Houses I've joked a few times with Dala that maybe we ought to just buy a plot of land, dig a big hole, throw a tarp over it, and call it a house. Last night I had a dream I was in a log cabin, like you see in movies or travel commercials, but a little nicer, like one you could live in year round. It had big flat rocks for the floor spread out and filled in with mortar. The walls were made out of massive, dark logs and the mortar in between them looked very rough but very solid. It was a nice little place. I woke up this morning kind of wishing I lived there. Not enough that I'd actually go out and have a log cabin built, but enough to where it's a really pleasant thought. Movies If and when we ever do get our own place, provided there's ample street parking, I'm starting a film club. My living room. Surround sound. At least a 45" television. I'll learn to cook so I can make and serve dinner to everyone, the dog can come and go as she pleases and enjoy people's company, and it'll be awesome. I'm gonna show good, classy shit, like Kurosawa and Cohen Brothers and Chuck Jones and such. Watched On the Waterfront for the first time in about five years yesterday. It's good. I forgot how sloppy the ending felt though. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly One of my buddies the other day asked me if I'd recommend The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly to him. I called him up to tell him the movie in general is absolutely great, but pointed out a few things to him that would make it easier for him to watch since this is generally not his kind of movie. I'd figure I'd share them here cause I think they're actually good tips. 1) It's a much slower paced movie than the summer block busters you're used to. If you were having trouble appreciating the slow unfolding of Hard Boiled, you'll have trouble appreciating the slow unfolding of this film. That's okay. This is just that different kind of movie. There's a decent chance your mind might wander. To combat this, watch the movie in two parts. When Blondie and Tuco get captured by the Union Soldiers, have that as a cliffhanger. Take a break and watch the rest of the movie later that night or the next day. 2) The movie is dubbed. Yes, I know all of the actors speak English, but it's dubbed anyway because Italian cinema. At first, this makes the movie seem kind of cartoony, but after a few scenes you'll actually appreciate it because it gives the characters a subtle, ghostly quality that adds a sort of otherwordly accentuation to everything they say. 3) Pay attention to the scenery and landscape surrounding the characters. It's an unspoken antagonist that's constantly trying to kill Blondie and/or Tuco or at the very least, impede their progress. Sergio Leone spends a lot of time and effort to illustrate that and it works really well. 4) Appreciate Leone's extreme close ups. They're very artistic.
(A) if you can get the money together for a piece of land, putting a cob house or lean-to or geodome or any of the other cheap forms of housing becomes much more attainable. Also, you can do it in your spare time while paying rent somewhere in the city or whatever. Look into the permaculture and homesteading subcultures because they're both populated by cheap-ass dreamers without any particular need for luxury. (B) televisions are cheap these days and surround systems are cheaper. I put a 50" 4K in the birth center for $550 and the surround rig, which has legit in-walls, was like $400. Home-theater-in-a-box systems can be had for under $150. Just make it cool with your roommates and start doing the hosting thing - even if all you have is a shitty 19" television and a nine year old DVD player. Don't wait on stuff to do things with people. (C) one of my favorite movies is The Terrorist which was shot MOS and overdubbed (not well). So in addition to being subtitled from Tamil it's also over-timed colorwise and has this really sloppy slip between lips and sound. It makes for a trance-like viewing experience.
I'm kind of serious about doing this. I'm not quite ready, but the more I look at it, the more I like it. There's an intriguing plot about 30 minutes north of town. I should email the realtor and ask if they know if it's buildable.if you can get the money together for a piece of land
You can learn a lot simply by looking at what the zoning codes are, what the setbacks are, what the wetlands protections are and where the utilities are. The realtor should be able to give you where all the utilities are; that certainly adds expense but isn't insurmountable. The USDA, if I recall correctly, has all sorts of floodplain info as well as what sort of soil type you have there and what you can grow. My experience has been that places that look too good to be true tend to be. I was looking at one spot that didn't sell despite having dozens of acres of land... turns out the dwelling was within the 100-year floodplain and was effectively red-tagged by county code (no permits would ever be issued for improvements or expansion). I was looking at another that claimed there was ample room for subdivision... turns out the structure itself was within wetlands protection zones and could never be expanded (let alone subdivided). I was looking at still another that looked all kinds of great... until i discovered that the previous owner had cut down a lot of trees and the entire property was out of compliance with county code such that it had an entail of $500/day fines stretching back to 2011. But all this shit is free to learn and will teach you more and more about what you like and what you don't and what you want to see. You'll excuse me if that was incoherent. The margarita plan won out.
That was very coherent. Thank you. This is probably true about the one plot I was eyeing. Six acres across the road from the Wisconsin River. But it's very up hill. I suspect it's not buildable due to access issues. A road abuts the property, but the slope looks steep on topography maps.My experience has been that places that look too good to be true tend to be
I've stayed at the Songdog Ranch many times, and the ranch house is a two story house built out of hay bales covered with mud. So digging a hole in a ground and covering it with a tarp? Yeah, pretty much the same thing. Or you could get your home delivered.