The Worst Craftsman . . . Ever

This post deals with a different sort of creativity. The kind of strange ideas that people sometimes get and decide to carry out despite the fact that they really have no idea how to do whatever it is that they want to do. The house across the street from me is an illegal duplex. The upstairs tenant is the owner's daughter and the downstairs tenant is a really nice single guy who retired a couple years ago and spends a lot of time sitting on the front lawn tanning and reading the paper. Recently, the owner showed up and cut a new "front door" in the side of the house and then proceeded to "frame" the front porch that was about 3'x3' for a new closet (I put "frame" in quotes because I had never seen anyone frame quite like that before- levels do exist!). He did all of this without asking the tenant- the one who has lived there and paid rent for over 10 years. The whole thing is just really weird. Below is a picture of the house in the state it is currently in. Unfortunately I don't have a before picture, but if you click on the picture to enlarge it you can get an idea of where things were before.

There are a number of "creative" features I would like to point out:

• Notice how the paneling under the window doesn't quite match the rest of the paneling. At least it's the same color as the rest of the house now- it used to be brown.
• See the mailbox hanging near the window? See the panel it used to hang on? That panel used to be the side of the porch. I guarantee that light rectangle will stay just as it is- very Post-Modern/ Abstract.
• Look at the left edge of the house and notice how the panel hangs over several inches. I'll be surprised if that gets cut to the the proper length.
• The last feature I would like you to notice is the color of the house, a color my dad refers to as "the most hopeless color you could possibly choose to paint a house".

Aren't I lucky to get to look at this gem every time I look out my front window, sit on my porch, or walk to my car? At least they keep their yard in good shape.