Why Art Matters and LHOTR - Michael Perry, The Modern-Day Wisconsin House Author

 OMG, he responded! 

Memorial Day weekend, one down, second one started.

I am obviously a sucker for tales of good folk in rural settings. So when compiling a stack of books for the cottage bookshelf last year, I grabbed Truck and Coop, one I had read 10 years prior and the other started but neglected in favor of bedtime stories for Will.

What follows is an almost gluttonous consumption of his collective work musing on fire fighting, community, butchering, and family gatherings. He tackles the subject of life and death with grace and frankness that at times has left me sobbing openly at the artful truth of his writing. I needed a day’s recovery reading about his nephew’s death before I could pick it back up and continue reading. 

Unlike my girl Laura, who departed this existence in 1957, Perry is astonishingly present on social media, where he posts podcasts, music, and essays on the regular. We have even exchanged pleasantries on Twitter, where I quote back to him a favorite passage discovered for the first time. He has retweeted me when I fangirl OUT and buy way too many books to read at a time. But that is where I discover other fans who eagerly recommend which title to read next. 

I’m four titles deep into this fandom and started my fifth this morning, hanging in a hammock between two trees before moving over to the fire pit where it’s warmer. There’s something about being at the cottage combined with his style of storytelling that is forcing me to slow down and relish every word. 

Find him at www.sneezingcow.com

Recover, Recycle, Remember: Dad’s Bowling Pin Lamp Makeover

How I understand it, my dad made two lamps out of bowling pins back in the 60s. One of them lived on the enclosed front porch, the other was my bedroom lamp until I inherited the Detroit Lions and Michigan Wolverines helmet lamps. No idea where those ended up, but one bowling pin lamp ended up in the basement, where it sat for 35-40 years. Mom gave it to me last weekend to bring home and give it new life.

The base needed to be sanded to remove years of dust and neglect. The hardware was also removed, because I didn't trust it after sitting in a Michigan basement all those years. Got my mouse sander out, and got it down to bare wood.

Sprayed the first coat of white and it looked... bad. It was humid out and the paint was stubbornly refusing to adhere to the wood, was streaky, and in some places, beading up like it was oily.

Well, I'm stubborn too and I applied several coats to the pin, determined to make it work. What ended up happening was the pin got tacky and even streakier. It was bare in spots and drippy in others. I finally called uncle and sanded the worst of the paint off, then applied several coats of white acrylic.

The base was easy to sand and paint. I chose navy blue because it was a warmer choice than black. The pin was wobbly, fixed with a quick turn of a screwdriver. I added felt feet to eliminate bare wood against counter surface. This was a bonus for wiring later!

I was going to paint the stripes on the neck, but needed narrow tape to mask the area off. Well, why not just use tape then? I found red sparkly tape that did the trick! 

Next challenge was wiring. I bought a make-a-lamp kit from Menard's with somewhat easy-to-follow instructions. First things first, feeding the wire through the base. This was not easy, it took several attempts to thread it through, but I was smug in my eventual success. Applying felt feet leveled the lamp and created allowance for wiring. 

The kit came with the socket already assembled, but I had to disassemble in order to wire and put the lamp together. I smartly left the lamp nipple intact from dad, and threaded down the locknut and harp bottom. The socket cap took some serious yanking to come apart from the sleeve of the socket shell. But I eventually got it all into place.

So I learned what an underwriter's knot is. I'm still not sure it was correct, but I had wiring started. Ignore the chunky white paint, I'm trying to. This isn't museum quality refinishing, just fun and function. 

I was kind of in panic mode on the next part, as I needed to be sure I connected the right wire to the right conductor. Apparently wiring is now idiot proof (cue John Bender: "you're a genius because you can't make a lamp...") and all you need to make sure of is you have one connected to silver and the other one to brass. This is the test illumination, to make sure the wiring was a success before I snapped all the socket pieces together. There was happy shouting.

It looks great! Or does it? There was juuuuuust enough wiggle room between the locknut and the harp, resulting in a wobbly shade. There wasn't enough room for me to insert a washer, so what could take up that space? I wound red thread around the base to fill that teeny tiny millimeter of space.

Final product now lives by the main floor computer, a light source to replace the broken fixture above the desk. The light is much warmer and balances light sources in the large family room. And it's a little bit of my dad with us too. If it were Girls Scouts, I'd get my patch. If it were 4-H, I might get a blue ribbon. ArtPrize, a passing nod from spectators before voting up a portrait of Thomas Jefferson made out of nickels. 

LHOTR - A Little Bit of Ferris

 

Isn't it pretty? I thought Rankin Center first time I saw it. 

For Dave’s 50th, I wanted to get him something unique. He had admired a stained glass piece in the window of the antique dealer in Evart, so I went to purchase it as a surprise.

When I got there, there was a large SOLD tag hanging from it. I perused the entire shop and was about to walk way when the owner pointed out two glass panes I hadn’t noticed. He had bought three of them from Ferris when they were decommissioning a couple of buildings and tearing them down, but didn’t know which building they were from. He has already sold one to a pharmacy alumni and decided if he sold the second, he’d retain the third for himself.

I said yes quickly, and sat on the gift, giddy at such an unusual find. I hid it up at the little house because he skipped going up the weekend before his birthday. 

