sundries

I have, perhaps, neglected to mention The Piano in the Hallway. It's on the landing of the floor below us. It's clearly a vintage upright that I'd put at around 1930 based on the cabinetry on it. It's gorgeous; it's also in rough shape and needs, at minimum refinishing.

Here's the thing: I don't know if someone is getting rid of it or if it's living in the hall while they do some renovations. I do know I've heard someone in the apartment it's near playing, and perhaps teaching, in the past. And it seems gauche to ring their bell and say "hey, is The Piano in the Hall up for grabs?"

Also, I'm afraid it has bedbugs. Really. They love little wooden crevices. Additionally, we have nowhere to put it. But I'm still intrigued.

This morning as I was leaving for work, there was a woman who clearly lives in the apartment right next to the one from which the piano was emitted (these two doors are adjacent to each other at about a 120-degree angle) complaining, loudly (in Spanish, so I only caught about 70% of what she said) to the super that she can barely get in and out of her apartment due to The Piano in the Hallway and Something Must Be Done.

She's absolutely right, even if a piano is less grievous than the hideous mattress that lived in the hall last week or the ongoing situation with the severed doll heads that pop up periodically or that one time someone spilled a can of red paint down the stairs.

But it's a piano, as the super told her. And no one knows what to do about it or who to ask or if it's there for the taking or if it has bedbugs or what.

Rokeby House, a crumbling mansion on the Hudson is home to artists, Astor and Livingston descendants, and their friends. The people living there largely don't venture into the front rooms, left as a shrine to earlier generations. This is a weird/magical one folks.

Cool word thing about Welsh and recycling. via adammaker.

A feminist Victorian-era sex survey has been rediscovered. via justpat.

Drugging kids to give parents a break (or for amusement or punishment) is abuse. Um... no, really?

Phaal is a super-hot curry with ten types of peppers in it. Cooks wear protective masks while making it at Brick Lane Curry House in New York, and the dish is attracting rowdy tables that high-five each other for eating it. Time to watch going out for an English again, ne?

Jesus christ, newyorkers is now the most useless community ever! Someone set up an intro post, this was helpful until some selfish special snowflake posted her intro not in comments. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh.

Other lives: coyotegoth found an old pic of me at the Deathly Hallows book release party at Books of Wonder, entertaining some random kid whose parents came up to me and declared "Snape is his favorite." I don't recall why I happened to have Lucius's cane in those shots.

Last night on Angel and Buffy - Wesley is all dub-con and the Watchers' headquarters blows up. ( Read more... )

3 awesome fannish things

ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD: "What do we want?" "Gay sex!" "When do we want it?" "NOW!"

Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind). This broke me. I'm _still_ laughing. I, in fact, may never stop. Patty, who I (of course) made watch this, may also be lying in bed next to me muttering "Fucking Wales," right about now.

Paul Cornell is working on a new comic called Soldier Zero. Its main character is a wheelchair user, and Paul's aware that there's plenty of room for the comic to be made of fail, but he, obviously, doesn't want it to be. If you're a wheelchair user and a comics fan, Paul would love to hear from you. Also, Al Davison, who is a comics creator and wheelchair user, is advising on the project.