The Current is playing this song a lot. I had listened to it many times, enjoying the song, before i actually *listened* to the lyrics. It's the song of a family's massacre, and here i was, passively enjoying and absorbing it, while three children were being murdered! How many other things like this happen everyday, while we don't pay attention?
It's kind of fascinating (but still disturbing). Have a listen.
I had entered into a marriage
In the summer of my twenty-first year
And the bells rang for our wedding
Only now do I remember it clear
Alright, alright, alright
No more a rake and no more a bachelor
I was wedded and it whetted my thirst
Until her womb started spilling out babies
Only then did I reckon my curse
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright
First came Isaiah with his crinkled little fingers
Then came Charlotte and that wretched girl Dawn
Ugly Myfanwy died on delivery
Mercifully taking her mother along
Alright, alright, alright
What can one do when one is a widower
Shamefully saddled with three little pests?
All that I wanted was the freedom of a new life
So my burden I began to divest
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright
Charlotte I buried after feeding her foxglove
Dawn was easy, she was drowned in the bath
Isaiah fought but was easily bested
Burned his body for incurring my wrath
Alright, alright, alright
And that's how I came your humble narrator
To be living so easy and free
Expect that you think that I should be haunted
But it never really bothers me
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Houses we *almost* bought
I admit it, I am addicted to house hunting. For your entertainment today, the story of three houses that we almost bought. These are houses that caused heartache, houses that we lost sleep over, houses that we very much wanted at the time. But i like to think we are in house buying training, and that something even better has got to come about. Above all, we have learned through this process about our likes and dislikes along with must haves for our next house.
1. West St. Paul House
July, 2007
I was browsing the MLS for homes over .5 acres, not looking to buy anything, just seeing if it was possible. There was one picture listed of this place, and it looked pretty run down. In foreclosure, listed for $256, in West St Paul, close to Mendota Heights, in an area of 400k+ houses. We were planning a wedding, not thinking about moving. One week later, we were in the area, and drove by. After walking around the house and the .75 acre lot, we were in awe. We called our realtor immediately. We made an offer a few days later, but those days of thinking cost us the house. There were already 4 offers on the house and they were not taking more.
Front of the house -- 50s architect designed, brick construction. Needs some landscaping help!
Nice living room with large windows looking out to the backyard. OMG, we loved this place.
The house from the backyard. Awesome deck out the back. Walk out basement. S-W-E-E-T!
Upstairs living room, walk out deck.
Back view of the basement walk out and upstairs deck.
Here is a picture of the house in better days -- before the foreclosure.
Downsides = 2 bedrooms 2 bath, but room for more bedrooms by converting tuck under garage.
Neighborhood was awesome, but suburban. The basement ceiling height was somewhat low.
Upsides = architect designed, solid construction, sweet spaces and flow, could move in with out too much updating, tons of land.
This was a SWEET house.
2. Golden Valley House
Feb 2008
So, we got married instead of buying that West St. Paul House. But we were hot on the trail of a sweet house, and determined not to miss out on a sweet deal again because of hemming and hawwing. We wanted to be ready for action.
This place in Golden Valley hit the market, and we went and saw it the same day, and made an offer that very day. Another house in foreclosure. The only problem was that we saw the house at night, and the power was turned off, so we couldn't see everything. But, we proceeded with the offer anyway, knowing that we would likely lose the house if we waited to see it again. We knew that others were interested in the house, too, because people were pulling up while we were looking, AND our realtor happened upon another couple making an offer. We had to act quick!
Our full price offer was accepted, but after careful consideration and inspection, we decided not to buy. The lot was too steep, and would have required 1000s of dollars in landscaping, and would never have resulted in useful spaces. The house design was OK, but not fabulous. One wing of the house was poorly heated. The neighborhood was good, close to the city and still close to 500k+ houses, but we were still not totally comfortable. All in all, we didn't feel right about it.
Making an offer was the only way we had a chance to even think about it.
The useable space in the backyard was small, because of the slope of the site. The lot was actually huge, about .75 acres, but mostly unusable.
3. House Near River Road, Minneapolis
November 2008
The only picture i have, from google street view. 1960s architect designed, tuck under garage, overgrown landscaping.
The house that got us away, literally, on our 3 month tour through SE Asia. This house hit the market one week before we bought our plane tickets to Thailand. THe location was stellar, one block off of west river road, in a neighborhood developed in the 60s in longfellow. I love this area, and walk through it often. It's about 4 blocks from our current house, but a world away from the 1920s bungalows. This was another foreclosure, the former home of an inventor. I wish i had more pictures. There was a complete mother-in-law apartment in the basement that we could have rented out to help offset the $300k asking price.
We saw the house the 2nd day it was on the market, and made an offer than day. We knew that if we got the house, our trip would be off. We also knew that there was another offer on the house, but we did not feel comfortable offering more than the asking price, which in retrospect we should have done to seal the deal. (Proving that hindsight is 20/20). We waited a week to hear back from the bank..... and we didn't get it. Promptly thereafter, we took that good faith check and purchased two tickets to Bangkok.
This was really a heartbreaker for us, because we loved loved loved the neighborhood, and we loved the house. The spaces were open and large, and the house was huge, with a rentable apartment. But we knew we couldn't swing the house and our trip. So, the universe picked an adventure trip for us, instead of slaving away restoring a foreclosed house.
What's Next?
There you have it. The story of three houses that got away, for better or worse. What's next for us? Time will tell. We've definitely learned a lot about where we want to live, what we want in a house, and what we are willing to do to make it happen. We have also learned that we really, really like the house that we have now, and that our next house has to be super stellar to make us make a move. But with rates this low, and so many distressed properties out there, i can't help but see what's listed on the MLS....
