05

1. Fewer Link Dumps. RE: Cyber Life. Flow. Life. Medium Web.
2. 2005-05-05t19:42:52Z. RE: Conservation. Cyber Life. Cyber Tech. Martial. Math; Science; Technology;. Money. Movies. Play. Rambling. Words.
3. 2005-05-16t16:12:53Z. RE: Conservation. Cyber Life. Food. Life. Show Biz.
4. House Hunting 2005-05-20. RE: Geography; History;. Life. Local. Money.

2005-05-02t15:55:26Z | RE: Cyber Life. Flow. Life. Medium Web.
Fewer Link Dumps

I have switched to doing fewer "link dumps" on my blog for a few reasons:

• When I fall behind, there is so much to catch up with that catching up feels like work. I want to surf and live life, but I don't want to fixate on having to blog about it. Besides, there's always Google.
• Many of the links in a blog dump are often discussed elsewhere on the Web and sometimes I only have a minor comment. I will however continue to post about content that I do have a particular comment on or want to save as a reference.
• Keeping up with link dumps shapes my experience (by making me catch up) but link dumps are not representative of my other experiences. EG: I read the National Geographic every month and yet I don't blog about some of their really good stuff. On one hand it is easy to post about links because they have content I can quote by copy & paste, but on the other hand I should choose to blog stuff on the basis of the personal significance of the content.

2005-05-05t19:42:52Z | RE: Conservation. Cyber Life. Cyber Tech. Martial. Math; Science; Technology;. Money. Movies. Play. Rambling. Words.
2005-05-05t19:42:52Z

Conservation

• Car Buyers Flee SUVs, Prius Sales Triple. Whee!

Cyber Life

• Web "screening"
  • I am generally against censorship, but without implementing web screening, then we risk having Internet usage restricted or even banned at homes, libraries, schools, work, etc. I came up with this very simple scheme to provide web "screening". Obviously others have thought of stuff like this before.
  • My system involves applying meta data granularly. It can apply on the domain level, the document level, and the tag level.
    • Domain Level.
      • .xxx and .xx would be a domain for porn sites. Porn sites would not have to worry about kids coming to their site. They would also not have to apply ratings meta-tags for their content unless they wanted to make distinctions between say xxx and x.
      • .kid would be much more strictly policed. A .kid site would have to agree to only have unmistakably kid-safe content. All links, ads, etc. could only point to other .kid sites. Violating the terms would result in fines and possibly a revocation of license. Imagine Google.kid, Wikipedia.kid, CNN.kid, etc.
      • Other domains, like .com and .org, just as we have now. A regular site can choose to have slightly naughty content on occasion and not have to worry about offending people by using the document or tag level meta data.
    • The document level would involve header level meta data indicating the content. This could apply to HTML, PDFs, etc. EG: <meta name="rating" content="nsfw, x" />. Possible ratings: nsfw, xxx, xx, x, r, vv, v, kid.
    • The tag level would involve an attribute indicating content. EG: <img rating="nsfw" src="Janet.jpg">.
  • With the above meta data in place, it would be very easy to apply screening via applications such as browsers. EG: An entity could simply set its browsers as such:
    • For a totally open environment: Allow any domain and any tag.
    • For a house with young kids: Allow only .kid domains.
    • For a house with older kids: Allow any domain except for .xxx and .xx. Allow tags of any rating except for xxx, xx, x, and vv (r and v is OK).
    • For a house with adults that find hard-core porn distasteful: Allow any domain except for .xxx. Allow tags of any rating except for xxx (xx is OK).
    • For a house that hates kids: Allow any domain except for .kid. Allow tags of any rating except for kid.
    • For a work environment: Allow any domain except for .xxx and .xx. Allow tags of any rating except for nsfw, xxx, and xx.

