| |
| December 20, 2008 |
|
Even Roy Doty has a
web site. There's been some recent
linkage about his elaborate
Christmas
cards but I know him best from "Wordless Workshop" in
Popular Science. That magazine is among those now with
complete archives available online. For example, browsing through
the
1960s we find a favorite from 1965 (scroll down):
How you'll drive 120mph!
|
| December 16, 2008 |
Last week with this class, sad to say good-bye.
- Great Japanese
Green Tea Ad. More YouTube: early Disney animation,
the Conquest of Space (Part 1
and 2).
- Scams
posted on Rick Steve's site, by sadder-but-wiser Euro-tourists.
|
| December 11, 2008 |
-
"Repo
Man" sequel starts filming next month -- and it may even be worthwhile, since
David Lynch will be the director.
- Urban
Knitting (don't miss!)
- Best Moon-Venus-Jupiter
smiley photo at Astro Pic of the Day. Also, up in the sky, Lenticular clouds:
Mt Rainier
puts on a show!
- A set of six Victorian
renderings of the original "Star Trek" cast.
- At Slate, a dialogue:
Just What Is a Cookie,
Anyway? Hearty approval of their disdain for undercooked, 'soft-baked' cookies.
- Comparing
the CBC with NPR. I certainly miss the old days, before
Reagan, when government funding paid the bulk of public radio's
expenses, news talk wasn't so dominant and underwriting wasn't
necessary. Speaking of, they had
an
odd segment the other night about Tysons Corner, how it will
supposedly be made all better with the
DC Metro extension to
Dulles. Details were sketchy and I fail to imagine much improvement,
given their solution of additional development to accompany
four new Metrorail stations there. But at least they're trying,
and I must admit that Ballston is in fact liveable, in comparison
to the strip-mall hell of Manassas.
And finally, a product that for years now I've thought should be
common, finally available (and my first sighting was a guy who
had one in a coffee shop, a few days ago). Korg is selling small
musical keyboards which plug into a laptop's USB port -- instead
of Casio-style, stand-alone instruments, the synthesizing software
lives on the computer. Seems they have three models: the $99
K25,
the bigger
K49 and
the little one I saw, the $49
Nano,
part of a
trio
which includes a rhythm pad.
|
| December 8, 2008 |
A great joy this semester has been my young student Kazumi. Every day, after
class, she sticks around and helps me with my Japanese, and if she has English
questions, naturally I help her, too. Since she also studies Spanish, occasionaly
my Mexican student Benjamin hangs around as well, assisting with her homework
español. Eventually, her mother Michiyo shows up with the car, and
Michiyo has always prepared some food for me, which Kazumi presents at the end
of class. Sometimes it's a small bento box; two examples are shown below.
These are Japanese lunch boxes; I first got into them when I lived in LA,
where I'd visit a small place in Gardena lunchtime whenever possible for their
hefty Makanouchi bento, a sampler of many delights. Michiyo always includes an
onigiri which is translated as "rice ball" but is actually a triangle
of sticky rice wrapped in flat nori seaweed, with something (most
often a salty umiboshi plum) embedded in the middle. They're Japanese
comfort food, just over ¥100 in the convenience stores there, which always
have a selection handy, wrapped in an ingenious cellophane system which keeps
the nori separate from the rice until you pull the wrapper off. But Michiyo
just wraps hers in aluminum foil, which I removed for these photos. The
black mass in the white one is some hijiki seaweed; that box also
features some yummy chicken kara-age as well as a wedge of kaki
persimmon. Note the apple wedges in the black box carved into little bunny-rabbits.
Michiyo always includes a chunk of that tasty tamago-yaki familiar from
the sushi bar, the cheapest thing on the menu and one of the safe choices for those
squeamish Americans who still can't handle raw fish -- since a bit of sugar's
added, Cheryl always orders that last, calling it dessert. These offerings have
really come in handy during this busy semester; I'll miss them. One other
detail -- when I return the boxes, they're not empty, but always contain
some chocolates, returning the favor.
|
| December 2, 2008 |
I missed it on the radio (these bits are not the reason
I tune in to the afternoon NPR news program), but
Brian
Eno was recently on their revival of Edward
R. Murrow's "This I Believe". My only exposure to
the original is the best sequence in Walker Percy's otherwise
forgetable novel, The Moviegoer, where the narrator
submits his own soliloquy:
"Here are the beliefs of John Bickerson Bolling, a moviegoer
living in New Orleans," it began, and ended, "I believe in
a good kick in the ass. This -- I believe."
