Garden and Hearth.
Last spring I had a couple of slow months (construction is a rather seasonal occupation) and tried several online content writing gigs. It was amusing but didn't pay terribly well. Anyhow, I got to be the paint & wallpaper "editor" of
gardenandhearth.com - a home arts website. I'll get a portion of the ad revenue forever, I guess. Which amounts to enough to half-fill the gas tank in my pickup every month or so...I also keep the rights to whatever I write, for what that's worth.
Sheesh, I haven't contributed anything there since last summer. My contract with them called for 11 articles; I wrote them 17 so I've fulfilled it, I guess. Every now and then they send me popular search terms, in case I want to spit out another one. Apparently "removing wallpaper" is a hot topic.
I'm rather gratified to see that googling various relevant terms brings my articles up on the first page or two, which means I've inserted plenty of good keywords.
well crap.
I am finding it much easier to actually paint than to write about it. And, I've been working pretty much seven days a week lately. I hope nobody is actually looking at this, since I haven't done squat. Since I wrote the first entry, 12 days ago I have done these jobs:
*Painted a kitchen, living room, hall and laundry room. Beige and deep red. (Sherwin William "Fine Wine.")
*Large living room, was navy blue with oak trim (I painted the walls three years ago.) New furniture, so a repaint. It is now deep Chinese red, ceramic paint, with glossy white trim. Looks beautimus. Also doing the kitchen & dining room, color TBD. Have wallpaper half stripped, going back next week. Oh joy. Have found a part-time person to help with unpleasant, brainless stuff like stripping wallpaper...she starts Thursday. I miss having minions.
*Two bathrooms and a front door (blue.)
*Red front door, and sprayed the garage interior. (Cute homeowner.)
*Almost hounded the flakey contractor into paying me. Cash. Monday, almost 2 grand, for a job I finished almost a
month ago. (Putz.)
*Painted big-ass 2 story foyer and custom half bath.
*And two ceilings and a basement stairwell, for $100 and a new video camera which is technologically daunting. Looks good though.
Holy crap, I've done a lot in less than two weeks. I
rock. Damn.
Work lined up well into the foreseeable future, exterior season is starting soon. Woo hoo.
Well here we are!
In a McMansion owned by someone who runs training camps for the
Detroit Pistons.Which (I had to look it up) is a basketball team. Medium sized balls.
The higher up the socio-economic ladder one is, the smaller the balls they play with. Think golf. Golf clubs, exclusive country clubs (what's with the violent club imagery thing), holes in one, nine-irons and Lexus SUVs.
Great big beach balls? Little kids, who can't afford anything and don't own much.
Anyhow. What an articulate first post this is turning out to be! Not.
I painted a bunch of high walls, and a study on Friday and Saturday. My friend Lisa the faux painter lady did her cool swirly fuzzy painty thing in various rooms.
Here's her website.That's Lisa and I on the ledge, then just me.
