Just a Couple of Days of Working...

Yesterday, we started a new job in Concord... It's been a while since we've worked outside... it was good, but hot. Prep work... filling nail holes. New porches, nice construction, great client... We'll make this look good. The carpenters have been working on the deck... not helping us with sawdust between the cracks of the boards. just more work for us. To the Plough for a quick pint... heard that Lincoln had been in directly from the hospital... but they didn't serve him. Home to stupid telly... which I obviously got involved in... voting a number of times on several phone numbers for "The Best Comic Standing".
Today, I went to Back Bay to work with, Lowell. We straightened out the ceiling, second coat on the walls, prepped some trim for the second coat. Again to the Plough... saw Lincoln... didn't look so bad... appeared to have a call from his wife, said he was off to cook lamb chops....gawd, I hope there's some truth in that.
Home to 7 calls... everybody starting up the new season...

I Had to Work This Saturday...

Today I installed 80 some odd paintings and sculptures at a medical software company.
It took 10 hours and I'm knackered. These things ranged from normal, two hook framed pictures to 3 sculptures mounted on a brick wall... it also included a few where the artist had invented the hanging system. The installation was spread over 3 floors and I put a lot of miles in marching between training rooms. The pieces were all hung too high, but I have to do what I'm told. The artwork was all by local artists and there were a few pieces by good friends. I've gotta get some slides together for this woman's next presentation... there was usually more than one piece by each artist. I could use the dough... not that I haven't done well by this gig.

The Plough and Stars...

The Plough and Stars is one of the oldest Irish pubs in the Boston area... Established in 1969. 912 Massachsetts Ave. in Cambridge... halfway between Harvard and MIT.
I was introduced to the place about 1978 by my girlfriend of the time, Lucinda. We lived in Brookline but would truck our laundry across the river to the Laundromat next door and have a few pints while the laundry washed, rinsed and tumbled dry. Was a cool place and whenever I was in that neighborhood I'd stop in. My attendance there was rather spotty during the 80's... my dentist was across the street and I'd stop in for a rinse after most dental procedures, but that was about it. In the mid 90's it became more of a destination, as I got to know the staff and clientelle. Then... horror of horrors, I became a "regular". This became apparent when I was invited to the stage (well, actually, just the floor next to the gents) to sing backup for a song during a benefit for one of our ailing friends. I'm a late afternoon kind of guy... between work and home... I rarely go out for the music. But, the afterwork crowd is brilliant. Everything is there... architects, builders, painters, scientists, poets, business types, politicians, writers, students and lots of musicians. Some of my favorites are, Richard, a black Baptist preacher, John Lincoln Wright, a professional country singer, Derek, a fine carpenter and good pal, Paul, who I work with (and who's always carrying a BIG book about Nazis). There's tall Paul and Paul Scanlon. Big Dave and bald Dave... all a good lot. And clever.
It's a small room and I usually sit or stand at the front, near the windows for both light and scenery walking along Mass Ave. The place has recently been "redone" new floor, paint, etc. We're guessing on the insistance of George's (the owner) new wife... who also fired all the old staff (some are missed, some aren't). Happily they've replaced that staff with at least one guy, Mitch, who fits right in.
Anyway it's home... maybe more profiles of these barflies later...

Not Much Interesting Going on Here...

Just two days of painting... fairly straight ahead stuff. A little art moving this morning... returning someones work from a gallery. Otherwise it's been cut and roll and paint some trim (glossy work, I think it's called). Most afternoons there's a quick stop in at the Plough ("The Office" we sometimes call it)... I can usually find my wayward crew members there and find out what they've been up to. I promise that I'm going to do a detailed blog about this special place soon. Still composing it in my head.

Looks Like We're Going to Italy...

Today Paul and I painted Clark Gallery out in Lincoln. Pretty simple, that. I think that I've painted that place at least a dozen times. Jennifer, the assistant director is leaving for the DeCordova Museum... sounds likea good move. Saw Pam, the director/owner and we worked out a deal where I'll deduct the cost of the piece that I bought from the last show from the price of painting the place.
Arrived home to find that Sylvia has found and booked our hotel rooms for Florence and Rome. I guess that we're going to Italy. On my way home I looked at some painting that John Moses wants done in anticipation of his new greenhouse. When I told him we were going to Italy, he said that I should get in touch with his daughter who has done a number of teaching gigs over there. (Great idea, I hadn't thought of it.) He said she might have some recommendations about how not to get ripped off by cab drivers and the like. I WILL give her a call.

