#learn to be cringe but free and post your ideas and vague concepts

[shulkerbullets]

pre-transition childhood

[kotobormot3]

Happy new year! Not a comic suggestion or anything, but a question! What are your thoughts on wandersong au’s? Any specific favorites and recommendations? Any of your own?

Happy new year, anon!! :D

Hmm, Wandersong AUs... Well, I definitely enjoy some of them! I'm not really an AU kinda person, to be honest, but sometimes it is indeed fun and refreshing to put familiar characters in completely new and different settings. So... yeah!

I don't think I can remember right now all the AUs that have caught my interest, but lately (after I saw soothsayerditty's amazing art here on tumblr) I've been stuck thinking about that vaguely modern Wandersong AU for days, haha. I dunno, there's something about these road trip vibes and all the possible situations and interactions that could happen between Kiwi and Miriam in this scenario that simply makes me giggle and wish someone would write or draw more of it. (I even started to write a little drabble myself, but I don't know if I'll ever finish it or make it public lol). I dunno. I just love putting characters in modern settings and thinking of all the stuff they could do and how that would affect their relationships and what form the canon events would even take there. (Even better if there is a possibility of the characters meeting their original selves later, hehe. Or just learning about the existence of each other.) (I just simply can't help but enjoy the concept of parallel universes and multiple timelines. Yeah, yeah, I may be cringe, but I'm free xd).

I also immensely enjoy all the time loop Wandersong AUs. I feel like it's one of these games that's just asking for one (or two, or three... lol). Honestly, each time I start the game immediately after finishing it, I feel so weird that Kiwi doesn't remember anything at all and basically has to start their quest all over again, even though not only a minute earlier they were hugging their newfound best friend and companion and saying their heartfelt goodbyes to her, knowing that there is a tomorrow after all- And then. And then we see her again only to go right back to being complete strangers. Just. Ughgh. Angst material. Absolute angst material. That being said, I really enjoy Kiwi's perspective in this AU (khem I even started to write a little something about it a long time ago khem), but Miriam's POV is very interesting too. All in all, time loop AUs are great. They never get old. This AU and the previous one also nicely go with another concept I greatly enjoy – something something computer simulation, you know the drill xd

I also came across a lot of cool AU ideas while reading some old fandom stuff, like siren!Kiwi, monster!Miriam, shapeshifter!Miriam, warrior cats AU (hehehe), ghost!Kiwi or ghost!Miriam and some more. Personality swaps are not really my thing, but some role swaps are great. I especially like hero!Miriam concept, because it just makes sense and has a lot of interesting potential storywise. Kiwi with the sword makes for some really good drama as well.

Yeah. I probably forgot something, but I think that's enough for now, haha. There's a lot of cool AU stuff people have come up with lately that's really nice and interesting too.

As for my own AUs, I can't say I have any 🤔

And even if I get some ideas, it's often just certain little random scenes in my head that don't really tie together in the big picture. I mostly like to think about what happens after the game, and all my fics on AO3 are post-canon stuff. Wandersong is honestly one of the only pieces of media that didn't leave me with the burning desire to change things in it after I was done, so maybe that's why, lol. It's a very special game, and I just like it the way it is.

...Doesn't mean I can't appreciate other people's AUs, though xd

Anyways, thanks for asking! Happy holidays! :D

[herkiss-theriot]

Lol I know absolutely no one asked but here I am, arbitrarily ranking Kid Krow songs because this is a music blog now apparently and it’s my favorite album so far this year. Feel free to shoot me an ask for any elaboration or other opinions lol. Sorry for the long post. I would add a keep reading but I’m on mobile and the mobile app is somehow worse than the website. I’m also not tagging this so if this gets notes it’s not my fault. Also I’m editing the post em to say that I think this whole album is amazing and it pains me not giving every album a 10/10 bc they’re all so good

Comfort Crowd - 11/10

One of the best album intros I’ve heard compared to other albums I like. It means a lot to me and is overall a really easy song to listen to in basically any mood but is a great pick me up I think it also has one of my favorite lines on the album “you say through a sigh that I said that line already”

Wish You Were Sober - 8/10

A fun song to listen, has some solid lines. Not very relatable in my experiences but that’s also not the point lol. Favorite line(s): “knees weak, but you talk pretty fly, wow” “gettin’ good start saying gotta bounce”

