Sittin' Around, Hangin' Out, Doin' Our Thang

How Do You Take Your Mimosa?

I believe it was 2002 or 2003 when I changed the ruby red grapefruit walls in the hallways of my hovel to its current color that I've always thought of being a retro-harvest gold. Now I am reading about mimosa being the IT color of 2009. I've never been fond of mimosas as a Sunday morning drink. Though I always loved to go to the pre-holiday gatherings that my sister's neighbor M____ hosts and asks if I would like a MY-moe-SAW in his West Texas twang.

Hollywood Regency

I am giving serious consideration to a radical make over of the Junk Plex. Although I will not part with my famed Ming Dynasty tea pots, Biedermeier chests, Catalaniste Modernisme mosaics, Burkinabe Bobo ceremonial masks or Mixtecan insect dye textiles. I've heard my motif as being described as Heidi-Mediterranean.

The new motif being considered is Hollywood Regency. I've spent a fair amount of time in Hollywood, and one of my favorite TV characters growing up was Hollywood Harry. That's not the real Hollywood Harry on the right. He had a top hat, but it was much larger, and he had a beard and tuxedo. Harry appeared every Friday on the Lunch with Ho Ho Show and was from Hollywood Corners, Oklahoma, and he always had an update on his latest projects "out on the coast". His voice was just like Paul McCartney's on "Monkberry Moon Delight". I've not been able to find any video clips of him on the show either, but here's one from a few years later when Ho Ho advanced from lunch to a show place.

About seven years ago, I was hit up by a guy whose boyfriend had just for a two year stint in Paris and he assured me that he was not looking for a one nighter but a permanent two year temp. There was something about his face that was very familiar, and as our conversation expanded to my childhood years, I learned that we did have a link. He was a nephew of Ho Ho's and had grown up in Connecticut where Ho Ho hailed from. Much as I cherished the thought of yet another Connecticut beau, the thought of waking up to see a 35-year-old Ho Ho out of make up was more than I could deal with.

I'd feel the same way if I ran into Hollywood Harry's kin too.

This whole remodel job may take a while since I'll need to sort out my investments which I've not checked lately. About ten years ago my investment adviser was concerned that I had so much of my money tied up in real estate in Carmel and Sea Cliff and diversified my assets by investing in stock in Web Van, Oldsmobile, Tower Records and Petopia. I've not checked those stocks in a long time, so I'm hoping they've increased enough to where I can afford the new decor.
So what exactly is Hollywood Regency? Two of the central components are Chinoiserie objets de arte and cove lighting. These were central to my formative years. I learned early on that nothing cove lighting makes everyone look 20 years young and 30 pounds thinner.

Central to the movement was former silent star William Haines who went on to sell his soul to the Reagans and Annenburgs. However, he had one of my favorite quotes: "I can only tell you this -- I would rather have taste than either love or money."

The Glories of Indirect Light

Junk Thief has never been a fan of direct sunlight and has been known to go into a coma when he is forced to be around unfiltered overhead light for any extended time. While Blanche Dubois favored her little Chinese lanterns, Junk Thief is more fond of those of the Japanese order and has been trying them out in certain parts of the Junkplex. This is the latest addition above JT's ever growing turntable shrine. The question now is whether or not this theme should be extended post-taxes on the long awaited hallway make over project that will include floor renovation (hired out), molding (by JT) and new lighting (hired out/JT). This Tokyo de San Francisco theme would give the Junkplex an aura of Sam Fuller's The House of Bamboo, and we'd just not be able to keep Bryce Digdug away.

By the way, the print on the lower left was a gift given to Junk Thief on his first visit to Vietnam in 1996, a customized block print of the return of the Mandarin scholar, a theme he saw re-enacted the night before at the Thang Long waterpuppet show. Oh, on the theme of worst names for restaurants, Thang Long us up there.

Book/Oprah Episode Idea

Tips on how to recycle or organize all these rarely read tomes on getting ones life in order.

Since I Know You're All Dying of Curiosity

Here's the current status of my mini-conservatory/solarium/greenhouse. Thanks for all the tips. I hope to get more ideas next weekend at the Edwardian World's Faire.

All Around the Household

I came across this rather odd little book by Mark Robbins on the bargain table at the Phoenix Bookstore while running a few errands during lunch today in Noe Valley. While certainly not worth its original $40 price, it was definitely a nice diversion for $10. It's certainly not the usual decorating book but almost a Diane Arbus take on the House and Garden set.

Grounded in the belief that one's home is a strong reflection of one's personality, it is filled with only elliptical portraits of the homes, but full body portraits of the owners, many of them (mainly male and one drag king) in various stages of undress. It's an interesting idea, though I don't plan on publishing those photos from my household anytime soon.

While he seems to be contending that he's showing the anti-Architectural Digest vision of home design photography, most of the people have fairly affluent looking digs and toned bodies. Granted, there are a couple protruding stomachs, a muscle bound queen in Provincetown lives in a tiny attic hovel. But those are the exception. All the same, it's pretty fascinating to play this role of eavesdropping and snooping through people's homes. That's something I miss from my reporting days, but fortunately I get to enter many an impressive abode as a fundraiser, though I have to show much more restraint than I did when I went around with Leica, micro-recorder and notepad. Perhaps that's why I've decided to turn the tables with the exhibitionist blogging/vlogging these days.

Oddly, although most of the subjects are in the eastern U.S., Ohio and Rotterdam (of all places), there were four people I know featured, none of them from California. The vast majority of the couples are male, but fortunately they are posed as individuals and not in those annoying, arms around each other shots to convey that they are a unit. Ultimatley we all stand alone.

I mention the book in part to plug my emerging listings on goodreads.com Anyone who's been to my place can tell you this isn't even the tip of the iceberg, but it's a nicely organized site that allows you to share book titles and reviews with friends. It's clearly meant to encourage sales of the books, but, hey, that's a lot better than just reading blogs, eh? Thanks to Salty Miss Jill for introducing me to it.