The Great Leap Forward



Yes, today's post has been inspired by the Chinese Communist Party's 5-year plan circa 1958, in which they tried so hard to throw the country into collectives while increasing production on all fronts that the entire country essentially collapsed. It is really a classic example of why running an economy from the top down does not work. Everyone got pressure from the next level up to produce results, so each level lied/exaggerated to the next and therefore the entire country began to starve while the upper echelon thought things were going so swimmingly that they started pulling farmers to make more iron or steel. Since the farmers weren't exactly metallurgy experts they did the next best thing and melted down their farm implements. By the time Mao and company realized what a disaster they had created they were in deep trouble, as they had been claiming just the opposite. So they continued to act as if everything was going swimmingly, hoping it would eventually fix itself. For instance, over most of this time period that people were starving, China continued to export large quantities of food to the world. Because there was such plenty in China. Because Mao was a genius and collectivism worked. You get the idea. Long story short, 20-30 million people starved to death and Mao lost a great deal of power and credibility (temporarily, it turns out... but the Cultural Revolution is a subject for another do-it-yourself project).



So in that spirit I announce the successful launch of stripes and waves on the walls of my nursery. This was done without outside intervention (except for Nan...thanks Nan) and demonstrates the indigenous wisdom and mad paint skills of our people. Pictures now follow. All hail our great leader, Sherman Williams.





For those of you keeping score, I still need to do the trim, touch-ups and hang the new chair rail molding.

Here is some evidence of the wear and tear this nursery painting has exacted on my poor, tired bones. Either I have decided I can't take it anymore and have decided to end it all by driving my head into a pile of plastic sheeting, or I am masking stuff at floor level. Or both. Quite possibly both.



Blessed be Zod.

S.

P.S. I believe I have activated the "allow anyone to post comments" option. So, go for it, anyone.