Yet Another Day (Plus a Sweet Surprise) in Open Diary 2001-2018 (Pre-Prosebox)

Yesterday’s curtain-hanging was incredibly frustrating. Not so much the hanging, but the drilling. First of all, the walls are plaster. Which is cool. I love the plaster walls with the slightly uneven surface and beautiful old feel. But because I was trying to drill into an exterior wall, I think I was hitting a steel girder or something and I couldn’t drill deep enough to get the anchor to stay in. Finally had to break down and call the old daddy-o, who told me to simply cut the anchors down a bit. And it did end up working later, but I’d already drilled two holes that I’d messed with and made too big and had a minor conniption over. Who knows where that damn spackle is. I filled the fuckers with toothpaste and called it a day (even though the walls in the living room are off-white). Can’t seem ‘em. It’s fine. I rent.

Later, after I’d gotten over the curtain episode, I moved on to the bathroom. I wanted to hang a small shelf next to the medicine cabinet to hold a vanity mirror and a small clock. This time, I had no problem drilling the holes. The anchors fit perfectly, and I was so excited to finish the job. Turns out, in my haste, I’d somehow gotten my placements screwed up (Yes, I DID measure, thank you). You see where this is going. More frustration, more drilling….. I finally got the thing even, but decided to call it a day for the drilling.

Last night, as I was watching another one of those marathon episodes of Trading Spaces, I was thrilled to see some guy have the same exact problem while trying to install some towel racks! Yay! I’m not such a drilling retard after all! I felt a small wave of relief.

But there’s still so much left to do. Because of the living room debacle, I decided not to even try attacking the bedrooms. And the bathroom incident had my blood pressure soaring (could it be the red walls?). At the rate I’m going, I’ll have this place decorated by the end of 2003.

And remember, I have no social life right now. What’s gonna happen if I do end up actually getting out there and making some real friends who want to do things in my free time?

Got a call from Kim late in the week to see if I wanted to do something last night, but I didn’t return the call until yesterday, and she never called me back. I was fine just staying in (again), but I’m thinking this whole staying in thing is going to have to stop. I’m starting to feel much too comfortable hiding away in this little nest of an apartment. I don’t want to start that old avoidance cycle again.

But at the same time, I’ll be in NYC next weekend and through the following week, and then LA the week after that…it’s really nice to get some nesting time in before the frazzle starts.

Didn’t get the bike out yesterday. Instead went for a long, long walk. Found a whole network of walkways that follow the river’s path and meander through several parks and through a whole arts district packed full of museums and gardens filled with outdoor sculptures. Wish I’d had my camera with me. I climbed a gently sloping hill and then up the stairs of one of the big buildings, and when I turned around I saw the most spectacular view of my part of town. It seems strange to me, now being in the Midwest and all, but a portion of the sky was darkened with clouds, and as I looked out over the park and down onto the old, old buildings with the beautiful, ornate architecture, I was reminded of certain European towns, particularly in Belgium (I guess because I spent a lot of time there, and the sky was always some dramatic shade of blue/gray and the buildings were similarly ornate…not over the top, but in sections here and there). I almost got chills just standing there at the top of those steps. And as I walked back down the steps and back through the garden a different way, looking at the sculptures that were scattered along the pathways, I thought about how it would have been nice to share that experience with someone.

So here. I share it with you!

Now I’m antsy to get out again. Got errands to run and all that boring stuff. But maybe I’ll stumble across something cool today too! Won’t know until I get going…