Chris Watson and BJ Nilsen

July 23, 2008

And now, as they used to say on SNL, for something completely different.

Wicker Park soundtrack

July 21, 2008

Cliff Martinez soundtracks are always excellent accompaniments for a late evening drive to San Francisco. Wicker Park might not be the best for first thing Monday morning after trekking around mountainous trails on Sunday though.

It is surprising how many gentlemen of a certain age are out there climbing the steep grades on a bike.

house painting music

July 3, 2008

About mid-morning, the crew brought out the boombox. I didn’t want to listen to it, so I cranked up my Blank & Jones collection, which can get me through most of the day in a productive haze. At some point, the painters turned down their stuff. After lunch maybe. Then they went to work on the beams, which meant they were close to where I was working. They got kinda quiet, although occasionally one would do the falsetto again, a melodic ballad that was nice.

They finished the whole house in a day. Very proud, they walked me around so I could see. As I was writing out the check, the lead guy said, ‘Nice music.’

sounds of a house being painted

July 2, 2008

Actually, the prep work is today. The pressure washing is done (forgot and left a bathroom window open, major mess), the windows all covered over. The workers have been singing, frequently in falsetto, and whistling. The boombox appeared, which is fine with me, my neighbor in back deserves a couple of days of noise favors returned.

The light inside is amazing, but kinda hard to concentrate on photos with all the outside activity. Tomorrow promises more of the same distraction, but at the end of the day, the house will look better than it has for two decades. Here I was thinking the prep would only take a couple of hours.