Speaking about a Farrah Fawcett appearance, Dawn Eden wrote:”I had to go because if I didn’t, my nine-year-old self would never forgive me.” I just love this quote because it is exactly how I feel whenever I am greeted by the opportunity to see a Monkee. I can’t disappoint the 11-year-old girl I was once!

I bought a sofa today during my lunch break. Lisa and I first saw it a few weeks ago and we kept returning to look at it. Why was I so hesitant to buy the sofa? The reason is the color. It is red and I have never been that type of girl. I always play it safe- beige, tan, brown, etc. Looking at the red reverse camel sofa I decided to heck on the type of girl I have always been– gosh darnit, I am going for it! RED! Yeeee Ha!

This is the dining room table I bought yesterday: Ashley Furniture – Dining – Con – Allessi

I spent Valentine’s Day painting my new bedroom and shopping at outlet furniture stores. I even bought a dining room table (and 6 chairs)!

Best darn Valentine’s Day ever!

The Donna villa is looking great!!! The living room and loft have been painted Behr’s Swiss Coffee! The painters did a fantabulous job! It’s amazing how simply changing the wall color can do so much for a room. Not only do they look larger but so much cleaner.

What is left:
– Finish painting my bedroom
– Prime and paint hallway
– Putty woodwork in dining room
– Prime and paint dining room
– Buy a sofa & coffee table
– Buy a kitchen table and chairs
– Sort through the boxes of my grandmother’s dishes and pots and stuff
– Move in

Something odd has been happening to me. Everyday, for the last week and a half, whenever I turn on the radio, within a song or two, Elton John’s Tiny Dancer plays. At first I thought it was funny but now I am beginning to freak out. This is too strange a coincidence. It must be a sign. What can it mean!?! All I can figure is maybe Tony Danza has a new sitcom debuting.

Hold me closer, Tony Danza

I hired a painter to paint my living room. Then I thought, why stop there? So I called him back and asked him to paint the loft. Now I am thinking, maybe he can do my bedroom and the dining room, too.
It’s so all encompassing and it is taking forever! I want to move in! NOW! I also want to go furniture shopping since I think it would be a good idea to have a place to eat and a place to sit. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. I am tired and I have absolutely nothing to say and I know some might argue that I never have anything to say which is ultimately true although I do take pride that I am at least moderately entertaining at times. Sadly, that time is not now. I did scare a man away the other day. My mom talked one of her colleagues into helping me paint Friday evening. I thought we had a great time priming and painting. He even said he would come back the next day to help out more but he never showed. My mom says he now refuses to make eye contact with her. I don’t remember doing anything off-putting. I guess some people are just blinded (and slightly repelled) by my sparkling personality.

1. Touched up the green wall in the kitchen. I have decided that I like the color and do not regret choosing it.
2. Painted the rest of the walls Behr’s Swiss Coffee.
3. Painted the moulding to match the walls.
The kitchen is very nearly complete. I just need to paint the patio door and give the closet doors another coat of paint.

Tomorrow I hope to paint the trim in my bedroom and maybe even the hallway. Then on Tuesday, I can roll the paint on. Maybe I will be able to start moving in next Friday. Wouldn’t that be terrific?

I plan on posting some before and after pictures so you can see what I have gone through the last couple weeks.

retroCRUSH: YEAR OF THE MONKEY
THE FIFTY COOLEST APES OF ALL TIME!

Check out #7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday I…
1. Primed my bedroom walls.
2. Primed and sealed the kitchen walls.

Today I…
1. Painted one kitchen wall green. Behr New Green. It is bright. Very bright. I hope it wasn’t a mistake.
2. Sealed and primed the kitchen ceiling.

Tomorrow I hope to…
1. Paint my bedroom.
2. Paint Lisa’s bedroom.
3. Paint the kitchen ceiling.
4. Paint the kitchen molding.

It’s Saturday night and I have a yen to go out but my body hurts and I am tired. I also spent $64.00 at Home Depot today so my pockets are empty. Maybe I’ll just watch some TV and knit.

P.S. There is an Aldi opening nearby and I am really excited. Gosh, I am getting soooo old.

I just found out that one of my favorite actresses died a few months ago. Her name was Janice Rule and she portrayed Roxanne in The Subterraneans. In that movie she wore heavy eye make-up, painted sad self-portraits, and did wild bohmenian dances. No wonder I loved her. She also guest starred in a couple Fugitive episodes. One of her husbands was Ben Gazzara. He was the lead in the TV show, Run for Your Life. I absolutely adored that show. It came on right after It Takes a Thief.

At the tender age of 15, I watched The Subterraneans on TNT. It was a sanitized version of the Jack Kerouac novella. George Peppard starred as Leo Percepied and Leslie Caron was his black, errrrr, I mean French girlfriend, Mardou. Arte Johnson from Laugh-In fame played a Truman Capote-like character. The other beatniks were portrayed by Jim Hutton and Roddy McDowall. Jim Hutton made a couple of movies with Paula Prentiss and he later starred as Ellery Queen on TV. Sadly, he is mainly known today as the father of Timothy Hutton. Roddy McDowall was in so many great movies. My favorite was Lord Love a Duck with Tuesday Weld. When I was in college, I interned at a local news station. One afternoon, I was told to take a cup of coffee down to the studio for some guest. I grumbled all the way to the studio wondering how I ever got myself into such a servile position. “Here’s your coffee, sir” I said to the guest. The face that greeted me belonged to RODNEY MACDOWALL!
“Thank you my dear!” he said.
“You.. you… you are Rodney MacDowell!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, I do believe so” he replied.
“I… I… I WORSHIP YOU!!!!!”
“Oh my, you do have good taste.”
Talk about servile and stupid. Oh well, we all have moments.
At any rate, The Subterraneans left a lasting impression on me. I remember, weeks after my first viewing, I took to wearing a black beret and too much eyeliner. Looking back I realize that what I loved was the beatnik image as portrayed by Hollywood. It wasn’t Alan Ginsberg that I loved; it was Maynard G. Krebs*. That may explain why after about 20 attempts, I still haven’t made it through the novella.

*Do you know what the G stands for? Walter.