D E S I G N /// ck

I've recently become obsessed with 70s era rangefinder cameras. I want to be able to manually focus and adjust settings, but I don't want to lug around this:


Watching Colleen lug her SLR around Chicago did not make me itch to get one. Why isn't there a simple, small manual camera? There is, if you like film. Something like this:


Yes! But do I want to go back to film? I'm considering it, especially because you can get one of these in good shape for $50 on eBay. But what about a digital version? You'd think the camera companies would be making them, but all you can find are bulky SLRs and tiny point-and-shoots, with nothing in between. With notable exception of Leica (cue my drooling) with their M8:


But I'm not looking to spend several thousand dollars. So what can I do? Nothing, for now, but it looks like the camera companies are finally paying attention to this huge design gap:



This is a beautiful concept design from Olympus. Sign me up.

I remember this Sesame Street skit vividly from when I was a kid. Probably because I was rolling on the ground laughing in our old living room in Elkins. It still made me laugh today. Genius.

I wonder if this is how Americans look in foreign countries trying to read out of English-to-Whatever dictionaries?

Our house is safe enough to occupied by human beings, according to the City of Knoxville. Which we will do post-haste, as soon as the bank appraises its value (which is happening at noon).

The "POD" with all our stuff is getting dropped off tomorrow, and Mr. Davis is bringing the dogs and a washer and dryer up from Franklin. So the family will all be back together tomorrow (if I can pry the cats from Cullin's love/hate relationship with them).

Now it's almost over. Just the paperwork and all the mortgage stuff to process. It doesn't quite seem real yet. I've built so many houses, some of which I poured a lot of passion into, and always finished up and then someone else lived in them. I feel like some client will just take this one, then on to the next project for me.

But no! This is our home. Alice and I are just wrapping our minds around that. Maybe it will sink in when we sleep in it for the first time on Friday night. I'll let you know.

Update: The appraisers came today and got the information they needed. This was the last major hurdle before we can move in! Feel free to come and help us move in tomorrow if you're in Knoxville. Now I want to move in tonight, but I'll have to be patient until there's a bed for me there.

I'm at the office waiting for my final payment from the pant to finish this house up. Today is the final day of work. I have to lay the brick sidewalk and paint various surfaces today. Alice took the day off and we're gonna stay up late until it's done. The final inspection should go this afternoon or tomorrow morning, followed shortly by the bank appraiser. All our documentation is in, so after the appraisal it's sit back and let the mortgage process and then close. "Sit back" is not quite it- we also have to move in and unpack, and get ready for the family who are coming down to break in the house with Thanksgiving next week. So, busy- but after today starting to slow down to some semblance of normal life. I hope.

I'm in the office this morning trying to keep my current project going forward, but in reality I'm lucky to get 25 hours a week in here. The rest of my time is spent tying up the millions of loose ends I'm swamped with at the house. Now I have all the little stuff to get together, all the half hour projects that add up to days and days of work to get a house "finished". Sigh...

I've uploaded some photos of the progress to Facebook, because it's easier to upload them directly with the FB widget (you need to catch up and make an iPhone widget, Blogger!) than to put them here right now. So if you're my "friend" go there and check it out.

In other news, I early voted last week. So today is the day to see how it'll all turn out. I think both men would do a good job (I'm just glad my choice wasn't between Hilary and Mitt), but in the end I took a chance. I won't say here, but let's say I helped make sure Cullin owes me a steak dinner.*

*back in the primaries, Cullin assured me Obama didn't stand a chance. So we did what any gentlemen would do- we bet on it.