He loved it, and posted it on the Ferris alumni page, asking if anyone knew what building it came from. I had thought Rankin Center, and others quickly agreed. An email to the university archivist was futile, she had no idea. 

I’m surprised Ferris let the panels go, but I’m pleased it's a part of the little house. 

LHOTR - Walk this Way

 

No more scary steps down to the river. 

It is now easy to take your leisure at the river. Handyman Todd built stairs for us and both neighbors over the past couple weekends. We were so excited, we drove up Monday night just to look at them.

Handrails are coming next, then what we can do about that slab of concrete. 

What we discovered on our excursion north is with rivers come mosquitos. The plan is a bug zapper, citronella candles and plenty of deep woods OFF! I may indulge my old Bulb knowledge and consider insect-repelling plants for around the deck as well. 

C’mon summer! 

LHOTR - Have a Seat

 

In the middle of before…

And here’s after! With apologies to The Rolling Stones, paint it blue!

Last year after attending a socially distanced graduation party, I hit up a garage sale and discovered two free but battered Adirondack chairs on the side of the road. I put them in the backyard by the fire pit and promptly forgot them.

Two cans of spray paint - ink and seaside -were purchased when I debated what colors the shutters should be and I decided on neither.

Now that Will has built the fire pit, we need seating up north for those long summer evenings and I remembered the spray paint and chairs. A quick wipe down during my lunch break, and some smooth back and forth action, and suddenly the seating situation is solved. Except I ran out of paint. 

Bonus? There’s two footstools to paint a contrasting color and one older chair that kinda matches to round it out. I don't want to be too monochromatic, so I went lemongrass in the stools, and finished them up after picking up paint along with the rest of the shutters.

We are definitely going to be easy to spot as the blue house by the bridge. 

Leadership Journey: 4.0

 

Ok, where do I go to get free stuff for As on my report card?

When it came to higher education, I was a solid B student. I’m not saying my report card was straight Bs, my output was a bell curve of some As, heavy B and modest C action, and the occasional D, primarily in the accounting, finance, economics area. 

I remember two of my professors praising my work ethic, while lamenting my cluelessness in their chosen field. Dr. B., econ prof at Jackson College, addressed my tears, saying “I see your hard work, and I see how attentive you are. If your chosen field is not economics, you will be ok.”

Accounting professor at Ferris, “You’ve turned in the extra credit, sit in front, take notes, don’t skip, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone put so much effort with so few results. What’s your major? Do you promise not to do any accounting? Aren't you dating Garland, can't he help you? I will pass you if you continue to demonstrate an effort.”

So it pleases and surprises me to say I four-pointed my semester at Grand Valley, notching perfect scores in both my classes. It wasn’t easy, it required dedication to the subject matter and a LOT of homework. But this subject matter was in my wheelhouse, and the online option of study made it easy to do on my time when it was available. It was a godsend to work on homework while Dave was taking his nap or it was raining at the cottage. 

If you go back to my senior year of undergraduate studies and my two semesters of grad school (ignore the class I dropped in 2016), my GPA is over 3.5, which sets me up nicely for perhaps a run towards a masters degree in communications. At this point, a soft, abstract goal - I want to insist on full credit for classes previously taken - but it may be kinda cool to have my paper in a couple of years. 

LHOTR - meet our mascot!

Back when we first got the little house, Dave asked me to come up with a logo, something to brand our place as somewhere special. 

Who’s got time for that?!

Fast forward to my second class this semester, when I had to map my communications dialogue and I found not one, not two, but three illustrations I did in my sketchbook of a fish drinking a margarita. The best illustration was of said fish wearing sunglasses and a scarf.

I don’t remember why or when I drew this, but it’s definitely my style. And I fell in love with it. 

A few tweaks in photoshop to clean it up and change the margarita to river coffee, and we are ready to slap stickers on kayaks and stick coffee mugs in can koozies.  

All we need now is a name for our fella. Pa Ingalls name was Charles, but this guy looks more like a Chuck. But then there’s an icky comparison to Charlie Tuna, so that’s out. Manzo? Manly? My friend Amy is creating the welcome sign for the house and her son’s name is Wilder. Wilder creates a good time vibe, and is in tune with the spirit of Little House.

Wilder it is!

RIP to an 80s Vixen

 

It was announced over the weekend that actress/model Tawny Kitaen died at the age of 59. At 51, I was startled that we were so close in age, yet she seemed so much older given her youthful success as a model and actress in the 80s while I was so achingly awkwardly mortal in comparison. 

I haven't given Tawny much thought over the years, she hasn't done much acting or modeling, and no appearances on reality programs, at least none I have seen. I thought she was a great straight man playing the tolerant fiancé to Tom Hanks' unhinged party boy in Bachelor Party. I was one of many jealous of her status as a fantasy girl in the Whitesnake videos, cartwheels on the hoods of cars in a floaty white dress. Parody was the closest I could come.  

I sit here, still an awkwardly mortal human, and I feel sorry for her loss. She had what every girl superficially wants - beauty, successful career, astonishing love affairs with rock stars and baseball players. On flip side, she experienced tabloid breakups, substance abuse problems, botched surgeries, spousal abuse. 

All this tells me is that underneath it all, she too was awkwardly mortal as well. 

For her sake, and her children's sake, I'm glad her daughters are the ones that broke the news to the public, and not TMZ or the National Enquirer. It's news that rightfully belongs to them.