Anyway, Eno believes in the power of group singing (and the
complete Moviegoer sequence can be found
here).
|
| November 30, 2008 |
|
A wonderful drag'n'drop game!
Test Your
Color IQ. Not trying very hard, doing it in the
library, I received 55. Zero's perfect, and the worst score for
my demographic's over 1500.
|
| November 27 Thanksgiving |
Weird contemporary fashion:
eyelashes,
and
shoes.
Someone should discuss
foot-binding with
Victoria Spice, looks like she'd be into it.
Mocking Thomas Kinkaide --
Paintings
of Light 2.
Depression
2009: What would it look like? Like many prognosticators
(Kunstler
being an exception), this one doesn't address the depressing reality of
oil running out, sees our current problems as only economic, not logistic,
assuming cheap transport will continue keeping the supermarket and 'big
box' stores' shelves stocked with goods created far away. Well, we'll
see... related, a recent AskMe --
Why
is gas so cheap now? Incredibly, regular's sunk to under $2
at the cheapo filling stations here.
|
| November 23, 2008 |
Win a few, lose a few. Aeon said no; mostly I feel relief. Although
they make the transition very easy, I object to their immersion
teaching method, and hard-sell tactics; their corporate culture was
becoming off-putting after just a couple hours of exposure; and once
the novelty wore off, I'da probably felt trapped and bummed out,
working for them. On the other hand, the result of a well-written
letter to my apartment's management has been a quick elimination
of the annoying metallic squeaking I mentioned here on October 14.
Been reading a book by Burkhard Bilger called Noodling
for Flatheads. When I first heard of it, around the year 2000,
I thought the sub-title was "Clandestine Southron Traditions" but
after finally locating a copy, discovered its by-line was instead
"Moonshine, Monster Catfish, and Other Southern Comforts." From
the chapter on coon hunting:
Genetically, for all intents and purposes, dogs are wolves:
they share all but 0.2% mitochondrial DNA (wolves and coyotes are
twenty times as genetically distinct). Beyond their appearance, the
sole thing separating them is behavior. Although wolf pups whine just
as dog pups do, wolves eventually graduate to growls and howls, while
dogs never get past barking. A dog's bark, the scientists had said,
was midway between a whine and a growl -- a confused, "ComeHereGoAway!"
sound indicative of arrested adolescence. Dependent, overly excitable,
most dogs are easy to imagine as terminal teenagers.
Rare MP3s from Big O Zine:
a KPFA radio special,
Hendrix
For Everyone; and a
1972
Joni Mitchell concert, in France.
|
| November 20, 2008 |
Great Jon Carroll column today,
A
Penny Saved, concerning advice from affluent bubble-dwellers.
Not fully comprehending
this
'human flesh search' news story from China, but "If you
believe it, then it is real!"
Some internet video:
- Thought I'd never see this again, but since everything's
available now, on YouTube, from '66, a few minutes (in color!)
from the beginning of a T.H.E Cat
episode. The murky fisticuffs are forgetable; what I loved was the
animated opening title (even in b&w, on the only set we had,
at the time).
- Another discovery -- almost ten years ago, in
a
green journal post, I ruminated about the 1955 BBC TV serial of
"Quatermass 2" -- just finished working my way through all of
its segments. In no particular order, their links can be found
here
(and the program sequence is The Bolts, The Mark, Food, Coming, Frenzy
and The Destroyers). Or maybe just view a snappy
mash-up
of scenes from the first two Quatermass movies, set to Holst's
"Mars" (the original series' soundtrack).
- Pathetic -- at the recent G20 conference,
world
leaders snub the shrub. Note Chancellor Merkel ignoring him; if I
were her I'd still be furious at his massaging her shoulders that time.
(My July 18 '06 post has more info.) Scary -- still two months to go
until he's ejected from the driver's seat.
|
| November 16, 2008 |
|
Just some images for today.
|
| November 11, 2008 |
Inspired by
Van
Gogh and the Colors of the Night, I assembled
this montage. It's a new exhibition at the MoMa, and inspecting
the
show's checklist I see they've got almost everything except the
upper-right
Cafe
Terrace at Night, a favorite painting which I pilgrimaged into the
Dutch countryside to see towards the end of my first trip to Europe, 31
years ago. Guess the Kroller-Müller wouldn't loan it; instead they've included
his
preliminary drawing, which now lives in Dallas. The lower-right
Starry Night is of course the Museum of Modern Art's crown jewel.
