Althouse: At the House Paint Café...

June 26, 2012

At the House Paint Café...

... you don't have to be superficial.

94 comments:

Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Paint it.. white; 6/26/12, 10:24 PM
Anonymous said...: What are those colorful orbs on the flower box?; 6/26/12, 10:26 PM
Synova said...: Oh, I think you're going to like that!

Nice.; 6/26/12, 10:27 PM
ALH said...: Please tell me that isn't Meade up there risking his life for the sake of (home) appearances.; 6/26/12, 10:30 PM
Irene said...: Crisp. Nice!; 6/26/12, 10:31 PM
bagoh20 said...: White slavery!; 6/26/12, 10:36 PM
traditionalguy said...: Is that Frank Lloyd Meade working on Ann's Seven Gables?

Nice masculine colors. But Ann of the Seven Gables probably still choses the interior purples and pinks.; 6/26/12, 10:36 PM
Penny said...: Wow! It's your property!; 6/26/12, 10:38 PM
Bob Ellison said...: Turley commits a fictus pacem error when he calls the eggshell-white paint "soothing". Bullpoop! The color is a deliberate affront to Turley's snobby refusal to admire the big, green orbs!; 6/26/12, 10:39 PM
bagoh20 said...: "Wow! It's your property!"

They prefer to be called "The Help."; 6/26/12, 10:40 PM
Penny said...: MUCH better to live IN the white house than next to it.; 6/26/12, 10:42 PM
KCFleming said...: Missed a spot!; 6/26/12, 10:42 PM
Penny said...: Wow?

Did I just say that?; 6/26/12, 10:43 PM
ALH said...: Meade in the White House 2012 !; 6/26/12, 10:43 PM
Penny said...: And Joe Biden as the shutter color.; 6/26/12, 10:45 PM
Anonymous said...: It's light gray actually.; 6/26/12, 10:45 PM
Anonymous said...: And dark gray, two shades out of fifty.; 6/26/12, 10:49 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I like the black windows..

The colors are going to look something like this?; 6/26/12, 10:50 PM
wyo sis said...: I like it. It doesn't look green at all on the house. You were right.
I've painted a few houses in my life and I don't envy you the task. Two story houses are the worst to paint, but a lot more fun to live in.; 6/26/12, 10:52 PM
Ernst Stavro Blofeld said...: Madison-bashing!

http://thirtytwomag.com/2012/06/the-fall-of-thecreative-class/

Four years later, Trunk left town, which seemed odd, given her much-ballyhooed arrival. By then, we had fallen out of touch, and I was never quite clear on her reason for leaving. So I called her to find out what had gone wrong. Trunk now lives on a farm in southwest Wisconsin, (she divorced her husband and married a farmer). On the phone, she was still brash and bombastic and as she told it, her honeymoon with the city started to end almost as soon as she got there. One day her ex-husband was googling, “sex offenders,” and he discovered there were four registered on their block. Next, she discovered that the public schools were terrible. “I started talking to everyone,” Trunk said. “And I said, ‘Hey, aren’t you upset the schools suck? How is everyone sending their kid here?’ And people said, ‘Oh, no, I really love my school. I make sure for my kid it’s all about values.’ I mean the bullshit that people were telling me was utterly incredible. Then it just became like an onslaught. Tons of lies. Madison is a city full of people in denial. People don’t leave Madison, so they don’t realize what’s good and not good.”; 6/26/12, 10:58 PM
Penny said...: Gray?

Only her hairdresser knows for sure.

But that house?

Just grateful she's "painting" it.; 6/26/12, 11:01 PM
Penny said...: Just one brushstroke away from being "neutral", Althouse?; 6/26/12, 11:03 PM
Meade said...: Pogo said...
"Missed a spot!"

It will have to wait. I just noticed there's a blog post I need to catch up on. Something about packing the court. Oooh... looks long. May take me a little while.

Maybe the rest of the summer.; 6/26/12, 11:09 PM
Meade said...: I'm a slow reader. And an even slower painter.; 6/26/12, 11:13 PM
Anonymous said...: Meade, are you going to wear shorts to paint in tommorow?; 6/26/12, 11:17 PM
JAL said...: Has someone notified OHSA? I am sure there is a violation here somewhere. Has to be.; 6/26/12, 11:17 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Meade smart.

I see Meade is using technology to.. to.. to

DO THE RIGHT THING!! because..

IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO!!

there; 6/26/12, 11:18 PM
JAL said...: Meade in Shorts with No Bike?

Murder at Meadehouse.; 6/26/12, 11:18 PM
Anonymous said...: It's going to be HOT in Wisconsin for the next week, poor Meade.; 6/26/12, 11:20 PM
Robert said...: Paint It Black:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rJeYZkjmAk; 6/26/12, 11:25 PM
Meade said...: I work only in the shade. It's in my contract.; 6/26/12, 11:27 PM
Penny said...: Um hm...; 6/26/12, 11:49 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Oh no!

