old

bits

sign

book

me

live!

rock

und kunst

rings

links

full

frontal

diary

land

de

moi

3:09 p.m. : 2002-01-06 : Transoms of Perception

�Women totally own their butts here.� --Holly of Adventure Divas, on Cuba.

We�ve put an offer on a condo in Cambridge. It was built in 1885 and still has all of the original details, such as this beautiful ornate fireplace mantle and working transoms above every door. Even before all of the logical weighing of options� it doesn�t have deeded parking but it has a deck�before I even stepped inside, I felt a visceral affinity for the place. I�d driven by it many times, noticing the lovely front door and bow-front windows, and then the real estate sign in front. I finally got around to having a look inside on Friday, as it is not my real estate broker�s listing. Even the foyer is nice�with the old brass and marble �Letters� mailboxes, dark wood banisters and large doors and a deco brass lamp attached to the banister at the bottom of the stairs. It smelled like Murphy�s Oil Soap so I could tell �they� care about keeping it up. The dark wood continues into the condo itself and there are lots of nice touches like built-in hutches in the hallway and closets, a built-in china cabinet in the dining room and pocket doors between the living room and �parlor,� which could also be another bedroom. There�s even a little �study� right in the front that I�m thinking of making into an art room with an easel. We�ll see. The transoms especially thrilled me though because they reminded me of my freshman year honors English teacher, Dr. White, who pointed out the transom above the door of our classroom. He mentioned that not many people notice the seemingly insignificant nuances of places and life like a transom, but it is these details that artists (namely writers in this case) and people interested in experiencing art must seek out and enjoy. He really opened my fourteen-year-old eyes that day and I�ve tried to hone my skill of focusing on detail since then�sometimes to the point that I get frustrated when other people are not listening to each other while communicating and I�ll step in and say, �he�s asking this� she wants this �etc.� (It was funny when I pointed out the transoms in the condo my real estate broker said, �I didn�t even notice those!�) Another moment that I especially remember from Dr. White�s class was when he drew a line on the board and wrote birth at the beginning and death at the end. He said, �people are closest to reality at either end.� Of course this made me happy as a teenager and I tried to lord it over my parents� heads��I�m closer to reality!� I�ve tried to keep this in mind as well. I often go back to it and reassess what it means to me. At some point Dr. White had to leave and no one would tell us why. There were rumors that he had to go to a sanitarium and undergo Electroshock therapy. I don�t know. He was corresponding via mail with one of the Lovelace twins, I can�t remember if it was Carrie or Lauren� I think Carrie� and was asked not to do that anymore. The Lovelaces were very intelligent and pretty girls but not Lolitas. It was too bad that the school made such a drama out of the whole thing. She just felt a little isolated being smart, I suppose, and she and Dr. White could relate to each other. The Powers That Be at Ramsey High had a way of sucking all of the joy out of almost everything. They probably still do. And they probably still aren�t noticing the transoms.

Dr. White and Mr. Tireman (history) were my favorite teachers there. I will never forget the name Augustin D�Iterbide because of Mr. Tireman. The drama teacher Mr. Gipple was great too�a newbie at R.H.S. and so related to we isolated ones. Madame Bronstein did teach me French well�I like her better in retrospect for all of her entertaining cuckoo antics and crazy French Barbara Walters accent. And I think she really liked me despite my chatty chatty with Elisa Lutzer everyday in class. But it really was too bad about Dr. White. Sophomore year I had �I can�t remember her name� the English teacher equivalent of Julia Child only with less know-how and more senility. She liked showy showy B.S. I wrote this complete blow-smoke-up-your-ass thesis statement one day and with the deft insertion of a few 25 cent words had my slip of paper read aloud in class. I suppose that is how many critics write with authority�just be as pretentious as possible! I�m kind of one for integrity. Shoot me.

last - now - next

Give Me Clix, If It Pleases You

I declare this blog �old timey,� ya flibbertigibbet! - 2012-05-27

I Heart Heart Of Gold! - 2006-03-27

Catster, Geezster - 2005-12-20

Le Divorce - 2005-12-12

'Cuz We Need A Little Christmas... - 2005-12-06

join my notify list and get email when I update my site:
email:
Powered by NotifyList.com

Goodbye, Mailbox. Bye-bye.

All material on this site �2001 to the present copyrighted Ruby Fuss Inc. except where otherwise noted, quoted, or linked. Design �poo designs with colors and images by Ruby Fuss and other parties noted and linked (Scientist graphic by busy-milkman). To quote Sailor Jerry, "Steal [it] and we will sue you." Stir and enjoy!