have a bright, artful, fun, easy to live in place with a fishpond in front and an enclosed hot tub off the back deck. I always feel better when I end the day with a good soak with some of Jeanette's custom made bath salts, like "Jazz", and when I am done I can go inside and watch the paint dry.
Renovation
Seattle
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Lex's Pet Stork, Buster's Pygmy Hippo Impressions, and the invisible friend
So my friend John Forbes is traveling while writing and photo documenting a beautiful trip -- driving to Florida the long way, through Mexico, on his way home to Costa Rica. http://www.costaricajournal.com/Travel%20Journal.htm
John phoned to say Lex, who directs some grand Zoo in Florida, was out looking for his pet stork with a flash light, and Buster, John's dog, was very impressed with meeting Lex's pygmy hippos. i bet -
More bird trouble! as I had decided that Petra the Parrot was too lonely here in Wallingford in my grand old turn of the century, classic Mission style house all by herself without her flock. So after we said bye over the phone to the traveling one!, I took Petra home to Crown Hill, where she was so happy!
Kitchen packing was achieved today with massive boxing of many nice things to be given away.
Like no one wants me to move because they will all miss my house, but my wanderlust has returned, and it is time to overturn my boat and set sail on the winds of fortune again. If anything promotes peace in this world it is commerce and communication.
Torches lit, I sail into the fresh cold night air slowly approaching the dawn.
Notice I too said nothing about the invisible friend.
John phoned to say Lex, who directs some grand Zoo in Florida, was out looking for his pet stork with a flash light, and Buster, John's dog, was very impressed with meeting Lex's pygmy hippos. i bet -
More bird trouble! as I had decided that Petra the Parrot was too lonely here in Wallingford in my grand old turn of the century, classic Mission style house all by herself without her flock. So after we said bye over the phone to the traveling one!, I took Petra home to Crown Hill, where she was so happy!
Kitchen packing was achieved today with massive boxing of many nice things to be given away.
Like no one wants me to move because they will all miss my house, but my wanderlust has returned, and it is time to overturn my boat and set sail on the winds of fortune again. If anything promotes peace in this world it is commerce and communication.
Torches lit, I sail into the fresh cold night air slowly approaching the dawn.
Notice I too said nothing about the invisible friend.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Chandeliers In, New Finds
Jeanette’s house, which we are renovating and putting on the market, is looking wonderful - we put in the new lamps - chandelier in the dining room, new fixtures in just about all rooms in a 1930's inspired theme, we have doubled the light in the house and softened it.
This is about combining styles so the house brings out its cuteness. I actually found flatware that had both French and Tibetan designs worked into the same pattern so I can tie Jeanette’s French style to her Tibetan carpets she had custom made by Tibetan exile friends in the Himalayan foothills of India when visiting there.
For the dining room I am using blue and cream toile in the curtains and a tall white curio corner cabinet that Sara Storm is painting and wallpapering with the matching toile paper which we will use to display Jeanette’s handpainted blue and cream French dishes. The chandelier is gold and clear glass beads in a French style I picked up at Lowe’s for $88.00 and we have a turn of the century handmade French embroidery framed depicting couples at a party for the wall. Under the chandelier we’ll be using the round wooden table I picked up for $15 and Ken Vititus, the painter, refinished for fun when he visiting Seattle from New York in 2003.
I actually got so excited about the design of the kitchen window treatments I could not sleep last night - we are making it look cute and sweet and wonderful; friendly. Dai, playing the part of an electrician dropped in and installed all the lights, what a surprise! Especially sweet is the African Trading Bead inspired hand blown glass lamp in the upstairs hallway. For some reason everyone is wild about the kitchen light fixture. It makes the uneven quality of the kitchen look normal, cozy, and as if this is the kind of kitchen where everything just seems to pop magically perfect out of the oven!
I am staining and varnishing the brand new doors we had installed, with a three step process that gives them real depth – starting with a honey oak, and then varnish, then a pinkie red stain then varnish. In this way I can control the levels of color and reflectivity. Of course I am a fine artist so doing doors with energy is important to me. Hey they look like a French Hobbit cottage and that was my goal.
I think I would love doing this fulltime.
A former owner taped the walls to the trim and Julie, Sara, and Jeanette are striping that all off and back filling it and patching and sanding it. I got to get back to packing.
Renovation
Seattle
Makeover
This is about combining styles so the house brings out its cuteness. I actually found flatware that had both French and Tibetan designs worked into the same pattern so I can tie Jeanette’s French style to her Tibetan carpets she had custom made by Tibetan exile friends in the Himalayan foothills of India when visiting there.