Cyber Tech

• State of Tech
  • Browser.
    • Mozilla Firefox, with nearly 10% share and over 50G download, continues to eat away at Microsoft Internet Explorer. However it is reminiscent of the Mac v MS war: A small minority (Mac/Mozilla) does it right and beautifully, but MS is such a big minority that MS can plod along, then copy its puny competitors.
    • IE 7 ("Rincon") will probably have tabs and more standard-compliant support for PNG and CSS. Better late than never.
  • Operating System.
    • MS Windows. Unavoidable elephant. The "Longhorn" version is taking forever --by the time it comes out, we'll be working on the next thing. But on the other hand rock-solid stability is my main priority.
    • F/OSS Unixes. Open idealism and Unix power but plodding without a crowd pleasing GUI.
    • Mac OS X, esp. 10.4 "Tiger". Mac beauty, closed Unix power.
  • Databases.
    • Everyone's playing safely in their own realms: Oracle, SQL Server, and MySQL.
    • The three query languages are now SQL, MDX, and XPath.
  • Programming Languages.
    • The open v closed war. The strong v loose typing war. Just people with preferences.
    • C/C++. Hard core and open source.
    • MS Visual Studio 2005 (esp. C# & VB .NET) and the .NET Framework. Still trying to steal others away but it's an illusion that MS does not need because MS is unavoidable. Alas poor VB6.
    • Java/JSP/J2EE. The only real WORA but it's still closed source.
    • Scripts for web & shells: ECMAS/JS, VBS.
    • LAMP sweeties: PHP/PERL/Python.
  • Programming.
    • Data Types. The data types were really just text, numbers, and binaries but now XML is practically a self-structured data type. Strong typing is just ensuring the model. Data still comes as either single, paired, listed/arrayed, or structured.
    • It's all procedural. Code running top to bottom is a procedure. So even if you invoke a function, an object, or a remote object, they're all still essentially procedures. So even if you have processes running simultaneously, asynchronously, or whatever, they're all still procedures.
    • Clients. The meandering from thin-clients to fat-clients to web-clients to smart-clients is fairly amusing.
  • Portal.
    • The competition between Google and Yahoo is awesome!
    • MS continues to be so lame in this area.
    • I love how the bar is raised practically on a weekly basis now.
  • Media.
    • The formats, players, stores, delivery methods, sharing methods, filing methods, access methods, etc. keep changing and will continue to do so for a while.
    • Given that storage and transfer is so much better, media should be lossless by default.
   

Martial

• "Terrorists attacks globally rose last year to about 650 from 175 in 2003, said congressional aides briefed by State Department and intelligence officials" - The Wall Street Journal, 2005-04-27.
• Could the US military handle another war?. 'Media reports in the US and around the world have taken note of a new classified report from the top US military adviser, which indicates that the US military's current commitments overseas may prevent it from adequately fighting future conflicts. BBC writes that Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "has warned that ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan could limit the ability of the US to fight another war." '
• Poll: Most in U.S. say Iraq war not worthwhile
  • I believe it was worth going to war but Bush did it the wrong way.
  • 'Fifty-seven percent of those polled said they did not believe it was worth going to war, versus 41 percent who said it was, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of 1,006 adults.'
  • 'On Tuesday, House and Senate conferees agreed to an $82 billion supplemental spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That pushes the total cost of the Bush administration's war on terror to more than $300 billion, according to The Associated Press.'
    • And counting.

Math; Science; Technology;

• Forums Science Wants to Be Free. The state of open source science. The open source revolution is spreading!

Money

• Nike chooses not to have its shoes sold at Sears. Gee Nike, that's pretty harsh. Sears and Kmart have now been publicly labeled as "un-cool".

Movies

• DarthSide.blogspot.com
  • 'The Darth Side: Memoirs of a Monster. Journal of Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith and Servant to His Supreme Excellency the Emperor Palpatine.'
  • A bit of Star Wars geek fun.
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
  • 2005-12-09 release. Directed by Andrew Adamson (Shrek). Disney and WETA.
  • Related:
    • IMDB
    • Official [Disney.go.com/DisneyPictures/Narnia]
    • Featurette 1 (WETA)
    • Featurette 2 (Director)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  • 2005-11-18 release. Just announced.

Play

• Gates Confirms Xbox 360 Shipping This Year. Just in time for Christmas I presume.
• Perfection.
  [ref]
  I also liked that joke told at the recent White House bash about how she's two people: The nice and professional "Connie", and the girl-don't-you-mess-with-me "Daleeza". Ms. Rice was laughing it up in the audience.