A Few Days Off from the Blog...

I took a little break from blogging... but back again.
Thursday, I ran around to sort out several different jobs... one more coat on a piece of floor in Dover and pick up the tools. To the South End to install some doorknobs in one place and a toilet paper cabinet in another. To Roslindale to pick up the stuff... van FULL of tools, ladders and drop cloths.
Friday, Lowell, Stephen and I started a new job in Back Bay... scraping, patching,the usual prep. Nice to work all day on one job for a change.
Saturday was the usual errands, not much of anything, really.
Sometime along the way, I got our tickets to Italy sorted out. Not perfect but since it's "Frequent Flyer Miles" we have to take what they have. Boston, Newark,Rome and then Rome, Detroit!, Boston. I did find a better route TO Florence,but they couldn't get us home without changing airports in New York... I just didn't see this at the end of our trip.
Sunday was the Plough with my crossword. Richard Buckners birthday (we decided that we knew what his folks did after Thanksgiving dinner, 9 months earlier). Lincoln came inbut was trembling so bad that he got put in an ambulance... he's given up,I fear.
I stayed longer than I should have, but had a nice walk home.
Today,it was back to Back Bay... finishing patches, sanding... getting ready to prime and paint. Simple, really. Briefly to the Plough... nothing special there today...

Sometimes it's Simpler Than I Think...

Everybody crapped out on me today, but Stephen. Actually, that's not true... Paul was locked out of the Roslindale job... the key wasn't left. I hope I have that sorted out. I went out to Concord to look at a new porch that we're to paint. Looks good and there's a bit of work there. Deb, the client, walked me through it and we'll start either Friday or Monday. Would like the carpenters to get out of the way... but there are some things that should be painted before they continue. Deb then sent me over to Meena's... she needs the exterior painted. Mostly its a simple job, but there's one side with a solarium that's going to be a rigging challenge. Great to see her... just back from 5 weeks in Gujarat. From there, since Lowell didn't want to do it... I went to Wellesley to repaint some base boards that the floor sander had marked up. Talked to Stephen, who was heroically sanding a few bits of floor (that's not really what we do). That's about it... fairly simple today. I thought it was going to be a lot worse. Stopped in at the Plough... nothing earth shattering, there. Lincoln is looking a little better. Home to a pile of phone calls. Spent an hour trying to get a better flight to Italy (using Skymiles). No luck... our return flight is Rome, Detroit, Boston...seems kind of dumb, but the flights will essentially be free.
Enough for now.

Two Days of Art Moving...

Well, I tried to write my blog around the picture last night... but it wouldn't go... "Publihing Was Unsuccesful", I was told. Frustrated, I just posted the pic. Tonight, I'm not in the mood for that, so I just posted the pic and will write above it.
Yesterday I started out by picking up artwork from two dealers/galleries... I'd just realised the night before that they were going to the same place. Even though I had diferent times in my book, I was able to arrange it to make the two pick ups and only the on drop off. The building I was going to has 40 floors and the loading dock has room for 2 vehicles... this is seriously wrong and there ought to be a law. I parked on the street and in the time it took me to get my ID sticker, I had a $75 ticket. I started carting the work from accross the street and the security woman said I could back in, in front of one of the trucks... by the time I was able to do that, she was on break and the guy that replaced her wanted to give me a hard time. He finally let me unload and I had to drive around the block and re-park before I could bring the stuff upstairs. Whew !!! Out to Roslindae to paint the walls of one room, Paul was there alone and I didn't really want that (Lowell was a no-show). In communication with Stephen and Michael... but they were fine. A quick stop at the Plough and I was home to wrestle with my Blog.
Today it was all over again in reverse. This time I was able to get into the loading dock after only 4 trips around the block. I'd found a semi-legal spot on the street and as I was getting my pic taken, the security guy saw that the meter maid was on the scene... viewing it from his TV monitor. A truck was leaving the dock and he promised me a space... so it was around the block again. As I came around another truck was backing in, but the security guy made him scootch over so that I could fit in... (I have to admit that these security people are ever so accomodating) Upstairs... grabbed the artwork (hastily rewrapped, I found) and I was of to the
gallery. A quick lunch and I was down to Summer Street to pick up for a delivery to the same building that the rest of my load was going. Delivered all of that... and back to Roslindale to help those guys clean up... almost done that job... just Paul there tomorrow. Drove out to Dover but that lot was gone. Home to make a whole lot of phone calls. One to Bob Ferrandini, an old art school friend, who had a stroke a couple of years ago, his birthday... he sounded better than he has in a long time.
And Sylvia's falling asleep wanting to read this...

