Kitchen Painter

Four months ago I decided to paint my kitchen.

Within two weeks I had finished the top half.

Two months later I finished the bottom half.

Two weeks after that I finally got around to telling the Internet about it.

So, for the record...

My kitchen looks awesome (finally):

And has hidden inspirational quotes on it:

It's pretty much my own Sistine Chapel. Minus the chapel part. And the Sistine part.

Addictions

Addictions are hard to break.

For example, this morning I realized that I'm addicted to Tetris. 

Do you have any idea how long it takes to reach Level 43? I'm not talking about that one game, which is a ridiculous amount of time in and of itself, but it also means hours of practice in previous games.

Now, I don't show this picture to brag or anything, but to show just how much time I have devoted to becoming an expert at Tetris.

This evening I almost started another game before I realized I'm supposed to be breaking this addiction. I bowed my head in shame and closed the internet screen before I had a chance to change my mind, then quickly reopened it to share my story.

Amidst all the difficulty, though, it's nice to know that at least I can add Tetris Expert to my list of Renaissance Summer achievements.

Card Table Refinisher

Today I refinished a card table, and since a picture is worth a thousand words:

Unfortunately, that picture doesn't do this project any justice. It doesn't show the awful state the card table was in before I fixed it. It doesn't describe how sad I was when my mom wouldn't let me use the staple gun. Nor does it show how great the new, un-padded table is for board games and puzzles.

Which means that this picture is full of 1000 useless words.

But I love it anyway.

Spray Paint Artist

Like any good Renaissance story, this one starts in Rome.

Now, don't be confused. This isn't your normal 'American goes to Europe to be inspired to become a writer/painter/sculptor' (see: American in Paris, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Midnight in Paris). When I went to Rome I didn't want to become just any artist, I wanted to become a spray paint artist.

These people can be found all over the world, painting a national landmark against the backdrop of the planets:

Somehow, these artists have yet to come to Tucson. There is a lot of potential things people in Arizona could be throwing in front of planets -- the University of Arizona 'A', mountains, the Grand Canyon, copper mines -- endless possibilities. Not to mention, everyone talks about how beautiful Arizona sunsets are, why isn't anyone spray painting those beauties onto canvas boards?

However, after more wanderings around Europe, I realized that I couldn't limit myself to just spray paint art this summer, there were so many other random things I wanted to learn to do. For example, the more I traveled, the more holes I found in my clothes inspiring my goal to learn to darn. I also decided to become a sew-er while I was at it. While wandering my homeland I realized that I also really wanted to learn Danish. I have no idea why, but it just seemed like a good idea.

I went home and got started right away. On my way home from the airport my mom and I bought some fabric. The next day I went to the library and picked up a huge pile of books to help with my "learner of all knowledge" goal. Then I downloaded 5 learn Danish apps. I also watched a few YouTube videos about spray painting.

And then I got stuck. It turns out that spray paint art starter kits (yes, they're a thing) are expensive. And books are long and sometimes boring. Not to mention that sewing a skirt requires doing more than just sewing two sides of fabric together.

Baby steps, I reminded myself. The Renaissance didn't happen in a day, the world was at it for 300 years! If I can get in done in a summer I'm already 299.75 years ahead of them.

So tonight I finally started doing stuff. I finished my needlework art I bought in Florida. Not only is this the first needle craft I've ever actually finished, I finally learned how to do a French knot! (This has been plaguing me since my first needle craft at my Grandma's house, Utah, 2004.)

Day 1 ----> Finished Project

Tonight I also learned how to play poker in French. It's pretty much the same as English poker, except the words are in French.

I already feel so cultured. I can't wait to see what magical artistic adventures the rest of the summer brings.