Rambling

• "Naked upon a rock"
  • A few weeks ago I used the phrase "naked upon a rock" in a conversation. The reaction was one of bewilderment: They accused me of making it up and pretending that it was some common phrase that they had missed out on. I explained that I've been using that phrase internally for months. I had assumed that the concept was clear and that the phrase was indeed a common one.
  • Recently I have felt naked upon a rock. The phrase is about how exposed we are. Our vulnerability is either real or a fear, but in either case it should be faced and dealt with.
  • We are born naked, bloody, and raw, and we forget that we are not far from that state. We are always on the doorstep of chaos: Disaster, Doom, Disease, Death, and Dropped ice cream cones may manifest at any moment. There are earthquakes, fires, tornadoes but even little disruptions can have a large impact. Even worse than a physical cracks are mental cracks: mental shields, imagined structures, and dreams may fall into internal disarray. We are strangers in a strange world. Blood may be easily brought forth from our thin skin no matter how much clothing we wear.
  • So how is it dealt with? With acceptance and hope. Naked upon a rock is the way we are and yet life goes on. I find it very helpful to accept this vulnerability of myself and others. Denial of the condition is dishonest; Accepting the condition is honest. Fixation on the condition is unhealthy; Being present to the condition is healthy. I may die naked upon the rock, but I can also live there.
  • (Sorry, I have to stop writing soon because I just noticed that I've started using clichés. My other option would be to write more to move beyond clichés.)
  • For fun here are a few variations on the phrase:
    • Naked upon a rock.
    • Robed upon a throne.
    • Naked upon a throne.
    • Robed upon a rock.
    • Parents with children and People without.
    • Buddha in the wilderness.
    • Madman in the library.
• Sweet Spots
  • [This topic deserves a bigger write up but I just wanted to jot this down.]
  • I have often said before that I have no idea of what I'm doing and I don't know a thing. Whether it's work, martial arts, rambling, or whatever. I am barely there while my mind and body does things. For weeks I have been in a mode where I just relax and let my mind and body wander wherever it naturally goes, but in the past few days this mode has cranked up. I am operating in an intuitive mode and yet my rational functioning seems to be holding up just fine. It is as if my mind is both fuzzier and clearer at the same time --as if I am looking predominantly with my peripheral vision and yet everything is focused on my fovea.
  • Perhaps I am tickling a sweet spot on my brain. The National Geographic had a great article on the brain in 2005-04. One article discussed how judgment, flexibility of thought, and talent may be connected to the frontal lobes, but that great artistry is more than just talent. Great artistry requires practice and practicing requires drive and motivation. The article was suggesting that the frontal lobes are assisted by the the limbic system (for primitive emotions and memory) and the temporal lobe. The temporal lobe is fascinating in that it is related to that sense of heightened meaning, religious revelation, and cosmic importance. The temporal lobe is involved when we have a dream that seems utterly profound, and yet when we wake up the content of the dream seems trivial.
  • I have never felt a need to do recreational drugs because I have always felt that I can think and feel myself into such wonderful mind states. Whether I have any talent or I have usefully connected bits of information into useful public knowledge or a beautiful public work is another issue. All I know is that I can achieve inner beauty, inner order, inner peace.
  • Hmmm. I got distracted. Initially I just wanted to jot down that I was admiring the concept of  "sweet spots". These sweet spots are everywhere. Some are more profound but even the more mundane ones are still sweet.
    • Critical state systems; complexity theory; self-organizing systems. Between the boredom of the static and the insanity of the chaotic lies the fascinating critical state systems whose study reveal the math of beauty and music.
    • The fovea of the eye.
    • The center of percussion found in swords, tennis rackets, baseball bats, and harp strings.
    • The center of balance found in weapons, levers, judo, and dance.
    • The temporal lobe of the brain.
    • The moment when you know without a doubt.
    • The chemical critical point of water where the distinction between liquid and gas phases disappears: 647 K = 374 C = 705 °F and 22.064 MPa = 3200 PSIA.
    • The price and quantity of products given supply and demand.
    • The distance, measure, or maai where A can hit B, but B cannot hit A.
    • The negative sweet spot of Dr. Masahiro Mori's "Uncanny Valley", where the degree of anthropomorphism is too realistic to be iconic but not realistic enough to seem natural.
    • Buying low and selling high.
    • Harmonic resonance.
    • The fine line of what is sexy or erotic.
    • The fine line of what is funny or interesting.
    • The point of flow where task matches ability.

Words

• The Infinite Library. The digitizing of library books is an astounding and monumental task.
  

