Pools, Wood Books and MORE POOLS!

It's summer yo. Tons to do, but I've made a pact with Claire that we are hitting every public pool in the city of Austin this summer. That may/may not be a diseasey disaster waiting to happen, but life is to be lived, right? Yeast, be damned! I originally thought there were 19ish pools to hit throughout the city, but I just checked, and it's more like... 40ish!! Best we get started! So far we've only attended one Splash Pad near our house (which ruled), and ma'n'pa's backyard pool, which does not count. Also going to go to some fancy FOR-HOMEOWNERS-ONLY pool next week, which i ALSO don't count, but the little lady and I will happily be snuck in. It's a wet wet wet wet world out there, and we are here to get sogged.



In other news, I've been tentatively asked to participate in a book about chumps making crud out of plywood. We shall see if it comes to fruition, but it sounds good. Stay tuned for more exciting news regarding wet diapers and wood books!

Hot New Couple

Here's something wicked sweet for local yokel types... The friggin Bohn house, which is down our street, and I've blathered about before, is going to get a remodel job by friggin Dick Clark Architecture!



Dick Clark, not the old sad brah you'll see on TV this week, but the local architecture firm, do some of the badassedest stuff in town. I could blather on and on about the lofts, n homes, n remodels these cats have done, or you could just go to the website and see for yerselfs... or check out their flickr page. That house is going to be a dooooooooooooooooooooooooozy! Invite some friendly neighbors over for cocktails lucky new homeowners! Did I mention I got a used laptop for xmas, as to not intrude on sleepin baby claire and blog blather on the computer in her room? Now you know. And will be kept mo up to date on the world according to bald.

60s Appreciation Day

The other day, Claire and I went to check out some garage sales around the neighborhood. We spied this uber cool 1960s Tripod Floor Lamp, and snagged it from this old hippie dood, who told us it still has a "grow bulb" in it. To grow what, hippie man?



Claire was all, "let's get it anyway, we can snazz it up!" So we did. We put a nice coat of paint on the lamp, and switched out the grow bulb for something a tad more pleasing. It's currently residing in our living room and looks good, but I also put it up for sale in ye olde shoppe, just in case someone likes cool stuff.



Speaking of 60s appreciation, The Mullens rule that school... one of my favorite bands, and Claire and I listen to their song Esmerelda literally 5 times a day. I would have my hair cut just like these chumps, making Julie happy that my follicles hate my guts.

Bookin It

These days are gloomy and dreary, but Claire, Chester and I still get out for a walk here and there. We try walking between the raindrops, but it only works so well...



I've also been checking out a buncha library books, because doing so is free. Most books are about making the most outta small houses, in case Claire ever gets a sibling/it starts raining money. I was flipping through this book, Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House, and I says to myself I says, "Self- Claire, Chester and I walk by this house ALL THE TIME!" They bumped out their attic space with a couple cool dormers. Today we double checked that it's the same joint.



And it is!!! Maybe we can become friends, and they can fix up our attic for us. I've also been reading Making It Lovely, and checking out the bitchin job they did on their attic nursery. I'm hoping, when we do make over our attic, that the door into the new space is magical... Like crossing into a Narnia-sized world that holds an office, new bedroom, new bathroom, new winterwonderland filled with mystical creatures, etc.

Still Mod After All These Years

Been meaning to blather about a sweet anniversary weekend that I had with my wife a few weeks back. By sweet I mean "sweet" and "sweet". We kept our activities on the mod tip as it turned out.




We stayed one nite at the Kimber Modern, tucked away behind the Continental Club, and basically across the street from the San Jose. The place was great- filled with custom made this and that mixed with fancy designer chairs, lights, and decor. We sat in egg chairs whilst not being able to do the NY Times crossword, and drinking complimentary wine.

Then we headed off to check out the Kirk Gallery for the first time. It RULES. The woman working there was wicked friendly, and they carried this great line of furniture made in Mexico City all outta plywood. The company is Pirwi. Check it if you like rad.

They also carried a variety of goodies I've only seen on the 'net, and not in real life... like this here planter I done talked about a year and a half ago. This stuff KILLS me. So awesome.

We topped off the evening with a late night dinner at Olivia, nestled next to the porno shop and taxidermist. After stuffing grandma and picking up a Jugs mag, we popped in for some delightful fare of Texas grown delights. Not a bad way to celebrate 12 years of wedded bliss.

Cuttin, Coolin, and Sweatin

This is a wicked mish mash of a post... Soundtrack as I type is the constant growling of a 7 month old who would rather sound possessed than take a snooze. Anyhoo, here's a pic of cutting board in action, so it worked at least once.