Meade shrank....

...or, his shirt is too big for him. First we were shown the gigantio jacket, and now this shirt.

[Hint to Meade: you can be a big man even if your clothes don't say L or XL. Don't forget that you can hassle the local libs, so that proves that you're a big man, even if your clothes say M or S.; 6/26/12, 11:53 PM
Penny said...: So what is it with your new, bright white house, Meade?; 6/26/12, 11:54 PM
Penny said...: Color me "impressed" when your shrubs are photoshoppenhaured by Chip! :P; 6/27/12, 12:00 AM
Penny said...: Chip's da man!

Or not?

Who's counting nuts in these parts afterall?; 6/27/12, 12:04 AM
Penny said...: Our little squirely man is what?

Ba Boom!; 6/27/12, 12:07 AM
Penny said...: OMG, just went to bed and had a nightmare where Chip's chip was a friggin' frig?

Frigerator? Frigate?

Scratch that, shit!; 6/27/12, 12:12 AM
Penny said...: Would someone kindly sit on my imagination?; 6/27/12, 12:13 AM
Penny said...: Why thank you!; 6/27/12, 12:14 AM
Penny said...: Will be sure not to forget you on my way down, or your way up! ;); 6/27/12, 12:16 AM
Anonymous said...: Ohhhh, Pennnnyyyy......

You're welcome.; 6/27/12, 12:18 AM
Penny said...: Ha ha, there really IS a Supreme Court... afterall or underalls...or something like that.

Will leave the smart ones to figure it out.; 6/27/12, 12:20 AM
Anonymous said...: Ohhhhhh Pennnnnyyyyy, I'm not really here, I'm just a figment of your imagination. Just don't want you to have to talk to yourself.; 6/27/12, 12:23 AM
Carnifex said...: It's been a while since I did one of my cafe stories, been hectic for awhile...

My dad and I loved duck hunting. Gettin' up before dawn, loadin' the car, and headin' for the duck blind in the freezin' cold. Sometimes it'd snow, but more often it would just be cold, damp, amd muddy. Doesn't that sound fun?

That's because it wasn't! Until we added the dog. Every hunter will tell you that a good dog is a joy to watch work. When you're a hyperkinetic teenager, having a good ol' huntin' dog will help the hours hunting fruitlessly speed by.

So we had a black lab named "Shadow". Shadow was like most huntin' dogs, being dumb as a stump, but friendly as hell. One of those dogs that was just happy to be there.

During the summer, when we'd go swimming at the lake, Shadow would swim beside us. If we got to far from shore, in her mind she would herd us back towards it, and if you were on a float she would grab it and drag you back to shallower water. And when she wasn't watching us kids, she would explore underwater with her paws, feeling around with them much like a racoon. If she found a log or stick she would haul it ashore, but if she found a rock! Well, that was something indeed! And the bigger the better. She would duck her head under water trying to grab it with her teeth, sometimes submerging her whole body before coming up with the offender. When she got the rock to shore, she would lay there, eyeing us the whole time so we didn't go out too far, and spend the rest of the day happily chewing on the rock. Dumb as a stump I said.

One Christmas morning, (apologies to the atheists) dad and I took Shadow duck hunting. We got to the small lake/big pond we had a blind built on while it was still dark thirty. The sun slowly rose, and in the new born light we saw that the lake was completely frozen.Damn! Ducks won't land on a frozen lake, so we packed up our stuff to leave...(I just realized I forgot another one of our hunting trip, Paul, a friend of dad's had joined us) So there were 3 people and 1 large dog in the cab of a pickup truck.

packed up our stuff to leave, and unleashed the dog. Shadow immediately ran down to the lake, and out onto the ice. It doesn't usually ice thick enough to hold a dog let alone a person here so this befuddled her.

She looked down at her feet in puzzlement, taking mincing slippery steps further from the shore. She stopped...she jumped up and down once, twice, and broke through. This was an old silted in lake, very shallow, very muddy, and so shadow was only into the water up to her belly. Not good enough...She laid down in the ice and icy water and mud. And then she rolled side to side to make sure every inch of her body was covered in ice water and mud.

DUMB, MEET STUMP. STUMP, DUMB

We got Shadow out of the ice eventually, and back in the pickup for the ride home. She sat in Paul's lap the entire trip home. Sittin' there, with 90 lbs. of muddy, wet, icy dog in his lap. Dad and me dry.

See how adding a dog can add to your huntin' fun?

Ps. It didn't add to Pauls though.; 6/27/12, 12:28 AM
Mark said...: But Ann of the Seven Gables probably still choses the interior purples and pinks.

I'm sorry, but any man who prefers the lights on loves the pinks and purples.