2005-05-16t16:12:53Z | RE: Conservation. Cyber Life. Food. Life. Show Biz.
2005-05-16t16:12:53Z

Conservation

• "Environmental Heresies" by Stewart Brand
  • Very interesting. It takes perspective to see the difference between romantic and scientific behavior. I love nature but our footprints in it should be managed. I largely agree with Stewart Brand except on the issue of nuclear power. The issue of the immortality of nuclear wastes has not been satisfactorily dealt with yet. The four issues must still be watched carefully.
  • 'The founder of The Whole Earth Catalog believes the environmental movement will soon reverse its position on four core issues.'
  • 'Over the next ten years, I predict, the mainstream of the environmental movement will reverse its opinion and activism in four major areas: population growth, urbani­zation, genetically engineered organisms, and nuclear power.'
  • 'The success of the environmental movement is driven by two powerful forces--romanticism and science--that are often in opposition. The romantics identify with natural systems; the scientists study natural systems. The romantics are moralistic, rebellious against the perceived dominant power, and combative against any who appear to stray from the true path. They hate to admit mistakes or change direction. The scientists are ethicalistic, rebellious against any perceived dominant paradigm, and combative against each other. For them, admitting mistakes is what science is.'

Cyber Life

• Senate approves electronic ID card bill
  • So a national ID card is finally coming into existence.
  • 'The so-called Real ID Act now heads to President Bush, who is expected to sign the bill into law this month. Its backers, including the Bush administration, say it's needed to stop illegal immigrants from obtaining drivers' licenses.'
  • 'If the act's mandates take effect in May 2008, as expected, Americans will be required to obtain federally approved ID cards with "machine readable technology" that abides by Department of Homeland Security specifications. Anyone without such an ID card will be effectively prohibited from traveling by air or Amtrak, opening a bank account, or entering federal buildings.'
• Yahoo rolls out online music service: Subscription model costs less than half of competitors. At $7/mo or $60/year = $5/mo, it's so cheap that even I might get it. Compare it with $15/mo for Napster or RealNetwork, or $1/song at Apple.
• IBM backs Firefox in-house. So it's good enough for the Big Blue now, eh?

Food

• I want to start logging my visits to restaurants because it's a shame to forget about good restaurants.
  • 04. La Creperie. 2845 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60657, 773-528-9050. Tiny Moroccan place with tasty, fresh, more-than-just-breakfast crepes served from a bar. Very affordable, fun for a date. ***.
  • 05-07 Sat. Tre Kronor. 3258 W. Foster Ave., Chicago, IL, 60625-4828, (773) 267-9888. Tiny Scandinavian place but lots of atmosphere and lots of waiters. Very affordable, fun for a date. ***.
  • 05-10 Tue. Staropolska. 3028 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60618, (773) 342-0779. Homey and authentically Polish restaurant with cute waitresses and adjacent Polish deli. Puny drinks but big meals. Very affordable, fun for a date. ***.
  • Chief O'Neill's Pub & Restaurant [ChiefONeillsPub.com]. 3471 N. Elston Ave., Chicago, IL 60618, (773)IRELAND. This Irish place is right across the street of my work at Iclops. Nice atmosphere and daily buffet. I wonder if eating at O'Neill's regularly will turn me into a regular beer drinker? ***.
• Lebkuchen cookies
  • Last month I happened to try some Lebkuchen [W] cookies home made by Terry. The Wikipedia article tells you that these German cookies are similar to gingerbread and is a variant of ancient honey cookie recipes, but Terry tells me that hers are physically very hard to stir and that her cookies are good for years. Lebkuchen seem to be almost like Lembas, the waybread of the J.R.R. Tolkien's elves. Terry's Lebkuchen were very tasty.
  • Here are some links related to Lebkuchen.
    • GermanDeli.com/celebrate-christmascookies.html
    • CookieRecipesOnline.com/lebkuchen.htm
    • BAndB.About.com/od/cookierecipes/r/lebkuchen.htm
    • Cookie.AllRecipes.com/az/LbkchnVI.asp
    • Serve.com/shea/germusa/lebkuch.htm

Life

• Project Implicit [https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/; ProjectImplicit.net]
  • I just saw this on the PBS TV show Scientific American hosted by Alan Alda. It's amazing that we all have hidden biases --even Liberals!
  • Lots of self-tests.
  • Related:
    • Tolerance.org

Show Biz

• Captain! We're losing power!
  • Farewell Star Trek! It's back to reruns for now. The article is a pretty fun read with a review of hi and low points.
  • 'Once "Star Trek: Enterprise" leaves the UPN network after a two-hour finale Friday [2005-05-13], there will be no new "Trek" on TV for the first time in 18 years.
• The TV comedy show Everybody Loves Raymond is ending too. That has been a consistently funny show. Good  job.

