Friday, November 16, 2007

2007 Year in Review: Summer Renovations at 811

These are "before" and "after" pictures of the painstaking and often painful and time consuming effort Mark and I made for 811 all summer. Knowledgeable as we are in home renovations, we were not prepared for the curve ball ahead of us.

This was no ordinary renovation. This was a restoration of an 1929 hotel apartment interpreted in today's times. While the kitchen was already gutted prior to our taking over, no modernization can be done to the bathroom, and all paint from the old heavy all-steel doors (3 of them!) had to be removed to restore them to their glory. This task, in addition to compounding walls that crack over time, repairing wood floors that have been damagd by the previous tenant, a refrigirator that leaked and otted some kitchen cabinets, among others.

From June thru September, with a one week break in Disneyworld for my birthday, we juggled work, teaching, housekeeping and restoration. But it paid off and now, we are happy to showcase 811. A lot of credit is given to Mark who worked on the complexities of the plumbing, electrical wiring, compounding and painting and the placement of the art we have collected. All our artwork are showcased in the 2 apartments and we have 2 more coming in by the end of the year. A 6 feet by 4 feet 1934 reproduction of a European poster and an old mirror in a new wood frame selected by Mark.

What did I contribute? Me? I just posed for the pictures.

811: Le Lounge pour Lizard or Decompression Chamber?







This is Mark's pride and joy. I call the Lounge, preferably the Lounge for Lounge Lizards. Because I am one. It's too contrived to call it a Living Room. Why? Is there such a thing as a Dying Room? What about the other rooms? Don't we live there too? Whatever... this is where designers need wordsmiths to come up with a better word to describe a place where you entertain and where you de-compress.

How about the Decompression Chamber?

811: Dining Nook






The large space on the left side of the "before" photo is where the dining nook is. It seats 4 comfortably but we can seat 6, with 2 extra chairs at both ends, if required. The large oil painting, "Fishermen," purchased in 2001 from the painter, Oscar Salita (with Deanna and Mark in 3rd photo), is the focal point of the nook. Because of its scale and bright colors, it is most appreciated when viewed across the living room.

Our dining table was once a library/study table from Vassar College, Mark's alma mater. Almost 100 years old, it's such a hard working table that it also doubles as our work table where we hatch all our travel adventures and schemes and where I sew occasionally.


811: Bathroom Medicine Cabinet





Porcelain firxtures were popular in the late 1920's or the Art Deco period. Walter Von Nessen was awarded a patent in 1929 for an Art Deco Bathroom lighting fixture such as this. Rights to his design were assigned to the Efcolite Corporation, which later became know as American Standard.

Why throw something if it still works today? There was a reason then and it worked, well, I believed it will still work today. Sure, you want something up to date. But there is a lot to be said about incorporating history without being stodgy, old fashioned and too attached to the past. Mark and I preserved all porcelain fixtured in the bathroom. We only added a new chrome shower curtain rod, a full width mirror opposite the tub and an overhead cabinet.

811: Bathroom





You can see where "old" meets "new" in the bathroom. The yellow patina of the subway-style tiles show its age and gracefully bordered by the sage bull nose tiles. The fresh coat of bright white paint "pop" out the new fittings - from the shower head to the overhead cabinet.

811: Kitchen & Foyer




The galley kitchen is 8 feet long and is very minimalist in its design. All kitchen equipment are hidden under the counter including the 2 burner commercial grade stove I have had for 15 years. Our rationale is: why have your stove take up counter space when you don't use it for more than 3 hours? Everything in the kitchen is designed to serve more than one purpose. The microwave is also a convection oven. The toaster oven is also sometimes used for warming food. Our coffeemaker is also our thermos and our tea maker. The under the counter ref, well, serves one purpose. Well, you can't win them all.

But what takes up the most space are the condiments Mark and I use to prepare our meals. Most of them come from our travels both as souvenirs and also to be used in our meals. Unintentionally, it also becomes an artful display of world graphics.

811: Breakfast Nook




The kitchen terminates to a breakfast nook where Mark and I share meals.

811: Our Pet Plants - Wilbur and Dulcinea

Wilbur is the "photos" plant and is assigned to guard the paintings. Dulcinea, named after my favorite restaurant in Manila, is the aloe vera in the foreground. Her job is look harmless then inflict pain on anyone who attempts to touch her. See those thorns on her fleshy leaves?

