Floating House Of Brad Pitt

Cool house design - modern home floats in case of flood (New Orleans).


More images here

Writing Lesson of the Day: I and Me

So, I have to admit something. I got in a fight with my high school grammar teacher, and it's been haunting me ever since. I was sick with Mono, missed a lot of school, and then he wouldn't let me retake a big test. I went to the principal, and he told me I could drop the class, but that there were going to be difficult people in life that I would have to learn to deal with, and that I should start now by sticking to the class.

I dropped the class anyways.

Now, I'm constantly scouring the internet to make up for lessons I would have learned in that missed class. And, still working on that "dealing with difficult people" thing.

Grammar Lesson of the day: I and me
When you’re talking about yourself and someone else, be careful to use I and me correctly. Many people think it’s classier to always use I, and they end up getting it wrong half the time. The best way to know which one to use is to eliminate the other person from the sentence and see what you’ve got left.

Jenny and I went to the store. I went to the store. (That’s right.)

Grandma gave the cookies to Jenny and I. Grandma gave the cookies to I. (Nope.)

Grandma gave the cookies to me (that’s right).

Courtesy: Ten Common Writing Mistakes Your Spell Checker Won’t Find

Great Storytelling from Thai Commercial

on the lookout for inexpensive new modern home construction projects

We are on the lookout for examples of new, affordable and modern home construction, especially in the city.

Here is one example -- an 800 square foot house, built including land for $200/square foot --let us know if you know of more!

An Urban Pioneer
David Sarti is showing us that good things can come in small boxes

Happy 5th birthday frontyard: A pictoral history

2004


2005


2006


2007


2009


Here is a photo set that includes more photos from the history of our yard.

SE Asia trip: Photo highlights

For those of you who have short attention spans (and who doesn't?), here is a collection of my 18 favorite photos from our trip to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos this past winter.

Dream home slips through our fingers. Sad. :(

So, we decided we don't want to live in the suburbs.... which is why we missed out on this super awesome house at a super awesome price. Chad happened to drive by it, and by the time we checked on it.. the sale was pending. Sold in foreclosure for $315,000!!! INCREDIBLE! Now, we are sad. :(


Mid-Century Modern "Alcoa" Home For Sale in St. Louis Park, MN
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 3
Year Built: 1958
Area: 3600 square ft.

Mid-Century Contemporary Marvel! Post beam construction, combines decorative structural aluminum w/beautiful woods. Fantastic double lot, 3 bedroom, 3 Bathroom, open floor plan, vaulted ceilings, basement with 2 egress windows ready for finishing. Designed by Charles M. Goodman and constructed in 1958 as a project for the Alcoa Aluminum Company to showcase the wonders of Aluminum. Home needs restoration to bring back to original splendor.

Ira glass gives hope to those of us creating crappy content

Guess why: More married women work in Minneapolis than in NYC

New study shows: Commuting = wasted time.

From The Harris School at the University of Chicago

In Minneapolis, 79 percent of married women are employed, while only 49 percent are in New York.

Why, you ask?

"Black examined a variety of factors—local housing prices, child care costs, and local unemployment rates—but one stood out: commute times in metropolitan areas."

"The authors predicted, and confirmed, that cities with longer commutes are associated with fewer married women who work."

"A one-minute increase in a daily commute is coupled with a 0.66 percent decrease in the likelihood of employment. "

Smart women know -- commuting = wasted time!

Boys trip: fishing opener in the BWCA

Chad took some lovely photos in the BWCA for fishing opener this year. These are my favorites.

















Video: Collin dives in the cold water!



Brett & Collin both dive in!



Here is the full set of photos:

What Do Other Countries Eat For School Lunch

If you are what you eat, that means that U.S. kids are cheap processed crap and Italian kids are full of culture and traditions.

Read: What Do Other Countries Eat For School Lunch

Chad, will you build this for me?

patio set 1, originally uploaded by livegreenstlouis.

Cool patio set made of reclaimed flooring material.

homemade granola

Have you ever made homemade granola? It's easy, delicious, and nutritious! You can keep the ingredients on hand and make it when you run out of other breakfast stuff. You can eat it with yogurt, or with milk or soy milk. You can change up any of the nuts, seeds or dried fruit depending on what you have on hand. Some of my favorites are coconut, pecans, almonds, dried blueberries, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. You can put more honey in if you want it sweeter. Since you make it yourself, you know that it's all good stuff - whole grains, nuts, and dried fruits without a lot of sugar. Who knows what is in the stuff in the grocery store?

Here is a recipe i use, from Rio Caliente Hot Springs Health Spa

Ingredients

2 lbs. rolled oats (not the quick-cooking or instant variety)

3/4 cup pecans, chopped or broken

3/4 cup pumpkin seeds, whole

3/4 cup hulled sesame seeds, toasted or raw

1/2 cup powdered low fat milk

2 T. sesame oil

1/4 cup honey

How to Prepare

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and mix.

Add the powdered milk and mix again. Add the oil and honey and mix thoroughly, using your hands to turn the mixture over and over. Place into baking pans and bake in a slow (250F) oven for 45 minutes to an hour until golden brown.

Stir every 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.

Note: If you add wheat germ, the granola must be refrigerated.

Additional ingredients: Powdered soy milk or flakes, peanuts, wheat germ, bran, oat, rye, wheat or soy flakes, soy nuts, raisins, currants or other dried fruits, almonds or other nuts, dried coconut.

Note: If you add soy flakes, be sure to include them at the very end of baking as they tend to burn.

The Decemberists - The Rake's Song

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

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

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

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.

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!

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.