The other two now reside in the newish Musée d'Orsay in Paris
which I've yet to visit. Also haven't really been to the updated
MoMa (although I have browsed its gift shops) and a jaunt up to
NYC is conceivable during my holiday back-East this year, but
it'd be a mob scene, and I was just there in June, so no way.
Speaking of the Apple, a
Guide to Marvel's Manhattan.
|
| November 9, 2008 |
Up to the City both yesterday and today for interviews
with representatives Henry and Mark from the big English
conversation school in Japan. Today, a shorter session, an
actual interview, which including a simulated lesson with
Mark acting like a taciturn student. Yesterday was more
of an orientation and some group Q&A followed by a very
simple test, and then a lesson we candidates taught each other.
Yesterday's group totaled about thirty people, mostly
youngsters right out of school, looking for work. Gotta wonder
about kids these days -- the girls go to such trouble to be
'hawt' but the boys are for the most part slobs, even in this
critical situation -- many without suitcoats, or even
neck-ties, a couple with their shirt-tales hanging out. One
guy, envious of my sharp appearance, confessed that he felt
under-dressed (but the instructions clearly said to dress
for a business interview!) Another told me he wanted to wear
a tie but didn't know how to put one on, and couldn't locate
any easy instructions online before he fell asleep, the night
before. I was complemented on the effort I'd put into my sample
lesson, and found the others laughable and even cringe-worthy
in comparison. Although my performance could've been better,
the recruiters seemed very pleased with me, hence the
callback, and I 'spect I'll be getting an offer, stay tuned.
The venue was a hotel in San Francisco's Japantown, which
I enjoyed exploring afterward. You'd think I'd know that
area well (as I do LA's Little Tokyo and the much smaller
Nihonmachi in San Jose), but my few visits are
separated by intervals of many years, each time discovering
much more than I thought was there.
Speaking of trips to San Francisco, the no-budget documentary
Where Have all the
Flowers Gone chronicles the journey of three young men from
Texas who, inspired by the Summer of Love and discouraged
by modern times and their apathetic peers, decided
impulsively to move there (but only for a year) to
Change The World. (I didn't realize edible crabs could be
caught in the bay, with nets cast off the municipal piers.)
|
| November 6, 2008 |
Been listening recently to more KALW91.7 public radio,
which has a much weaker signal than its domineering Bay
Area big brother, KQED88.5, but features more interesting
programming. Thursday nights I've discovered lectures by
Michael
Parenti, a great truth-teller like Noam Chomsky. Tonight
he was pointing out how main-stream media's now entirely owned
by just six corporate entities, which is why the views expressed
therein are so narrow and conservative, and reminding me that
the Wall Street Journal is now owned by that creepy
Rupert Murdoch (hence, no surprise, the laughable extract
from its editorial page quoted by Paul Krugman in
meanwhile,
in an alternative universe). For more Parenti, check
an online
archive of his lectures.
The
Ten Most Expensive Accidents in History -- two of them
happened this year.
Ten years ago I quoted the entire "Brief History of
the Advanced Automation System" in my first web pages,
at GeoCities, after copying it by hand in the back of
Tower Books. Closer to the Ideal also has it (along
with some additional source-details) in
the
worst software project failure ever (scroll down). Although
my former company played a sub-contracting role in it,
I wasn't working on Air Traffic Control systems at the time,
but later, when I was, one of the big bosses was an aluminus
of that doomed, futile effort. Talking with my former
supervisor yesterday, I learned that local funding went
to zero last summer and everyone in our tiny branch office
had to move on, so I guess my jumping ship two years ago,
although premature, was an inevitable departure. And their
new logo, mentioned previously? He says it obvioulsy
illustrates their corporate philosophy: "We Cut Corners."
|
| November 1, 2008 |
Yesterday we had some showers, and more last night. This morning,
the sky's clouds looked like a watercolor in shades of gray, and
the afternoon's rains were heavy, climaxing in a very rare (for
coastal California) thunderclap. My favorite season here has
begun -- I tolerate the too-hot summer and its too-bright sunlight
as the tradeoff for this splendid time, when it's finally cool but
only freezing for a day or two, never snowy (except up in the
mountains) and often, for days at a time, summer returns. The
rains make everything lush, the moss reappears wherever there's
no direct sunlight, and towards the end of the season, in March,
even the golden hills go green.
