Noise pollution

A recent school-wide e-mail from Rusty caused some stir and discussion:

"I wanted to ask everyone's understanding of something that has become something of an issue for Dina and me (and we haven't been sure of how to handle it) so I am making a plea. The bathrooms on the north end of the building, while being much quieter since Anne made improvements, are a source of distasteful nightly distraction. Imagine every night (and I do mean EVERY night) lying down in your nice, comfortable bed and enjoying the sounds of exuberant defecation gently rocking you to sleep, or cuddling up to the one you love to the discordant symphony #2 (the bowel movement is my favorite), or trying to enjoy a late night snack while someone enjoys a late night dump. Assuming that people are coming down to this bathroom at night for privacy (and why else would you walk all the way down to these toilets when the other ones are way closer for most people), let me assure you that we can hear you scratch your nose (and EVERY other sound that you make) reverberating into our quiet, night-time home. I would like to ask for a very gentle and completely voluntary 10pm curfew on the north bathrooms ..."

Ah, community living. We are spoiled by having those two bathrooms right outside of our front door, whereas everyone else has to walk the halls to either these or the central bathrooms. The community came up with a better option than the poo-curfew: a door! A door with soundproofing that will separate our space from the public bathrooms, thereby affording everyone more privacy. (And giving us a hallway, so we don't constantly have to lock and unlock every room we are in as we move around.)

So that's what's happening: a door is being built. Right now. It's very very cool. Love quick and efficient decision-making!

Summertime

Hi! I know... is this thing on? Is anyone still posting?

Well, Seattle survived a record heat wave last week, with temperatures creeping over 100 throughout the area. (Rusty is on the road again and was spared, but not really -- he got to visit balmy places like Nevada, Utah, Colorado and now Texas!) I discovered, happily, that the school stays relatively cool -- not air conditioned, but not sweltering like some people's houses. So I hosted my first Dunava rehearsal in our music studio (should have taken a picture!). Temps were tolerable, and in between running to the kitchen for ice water and popsicles, we sang, and it sounded pretty good!

Then I got a job, and have not been doing much "around the place." Until today. Ah, today! One of my dreams came true today...

... I got a piano! It's exactly what I've been dreaming of. A friend of mine sold it to me, so I know where it came from. And let me tell you: it's worth hiring piano movers. They know what they're doing! They're fast! They take care of your baby! They were worth every penny. (J & J Piano Movers from Seattle; they don't have a Web site, but I do recommend them!)

Putting the piano in the office (mom says it has to be by an inside wall, and well, that's the only inside wall I have right now) meant I had to move the last two sections of my red couch out of here. My five-piece sectional didn't fit in the living room, so ... what to do?

Reading nook by the window. Nice! (Do you think I should turn that corner piece the other way? It's a little odd... but hey...)

Music Studio!

I'm back... sorry for the delay. I had a wonderful time at Balkan Camp, and promptly got a nasty head cold when I came home. I do that almost every year. It must be psychological by now; no one else I know who was there got sick.

But first of all: kudos to Rusty! He made so many changes, little and not-so-little, that it was a joy to come home to the school. (And very comfortable to be sick and not do anything for a few days.) He rebuilt the bed, even fixed the breaking frame (cheap Ikea construction, what can I say), so no more sleeping on the floor. He completely cleared out the music studio space and confined all boxes to the dark room and the east end of the studio, next to the office. Plants are everywhere. It's starting to be really cozy!

So now he's off again on another tour with Ottmar Liebert, and it's up to me to tinker along and "make progress." Hm. I'd love to unpack some of those boxes, but with every other one I look at, it becomes really clear that we need a closet. We have bookshelves galore, but there is no storage for clothes, linens, towels, and bathroom items. So, more trips to Ikea in the future. (Unless someone has a better suggestion? Please? I'm starting to lose my enthusiasm for pressboard furniture...)

But one thing I have done is start to use that studio for what it's ultimately meant for: making music. Behold my music studio set-up:

I'm very shy about playing. I've been practicing the gudulka and violin, and I'm a beginner at both, so it's not pretty. (And the room is wonderfully resonant, so I'm sure sounds are leaking into the hallway!) So, to all my neighbors: please forgive me...!

-- What does a gudulka sound like, you ask? Well, here you go:

If it ain't broke, rip it off the wall.

