LHOTR 2.0: Now We're Getting Somewhere

Siding on! 

Lawn graded!

So what's next? 

We chose a new blue for Will's room. I'll keep to myself that the Jacaranda was a club The Beatles played back in the early days. 

I think we found the floor at Menards after a wild goose chase to Byron Center that was a bust.

Save big money! 

Say yes to flowering bushes and shrubs: say no to trees for landscaping. 

Lipstick on the Mic: Patty Smyth and Patti Smith

She is The Warrior

She is Dancing Barefoot

I hate the compare/contrast method of storytelling because I don't want to give the impression that I prefer one artist over the other. But I am so drawn to the similarity of their name to wonder out loud if there are parallels in their story. 

Patti Smith was born in Chicago, 1946. Patty Smyth was born in New York, 1957.

Patti started her career in the 60s as a teenage poet and performance artist. Patty started as a teenage singer, performing at folk and comedy clubs in the 70s. 

Patti shunned any sort of girly persona and was comfortable adopting an androgynous look as a model for the famous photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Patty wore prom dresses as costumes for early music videos shown on the fledgling new network MTV. 

Patti tore your heart out in Because the Night. Patty tore it out in Sometimes Love Ain't Enough. 

Patti married Fred from the punk band MC5. Patty married temperamental tennis star John McEnroe. Both of these men said motherfucker, a lot. 

Patti was an indie rock favorite who left her recording career in 1980 to focus on marriage and family, until Fred died in 1994. Patty was asked to lead the band Van Halen after David Lee Roth left; pregnant at the time, she turned down the gig to focus on her marriage and family. 

Essential to any playlist: Patti - Dancing Barefoot; Patty - The Warrior. 

LHOTR 2.0: Windows and Doors and Walls

We went up north to meet with the builder over the weekend, and it's happening; it really looks like a cottage now! This post is mostly photos: 

From the bridge.

DtB found a better-quality siding for around the same price (maybe just a little more; his goal is to stay in budget too) and hung a section to see if we liked it. We loved it. 

It's really taking shape now! 

Our fancy door. It's the main entrance, but it feels odd calling it the front door since it's east-facing. Already, this is rendering the rescued blue sheer curtains obsolete; I don't think I will need them here.

Center swing doors riverside and our rescued picture window. I will need privacy drapes for the swing doors, but I did save the curtains for the picture window. 

This is the great room from the entrance, east side of the house. The kitchen table will be about where the boards are on the floor. 

West side. 

I wanted to get a feel for how the kitchen would be laid out, so I took scrap boards and used them to rough in where it would all go. 

Fridge, cupboards planned to the right. We vote no cupboard above the fridge; they are usually useless and hard to get to. This leaves room for the snack basket.

Sink under the window. Should we get the matching light fixture or a recessed light above? 

Stove to the right of the sink. Small cupboards on either side and above. 

This is the utility room. The circuit breaker, water heater, and washer/dryer will be going in here. It is TINY, so a stackable unit is a must. DtB is also looking to create a narrow pantry as well as install coat hooks and shelving for snowmobile suits. 

Bathroom, also cozy. What we gave up for a utility room is replaced by tight quarters here. However, this is a better use of the space compared to the galley bathroom we had before. The shower/tub combo will fit perfectly along the back wall, then the toilet next to that, and a vanity in the right corner. We talked and decided there's no reason for a door on the linen closet since it's tight and the doors will bump each other. 

DtB is fixing us up with a vanity that didn't work in a previous build. It's very pretty. Reuse, recycle! 

This will be Will's room. He will have to figure out where the headboard will go for his bed. Fit for a queen and not much else. 

View from the closet. I want to move things in and decorate. 

A square-shaped closet that can store random items or just clothes. 

Master from the doorway.

From the closet.

It's a tiny closet, but it will still be useful. 

From the NW corner of the room. 

So now I need to shop for a bed frame with some clever space-saving capabilities that is durable and stable.

See, the chest of drawers is UNDER the bed. I like this. I hope I start getting some Amazon gift cards for judging and earn my bed frame. 

I spent some time running around getting paint colors. Mike, the drywall guy, is talking us out of Regatta since it's so dark. Will has agreed to pick another color. I was also talked out of a tile backsplash for the kitchen; DtB says it's just not needed. 

YA Book Club: A Walk to Remember

I'm a sucker for this movie

I am one of those snobs who will snark that the book is, as a rule, always better than the movie. I have two exceptions; the first is The Witches of Eastwick, the second is this. 

Nicholas Sparks leans heavily on sap, and he dishes it out in spades for this book, complete with bible passages and virginal child brides dying of cancer. And the writing is not that good. I'm no Margaret Atwood, but I had my mental red pen out to edit as I read, which of course distracted me from fully enjoying the story. 

The movie, on the other hand, modernizes the story by placing Jamie and Landon in the 90s. The movie versions of Jamie and Landon are more complex, more human, and far more interesting. This may be due to the talents of the scriptwriters as well as Mandy Moore and Shane West. 

