LHOTR 2.0: And the Walls Come Tumbling Down

 

D-day at the cottage

The cottage, as we know it, will cease to exist as of August 3. The insurance company has made an initial payout to us to cover personal property, which, instead of going toward buying new furniture, went to pay off the remediation company that tore the house up and made the decision that we had to tear it down. It's essentially $25K down the drain, or river. 

Fun memories part 1

When it's ok to watch TV at LHOTR

So what's a girl to do? Browse Facebook Marketplace for replacements at pennies on the dollar. All told, I've spent $50 on four bedside tables, four lamps, and the coffee table. 

Cool. Comes with a USB port to plug in your phone. 

The best things in life are free, and kind people even help you load them in your car. 

This, only in reverse. 

So what's it going to look like up there once the walls come down, other than a big hole?

We are going up in the air by about 4 feet. It may not feel significant, but there's peace of mind knowing we are protecting our asset. That means the crawl space will legit be a basement, although smaller than the typical basement. Dave the Builder is going to clean the space up, square it off with concrete, build up the foundation, and then apply a thick liner that will protect the space from future flooding. Our plan for the space is to have everything neatly stored in totes so that when it happens again, it's a matter of hauling the totes out and simply putting them on higher ground. That means snowmobile suits, the Christmas tree, even extra blankets, have their place. 

And, DtB is going to salvage what he can from the house, like the pine boards, so we can have an accent wall to remember the old place by. He's even going to try to salvage the windows, esp. the large picture window in the kitchen area. 

We are moving the entrance to the house to the east side, so we can build a wrap-around deck. The doors facing the river will be French or center swing. The great room will stay more or less the same in dimensions, but the kitchen is going on the east wall in an L shape, and the living room is going on the west wall. The bathroom will be in the center between the two bedrooms, where we will get closets that are easily accessible. And a laundry room! So little improvements all around, including a bathtub that isn't in the dark. 

Currently, 90% of the contents of the cottage are in the basement. Not knowing what the interior is going to look like, I'm going to say that honestly, only 60 - 75% of it will go back up north; some of it just won't have a home up there anymore. Due to mold and mildew, we already discarded some items like the plastic storage containers. Dave the Husband is already voicing his desire to restrict the amount of stuff that goes back into the cottage based on how much we had to haul out of there. I'm feeling defensive about some of it since he wanted me to discard my books, but I get his point. I was so adamant about tablecloths and napkins, but we didn't use them past the first year. I could cut back on my serving bowls and platters too. Maybe decide to go all new - or newish - on the pots and pans, get a nice set instead of the garage sale mishmash I currently have. 

I remember typing six years ago, "such a lovely problem to have." I'm not feeling those exact feelings this time. My old roommate Missy acknowledged the melancholy of the situation in saying, "You put a lot of love into that cottage," but acknowledged a new place wouldn't be so bad, maybe I won't have to work as hard this time. 

The Fifth Beatle: Klaus Voorman

Oh Klaus, you're so pretty

Imagine getting into a fight with your unrequited love and pissed off, you go out for a drink and discover the Beatles instead.  

Klaus with his Beatle art

Klaus Voorman was an art student who hung out with Astrid and their friend Jürgen Vollmer around the clubs in Hamburg and was into jazz and French existentialism, while sporting a distinct bohemian look. 

He was immediately entranced with the energy of the Beatles and, forgetting his fight with Astrid, insisted she come see the band herself. 

What Klaus lost in a girlfriend, he gained in artistic fellowship. Soon after the Beatles moved back to England, he followed and lived with George for a short time. 

He designed the album cover for Revolver - he won a Grammy for this - and the first run of the Anthology series. He even updated his Revolver style for George's hit single When We Was Fab in 1988. But why not Volume 4 in 2025, Apple Records!?

But he's about more than just art. Did you know he could play bass? 

He joined the band Manfred Mann and did session work individually for John, George, and Ringo. Not only that, he's played for Carly Simon, Lou Reed, and many others. 

He has semi-retired, putting away his bass, but continues to design and draw album covers, most recently for the band The Dirty Knobs. 

Lipstick on the Mic: Debora Iyall, Romeo Void

 

Native American punk poet. 

New wave lead singer and art teacher. 

Museum docent and animation voice actress.

Lifetime achievement award winner.

A girl in trouble may be a temporary thing, but an artist is forever. 

