2017 - 1957 = 60

I was talking to an acquaintance who is "so tired of reading and talking about racism on Facebook."

I told her that I suffered from racial fatigue too, but, unlike her, I can't stop making sure I remain focused on seeing something and saying something when something needs to be said. She went on to say she doubts that I deal with any racism and I let her know that if any Black person is still dealing with racism...then I'm still dealing with it. I might have more microaggressions that just a look or a quick snap could deal with...but it is still there.

See...just because she can identify with me because we have so many things in common, she thinks I'm "not like the other Blacks" who encounter racist crap. She didn't say THAT...but that's essentially what she said. I have no doubt that should something racist ever happen to me, she'd be on the forefront demanding justice, but she might not consider it worth her time to demand the same justice for a poor Black person she doesn't have as much in common with whom she has never met.

I don't have that luxury to not care or not WANT to care.

Just this morning my husband and I were talking about how the conviction and level of hate among some of these people we've seen in pictures is the same level of conviction and hate seen in the pictures from 1957 surrounding the Little Rock Nine.

That was just 60 years ago. Your parents and grandparents are older than 60 years old.  That's not that long ago.

Keep talking.

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Kroehler MCM Piece: I 100% love learning something new!

The amount of damage on this piece is ridiculous.  I tried very, very hard to figure out a way to not paint this but the water damage done to it is going to make that impossible.  So I plan to do a version of this with paint and stain trying to keep as much of the details as possible.

The bottom two drawers have water damage that can only be painted.  The top drawer, however, I decided to replace the veneer for a fresh stain since it wasn't too bad.

I removed the old veneer.

Then I cut new veneer and glued it on.

I cannot wait to finish this piece since I'm going to have some fun with it.  Now that I know how to do this...I think I'm going to take this refinishing hobby to whole new levels!

Kent Coffey Perspecta Ongoing Refinishing Project

The very first time I saw a Kent Coffey Perspecta piece, I was in mid-century modern heaven on Pinterest flipping through pictures.  Of all the different furniture periods and styles, I've come to love these pieces the most.  They aren't just functional pieces of furniture...they are art just as surely as if someone intended to hang them in a museum for us to gather around and admire in awe. Okay...that was flowerly as hell...but I'm totally telling you the truth of how I feel about MCM pieces.  And I've begun hoarding them in my garage and studying books, blogs, YouTube videos, etc. about how to refinish them as close to the original state as possible.  See...these pieces are now over 60 years old, so they have been through a lot.  But, in yet another testament to how amazingly well-made they are...they are heavy and solid still...after 60 plus years. If you find one of these in top condition like in the picture above, you're looking at a price tag of about $1600 or so.  I wasn't trying to pay that much for one, but I kept my eyes open prepared to pay a few hundred for one in need of some work.  

And then, one day it happened that I stumbled across one while doing one of my regular runs to find a new project. 

I flipped that blanket up and stumbled backward.  I dug this out from under stuff and asked for a price.  I honestly didn't care what the price was, however...I was getting it.  And it was going to be mine, mine, mine until I die and my heirs get rid of my stuff. 

By myself, I hoisted that sucker up on the back of my truck and brought it home.  When Robby helped me unload it he asked who helped me load it on the truck and I told him, nobody.  All I had was a dolly and a blanket.  I laid the blanket in the truck halfway and then flipped the piece onto the dolly.  I rolled it to the back of the truck, leaned it against the blanket and pushed it using the blanket to slide easier allowing the dolly to fall and take out my shin.  LOL!  By the time I made it home I was hot, dirty and sore with fresh knicks on my left shin but, after an Aleve, I was happier than a televangelist counting up pledges for the week.

Here is my baby once we got her off the truck:

And here is more of the damage that needs to be dealt with.

So you see...I have my work cut out with this piece since there is no way in hell I'm putting paint on her.  I want her to look just like the picture up top and I am determined to figure it out.  I want to use this in the family room as a television stand so I can look at her every night.  I can't WAIT to be finished.  I'm reading and bookmarking stuff daily and last night I bought some products a master refinisher used in a series of videos I've been watching.  My research is almost complete and I think I'll be ready in a week or so to start working on it.

