Who knew that installing a new washer/dryer combo thing could be so fun? That’s the nature of the Stick, I suppose. Now that I properly own it again, the time has come to spruce it up (a constant battle in the elements provided by the nearby Atlantic). We also fixed the ridiculously installed electricity, added some lights in the kitchen and over the bar, and installed a beautiful shelf in the bathroom.
Special thanks to Mr Skaggs for the help, as always above and beyond the call of duty. Anyway, here’s how all that unfolded over two visits
Moonshine and Rosie demonstrate how it feels to arrive at the Stick.
Mike learned about pickapeppa on cream cheese. A serious YUM.
The ocean is great when you are under one
Look at that professional grade piping!
The new shelf
Kitchen lighting. Now there is no excuse for not properly cleaning the kitchen.
The bar lights
Claudio and his family are going to do some major work next year. But first they need to see what they are getting into.
A second trip down with the Shepardsons and Romey was required to install the W/D (on order for several weeks).
Installing this thing required taking the entire closet apart, cleaning out 25 year worth of dryer lint, and putting it all back together (without improving the design one tad…LOL). Gotta say that drying sheets and towels is a thing.
How you feel after several days of partying at the Stick
Moonshine demonstrates what it feels like to leave the Stick.
For the penultimate Proton Tuesday, we celebrated at the Columbia Room (which is turning 10 not too long from now). Craft cocktails are curative. There was also Manifesto before zapping.
Hirshhorn
The best museum hot chocolate evah
Manifesto
Entranced and entrancing
ZAP
Corduroy (on a whim)
The Columbia Room
Happy Birthday Columbia Room
Course one from the days of yore
Yay!
Popcorn with truffle
Chartreuse (green and definitely good for you)
scallop
The fog
You have no idea how good this duck BBQ is. OMG.
Happy Birthday!
Proton Tuesday Alive
Other Proton Tuesdays included: the Portrait Museum and Fiola Mare as well as the Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy, car buying, and Jojo Rabbit. Love you Spool.
There were three of them. The setting was intimate at Club Cafe. Negronis were available. Seating was not.
Ye olde van carpool crew
Krisin opened up with an interesting guitar song that involved intentionally bending chords on an acoustic. After that song, all bets were off WRT tuning. Who needs tuning for an intimate acoustic set? EVERYONE. EVERYONE MUST TUNE.
(please tune)
Grant-lee joined in and tuning became mandatory. This also allowed for some breathing. Grant-lee is charismatic and fun to watch but about as deep as a puddle.
Duo to go
Picture picture for Em
John Doe was fantastic. Thank the stars for a poet singer like him.
John Doe
Hells yes on a great Pittsburgh Sunday night. So good to see Alisa and Greg!!
A trip to Falling Water has been on my wish list for years. Though I knew a fair amount about Frank Lloyd Wright and the house itself from studying architecture, I was not prepared for the power of the building itself. Just incredible. The way nature integrates with the structure filling all of your senses is stunning.
This visit was life affirming in all the ways. Part of a perfect day.
The best layover ever is just about right. We made plenty of time for art on Wednesday. First stop after breakfast was the Hirshhorn. This museum is really going places. The new director has it popping. If you already did that once or twice and you have not been under the new regime, go.
Smithsonian in winter
The color wheel is the first use of the second floor circle that has perfect sensibility.
Downstairs had some cool stuff too.
The highlight of this Hirshhorn visit was the fact that Manifesto was playing. I saw this in Stuttgart in 2017 and was utterly blown away. This is a must see video installation, even if you don’t do video art (generally speaking, I don’t).
Here is the official trailer. Absolutely stunning masterpiece.
I now love Cate Blanchett. Watching her work in such a close stunning cinematic set of visuals is life changing.
After lunch, which may or may not have included a bottle of Gigondas, we headed to the Phillips.
Finally, parking karma still intact, we headed to the Renwick. Sadly, Jacob missed it.
Three museums was not enough to satisfy the art goddess. Fortunately, Richard rode to the rescue. His collection is world class.
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