Jon's ID Piccy 2

Jon's ID Piccy 2 Originally uploaded by jstangroom.

Jon's ID piccy

Jon's ID piccy Originally uploaded by jstangroom.

Weekend Update...

So... Saturday was consumed by those pesky little chores that one never has time for during the week. Syl had the weekend off... and after I walked the dog, we hopped into her car and went to the stationery store (printer ink), the bank, the off license and Wilson Farms (corn). Lunch at a Mexican place in Davis Square... a walk around and a bit more shopping. Back home, where I lay on the sofa and read for a while. Got a call from Debs (from the UK0 and her AOL friends wanting to get together for the evening, but we weren't going out again... made arrangements to meet for brunch on Sunday. Watched an English video... "It Happened in the Midlands" or something like that. We talked through the first bit of it and never did catch up to the story. I fell asleep while Syl watched another movie... "Osama" (not Bin Ladin).
Sunday and it's time for a bit of cleaning. Hoovering the place filled the bag and tripped the circuit breaker twice. Some laundry. Over to the Plough for brunch, where we were hoping to meet our AOL friends (they called at 3, saying they'd be another hour and a half, so we nixxed that). Some great laughter around the corner with the usual gangof idiots. Julian and I finished both the Times and Globe crosswords. Lincoln came in, looking as bad as ever, Sylvia gave him half of her sandwich, but he could only manage a bite. I think that he's done for. I should send some of his music. So, we're home, slow cooking some ribs on the grill. Oh yeah, Sam came by the Plough in his angel outfit, again... at least the wig and wings... I think that Syl is going to post a picture.
Enough for me...

More of the Same... With a Twist...

So, I visited four different jobs today.
Started out installing artwork in Lincoln with Michael. Kind of fun, that. A few challenging wall mounted sculptures. We hung about 12 pieces and moved some beds around. It's always a pleasure to work one on one with Mike... and the client was very pleased that we'd do all this odd stuff for her. On to Dover to see how Stephen was doing. He was fine, of course. Cleaned out the bedrooms that were finished and loaded some stuff into the van. Payed them and headed over to Needham to do some touch ups. From there I went to Roslindale, stopping by the bank on the way. Lowell called me on my cell while I was in transit to tell me that they were having trouble with a ceiling. Bits that didn't look like they needed scraping were coming down as they rolled it. Nothing to do but wait until it dries, scrape those areas, patch and repaint. Payed Paul and Lowell. Gave Lowell a ride back to Cambridge and to the Plough for a pint. I was quite surprised to see John Lincoln Wright there. Just out of the hospital and looking like walking death. He's been a mess since his ex-wife died about two months ago. At least he didn't stay long. Derek came in and on learning that Lincoln had been there said that he would have given hima talking to. We agreed that it wouldn't have done any good. I came home.
JuliaChild has died. Peacefully, in her sleep. She was 91. I don't know if theBrits
have heard of her... but she pioneered cooking shows on the telly. She lived in
Cambridge for most of her career and was an institution. Her kitchen has been
installed in the Smithsonian. She had a voice not unlike Hyacinth Buckets and was somewhat casual about her French cooking. We loved her.
Leon Golub died. He was 81. I've always responded to his paintings of wars and victims and violence. I've never understood his practice of painting and then scraping off the paint to achieve his final image. It certainly gives a rawness to the work.
The obituaries are the twist...

Another Ho-Hum...