2005-05-20t15:15:31Z | RE: Geography; History;. Life. Local. Money.
House Hunting 2005-05-20

This post is about the house hunting my wife and I are doing. It's rather personal but there are several reasons to post it:

• I'm making a lot of content that I will find useful and will want to reference in the near future. This includes contact information, addresses, map links, school info, etc.
• The post may be interesting for some and actually useful for others.
• Lately I've been thinking about the content of my blog from the perspective that my kids might read it years from now. All the tech stuff will probably be archaic, and, in spite of my efforts, they might have no interest in philosophy, politics, or martial arts, but they may be interested in personal content --like how we picked the house that they grew up in.

Recently in a period of roughly three years, my wife and kids have moved four times:

• 2000-05: Moved to ~8200 Honeytree Blvd., Canton, MI 48187, to live by my wife's relatives.
• 2001-08: Moved to ~2600 N. Francisco Ave., Chicago, IL 60647, because the Detroit area economy sunk.
• 2002-05: Moved to ~2500 N. Marshfield Ave., Chicago, IL 60614, because the landlords decided to convert the building to a single family home.
• 2003-07. Moved to ~2300 W. Barry Ave., Chicago, IL 60618, to save money.

It's not so much that "we've finally arrived", but that "we're finally getting somewhere". Our debt is disappearing, our jobs are relatively stable, our credit is good, we're firm about staying in Chicago proper, and --most importantly-- we have three kids now. So at long last,  we're finally ready to buy a house!

Is it a good time to buy a house?

• If you're buying a house for housing, then Yes! it's always a good time to buy a house. Obviously it's better to own than rent. If you rent, then you are merely paying someone else money. If you buy, then you're paying roughly the same amount, but at least you're building up equity. Admittedly renting has the advantages of mobility, lower maintenance, etc., but buying a condo can achieve almost the same effect.
• If you're buying a house as an investment then I'll leave you to your own devices!

So we're ready to buy a house and we're doing it!

• We've gotten a Mortgage Broker: Greg Sabourin, Capital Funding Mortgage Company, LLC, 747 N. LaSalle St. #6, Chicago, IL 60610,  312-867-5363 x-225, GSabourin@capfundmtg.com, MortgageThis.com. A very earthy and encouraging guy. We been pre-approved for a decent amount but we don't believe in overspending on a house.
• We've gotten a Real Estate Agent: Mary Siegan, Century 21 Sussex & Reilly, 2044 W. Roscoe St., Chicago, IL 60618, phone 773-524-4518, fax 773-524-4445, cell [metadata], MSiegan@SRChicago.com, SussexAndReilly.net . She's very comfortable to talk to, she knows the neighborhoods, and she works with our schedules.
• We'll get a Real Estate Lawyer later.

So what are we looking for in a house?

