Something didn’t quite ring true. It was the name-drop: Cabaret Voltaire is way too specific and inside of a reference to use as a generic signifier, certainly for a small-city newspaper. A sharp editor might have substituted Depeche Mode, but still, what does that have to do with soffit and fascia? Several possibilities came to mind: 1) The author was tired of fixing up her house 2) The author was tired of writing this column 3) The author was really the secret goth she seemingly disdained.
Yesterday my suspicions were confirmed. Abandoning all caution, and perhaps even long-term employment prospects, her column detailed her current home decor. Here is but a partial listing:
- Things that are draped (fabric, broken necklaces) over other things, like lampshades
- Vintage clothing that I cannot or will not wear, just hanging around on the walls, or suspended from curtain rods
- Sconces in places they shouldn’t be
- Spiderwebs (real and fake)
- A signed Edward Gorey print
- Goblets
Soon I expect a column about how home repair is not only expensive but detracts from that sought-after spookiness.
Jack Silbert, curator