Well, with Dina gone I have been remiss in updating the blog but here we go! I have been really busy with not that much to show for it but progress IS being made. I have started working on the music room and with every step forward there are two steps back. First there were these large pin board panels on the wall and I wanted them off so I could paint and put up acoustic sound dampening foam so I began pulling the first one down and what did I find? They were glued on to...plaster. *sigh*

 

Two hours later I had finally pulled the first panel down as well as what seemed like most of the wall. The second one on the back wall was NOT glued but only screwed to the wall and came off easily. Another 2 or 3 hours later and the room was cleaned and ready to paint. The next step will be to paint the room a warm red and glue (!) acoustic sound dampening foam panels to the wall where the plaster used to be. Well, at least we now have a stove to cook with and lights!

Actually, I was really bummed when I pulled the wall apart but after cleaning everything up I am starting to get excited again. Unfortunately, I will be leaving July 6th to do another tour with OL so I won't be able to make any more progress until I return in August. I can hardly wait to be able to play drums at home!!!

Light! Food! Cactus!

I like to keep my blog updates short, because I figure all y'all's attention span is like mine -- what was I saying? Oh yeah.... well, a lot has been happening, so this could be long. (Also, in commemorating one of my teenage idols who just passed away, I'm downloading a boatload of Michael Jackson songs as I type, so I have lots of time to write until that's done...!)

Earlier this week the electricians took over the place. And now several wonderful things have occurred:

• We have overhead lights in the living room! (And yes, I still like the color that I painted it when fully illuminated -- phew!)
• We have overhead lights in the kitchen!
  
• The living room light switch no longer power the outlets in the kitchen... yes, I know. It was funky wiring.

And best of all (drumroll),

• We have a stove! And it works!

Background story: we bought a stove from the previous renters. It was wired somehow through the school clock system, which probably wasn't quite legal, so we wanted to install a 220 line and do it right. The stove was small, so we traded it with another resident who moved in recently and who'd somehow gotten a stove bigger than she needed. We are cookers. Well, Rusty is, mainly. But a bigger stove is definitely better for us. Last night I made a trial batch of No Pudge Brownies -- yum! Just the smell through the apartment alone is worth the effort!

What else has happened?

• The office is "done." But it's a big mess, so no photo yet. But it's yellow and lovely and a happy space to be.
• Rusty planted a cactus outside our bedroom window. Photo:
  
• I don't have a closet, so most of my clothes are still in boxes, but I'm learning to make do: I got a small clothes rack for the bedroom. And I finally got super-anal about my dresser. You all don't mind seeing a photo of my underwear drawer, do you? I'm so proud of myself, and it makes me happy every time I open it!

That's it for now, I think...! Tomorrow morning I leave for Balkan Music & Dance Camp in the Woodlands by Mendocino, so no blogging for me -- but hopefully Rusty will post something.

Bike storage!

Lest anyone thinks Dina is doing all the work around here... oh no no no. (Just all the blogging -- so far!)

Last night Rusty converted our little storage area (yes, with all this space we still get storage!) into bike storage. Just a few hooks into some plywood and presto! Room for all the wheels. Even room to work on the wheels. (The storage room, btw, is the former Boy's bathroom. All fixtures have been removed, and residents divide it up fairly, with areas being demarcated by duct tape on the floor.)

This made me so happy. And I think it's the first time Rusty has had all his bikes in one location in many many years. (Only one of those bikes is mine, although my favorite bike geek says I need another one...!)

Yellow Dreams...

Ok, back to painting.

I've moved on to the Conference Room, which is to become our home office. Originally we thought this would be *my* office, so I got to choose the color, but lately we realize (as the kitchen table gets more and more cluttered) that we'll probably both use it equally.

Before: White-ish walls with a hint of green, and a bright green heater and window sill. The heating pipes are white, but I couldn't tell until I painted the heater and they stopped reflecting the green. This time I tried to "prep" the area and chip off some of the green paint from the window sill -- it peeled of frighteningly easy. I think I got down to elementary-school-original beige. With some sanding, I hope the new paint sticks better...!

After: Yellow! I love yellow. My happiest living space was a room I got to paint yellow. So I thought I'd try to recreate that. What do you think? I'll leave the heater, window sill and door frames white... and the pipes too, of course.