This weekend is the Cool House Tour here in A-Town. We'll be attending. We're hoping two things. Thing One: Get some wicked rad ideas on how to best add on to our house. Ideas that are energy efficient, look cool, and add room to the joint in case there's another growler in the future. Thing Two: Several thousand free dollars end up in our savings account to complete said pie in the sky. I've been reading the "My Remodel" section over at Inspired Austin, and it's well... inspiring.



Also going to a rock show this weekend. Thank God. Long stints without rock shows make a bald man lame and blahhhhed out. Sweatbox Studio is turning 16, and is having a couple good shows. The vast majority of Licorice Tree Records stuff was recorded there, and Mike Vasquez is a wickedly nice guy. Anyone who is ready to rock, lettuce go to Emo's! I'm going to the Sat nite show, so if you don't want to see me, go on Friday nite.

Industrial Designin & Porch Sittin

I got me a sweet email from Oscar over at the Behance Network saying that my pendant lamp is on their Industrial Design Served site they developed, "to further showcase the best projects in the Behance Network, within specific industries." Hi there. Chad Kelly- Industrial Designer. Anyway, my lamp is easin' its way down the list as fellow industrial designers git recognized.



In some much needed nonlamp news, Julie and I picked up these swank new chairs for our bare front porch.



We went to Ikea to get some sweet solar lights for the new landscaping but they are sold out and don't show signs of getting any in, SOOOOOOO... in order to not lose my mind for driving way out there on mother's day for not, we hit the "As Is" section, and saw these Ostero Chairs that appeared too good lookin to be there. We asked, "what the hay with these chairs?" and were told they were floor models and are marked down 30%.

Nowadays, I get to sit out on the front porch after a nice morning walk with Claire and Chester, and wave at the cute college girls as they go by, who are smiling in my general direction... I'm assuming it's because of my ripped body glistening in the sunlight, and not the cute baby in my lap or the sweet dog at my feet.

M+D+F 2009 Recap

The big day in the sun has come and gone. Here's a slight recap of a baldman, his lamp, and the M+D+F Exhibition at Design Within Reach.



My pa, my daughter, my lamp, and my first admirer are in this shot. Dad came to help me hang this guy the day before the exhibit, and it seemed a little dwarfed next to the giganto Shade Pendant DWR sells. The upside is it gets to stay there all week long, and maybe it can be seen through the window if you are walking by on all fours and angling your head just so.



I must admit that I didn't talk to many people who made stuff because I ended talking to all my awesome friends who came to support my woody creation... so names of designers or whatevs I slacked on... I do know that the woman who made these crazy lamps was named Gian and she won best in show. I won honorable mention like all the others who didn't get some propa props/chest bumps. I'm down with that.




I was also into the double duty of these end tables. One is End Table/Guitar Amp and the other is End Table/Grill. Rad.



The dood who made this beast I did talk to- Eric. He made this giant light out of styrofoam packing that can be found inside Apple Laptop shipping boxes. Looks cool. He won the best sustainable award. Really creative.

That's all I got. There were other entries too, but they deserve better than to end up on my goofy blog anyway. If you find yourself on 2nd Street, and aren't late for your massage or whatever, feel free to stop by Design Within Reach and feast your peepers on that lamp... should be there all this week, unless it gets in a scuffle with that beefy guy next to it. My lamp would lose the battle.

Weeds Man... weeeeeeeeeeeeeds.

Brahs n sahs, we need some landscaping like nobody's bidness. We have new siding that looks great, and a new front door, and giant weeds that have bloomed up past the windows. I shant even take a picture...

So I've been perusing different pics to figure out what the hay. We need some serious xeriscaping since you know... they need little upkeep. I'm assuming dandelions could be considered xeriscaping... anyhoo, I have a solar powered fountain that needed a cool pot, and I saw these old guys whilst looking at Jenn Ski's Modern Landscaping flickr group. That same day, we went to the Birth of the Cool exhibit, and on display was that rad planter with the legs shooting through the middle!

I did get me a couple cool giftcards recently to Gardens and Big Red Sun. Those joints can burn up a giftcard by the time you park the car in the lot unfortunately... It's cool though- can't wait to use em. Also, pa is coming down to help me get some decomposed granite at the Natural Gardener to slosh around the backyard under the party cover (read: carport in the yard). We'll be on our way... been watching too much DIY Network, and need this chump to hit me up and fix up our yards for free. Til then, it's me, the giftcards, and these bitchin weeds.

WTF, DWR MDF! LOL...

So there's this little joint 27 blocks due south of our haus called Design Within Reach. Heard of it? Anyhoo, they are having this thing called M+D+F. They say it's a little something like this here: "M+D+F 2009 is a juried exhibition of innovative furniture by emerging designers in the Austin area. Organized by the DWR Austin Studio and juried by local creative professionals in the design, architecture, art and fashion worlds, M+D+F provides an opportunity for peer, public and professional recognition for up-and-coming designers and firms."