A time and a place for everything.; 6/27/12, 12:28 AM
Anonymous said...: Hey Carnifex, while you're here can you help me roll Penny into bed? I think she passed out.

Cute story too.; 6/27/12, 12:32 AM
Rosalyn C. said...: Ann, I have a fantasy of you in overalls, painter's cap, and gloves, scraping and sanding the window trim. The two painters at work, cute.

Nice house, BTW; 6/27/12, 12:41 AM
Anonymous said...: The dog that hangs out at my house is fond of rocks too, she dunks her head under and grabs them and drops them at our feet to throw back on the lake, so cute until she shakes herself dry next to us.; 6/27/12, 12:42 AM
Penny said...: I know, Allie, never felt otherwise.

And likewise, for sure.; 6/27/12, 12:42 AM
Penny said...: Right?; 6/27/12, 12:43 AM
Anonymous said...: Damn Penny! Still not passed out? Well sister I won't leave you alone, creepy men hang out at this bar.; 6/27/12, 12:46 AM
Carnifex said...: Miss Allie, whats with the new sig? I've heard of givin' people the back of your hand , but this isn't it.

And trying to help you roll Penny into bed sounds too much like a old B & W romantic comedy starring Cary Grant(that would be me, minus the looks, savoirfaire, and polish), Kate Hepburn, and Mae West(that would be yous' goils); 6/27/12, 2:04 AM
Penny said...: *blink*; 6/27/12, 2:08 AM
gadfly said...: Looks like "Bottom Up" painting. I thought the "bottom up" technique was reserved for adding siding. Then again, this black-and-white-with-shades-of-gray house (and blog) is green at Rio+20.

If Rio+20 is to someday be regarded as a watershed event, it won't be because of "The Future We Want" or other official pronouncements. It will be because civil society is building up awareness and strength in a major way. People are getting ready to force their government leaders into action.

Bottom-up governance is getting ready to replace the top-down structure.

Then again, perhaps "bottom-up" is far less serious.; 6/27/12, 2:56 AM
MayBee said...: Is Google using us to teach its address recognition software how to recognize the numbers?; 6/27/12, 4:02 AM
pm317 said...: Black and White, now that makes sense for that architecture. Why didn't you do this before?; 6/27/12, 4:57 AM
edutcher said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/27/12, 5:35 AM
edutcher said...: Be careful up there.

I haven't seen something like that in forever. Nice to know sometimes it's done the old way.

ALH said...

Meade in the White House 2012!

That's why Ann calls him the Romster. She's already been picked as his running mate on the principle that the Conservatives' Lovable Liberal will bring in all the Independents.; 6/27/12, 5:36 AM
tim in vermont said...: Remember the fun we had with Romney and "sport"? Well Obama congratulated the "Miami Heats" What is it about those 's's?; 6/27/12, 6:56 AM
KCFleming said...: Insty linked an article about the edu bubble, and it contained this phrase:

"... at least when you go in hawk for a BMW you get wheels."

Hawk?
Heh.

Reynolds likes to quote quoting the economist Herbert Stein: “Something that can’t go on forever, won’t.”

I always preferred the surgeon's dictum: "All bleeding stops ...eventually."; 6/27/12, 7:24 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Pogo.. thanks for the other morning.; 6/27/12, 7:31 AM
KCFleming said...: O, que?; 6/27/12, 7:37 AM
Rusty said...: Are you going to go back and finish the window trim? Talkin to Meade here. Looks like there is still some red showing.
Also are you rolling it on or brushing?
Which reminds me. I have some trim to stain. Some dental high up, under the eaves. Can I borrow your ladder when you're done with it?
I promise I'll return it.; 6/27/12, 7:39 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Somebody asked me a personal question and you.. deflected it for me.

I wanted to email you but you don't have one available.; 6/27/12, 7:40 AM
KCFleming said...: Ah, de nada!!; 6/27/12, 7:46 AM
Meade said...: "Are you going to go back and finish the window trim?"

Yes. I'm on coffee break.

"Also are you rolling it on or brushing?

Both

"Which reminds me. I have some trim to stain."

Oh!

"Some dental high up, under the eaves."

Better get that looked at by a DMD.

"Can I borrow your ladder when you're done with it?
I promise I'll return it."

No.; 6/27/12, 7:55 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/27/12, 8:07 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: There is a chorus of Obama mthe most intersting man in the world mock meme.. perambulating the internets.

I was wondering.. are they any good?

Do they meet the Althouse blog test?

Is the most mentioned president on this blog, the most interesting man in the world?

