Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Ode to a Chesterfield


via Aged and Gilded


While I was teaching at an obscure Illinois college, I got a brown vinyl chesterfield sofa at a local auction house for about $40. I was only there for 1 term so I sold it the next summer for about $25. I adored that sofa. Something about the curve of the arm fits the back of your neck perfectly.

This classic now comes in all sorts of sizes, colors and fabrics.


Via Newvictorianruralist



Via Homebylinnblogspot and pinterest



Via Horchow and pinterest



Via Castlegibson and pinterest



Via Strong sense of style and pinterest



There´s actually a place in Murcia (why is it always Murcia?) that has stacks- I think they must supply people who are mounting pubs on the mediterranean coast.

But my favorite is the dark, quietly mouldering gentlemen´s club style. Sort of like this Pall Mall smoking room - but dustier with more potted palms and moths in the draperies and a touch of rising damp.


Via countrylifeimages



Source unknown

Monday, December 12, 2011

Heads up US Expats

Bah humbug from the IRS.

The IRS is making a worldwide push to squeeze money from Americans living abroad and from anyone who holds dual citizenship, whether they know it or not. It doesn't matter if the "duals" want US status, have never set foot on US soil, or never conducted business with an American. It doesn't matter if those targeted owe a single cent to the IRS. Unlike almost every other nation in the world, the United States requires citizens living abroad to file tax forms on the money they do not owe as well as to report foreign bank accounts or holdings such as stocks or RSSPs. The possible penalty for not reporting is $10,000 per "disclosed asset" per year.

Also - From the Federal Register regarding US Passport holders and NEW BIOGRAPHICAL QUESTIONNAIRE for application and renewal. I read this in the comments section of the Automatic Earth and it looks legit to me. If you think it will take you more than their estimate of 85 minutes to come up with the names, addresses, and phone numbers of everywhere you ever went to school and every employer you´ve had in your entire life - read on.

My friend obtained the information from the National Register. As I understand, there are less than two months left for a response from the public (Jan. 3, 2012). If you, or your family plan to renew passports in the future, I would suggest you read every line in this new form. For some the form will be considered a major invasion of your personal privacy and for others it will present an impossible task to answer all of the questions accurately.

There are two attachments, one is the proposed application and the other explains the process and methods for sending comments to the U.S. government.

Here are the two attachments:

A) for a complete printout of the proposed form http://tinyurl.com/7e77jes

B) for the Dept of State's 60 day notice http://tinyurl.com/8ygpp3z

Here's a cut and paste of the methods to submit comments:

ADDRESSES: Back to Top

You may submit comments by any of the following methods:Show citation box

Email:PPTFormsOfficer@state.gov.Show citation box
Mail (paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions): PPT Forms Officer, U.S. Department of State, 2100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Room 3031, Washington, DC 20037.Show citation box
Fax: (202) 736-9202.Show citation box
Hand Delivery or Courier: PPT Forms Officer, U.S. Department of State, 2100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Room 3031, Washington, DC 20037.Show citation box

You must include the DS form number (if applicable), information collection title, and OMB control number in any correspondence.

And finally,

¨I´ll believe that a corporation is a person when the State of Texas executes one.¨

More info on the Bernie Sanders ammendment reversing the Citizens United decision with a petition to sign for those of you stateside.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Harvest 2011


OK, some work to do here.

In other news, we went up to meet a new ¨Aparejador¨ or technical architect, who supervises the construction process and is in charge of health and safety. We met another potential builder at the Architect´s office and discussed the revised budgets for a shell, not finished house.

The main good news is that the budget numbers are coming down, mostly due to revising our expectations. Our new goal is to have a more or less weather tight structure, foundation, roof and walls, and phase in the systems and finishes afterward as time and money allows. Other sacrifices have been the chestnut ceiling and beams (replaced by pine). We want a dark stain, so springing for chestnut seemed unnecessary.

More good news was that the ruin doesn´t appear to be deteriorating, even with the drought followed by torrential rain this fall. The creek was not particularly full, either, despite increased rainfall. So far so good.

The bad news - we´re still in limbo, now awaiting Aguas de Galicia to submit a report judging that the creek, which we don´t plan to touch, will indeed be unaffected by our project. The Secretary at City Hall told us of a case who had been waiting since December 2010 for a response, so this is a problem. Estimates vary between a 4 to over a 6 month wait, which wouldn´t be such a big deal if it had been applied for back in July when the project was submitted. The Architect suggested a permit for ¨Consolidation of walls¨ which may allow us to at least begin work while the water people get their act togther. In the meantime, we´ll be gently harrassing the water department. Squeaky wheel and all that.

The area was alive with woodcutting and pruning. Great stacks of cut trees and enormous burn piles of weeds and bramble trimmings were on fire everywhere. The ruin across the road had cut down the entire hedge along the road and removed several trees which were overhanging the road and the electric lines. Looks entirely different.

Before - Neighbor pre-haircut.



Friday, December 2, 2011

DOA

DOA is another longstanding Galician folk group. Dating from the early 70´s they list influences as diverse as Jimmy Hendrix and King Crimson to Bach and Telemann.

Now on my Christmas list, I only heard about them because they have a new remix album ¨A fronda dos Cervos¨ out and there was a blurb on the Gallega channel.

This is not toe-tapping celtic music. From what little I´ve heard, it´s heavily influenced by medieval music and is more on the ambience end of the scale, I suppose.

I´m especially loving the hurdy-gurdy. I wonder how hard that is to learn to play.





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