Maniac - 8/10

One word titles are always fun but also -2 for some ableist language. Ik that’s not always at the top of Woke Cultures to do list but it’s a real problem and provides for some cringe vernacular choices sometimes. Overall it’s a pretty good song and is definitely one of the best on the album that’s playable even outside of the album/to people who arent into Conan. Conan apparently describes it as an “upbeat bedroom pop banger” according to genius which I guess, yeah, but what a way to describe a song. Favorite line: “we had magic, but you made it tragic”

(Online Love) - 9/10

First interlude if the album which is very exciting. Very cool idea to say that he thinks this love could be more if it were in person which translates well into current scenarios. Has a really cool guitar pattern and a nice ending. -1 bc it’s 30 seconds long favorite line: “I can’t help but imagine what maybe could’ve happened if we weren’t just an online love”

Checkmate - 10/10

Ik this was released pre-Kid Krow but god it’s one of his best songs and I’m so glad it made it on the album. It’s just got such a good energy about it and I always love chess analogies. And Ik Kid Krow Isnt a concept album by any means but I love the story arc going on of finally catching on. Favorite line(s) “cry me a river till you drown in the lake” “holding your hand but in the other one, baby I’m holding a loaded gun”

(I wrote parts for the cut that always bleeds and fight or flight and then accidentally deleted them so rip me sorry if they’re a lil short/less in depth)

The Cut That Always Bleeds - 8/10

It’s overall a great song and is really emotional but -2 bc I ugly cry to this song and get asked if I’m okay a lot lol favorite lines: “I don’t love you anymore” a pretty line that I adore”

“Can’t life another minute bleeding from my back cause I don’t have another one for you to stab”

Fight or Flight - 11/10

What a song. There’s not a lot I can say other than that it’s literally one of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard. It’s got some of the most genius song writing that I’ve heard on an album in a while. Also when I was learning to drive with my Nana i had a playlist that would go from Comfort Crowd to Fight or Flight which is an experience I recommend everyone have at least once in their life. My only criticism of this song is that it’s perception of cheating is a lil Disney-channel-esque” which maybe doesn’t make sense and also I’m fairly certain that he writes from personal experience and who am I to say he can’t write what he wants lmao.Favorite line(s) “id rather lie than tell you I’m in love with you” (one of my favorite lines EVER) “they also didn’t know that our lover loved us both.

Affluenza - 7/10

A fun song but is kind of a lot in my opinion and seems vaguely out of touch. However I do agree with the overall sentiment of eating the rich (also if you’re a trinkets fan I think this is a good song for an Elodie playlist or maybe even Tabitha depending on the perspective.) although I will say it’s a really good take on the idea of affluenza as a concept. favorite line “give me none of your affluenza”

(Can We Be Friends) - 6/10

Ik it’s an interlude so it’s kind of the point but definitely a skip most of the time even though I think the line “if anybody fucks with you I’ll knock their teeth out” gods hard. I just think one minute is a really weird time frame for a song. Sub one minute is just short enough to want more and 1:30 and perfectly acceptable for a song but one minute is v awkward

Heather - 10/10

Not amount elaboration would ever be able to perfectly encapsulates how gorgeous the idea of this song is. This idea that you wish you wish you could be someone else because you feel that this other person is otherworldly and is more deserving of the person you love. That feeling is gut wrenching. Favorite line “why would you ever kiss me, I’m not even half as pretty”

Little League - 5/10

I’m so sorry it’s just such a skip. I don’t know why but I can’t listen to this song. It reminds me of a big time rush song for some reason which isn’t a bad thing but every time I try to listen to it I think about how I think it’s a btr copy 😭 also when I do listen to it makes me cry a lot and yearning for a youth that I let waste away and I hate feeling actual feelings so minus points for that. Favorite line “when we were younger we wore our hearts out on our sleeve, why did we ever have to leave? Little league” I think it’s my favorite bc it can be interpreted in a couple of ways and I’m too tired to get into it rn

The Story - 10/10

Simple. Beautiful. One of the first Conan songs I heard. My friend was a huge Conan fan and so I listened to a couple songs like generation why and crush culture but she saw him in concert b4 kid Krow was released and took a video of The Story and I absolutely fell in love. The first time I heard it I sobbed. This idea of paralleling a bunch of failed loves and friendships in order to justify why you think yours will work is so cool and I love it a lot. Favorite line “I’m afraid that’s just the way the world works but I think that it could work for you and me.