Not that I'd call myself an up and coming designer, but I'm thinking about entering this gaywad lampshade in its pendant form, AND doing it outta bamboo veneer to make the hippies happy to boot. See, you can grow bamboo better than your beer gut, so it's environmentally friendly. Anyhoo, back to the wailing child and her milk concerns. I'll let you know when I get the rejection letter in the mail. Don't worry, Claire has her mother's disposition.

Museums Are Cool

Baldman, wife, Jenn and baby claire all went to the museum yesterday. One of us for the first time. Finally Birth of the Cool is here that I talked about one zillion years ago. Though our docent was so so, the goods they had there were really great. I'm considering going back on some random Thursdays (free day) to see how those Eames cats made such cool stuff, and take some notes. Jenn also broke down this pic above by Karl Benjamin... broke it down as in, "how does one paint that?" She's in the artworld see, so that's her kinda breakdown. The Austinist had some other pretty good pics, including a superad birdhouse they had on display. They didn't let bald guys take pictures however. It's a cruel cruel world out there for baldies. We left as Claire was getting her fuss on, and went outside to catch some skin cancer on top of the pate. I prefer that to cold rain, however.

Sexiest Side Job Ever

My fantastic friend Jenn done got me a job before I could get me a job. Well, at least a part time, week long job with some wicked upsides. I helped a couple doods build some display case/table jobs for an upcoming show at Arthouse downtown. Not only did I get to work with Jenn and see her every day, I also got to work in this old movie theater, which turned into Lerner's, which turned into Arthouse at the Jones Center. On top of that, I suppose they had some swanky hoedown up on the top floor, because these were the lights we used to saw, sand, and build by.



By far the most lovemakingest place I've ever worked. Stop by the Matt Stokes show coming up, and check out my handiwork. I'll meet you upstairs afterwards...

OLD/NEW Door Part Two

So this vulture flew directly at me then landed on our house the morning I decided to take off the front door, and put some fresh windows in it. My superstition made me quiver at first, but by the end of the day, my rad door and I were eating his dead carcass instead of the other way around.



This is the interior side of our door. Check out that wicked 3D waviness... Almost tempting one to dive into its pool of swirling gold. Also a reason I didn't really want to get a brand new door.



In Door School 101, you learn that the exterior side of the door is actually smaller than the interior side... helps with that smooth swinging action. (I've resisted making a dumb "swinger" joke here).



ANYHOO! After our supernice hippie professor neighbor helped me lug this monster to the backyard, I went to town. David Erwin over at Crestview Doors wrote these great instructions on how to cut big holes in your door without freaking out... they also include perfectly drawn out, scientifically formulated window placement options that are based on the type of window shape you get. I chose the Ledgestone layout, which seems to go best with our mail slotted door that we can't really remove.

Basically, after tracing the trim onto the door, you whip out a drill with a fat bit, drill a couple holes, then stick a jig saw down into said holes, and cut out the rectangle. Again, there's this diagram on the instructions that lists a cut sequence to make a pretty fine rectangular hole.

After gittin jiggy, I did have to do a little fine tuning to get each of the kit pieces in... better that problem than realizing I've cut me some oversized holes that vultures can easily fly through to eat the corpse my preggo wife turned me into when she found out I've ruined our front door. Catastrophe diverted!

It got dark upon my bald head, and I wasn't done- dadgum Central Standard Time. Final steps are like this here. Put the trim on the exterior side of the holes, then flip your big boy door over... squeeze a bit of silicone in the trim, and put the glass in it. Grab the other side of the trim, and screw it into its exterior counterpart. I found that putting a flat surface under the door provided some needed pressure so that ole screw won't just push the trim out on the other side of the door. The predrilled screw holes are counterbored, so once they are screwed together, you can cut off a piece of dowel rod, stick it in the bored hole, and sand er down so you don't have to look at that ugly screw head.



Julie and I found this stain that matches our door color pretty well. We purchased 13 ketchup packet samples of the stuff and that was plenty. Then our good friends the Taylors came over to help us rehang the big sucka. SO NOW...



BRAND NEW/OLD DOOR! It's Miller Time!

OLD/NEW Door, Part One

Bruthas and Sistahs! Baldman is back, and in full force.



Over the weekend, I slid back into the Crestview Doors wacky workshop to bust out my own set of door lite kits.



If'n you are in the market for a wicked new door, but feel like, you know... you HAVE a pretty good door, and just need to jazz it up a bit, THIS might be your answer. It's a fun filled day of DIYness that, honestly, those boss neighbors of yours were doing in the 50s probably every weekend. Just get some windows, cut some holes in your door, and put em in!



If you are lucky... and if you beg and plead... the baldman can make yours for you personally. Maybe I'll work up some sort of bald stamp to put on it... maybe my face across your window.



The stuff looks pretty sweet. By "stuff" I mean my face. Check back for the finished product. Check back say... tomorrow.