Well hi, Come here often?

That's the outfit I've worn almost every day for the past two weeks. I've been painting all the trim in my house white, wiping out the 70's golden oak, the 50's weird not-gray-not-brown, some previously painted white trim that was a dull, thin grayish white, punctuated with drips. It's all going to match now. No drips, no cracks, no nail holes. I've used up almost an entire tube of caulk. I had a terrible case of buyer's remorse when I bought this house. The narrow hallways with its seven doors of chipped 1950's veneer, the doorway trim with a single coat of white paint slapped on. The dark armed light fixture lurking like spider on the eight-foot hallway ceiling, the crowing achievement of bad choices.

Today I'm wearing real clothes. I hired a professional painter to do the bay window in my living room and the hallway ceiling, which has a new light fixture now. He saw the work I'd done since he came to give the estimate a few weeks ago. "You could have done this yourself," he said as he brushed paint on the window seat. "If I was hiring help,I'd hire you." See? Someone might actually pay me for one of my skills. But I want to be DONE with painting. I have one more room's worth of door and window trim to paint--and a couple of baseboards in my kitchen. I'm going to stain my super cool 1950s wooden front door a reddish brown that will look awesome with the little landing pad of slate tile in my entry way. Then that's it. I'm going to make art and write. I'm going to make a handbound book with handmade paper of my 33 Divorceville collages (which you can find on my Instagram page if your interested.) I'm going to make bigger collages and more paper and bind books. And it is my intention to publish an essay or a piece of fiction on Medium.com once a month. Maybe twice. But I write as slowly as I paint, so maybe just once. Medium has a new thing going on. You can subscribe to my page. So when I do write once a month, you'll get an email about it. This means income sans paintbrush. You can subscribe here: https://demanuelclemen.medium.com After you get to my Medium.com page look for the little "Get an email.." message at the bottom? Click there.

You can also become a paying member of Medium.com and support more of your favorite writers while getting unlimited access to lots of good writing, including pieces by famous writers like Susan Orlean and great magazines like The Atlantic. Basic membership is 5.00 per month. I write both fiction and nonfiction about adoption, divorce, dystopia, death, grief, and...Hollywood! It's more fun than it sounds. Tell your friends. Share this post. Share my subscription link. Sharing is good. Thank you.