PILTDOGS Part I

Places-I-Like-That-Dont-Often-Get Seen. That is what Piltdogs stands for. I figure this: Most of our life is on this blog, yet there is so much that isnt--whether its physically parts of the house that dont often get mentioned, restaurants (because God knows I love writing about food), locations that never get their just deserve, etc. I mean, I couldnt possibly include EVERYTHING in this blog, so this thread is designed to pay homage to the lesser blogged about parts of my life that are, without a doubt, so important and loved by the Goldsmiths. I dont know how many I will do in this series, but I need to do something different, as I have been in a blog funk lately now that I dont have King Cheney and his lapdog Bush to make fun of anymore....haha....

So, tonight's installment has to do with: Our Basement.

I LOVE our basement. But I dont usually call it a basement. I used to call it the "men's den" or "man's basement" or "man-town." But, then, I realized how lame that sounded. I mean, I'm not a male cast member on "Saved By the Bell," and I'm not in Phi Kappa Theta...so now I just call it "the den." When Sally and I first looked at this house, the basement was, for me, the "piece de resistance" of the whole place. I love the fact that I have a place "to hide" from the world. In the winter time, I enjoy going down there to cool off (because I am definitely a hot-body) since the wood stove is on the floor above the den. And, in the summer, I've taken some of the best naps of my life in the green recliner. TRANSCENDENTAL naps, even. Its quiet, serene, cool, dark....and there's none of Amanda's yarn or sewing crap to clog the space!!!

Here is the "cellar" part of the basement. Three quarters of the downstairs is finished, and then there is this workshop and storage type of place. Its a great space in which to do woodworking or something, and its only too bad I dont know how to do anything like that. However, I tinker around and have fun, and the table you see in the foreground has become what I call "the herbing table." I dry out lemon balm, spearmint, oregano, and catnip we grow in the summer. Also, I make homemade sauerkraut in the crock you see in the table. You can tell my father was a glazier by all the caulking you see on the shelf to the right!

The view from my green lazyboy recliner: On the morning on which we moved into this house, I woke up UNUSUALLY sick--I was throwing up every five minutes, I was fatigued, and I had major stomach cramps. Due to the generosity of our lovely friends, I was able to sit---for most of that afternoon--down in this basement on moving day, and just sort of take a nap. I still feel bad about how useless I was on that day...but I feel useless most of the time anyway so it all works out. To the right, you'll see the heart that used to house a wood stove back in the 50's and 60's. Now its just a random brick wall. Any suggestions?? To the left of that, you'll see the door to "the man's bathroom," where one can stand proudly and pee, and not have to worry about putting the seat down or any of that crap. Its also where Thomas P. used to have his litter box. And there is just a little TV....I'm not your run-of-the-mill LCD/surround sound/plasma/blu-ray kind of guy. Oh well.

The "situation room." I've had many great meetings down here....from writer's groups to planning Chris's bachelor party with Mike and Pete to games of Risk and Scrabble to fantastic mini-concerts where I played live music for people (I used to keep the keyboard downstairs). All of these PALE in comparison, however, to the "Black Raider Bookclubs" where some of the guys on faculty come over on Friday afternoons and enjoy a couple of wheat beverages while catching up on the latest gossip, etc. Did I say gossip? What I meant to say was that we drink wheat beverages and then make fun of each other to no end. I need to schedule one of those soon.....

Also, check out the built in bookshelves! Its an English major's paradise!

And, lastly, there are the beer bottles. About two summers ago, I decided to start collecting beer bottles--I started with just microbrews, but have since opened it up to ALL beer types. I even include some rootbeer varieties. My rule is this: I must physically drink all the beers I put up there. The picture you see is just a small sampling of the bottles I have....there are some displayed in the man's bathroom as well. I am by no means a "lush" or anything like that; I just enjoy the chemistry and lore of different types of beers. PLUS, I have found myself getting more into antiques lately, and I am sure these will be worth something someday.

So come on over!!!