Vacation in La Cocina?

Hello:

Despite my best intentions, I have fallen WAY behind on the proper care and feeding of my BLOG. Not only have I not made any new posts, I haven't even responded to all the great comments I've gotten in the last couple of weeks. I'm tempted to blame it on the wisdom tooth I had pulled last week, but the truth is I just haven't had the power surges that ocassionally come along and allow me to take on the world. So today, I'm going to recognize my current limitations. I'm going to distract you all with a virtual tour of my kitchen and work in a couple of long overdue "shout-outs".

A good friend of mine spent several hours yesterday mapping every detail of the design into these scale images. Apparently the new kitchen will be haunted. I've hardly started knocking walls and the budget for this project has all ready exploded. I suspect that this year I'll be vacationing in La Cocina.

Something about these images keeps reminding me of Second Life, the new 'virtual' existence that seems to be taking both the personal and business world by storm. When I think of what a challenge it is for me to maintain a BLOG, I can't imagine spending the energy to live a parallel life.

My first shout-out today goes to my good friend Kathy Sheldon. Kathy is a reporter and editor at The Sporting News here in St. Louis. I recently gave Kathy a copy of And God Said, "Play Ball!": Amusing and Thought-provoking Parallels Between the Bible and Baseball and she was kind enough to publish a review of it on her Sporting News BLOG! Is she a great friend or what? If you've read Dark Glass very often, you've probably seen me talk about And God Said, "Play Ball!". I hit that one a lot. Next to our cookbooks, "Play Ball" probably has the broadest appeal of the Liguori Publications' line. Later this Fall, author Gary Graf will be treating us to "It's Good!" a football themed title designed to help the sports fan to get in touch with their spiritual side.

My second shout-out goes to Chandira, the Hope Fiend. Chandira is a fellow spiritual pilgram walking the BLOGosphere and encouraging the flames of enlightenment she encounters. I don't pretend that much wisdom resides here at Dark Glass, but she is a comfort to me none the less. She is also a favorite of Br. Secundo over at Mystic Alchemy and that is a BLOG with wisdom in residence.

Last but not least, a big shout out to Kiwi Nomad. Kiwi is another of those of BLOG friends who always lend their support and encouragement - even if she did recently say that I am still an absentee landlord! Kiwi is actually up to 3 BLOGs now (and I can't find the time to keep this one). I suggest starting with Kiwi Nomad's Wanderings and branching out from there.

WOW - for a quickee this has turned into a long-winded post! I have a lot of ideas for where I want to take Dark Glass in 2007. Most are concepts that will take a little more care and attention than what I can spare to publish several times a week. Until I get that going I'm going to try to catch up on my shout-outs and ramble about my kitchen.

Peace,

P. Del Ricci - Dark Glass

Shout, Shout, Let it all out

Hello:

Well it's been another crazy week. I thought I could at least handle a post of shout-outs and say hello to the folks that were kind enough to leave comments. Apparently even that was a challenge. So before we cue Tears for Fears singing "Shout", take a look at the picture to the right. That was taken after the ceremonial first blow of the Kitchen Demolition 2007 project. Nothing else has happened since this photo was taken but symbolically it was huge. As soon as approve plans from the kitchen designer, the dust will fly!

This week's renter:


To your upper left you'll notice this image -

If you click on that image (and you know that you want to), you'll be magically transported to the New York Nitty-Gritty. Truly a favorite site of mine that I repeatedly vote for on the BLOGExplosion challenges. Apparently I'm not the only one since the site HAS THE NUMBER ONE RANKING! Anyway it's a photoblog that posts images of everyday New York City scenes. The scenes may be ordinary but somehow the images give an impression of communing with other realms.

Ok, well this is a big cop out, BUT I have to run. It's driving me crazy that I haven't had a post up in so long so I'm going to hit Publish and we'll shout some more another time.

Peace,

P. Del Ricci - Dark Glass

Kitchen Demolition 2007

Hello:

Here we are just a few days into the new year and a few days into the 'Renaisance' of Dark Glass. Work was pretty crazy last week and I just couldn't find the time and energy to tap out a new post. I had quite a bit of low hanging fruit I could have chosen too. I've been really lucky and had lots of comments in the past couple of weeks. I always like to do a shout-out to anyone that leaves a comment and that doesn't really take a lot of focus. Somehow I felt I needed another 'real' post before I did that. Result? - Nothing posted. Sooo, today you get to hear about the thing most pressing on my mind. Drumroll please, Kitchen Demolition 2007 (said with the echo of a Monster Truck announcer).