For the dining room I am using blue and cream toile in the curtains and a tall white curio corner cabinet that Sara Storm is painting and wallpapering with the matching toile paper which we will use to display Jeanette’s handpainted blue and cream French dishes. The chandelier is gold and clear glass beads in a French style I picked up at Lowe’s for $88.00 and we have a turn of the century handmade French embroidery framed depicting couples at a party for the wall. Under the chandelier we’ll be using the round wooden table I picked up for $15 and Ken Vititus, the painter, refinished for fun when he visiting Seattle from New York in 2003.
I actually got so excited about the design of the kitchen window treatments I could not sleep last night - we are making it look cute and sweet and wonderful; friendly. Dai, playing the part of an electrician dropped in and installed all the lights, what a surprise! Especially sweet is the African Trading Bead inspired hand blown glass lamp in the upstairs hallway. For some reason everyone is wild about the kitchen light fixture. It makes the uneven quality of the kitchen look normal, cozy, and as if this is the kind of kitchen where everything just seems to pop magically perfect out of the oven!
I am staining and varnishing the brand new doors we had installed, with a three step process that gives them real depth – starting with a honey oak, and then varnish, then a pinkie red stain then varnish. In this way I can control the levels of color and reflectivity. Of course I am a fine artist so doing doors with energy is important to me. Hey they look like a French Hobbit cottage and that was my goal.
I think I would love doing this fulltime.
A former owner taped the walls to the trim and Julie, Sara, and Jeanette are striping that all off and back filling it and patching and sanding it. I got to get back to packing.
Renovation
Seattle
Makeover
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Some family and grown up history
Flown outside to be born in Seattle because Alaska was yet not a state, so I could be president of the United States if I wanted, I am daughter of 3 generation Alaskan Architect Roland "Chic" Lane, and 2nd generation Alaskan Land and Energy Regional Planner Darlene "Dee" Lane. Our family likes to plan, design, and build things.
Some of my earliest memories are of looking at Mt. McKinley (Denali) reflect on the waters of Cook Inlet, and playing in the snow on boxes we used as sleds.
I remember the first street light Anchorage had installed when I was about 5 years old. I recall the big bonfire we threw wood into when Alaska gained Statehood, with the newspaper reading “We’re In!”
As the world’s climate changed the snow gradually became less frequent and lasted shorter periods of time until the yearly snows stopped almost altogether by the time I left home. So basically I am a female techno-artist geek hick from the North Country.
I grew up on the very last corner in Anchorage, the place where people from all over the country having driven the ALCAN (Alaskan Canadian Highway) would finally stop and stumble out of their cars, and trucks, exhausted, and ask us kids if this was the end of the road. If they drove any further, it was over a cliff. We tried to always remember to say “welcome” and always answered any questions we could.
My neighbors and best friends were a federal court judge and his wife, a noted designer, and their kids.
One of my first friends as an infant was the then 40 year Alaskan State Senator Yule Kilcher, who with other friends of the family wrote the Alaska State Constitution.
Yule spoke 47 languages and dialects and traveled the world speaking about his efforts to build a homestead in Alaska. His granddaughter is the singer “Jewel”, his namesake.
The first time I went Outside was right after the Great Alaskan Quake, when my mom shipped me off with my brother and sister to live in Malibu with my auntie Marilyn Story, and my two cousins. The air of Los Angeles made us kids very sick and we lay on the floor of her car retching as we had never breathed polluted air before.
California c.1964 came as a big shock and I fell in love with the West Coast of the United States – from Aunt Marilyn’s house overlooking the Pacific Ocean you could see up and down the coast until the earth’s curve hid it from view (she was a stewardess with Alaska Airlines and Bernie Story, her husband was a pilot with Alaska). And it was always warm in Malibu, and the water was blue, not like the mud grey of Cook Inlet, and Turnagain Arm.
Meanwhile back in Alaska as part of disaster recovery my Mother and her friends worked for 72 hour sessions, until they dropped off to sleep from exhaustion to bring the fires and damage under control and estimate and propose emergency funds to then President Johnson, after Jack Kennedy was assassinated.
Interestingly when I visited Washington DC, many years later I was hosted by Alaskan US Senator Ted Stevens' office, even though I was there to watch Jimmy Carter be inaugurated President. Alaskans can be very close in surprising ways. It was a surprise and delight to walk down the street with Ted in D.C.
