we went to see chicago (the musical) at the overture center today. it was fun, but good lord: that sort of “culturing” is expensive. i suppose when you’re paying for the likes of tom wopat the expenses add up quickly. i’m glad to say he delivered the goods.
finally, i may give my knuckles a rest from the incessant knocking on wood. lea and i have put in an accepted offer on a house. the house in question is the house at 506 rushmore lane. it’s a one story ranch with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an attached garage, an open kitchen, and a european hotel room*. its location allows us to cut down to one car, since it is (a) within walking distance of my work, and (b) within walking distance of full service bus lines, for lea’s work.
buying a house is a scary thing. there are a lot of contracts, and even beyond that, lots of smoke and mirrors. i put in my usual research binge before we immersed ourselves in the process, and that certainly helped, but there were still brief moments of doubt and trepidation during the past month and a half. beyond the research, another positive and stabilizing factor was having our parents out to see our top choices for houses. the phrase “older and wiser” is a well-known phrase for a reason; it was and is comforting to know that both sets of parents emphatically endorse the house we chose.
the closing date is november 23rd, i.e. the day before thanksgiving. anybody who is interested can feel free to come out to madison and help us schlepp our stuff. if you can’t make it out then, we can always set up some individual housewarming dates in the weeks and months and years to come.
all in all, it is still a little difficult to fully comprehend the fact that we are purchasing a house.
* room is not actually in europe or a hotel.
this is a fun and quick read. i remember having a good time playing around with the statistics package we had to use for an intro to sociology class, and coming up with some odd correlations. this is like that, but more lucid.
obviously, this has far less relevance now than it had during the campaigns, but it’s still interesting. i can’t begin to fathom how anybody can take bill o’reilly seriously.
i like eggers’ stuff. short stories tend to be hit-or-miss, and this collection is no exception to that rule of thumb, but there are plenty enough hits to make it worthwhile. eggers is good at melding humor and sorrow, and many of these stories showcase that talent.
this was an odd movie, with a healthy dosage of quirky and an even healthier dosage of sad. that is, if sad is really healthy.
Thou now well rust’d chariot of economy,
Thou artifact of overseas production,
Consumer reports, who can better weigh in
On the merits more adroitly than I:
The flimsy black plastic that rings your body
protecting you from the dings of daily usage
in parking lots and moving collisions.
Could this protect you from the ravages of time?
Why worry about scratches in the door? Or quarterpanel?
Why didn’t it come with a rust-proof undercoating?
i am at once sad and happy to say that the honda civic which has served me so well over the past two and a half years has passed out of my possession. being my “very first car,” i will always remember it with sweet sentiment. indeed, the fact that i chose to purchase another civic will serve to stand testimony to my overall positive experience with the little red hatchback.
whenever you let go of an object, it revives the memory of experiences shared with that object. whether it is an old stuffed animal, or a box of stamps that you conned off your sister, some objects hold great meaning. with the civic, these memories are of growing up, of journeys homeward, of journeys outward, of hot summers and of frosted winters, of music louder than the road and of being tossed around by the storm. i can justify its presence with economic analysis, it costing less than a couple grand, including repairs and tires and the rest, for its two plus years of service, but, again, that i could afford it and that it ran were enough. old cars have character, and though i was just beginning to experience this character full force (which, granted, is not always the most welcome occasion), i was certainly aware of this character, and not altogether unhappy with its presence.
to the man who has purchased this car from me, for the price of the gas sitting in the tank: may it serve you as well as it served me. never mind the cobweb that was in the engine compartment because i had left the car sitting for a couple of months. never mind the lack of power steering, and lack of “you left your headlights on” warning dinger. never mind the rust. this is a car that will get you there, and it was as close to free as many things get in this world. the value of the memories it will bring will far outstrip the price of gas. also, be careful not to flood the engine. she doesn’t like to start when she’s hot.
i hadn’t watched this since high school, which meant that i had mostly forgotten the various goings-on within the movie. this movie is not as good as pulp fiction, but then, i don’t suppose anybody’s asking it to be.
i will let you craft your own pun, though i do recommend mentioning the pounding rain.
