growing in the goo

My room has progressed in leaps and bounds the past couple of days. And on that note, Mike B (C-note's bf) is my hero. He came over for dinner Weds night, and earlier in the week C-note had joked with him, asking him to put together the bed.

Apparently he was cool with it, and for two hours on Wednesday night we could hear hammering and putting stuff together. Because of Mike, I HAVE A BED!!

And speaking of C-note, she is the reason I got the said bed. We crammed the dbl frame into her Focus, and had a slightly nervous trip from College Park to D.C., because we had to leave the trunk open and tie down the latch. She was especially careful about the bumps, but I didn't feel the bed shift at all.

Supposedly the bed was "Really easy to put together, takes 5 minutes" - according to the IKEA man - but I know that I could not have done it myself. No way in heck.

SO, FOR THAT: C-note and Mike B. are the STAR COUPLE OF THE MONTH!!

Yesterday I took a couple of hours and put together the nightstand. It looks awesome, except that the cabinet door is pretty much swinging off the hinges. I put together the $10 dresser tonight, and it's absolutely perfect except that I put the top on backwards, so the unfinished side is facing the front. I think they lend to the room an especially homey feel. Kind of like leather jackets, how if there are marks on it, it's only a sign that it is an original work.

I'm thrilled that it's the weekend. I'm planning on sleeping in tomorrow - and by that I mean 10:30 or 11. I just want to wake up, feel rested, and lie there, staring into space for about 20 minutes. Relishing my soft pillows and the way that my head sinks right into them. Loving the color and warmth of my blanket.

At work I have a Jack Vettriano painting as my background (The Singing Butler). While scrolling through JV pictures on the Internet, I was seized by this burning desire, an idea that I hadn't had before. I thought "Someday...I WILL own a real Jack Vettriano painting."

The moment the thought filtered through my brain, it gave me alarm. I want one of his paintings, and while they're cheap for amazing, famous person artwork, one could definitely buy a house for the price. What is the purpose of owning an original painting?

Is it truly that much better than a reproduction? Is it an investment? A really strong case of materialism? Is it a way of showing off to people?

Or perhaps it's idol worship - the idea of owning something that a great master created. Of being a part of, of owning a piece of history.

I don't know. But all I know is that when I go home next week for Thanksgiving, I'm going to be bringing back my two pictures, buying frames, and hanging them up in my room.

And for those of you who aren't familiar with his work, or want to know more, here is a link.

http://www.vettriano-art.com/vettrianoposters3.html

I not only love his style, but also the topics he paints about. Love, lust, loss longing. (today is apparently sponsored by the letter "l") I technically don't have a favorite, but for happy/love prints, I love "Something in the Air", "Waltzers", "Back Where you Belong" and "The Singing Butler". In terms of sadness/longing, I love "Cocktails and Broken Hearts", "Thoughts of You"...and there's one that I can't find the name. It's a picture of a house on a still lake, and the bottom is dark, but the sky is still a blue. There's a light on by the front door...and it's just very eery.**

I bought it a couple of years ago at the poster sale. When ringing it up, the guy at the register said, "Oh, so you found it!" I was puzzled, since I hadn't exactly been looking for it - I had never seen it before - but I said "yeah!" just because I didn't want to make waves.

He sensed my confusion, and said "You came here yesterday and asked for it. You described it to me, right?" I said no...and he looked really weirded out, and said that he was sure it happened, but that it must have been a dream.

I don't think it was a pick up line, since he didn't ask for my number or did anything like that. And we parted a bit unnerved.

So there, that's my Jack Vettriano story. Since that acquisition, I've been obsessed and mesmerized by his works.

** Post note 11/25/05: I'm home now, and looking at the poster, I see that at the bottom it says in fairly large letters "Rene Magritte" - so...uh...that's why I couldn't find it in the Jack Vettriano collection. I should have known, since it seems like all of Vettriano's paintings have people in them, and this one is just of a house. oh well.