Got to have a little power outage last night -- probably wind-related -- a taste of the Red Dawn to come. It was kind of fun to set up the candles, inverter, headlamps, dominos, etc.

It creates a new kind of camradre in the household, goes well with the previous car-related feelings that lean me towards feeling like Westhaven is home.

And now, some borat:

So I was looking at this old rusty Toyota, an '83 pickup with an improbably low 80,000 miles on it. That's nothing for one of those little suckers. It's a bit beat up and has some funked up parts as you might expect, but it runs real good. I was excited for a bit, but now I'm thinking not so much. It's just not enough car for $1,800.

I probably won't go for this one, but the process of checking it out seems to have flipped my switch for car ownership. I think I'm ready to take the plunge. The question is whether or not I go cheap and quick -- because there's a limit to how long I can spongue off my roommates for rides and I don't have a lot of extra capital atm -- or hold out until I have a little iron money in my pocket and get something nicer, more reliable, more interesting to drive.

I'll be looking...

Thoughts in no particular order:

• Would like a light pickup. Something no bigger than old shifty, last summer's road trip rig. Good combo of hauling, sleepability, etc.
• Would like something diesel, though that costs and limits options quite a bit.
• Would like a manual transmission.

The real important thing is that I get something that runs, that can make the trip to SF and back, and that gets decent gas mileage. The rest is fluff, as this is a one year car I think; something to keep me going around here while I decide whether or not it's worth it to buy a real rig.

And so another week begins. I've got to get back into the autobio practice (what this is trying to return to) so I'll recap my weekend. I want to be a little careful and intentional here, as I'm trying to walk a couple of lines:

• No a secret diary -- the original genesis of this whole thing was to open up my life a bit more and to lift up my conduct and being all around, not to have a place where I write things instead of saying them. It's a easy slip to have this be a substitute for more immediate expression, rather than the poetical mass-communication and aspiration I want it to be.
• Don't burn people -- I've gone over the general concept of what stories are mine to tell and what aren't, usually in the context of "kissing and blogging," but trying to get back into autobiographical writing means being careful about what I say about other people. I've already done things like remove old posts about friends who've become lawyers and have questionable google results because of something i wrote in 2002.
• Keep it interesting -- while I've got a certain confidence in the palatability of the reality-TV equivalent of blogging, I don't want to tumble down some hallway of self-obsession and inward-looking myopia. Intriguing introspection is the ideal; don't want to run off my little readership with a bunch of pathetic navel-gazing.

Anyway, enough disclaimer. This is an evolution. Let's get started. 1500+ words after the jump.

We've been cleaining house up here in Westhaven. Kelly made the call and put in new living room carpet while I was in NYC. It was old and the house used to be more filt-oriented than it is now, so the replacement was much needed. The new stuff is cheap (5-year plan calls for hardwood) but it's clean and springy, and even more importantly it meant removing all the stuff that was in there and then not putting all of it back. Space is nice. It's a very zen place now: fresh paint job, one couch, Franklin stove, area rug, turntables/sterio and a TV. All grown up, it feels.

Last night I did a final unpack and clean of my room -- been living with boxes from Brooklyn for too long. For the first time since 2003 I don't have a storage locker or a bunch of stuff stashed with friends. It's a nice feeling, having a solid home base.

So in addition to cleaning and getting rid of boxes, I hung up stuff on the walls, did a little closet organizing, started a bookshelf. My next big move is building a bed. Right now I'm sleeping on a full mattress on top of a queen box, which looks a little funny and isn't the most comfortable. My feet hang off the edge a bit and there's no under-bed storage.

The plan is to loft something up and do it all custom like I had back in High School. I'm looking forward to it.

I suspect the building of the bed will be a psychological milestone of sorts (obvious implications, you pervs), as it will be a strong foot-plant and a permanent mark on the purple room where I live. We'll see how it all pans out, but at a minimum I'll enjoy having something bespoke to sleep on.