Dave Christopher

Flip the Script (Part 8): Our VOTE Windows on ABC’s Nightline & philly.com!

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They say that a bad day is when you wake up and find a  60 Minutes  crew on your lawn.

Fortunately,  the same didn’t hold true for  ABC’s Nightline  last week.

16_11_4-3-nightline-kate-dc_5307_No warrants in sight:   Kate (second from left) with Nightline’s Ignacio Torres,  Jasmine Brown and Dan Harris.

STRESS?  WHAT  STRESS??

Nightline co-anchor Dan Harris and segment producers Jasmine Brown  (the lead producer that day)  and Ignacio Torres were in town to gauge the pre-election stress level in our hotly contested swing state.   (Hint:  Think high – very high.)

They also offered relief in the form of a daringly co-ed  (i.e., mixed Democrat and Republican)  meditation session.

In between,  they talked to us about our upbeat South Philadelphia window display….

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Election Year Blues: Help Us Flip the Script!

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This year,  we struggled with finding a new topic for our annual holiday window display.

We’d already displayed photos of our South Philadelphia neighbors and of local celebrities from the 1960s….

16_09_27-12-neighbor-windows-dc_6507

What was left?   South Philadelphia restaurant owners?    Current local celebrities?    Favorite Philly athletes?   (Way too controversial!)

But one topic kept intruding in our heads.

ELECTION  STRESS  DISORDER

Like many people,  we’ve been beaten down by the soul-draining divisiveness in the country this year.

Violence.    Name-calling.   Corruption.   Terrorism.   Racial and religious divides.   Following the news – particularly the election news – you’d think that the country and the entire human race were sliding down that greased pole to hell.

16_10_02-2-kate-newspapers-dc_8245“Uhm,  Dave,  do you have the comics?”

 And,  yes,  it even has a name:   Election Stress Disorder,  and everyone we knew had symptoms.

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It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time….

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“You will do foolish things,  but do them with enthusiasm.”   Colette

After four years of postponing outside repairs on our South Philadelphia home,  we finally decided to bite the proverbial paintbrush.

Not because the building desperately needed painting,  but because our metal bump-out windows had so many leaks that birds were nesting inside….

16_09_27-1-linn-street-before-dc_6305“Besides,  I am so over this green and tan color scheme….”

 SHOW  ME  THE  MONEY

So this summer,  we dug into our piggy bank and hired Mexcon,  the  cheerful, talented, and very popular local cooperative that has helped us with everything from kitchen cabinets to sidewalk repair…

16_09_27-2-linn-scaffolding-cm_3860Heaven bless those Mexcon guys,  who spent endless days in the 90-degree heat sanding and repairing our vintage bay windows

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Neighborhood Holiday Windows Are Up!

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They’re back!  On Sunday,  we lit our 27 holiday windows with portraits of the many great neighbors,  shop owners, and dogs  (lots of dogs…)  we’ve met since moving to South Philadelphia in 2012.

So,  if you’re dining or playing near the  “Singing Fountain”  between now and New Year’s Day,  we hope you’ll check out our windows at East Passyunk Avenue and Tasker Street.

15_11_23 1 Tasker Street Windows(Our first holiday window display in December, 2013.)
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Join Us for the Oct. 17 Home Tour!

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If the Fringe Festival was an excuse to whip our first-floor studio into shape,  then the Passyunk Square Civic Association Home Tour is prodding us to finish all those annoying home projects we’ve postponed for months.

15_10_05 1 Home Tour Poster

Passyunk Square is among the city’s hottest neighborhoods,  and this tour is your opportunity to peek behind some fun front doors in the area bounded by Broad and 6th,  Washington and Tasker…

15_10_05 2 Living Room CM_7389(A corner of our 1950s living & dining room with an oversized Isaiah Zagar mosaic – okay, so we weren’t thinking very clearly – and reupholstered thrift-shop sofas) Continue reading →

Kate Out on the Fringe…uhm, Festival

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It was the first week of June, and I was panicked: I had two weeks to finish our new website and learn how to blog.  Dave was preparing for a weeklong business trip, and half our third floor was torn up for renovations.

So naturally I did what I always do when I’m overscheduled and terminally stressed:  I started a new project.

“WHAT  DO  YOU  THINK?”

“So, Dave,” I happily called as he dragged his laptop upstairs after work,  “I thought I’d sign up for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in September.  I already have a funny slide show – the one about wacky tourist destinations from the 1950s and ’60s – so it won’t take any work to schedule some performances, especially if I do them right here in my studio.

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