Smoke

I noticed last night a rather pungent smell of pine smoke wafting through town. It's happening again right now, but much stronger. I just remembered a large swath of southern Georgia is burning not too far from Savannah. So that must be it. It's giving me a headache so it's time to close the windows and crank up the A/C.

Hard Hat

Okay kids, how do you like my new look?

According to OSHA I have to wear a hard hat while in certain areas on site. The hats get passed around from person to person and the cushioned forehead strap gets drenched with sweat and oil. Gross! So I decided to purchase my own.

This picture wasn't taken on site. It's a Photoshop composite just for fun.

I think I am going to grow my beard back because I miss it. However since I am not fond of hot weather I am not sure how long I will keep it. We shall see.

Becoming My Mum

I am becoming my mother. When I was child my mum would have these very strange dreams and then she would awake "howling". Actually it was more like a "woooo". She would do this periodically and wake my father half startled. My siblings and I would also awake sometimes from the strange ghoulish noise. Or if we were up we would think to ourselves, what the fuck?

She would never say what she dreamt of. Perhaps she did not remember? I don't know. I think it's time I ask her if she does remember because I did the same thing last night!

In my dream I was in my car at night. I wasn't driving. I could not close my door fully because something was blocking it. There were wolves outside the door. For some reason I was making a noise and pissing them off. They would growl every time I opened the door a little. They growled and I would try and close the door again. I realised there was a dear hoof stuck in the upper half of the door preventing me from closing the door.

I tried to push the hoof out from the door and for some reason I taunted the wolves with that strange noise and they proceeded to growl and attack the door. Well I woke up making that "wooo" sound real loud. It terrified my cats so they made a beeline out of bed like bats out of hell.

I sat up and said loudly; "Oh fuck, I am turning into my mum!” I then fell back to sleep.

Tybee Island

Since the weather was so beautiful I decided to drive out to Tybee and go to the beach. Tybee Island is considered Savannah's beach, but Tybee is its own "city". The drive out is a pleasant one. You have to drive over several rivers and through the marsh islands to get to it.

The QuickTime video below is my first podcast, you could say. Anyhow I took the video using my digital still camera and I think the image came out rather well. I pieced the whole thing together with iMovie. It's cheesy, but it was fun.


Click here to get your own player.




The Tybee Island Light House



This picture was taken on north beach facing where the Savannah River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The jetty at one time was much taller. The sea has since caused the boulders to sink and cover them with sand. When I was in my late teens and early twenties I used to climb up them during tropical storms and stormy weather and hope for a big wave to take me away.

One day it nearly happened! I decided no, no I don't want a big wave to take me away and never did that again.

While standing on the rocks and looking out over the ocean you can see Daufuskie Island and just a hint of Hilton Head Island off in the distance.


When I was younger these boulders were fairly new, in that they were recently placed to form the jetty. Since then they have been covered in barnacles and seaweed. They have wonderful texture now.


On the way back into town I decided to stop along the road at one of the entrances to the old railroad tracks. The trains stopped running a very long time ago. In the 1980's the tracks were taken up and a trail was created for people to walk, run or ride bikes on.

At one time the train was the only way to get to Tybee. It must have been wonderful to travel on the train. As you can see from the photograph this narrow strip of land is all that separates your from the marsh on one side and the river on the other. What a view it must have been sitting high up zipping past the palm trees.


Marsh view near the train path.

Uber Geek, I Am Not

I come to the realization I am not an uber geek. Yes, it is true. Now this is not to say that I am not a geek in general, because I do love my techno stuff and I do so love my Mac's, but I am not an uber geek. What does this mean to you? Nothing. It's all about me.

I am so happy not to be working in IT administration or on websites for people and I am so happy not to be forcing myself to learn and follow up on my Apple Technician certifications. I realize I have never been truly happy until now. I am a designer. A decorator. An organizer. .... A queer guy with an eye. ;)

Yesterday I spent four and half hours at a furniture store making the final furniture selections. It was really enjoyable. Today I was at the Hidden Pointe Townhome site. The builder, architect and I were going over the plans of the unit the builder purchased. The kitchen was being redesigned. It was a lot of fun!

Then we went to lunch at some meat-eating establishment with really bad wall paper. You know, some kind of BBQ place. I didn't realize we were going there. I did manage to find a small salad with no meat and I dare say I had a huge plate of CHEESE FRIES and diet Coke. They were so good.

