Yes, I knew that my favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut died yesterday. I was actually pretty bummed when I heard it on the morning news. Really, I was. Kazak, on the other hand, appears unfazed. Even when I told him that the creator of his namesake died. He just looked at me and shoved his snout into my hand so that I'd pet him. Otherwise, no reaction.

I'm always "embarrassed" that I don't read books much anymore. I used to read and read and read when I was younger, prior to hitting high school and college, and now my life's work. I guess, you know, it's a little tougher to read a book when I've been reading all day long. But boy, I used to read and read and read. That's what happens when your protective parents don't let you leave the house at all hours of the day or every evening.

Anyway...I got sidetracked. It's pretty amazing, because I remember the first Vonnegut book I read was "Slapstick," and I really wasn't that much a fan of it. But I guess somewhere between the "Why don't you take a flying fuck at a rolling donut; why don't you take a flying fuck to the moooooooon!" quote and the absurd and weird science fiction imagination of Vonnegut, I retained a desire to read more of his work. Especially after we had to read "The Sirens of Titan." That book sold me, and then some. It still remains my all-time favorite book. Bar none--granted, it's a smaller pool than many, but still.

Now, I've not read everything Vonnegut has written, but I've read a decent portion. None (except Cat's Cradle and Timequake come close) approach Sirens of Titan. All three of which I'm a big fan of because of the unbridled, unexplained imagination that Vonnegut shows in these books...I read the books and think to myself, "That's a cool concept/being/possibility...why didn't I think of imagining that first?" Which, that in and of itself, is a very Vonnegut thing to say. Really, Vonnegut has philosophically altered some parts of the way I think, in my humble opinion. I'm not some Vonnegut-crazed nut who lives by his humanist ideals or anything like that. But, I will say that I can say that his writings have really kind of philosophically impacted me, my way of thinking, and probably parts of my personality too.

Stephen King, though I read a LOT of his stuff, never did that to me. Dean Koontz, another author I really liked for a while, never did that. In fact, no other author has had that effect.

So, Vonnegut will be missed, surely. I'm glad I got to see him speak in person at NU that one time...I remember him being pretty hilarious. But I do have some reading to catch up on, and at least now I know that I have a limited library to work through over time. There will be no further additions to that collection.

So it goes.

Back to the grind...
Rented a tent, a tent, a tent.
Rented a tent, a tent, a tent.
Rented a tent, rented a tent.
Rented a rented a tent.

I CANNOT pass up sharing this: www.gomeat.com.

"We like lunchmeat yes we do. We like lunchmeat how 'bout you!?"

Hillshire.
Farm.
Go Meat!

OK, well, apparently I'm healed. I should return to normal programming shortly.

So, I guess it's pretty much "official" now--meaning I pretty much can't jinx it at this point (I hope)...so I can post photos of the house we're buying now. Although it kind of defeats the "surprise" of coming to the housewarming party and all. But still, I'm so damned excited about getting this house that I have to share some of the excitement. Check it out:

This is the front of the house, obviously. As you can see, it's a nice, wide, low-profile Chicago bungalow. Doesn't have stained glass in the front, but I haven't seen many (if any) flat-front bungalows that do. You almost ALWAYS find that on octagon-front bungalows though. Small sacrifice to make, honestly. You also can kind of see in this picture that the roof on the right side is dormered out, so the upstairs is finished and HUGE.

Next is the back of the house, again, obviously. You can see from this shot a few things. One, the back porch is completely finished...and it's actually part of the kitchen (eat-in area to the left, where the windows are, HUGE kitchen to the right where the doors are). More on that in a minute. This pic doesn't do justice to the yard's size (compared to typical bungalow sizes, not compared to Kim and Nick's yard, which is huge for a Chicago lot--for those never-been-Chicago-homeowners on the list). The yard is a good size. You'll notice the "carport" to the left...see the light blue thing. That is, indeed, a hot tub. No idea if it works or if we'll even keep it. If we do, the makeshift carport has to be replaced.

Finally, the piece de resistance, or however you spell it. The freakin' kitchen. Need I say ANYTHING about this kitchen? This shot is taken with the backyard to the right, from the eat-in area. We would not find another kitchen anything remotely like this one in a bungalow, let alone in our price range. Couple this with the rest of the house (which, mind you, does need some reasonable--and some serious--TLC), and really, it shot up the list really fast at the price we wanted. Had the price not come down, this house would have been out. But the kitchen, from Day One, sold us. Yes, that's a professional range/oven and hood, complete with convection oven, four burners, a griddle and a grill all built in. Just call me Chef Andy.

Aside from these things, I can't explain to you how unbelievably excited I am about this house. Yes, it needs work. Yes, it's going to cost money. But I am ready and willing to do what it takes to make this home unbelievable for me and my future family. I love Chicago bungalows. And I can't express, honestly, how much I'm excited about this house. It's so very much the type of bungalow I wanted (without fully knowing--it's the kind of thing where "you'll know when you see it"). And I'm so psyched.