Next weekend, up in the City, I have an orientation meeting with
representatives from one of the biggest eikaiwa
(English language schools) in Japan. It'll be at least six hours,
with a possible call-back for more in-depth interviews and teaching
demos the following day. If accepted, I'll be signing up for a
year's duty abroad, fulfilling a dream I've had for some time.
However, the series of posts in
The
Truth about Aeon has me thinking it could very well turn
into a nightmare. If on Tuesday the election goes the wrong way,
however, I'll have no hesitations.
Speaking of, a couple short videos:
- Ron Howard with
Andy Griffith and the Fonz (thanks, Kristin!) and
- a
dance-off
between the candidates, awesome just for the bit at 0:42
when that guy's rotating on his head.
|
| October 31, 2008 |
A photo taken by a former co-worker of the Zeppelin on the runway at
Moffett Field, with its mobile mooring mast. They park it in Hangar 2,
visible in the background, and they back it in. The San
Francisco Chronicle has
an
update about the new airship.
A link for Halloween -- you know how hobos mark doors or entry
gates with symbols so their brethren know what to expect?
Cockeyed has posted a similar
Kids
Halloween Candy Code he says they used in
Sacramento when he was younger (but I'm skeptical; don't
believe trick-or-treat aged children are sophisticated or
considerate enough for this).
Details of the
"Hard
Day's Night" chord revealed at last. Ten years ago, on the
internets somewhere, I found
a .wav file of this chord,
isolated, which I used on my first computer as the "new email"
alert. Unfortunately, I've never been able to configure the
email program I'm currently using (Netscape
Communicator 4.76) to play it, or any sound, although it's
"Play sound when messages arrive" setting is toggled on.
At an extensive
listing
of corporate logo evolution I learn that GoldStar became
LG. The original name is familiar because I once had a Goldstar
television; now I see their current logo all over Asia. Speaking
of logos (as well as former co-workers), my old employer has
updated theirs, as well -- the new one can be seen
at
wikipedia (along with a view of the HQ building near LAX
wherein I toiled for four years).
From Naomi Klein's
The
Bailout: the shrub's Final Pillage:
Every day it becomes clearer that the bailout was sold on false
pretenses. It was never about getting loans flowing. It was
always about turning the state into a giant insurance agency
for Wall Street -- a safety net for the people who need it
least, subsidized by the people who need it most.
Last night I heard her
on
the radio in a Q&A broadcast from
Stanford -- refreshing clarity about the situation.
|
| October 25, 2008 |
|
At a UK blog called Homeless Tales, a list of
Famous
People Who've Been Homeless. Since the contemporary figures
have often had spells of living in their vehicles, and hard times
are en route for many, possibly even you, some instructions on
How
to Live in Your Car at wikiHow, a site well worth
investigating -- all kinds of useful, interesting info there.
|
| October 24, 2008 |
My morning conversation class, which had its last session today. A
nice little group; sorry to see 'em go.
|
| October 21, 2008 |
RIP Levi Stubbs -- you all know his voice. What a sound,
what a time: the Four Tops' incredible Motown hits from
1965 through 1967. Favorites: "Standing in the Shadows
of Love", "You Keep Running Away" and "I'll Turn to
Stone", the snappy flip side of the dreadful and
inexplicably more popular "7 Rooms of Gloom" (which
you never hear now).
The
ten
most difficult words to translate -- words from languages
other than English, some interesting concepts.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports
Bay
Area firm to offer $500 zeppelin rides. Says the
Airship
Ventures Zeppelin will be based at Moffett Field. Exciting -- after
a 73-year hiatus, rigid airships return to Sunnyvale's skies.
Great design,
Super
Obama T-Shirt by Alex Ross. Related: the
cover
of this week's Metro. That image is missing the
bold type at the bottom of the print edition: "MESSIAH".
|
| October 18, 2008 |
Just 'cause I like it, a little scene from my Japanese textbook,
an illustration from a kamoshiremasen / komoshirenai exercise
(the verb suffix for "perhaps"). The textbook is excellent
(even has a reading on John and Yoko) but class itself is another
story. I first became acquainted with the teacher early last year when
I dropped her class after the first session, realizing I was over my
head and immediately switching to the previous class in the sequence.