Fairbanks in high school was an eye opener.
Eventually I moved outside because I felt to be a big fish in a small pond and the traditional ideas of what a young woman should do in Alaska did not fit my need in life to explore; I craved to know every thing.
Some of my earliest memories are of looking at Mt. McKinley (Denali) reflect on the waters of Cook Inlet, and playing in the snow on boxes we used as sleds.
I remember the first street light Anchorage had installed when I was about 5 years old. I recall the big bonfire we threw wood into when Alaska gained Statehood, with the newspaper reading “We’re In!”
As the world’s climate changed the snow gradually became less frequent and lasted shorter periods of time until the yearly snows stopped almost altogether by the time I left home. So basically I am a female techno-artist geek hick from the North Country.
I grew up on the very last corner in Anchorage, the place where people from all over the country having driven the ALCAN (Alaskan Canadian Highway) would finally stop and stumble out of their cars, and trucks, exhausted, and ask us kids if this was the end of the road. If they drove any further, it was over a cliff. We tried to always remember to say “welcome” and always answered any questions we could.
My neighbors and best friends were a federal court judge and his wife, a noted designer, and their kids.
One of my first friends as an infant was the then 40 year Alaskan State Senator Yule Kilcher, who with other friends of the family wrote the Alaska State Constitution.
Yule spoke 47 languages and dialects and traveled the world speaking about his efforts to build a homestead in Alaska. His granddaughter is the singer “Jewel”, his namesake.
The first time I went Outside was right after the Great Alaskan Quake, when my mom shipped me off with my brother and sister to live in Malibu with my auntie Marilyn Story, and my two cousins. The air of Los Angeles made us kids very sick and we lay on the floor of her car retching as we had never breathed polluted air before.
California c.1964 came as a big shock and I fell in love with the West Coast of the United States – from Aunt Marilyn’s house overlooking the Pacific Ocean you could see up and down the coast until the earth’s curve hid it from view (she was a stewardess with Alaska Airlines and Bernie Story, her husband was a pilot with Alaska). And it was always warm in Malibu, and the water was blue, not like the mud grey of Cook Inlet, and Turnagain Arm.
Meanwhile back in Alaska as part of disaster recovery my Mother and her friends worked for 72 hour sessions, until they dropped off to sleep from exhaustion to bring the fires and damage under control and estimate and propose emergency funds to then President Johnson, after Jack Kennedy was assassinated.
Interestingly when I visited Washington DC, many years later I was hosted by Alaskan US Senator Ted Stevens' office, even though I was there to watch Jimmy Carter be inaugurated President. Alaskans can be very close in surprising ways. It was a surprise and delight to walk down the street with Ted in D.C.
Fairbanks in high school was an eye opener.
Eventually I moved outside because I felt to be a big fish in a small pond and the traditional ideas of what a young woman should do in Alaska did not fit my need in life to explore; I craved to know every thing.
The Upstairs in French Country Hobbit and Petra the Parrot
The two doors are installed upstairs, and Dai, a friend and former electrician, has begun installing the new lighting fixtures, which although they are modern and inexpensive are in the style one would expect in a 1930’s bungalow.
We discussed painting the doors pure white, but the wood was so pleasant looking I went with a water based English Oak stain which a bit more on the yellow side, away from red. Since the colors upstairs focus on light yellows to enhance their sunny quality and secure feeling I feel this is a good match.
After I used the orbital sander to sand the surfaces of the doors, I directly applied the stain, and it went on evenly and looks great. Next step is to varnish the completed doors, and their new frames, as Warren the carpenter now has all his tools and can complete the outer frames and soon move downstairs to do the last two doors, one is a French style enclosure for a small closet.
I shot the "before" photos on Friday - better late than never!
I am finding I really like working on interior design to increase the value of a house and stage it for sale. The estimated increase in value is approximately $31,000. just by cleaning, painting, updating, and completing existing rooms, with curtains and appropriate furniture. Pretty impressive for a little more than a month’s work! The reason I believe this is because a friend of the carpenter has decided he and his wife would like to purchase the house! We will see if they get their funding.
Everyone is saying that it would have been nice to do this work and design prior to moving in, because all these wonderful changes would have been fun to enjoy. But enjoyment is not the same as money at stake and let's face it money is a real motivating factor to getting something accomplished.
