February 11, 2006

Mysteries of the Althouse house.

You know, there are some strange corners to the Althouse house. But I'm about to put the place on the market, so I've got to eradicate the strange. I've made the studio and the room we call outer space into normal house-parts. Now to the basement, where a lot of music has been played over the years. The bands have left so many signs:

The lower level

The lower level

The lower level

The lower level

The lower level

I've got so much work to do here, and there's another, messier half of the basement that I'm not even showing you. It's over there by the garage. Oh, let's take a look at the garage, because seeing it makes me feel good. I got it nearly completely cleared out last Wednesday. Here's the most interesting thing I found in there:

The lower level

A relic of an old concert-party. And, no, I didn't paint that. This guy did. Well, it's a little spooky down here. Time to go upstairs and work on one of the closets for a while. There are piles of stuff and also stuff in boxes. Some of the boxes even have labels. But some of the labels are mysterious:

The lower level

19 comments:

Crazy Politico said...

It looks much like my parents house, which is not going to be fun to clean out if they actually move to Arkansas like they are talking.

Luckily I live far enough away to not be called to help move them :)

Unknown said...

Too bad you can't sign up as a house for Designed to Sell on hgtv. The work wonders in a couple of days.

Joan said...

Wow. You have quite a mountain of stuff to get through there. I do not envy you that task.

The quotes and song titles on the wall remind me of the "agony wall" that developed over the course of one particularly horrible software project I worked on, eons ago. At the time, we all thought it was meaningful. Looking back now, I realize most of it was whiny, silly, or both. (Not to imply that what's up on your walls is whiny or silly -- just seeing a huge Pink Floyd quote set me on this train of thought.)

Ann Althouse said...

Brendan: Yeah, funny. I think one of my sons bought that at a garage sale. For some reason, they went through a period when they were interested in garage sales and they must have thought that thing was cool. Me, I've never gone to a garage sale, and I would have never brought something like that into the house. Fortunately, it wound up in the basement.

sonicfrog said...

Peavey Guitar amp in background. Is that a Crate bass amp in the fore???

reader_iam said...

Never. Gone. To. A. Garage. Sale.

Just pondering that thought is freeing!

How about a flea market or auction?

I've been dragged along to so many of those ...

And as a young kid (prior to moving East) living in more rural small towns, a Saturday at a farm or house auction was supposed to be a big deal!!!!

I'm surprised I never picked up something nasty from playing with other people's dirty old toys.

I'm impressed by your progress, Ann ... do you have a countdown calendar somewhere, on which your marking off the dates until "D-Day"?

Lindybill said...

Your post reminded me of this comment I left for Thomas Barnett on his blog. http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/



I was discussing Ann Althouse, the law prof at Wisc U who is a prominent blogger, at my discussion group, [politics for pros - Silicon Investor] yesterday, and told them that there are only two major bloggers I read who do an excellent job of discussing both issues and their personal life on their blog. Ann and you. Both of you are political moderates. Both of you are excellent on the issues. Both of you descibe what is going on in your life in a very interesting way.

Ann splits her blogging roughly 80/20 personal. You do the reverse. In both cases the reader feels that they are allowed into the blogger's life. And that the experience is very enjoyable.

You both lead very different lives. But the genuineness of your blogging shines through.

vbspurs said...

Just how long were you a member of the Manson Family, Ann?

Cheers,
Victoria

vbspurs said...

And for the record, I am against the Althouse Move.

Sure, that's one way to get rid of the bats and squirrels, but we all know you're just a squism coward.

Suffer!!

Cheers,
Victoria

sonicfrog said...

I sooooooo want that damned clock. That is awsome!!!!!!

reader_iam said...

All of that creative energy inherently needs more than one mode of expression.

vh: fetag

In the hard-wiring ....

Heh!

Ann Althouse said...

For the record, and in case prospective buyers are reading, there has never been a squirrel in the house and, since the bat man sealed up the attic some years back, there hasn't been a bat. The bat man told me that all the houses in this neighborhood (this fancy-schmancy neighborhood) have bats in their attics (if they haven't been bat-proofed). Squirrels and bats are part of our beautiful ecosystem, here in University Heights, which is full of big trees, including the 200 year old oak in my backyard and the 5 year old redbuds that arch over the front walkway.

sonicfrog said...

Althousefans said:

All young bands write on the walls of the place where they practice. Why do they do that?

Why do boxers box, waiters wait, and babies cry? They just do.

My most recent band, Chris Plays Guitar practiced in our drummer's church for almost two years. We were the only ones using this perticular upstairs room, which had an old fashioned blackboard. The only thing we wrote on it was our set list and some lyrics, which contained a few colorful words. But when the drummer left we could no longer use the church, and because the blackboard was so old, we had a heck of a time getting the writing off of it.

sonicfrog said...

PS. Aren't blogs just a souped up, high tech version of that wall???

Pete said...

Yay, Victoria, and welcome to the dark minority who oppose this move. (That is, if you're serious about your stance. Otherwise, feh! Now if I can get you to join me in the "podcasts are too long" meme.)

The task of cleaning the basement alone should discourage you from this move, Ann. And though past history is no guarantee of future performanc, if I were a member of your condo association, I'd take a look at these pictures and start to get worried. ;)

Ann Althouse said...

Pete: Someone has to buy the house before I can move. Obviously, I have to whip it into shape before I can show it to prospective buyers. If no one buys it, at least I'll have a clean house. The accumulated junk was bugging me, and I never could get up the motivation to deal with it. This way, I'm working every day toward getting it done in one month. The motivation is amazing!

vbspurs said...

For the record, and in case prospective buyers are reading, there has never been a squirrel in the house and, since the bat man sealed up the attic some years back, there hasn't been a bat.

Well, there are hours listening to podcasts about squirrels I'll never get back.

Thanks a lot, Ann.

Pete: I'm totally serious about Ann not moving, despite her "clean-house" backtrack.

A- I want to visit the house one day, to verify the scene of the blog crimes going on 2 years now.

B- It'll take her kids years to clean up that basement, and that surely breaks child labour laws.

Although if that clock ever goes in the yard sale, I'm so there.

Cheers,
Victoria

Hazy Dave said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hazy Dave said...

Oh, a Spam Comment! How about an update on the garage? "Why Silvio Has To Spend The Winter Outside Even When I'm Out Of Town"!