Concepts in the Paradox

I did little today. I slept in, did some work on getting the apartment closer to comfortable, and did a walk in this very cold and rainy city.

I put up a big book case to absorb all the books that have started to pile up on the floor. I was hoping to throw out some of the smaller book cases I have, but it looks like I’ll need them still. I have too many books! I need to let some of them go, maybe sell them or “loan” them to friends.

I rifled through the San Francisco MLS and noted some of the properties I’ve been eying slipped as much as $95k in price. The market is changing, though still not as fast as I would like. My new employer will pay for loan fees, so that helps. if I buy through Redfin, they’ll give me 3% cash back on my purchase if I get a condo or house. The Odeon is a new development that I’d consider, as well as The Mint Lofts. The time isn’t right though, so I’ll remain in the TL.

I debated going to Poproxx tonight, but I’m already going to NewWave next weekend with Jill and since I got a new job my cash flow situation is dire until my first pay check. Vodka from the corner market is much cheaper anyhow. :)

Lately I’ve been listening to “Snake River Conspiracy” and “Scissor Sisters”, both which were recommended to me by my friend Tim in Reno. Also I’ve been enjoying “Gram Rabbit” and “The Spores”, both of which I saw live for the first time at Poproxx and loved. Finally, I found “Olive” in a rental car love box, which I enjoy, and “Delirium” which I copied from my friend Kara’s CD collection and have since bought everything she sings at Amoeba.

It looks like my parents are coming up this weekend to check out my new place. I have everything pretty much clean, or at a point where I could quickly clean up any little messes. I’m totally digging having a bed to lay on and a sofa to slack on. It makes coming home much nicer.

Tomorrow is ZG night, er… well, L13 night this time around. My southbay friend Nathan says he likes L13 more (I think his gf likes it more, actually), so we’ll give L13 a shot. It takes me about 2 minutes to get there if Muni Metro is working properly, so it is actually easier for me to get there. Booze anyone? Remember that they don’t serve food there, so no yummy burgers. 8pm.

I’m feeling a much better, thanks for all the positive comments. Sometimes I feel like the world is just doomed, and it doesn’t matter if it is actually doomed or not, but rather it matters that I move forward in some direction. Sometimes at work I sit idle and lost, and that’s when the doom settles back in.

The Nevada Appeal wrote an excellent obituary on my grandpa.

From the obituary, the writer mentioned something my grandpa tended to talk about often, and as you will read, for good reason:

He acquired an amateur radio license before graduation from Carson High School in 1940 and during World War II, served in the European Front with the T-5 Signal Corp. where he used his radio skills during the D-Day invasion in what has been called “the greatest secret hoax in military history” to trick the Germans into thinking the invasion would be at Calais, not Normandy. Dolan’s unit was awarded a Certificate of Merit by Gen. Omar Bradley for helping save 100,000 lives.

This morning my grandfather, William ‘Bill’ Dolan, passed away at 83 due to complications from hip surgery. He is survived by his wife, two children, 4 grand children, and 5 great grandchildren. He was also the author of the Nevada Appeal’s column, “Pages from the past” as well as numerous other articles, a World War II veteran, a Nevada native, and a rancher.

One of my nieces, Elora, is 6 years old. She knows everything about boys versus men.

“You are a boy, not a man!”, she informed me.
I replied, “Why am I not a man?”
“You aren’t married.”

Zing!

I’ve resumed reading The Death and Life of Great American Cities. I don’t remember why I stopped reading it, because I feel it is a pretty good book, and perhaps written ahead of it’s time.

Lately I’ve been thinking about what is important. What are the ideas that drive me to the next day, what is it that makes waking up and facing the day even worth it? For a few moments, nothing came to mind. It was a little frightening to think that I’ve been going day to day with no particular destination in mind. I really thought I had some master plan I was following, but at that moment I found that I had reached nowhere.
Read more »