Initial impression was strict, intimidating old dragon lady, and I
disliked how she travels with a retinue of not one but three assistants,
her apprentices. She calls them the Tutors. Actually, an Argentine
classmate in the very first Japanese classes I took (at Palo Alto Adult
School) suggested I get a tutor; at the time I wondered how but now
fortunately have several -- eager volunteers, former and current
students of my own. This older sensei takes up valuable class
time going off on verbal tangents (usually in English) about various
Japanese issues. The vivacious student teachers sit in the back, unless
they're circulating and checking homework or listening and correcting
when we pair off. Since the focus of this class is conversation the
quizes are entirely oral and even though we're all seated these
individual tests of skill remind me of martial arts training in a dojo.
In the Atlantic Jeffrey
Goldberg reports on testing airport security with eager accomplice
Bruce Schneier.
|
| October 14, 2008 |
|
Just spotted a cockroach in my kitchen, a very rare
sighting (for me, anyway) in California. Insect troubles
I've had here have been either with ants, or when I lived
at the beach with an indoor/outdoor
cat, fleas. The main annoyance with this new place
has become sonic pollution: a periodic squeaking from
the swimming pool's pump, handily located directly under
my kitchen, and from across the street, the
sports sounds of football games and the
FHS
marching band (which is sometimes pretty good -- they do a
great
medley of "How the West Was Won" and "The Magnificent Seven").
|
| October 11, 2008 |
Story from yesterday's conversation class -- the topic was Disasters
and I find that, like Californians, most Japanese and Chinese have
earthquake stories. Although she's one of those, her tragedy occured
during a vacation to Thailand, Phu Ket, and luckily her family was up
the mountain that day riding an elephant when the tsunami came. When
they finally got back to their hotel room, everything was trashed and
smelly, and the waterline was visible, high up on the wall. Lucky again,
they found their travel documents safe inside a baggie.
And how about the
landslides
onto Curry Village? That'd put a damper on your Yosemite vacation.
What's a landslide look like, anyway? Check
this
youTube from a security cam, possibly Turkish.
More links from the newswires:
|
| October 4, 2008 |
"Cool Hand Luke" changed my life. RIP Paul Newman, a great American.
The teetering economy is generating Y2K-EOTWAWKI flashbacks.
If you're a survivalist, you'll want to read about
when
the SHTF in Argentina a few years back. Remember, streets full of people
banging on pots and pans because the banks were closed? Our turn next?
Things learned from my students, part n: many Asian
babies are born with the
Mongolian
Spot just above the butt-crack, and it usually goes away after
a few years.
Half-hour video:
Route 66:
The Neon Road. Restoring signs, making a documentary. What's not to
like? Applause!
|
| September 30, 2008 |
Today's headline:
168
Dead in Jodhpur Stampede. This photo shows where -- that white
point at the top-right, sticking up from inside the Mehrangarh Fort, is
the temple in question. I was near it once, but didn't go inside. Plenty
of room up there with only a few small groups of tourists drifting about;
a different scene entirely given a pre-dawn throng of 12,000. This
was the view from the roof-top terrace of the guesthouse where I stayed
for a week in July. Met Billy there, this is his picture -- jump into
his
photo set for more views of India. And one street-leval photo of
mine, from the blue city of Jodhpur, below. As usual, click for biggery.
|
| September 26, 2008 |
|
That class mentioned previously is at the Cubberly Campus
of Foothill rather than DeAnza College. Since I've moved,
the latter is now closer than the former (to which I used to
commute by bicycle, last year). The final exam, in early
December, comes a few days after my participation in the
upcoming annual Japanese Proficiency Test, the
JLPT.
Could've tried the easiest out of the possible
four levels, but instead set my sights one notch higher.
Coming at the end of the quarter, I should be ready.
|
| September 23, 2008 equinox |
|
Busy, busy so busy now because school has started,
I'm back in a community college Japanese class;
first session was last night, meets twice a week.
|
| September 16, 2008 |
|
Jon Carroll's
DFW
obit, or intro. Haven't read the novels but
I liked his shorter pieces. I'm re-reading the
one
on David Lynch.
|
| September 14, 2008 |
Today's photo, from somewhere in Delhi. Has all the usual components of
an Indian street scene: pushcart salesman, motorbike, woman in sari, an
auto-rickshaw -- and a bull.
Some random links:
- T-minus-30 on
the
Hubble upgrade mission launch.
