July 13, 2011

Summer 2011 DIY Project

I got a job, an income is always great. But, I feel intellectually un-stimulated so I need to keep my hands busy or at least my mind for the moments when I'm not filling plastic cups with soda or passing border sauce packets to customers.

The Plan:
Take this Ikea Hemnes Desk (in white) and Ikea Hemnes Add-on Unit (also white), selectively paint the back panels black and apply this Oriental Vine Allover Stencil in white, add this Cat Stencil in varying silver and white pieces to the black painted cabinet doors of the desk with silver (or white) glowish accents. This might be hard to visualize but I have a notebook full of sketches.

Implementation:
Now, before I execute my master plan, I need practice. So I plan to take paper mache square boxes like this and use my color pallet to practice applying the stencils. Once I paint the boxes, I want to add initials and mail them to my dearest friends! Hopefully, I will have the patience to keep some for myself.

I work full time now so it could very well take me the rest of the summer to finish this but I'm fully determined to see it through. I did some calculations and it will cost around $700 to complete the whole thing. Funding this project and saving for my vacation this year will meaning pinching pennies and scouring the basement couch, but it'll be fun!

June 23, 2011

Things I Like

It seems I only complain about the things around me I don't like. So I decided to write down things I do like, seeing as even I don't really know what they are...

  1. Golf
  2. I Love Lucy
  3. Romantic comedies
  4. Sherlock Holmes
  5. Billiards
  6. James Bond movies
  7. Papercraft
  8. The Sims
  9. Handicrafts
  10. Politics
  11. Indie music
  12. Beer
  13. Vodka
  14. Long walks
  15. Bodies of water
  16. Admiring bodies of water from afar
  17. Cats
  18. Cleanliness
  19. Macaroni and cheese
  20. Simple, elegant, understated fashion
  21. Androgynous people
  22. Old movies
  23. Smart phones
  24. Comedy in general
  25. Nature documentaries
  26. C-Span
  27. Baking
  28. Examples of Murphy's Law in action
  29. Talking over coffee
  30. My daily planner
  31. Tinkering
  32. Discovery Channel shows (Deadliest Catch, Auction Kings, American Chopper)
  33. Fixing things
  34. Legos
  35. Reading classic novels
  36. Hot dogs
  37. Stuffed animals
  38. The sound of ticking analog clocks
  39. Making lists
  40. Collecting quotations
  41. The smell of clean laundry
  42. Pictures of flowers
  43. Puzzles
  44. The news
  45. Vans shoes
  46. Skinny jeans
A friend pointed out that most people don't find out this information until several years into a friendship with me. I should work on that.