[houseofvans]

Art School | Sophie Roach (Austin, TX)

Drawing and painting her way through an imaginative landscape of intricate and visual entanglements is Austin native, Sophie Roach.  Her artwork has endlessly covered  surfaces from– guitars, beer cans, Vans, to entire rooms.  And if that isn’t already insanely rad, her organic approach and laid back attitude make her not only incredibly humble, but also a super awesome collaborator.  While finishing up one mural and starting up new projects, we had the chance to ask Sophie a few questions about her art, her career, and her approach – from finding her voice, attacking a mural, to digging the quietude one might find as a mail person hah!  

Photographs courtesy of the artist. 

Introduce yourself.  

My name is Sophie Roach and I'm an artist/illustrator/muralist based in Austin, TX! I grew up in Austin, went to college in Seattle, then I scooted back to my hometown as quickly as I could after graduating in 2011.

As a self taught artist, how did drawing take shape and become what you do- did it start as a hobby or random habit? 

I was a total jock growing up, not an artsy kid at all. I started drawing when I was 20. At first it was in the margins of my lecture notes, eventually I gave up on the note-taking part. I’m only a good student when I feel like whatever I’m learning will be applicable to life outside the classroom. For me, since I didn’t have a career in mind, that was around 5% of my in-class experience so I wound up drawing a whole lot. By the time I graduated I was interested in doing something creative, possibly graphic design, but I didn’t think that those doodles would be a part of my career until about a year later.

What did your early drawings look like and / or did they evolve into what they are now?  How did you find your particular voice in your art? 

They looked like anyone’s notebook doodles. I’ve had depression and anxiety issues since I was a kid and I found that the meditative, time-intensive work helped me deal with that. I became obsessed with drawing and my skills evolved  quickly as a result. I didn’t know I was looking for my voice until I stumbled upon it in early 2012. Making art was always fun, but once I hit upon a style that felt like my own, I knew I was totally screwed. I had to make it work full-time.

In terms of influences, artistically and in general, what are they and how do they influence the work you make now?

I love the utility of Milton Glaser’s decorative design work, Keith Haring’s visual language, and Sol LeWitt’s ability to make minimalism totally overwhelming with his installations. I love the sincerity in Keith Shore and Nathaniel Russel’s work. I love the bold abstract nature in the work of Blexbolex and in old polish posters and book covers. I’m sure that these things that I love make their way into my work but I don’t spend much time thinking about where my inspiration comes from. I focus more on positioning myself to receive it by taking long walks, traveling to new places, reading books, and simply paying close attention to my surroundings.

You’ve worked with various mediums and from small to super large. Take us through the preparation and thought process when you work in large scale?  What is your planning like and do you find yourself drawn to creating more large scale works?

Step 1: Develop a loose concept (vague organization and goals for the piece) Step 2: Determine appropriate materials for scale and location Step 3: Pencil out boundaries for linework based on loose concept Step 4: Start drawing. Sometimes sticking to the initial pencil marks, more often making up new stuff as I go. Step 5: Have imposter moment. “Oh my god why did I agree to do this, this looks dumb, the result is going to look dumb, I don’t have the skills to make this look good and everyone can tell.”  With murals, you have to complete the ugly parts of the process in front of people. It’s a little nerve-wracking. Step 6: Stop whining, get back to work Step 7: Once the linework is complete it’s time to color Step 8: Go back through and re-draw lines near the color sections Step 9: Usually jalapeño, pepperoni, pineapple pizza

To be honest, I found little joy in the mural process when I first started. Now that I have a few murals under my belt I find it hard to work on small scale pieces. It's very satisfying to work large scale. I feel like each office/commercial/public mural is practice for the immersive installations that I'm dreaming up for the future.

What’s something you don’t think folks might not know about an artist or being a “working artist”?  