- Overheard in New York:
the
united Negro pizza fund. Also in the Big Apple,
The
Glass Stampede -- recent Then and Now in Manhattan. (long)
- Senninbari means "thousand person stitches" but it's usually
translated to Thousand
Stitch Belt -- mentioned in a "Letters From Iwo Jima" scene, and
I spotted a reference in the Tokyo-Edo Museum. The link's to a
collector's page.
- In March 1994, a teenager named Peter Eastman
from Carpinteria CA legally changed his name to "Trout Fishing in
America." He now teaches English in Japan. At around the same time, NPR
reported that a young couple had named their baby "Trout Fishing in
America" -- from Richard Brautigan's wikipedia entry.
Also in wikipedia, the
Monowheel
page reports they were used in the Olympic's closing
ceremony -- sorry I missed that.
|
| September 11, 2008 |
|
Love the concept of the Monowheel, the single-wheeled vehicle
with the the operator inside. Seems like every year or so, I
have more linkage about them. (Usually, their illustrations aren't
photos -- and since I've yet to see one, I'm not entirely sure
they're possible.) This time, it's at
Dark
Roast Blend (and I love the human-powered Chinese military
model). Related,
the
Buzzball -- like the big wheel, but geodesic. Definitely
more practical (hope it has AC).
|
| September 8, 2008 |
|
Finally got a fix on that
mesmerizing
video from the banks of the Ganges. Still don't
know her name; the title's something like "Har Har
Gange". More internet video:
50
great YouTubes.
|
| September 6, 2008 |
At a Tokyo KFC, the out-front statue unremarkable (but always
amusing to American visitors, especially during the holidays
when he's dressed up as Santa ). If you click the thumbnail to see
the big picture, however, you'll see how this branch is also manned
by a young attaché to the Colonal -- I thought of him as
the Leutenant.
A tragic foot-note concerning a side-effect of yesterday's
subject -- just like here, Japan's No Smoking campaign has meant
the baskets of matches have disappeared. Formerly available at
restaurants & hotels (even banks back in the day; maybe
still at bars) and always made a great souvenir.
|
| September 1, 2008 |
|
|
I was amazed at how clear the air was in Tokyo -- the once-common
cigarette stench wasn't so. I learned about new regulations restricting
sales and public smoking, which is now forbidden on some busy streets.
The right photo was up on a wall, the other below, on the sidewalk.
Another fascination of my travels was in India -- multi-person
pedicabs, for children. Hence a new page on the
bicycle rickshaw
schoolbus. I took up a position one of my last mornings in Delhi,
and watched them arriving at a school near my hotel... snapping the
photos with my cell-cam. |
|
Meanwhile, been reading up on the war in The
Fire by Jörg Friedrich, about the bombing of
Germany, leading back to the required
|
| August 28, 2008 |
Suddenly so busy, as I have three classes now 'stead of the usual
two. Won't be able to show any trip photos here until the weekend,
but here's a taste, a colorful group of boys just after school let
out, in Jodhpur. They're just leaving that cart, where they'd bought
some snacks.
|
| August 24, 2008 |
The fuzzy face, first night in Japan, just before the attack
with razor and borrowed scissors. I'd stopped shaving
in Germany -- got a little bushy after five weeks.
Finally extracting
the trip pics
from my cell (Thanks, G!) There's another scary beard photo,
on the train in
India. |
| August 22, 2008 |
Moving-in almost complete. Advantages of the new place:- It's upstairs, nobody above me, with a view (partially) of treetops.
- Mostly very quiet at night; never hear anything from the next-door unit
- Central location -- very close to one of the schools where I teach
- Across the street in another direction, the gym I just joined
- Has a swimming pool (but see below)
- Great radio reception
- Nice kitchen cabinets
- Window-mounted air-conditioner in the bedroom
- The neighboring complex facing my back windows has a very loud-motored pickup truck but it's started at 7:30AM, an acceptable wake-up time
- Great sunset views out the front door
- Nearby neighbor often out on his patio chattering on a cell phone in Arabic -- however, he keeps a cage containing
some very melodious songbirds out there as well
Drawbacks:
- Too expensive
- Small bathtub. Window in the bathroom, but the view's of the complex across the way, like at a motel.
- The swimming pool's lights are dormant (so no evening turquoise glow), it isn't all that clean, and
sometimes kids swim noisily there
- Traffic sounds at all hours from the two main boulevards which intersect nearby
- Also, that high school. Marching band practice and football games
Why do I have so much stuff? After lugging it all up a flight
of stairs, can't help but admire those who've accepted
the
100 Thing Challenge.
|
|