The movie also gives Reverend Sullivan more warmth and empathy, acting as a tragic but wise father figure for Jamie and then the widowed Landon. We also see Landon grow from his relationship with Jamie to become a strong and capable adult. And we get to hear Mandy Moore sing. 

I wasn't expecting to be negative; this may be the only one that gets a less-than-glowing review. I loved the movie, just not the book. 

Typing Out Loud: Y'all Need a Time Out

Sorority sisters protecting each other, many years later

Boys - may I call them boys? - are y'all doing ok? 

Because you are NOT representing yourselves well these days. 

As I've said repeatedly this year, Jesus fucking Christ. 

First, let us discuss the golf club situation. Good Good and Calloway released a commercial where the punch line was a man angrily shoving a female golfer to the ground because she almost touched his golf club. The good ol' boys countered with the usual "can't ya take a joke?", effectively gaslighting anyone who had a problem with it as the unfun, humorless, blue-haired liberals.

Calloway blamed Good Good, and Good Good blamed the fact that we didn't see the whole commercial, because "he got his in the end." I saw it; all it shows is that the antagonist is a bad golfer. Are we to accept this as his comeuppance for being a shitty human? Yeah, your joke failed to land on many different levels. 

So then it was explained away as the newest in viral advertising- rage engagement. Now I know about Good Good golf... but did I want to? 

THEN, there was the Ohio State/Texas game, where Texas pulled off a stunning upset over the Buckeyes. Holly Rowe, an award-winning sideline reporter for ESPN, attempted to engage the head coach in a quick interview. Chaos ensued; the coach shouted something about "Texas fight, hook 'em!" and was pulled away. Holly ended the interview as the crowd swirled around her. 

Should have been the end of it. 

Oh no.

Some jackass takes the footage and generates an AI alternate take on the interview where the head coach backhands Holly to send her sprawling. 

The knuckleheads guffaw, the pick-me girls laugh nervously while sipping their pumpkin spice lattes, and Texas QB Arch Manning brings it up in a press conference and asks the male reporters in the audience if they saw it and "wasn't it hilarious?!" 

Oh, but he's a BOY, you know... a 22-year-old boy who failed his media training. He apologizes two days later, to which all the boys are now insisting he shouldn't have to. In her grace, Holly accepts the apology, but she shouldn't have to. 

So what now? 

Oh, boys will be boys... apparently 57 of them, to be exact. Members of the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell are now under fire for an incident that happened in 2024. One member of the fraternity brought his female friend to a party, then slipped something into her drink. He proceeded to take her to an upstairs bedroom and advertised his friend as "free pussy!" in a group chat. Seven men took advantage of her, while 49 other boys in the chat cheered it on.  The lone exception was one who was not at the party, woke up to the thread, and took a screenshot of the communication and shared it with the girl to be used as evidence against the fraternity.

Result? Some boys were suspended; others were asked to write a paper on the incident. She, however, had to leave school in shame. 

Oh, fuck you - fuck all of you. 

This shit isn't new; I'm not surprised, I'm just disappointed we have yet to evolve. The reason for my sorority picture up top? Want to know what my nicknames were in college? I was "mom" to the sororities and "cock block' by the fraternities. Fun, huh?

I was older than most of the girls in my pledge class, and then was elected pledge director. That meant I was responsible for the education and initiation of each class of pledges coming into Phi Gamma Nu. I took that role seriously, and since attendance at parties was mandatory, as we were a professional sorority acting as a social one, I had to look after a lot of girls with high GPAs and low tolerance. Plus, I had a car. 

So, in addition to watching what they were drinking, I was chauffeuring around a lot of girls to make sure they got where they needed to be safely. Did I want to be their chaperone as well? No - I would have preferred to nurse my beer while looking at the DJ's record collection. But there were a lot of guys grabbing girls by the elbow to lead them upstairs. Girl code meant saying no thanks, getting them Taco Bell, and getting them home to sleep it off. 

Do I feel like a hero? Or am I, to use one of my most hated derogatory phrases, virtue signaling? No, it was exhausting, and no one wants to be the unfun one. But someone had to be, back in the 90s and even now. 

Do better, boys. Hard to call you men right now. 

Raised on Country Sunshine: Family Tradition

Family tradition includes colorful drinks

Kind of winging it on this theme, these are songs I remember from my childhood, especially when we had Coal Miner's Daughter playing on a loop off HBO: 

Hank Williams Jr., Family Tradition

Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys

Tanya Tucker, Delta Dawn

Alabama, Mountain Music

Johnny Paycheck, Take This Job and Shove It

Randy Travis, Forever and Ever Amen

Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner's Daughter

Kenny Rogers, Coward of the County

Buck Owens, Act Naturally

Dolly Parton, Here You Come Again 

Typing Out Loud: Hi, Steve

From a 4th of July post where we celebrated the idea of American Superman punching Hitler. 