You'd think with all the running around I do there would be more adventure. You'd also think I would be making more money with two painting jobs going and my art delivery. There's something wrong here, but I'll probably never get it sorted out.
Anyway, I started the day in the morning. New job,over in Roslindale, near where I used to live. Living Room and Dining Room,just ceilings and walls, the trim is natural wood. I was on my own to start,the clients are away and the house sitter left a key under the mat. Started moving boxes and furniture... these people are about halfway moved in. The ceiling in the Dining Room needed the most attention and ther was a few scraps of wallpaper left on. Plastic, drop cloths... got the place covered up, Paul and Lowell showed up just in time to start scraping. Three of us got it done in reasonable time. A run to the paint store... Got the van in order...and I was off to Newbury St. to pick up two young ladies and a big painting (if the painting had been one inch bigger, it wouldn't have fit). We delivered the painting to Brookline and then we were off to Cambridge to pick up a sculpture for return to the gallery. This sculpture is an 8 1/2 foot bronze of a nude woman whose feet become long sticks with knots and all... sort of growing out of the earth, but diferent as the branches have been lopped off the sticks... it's bronze, it's heavy. Wrestled it into the van, back to wrestle it into the gallery. As nice as these girls were, they motor-mouthed it all the way, never once including me in the
conversation... just as well. From here it's off to Dover (another English name, no
white cliffs, though) to check on Michael and Stephen. Mike had fixed some doors at the previous job and they were doing fine on this one but looking for a color for a new window. We thought we had one picked and I ran to get it (we were going to swipe it from the previous job). When I got to that job the client was there, having some movers put some sofas in the basement. It was a tight fit and I'll have to touch up. She gave me a final check, which is always nice and I stole the paint anyway... turned out to be the wrong color. Made plans with Michael to help me hang
two big pieces in Lincoln, tomorrow and I was on my way back to Roslindale to help
Lowell and Paul clean up. Whew... If I'm very, very lucky I'll make around $175 for
the day.
Dull, dull, dull... no humor, no adventure... just work.

So I Missed a Day...

Got in late last night, so I've gotta cram 2 days worth of doing here.
Work yesterday was fairly normal, in that it was insane. Finishing up one job...Micael installing a closet organizer (requiring 2 trips to Home Depot by me), Lowell finishing the trim in the living room, Paul painting a bathroom closet and Stephen touching up and painting the trim in the office. Me...I painted a door, did some touch ups and made sure that everybody had what they needed. At noon I had to go back to Lincoln to install more art work,I put up around 15 pieces and had to change the hardware on a couple. Home for a quick shower and then a drive with Sylvia to Essex, where we met up with John and Diane McNamara and Morgan and Jane Chickering, at Dianes family cottage. Small talk on the porch and we headed out to dinner minus Diane who was a bit ill and stayed behind with the kids. More small talk, discussing each of our art worlds and depressions. I mentioned that we were planning to go to Italy... it turns out that Morgan and Jane had just returned from there. (Sorry, I don't want to hear thier stories or see thier pictures...these people see life different than I do). A nice enough evening, although I had the worst plate of fried clams, ever. Those people can put it away...clean plates and full desserts. Home to find that we were too late to seewho won "Last Comic Standing".
This morning we tweaked up the job andheaded over to another... not too far away. Got Paul and Stephen startedon the new one and went back to help Michael with a few last minute details. Got those out of the way and I took him over to the new job. Sorted thatout and home to change vehicles (my van for Syls car) in order to go to theairport (the van at the airport can cause problems, these days). I was meetingDebs, Grahams wife from London... so I went to the international terminal...that's terminal "E". Well, she'd flown to NY and then Boston (nobody knowswhy) and was at terminal "B". I hiked accross the airport and of courseshe wasn't in sight. Couldn't call her as her cell wasn't working... she'dcalled me from a pay phone. Finally found her... located her ride and waitedwith her... loaded her in. I met, yet another on-line personality (her ride)...kissed them both good-bye and headed off to get a well deserved pint. Home,to write this.
Gawd, it's boring.

