Monday, July 6, 2009

Beyond the Sea

Shooby McDooberson it's been a while. Do you ever get tired of the sound of your own voice? Do you ever get tired of the sound of mine? DON'T ANSWER THAT. Well I'd been feeling like the crankiest hamster in the cage that is Manhattan so I took ten days to visit the Fam and the Friends back in the Florida. So much better now! I ate six metric tons of Chick Fil-A nuggets, swam in the Gulf's emerald aqua vitae (and in the cement pond), and tried to convince my dad to buy a ramshackle Spanish-style mansion in our neighborhood and live out his golden years like Norma Desmond (if she had a passion for karaoke and Harleys). No dice on that last one. Anyhoo the Panhandle always inspires because style DOES live there, you just have to look for it. Example:

image via

Seaside Chapel by Merrill, Pastor and Colgan Architects. Doesn't it look like a chic-ified, religious version of the house in Beetlejuice?


Love it. Love planned community pioneer Seaside, too, even if I was the only one on its lilywhite beach in denim cutoffs and carrying a Sony jambox. Playing Michael Jackson of course. Oh and only in Pensacola would MJ's death share front page News Journal coverage with "Another K-9 gets loose: Dog somehow gets out of car, bolts into Lowe's." Genius.

More posts on tchotchkes soon, I promise!
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20 comments:

  1. welcome back!

    "like a chic-ified, religious version of the house in Beetlejuice"

    Perfect description!

    I can't wait to be similarly inspired in a few weeks out there in Pensacola...and I plan to eat as many Chik Fil-A nuggets as I can find along the way.

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  2. i wish you would write more, as i will never tire of your voice. and as for my own voice nothing will make you hate yourself more than being a parent, trust me on this one. so when i blog i am not a parent and my voice is 'different'. so in that regard i never tire of my own voice.
    love the beetlejuice reference and the image of your pasty, sexy ass in cut offs on a beach with a bunch of olds.
    keep on keepin on.

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  3. "Seaside" was originally going to be called "Summer-in-Stepford."

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  4. I just watched Beetlejuice the other day... your description is spot on! At first glance, I thought you were going to compare the Seaside Chapel to Old Christ Church on Seville Square. Anywho sad we didn't catch up during your visit, but next time I see you driving I will try not to act like a crazy person!

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  5. Never get tired of your voice, but a blog break is sometimes a good idea. Welcome back - I hear the sun is finally shining in Gotham.

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  6. Actually, let me digress and say the chapel (you didn't mention Pastor's involvement. Are we really born to our work?) looks better than you slightly mock, and I say Hugh Newell Jacobsen would feel at home here. And I LIKE HNJ! You live between two strange poles of the universe, bound to make you cranky. Hope all crankieness has been submerged by tons of the fried food. Nature's prosac. Welcome home.

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  7. GOOD call on the Beetlejuice house. And on the break. AND on the Chick-Fil-A. That's always in style.

    Welcome back, Nick.

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  8. That newspaper anecdote just made my day! Hilarious. Actually, just love this whole post - never tire of your voice.

    So was your boombox playing Wanna Be Starting Something? It's the first song my imagination jumped towards... you, with a boombox, starting a conga line sort of dance craze on the beach, with retirees in tow.

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  9. Hi Nick! Just found your blog and am so happy! As a devoted Domino reader, I just blogged today about how I miss the mag and your daily posts in the Deal Hunter! So sad to see it go. Best of luck to you! Amanda

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  10. You really do need to get away more often! Your writing is clever.
    I thought I was the only one who referenced, beetle juice, headlines and hamster wheels. Excuse my whilst I oil the squeak of my wheel.
    pve

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  11. What a fun house! Sounds like you had a good break. I am looking forward to reading your blog....

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  12. Hi Nick, I am looking for your tips on covering furniture decoupage style, sent over by MRS B. I love your site. Can you lead me in the right direction?

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  13. Love any blog with a label list that includes Caged Hamster, Chick-Fil-A and Michael Jackson in the same post.

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  14. I know this "ramshackle Spanish-style mansion" that you speak of! I drive by it every time I'm home to see if it has been sold yet. I love it!

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  15. I'd be thrilled if I could get my elderly mother to marry William Holden. Yowza.

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  16. Whatta voice indeed!

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  17. Yay! I did my Pcola pumpup last weekend too and got very patriotic watching the fireworks from the bay! I'm glad when it gets praised for its unique charm!! Have a great rest of your summer!!

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  18. Aww, sanks peeoples! Love my Pensacolians here.

    Anon1: Are you sure it wasn't "God's Country"? For real, the land was supposed to be a free seaside retreat for department store workers from Birmingham, endowed by the store's owner. Communists.

    SOMF: you can honk at my Green Manatee any time you want.

    homebeforedark: me no mock, me love both chapel and beetlejuice house. Honest!

    Karena: on thin papers use globs of rubber cement and squeegee the bubbles out with a thick paperback book! Fold paper over the corners and then cut the excess off at crease marks, then glue down.

    Julie H: (Is this THE Julie H?) PLEASE buy that house and I will decorate it for you!!

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  19. That isn't the Beetlejuice house?

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