• Need
  • Safe but mixed neighborhood.
  • Proximity to public transportation and a highway but not too close to a highway or major street.
  • 4 bedrooms = 4BR. One for the parents and three for each child.
  • 2 baths = 2B. Fewer than this is inconvenient, but more is just extra work.
  • Newer Roof = NR. 10 years old or less (given that roofs last roughly 20 years).
  • Central Air = CA. Or the option to install it later. This is a $7-10 KUSD value.
  • Finished Basement = FB. Finished is better but unfinished will do. A finished basement can have a great deal of value.
  • An under-priced location. I'm so used to hanging out in the Lincoln Park area --where homes average $1.2 MUSD-- that I'm surprised at the great values that can be found in Chicago. Interest rates are still low and the housing bubble in Chicago is very specific. Clearly some neighborhoods are over-priced (EG: In Lincoln Park the prices are flattening or should dip), well-priced (EG: In Logan Square the prices are rising comfortably), and under-priced (EG: In Hermosa the prices are rising or due to rise). On the other hand, this may all be sour grapes because I simply can't afford other areas given the kind of house we want.
• Need/Want
  • 2 BR/dens. One for my computer/armory/book room and one for Julia's sewing room.
  • Neighbors are homes. People in apartments can be nice but we want longer term relationships with our neighbors.
  • 2 car garage = 2CG. Or at the very least, two reserved parking spots even if it's a covered or uncovered parking spot. Obviously this is because of the irregularity street parking.
  • Good/newer windows. This has some monetary value.
  • Some garden space but not too much. The garden space needs good lighting.
  • Some lawn space but not too much.
• Want
  • Proximity to good schooling. I don't think I can afford the housing within walking distance of good schooling. While going to a local school in an affordable neighborhood would convenient (because our kids could walk there when they go older) and altruistic (by balancing the racial mix), I think we will drive our kids to Burley because it's the best school we can get our kids in to (because we put York in the Pre-K there). Besides, all the local schools in our target areas inconveniently do not have Pre-K or grades 7-8 or both. Too bad busing is limited in Chicago. It's a shame that these schools aren't funded better (and yet the 2005 U.S. military budget is $420.7 GUSD).
  • 1 BR. Spare bedroom for guests.
  • Pantry.
  • Foyer or mud room.
  • A tree or two or more.
  • Fireplace
  • Jacuzzi
  • Option for rooftop garden
  • Security system
  • Intercom system
  • Option for solar panels

We went into six houses today, all in the Hermosa Community Area (roughly bounded by Belmont Ave. & Armitage Ave. and Cicero Ave. & Pulaski Rd.).

1. ~3000 N. Kilpatrick Ave., Chicago, IL 60641. $324 KUSD; 1.5S; 7BR; 3B; NR; NCA; 2CG+uncovered. A huge, historic, classical Chicago bungalow. Immediate neighbors are apartments but a few doors down are rows of bungalows. Too much space? Cosmetic TLC? 55.
2. ~2800 N Hamlin Ave, Chicago, IL, 60618. $315 KUSD; 1.5S; 4BR; 3B; 1CG+2roofless. Houses probably 4-6 Mexican families. Lots of make-shift construction.
3. ~4400 W. Montana St., Chicago, IL 60639. $285 KUSD; 2S; 5BR; 2B; NR; NCA; 2CG. An absolutely beautiful and charming house. Distinctive great design & details, very solid & quiet neighborhood full of well kept houses, well kept & loved home, great vibes. Steam heat. Rooms a hair too small? 54.
4. ~2200 N. Tripp Ave., Chicago, IL 60639. $315 KUSD; 2S; 4BR; 2B; NR; CA; 2CG. Totally gutted and rehabbed inside and out. It's just like a brand new house. Granite countertops, stainless appliances, Jacuzzi tub. Huge backyard with a tall tree. Neighborhood has a mix of houses and apartments. Short a spare bedroom? 42.
5. ~3700 W Palmer St, Chicago, IL 60647. $270 KUSD; 1.5S; 4BR; 2B; 1CG+uncovered. Odd layout. EG: Stairs to basement in closet.
6. ~2100 N. Kildare Ave., Chicago, IL 60639. $290 KUSD; 1S; 3BR; 2B; 2CG. Roomy rooms, but overall it's too small.

There is also a promising house at ~4300 W. Shakespeare Ave., Chicago, IL 60639 ($305 KUSD; 2S; 6BR; 2.1B; 2CG; CA.), that we drove by but did not go into.

The Chicago Public Schools has lots of tools for getting info such as racial mixes, % limited English, % low income, test scores, etc. I particularly like their interactive dynamic map. Here are some schools stats put in order by % Passing ISAT in 2004 (42.6% District 299 (Chicago) and 62.4% Illinois, while in 2003, the rates were 39.9% and 61.0% respectively). The ISAT scores were pulled from the Chicago Tribune.

So on our first day we've found three good candidates --that's pretty good. We intend to go out at least one more time to get even more familiar with our options before we decide. It will probably be weeks before we close and move in, but in the mean time Julia and I are very eager and excited to proceed.

I think the change in attitude from "apartment" to "home" is only now beginning to creep in. When you rent, there tends to be an impermanent mentality so you get lower quality, temporary stuff and relation, but when you buy, there is more commitment so you tend to invest in higher quality, longer lasting stuff and relations. And yet I certainly don't want to lose sight of the bittersweet impermanence of things.