nicolson's Profile

I never wear shoes in my apartment, but every floor board in my bedroom creaks no matter where I step, regardless of rugs and pads. I'm sure it must drive the downstairs people bonkers, since I work from home, often until 2 or 3 a.m., which mean I end up creaking on the floors when I have to go to bed. But then again, they often have very loud sex at 3, 4 and 5 a.m....so I figure it all equals out in the end. (Although I have been tempted to leave a note...more so because I can't help but think the woman's theatrics mean she's faking, and I'd love to tweak them about it.)

Hate to point out the obvious but for people who are getting grossed out: if you eat any kind of packaged/processed food in the U.S., you are eating a certain amount of insect parts that the FDA/USDA deem "acceptable" in low numbers. Also, many food use insect extracts for coloring (cochineal extract, carmine) that are not labeled when coming from insects, so you are likely already eating insect by-products each year. On the bright side, insects are good sources of protein and eaten by a wide variety of cultures--and the human body is designed to digest a wide variety of "food," including insects.

Darn. I've had the WPA print hanging in my bathroom for 10+ years. I'm going to be really unhappy if it starts to become as ubiquitous as the "Keep calm".

@HeyNowTex: It's not product placement at all. Steig Larsson was a dedicated revolutionary socialist (and an anti-fascist targeted with violence for his work)--not some shill for Ikea.

I think this part in the book is a comment on how comforting the rituals of buying can be in a consumerist society, especially for a character who's been abused and displaced her entire life.

Wardrobe boxes with a bar for hanging clothes. If you hang a large portion of your clothes, as I do, having these cuts down immeasurably on the time it takes to unpack.

Oh gosh...my mistake. I just noticed this is from SF, not Chicago. There is a *very similar* house/fence combo here in Rogers Park. (The yard is smaller...but I believe the house is stucco and the bike frames are hung to form a fence in an identical manner.)

My comments apply to the house/fence here in Chicago. Sorry for getting them mixed up.

LOL...this is in my neighborhood! I pass it all the time and love it (although up close it sometimes looks a little "rickety"...something about the way the frames hang together.)

Next time I think you should turn the corner onto Estes and photograph the leopard print house! I'd love to see what AT readers think of *that*. (I love it--but then again I have a high tolerance for kitsch.)

Here's a question - I generally go the laundromat down the street from my apartment so I can do large loads all at once.

The one problem: the industrial dryers don't have lint traps and I have a *very fuzzy* cat whose hair gets embedded in everything.

Any ideas (besides the usual lint brushes, etc) for how to de-hair clothes if you're dealing with dryers that don't have lint traps? (And no, shaving my evil cat is *not* an option unless I want bloody arms.)

Dryer sheets don't seem to make much difference. I'm wondering if there's a product I can add to the washer or dryer that will help attract the hair like a lint trap would in a normal dryer.

I love this idea...but could you put together a lineup of quilts/coverlets under, say, $75 for a queen? I know that's a lot to ask, but there's no way I can afford the lovely ones above.

Really cute. Can I ask where the orange coffee table is from?