Monday, February 26, 2007

The Apartment Experience... So Far

I've had my offer accepted on a cute little one bedroom on 88th and West End Avenue. I'm such a sucker for the Upper West Side, it's just so beautiful and quiet.

Finding an apartment is a weird process. And while I was lucky to have a knowledgeable agent to guide me through the process, it's still a strange market. And I'm not even close to being done with this home ownership journey.

For one, I have to get approved by the coop board. It's this unique twist on NYC real estate, that not only do apartments in Manhattan cost you a pretty penny, you have to be able to afford twice your apartment's value to buy a coop.

It's a bit silly, really, that I'm sprucing up my finances (and my resume) so my future neighbors will accept me into their little club. But such is life.

If this doesn't work, by the way, I'm springing for a condo.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Apartment!

Yay, I had my offer accepted.

I'm going to blog about the experience, since it's been consuming my free time...

Monday, February 19, 2007

Apartment Hunting

Is a big pain the ass...

More to come.

Friday, February 9, 2007

In News You've Already Heard

Anna Nicole Smith died. The fact that she died has been dominating the news-and-blog cycle since, well, she died.

So, I'll admit, it's a sad story. And I too am curious about the circumstances surrounding her death (although creepy and sadly disturbing facts seem to keep leaking out, which makes me less inclined to want to know more) But I am a little surprised as to the level of interest in the matter.

She's not a huge celebrity, as far as I can tell, her contribution to the world has been a marriage to a rich old guy and a painfully embarrassing reality tv show (and TrimSpa!) She's not of any real political importance. She's not even Paris Hilton - a person who is REALLY famous for being famous.

I wonder if it's this weird aspect of the human nature. Watching a human trainwreck - here's a woman who most definitely had her shit less together than anyone I know. I think the Schadenfreude was responsible for our (somewhat) riveted attention on her during her life, and as she died.

Or maybe the cult of celebrity worship has just gone too far. When Wolf Blitzer segueways from the Pentagon's intelligence on Al-Qaeda to the rumors surrounding a former Playboy Playmate, you could know something is a bit wrong. Other countries have their citizens standing in line for food, to take civil service exams, or even to buy gasoline. Here, we stand in line (and not always peacefully) to buy PlayStation 3s. (which suck anyway)