If you've read Dark Glass even occasionally, you'll know that I bought a beautiful but 'as-is' old house just about a year ago. There have been some pretty massive projects since then; replastering the walls, refinishing the floors, installing 200 amp electrical service, and putting in a high velocity air conditioning system (August in St. Louis is liquid) just to name a few. As a result, we've become pretty happy with every room on the first floor. Every room that is but the kitchen. The filthy, nasty, grease caked, worn out kitchen. For a entire year year now, I haven't even had a stove! The counter tops (which were cheap and ugly new) have deep cuts and BURN marks all over them. The plywood cabinets are literally coated in a thick film of grease. Yet somehow I'd managed to get used to living with this.

A combination of exhaustion from all of the other do it yourself (DIY) projects and fear of the cost of remodelling the kitchen created an unspoken "it's not THAT bad" attitude. Oh sure, most of my dishes were still packed and in the basement because there was no way I was going to let them touch those filthy cabinets. True, there was only a hot plate, roaster oven and microwave to cook with (and in nicer weather the bbq grill). Still, I obviously wasn't missing any meals (I've gained significant weight this year).

Anyway, yesterday morning I met with a kitchen designer. Not because I wanted to, but because I needed to. Usually I pride myself on being able to make these types of decision. I love researching every little choice and learning how to install or repair whatever it is. I found I just couldn't do it with this kitchen project. Too many choices. Way, way too many choices. Hundreds of kitchen cabinets, hundreds of countertop options. Thousands of blacksplash and floor possibilities. Millions of combinations. None of it cheap and none of it easy to replace if I didn't like what I chose. So anywho, Sam (the kitch guy) is drawing up some plans and I'm getting ready to migrate the what there is of a kitchen to the basement. It's probably worth mentioning that the only area of the house that's scarier than the kitchen (and I'm including the attic) is the basement. I suspect I'll be eating out a lot.

Once everything (including the fridge) is moved out my full scale assult on the kitchen will begin. Walls will come down, cabinets will be hacked into pieces and floors will be pulled up. Finally a project that doesn't require subtlty or finese! To paraphrase Michael Caine, What's the point in owning a sledge hammer if you're not going to use it?

Obviously, this little project will be on my mind quite a bit for the next several months. Expect lots of pictures and a healthy dose of cursing. I'll try to catch up on those shout-outs in the next couple of days. Until then, I'll leave with a few titles Liguori Publications titles. What type you ask? What else? Cookbooks!

Peace,

P. Del Ricci - Dark Glass

Thanks For the Comments!

Click on the images to see more detail.

Hello:

I'm like most BLOGgers when it comes to an obsessive love of comments. Whether the remarks are positive or negative - I love the feedback. So as a result, I try to richly acknowledge every comment that I get in the BLOG 'currency of the realm'. That's right - a permanent link back to the commenter's site! So please don't be shy, drop me a line.

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Many thanks to Reid for leaving a message. I was building points at BLOGExplosion the other day when I saw photos of the Chihuly glass exhibit at Missouri Botanical Garden. It caught my eye instantly because 1. It's a breath taking exhibit and 2. It's right across the street from my house. I left a message at the site and got a reply pretty quickly. It turns out that Reid, of Reid's Random Remarks, is a St. Louis native attending school at Stanford. He must be a pretty bright guy, Stanford is a pretty picky institution (and birth place of the all knowing Google). I've included a few of my own night shots from the exhibit. It sort of looks like the Gardens have been attacked by a family of Flying Spaghetti Monsters. You should check out Reid's as well. His were taken during the day and I suspect he actually knows how to use camera.

I hope that everyone has had a good start to 2007. I'm heading into work tomorrow for the first time in a week and half. Somehow I'm guessing that none of my co-workers cleaned up my office while I was out. I'm going to make a serious attempt to keep up with my BLOGging this week. I have some commenters to acknowledge and quite a backlog of stories to tell from 2006. As always most of my posts will involve Liguori Publications in some way or another.

Peace,

P. Del Ricci - Dark Glass