It is important for Mark and I to have plants in our homes, for as long as it is hospitable for them. Reminiscent of our life in Bedford and the need to purify the air, we also hope these plants will contribute to the positive "life force" in our apartment.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Science Facts from Students

These are actual answers from test papers and essays submitted to science and health teachers by junior high, high school, and college students around the world.

“When you breath, you inspire. When you do not breath, you expire.”

“H2O is hot water, and CO2 is cold water”

“To collect fumes of sulphur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube”

“When you smell an oderless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide”

“Nitrogen is not found in Ireland because it is not found in a free state”

“Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water.”

“Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes and caterpillars.”

“Blood flows down one leg and up the other.”

“Respiration is composed of two acts, first inspiration, and then expectoration.”

“The moon is a planet just like the earth, only it is even deader.”

“Artifical insemination is when the farmer does it to the cow instead of the bull.”

“Dew is formed on leaves when the sun shines down on them and makes them perspire.”

“A super-saturated solution is one that holds more than it can hold.”

“Mushrooms always grow in damp places and so they look like umbrellas.”

“The body consists of three parts- the brainium, the borax and the abominable cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abominable cavity contains the bowls, of which there are five - a, e, i, o, and u.”

“The pistol of a flower is its only protections against insects.”

“The alimentary canal is located in the northern part of Indiana.”

“The skeleton is what is left after the insides have been taken out and the outsides have ben taken off. The purpose of the skeleton is something to hitch meat to.”

“A permanent set of teeth consists of eight canines, eight cuspids, two molars, and eight cuspidors.”

“The tides are a fight between the Earth and moon. All water tends towards the moon, because there is no water in the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.”

“A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is.”

“Many women believe that an alcoholic binge will have no ill effects on the unborn fetus, but that is a large misconception.”

“Equator: A managerie lion running around the Earth through Africa.”

“Germinate: To become a naturalized German.”

“Liter: A nest of young puppies.”

“Magnet: Something you find crawling all over a dead cat.”

“Momentum: What you give a person when they are going away.”

“Planet: A body of Earth surrounded by sky.”

“Rhubarb: A kind of celery gone bloodshot.”

“Vacumm: A large, empty space where the pope lives.”

“Before giving a blood transfusion, find out if the blood is affirmative or negative.”

“To remove dust from the eye, pull the eye down over the nose.”

“For a nosebleed: Put the nose much lower then the body until the heart stops.”

“For drowning: Climb on top of the person and move up and down to make artifical perspiration.”

“For fainting: Rub the person’s chest or, if a lady, rub her arm above the hand instead. Or put the head between the knees of the nearest medical doctor.”

“For dog bite: put the dog away for several days. If he has not recovered, then kill it.”

“For asphyxiation: Apply artificial respiration until the patient is dead.”

“To prevent contraception: wear a condominium.”

“For head cold: use an agonizer to spray the nose until it drops in your throat.”

“To keep milk from turning sour: Keep it in the cow.”

Water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees. There are 180 degrees between freezing and boiling because there are 180 degrees between north and south.

A vibration is a motion that cannot make up its mind which way it wants to go.

There are 26 vitamins in all, but some of the letters are yet to be discovered. Finding them all means living forever.

There is a tremendous weight pushing down on the center of the Earth because of so much population stomping around up here these days.

Lime is a green-tasting rock.

Many dead animals in the past changed to fossils while others preferred
to be oil.

Genetics explain why you look like your father and if you don’t why you should.

Vacuums are nothings. We only mention them to let them know we know they’re there.

Some oxygen molecules help fires burn while others help make water, so sometimes it’s brother against brother.

Some people can tell what time it is by looking at the sun. But I have never been able to make out the numbers.

We say the cause of perfume disappearing is evaporation. Evaporation gets blamed for a lot of things people forget to put the top on.

To most people solutions mean finding the answers. But to chemists solutions are things that are still all mixed up.

In looking at a drop of water under a microscope, we find there are twice as many H’s as O’s.

Clouds are high flying fogs.

I am not sure how clouds get formed. But the clouds know how to do it, and that is the important thing.

Clouds just keep circling the earth around and around. And around. There is not much else to do.

Cyanide is so poisonous that one drop of it on a dogs tongue will kill the strongest man.

A blizzard is when it snows sideways.

A monsoon is a French gentleman.

Thunder is a rich source of loudness.

Isotherms and isobars are even more important than their names sound.

It is so hot in some places that the people there have to live in other places.

Wind is like the air, only pushier.