Clare Donohue

The Situation

Back in 1995, John Tierney wrote a story for The New York Times in honor of Valentine's Day.
The article, "Picky, Picky, Picky," chronicled the various inane reasons a single New Yorker might reject a potential mate. For instance, "She mispronounced 'Goethe.’"

The Situation

You want it. You want it bad. And is it really too much to ask?

You grew up with one, back in the idyllic suburbs of your youth.

And everywhere you read about the "green" benefits of this wonderful machine that chews up kitchen waste into half its original volume, keeping it out of landfill and preventing your cat from ripping open the garbage bag and dragging your culinary remains across your kitchen floor.

The Situation

I remember going to see a TriBeCa loft with my two partners back when the area was starting to boom. Between us, we had 30 years of experience.

The Situation

The Situation

Whenever a client finds out that I used to be hands-on--running a paint crew and working side by side with carpenters and plasterers--a funny look comes over her face. In an overwhelmingly male trade, being a woman on a construction site is a rare thing, and my female clients imagine it must be like being inside a locker room.

The Situation

For the past two weeks I've had a dose of my own medicine.

In an effort to knock off some improvements before the holidays, a carpenter has taken up daytime residence in my dining room. But like the doctor who is the worst possible patient, I am the biggest baby about undergoing a renovation. The dust, the disruption, and the commotion are almost unbearable.

I hate everything about it, except the results.