YA Book Club: The Pigman

 

The Misadventures of John and Lorraine

Two lonely kids - John and Lorraine - find a lonely man visiting the zoo while they are ditching school. They develop an unlikely friendship with Angelo Pignati, who is the title character, The Pigman. 

Lorraine is the product of a single-parent household, the daughter of a nurse who is perpetually angry and mean. She takes every opportunity to belittle her daughter, who, in John's point of view, is far more attractive than Lorraine realizes or her mom lets on. Her mother is also physically abusive, not above slapping her daughter to keep her in line. 

John's a mess too; he is also the product of abuse, a combination of verbal and neglect. His father is an alcoholic, and his mother has OCD,  more worried about a clean house than demonstrating kindness to her son. They prefer his older brother to him. 

The two find refuge with the Pigman, who indulges their whims, enjoys their company, and treats them with kindness and respect. They become increasingly protective of him after they discover that while he states his wife is away visiting her sister, she has, in fact, passed away. 

Of course, it goes haywire. 

There is an accident when the three spontaneously purchase roller skates, and the Pigman is hospitalized. Promising to take care of the house, John decides to throw a party instead, since he is never allowed to do this at home. Their friends take advantage, breaking, stealing, and destroying most of the contents of the house, including a raid on the deceased Mrs. Pignati's wardrobe. 

The Pigman comes home from the hospital early, and the kids are arrested. They go to apologize and make it up to him by taking him to the zoo. It is there that they discover his favorite animal, the gorilla, has passed away, and the Pigman dies of a broken heart. 

The story is told in alternating chapters from Lorraine's and John's points of view. The book, in their words, is their way of memorializing Mr. Pignati, and a way for them to sort their feelings about the incidents as they transpired, as well as a way for them to come to terms with the feelings they have for each other. While they do kiss and are inseparable, it is not determined if they are a couple by the end of the novel. 

Raised on Country Sunshine: Genre Bending

Play me some mountain music, Be-at-tle

Some songs on my list would make a redneck holler, "That's not country!" But when country music absorbs the spirit of gospel, soul, bluegrass, zydeco, folk, and rock, there's some bending of the rules. Did you know Elvis only played the Opry once, in 1954, and was told he was too rockabilly to return? 

Times have changed; even Ringo played the Opry in 2025. Onto our alternative list:

Indigo Girls, Closer to Fine

Little Feat, Dixie Chicken

The Beatles, I've Just Seen a Face

Everly Brothers, Close to You

Ray Charles, Georgia

Elvis Presley, That's All Right

Harry Choates, Jole Blon

Skeeter Davis, The End of the World

Bob Seger, Shame on the Moon

Lady Gaga, Joanne

Bruce Springsteen, Atlantic City

The Monkees, What Am I Doing Hanging 'Round?

That's It, Just One Line: Girls in Their Summer Clothes

 "Had a beautiful thing, maybe you just saved my life."

We are going to have a summer of Bruce!

The Fifth Beatle: Astrid Kirchherr

Beautiful and cool Astrid

Astrid was a photography student at Meisterschule für Mode, Textil, Grafik und Werbung in Hamburg when Klaus introduced her to the Beatles, who were playing at the Kaiserkeller. Kirchherr later said: "It was like a merry-go-round in my head, they looked absolutely astonishing... My whole life changed in a couple of minutes. All I wanted was to be with them and to know them."

It didn't take long for Astrid and Stuart Sutcliffe to become a couple and for Astrid's art school influence to impact the band. She asked to take publicity photos of them, and being dirt poor performers, they were happy to have professional shots to help them stand out in the crowd of bands on the scene. 

She gave them a look, style, and the Beatle haircuts. Her influence resulted in the look created on the album Meet the Beatles, handsome beatniks half-lit in black and white. 

Her style influenced great photographers of the next generation, including Annie Leibovitz and Richard Avedon. 

Astrid herself struggled after Stu's death in 1962, as people weren't as interested in her art as they were in her early photos of the Beatles. In an interesting twist of fate, she married drummer Gibson Kemp, who replaced Ringo Starr in Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. 

She went on to have shows and exhibitions throughout the world, including Liverpool, London, and here in the States at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She died in 2020 at the age of 82. Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn praised her involvement with the band as "immeasurable" and credited her as an "intelligent, inspirational, innovative, daring, artistic, awake, aware, beautiful, smart, loving, and uplifting friend to many."