Tuesday, August 22, 2000

 

11:14 a.m. I'm going to try to get out of these mental four walls for a bit and I'm going to try to not write about the rat.

It *is* odd, however, that Igor is still the only one who sees him. He (the rat) came down the carpeted stairs just as Igor was settling in on the couch, luxuriating in from of the new/old big Sony TV, all cozy for the night. Harshed his mellow something awful.

But, let's not talk about the poisoned rat who has made our home his home. And I might as well not talk about the cable guys who didn't show up to hook up the cable. We've been enjoying the extra free Spanish and Korean stations anyway.

Let's talk, instead, about this really unusual fence that I've photographed for your perusal. There is a wealth of interesting ideas here, if you're the clever sort.

First of all, the two sets of three-each clustered legs are done in a faux bamboo. They are actually metal pipes, hot-welded where the bamboo circles go round, and then stained or painted or even heat-burned into a yellowish color. Very nice.

The top of the fence is a metal extravaganza. It could hold water, or it could be the lateral part of a fountain arrangement. It's sort of a metal tray welded to a metal flat piece, and then the tray is filled with rocks. Again, very interesting, very unusual; very nice.

If you can't already tell, I'm entering a nesting phase. It happens this time of the year like clockwork. Soon, I'll be painting again -- I can feel it coming on like a bad bad allergic reaction. Yesterday at the market, I bought (and I've since read) the latest Martha Stewart magazine. So, help me.

Since I've also been dieting in my own slow, methodical way, maybe this September I won't pack on the poundage and maybe I'll actually enjoy the coming of the next season. I so much want to be slim, trim, svelte, bony, and lithe. I've gone off, here, on a tangent -- but things are really speeding up around here and there is so much to do and I'm not talking about the rat, at least, am I?

Homes need improving at this time of the year. I don't make the rules. Once the premises around here are safe again, I'm determined to get rid of the thousand file boxes and drag out my 20 gallon drums of off-white and start in again. I'm getting better and better with a putty knife and a tub of nice creamy gooey spackle. I can actually wield it.

Now, I most certainly can't weld, which is what you have to be able to do if you want a fence like the one in the picture, but I can wallpaper and I can paint. My infection from last September is still not totally out of my system, but this time -- I'm going to definitely think about ventilation.

I don't know what it is: the diet, the weather, the tea I just finished -- but I'm all jumpy. I can't seem to concentrate here. Oh yeah. That. I almost forgot. It.

You know, other people have weird pets. Bunnies and snakes and tortoises and hairless guinea piggies -- why can't we just name it Ben and call it a friend?