I used to think that I wasn’t a real artist because I rarely show work in galleries and I don’t like sitting in my studio all day. I make art full time but at the moment my work is more appropriate for commercial design-y projects and murals. I don’t feel restricted in the commercial art realm because I’m strict about retaining my voice and most clients are cool with that due to it’s abstract nature. Because I pay my rent with commercial work, I get to have a lot of fun with the works on paper. I don’t think you can feel totally free when making things for the “fine art” world unless you don’t care whether you get a financial return for your energy.

Your work is filled with details and patterns – how do you decide which pattern goes where? Do you have a running sheet of various patterns and shapes constantly running through your mind? 

I just go with my gut. There are rules for organization that I'm constantly making and breaking throughout my process. I don't think I could put the rules into words but I can feel them when I'm working. I do have shapes and shape combos that are vaguely representational of real life things, but its not always obvious. I want it to be apparent that a method exists within the madness but I don’t care how decipherable it is.

Top 3 bands while you’re drawing? These days: -Alex Cameron -Lucy Dacus -King Krule

Albums get old fast because I have headphones on for most of my waking life. I always have something playing because I find that I can control my fatigue with different types of music/audiobooks/podcasts. I've developed a self-regulating listening process when I'm working. If I'm having trouble concentrating on the work, I turn on an audiobook or podcast and focus on that. If I'm having trouble keeping up with the talky stuff, I turn on music and focus on the work. Then there are more ways that I decide what kind of music makes sense for what I'm working on or how I'm feeling.

What is the most asked question you get on social media?  Shall we lay it to rest once and for all? ha

Anytime I post a process video I get tons of comments, DMs, and emails asking about my materials. I think materials are important and I’ve spent a lot of time and money finding the right tools to achieve the aesthetic that I want. I know people don’t mean any harm when they ask, but I can’t help but cringe when I get the pen question for the 10000th time.

That said, here are my favorite tools: Rotring Rapidograph Pens Copic Markers Smooth bristol paper Molotow empty paint markers Golden High Flow Acrylic in Carbon Black

What do you think you would have been doing if not for art?  

My alternate reality fantasy job is to be a mail woman oddly enough. The concept of putting things in their appropriate boxes is really soothing to my Virgo/OCD brain. Plus, I love that I'd be able to work alone, walk a lot, and constantly have my headphones in. It's basically what I do now but without all the challenges and angst, ha.

What’s your big dream? What kind of work do you want to be making in fifteen years? 

Over the next few years I’d like to expand my style into 3D form and eventually design a compound of buildings a la Antoni Gaudi, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Niki de Saint Phalle, and St. EOM. I’d love for it to have a function as well. Maybe a hotel or event space. Maybe a waterpark.

What are your favorite Vans? and why? I was able to keep one of the 50 pairs of shoes that I hand customized for a Vans/iamsound event in Austin in 2013. It was one of my first collaborations with a brand that I actually cared about and it showed me what kind of projects were available for artists in the commercial realm. I used to wear them all the time but now I keep the pair on a shelf in my studio as a memento.

What’s the best and worse advice you’ve gotten in regards to art? (if any)

I try to put all of the good and bad advice in the same pile in my head. Then I generally ignore that pile. People are always telling what I "should" do. I used to make an effort to do all of those things because it's a lot easier and less scary compared to coming up with ideas on my own. Turns out there are plenty of great ideas that just don't light my fire. I'm learning to trust my gut.

However there is one bit of helpful advice that I heard in a documentary a long time ago. I don't remember what it was called or who the artist was but he said that his best advice for young people who want to make art for a living is to QUIT NOW. When things get hard I tell myself to quit, then I remember that I can't. I need to make stuff! Then I get back to work.

What do you have coming up for 2017? What’s your next project or show people should know about?

I'm continuing to focus on murals this year. So far almost all of my installations have been in Austin so I’m stoked to have projects scheduled around the country in 2017. Best way to keep up with what I'm doing is to follow me on Instagram.

Follow Sophie Roach:

Website: www.sophieroach.com Instagram: @Sophieroach 

[wordcreatr]

As I’d mentioned in an earlier post, redoing some of the floors in the house has kept me busy (and my friends concerned about the integrity of my limbs).  It was a task that was a long time coming.

