A drop of black

I think this is where "The Hand" is going to end up, on the northeast wall of the den.

Still, Alicia is bringing her pasteled photo of a lotus by on Monday -- finally; we bought it about a year ago off the wall at Mangia Mangia, and she's held on to it for us ever since -- and there's a chance it will want the drama spot instead.

I have a weakness for off-the-wall. I bought the hand painting, by Phil Bakula, off the wall at the old No Exit Cafe in Chicago's Rogers Park, I think during a Steve Goodman set in the early '70s.

About the red: Roy, our painter, used 10 gallons on the den and bedroom walls. By the time he was done, he was afraid the layers of paint had cost an inch on the dimensions of the rooms.