Searching a New Home

A few days looking… And it looks scary, very scary. The rentals are diminishing in number by the day, and the closer we get to the end of the year, the worse it is going to be. Maybe I’ll even have to move to a temporary shelter, and at this point even the cats are negotiable. This is quite the tragedy for me. I should have reacted much sooner, in September, when the opportunities were still numerous. Continue reading

Moving On Out

I received an email, then a letter from Jim, my landlord here in the City. He says he needs to move back into his apartment and gave me a generous 55 days to find a new spot. I would be totally demoralized if it weren’t for the fact that I wanted this to happen. I wanted to move out, and he just kicked me in the butt. Now, of course, the problem is where to move to… Continue reading

What the Bleep Do We Know? (2004)

This is actually an interesting movie – not because of the content, but because of the way it mixes documentary with conventional story-telling! Somehow the real story is never clear. Things move from physics to biology, to theology and then back rather quickly. At the same time, Amanda, a mute photographer with a strong aversion to weddings, has to come to grips with reality – a challenge much greater than one would think. Continue reading

Without a Paddle (2004)

Imagine a remake of one of the most disturbing movies of the 70-es, Deliverance. Done in 2004, in the middle of the neo-Victorian era, with the exposure of Janet Jackson’s breasts being item of scandal. That can’t be good news, right? Without a paddle misses all the major points of the original: there is nothing of the duality of city dweller vs. country folk. None of the ideological reasons for the original trip. Continue reading

Wicked (G. Maguire)

I am terrified!!! Ok, so there is a story about the Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz memory. Funny looking binding, Garamond-ish old-style font – I was so sure it was going to be ironic-sarcastic-amusing! I start reading, and someone I don’t smile. After the first chapter, I slowly start realizing this is not going to go anywhere else. It is going to stay what it started as. Continue reading

Bottom 10 Habits of Productive Employees

If you haven’t managed people before, management looks like a mystery to you. You don’t quite understand why your manager – or managers in general – choose to do and say the things that emanate from them. Management as a whole may look arbitrary, capricious, incompetent to you, as if there is a secret plot to take the hard work you do and turn it to dust. In particular, you may wonder how rewards are meted out, be it bonuses, salary increases, promotions. Continue reading

First Month

{moszoomimglink:The main entrance}The first month of ownership is over, and I felt the urge to go for myself and check things out. Good news: Brad is a brilliant contractor, and the work he’s done with the crew is amazin. Bad news: he’s barely had time to work on the house. After I left, he’s only completed the subflooring and done the lanai mauka, with the lanai makai on the way. One wall was put in (left of the main entrance) and a few window frames. Continue reading

Back from Ninole

Ninole over the weekend was wonderful. You’ll find the pictures up tonight – for now a briefing: The lanai mauka is in place, beautiful as could be The lanai makai is rough, but should get done this week The subflooring is done That’s not much of a progress report, of course, but considering there were less than two full weeks of work on the house, it’s at least progress!

2005-09-24 Visit

Imported Photo Album Continue reading

Quills (2000)

A movie about the Marquis de Sade? That sounds like a difficult proposition in the best scenario. And yet, here it was pulled off with great results. A sickly and lascivious Marquis de Sade plays the clown in a scenery dominated by Joaquin Phoenix and Kate Winslet. The plot is inconsequential and irrelevant at best. What we are interested in is the man, and the beauties. The man, it turns out, is mostly frustrated behind bars. Continue reading