Cute Overload

It would irresponsible of me not to share my newfound love of Parry Gripp's music. Whenever I feel down, all I have to do is hear this heartfelt music and watch this confident hamster:





Whenever I need a laugh, all I need to do is sing along to this upbeat song and watch how the world has gone completely insane:




And whenever it is time to feed my kitties their din-din, I sing this song and try not to die of cute-overload:

Green Investors

Well under way is the search for our second real estate purchase. We enjoy working with lenders and real estate agents, touring prospective properties, and brainstorming about investing. We heavily use the the Zillow Real Estate website to find what's for sale, in conjunction with Google Maps to "walk around" via Street View and to plot driving routes to actually walk around the place in person.


The Columbus area has a lot of potential for investment. Unfortunately, with loss of jobs in the region, large portions of the city are in decay. Yesterday evening we found ourselves on a severely degraded street on the east side of the city of Columbus. While the fourplex we had come to see was in great shape, it was truly, as Dusty put it, the diamond in the rough. All of its neighboring buildings had boarded up windows and doors, their walls were painted with graffiti art, and one was a burnt shell, gaped and sagging and exposed to the elements. Despite the obvious hazards in the neighborhood, people were outside of their homes drinking 40s, playing basketball, listening to music, and socializing with one another. Although it looks like it should be a dead neighborhood, lots of people are still living here, and they are doing it with spunk.

We found ourselves eating fried chicken in a nearby restaurant and talking about the risk of buying in this neighborhood. The fourplex we had come to see is fully occupied and freshly painted. All of its windows and doors are intact. The annual income from its tenants is $20,000, and while the current owners have kept it well-maintained, we couldn't justify buying a property that might meet the same fate as nearly all of its neighbors. We thought it might be fun to buy up the whole street and initiate a community rehabilitation project, but ultimately, we are green investors and still getting to know what possibilities there are for us. Buying up a whole street will have to wait a little while, until we have enough capital to play with. Until then, we will continue to look far into the future.

Ohio State University: First Thoughts

WOW -- this is definitely my first choice. Ohio State has the research and international opportunity that any serious anthropologist would die to get in on. The bustling campus has views of the Columbus skyline and the Olentangy River, and it's home to the state's favorite football team: the Buckeyes. Quickly becoming internationally known, OSU's acceptance rate is in the 55%-60% range, and the faculty are not just teaching students but also performing research and consulting throughout the world. I'd be crazy not to go to this school.

My Birthday Weekend

We spent my birthday at Indian Lake with Dusty's family, and

Listened to bird calls high in the treetops,

Skimmed the lake on a cousin's motor-boat, fresh air whipping my hair straight backward and drying my eyeballs faster than I could blink, 

Spotted fluffy baby ducklings with their mother, and herons standing tall and still in the channels beyond the lake, 

Sipped wine and chatted with all the relatives, 

Relaxed by the outdoor fire after dark in weather that was perfectly cool and bug-less. 

Ohio University: First Thoughts

The greater part of my yesterday was spent in Athens, a college town in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio. I listened politely to the sales pitch offered by Ohio University's faculty and students, while partaking of unlimited free coffee and tea. It was an impressive presentation, and by the end of the day I was convinced that OU would be a fine place for me to finish my Bachelor's Degree. It was easy to make my pros and cons list.


Pros:

• The campus architecture and landscaping is gorgeous, and the surrounding hills are comforting to me.
• The Anthropology department is similar in size to what I was accustomed to at UCCS.
• It is in a small town centered around the university economy. 

Cons:

• Dusty's job is 90 minutes away. 

Next weekend, I'll check out the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus. Then the University of Cincinnati the following week. 

Bishop Castle, Colorado

I'm moving this over from my photography blog in a design choice made to create a simpler atmosphere over there. Each post there will have just one photo. However, I just had too many of these pictures to ignore.

Armstrong Air & Space Museum

Yesterday we visited the Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio, the birthplace of Neil Armstrong (first man on the moon). Just inside the front door to the museum is a long hallway with pictures and credentials of astronauts born in Ohio. I was not surprised to learn that 24 astronauts consider Ohio their home state, including John Glenn. Ohio has given us many leaders and thinkers, sons and daughters of agriculture and industry who understand and appreciate the power of innovation and imagination. I feel another article coming on, but I'll save it for another day. This one's about the museum.

It is a small museum and not crowded at all. We had it all to ourselves minus the employees. We found our way through various displays depicting the earliest days of space travel. From the first science fiction stories by H.G. Wells about men traveling to the moon, to the launching of Sputnik by the Soviet Union (which spurned the Space Race with the United States), and finally culminating in a reverent space dedicated to Neil Armstrong's famous steps upon the moon. Included are his medals and awards, keys to various cities, trophies, newspaper clippings kept by his mother, and artwork donated from around the world, all together celebrating that historical moment that took place in the summer of 1969.

What was once taught to children in science class is now being taught as history.