A "Nothing Special" Monday

I picked up Lowell and we were off to work. The client was there and he gave us a few last minute changes and additions. We startd in on the office, which was the least completed of all the rooms. Lowell painted the walls and I started in on trim. Michal showed up (3 out of 5) and joined me painting trim. Once he was done with the walls in the office, Lowell went up and finished the walls in the Living Room. Around noon Lowell and I headed out to look at an exterior that's a bit of a distance away. We looked it over and collected a bunch of numbers... I'm a bit scared of the job. It's big, we're really not set up for big exteriors and it's far away. The work itself is fairly easy... there's just lots of it. Once September rolls around my art moving and installation will pick up and I'll be less on the job. If we should get the job that we looked at Friday I'll just tell the guy that we can't manage it. So I hope to hear about that soon. Back to work and we finished up the day getting quite a bit done.
A quick stop at the Plough... rather low key this afternoon. Home, to make a few calls about up coming jobs.
Tomorrow evening we'll go out to Essex to see John McNamara, a friend from art school days. He's visiting from California (he teaches art at Berkeley)... should be a good visit. Guess I'll tell you about it next time.

And the Weekend Slips Away

Sylvia worked this weekend, on my own, I was.
Did the laundry thing yesterday... made some futile attempts to scrape off some surfaces to make work space. Worked on a long overdue mail piece to Greenfield. Pretty much stayed around the house yesterday. Phone calls to my folks and Rick. I did make the preliminary attempts to get to Italy using my skymiles. So far they have us going from Boston to Newark to Rome... not too bad, but I have at least two weeks to see if they can do better. There are, of course direct flights from Boston to Rome... I just have to catch it when there are frequent flyer seats open. It appears that I've made amends with Graham from London... glad that's over. All due to some nutter in a chat room... not worth writing about yet. His wife, Debs will be arriving in Boston on Wednesday, I'll see her at the airport but probably not much more.
I was up WAY to late on the computer last night, so I had a late start this morning.I cleaned up andheaded out walking to the Plough, crossword puzzle in hand. Was halfway through when Julian came in with the Times and we finished that... we never finished my Globe puzzle. A couple of hours on a bar stool and I walked back home with Tish, who's moved not far from here. Not much to report... been reading and studying my new book.

My Birthday

And so it's my birthday... 53, I am.
Nothing special happened.
Stopped at the hardware (iron monger to you Brits) and got a new handset so that nobody would get locked in the loo again. Picked up some other hardware to finish up this job, as well. Spent way too much time looking for the hole saw needed to install the doorknob. When Michael arrived we went through all the tool boxes again... we were convinced that we'd seen it last week, but nothing. I went and bought a new one. I did odds and ends trying to get the place ready for the movers who were to arrive noonish. Got the guys in order, payed them (they actually expect money every week!) and got a few last minute instructions from the client.
Lowell and I headed off to do an estimate and then on to meet Meredyth to reinstall the artwork at the last job we were at. Mayhem, there. We tried to install all of the large pieces but a few needed new hardware. They had us rearranging furniture, moving sculptures around... much too much STUFF for this elegant, modernist house. We finally got let go (I'll still have to go back). Over to the Plough for a quick pint. Kind of a weird crew, there for a Friday after work. Home, to find a wonderful invitation to a "going away" reception for one of my clients. These were some of my favorite clients... world class minimalist collection... Dan Flaven, Sol Lewit, Ad Rienhart, etc. A whole new blog to come about my relationship to these people and their collection.
Anyway... it's my birthday... Syl has got a bag of goodies for me... haven't looked at it yet (although, I know there's a catalog from a Dutch show of H.C.Westermann, Jim Nutt and R. Crumb that I can't wait to see)
G'night, all.

Another Day Another Dollar

Pretty much the "same old" this morning. Picked up Lowell and arrived at work to find the carpet guys there, as expected. Worked in other areas of the house... the kitchen, the office... a trip to the paint store. Michael didn't show as there was a hint of rain... but it was just as well. Around noon time I ran off to do a couple of estimates. The first woman that I visited dropped her jaw when I quted a price for a hallway and bedroom... I actually thought that the price was quite modest, but I don't think I'll be hearing from her. The second job was out in Sherborn which would be a bit of a hike for us. An exterior, that we're barely equipped to do, although if we do get the job I'll make sure that we have the gear we need. I'll be giving a price of around $12,000 so it may all be moot anyway. Stopped for a quick Chinese lunch, where I lost a big piece of tooth eating a fried wonton. Back to the job, replacing hardware. Locked myself in the bathroom as the handset didn't work properly. Had to have Paul take it apart from outside, to get me out. The guys enjoyed that, offering to slip a magazine under the door, telling me that I should know how to spend time in a locked bathroom and that they'd try to get me out again in the morning. I'll be getting a new lockset tomorrow. A quick stop at the Plough, where the newfound jocularity prevailed. Everyone must be making money or getting lucky. Derek had his son with him, just over today from Hawaii... they looked pretty glad to be seeing each other. More news on John Lincoln Wright... in the hospital for dehydration, malnutrion and possibly a mild heart attack. He HAS been looking like crap the past few weeks. Not allowed visitors yet... scared someone will smuggle him some booze, I suppose. Makes for a full day, doesn't it ?