What is surprising to me is that many people, even in business, do not understand that the grace of presentation can enhance and add value to just about any experience - a diner can be a lot more fun to eat at when the decor is fun and the place is simply really clean. A house is more fun to live in when it looks good and functions. Lighting is absolutely essential for livability and being able to control the amount of light is a component of that. Kids have to be able to see their materials to study and learn.
We have decided to locate another twin bed and give away the sleigh bed that is there because of the amount of work required to sand and paint it (kids marked it up and carved into it). No one has to actually sleep on the staged twin bed, it just needs to hold body weight and resemble a bed enough to show how it will look. A basic hollywood frame with some kind of handmade and painted headboard will work fine.
Painting and reworking an existing old pine chest of drawers is half complete, in a pure white paint, it is requiring filling from where kids knocked holes in it and sanding and 3 complete coats of semi-gloss, but it will wind up looking like a million dollars. I’ll be using the ol' soap on the wooden runners trick to get the drawers to slide easily.
We have the pillows, pillow covers, sheets with a delicate bouquet floral print, quilts, and modern fabrics and I can hardly wait to get the sanding and painting, and new fixtures installed, and wallpaper hung so the staging can begin.
I have found that goggles that do not allow particles in to my eyes work best for sanding as there is so much to be accomplished. I had corrective eye surgery and the small particles are too much!
Meanwhile I am still caring for Jeanette's Parrot, Petra, at my place. Petra misses the activity of Jeanette's place mightily so I will be returning her until painting in the dining and living room starts. I had no idea Parrots could "speak" so loudly.
When I was advising someone over the phone about web development she started "speaking" so loudly I had to remove her to the far bedroom and close the door. All she wants is some attention. I am so quiet, and love peace so much that I am a poor companion for a parrot of her outgoing nature.
Most of Jeanette’s stuff has gone into the transfer units sitting out front, so the house is becoming emptier on a daily basis. She has decided to visit Costa Rica and visit my old friend from Fairbanks, John Forbes who is planning on subdividing a property he purchased down there. His site is Costricajournal.com.
If Jeanette likes it she will move there – a vacation is a great reward for selling a house!
Renovation
Seattle
We discussed painting the doors pure white, but the wood was so pleasant looking I went with a water based English Oak stain which a bit more on the yellow side, away from red. Since the colors upstairs focus on light yellows to enhance their sunny quality and secure feeling I feel this is a good match.
After I used the orbital sander to sand the surfaces of the doors, I directly applied the stain, and it went on evenly and looks great. Next step is to varnish the completed doors, and their new frames, as Warren the carpenter now has all his tools and can complete the outer frames and soon move downstairs to do the last two doors, one is a French style enclosure for a small closet.
I shot the "before" photos on Friday - better late than never!
I am finding I really like working on interior design to increase the value of a house and stage it for sale. The estimated increase in value is approximately $31,000. just by cleaning, painting, updating, and completing existing rooms, with curtains and appropriate furniture. Pretty impressive for a little more than a month’s work! The reason I believe this is because a friend of the carpenter has decided he and his wife would like to purchase the house! We will see if they get their funding.
Everyone is saying that it would have been nice to do this work and design prior to moving in, because all these wonderful changes would have been fun to enjoy. But enjoyment is not the same as money at stake and let's face it money is a real motivating factor to getting something accomplished.
What is surprising to me is that many people, even in business, do not understand that the grace of presentation can enhance and add value to just about any experience - a diner can be a lot more fun to eat at when the decor is fun and the place is simply really clean. A house is more fun to live in when it looks good and functions. Lighting is absolutely essential for livability and being able to control the amount of light is a component of that. Kids have to be able to see their materials to study and learn.
We have decided to locate another twin bed and give away the sleigh bed that is there because of the amount of work required to sand and paint it (kids marked it up and carved into it). No one has to actually sleep on the staged twin bed, it just needs to hold body weight and resemble a bed enough to show how it will look. A basic hollywood frame with some kind of handmade and painted headboard will work fine.
Painting and reworking an existing old pine chest of drawers is half complete, in a pure white paint, it is requiring filling from where kids knocked holes in it and sanding and 3 complete coats of semi-gloss, but it will wind up looking like a million dollars. I’ll be using the ol' soap on the wooden runners trick to get the drawers to slide easily.
We have the pillows, pillow covers, sheets with a delicate bouquet floral print, quilts, and modern fabrics and I can hardly wait to get the sanding and painting, and new fixtures installed, and wallpaper hung so the staging can begin.
I have found that goggles that do not allow particles in to my eyes work best for sanding as there is so much to be accomplished. I had corrective eye surgery and the small particles are too much!
