Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jonathan Franzen is a very good writer. There were parts of this novel that I liked, but other parts where I was bored out of my mind. Part of my boredom stemmed from the characters being unlikeable. Patty is the most relevant of the main characters because she lets us in on her feelings and transformation throughout the book. We could have been spared the boredom and read a 200 page book entitled Patty’s Autobiography. This novel has everything that is needed to keep the reader interested; infidelity, tragedy, poop and a whole scene where a “dick” does the talking. Most of the time I still wasn’t laughing. It is like watching a stand-up comedian on TV. The jokes are funny and you see the person on TV laughing but there is a disconnect and you can’t seem to laugh. In fact some of the scenes were not even believable. Could you image Jessica’s brother Joey purposely having sex in the adjoining room to make his sister angry when he was a teenager. Or Joey moving in with their neighbors? Walter changes in the novel from his early shy complacent self to a raging madman and we are not really told why. Believe me I was ok with it because learning why could have been another 200pages. The point being, among all the drama and crazy stream of conscious-like descriptions Franzen still leaves out some major character development necessities. Some of the descriptions in the book are worth reading but don’t fit the soap opera style drama that unfolds.
Franzen set out to create a novel about everyday life in upper middle class America and mostly succeeded. Our lives are not always predictable and ordinary but other times teeter on the threshold of monotony. However, I read this book to be entertained and this novel teeters on being unentertaining and confusing. In fact to me the number one flaw is that the books chronology is so confusing I caught myself checking to make sure that I wasn’t rereading a passage more than once, or skipped a section. It made me think Franzen had a surprise to his ADHD timeline but in fact there was none. Just a ending with everyone living happily ever after.


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Belgard Hands-On Lunch 2-17-12

Southeast home of Isokern Fireplaces

Isokern "Made in the USA"            Fieldstone Center has recently become the new distributor of Isokern fireplaces in the Southeast.  In 2008 Earthcore Industries of Jacksonville, FL opened a state of the art manufacturing facility in Chesapeake, VA to product Isokern fireplaces in the United States.  For over 70 years the Isokern product has been soley produced in Denmark.  Proximity to the port and a strong dealer network were some of the requirements the management team at Earthcore considered before shelling out 8 millon dollars to build the manufacturing plant.             Over the last four years Earthcore has distributed the Isokern product in the Southeast througha direct sales representative and a warehouse facility based in Charleston.  Earthcore determined at the beginin of this year the builders and contractors in the Southeast could be better served through a local hard building supply company based in Charleston.  A contractor would have the ability to purchase masonry goods from; block, mortar. sand and firebrick from one source.        As a new partner of Earthcore Industries we welcome your questions about anything from installation to specifying the Isokern brand.  (E-mail: isokerncharleston@gmail.com)  Fieldstone Center has over 20 different fireboxes in stock in our warehouse as well as all the masonry componets to go with them.                 Behind every beautiful fireplace is an Isokern...

Tangerine Tango = 2012 Color of the Year

I am not suggesting that you go out and buy a tangerine colored sports car, but then again why not? If you drive one around just tell everyone to follow, because it is the official color of 2012 according to Pantone. 

Who is Pantone? They are the "world-renowned authority on color." Maybe the sports car idea is not correct, but don't hold back in adding a splash of color to your life. 

According to the article, "Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy." This sounds like reading the back of my Herbal Essence shampoo bottle in the shower. The color is a hue of red and orange that can be used to infuse any space with a burst of color.

Pantone predicts that the rise in popularity in the past years of the orange color tones will continue to impact our fashion trends, wall colors and even appliance colors. Adding accent colors like Tangerine Tango can bring some life back to an empty space. I wanted to illustrate this month that trends in fashion and interior design also impact the products that we promote and sell in our showroom.

I have attached multiple images of stone finishes that can be added to your space as an accent color. Most people think of stone as very traditional and gray in color with little asthetic value. The pool below was designed by local architect Whitney Powers of Studio A Architecture.   

The minerals that seep through the cracks of a stone formation sometimes give the stone a beautiful rustic red stratification.

The appeal of stone can also be used to texture an accent wall to add dimension as well as color.

Adding architectural depth can also be created using stone facades. 

With todays technology all of the stone images included here can be adhered to an interior wall without structural support or additional framing just as tile would or paint.

A bland fireplace can be transformed just by adding an accent stone. 

 

There are endless examples of how stone can be used to accent our lives.  Browse the pictures below to see how these colors are impacting our lives. 

DIY Firepit

One of the biggest prides I have in the stone business is helping our customers solve problems.  A homeowner came into our showroom a few weeks ago and said that he wanted to create a firepit on his deck like the picture he had in hand.  He wanted to know if it was possible to build in his space and if he needed to hire a professional.  Here is the picture the homeowner was wanting to recreate. 

After speaking to the homeowner at length about the steps involved, he had a pretty good idea that it was possible to tackle as a DIY endeavor. 

The homeowner first cut a whole in his existing deck and made sure to leave enough support for the new opening. 

After a solid foundation or footing was poured at the base of the firepit the homeowner used 8x8x16 concrete block to build up the firepit to the height of the existing deck. 

We talked extensively with the homeowner about using firebrick on the interior of the firepit.  This is a commonly missed step and although it will still work the possibility of cracks deterioration of the concrete block is possible.

The homeowner placed a pipe through the block and firebrick to allow for drainage of the firepit. 

We recommended saw back natural thin veneer stone to be used as the stone facade.  You can see in the picture below the use of a tack strip to support the stone initially as you begin the stone installation. 

Several large pieces of bluestone were cut to size and placed on the top to cap the firepit. One thing to not of the cap is that there is not an overhang on the inside of the firebox where heat could possibly be trapped and crack the stone.   

The deck was then rebuilt and now the homeowner has a brand new firepit as seen in his original picture to entertain his family and friends.