Some of my favorite house hunting tools:
Themlsonline.com -- has a google map feature to search home listings in Minneapolis/St. Paul, along with a great saved search feature
Zillow -- predicts expected value of home as well as neighboring homes
Google Street View -- type in an address, see a picture of the home and the neighbors. Wow!
County websites -- look up the property value, taxes, last sale date, lot size
1. West St. Paul House
July, 2007
I was browsing the MLS for homes over .5 acres, not looking to buy anything, just seeing if it was possible. There was one picture listed of this place, and it looked pretty run down. In foreclosure, listed for $256, in West St Paul, close to Mendota Heights, in an area of 400k+ houses. We were planning a wedding, not thinking about moving. One week later, we were in the area, and drove by. After walking around the house and the .75 acre lot, we were in awe. We called our realtor immediately. We made an offer a few days later, but those days of thinking cost us the house. There were already 4 offers on the house and they were not taking more.
Front of the house -- 50s architect designed, brick construction. Needs some landscaping help!
Nice living room with large windows looking out to the backyard. OMG, we loved this place.
The house from the backyard. Awesome deck out the back. Walk out basement. S-W-E-E-T!
Upstairs living room, walk out deck.
Back view of the basement walk out and upstairs deck.
Here is a picture of the house in better days -- before the foreclosure.Downsides = 2 bedrooms 2 bath, but room for more bedrooms by converting tuck under garage.
Neighborhood was awesome, but suburban. The basement ceiling height was somewhat low.
Upsides = architect designed, solid construction, sweet spaces and flow, could move in with out too much updating, tons of land.
This was a SWEET house.
2. Golden Valley House
Feb 2008
So, we got married instead of buying that West St. Paul House. But we were hot on the trail of a sweet house, and determined not to miss out on a sweet deal again because of hemming and hawwing. We wanted to be ready for action.
This place in Golden Valley hit the market, and we went and saw it the same day, and made an offer that very day. Another house in foreclosure. The only problem was that we saw the house at night, and the power was turned off, so we couldn't see everything. But, we proceeded with the offer anyway, knowing that we would likely lose the house if we waited to see it again. We knew that others were interested in the house, too, because people were pulling up while we were looking, AND our realtor happened upon another couple making an offer. We had to act quick!
Our full price offer was accepted, but after careful consideration and inspection, we decided not to buy. The lot was too steep, and would have required 1000s of dollars in landscaping, and would never have resulted in useful spaces. The house design was OK, but not fabulous. One wing of the house was poorly heated. The neighborhood was good, close to the city and still close to 500k+ houses, but we were still not totally comfortable. All in all, we didn't feel right about it.
Making an offer was the only way we had a chance to even think about it.
The useable space in the backyard was small, because of the slope of the site. The lot was actually huge, about .75 acres, but mostly unusable.3. House Near River Road, Minneapolis
November 2008
The only picture i have, from google street view. 1960s architect designed, tuck under garage, overgrown landscaping.The house that got us away, literally, on our 3 month tour through SE Asia. This house hit the market one week before we bought our plane tickets to Thailand. THe location was stellar, one block off of west river road, in a neighborhood developed in the 60s in longfellow. I love this area, and walk through it often. It's about 4 blocks from our current house, but a world away from the 1920s bungalows. This was another foreclosure, the former home of an inventor. I wish i had more pictures. There was a complete mother-in-law apartment in the basement that we could have rented out to help offset the $300k asking price.
We saw the house the 2nd day it was on the market, and made an offer than day. We knew that if we got the house, our trip would be off. We also knew that there was another offer on the house, but we did not feel comfortable offering more than the asking price, which in retrospect we should have done to seal the deal. (Proving that hindsight is 20/20). We waited a week to hear back from the bank..... and we didn't get it. Promptly thereafter, we took that good faith check and purchased two tickets to Bangkok.
This was really a heartbreaker for us, because we loved loved loved the neighborhood, and we loved the house. The spaces were open and large, and the house was huge, with a rentable apartment. But we knew we couldn't swing the house and our trip. So, the universe picked an adventure trip for us, instead of slaving away restoring a foreclosed house.
What's Next?
There you have it. The story of three houses that got away, for better or worse. What's next for us? Time will tell. We've definitely learned a lot about where we want to live, what we want in a house, and what we are willing to do to make it happen. We have also learned that we really, really like the house that we have now, and that our next house has to be super stellar to make us make a move. But with rates this low, and so many distressed properties out there, i can't help but see what's listed on the MLS....
Some of my favorite house hunting tools:
Themlsonline.com -- has a google map feature to search home listings in Minneapolis/St. Paul, along with a great saved search feature
Zillow -- predicts expected value of home as well as neighboring homes
Google Street View -- type in an address, see a picture of the home and the neighbors. Wow!
County websites -- look up the property value, taxes, last sale date, lot size
Sunday, April 19, 2009
some inspiration
Finish each day and be done with it.
You have done what you could;
some blunders and absurdities have crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day;
you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
----------------------------------
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
You have done what you could;
some blunders and absurdities have crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day;
you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
----------------------------------
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
Monday, April 06, 2009
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, on Creative Genius.
I like this talk. Elizabeth Gilbert talks about the creative process, the historical perspective of "creative genius", and the anxiety and fear that creativity can cause. She makes the case that we should go back to the Greek/Roman thinking about creativity: that great work and great creativity is outside of our control, a muse and we are it's vehicle. Instead of worrying about our product, we should continue to keep showing up and hope that the muse makes an appearance.
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