Wish me luck.  I'll keep yall posted with my progress.  Just be patient with me because I'm going to take my time so I don't mess it up.  I want it to be PERFECT!

I think I'm going to name her after one of my long gone Elders, my great-Aunt Eola.  Aunt Eola was an educator her entire life and carried herself regally at all times.  Even if you popped by her home early in the morning and she was still in her robe with her hair in pin curls.  She was a tiny, Creole woman with glasses and gray hair.  Dainty and yet strong.  I remember she came to our home once and my father hit my mother.  My Aunt Eola swung on him and left all of us in COMPLETE AND TOTAL SHOCK.  She might have been 4ft. 9inches tall and she just JUMPED HIS AZZ. Strong, sturdy and beautiful. 

Yup...Eola it is!  Ms. Eola.  

Randoms of a Creole Princess

"A racist scrotum dipped in Cheeto dust." ~ Patton Oswald

Guess who he was talking about?

I had a laundry emergency today.  Spilled something that stains on our white duvet cover.  Immediately put it in the washer on the Powerwash cycle.  

No dice.

Washed it again.

No dice.

Went to the store and bought the Shout gel with the brush on top and some Oxy stuff.  Put the Oxy stuff in the washer and then soaked the duvet cover in hot water for 30 minutes, drained it and then washed it.

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!

I felt like I cured a disease or something.

Went to see "Marshall" today.  Good movie.  Totally wish it would be turned into a television series like "Matlock" so we could watch Mr. Thurgood Marshall fight racial injustice.

I broke down and got my gray hair colored.  I like it.  It's a Wella dark brown rinse and I so don't want to wash my hair and have some of it wash away.  *sigh*

The joy I got from these $9.99 earrings I bought at Ross is ridiculous!  LOVE THEM!

I got my oil changed today and showed everyone in the waiting area how to get to the $10 off coupon using their phones.

Why don't more people do this automatically???????

I think I want to get some kinky twists done next.  dearlesley currently has some and I was like...IMMA GET ME SOME!

I feel MUCH better since I returned to the doctor on Monday.  I'm on antibiotics, Allegra DM and some nose spray thing.  I'm so hopped up on foreign matter I see television snow when I turn my head too quickly.

I have a lot of friends who have had sick parents lately and it's beginning to scare me.   

I am one degree separated from a 48-year-old person who dropped dead yesterday.

That shit is sobering.

Speaking of sober...

The wine store I buy wine from locally is going out of business.  Seems Costco told the state that they aren't coming here unless they can sell beer, wine and liquor so they caved to allow grocery stores to sell beer, wine and liquor.  The wine store is near a Walmart so they cut their losses before their losses cut them.

All I want to know is when is Costco coming.

I have to set an alarm on my phone to remember to take my medicine.  

And an alarm for anything else I need to do that is time sensitive.

I have a love/hate relationship with that.

I am addicted to the Mediterranian flavored Terra chips.  YALL!

The place I buy flowers weekly went up on their prices by $2 per package of flowers.

Oh.

I haven't bought flowers there since.  That was too large of a leap for me.  Fifty cents?  Sure.  From $3.00 to $5.00?  No.  Ain't happening.  My $12 worth for the week now costing me $20?  Ain't happening.

Marie Laveau got sick last night around 3:30am and threw up.  If you're a doggie guardian,  you live in fear of the doggie vomit sound while you're sleeping.  Once we'd made sure she was okay, cleaned up and taken her down for water, I couldn't go back to sleep so I started re-reading my book.  

Yes...you read that correctly.  I re-read my own book that I wrote hoping it would put me to sleep quicker since I already know what was going to happen.  An hour later...I was still reading thinking...DAMMIT GOLDEN, SHIT! 

Have you read it yet?  It's pretty good if you haven't:  Compound 

Plenty of people have read it but only 21 have written a review.  *sigh*  I really wish people would write reviews so it could move up the ranks.

What's going on random with you?