Fine!

Great googly moogly, it's done!! Nine days and eight sleepless mornings later. You are looking at a photo of my freshly re-sided and insulation-doubled (just in time for the winter!) house, on the left, taken on this sunny, warm, happy day. So conveniently, it also serves as an effective before/after, as the house on the right is masked with the same garish, faux-wood skin as ours was but ten days ago.

And the verdict is...

Hmm. Welcome to Miami?? Hell of a palate. What is it exactly? Texturally, it kinda looks like a stucco or something, as the artsy, Jan-&-Markus-inspired detail to the left will show. Or... Ahh yes! A sidewalk! And how else would a coating of concrete look? It is difficult, maybe impossible, for me to look at it without seeing also the process; when one knows that it's just a thin layer of painted concrete on top of styrofoam, moldings and all, some of the magic disappears.

Whatever they say, it's better than the old stuff. And at least we now have window ledges, on which we can place precariously-balanced potted plants and beer bottles and cats.

In other news, The Onion has provided us with a dark, if not chuckle-worthy, perspective on the current state of Detroit with this lovely article. As often is the case, I think the headline is the best part, but it's still worth a read.

Happy passover! I'm off to get me a case of Manischewitz and a few pint of lamb's blood, ward off that pesky angel of death...