Now I am going to spend the next hour and fifteen minutes on the treadmill.

Just For Fun

While visiting The Banal Chew the other day he had a post linking to this, The Perception Laboratory's Face Transformer.


So I present the following scary photograph of yours truly. Here I am at the ripe age of 21. Look at that big hair, the tan and what's with the mustache? It was my Miami days while attending the International Fine Arts College (from Hell).

Now after morphing, I present to you the new East Asian me!



Hey let's take it further. Here is my baby, Nora-Grace, the little Boo. Isn't she sweet? Don't let that face fool you. She will bitch slap you given a chance.



Now after morphing, I present to you primeval, ape boo-cat!



BUT WAIT!

Here is Modigliani Boo and last, but not least....



Magna Cartoon Boo!

Office?

You would think as a design consultant, decorator or whatever you would call my fabulousness would have a brilliant office at the Hidden Pointe Townhome job site, right? NOOOOOOO!

This is it. I'm stuck in one of the unit’s four-car garage's where it's ten degrees cooler then outside that bloody door! Meanwhile, outside there is a masonry saw, a jackhammer and fifteen workers are hammering away above me. I simply can't work under these conditions!

Heh, heh. I'm just kidding. Actually, I am enjoying the environment very much, but I did move my "office" to the builders shed.

Mischief

What is it you ask? Why it's a wax putti ball sphere thingy, duh.

You see it's like this. Melissa purchased this ghastly thing in Birmingham many, many moons ago. It was her plan to give it to someone as a gag gift. Truly, it would make anyone gag. She ended up giving it to Steve and Jim a long time ago. Recently it made its way back to Melissa.

For about six months or so we pondered on what to do with it and how to give it back to Steve and Jim. We came up with the idea to drill a hole into it so we could insert green glow sticks and hang it in there yard late in the evening. Well last night was that night. Steve and Jim had out of town guests and were at a pre-St. Patrick's Day party so we jumped on the opportunity and set our plan in motion.


Look, it's a glowing green Putti UFO ball sphere thingy!


In this picture the power of the Putti ball is attracting spirits to it. In the world of the paranormal the spirits are called orbs. Like attracts like.

Being that Savannah sits on some rather bizarre lay-lines it has a mighty vortex. Often referred to me as the Vortex of Goo.

Since so many terrible things have happened here the goo is powerful and there are many trapped spirits. Savannah is one of the most haunted cities in North America for that very reason.


Melissa, my accomplice could not stop laughing.

Afterwards we returned home triumphantly and finished a bottle of wine! However Steve and Jim telephoned later in the evening and threatened retaliation. Is this the end of the Putti wax ball sphere thingy? We shall see.

P.S. Yes, the beard is gone. WIth the recent weather being in the 80's I can't deal. I am not fond of hot humid weather. When it arrives I get cranky. So there you have it.

Clients! Clients! Clients!

I haven't had much time to read blogs or to blog myself. All of a sudden I have many clients! I am not complaining by any means. I am just well, relieved and very busy. I love every minute of it!

These days I am just trying to figure out time management. I have never seen my calendar so full. The interesting thing will be juggling all the different designs I have to pull together.

Again, I love every minute of it.

Scary!

Savannah can truly be scary sometimes.

A Nice Day

Today I went downtown to hang out. I miss living downtown A LOT! Anyhow I stopped by the Andrew Low House. As you may or may not know William Mackay Low married Juliette Gordon who later founded the Girl Scouts of America here in Savannah in 1912.

My mama works there part-time as docent. She is a member of the Colonial Dames, Daughters of the American Revolution and United Daughters of the Confederacy so she’s chock full of all kinds of interesting historical information.

I arrived just in time for one of her tours so I joined in. She enjoys what she does. It shows through her while she speaks and the people on her tour thoroughly enjoyed it as well. I hadn’t been inside the house in over a decade. It’s good to see how far the restoration has come and to see some of the family descendants have donated original pieces of furniture to the house.

During the tour I notice a couple that looked rather familiar to me. I kept glancing at them and finally when there was a moment I asked if we had met before or if they were on TV. They looked at me and smiled and said they were on HGTV last year on the show, Designed to Sell with Lisa LaPorta and Clive Pearse.

As soon as the said it I remembered. I laughed and said that’s it. I added I remembered they were the couple that had that long narrow living room with all the 80’s furniture and artwork. They also had a stacked stone fireplace that was completely blocked by a VHS collection. They also had a horrid bathroom with many different decades colliding.