Ever since I bought my dad’s old house, I’ve been meaning to remove the dull brown carpets from the bedrooms and my Man Cave (Nerd Cave according to the Houseguest) and replace them with laminate flooring similar to what’s in the living room (the rest of the house is tiled). I mean, these things were ancient. And by ancient, I mean disgusting. I’m not sure if they were the original carpets from 1980 when I was in junior high, but at a minimum, they’d been on duty at least 20 years and were a far duller brown than when they started out. They were so bad, I wouldn’t invite people over for fear they’d catch a glimpse of them and pass judgment on me.

These carpets had seen their better days sometime in the early 90s. Two decades of tramping feet had ground dirt into them. Vacuuming didn’t help — instead, it produced weird smells from the vacuum cleaner. When the carpets got wet, it resurrected faint scents of accidents by pets long gone. I occasionally borrowed a carpet shampooer from my friend The Todd (not to be confused with Stoner Todd from my post, Ridin’ Dirty) but still the carpets looked only marginally better. The carpets simply had to go.

Trouble Pulling the Trigger

Over the last few years, there have been numerous times I’ve haunted flooring stores or departments looking wistfully at the laminate flooring. However, I always left with nothing more than samples and a vague determination to do something — eventually.

However, as much as I despised the carpets, I never got around to replacing them.  Things kept coming up, like my lack of will to undertake the project myself or not wanting to spend the money. When I did have enough money, I’d use it on something else. I thought about hiring someone, but that would be way more expensive — plus, they’d see my disgusting carpets and silently judge me. And, my Man Cave had so much stuff jammed into it it would be an arduous undertaking to clear it all out. If you’ve ever seen the Room of Requirement from the Harry Potter movies, you get the idea.

My Man Caves resembled this only slightly more crowded.

I could do the job myself but then that meant relying on me and, in my book, that’s never a good idea — especially since my handyman skills are rudimentary at best. I haven’t posted many of my home project follies here, but one time, I got stuck on my roof. And everyone I know cringes when they think of me renting a saw — and they aren’t the only ones. There was the chainsaw incident where I rented one to cut up a tree that fell over during a storm. I came this close to being in a tragic news report and, shaken, I ended up hiring a professional to finish the job.

Mortal enemies

As much as I hated the carpets, the Houseguest hated them more. She’s a Zoroastrian, so she takes the whole cleanliness concept seriously. (Well, compared to me she does — the rest of the Zoroastrians might kick her out of the fire temple if they saw her messy workspace.)

She has been renting a room from me for 3 years, and well before she moved in, I told her I intended to rip up the carpets. Lately, she had been complaining more often about their grodiness and blamed all her ills on them. Shortly after my employment ended, at her behest, I pulled up the carpet in her room. She reasoned that even a bare concrete floor had to be better than the hated carpet. Once I’d removed it, she looked at the exposed concrete with a critical eye, and I could sense her excitement ebb.

“Don’t like it?” I asked.

“I thought it would look — different. More…” her voice trailed off.

Her brow wrinkled as we stared at the stained, dull grey floor.

“It’s kind of — ugly,” she said.

Yes, yes it was.

It was not an attractive looking floor; the construction guys had slopped paint and other things onto the concrete and it looked quite unappealing. The Houseguest consoled herself that at least the carpet was gone and she could at least sweep. That sentiment lasted about two weeks and she began making more and more negative comments about the concrete.

What the Houseguest envisioned…

The reality.

A decision gets made

During that time, I began contemplating paying for new flooring with a credit card. I didn’t really want to add debt while I was unemployed and trying to get some freelance work going, but this ongoing floor situation had been festering far too long. The Houseguest told me not to be silly, she could deal with it.

A week later, the concrete floor finally wore her resolve down and she offered to fund the flooring project and I would pay her back when I had the money. Though I appreciated the offer, I declined because I hate borrowing money from (or loaning it to) friends because a financial obligation is an easy way to poison a relationship. But the Houseguest was persistent; she did not want to look at the concrete floor anymore. Plus, as she pointed out — now was the perfect time to jump into a project because I had a lot of free time. So, finally, I agreed to the loan and she wrote me a check for $1,900.

Gathering supplies

We drove to a couple of spots to check out flooring options. I had been set on installing laminate, but several people had mentioned that Vinyl Luxury Planks was the way to go these days. ‘Vinyl?’ I thought. No way I was putting vinyl on my floors. Oh, but this isn’t your father’s thin vinyl flooring. No, this stuff is created to mimic the look of wood and comes in textured planks. Nucore, the brand I settled on has a cork backing to soften footfalls and deaden sound. It’s not as hard as laminate, but it’s waterproof (I’ve had a broken water line before — no fun) and fairly easy to work with — you can even score it with a boxcutter and then bend it to snap it in two.

