mrs-roboto's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's Going On My article hit in Real Change yesterday. You can email me if you care to have me send you the online link or if you're in the Seattle area, you can just buy a copy. I was pleased with the overall product. The edits were fairly minimal. I could use a refresher journalism course. It's been awhile since I've had to be so concise. I read so much fiction that I tend to be overly descriptive and that's not what newspaper reporting is about. I did about six self-edits before I fell close to my word count. I have a week to hand in my next piece and this one has even tighter parameters. I must remember to not let my love of the adjectives take over. In other news, we looked at three homes this past weekend. One was a 1950's rambler with a tremendous view of the Sound. I am normally not a fan of ramblers. I hate sprawl. But a huge deck overlooking the water and mountains had me charmed. The interior was really horrific. You see the home belonged to a local business owner in the Ballard area. He had had it built from scratch in 1958 and at the time, it had all mods con. Now, it possesses wood paneling, a funny little wetbar, an intercom system, shag carpets, avocado colored appliances, etc. It would basically need to be stripped to the bones and remodeled (which I am not particularly afraid of). Sadly, it was several thousands of dollars over our price cap. The second home was perfect in every way. A brick Tudor, in upper Ballard with a wonderful fireplace, new bamboo floors throughout, remodeled kitchen, two baths; one of which had a dual stone shower, a hot tub, and 1900 square feet of sweet, sweet space. It had one small issue though - it was one block over from where the monorail was to be built. Now I've lived close to the subway in NY and over the T in Boston and mass transit can be LOUD. I was younger and had a higher tolerance for noise in those days (all the booze I embibed probably aided in my ability to black out) but now, I lose it if I hear so much as talking voices going by our home late at night. I can't imagine hearing the monorail pull in and out every 30 minutes without having a fit. Alas, it turns out that won't be an issue. Seattle voted against its monorail on Tuesday. Sadly, the house was sold that very day. The third home was terrible and the woman who lived there was smoking crack because she wanted big bucks for the place. The house was in disrepair, on a busy street, and had rooms so small Pete couldn't stand up straight in them.We left as quickly as we could without seeming rude. Next week, Pete has a business trip that takes him East so the search will go on hold. The week he returns we are meeting with two different architects to explore expansion. One's a total post modernist. I love the work he does. Lots of exposed aluminum and concrete. The homes are "Built-Green" certified which I can totally get behind. My only concern, outside of the possible cost, is resale. If we get ourselves a home that looks like a spaceship, and then we decide in five years to move to La Jolla or some place, have we cut out a whole demographic of potential buyers? And do we really care? After all, we do have to live here. Shouldn't it be a place that reflects our style? These are the issues we are exploring. I was just reminded yesterday that Thanksgiving is upon us and I have yet to devise a menu. As per usual, we will boycott turkey since both Pete and I find it kind of dull and I'm not real big on tradition. We did an amazing duck dish last year (Cinnamon Smoked Duck with Apple Butter) but this year I am leaning more towards a Paella or maybe Roast Quail. Mostly I am looking forward to having four days that don't include work or school or any combination of the two. I hope to head up to Snoqualmie and get in a little cross country skiing and maybe also spend a day in bed reading a book that's not a text cover to cover. 8:44 a.m. - 2005-11-11 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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