Meanwhile I am still caring for Jeanette's Parrot, Petra, at my place. Petra misses the activity of Jeanette's place mightily so I will be returning her until painting in the dining and living room starts. I had no idea Parrots could "speak" so loudly.
When I was advising someone over the phone about web development she started "speaking" so loudly I had to remove her to the far bedroom and close the door. All she wants is some attention. I am so quiet, and love peace so much that I am a poor companion for a parrot of her outgoing nature.
Most of Jeanette’s stuff has gone into the transfer units sitting out front, so the house is becoming emptier on a daily basis. She has decided to visit Costa Rica and visit my old friend from Fairbanks, John Forbes who is planning on subdividing a property he purchased down there. His site is Costricajournal.com.
If Jeanette likes it she will move there – a vacation is a great reward for selling a house!
Renovation
Seattle
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Contract Worker Project and Skills Based Resume
Today my friend and confidant Virginia Johnson came by to advise me on how to reorganize and rewrite my resume to make it communicate better for consultant based projects, or as a permanent employee.
We used the Contract Workers Handbook located at: http://www.cehandbook.com/ for the outline for my new resume. In the past I tried to combine a curriculum vitae style with a functional resume and it has became too long to be useful. No one wants to read the whole thing - not even moi!
Here is the basic format:
Projects
Skills
Answer the following questions:
Who am I?
What do I do?
How well can I do it?
These are the Section Titles:
Name and Skillset Title
Personal Contact Info
Summary of Experience
Skills and Tools
Selected Project Titles
Project Summaries
Education, Training, and Certificates
References and Supporting Materials
Compliance Notice
In exchange I am covering web logging with her and how to pick a great domain name and build a professional website.
We used the Contract Workers Handbook located at: http://www.cehandbook.com/ for the outline for my new resume. In the past I tried to combine a curriculum vitae style with a functional resume and it has became too long to be useful. No one wants to read the whole thing - not even moi!
Here is the basic format:
Projects
Skills
Answer the following questions:
Who am I?
What do I do?
How well can I do it?
These are the Section Titles:
Name and Skillset Title
Personal Contact Info
Summary of Experience
Skills and Tools
Selected Project Titles
Project Summaries
Education, Training, and Certificates
References and Supporting Materials
Compliance Notice
In exchange I am covering web logging with her and how to pick a great domain name and build a professional website.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
10 Things - Paranormal or Luxury?
1. The mute button
2. Pink Fog
3. "Supernatural", Carlos Santana's hit CD
4. Japan's Hotel Seiyo Ginza with a personal butler for each guest and a single Hedonist meal at $13K
5. Beaming up
6. Virgin Galactic Space Tours
7. Belief Systems, for example Aliens
8. Blue Hair
9. The Mountain being Out
10. Cats seeing stuff you can't
2. Pink Fog
3. "Supernatural", Carlos Santana's hit CD
4. Japan's Hotel Seiyo Ginza with a personal butler for each guest and a single Hedonist meal at $13K
5. Beaming up
6. Virgin Galactic Space Tours
7. Belief Systems, for example Aliens
8. Blue Hair
9. The Mountain being Out
10. Cats seeing stuff you can't
10 Wonderful Things
1.The view of Seattle driving south down Wallingford.
2. Tea, and the steep green hills of Darjeeling where it grows.
3. How ice slightly frozen on ponds and mud puddles forms thin webs of clear crystals.
4. The sound of breaking through slightly frozen ice in mud puddles, and the feeling of resistance right before it gives.
5. Cotton in all its forms; sheets, Levis, white nightgowns, crisp new button down shirts, napkins...
6. Photography; imaging of space phenomena using math
7. Color; especially blue, and maroon.
8. The Clear Light to be found on Vulture Peak, India.
9. The line of Volcanoes on the West coast including Rainier.
10. Chocolate.
2. Tea, and the steep green hills of Darjeeling where it grows.
3. How ice slightly frozen on ponds and mud puddles forms thin webs of clear crystals.
4. The sound of breaking through slightly frozen ice in mud puddles, and the feeling of resistance right before it gives.
5. Cotton in all its forms; sheets, Levis, white nightgowns, crisp new button down shirts, napkins...
6. Photography; imaging of space phenomena using math
7. Color; especially blue, and maroon.
8. The Clear Light to be found on Vulture Peak, India.
9. The line of Volcanoes on the West coast including Rainier.
10. Chocolate.
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