I almost went with a nice-looking brand sold through Lowes, but the online reviews were either glowing or scathing. Turns out the product was originally made in China, but after the trade war started, apparently they brought production back to the U.S. and the quality was terrible. People were scrambling looking for boxes of the stuff made in China and some people had got stuck with American stuff halfway through their project. I quickly scratched that one off my list and ended up going with Floor and Decor’s Spalted Maple NuCore.

Before I got the project rolling, I borrowed my friend Carlos’s miter saw to cut the vinyl quarter round molding that would cover the expansion gaps at the baseboards. I’m glad I did because I ended up actually using it to cut the vinyl planking as well. Even though they tout you can use a boxcutter, the first two planks I tried to cut, I kept screwing up and veering offline while scoring the boards and cutting scatches into the surface. No way was I going to end up with jacked up floors from the get-go, so I used Carlos’s power saw (as well a regular hand saw for lengthwise cuts and a hobby saw for small, delicate cuts). That miter saw totally sped things up.

Getting started

Once I had everything I needed, I sat around for a couple of days watching Youtube videos, nervous to start. I’d calculated the number of boxes of planking I needed and added an extra 10% for mistakes, but I wasn’t absolutely sure I had enough. I didn’t want to screw things up to the point where I’d have to scrap the project. Hence the obsessive video watching.

Finally, I decided to stop overthinking it and jump into the deep end and do the Houseguest’s room. I just needed a friend to help me move furniture out. The Todd agreed to stop by late Saturday afternoon and help, but as I had nothing else to do that morning, I thought I’d get a head start by removing all the drawers from the two dressers to lighten them and move the nightstands out, which went smoothly. But why stop there? I decided to see if I could move some of the furniture by myself. See, I don’t like inconveniencing other people (and in turn, don’t like to be inconvenienced). The dressers were solid maple but had small casters hidden underneath which made it easier. Then I decided to tackle the Houseguest’s queen-sized bed (she’d already agreed to stay at a friend’s over the weekend).  Like a determined ant, I got the moving done by the time The Todd called. (Over the course of the project, I ended up moving everything out of all three rooms by myself — dressers, beds, bookcases, desks, etc.)

That’s my bedroom door to the left. I really hoped I didn’t have to escape the house in a hurry.

Hitting my stride — or so I thought

The first room took me longer than I thought it would. A professional could have prepped the floor and laid the interlocking planking down in a few hours, but it took me 3 days (not working straight through, mind you).

Making progress on the Houseguest’s room

Nearly done

Once I finished the first room and moved everything back in, I figured my room would go more quickly now that I had a better idea of what I was doing. I continued to learn new techniques as I went along, like how to cut trim properly and make proper endcaps when the molding ends at an open space to make it look attractive.

After pulling up the carpet in my room, I began prying up the wooden strips of carpet tack that’s nailed into the concrete to keep the edge of the carpet from moving. However, I ran into an immediate setback. Most of the concrete nails holding the carpet tack in place were short, but on one 8-foot section, whoever had nailed the carpet tack down had used gigantic spikes — they looked like the nails the Romans used when they crucified Jesus. These spikes had demolished the concrete underneath, which I pulled it up in big chunks. They’d also caused an eight-foot long crack in the concrete stretching toward the center of the room.

Normal nail and the nail from hell.

I bet some dude ran out of regular nails and used the spikes figuring no one would discover it for decades that he’d half-assed it. Luckily, I had a lot of quick-setting concrete leftover from my plumbing project and I used that to fill in the huge ragged gap along the wall — of course, I had to let it dry and that delayed me.

A pox upon your lazy ass!

Other than that, the main problem I ran into was my decision to go minimalist — I wasn’t going to move a lot of the furniture and extra bullshit back into my room and Man Cave. It was time to purge. But now that furniture and other stuff sat there clogging up my hallway, front room, and living room. As my mom would have said, it looked like a bomb had gone off in my house. 