They laughed and could not believe I remembered. I didn’t have the heart to tell them their awful décor left an impression burned in my brain. Isn’t it funny how things happen?

The picture above is of a fountain in the courtyard of the Andrew Low house and it was created by Juliette Gordon Low.

Oh in about an hour and half some beefy men are coming by to install the 300 Lb. Tappan stove. Finally! (As stated before it's been sitting in the Foyer for over a year.)

All Is Well

Today I met with Wendy at Hidden Pointe and finalized the details. All is well and I'm set to start next week! I am still not clear on this non disclosure thing, but I’ll get more details from them come Tuesday.


If I have broken a rule Wendy will tell me. Right Wendy? So I have taken a chance and posted a picture of the construction to show y’all what I’ll be working with.


Here is a view of the marsh from one of the units. Technically its still Winter so the marsh grass is brown, but picture this every morning in the hot/humid drippy months. It will be lush flowing green.

Picture of the Moment

Mysteriously my digital camera is working again. No complaints here. I really didn't want to purchase another one at this point.

Today's weather is beautiful. It's 78F and very sunny. I was sitting outside here at Gallery Espresso since it's so nice, but I had to go in to upload this post because I could not get a stable signal. They have the A/C on so it's comfortable unlike yesterday.

I am still waiting to hear about the details of the contract. Tick-tock, tick-tock. Twiddling the thumbs. La dee da.

Finshed and Ready to Start

I finally finished up with a client. It was quite a long project, which stretched almost three months! Anyhow I am finished and ready to start on another project.

The other day I found out I did get the corporate contract with Hidden Pointe Townhomes. Now I await the details. The owners have a lot going on so it may not be until next week sometime until I hear about details. I am excited about this project because it's huge. My name will be listed in their registry which means when people purchase these homes they may ask for my services.

I can't mention too much about details because I do know I will be signing a non-disclosure once the actual contract is signed and sealed. So I need to find out what I can and cannot say first before I start blathering on about it.

The weather has been cool lately, which I enjoyed. It's been in the 50's F, but now it’s warming up again. Today is 68F, but that's nice too though it's overcast today and it rained earlier this morning. That's because I washed my car the other day for the first time in three weeks. It's the umbrella affect. You know, if we are told it's going to rain and I carry my umbrella with me it won't rain, but if I don't have it on me it will rain. Well, it's the same with washing my car.

There's not much else to say. Oh, Melissa is having the Tappan stove finally installed in her kitchen. It's only been sitting in the foyer for over a year. Yes, it's been sitting there with a sheet of some sort thrown over it. It's been a console table stand in.

Meanwhile the original Tappan stove in the kitchen only has one burner that works and only one oven that kind of works. You need to preheat the bloody thing over an hour before you can cook and then you may be lucky for it to get up to 450F.

I must add though she has made some wonderful meals on such a challenged stove/oven. It will be interesting to see if this replacement actually works. You see she purchased it from a person in Canada on eBay. One is supposed to test such items upon arrival. Anyhow we are both rather excited about the cooking prospects!

Keeping Busy

I haven’t had time to post anything this past week because I have been rather busy. Last Tuesday I had an opportunity come knocking at my new business door. I have a construction company interested in me decorating one of their model homes.

They interviewed me on Tuesday and asked for me to come up with a plan and cost estimates. I got to see the development plans and had a walk through the model home. They have incredible marsh views. The home itself is nice, but currently there are only studs and no drywall. So I had to use my imagination when designing.

I thought they would give me about a week to submit, but they only gave me two days! So last Wednesday and Thursday I was running around to every furniture, antique and bric-brac store you could think of. I spent Thursday evening coming up with plan and the final pricing. I submitted the information to them on Friday. Now I wait. I am trying not to think about it and am only focusing on a current client.

However if I were to get this contract it will really push my business forward. There’s the chance some of the homebuyers would call on me to help them with their decorating and organizing needs. I have already met so many industry people and have made contacts at some of the finest shops here in Savannah for future client needs.

This Saturday past I went to the SCAD scholarship gala. It was a black tie event. We had a great time. It’s been awhile since I worn my tuxedo. I must admit I had to get new trousers. Ugh! Anyhow it was good to see some people that I once worked with as well as a few professors’ I had. I believe at the end of the evening the event managed to raise over $30k for scholarships.