Me in the Comfy Chair

FINALLY !!!

Jon & Red chair 2 Originally uploaded by jstangroom.

Frustration

So, Flickr finally let me in, wouldn't allow me to post the downloaded pic, here in the blog.... and last night Blogspot wouldn't let me publish my blog after half an hour of typing. I hope I have better luck with that tonight.
Goofy day, this one. Got to the painting job after stopping at the hardware to get some wheels for sliding cupboard doors. Paul says. "Where's Lowell, thought you were supposed to pick him up". Well, I'd forgotten my cell phone and that was not my take on the way things were supposed to go... so we were short a guy. I spent a couple of hours doing detail work, then had to run off and do some art deliveries. I left the place in the good hands of Michael, Stephen and Paul.
The first job was picking up a painting from the restorer (discovered that I'd painted for this woman's mother) and taking it back to the company that owned it and put it back on the wall... simple, that.
The next one got a bit nutty. Four pieces of sculpture to go to two different places. Loaded up and took the first two, literally, around the corner. This was heavy stuff and I had two women travelling with me. They did all the heavy lifting!!! They took the stuff up to the client, while I stayed with the van. Back to the gallery for a second load (and so the girls could pee). Off to Cambridge this time, where we placed one piece successfully in the garden. The other, the heaviest needed a lt of tweaking in side the house. I drove one woman back to the gallery... the other woman had brought her car for a quicker escape. To the pub for me at that point... First to The Field to see Maurice and perhaps Barry, who never showed. Then to the Plough to hang out with Derek and Richard and the rest on the corner.
Is anyone reading this ???

And Monday Comes Around

Got out fairly early today... starting a new job.
I had 4 out of the 5 guys that were supposed to be there (inculding me).
Got final instructions, a check and a key from the new owner.
Started prepping things and a couple of the other guys started painting the few ceilings that we're doing. They were about to run out of paint so I headed out tothe paint store and loaded up on all sorts of supplies. Got back and atemy lunch, then started in priming the doors and trim that needed it. We were getting that pretty much in order... running out of places to go, so Michael and I decided to paint the walls in the Master Bedroom. Took us about 45 minutes. Stephen and Michael wanted to stay a little later (as they'd rolled in late) and started in on another bedroom, while Paul and I cleaned up. Off to the Plough, where the usual suspects were encamped. Must've been something in the air, as we were all very witty and spent a lot of time laughing at each other. Home to find Sylvia asleep on the couch. That's all I have to say for now.

Flickr

Well, the Flickr site gave me a real runaround this weekend... wouldn't work last night and today it wants to tell me that my cookies aren't enabled. There's a double entendre there, I'm sure... I should have got them up and running with the screaming, cursing and testosterone that I was spraying about. But, no go. Found all the places to enable cookies (which weren't disabled in the first place)... but Flicker says they're disabled and Flicker IS the boss... Thus, no pic of me in the comfy chair, yet.
Slow start this morning (it's Sunday, fer crying out loud)... off to get some bird seedas they were complaining... not much here... sparrows mostly, but we do havea few Cardinals and the occaisional Chickadee. Did some paper work for my job tomorrow... same as high school, leave the homework until the last minute.I gathered my crossword puzzle, etc. and walked over to the Plough and Stars,1.62 miles according to my pedometer, 3,580 steps. A familiar group of barflies and misfits doing their best to waste an afternoon. (More on the "Plough"at a later date) Finished about 95% of my Sunday crossword. One sight of note was Sam, a somewhat mentally challenged boulevardier, dressed as an angel... wings and all for no apparent reason. Ya gotta love this place. Walked home with no significant occurances, to wrestle with the computer... There you have it.