I was lucky enough to be invited to the Live Arts Gala on Saturday night—the black-tie part, that is, with dinner and performances and a strangely thrilling live auction, before the riffraff came in for the dance-a-licious afterparty. (Just kidding, riffraff! Y’all looked hot, too.) It was a damn good time, more evidence for my theory that theater people throw the best parties. The space was transformed into a kind of nighttime fantasy, with performers on suspended ladders and free-flowing booze and…wait for it…a sustainability theme!
The event website isn’t crystal-clear about what that means, but I can vouch for the fact that much of the decor made use of recycling-center treasures. A garland of plastic bags and bottles graced the Downstage space, and the dinner tables were dressed up with, among other things, empty aluminum cans. We all got gifts of tiny notebooks made from reused (not recycled) paper.
I don’t know whether the sound system was powered by the exertions of the young actors in "High School Musical," hamster-wheel-style, but it probably could have been.
And now, because this is a blog and not a term paper, I will change topics with no attempt at a transition. Look at this. It’s the Habitat Store’s nifty list of ideas on reusing salvaged doors for all kinds of purposes other than sealing off rooms. You’ve got your benches, your bulletin boards, your garden gates. I love that dining table, personally. (Many of the ideas came from robojunker, which I hadn’t seen and at which I will now be wasting considerable time.)
Why is Habitat encouraging us to turn doors into other stuff? It seems they have a lot of doors over there right now. They’re offering a lovely discount on doors, a deeper discount the more you buy. Anyone who needs seven doors should look no further. I myself am the proud owner of a Habitat Store door; it’s currently doing a stellar job of keeping the rain out of our attic.
And while we’re on the subject of the Habitat Store, remember that Wednesday night (November 12) is the next GreenMatters workshop, on alternative energy. One of the presenters is Fred Oesch, who designed a building run on hydro power way back in the ’70s. Get over there, people! I don’t think there’s a dance party, but it’ll still be worth the trip.
