After

After, a photo by Athens Nikita on Flickr.

Here's the nighttime view of the finished project.

You guys think the light is too low, too high, or just right?

Small Improvements

Given the theme of this blog, and the fact that for about the first year all we did was various forms of construction projects, I shouldn't be surprised when people ask me what's up with the house at the moment. The short answer: very little. We're well into the "enjoy the house" phase, and are currently putting our money and time into other things.

However, occasionally we do small projects when we can see the opportunity to make a big improvement in a short time. A few weeks ago, the front porch light seemingly burned out. This coincided with my blowing a fuse during band practice, and so it could have been a fairly serious problem -- but when Chris hauled the fixture down and discovered that it was simply a shoddy fixture, it was time to go shopping for a new one. At the same time, I decided to replace the contractors' special sconces/lanterns around the back doors, too. Why not? I hate those things -- they work, but they're cheap and ugly, and I am way over cheap and ugly.

At the same time, we decided to take advantage of the lack of a front porch fixture to remedy a basic problem with it -- it's all white! Technically, I suppose that's fine, but being from the south a white porch ceiling is something of an abomination. The proper color is something called "haint blue" -- supposedly it wards off evil spirits if you happen to be from one of the cultures (they are numerous in the south) that believes in it. Personally, I'm not all that superstitious, but I like the way the blue reminds me of the sky, cools the space in the summer, and brings a little color in in the winter -- a major consideration in a place where winter is twice as long as it was down south.

So today Chris and I spent about 6 hours painting the ceiling blue. (Photo at left: pre-painting prep.) We did this on Sunday, because it's one of the few days where we can steal away a few hours and because the local construction nannies don't work on Sunday. I was lucky this morning to find a whole suite of matching lanterns at Lowe's -- they averaged about $40 a fixture. SCORE! (Incidentally, for those who like me are cheap, both Lowe's and Home Depot appear to be having sales on lighting at the moment.)

So, new photos forthcoming once I can manage to get them to upload (damn Flickr!). Not only does it make the house look a tad more southern, but it makes it look great.

Roller Derby in Central PA

A little less than 6 months ago, I tried out for a roller derby team, the State College Area Rollers or SCAR Derby. This came as a surprise to more than one person. My father, when told, said "you remember what happened the last time you rollerbladed?" (I got hit by a car.) My mother said "you used to just cling to the wall at the roller rink." (So true.) But my bandmate was trying out and as I practiced to try out my husband decided to support me and try out as well. So, for better or for worse, I was in. I signed up for a clinic and tryouts with the State College Area Rollers.

In the process, I learned a lot about a sport I honestly knew nothing about.

1. Roller derby is experiencing a resurgence nationwide thanks to the Austin roller derby team and media stuff like Whip It.

2. Maybe if I hadn't spent so much time clinging to the wall, I would've discovered much earlier that skating is actually a great workout.

3. Central PA actually has a burgeoning, if young, regional scene to be part of. Williamsport, Harrisburg, Rochester, and a dozen other teams are located 3-5 hours from State College. Most are under 2 years old, so it's a good time to get in on the action.


I also, unfortunately, didn't make the team. My friends did. Can you say awkward?

I don't hold this against SCAR, since on skates I looked like a baby giraffe does in one of those shows on Animal Planet where they try to figure out how to operate their feet. However, I also didn't give up on skating. After all, my friends and husband spend all their time at the rink or at events, which means I spend a lot of time at them, and I've transitioned to a much more graceful skater in a few short months. And skating was the problem. I hear a lot from people who are not thrilled with having to hit people. Whereas I would love to hit people strategically, if only I could get to them. What I find hilarious/maddening is that there's a weird learning curve for skating -- you start off sucking at everything and then one thing clicks, and then all kinds of things click, and then suddenly you're just elaborating on stuff you already know. So getting started and putting in the time in that sucky stage is key.

So, a new season with new challenges is upon us, and one challenge I'm taking on is a second tryout. I'm also involved in SCAR Derby for better or for worse, anyway, so I'll be spending a lot of time this season as a non-skating official at the bouts. For those who might want to join me (and so far it looks like this recruiting class might be a little smaller than the one I was part of), the next clinic is September 25th at Penn Skates -- with tryouts on October 9th.

See you at the rink?

Not Enough Time, but Lots of new Stuff

I feel like a pathetic blog mistress. After all, I haven't posted an update here since, well, March. WTF is wrong with me?

For one thing, I've been entirely too busy exploring Central PA and points distant to write about it.

Among the totally awesome experiences I've had since I last wrote are:

Frog Fest at Millbrook Marsh
Bellefonte Area Middle School's total domination of this year's Solar Competition at Penn State
The Bellefonte Cruise
India Night in State College
The Arts & Crafts Fair in Bellefonte
and so on.

I probably won't be writing about all of these, but I promise to chronicle my future adventures a little more actively going forward.