Welcome to Sad Salvation. Day by day by day by day ... this is my attempt to make sense of the world.

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Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Who are you calling a pervert?

I had to laugh when I read the story about people upset that Kink.com buys the Armory in San Francisco. Kink.com wants to turn the building into a studio. The local neighborhood is worried about that this will do to the area. They are worried that it will attract perverts to the area.

This shows me that BDSM has a long way to go before it sees anything close to mainstream acceptance. People who would not object to homosexuals will object to BDSM. This tells me that people still look down upon BDSM. I am not sure if will ever become mainstream, but my guess is that most of the people practicing BDSM do not want to be called perverts.

The funny thing to me is that this is happening in San Francisco. People who would been seen as perverts in the rest of the country are some of the best citizens here. I think that a lot of problems are caused by people having to hide who they are sexually. Being open about these things keep people from having to run around in the shadows. I thought San Francisco was about people able to be whoever they really are. I guess we are not there yet.

Every version of this story I have seen so far includes the line "low-income housing advocates killed proposals to develop the Armory into offices or apartments". Does anyone know the story behind this? Why did low-income housing advocates kill this? I would love to hear this story.

I am all for Kink.com taking over the building and using it however they want. This is America and there is nothing wrong with them expressing their free speech by free enterprise.

Labels: Armory, BDSM, housing, kink.com, San Francisco

- Rich, 9:01 AM |

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

A space of your own.

I heard a story on NPR about how American houses are getting larger and larger. I found the story to be interesting. There is little info about why it is happening, but lots of reporting about how people feel about it.

Look at this quote:

"If you have people coming out from the city, where they are bombarded by people, the tendency is to isolate themselves," Lofaro says. "Their house is their community. It is not the community's community, it is their community."

I think that houses are getting bigger because we are in love with stuff. We love to buy stuff and we love to own stuff. We do not want to get rid of the stuff we have to get more stuff. We need more places to put the stuff.

I wondered why we love stuff. There seems to be a number of people who want to move the public sphere into the private sphere. Why go to the movies and act like a civil human being when I can stay at home with my home theater and make my own rules. Why have to deal with the people at the coffee shop when I can have my own expresso machine. I think Americans want to pull themselves away from the world. We only want to deal with people like us or people we select. It does not make for a great society.

Labels: America, housing, NPR, stuff, trend

- Rich, 8:07 PM |

Friday, June 21, 2002

Friday Five

Friday Five

1. Do you live in a house, an apartment or a condo?
Studio Apartment

2. Do you rent or own?
Rent.

3. Does anyone else live with you?
No. I live all by myself. I wonder if I could go back to having a roommate.

4. How many times have you moved in your life?
Four time not including college. Four more times with College

5. What are your plans for this weekend?
Friday, Drink some beer outside on the longest day of the year. Saturday, first birthday party for a friend's son. Sunday, Maybe see a movie.

Labels: answer, Friday Five, housing, question, self

- Rich, 10:16 PM |

Sunday, June 09, 2002

Back in San Jose

I stepped into my apartment yesterday and for that first moment I was surprised. My apartment looked fresh and new to me. It was the opposite of deja vu. I felt like I had never been in it before, but I know I had passed though that doorway hundreds of times. I feel like these were brand new walls all around me.

This was a really good feeling. I like the idea of San Jose being fresh and new again. It is starting to feel more and more like home. It is at least my base. It is the place where I come back do. I never dread coming back. I wonder how long I will be able to keep this new feeling.

Labels: apartment, housing, San Jose, self

- Rich, 10:27 AM |

Thursday, December 13, 2001

Interest Rates

Interest Rates just keep on dropping. The prime rate is at the lowest level that I can ever remember. It is a good time to buy a house. Of course I work for a company that has had two rounds of layoffs and might have more. In a strange way it would be good for me if I could keep my job and not have the economy rebound. It would drive down housing prices in this area. I might be able to buy a house if the economy stays like this.

The problem is that I cannot afford to buy a house without help. I do not think my parents can afford to help me. I am a single man, so there is no one else that can help me. I think this has been getting to me lately. It is something that I just cannot deny. I guess I am getting older if these things are important to me.

Labels: economy, housing, Interest rate

- Rich, 12:34 AM |

Tuesday, November 20, 2001

Dreaming about real estate

On Saturday night I had an odd dream. In the dream I was talking with a man I work with Stephen. Stephen was working on his laptop like he always does. We were talking about housing in the bay area. He told me that I was not looking had enough. If I looked hard enough I could find a condo for $150,000. He told me to search on the internet.

I know this does not sound like an odd dream. The odd thing is that two bedroom condos in San Jose start at $300,000. In the real world people would laugh at the idea I could find an Condo at 150K. The problem is that 150K is really the most that I could afford. The dream was odd because it was so normal. I usually do not have these kinds of plan conversations in dreams.

Today I looked on the internet for Condos. I did find Condos for 150K. The problem is those condos are 70 miles away from where I work. I decided a long time ago that I do not want to commute more then an hour to work every day. I do not want to anything more then an hour is adding too much extra time to my day. Even if I am not doing anything else with that time, I do not want to be in my car.

I think I know why I was having this dream. I am currently paying $900 a month rent for a studio apartment. I have recently had three conversations about people buying houses. I know that my money is not working for me by renting. I am getting to the age when I should think about buying a house. I know that I should work toward this goal.

The problem is that I am so unready to own a house. I am bad at the way I spend my money. I actually refer to myself as being in Drunken Sailor mode when it comes to spending money. I know nothing about how to buy a house. I know nothing about what kinds of things I would be responsible for. I have nowhere near the money it would take for a down payment.

Maybe I need to start to live my life like I want to own a home someday.

Labels: apartment, condo, dream, housing, real estate, Stephen Mack

- Rich, 11:16 PM |

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