The frustrating thing about the whole evening was the fact that my camera died. You know I only purchased it this past summer and I would expect it to last at least a year! Then the batteries died in Melissa’s camera. Then the batteries in Ron’s camera died as we all lined up to be photographed!

We did get a picture taken with Melissa’s Palm, but as you can see it’s blurry and the colour quality is awful. Oh, there are two people in the photograph that I am not sure would like for me to post in my blog so I removed their heads.

Disturbing Information

I only just found out that Iams pet food is evil. Apparently Iams participates in horrid animal testing! This Iams thing past me by and I just purchased another 14 lb. bag the other day.

One of my clients informed me of this fact and has suggested I switch to Science Diet. She even gave me a huge bag of the weight management and hairball remedy to start Nora-Grace and Tabitha on. Since I have a bag of Iams already I guess I'll mix the food together so they may get used to the new food.

You know when I was younger I was involved heavily wit PETA, Save America's Forests and Amnesty. Then some how I got old and stuck my head in the sand!

The fact there are still companies like Procter & Gamble (Iams) and L'Oreal that test on animals is revolting. These tests can be done in Petri dishes with human skin cells with more accurate results.

If you are interested in knowing more about Iams and P&G animal testing, click here.

Good Friends

Yesterday I got to spend time with my good friends Leslie and her daughter Dominique. I haven't seen either of them in a very long time. Leslie now lives in the Netherlands and is visiting her family here in Savannah and Athens.

Leslie wishes for me to visit her in Holland soon, but until this business of mine picks up I'm not going anywhere. Perhaps someday I will be able to. I would love to spend quality time with her. As well I would like to visit my family in Britain, Germany and Norway.

In other news apparently spring has arrived. The azaleas in the back garden are starting to bloom!


Leslie and moi.


Leslie and Dominique


Spring has sprung!

Cooling Down

Now it's cold. It's 50F and going down to 41F tonight. Up, down, up, down, up, down.

Too Warm

It's too warm today. At one point I had to turn my A/C on while out running errands. Also while I was working at a client’s house it became too warm inside, but I wasn't about to turn on the A/C. It wouldn't be proper. They are also the type of individuals who don't open the blinds at all so I was nervous about opening a window.

Can you imagine not opening your blinds during the day? I mean, if you were home sick perhaps then I would understand, but never opening them at all ever. It's too weird for me. I like light and this is coming from someone who wears a lot of black and is gothic in nature, but it's true. I love to have light flood my house.

Anyhow A/C in January (in the northern hemisphere)? That's even weirder.

A New Year and A New Beginning

I have decided this year shall be MY year. Yes, all mine, Ahah hah hah haaaaah!

Seriously last year was just awful. I ended a pointless and fruitless relationship, which I feel, was best for both of us. I lost my job, which I feel was best for me. It’s wonderful not having to work a job that brings no joy to ones life. However, I had to give up my apartment and put all my belongings in storage, which I am not too happy about and I have wiped out my savings, which I am definitely not happy about.

However this past December I started my own business and feel really good about it. Now I just need more business to make this thing work. I believe it’s going to.

I feel very positive about the whole situation and I have not felt positive about anything in a very long time. I tend not to be a positive person. In fact, I am the “glass is half empty” type of individual. For now on I am going to remind myself “the glass is half full”!

Through all this turmoil I have had a supportive family and friends. My friend Melissa has been especially so for inviting me and my two cats to live with her while I reinvent my life. Our fabulous Champagne Sunday is the best! My friend Betsy has been wonderful with providing mental support and our crazy sci-fi nights with dinner and wine.

Steve and Jim are so nice to roll out the Bentley and take me to Open House hoping. It’s nice to let lose and it breaks the monotony. My friend Alina is just so wonderful for giving me ideas and pushing me to start this business. Our lunches are such a pleasure.

My friend Emma who keeps offering her second bedroom to me so that I may escape the Vortex that is Savannah. It's completely appreciated, but here I must stay for now because of my new venture. Then there’s Robert and Kevin, my blogging friends who are generous, kind and say the nicest things. I have met many people blogging and hope to build more friendships this year. I have so many good friends that I may have not mentioned and I am thankful for all of you.

This is the year I turn forty and this is my year of positive change and new beginnings. I hope everyone has a happy new year and new beginnings too!

…. end sappy transmition.