Is Lem any good at doing an Althousian poll?; 6/27/12, 8:10 AM
MadisonMan said...: at least when you go in hawk for a BMW you get wheels

Preceded by the lovely phrase That’s more than total credit-card debt for the U.S. Its’ most than auto-loan debt

Crying need for an editor.; 6/27/12, 8:20 AM
ricpic said...: Hey Mister, you missed a spot. Where? In the extreme left hand corner under the left side planter. Well of course you can't see it from up there! That's right, you're gonna haveta come down from the ladder to cover it. You'll what? You'll get it later? No, you'll get it now! The lady told you to do the job right and you're gonna do it right...or else!; 6/27/12, 8:27 AM
Shanna said...: Oh man that just reminds me I need to paint the trim. I will probably wait until it's not 105 though. If only I had a meade to do it for me!

(I like the new paint job, very pretty!); 6/27/12, 8:39 AM
Rusty said...: "Can I borrow your ladder when you're done with it?
I promise I'll return it."

No.

Damn!
Good thing Lowes stores their outside.

"Some dental high up, under the eaves."

Better get that looked at by a DMD.

Nah. Implants.; 6/27/12, 8:53 AM
Rusty said...: Shanna said...
Oh man that just reminds me I need to paint the trim. I will probably wait until it's not 105 though. If only I had a meade to do it for me!

(I like the new paint job, very pretty!)

I'm going to reserve judgement until it's all done. The color doesn't really come through in the photograph. Maybe Ms. Althouse needs a filter on her camera to bring the color out. I don't know.

wv iopine No shit, really.; 6/27/12, 8:58 AM
Anonymous said...: It's shades of gray, why must everything be black and white to conservatives?!; 6/27/12, 9:02 AM
Hagar said...: "Eric Holder: 'It’s Going to Get Really Busy on Thursday, Apparently'
"

Anybody understand Eric Holder's attitude to this?; 6/27/12, 9:08 AM
KCFleming said...: Allie Oop keeps spinning around.

Makes me dizzy.; 6/27/12, 9:10 AM
Wince said...: I tried to think of a song appropriate for painting a stucco house.; 6/27/12, 9:14 AM
Anonymous said...: Oh little possum, hang on to me, I'll take ya a for spin.; 6/27/12, 9:16 AM
KCFleming said...: Prehensile tails have their uses.

Prehensile tales are best kept sub rosa.; 6/27/12, 9:22 AM
Shanna said...: The color doesn't really come through in the photograph.

I think it looks fresh. The other color kind of has a southwestern feel (although that may just be the lighting), but now it looks like a cottage. I like it.

Although now I'm noticing the flat roof. Is that a midwestern thing (maybe having to do with snow) or purely aesthetic?; 6/27/12, 9:24 AM
edutcher said...: Needless to say, Ann needs to keep an eye on him.

If Eva kept a better eye on Dolf, he wouldn't have gotten in so much trouble.; 6/27/12, 9:28 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Tell me that is the primer you are using first and the color is going on later.

Seriously. We are in the process of repainting our house and trim. You should prime first, your paint job will last much longer. Of course I'm talking about the crap paint we have to buy in Calif. Maybe you can still get a decent formula in Madison.; 6/27/12, 9:54 AM
tim in vermont said...: "why must everything be black and white to conservatives?!"

Self awareness, thy name is not AllieOop...; 6/27/12, 10:42 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Although now I'm noticing the flat roof. Is that a midwestern thing (maybe having to do with snow) or purely aesthetic?"

It may look flat in the photo, because I was lying on the grass looking up, and there's an overhang (which is going to be hard to paint).

A flat roof is exactly what you don't want in the snow. There are some of those around here ... mostly from the 50s/60s era. This house was built in the 1920s.; 6/27/12, 11:56 AM
ken in tx said...: Yes JAL, this is an OSHA violation. If this is a paid employee, a ladder cannot be used as a painting platform. Also, if the person is 6 feet or more above the ground, he or she must be wearing a harness and tether.; 6/27/12, 1:00 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: What color is your roof? Some variation of black or grey I hope.; 6/27/12, 1:09 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: The leg levelers are a nice touch.

Let's not forget, a man such as Max McGee died as a result of cleaning his own gutters; I'd bet my bottom dollar without leg levelers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_McGee; 6/27/12, 3:23 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: http://stores.nextag.com/store/4886497/product/970988653/48IN-ALUM-EXT-LDR; 6/27/12, 4:08 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: The benefits of a stabilizer bar include not touching metal gutters, but instead putting the stabilizer bar on the roof above the gutters.

The stabilizing effect is important too, depending on your height.; 6/27/12, 4:11 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: "Mar-resistant rubber caps protect work surface."

You got that right.; 6/27/12, 4:36 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: I climb.

V. Morrison has climbed, or so I've heard.; 6/27/12, 5:01 PM
Jeny said...: Thanks for the sharing infomation with us..........house painting perth wa; 8/16/12, 11:23 PM
Unknown said...: Black color is elegant and that window color is elegant too.

exterior painting commerce; 5/2/13, 5:49 PM