DIY Philosophy – Kick Ass or Die

Five at a Time: The New Project Rule

September 22, 2011 17 Comments

Hi, my name is Kit. And I’m addicted to starting projects. I don’t know that it’s comfortable to always have a dozen (or two) unfinished

One Hundred and Sixty-Eight

September 7, 2011 8 Comments

Ah, it could be so many things… The number of unique combinations of swear words I can come up with while working twisted up like

DIYcation Day 1: So This Is What Sane Feels Like

August 22, 2011 4 Comments

I’m officially counting today as the start of my DIYcation, also known as “getting my shit together again after a really long period of time

Two. Tiles. Short.

May 23, 2011 14 Comments

Bloody fingers. Broken tiles. Unfinished bathrooms. These are things you don’t see on HGTV. Sometimes you don’t even see them on websites of real people

How Not To Kill Your Significant Other With a Shim

May 10, 2011 7 Comments

Even though we managed to keep up a pretty steady stream of work for the last 12 months, about two weeks ago back-orders, extended delivery

One By One

March 7, 2011 8 Comments

How long have I been saying that I’ve got showers to tile? A month? Two? Actually, the answer is fifty-three days that I’ve been ready

Move In Date: T minus 12 Weeks and Counting

January 11, 2011 14 Comments

Right now if you were to ask me about the month of March, I picture a beautiful fairytale land. A distant time when the sun

Ending 2010 Right: A Message to All DIYers

December 20, 2010 4 Comments

Twenty-ten will be known around our house for many things (notably the year we built most of the house) but on a personal level I

No Rest For The Weary

December 13, 2010 9 Comments

I’ve got big ideas, big decisions to make, big things to say– about the water leaking through the middle of my door, the lack of

Adventures In Masonry: When Things Don’t Go As Planned

November 8, 2010 5 Comments

Last weekend I was making mac-and-cheese on our one-burner hot plate in our one-room garage, and apparently became distracted enough to burn the noodles that

Almost Half Way (To Hell?)

October 25, 2010 6 Comments

I can’t really accurately describe the blissful days of hanging siding that the weekend consisted of if I don’t tell you a little bit about

Walking The Plank

October 20, 2010 7 Comments

I don’t even like heights, but these days, this is my happy place. I find myself more often than not glancing longingly at my tool

Ready… Set… WAIT! This is construction.

October 1, 2010 3 Comments

(I’m featuring one of my country sunset shots because it’s calming, not because it’s remotely relevant to this post, which prominently features 1.) bitching, 2.)

Things you need to know about waging war and installing siding

September 2, 2010 5 Comments

For the last week I’ve been preparing to side the house the way a general prepares for battle. I took two days off work –one

Country Mornings

August 27, 2010 6 Comments

Never enough time On a crisp country morning To just enjoy life I’m too busy writing meaningless haiku’s. And sympathizing with spiders. We all wake

I'm not interested in a mediocre life. I'm here to kick ass or die.

(formerly DIYdiva.net)

THE STORYTELLER

Back in 2004 I started writing about my adventures in fixing up houses on the internet. A lot of things have changed since then, with me, with my houses, and with the internet. These days I am basically a cranky old man trapped in a slightly less old woman’s body. The internet has changed and I am staunchly refusing to change with it. You won’t find any algorithms here, or feeds, or ads, or social media. Just good old-fashioned stories about a woman drinking beer and building shit, and living an unexpected life.

(While you won’t find updates on social media, you can sign up to receive new posts via email here.)