Observations and Bitchy Comments

Observation – The Senseless Loss of Inisfada

Posted on July 17, 2023

INISFADA - Manhasset, North Hempstead, Nassau County, New York Buckle up Buttercups – I’m in a real mood – angry, frustrated and most of all disheartened - Again! In all honesty, it’s a mood that started in late 2013 (yes, I do tend to fester over these things!), but this mood has been recently reawakened. This diatribe may very likely be the first of several rants or verbal installments on this particular topic (Hell, I could create an entirely separate website on this subject alone – maybe call it “people and things...

Observation: Graph Paper Gives Me a Woody

Posted on June 6, 2023

by Site Admin

The one strength I do have however, is design – I can spend days perfecting a layout on pads of crisp white graph paper. How intoxicating it is to remove the cellophane on a fresh 5 pack of paper covered in beautifully even spaced vertical and horizontal perfection aligning into perfectly controlled ¼ inch scaled boxes. Don't even get me started on a pack of freshly sharpened HB number 2 pencils! My graduation from Lego to actual architectural layouts and design came during a grade 9 drafting course, where I learned...

Observation: Thoughts On Home Improvement Projects

Posted on April 19, 2023

by Site Admin

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not completely ignorant when it comes to household projects - I can nail wood together and do basic repairs, just nothing complicated like: electrical, plumbing, drywall, roofing, tiling and anything structural. Basically, my strengths lie in the design, the layout and the finishing, which I guess could be called decorating. In one recent project, I changed out the handle on our garage door (ie, remove the broken handle and install the newly purchased Home Depot handle into the existing holes, and to my satisfaction (and...

Observation: Thoughts on Twin Staircases

Posted on April 18, 2023

by Site Admin

The first double staircase (recently referred to as “signature staircases”) I remember seeing was in photos of Candy Spellings famous monument to excess, arrogantly named “The Manor”, located within sugar borrowing distance from Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion in LA’s Tony Holmby Hills neighbourhood. This set of shag carpeted lumber was shown off again and again during her narcissistic vanity project “Selling Spelling Manor (2011)” (which she both produced and stared in). The 2-episode, (and so very relatable) production followed the trials and tribulations of selling and packing up Spelling’s 56,500...

Observation: Thoughts On The Need For Bigger And Bigger Houses

Posted on April 9, 2023

by Site Admin

You have probably surmised by now that I’m a proponent of large houses. Houses big enough to provide sufficient space for all of life’s basic living essentials – you know enough main rooms to sleep, eat and entertain, a few random rooms for collections and storage (library, pantry, linen, hobbies), food prep (kitchens, BBQ areas), entertainment (TV rooms, space for puzzles, pool tables, etc.) and sufficient outdoor space for, well, “outdoor” needs and hobbies: pools, gardens, koi ponds (yes, this has become a recent need of mine) but come on,...