I ended up sleeping out here

Stuff everywhere

This is my bedroom

Spilling out to the front of the house

Computer in the bathroom

Printer in the hall

Sweet dreams

While I was working on my room, I ended up sleeping on my couch, which (luckily) consists of two day beds and is super comfy. I actually slept more soundly on it than my regular bed. The Houseguest was a bit bummed because she likes to watch CNN in the morning on the living room TV before going to work. I ended up sleeping out there for a week because when I started in on the Man Cave, I had so much crap to lug out I had to store a lot of it in my bedroom and some stuff ended up piled on top of my bed. The Man Cave floor I completed pretty quickly, even though the crucifier had been at engaged in his destructive ways again and I had to put new cement down once more.

Yep, I have my knee pads on upside down.

Once the floors were down, I still wasn’t quite done because I needed Carlos’ nail gun and compressor to secure the quarter rounds. It was about a week before I got them, however, I decided to move some of my furniture and stuff back in and work around it once I got the nailgun because routines were too disrupted. Plus, furniture was blocking access to my washing machine and I was running out of clean clothes.

Let’s do this!

Not a good look for me

I have to admit, the project stretched out longer than I wanted it to and people kept asking when it would be done. Joe, the owner of Bigfish, my last place of employment, texted me after one of my umpteen updates.

“Rivers! (my nickname) What are you doing over there? Building the Taj Mahal?”

Using a packing blanket to drag my heavy-ass bedframe without damaging the floor.

But I eventually got everything I wanted in the rooms dragged back in. My Man Cave looks like a minimalist’s haven — well, compared to what it looked like before. The front rooms are still a bit messy, but I’m going through stuff and putting it into the garage, throwing it out, or donating it.

I was happy with my work. The Houseguest stood admiring the floor of the Man Cave.

“You know, you got so much better at it as you went along,” she said. I looked at her.

“Are you saying you’re unhappy with your floor?”

She wasn’t. But she was right; my early work wasn’t my best. You could see a few seams in her room that could have been tighter. I’d made a couple of minor mistakes, but I wasn’t sure I’d have enough material at the time, so I worked around them. Once I’d finished everything, I ended up with a left over box of planks. I’d already decided I would fix the Houseguest’s floor, so I recut the problematic boards and have them stored away. When she goes out of town in November, I’m going to redo her floor. It won’t be hard. I’ll simply pull it up and relay it and insert the new boards. The hardest part will be dragging her furniture out, but it should take me no time at all. Honestly, it doesn’t look bad now, but I would know it could be better, so I have to redo it.

Lessons learned

So, I learned a few things during this project.

Getting up and down repeatedly sucks. I ended up bruising my left knuckles and knee against the concrete until I started wearing work gloves and bought some knee pads.

If something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t. My knee pads sucked and kept falling down. Worst design ever. Just as I was finishing up the row in the last room I realized I’d had them on upside down the whole time. Oops. I put them on the right way for that last row and they fit well and were super comfy. Better late than never — I guess.

After much pain and tears, you’ll discover a super-easy way to do a pain-in-the-ass task, right as you’re finishing up.

Having the right tools is super helpful. Not having them is really frustrating, though you can improvise.

I suck at trying to cut vinyl planking with a boxcutter. Mitre saw for the win! My friend Jason’s brother saw me post on Facebook about using a miter saw and asked him if I realized I didn’t need a miter saw for vinyl planking. Au contraire, my friend. Bro, did I ever need it.

Never take the easy way out. You won’t be happy. I was just using a straight cut on the end of my quarter rounds even though the flooring experts said it looked unprofessional. I’d tried to make a neatly curved end cap but failed and settled for a simple 90-degree cut. But the experts were right — it looked like shit, so I went back to YouTube and found a better how-to video and learned how to do end caps right. Then I redid all the ones I’d done so farl. They looked 100 times better.

Take a gander at that awesome looking end cap I made. Involved two 45-degree outside cuts and a regular cut and then some glue.

Anyway, so, the flooring is down, it looks good, and I love the new and improved Man Cave. It no longer looks like an orc den. Oh, and I just repaid the Houseguest her money after getting paid on some freelancing gigs. And there were no trips to the ER. I’m calling this a win for the Land Manatee.

The new and improved Man Cave.

DIY Success? Luxury Vinyl Planks As I'd mentioned in an earlier post, redoing some of the floors in the house has kept me busy…