I just found out my high school crush died unexpectedly over the summer. 

Steve was, by definition, a nerd. Smart, brilliant, really - I believe he would have been our class salutatorian if not for the fact that we had a three-way tie for valedictorian and thus no salutatorian was awarded. Played Dungeons and Dragons and the sax. Was into superheroes and had the deepest chocolate brown eyes with feathery lashes. Wicked, dry sense of humor. Rich, baritone voice that would startle and thrill me when he would come up behind with a mock-sultry "hello, Melissa," to which I would lightly reply, "hi, Steve."

I was not alone in my adoration, as several girls in my friend group were besotted. I asked him to prom my junior year, emboldened by the fact that I heard he had no date and there was a dress I really wanted. Timing was not on my side, as he had asked Kate that morning, a senior in the band who was also dateless. He apologized, wishing the timing had worked out. Embarrassed, I did not ask again, and he didn't either. 

No matter, I didn't stand a chance: he stayed closeted until he came out publicly on Facebook the eve of his 50th birthday. We all showed him our support. 

He struggled in adulthood, caring for his elderly parents, which led to money problems, mental health struggles, and homelessness. It seemed like he got it together in recent years and had a loyal group of family and friends in his life until the end. 

His family plans to host a service and inter him next to his parents back in our hometown at a later time. 

And 40 years later? The feelings I had for him were unrequited and had long ago mellowed to nostalgia for who we were, but I hope he felt it somehow and that it gave him the feeling of being special. However superficial my juvenile feelings were, they were genuine at the time, and I hope that positivity made its way into his world and gave him... something. 

I hope his soul is at peace. 

That's It, Just One Line: If 6 was 9

 "Cause I got my own world to live through and uh, and I ain't going to copy you."

LHOTR 2.0: Making a Build into a Home

Now that construction is underway and we can imagine it, time to start picking some things out. 

Blue chip is the siding, the copper is the roof, and the gray block is the deck. 

We chose a door... 

...and kitchen light fixtures! I got this for my birthday! 

Will joined us at Menard's to pick out kitchen cabinets and countertops. His verdict? He wanted it to feel warm. 

I think that all works together! 

We have a roof! 

Trying to pull all of it together. I'm thinking of getting a big presentation board with pins and arrows and things. 

The Fifth Beatle: Stu Sutcliffe

I'm giving love to the most tragic Beatle for my birthday. 

Who's the coolest Beatle? The one we never met. 

Beatle ghost.

Had Stuart Sutcliffe lived and stayed with the band, he would have been the oldest (beating Ringo out by a couple of weeks) and the only Scotsman. Arguably, the hottest as well.

But it was never really meant to be, as Stu was a visual artist at heart and went along with the others to Germany for the chance to escape Liverpool for a while, check out German art schools, and fall in love. 

Why wasn't this a Beatles album cover?!

Stu met John at the Liverpool College of Art, where they were both students; Stu helped John improve his portfolio and prepare for exams while doing work-study as a custodian. They soon became roommates. While hanging out at Mona Best's Casbah Club, he informed the band he had sold one of his works, Summer Painting, a big deal for a student at the time. John and Paul encouraged him to use the money to purchase a bass guitar and join the group in early 1960. 

Germany, in the clubs

Stu's time in the group was brief, but notable. His moment for their set during the Hamburg years was Elvis' Love Me Tender, and with the release of Anthology 1 in 1995, he is credited as a recording artist on songs Hallelujah I Love Her So, Cayenne, and You'll Be Mine. His most lasting contribution was renaming the Quarrymen: in homage to Buddy Holly and the Crickets, the band became The Silver Beetles, and finally The Beatles.  He quit in July 1961 after the band was deported, opting to stay in Germany with his fiancée, Astrid. 

Self-Portrait, 1959

His career as an artist spans the years 1957 to 1962. Labeled a "Beatnik Horror" in a Sunday newspaper article for The People, he studied at LCoA and earned a post-graduate scholarship to study at the Hamburg College of Art under Eduardo Paolozzi; he was considered an abstract expressionist. Some of his works include Hamburg, Hamburg No. 2, Self-Portrait, The Crucifixion, and Summer Painting. 

Stu died of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 21 in 1962.

The Beatles included him on the cover of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band 

as member #35

LHOTR 2.0: I Get Knocked Down but I Get Up Again

We went up on August 2 to see the house before it was bulldozed. 

Time to let it and the novelty chain pull go.

Salvaging what we could. 

Dave the Builder helped by rescuing the windows to see if he could reuse them. 

That didn't take long.

Wow, it's gone.

We can rebuild the Little House on the River! 

Don't stop, keep it movin'; put your drinks up - we've got a floor! 

This already has me feeling so much better about everything. Within the framing, you can see where the big picture window will be, the center swing double doors, and the window over the kitchen sink. 

Now it's time to shop for the roof, deck, and siding.