DIY Syndrome

I asked my friend Maddy about DIY – Do It Yourself – disorder, and she insists that it is not a real diagnosis, but she’s retired, and DIYS (I like do-it-yourself-syndrome) might be a brand-new diagnosis, or it should be. I know I have DIY mania. It comes over me irregularly, it can be mild or severe, and then it goes away. The advantage of DIY mania over the other serious types of mania is that there is no medication, I have a lot of fun, and it is usually cheap.

This goes back a long way. Years ago, I decided to bedazzle my kitchen cabinets. It wasn’t difficult; just a lot of brightly colored shiny gems glued to the cabinet doors. The sparkle improved my kitchen life considerably, if not my cooking, and I wish I had some photos to share. My children break into choaking laughter when the topic comes up, but you and I have discussed the problems with adult children, so I will pass on making further comments at this time.

Then, there was the time I got up very early to repaint the dining room. I finished the entire thing before I realized it looked like flesh. If you have ever tried to eat meals in a flesh-colored room, you understand it doesn't work. It wasn’t one of my successes; it destroyed everybody’s appetite, and I repainted the room within a week. Before that, I hadn’t thought about color and appetite, but now I examine the walls of restaurants very carefully.

Years ago, when my daughter Steph was quite small, I asked her if she liked a certain paint color I had chosen for the living room, and she answered in that ingenuous way kids have: “What difference does it make? It will be different in a month.” Observant response even though it had a snotty foreshadowing. I was correct. Later, hoping to engage her in my DIY activities, when she was a teen, I allowed her to have a black wall in her bedroom, and trying to be the cool mom, I gave permission for her and her friends to write on it. I expected girlish signatures and daisies. Hmmm, what filthy mouths teenage girls have. Do you have any idea how many coats of paint it took to cover that wall? Guess 5, and you’ll be in the ballpark.

At the moment, summer has energized me. I’m into stencil. I recently received a 5 ft tall Banksy stencil from a shop in the U.K. and I put her in my kitchen.  The photo is top left. She’s the only household help I ever expect to have. Next, I’m choosing between painting a trompe-l’oeil frame in my living room or creating a giant red poppy out of porcelain for the wall. Maybe both.

Time for you to write - REVIEWS!!!! Linda and Carol need reviews for Not The Trip We Planned. Please post them on the Amazon book page and Goodreads. In this fair and just world in which we live, book sales improve dramatically with Amazon reviews because the company picks up the book and promotes it. Namaste (Maddy would say that, not me)