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.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Chad and Shane's Special Day
This concept photo documentary got me in a bit of trouble with Chad and Shane. But, I swear, all of the photos are real! What a date!
Our fancy digs in Bangkok
We had the good fortune to stay with our friend Shane in his fancy digs in Bangkok. Thanks Shane!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Hello, U.S.A.
After three days of traveling, we made it back to the U.S.A! It was very nice to finally be able to walk through the "local" line at the airport and not the foreigner line. Ahh, it is good to be home, where we can drink the tap water and everyone knows not to stand on the toilet.
We had a harrowing journey home as we flew right into the middle of chaos at the Tokyo Narita airport, where hours earlier a fed ex cargo plane crashed killing two people. Utter, utter and complete chaos. The airport was officially closed for 24 hours, but somehow, our flight from bangkok was still sent to tokyo, where we were stranded for hours with no plan and no information. Staff were obviously not prepared for an emergency. They finally bussed us to a five star luxury hotel ($600 plus a night) with no information about when our flight would leave, when or if they would pick us up again, or even who was paying the bill.
When our flight finally left 24 hours after it was scheduled, it was only 60% full even though it was one of the first flights out, and even though there were obviously many people who should have been on the flight who were still waiting in lines at the terminal. The situation was very poorly handled. We were sent to tokyo after they knew about the "incident", and even though the major runway was closed. Our plane coming in had to use a smaller landing strip to get in, but our larger plane to MSP could not get out. Why Northwest routed us to tokyo even though the airport was closed and then proceeded to put us in a luxury hotel with a steak dinner and 5* buffet breakfast is totally beyond me. This must have cost them a bundle, and could have been prevented by *not* flying us into the closed airport. Hello? Is this crazy or what?
Needless to say, we are happy to be home and also delirious from lack of sleep, but trying to stay awake a few more hours so we are not *totally* screwed up.
We had a harrowing journey home as we flew right into the middle of chaos at the Tokyo Narita airport, where hours earlier a fed ex cargo plane crashed killing two people. Utter, utter and complete chaos. The airport was officially closed for 24 hours, but somehow, our flight from bangkok was still sent to tokyo, where we were stranded for hours with no plan and no information. Staff were obviously not prepared for an emergency. They finally bussed us to a five star luxury hotel ($600 plus a night) with no information about when our flight would leave, when or if they would pick us up again, or even who was paying the bill.
When our flight finally left 24 hours after it was scheduled, it was only 60% full even though it was one of the first flights out, and even though there were obviously many people who should have been on the flight who were still waiting in lines at the terminal. The situation was very poorly handled. We were sent to tokyo after they knew about the "incident", and even though the major runway was closed. Our plane coming in had to use a smaller landing strip to get in, but our larger plane to MSP could not get out. Why Northwest routed us to tokyo even though the airport was closed and then proceeded to put us in a luxury hotel with a steak dinner and 5* buffet breakfast is totally beyond me. This must have cost them a bundle, and could have been prevented by *not* flying us into the closed airport. Hello? Is this crazy or what?
Needless to say, we are happy to be home and also delirious from lack of sleep, but trying to stay awake a few more hours so we are not *totally* screwed up.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Escaping the party in Vang Vieng, Laos
Vang Vieng was really a very beautiful location, however, all the obnoxious partying and drug abuse by backpackers had, in my opinion, basically ruined the town. Who wants to see a 6 foot tall skinny white girl in a bikini limping/pacing back and forth like a zombie, with a hurt foot/ankle that she does not even notice, eyes wide, dark, red and swollen, moaning and repeating to herself, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, because she is too messed up to know what is going on? It was in some ways astonishing to watch, I admit. I tried to say something to her but her eyes would not focus on me, she was in her own world. Eventually we did see that she hooked up with another bunch of girls who helped her, thank goodness.
Video: Crazy party scene in Vang Vieng, Laos
Instructions:
1. Head to one of the poorest, most conservative, rural countries on earth where the women wear long sleeves in 100F heat.
2. Put on your bikini!
3. Wait in line at the tubing station and pay a few bucks to get your own tube.
4. Hop on the bus to the river.
5. Head to the river bar and buy some $2 mojitos. Dance to the music!
6. Draw some stuff all over your body. Example: Free Hugs!
7. Climb up the bamboo ladder and swing 50 feet into the river.
8. Tube about 50 feet to the next bar.
9. Repeat.
1. Head to one of the poorest, most conservative, rural countries on earth where the women wear long sleeves in 100F heat.
2. Put on your bikini!
3. Wait in line at the tubing station and pay a few bucks to get your own tube.
4. Hop on the bus to the river.
5. Head to the river bar and buy some $2 mojitos. Dance to the music!
6. Draw some stuff all over your body. Example: Free Hugs!
7. Climb up the bamboo ladder and swing 50 feet into the river.
8. Tube about 50 feet to the next bar.
9. Repeat.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Vientiane, Laos Itinerary & Photos
-A visit to the very strange Buddha park with crude concrete sculptures and lots of school kids running around.
-Scooting on a vintage 1950s red vespa all over the countryside, waving to the kids and stopping for some noodle soup and beer lao with locals who knew no english but had lots of smiles and laughs. Our old police moto helmets gave them pause.
-Delicious dining on fine french cuisine & chilled bourdeaux.
-Crossing a rickity bamboo bridge by scooter! Two 9 years olds passed us on a moto and had no fear.
-The beautiful Lao textile museum, set in a lush facility with gardens and teak buildings.
-Hanging out at another concrete monstrosity, the victory arch, a project constructed out of concrete that was supposed to be made into an airport runway.
-Watching cute laos dancers at a cultural show.
-Scooting on a vintage 1950s red vespa all over the countryside, waving to the kids and stopping for some noodle soup and beer lao with locals who knew no english but had lots of smiles and laughs. Our old police moto helmets gave them pause.
-Delicious dining on fine french cuisine & chilled bourdeaux.
-Crossing a rickity bamboo bridge by scooter! Two 9 years olds passed us on a moto and had no fear.
-The beautiful Lao textile museum, set in a lush facility with gardens and teak buildings.
-Hanging out at another concrete monstrosity, the victory arch, a project constructed out of concrete that was supposed to be made into an airport runway.
-Watching cute laos dancers at a cultural show.
Incredible story of landmine remover in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Aki Ra was a child soldier who marched in front of the older soldiers laying land mines in his native Cambodia. Now, his life's work is removing land mines from his country. He began this incredible musuem just by collecting remains from land mines that he had removed. Tourists started to stop by, eventually his house became the land mine museum. The museum has since moved to a dedicated facility that also provides housing and a school for kids impacted by the landmines. Meanwhile, Aki continues his work removing the dangerous and devastating landmines, which are designed to maim rather than kill victims (the war theory being that an injured soldier is more expensive to the enemy than a dead soldier). A truly inspirational place and story of how one person can really make a difference in their own community and in the world.
Silk Weaving in Siem Reap, Cambodia
When we were in Cambodia, we visited a silk farm operated by Artisans D'Angor. It's a project to sell local handicrafts and provide fair market jobs to the local people. The free tour was very informative -- of course they bank on visitors making some purchases in the gift shop, which we did (an amazing grey silk dress for me!)
Friday, March 13, 2009
Angor Wat, Cambodia
Apologies -- lots of temple pictures here. Angor Wat was truly spectacular, the level of craftsmanship, detail and scale is difficult to comprehend, even today, but completed 700 years ago? Astonishing.
The Road to Cambodia
Chad recovered, and we made it to Chang Mai, Thailand, where the internet connection is much better than Laos. In other news, here are some pictures from the drive into Cambodia from Thailand.
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