Well, no Snivel today, but if you want to see what I spent two hours typing today instead of that, please do read this.

A u g u s t 21

Oh, with the sudden realization (manifested as concerned e-mail and expectant conversations) that probably some closure would be a good footnote to my last Snivel, I shall assure you all that I ultimately I did indeed get the freak place all figured out. The girl who wanted the cool large room with the big bay windows dropped out of the race, so it's mine all mine, and at the original, lower, price no less. I just dropped $500 into the very welcoming hands of the girl with the lease, which was of many mixed feelings for me, but largely I just felt relief at this state of finally knowing where, how, and with whom, I shall live.
I am, and was, terrified, but I figure this would be the reaction I'd have no matter where I move, and am hoping there is no particular aversion in my gutty-wutties to this accomodation. I don't think so.. in a lot of ways I'm really excited. And in the end, since I couldn't spend my money on big shiny things anyway, better that I dispense with it and the accompanying tempation (at least... until the next big whopping paycheck I got Wednesday... $728 shiny dollars... all mine, and yet, so unreachable), and get myself a place to live while I'm at it.

I'm still not sure I'll be there for too terribly long, but this is entirely related to how much I end up liking it, so hopefully it will be as fun as it seems. I expect this weekend I'll drop by and paint my room, while at the same time coughing up the rest of my rent. I guess I'm still sort of uncertain about the arrangement. It may not be at all as happily communal as I would like to think of things as -- just because of how many people will in fact be living there.

Unfortunately, I was at a concert last night, which means I was on my feet for many straight hours, and even the crowded bus home was no relief, as I stood up all the way back to dratted Kanata (all I could think was, "If I were living downtown, I'd be asleep already!"), whereupon I walked home for an hour in my beloved, but pain-inducing, boots, which I haven't worn in -- oh -- two months, and it was this fact that amplified the pain and blistering I feel by at least two bloody (come, see the swelling!) factors. The other thing is that I have to go to work, and I'm exhausted and grumpy and feeling unwell about certain issues of my life that presented themselves to me last night, so I must depart now.

Expect much more in the way of whining tomorrow.

A u g u s t 18

In a way it both smacks of potential, but turned around that also means it's a little... skanky is the word I end up using, but.

There are a lot of good ideas for the place, and there aren't any bugs or anything, and I think after a month or two it might be downright cozy and happy. If nothing else, there's no lease, so I could leave if I hated it. My only gripe is that the room I really wanted was being vied for by this girl who was there as well. It's a nice, large, open room, with lots of big windows and weird angles so that it's not really squarish. Almost oval-shaped, but with corners. But she really wanted it, and I wasn't going to get into a fight over a room, so the settlement tentatively reached is that she'll pay $350 for that room (originally $325) and I'd pay $300 for my room, which is this less excellent, smaller, rectangular room with no windows (they're going to add one for me... it's there, but it was sealed up for privacy-sex-place reasons, and there's an air conditioner) and flourescent lights, that are apparently leaving also. And she's only staying for six months, meaning that if I'm still there, I get first dibs on it. If she decides to stay longer, then I still get it.

So.

My only gripe is that once I reasonably if sulkily settled for the smaller room, she was still like, "So, do I still have to pay $350?" because she's kind of worried about money and stuff, and it just seemed like the obvious solution is, if you aren't sure about how much money you can spend, and you're only going to be there six months, just take the smaller stinkin' room. Bleah. My inner Rob was venting with a mighty "Grrrr.." but the civilized, deferrant Rob sat quietly and mildly stewed. We'll see.

One of the reasons I'm thinking about it is that I like the idea of the place, it's central, and my friend Tara is probably moving there as well. I like Tara a lot, but we don't hang out much, being friends more in the on-line chat sense. But she's a great person, and she has taste, and she knows half the people who will be in the house (including the very ambitious goth named Lesleigh who took out a lease on a fourteen bedroom building), so if she and her boyfriend take it, I probably will as well. At least as a stepping stone to somewhere neater.

As plan B, we were thinking of just all getting a house together-like. The difficulty right now is that Tara just bought a gigantic canopy bed, and the ceilings in the upstairs apartment are a bit low. They're renting out the top (third, I think) floor with a friend of theirs, because he and Tara's boyfriend are DJ types and they have all this equipment that they want to protect with extra locks (all the doors to all the bedrooms will have locks, to add security, because not everybody knows each other, and that's an awful lot of trust to have for as many as 13 or 14 virtual strangers). Tara wants to see if she can convince the friend to give up his larger room and trade with them, so that their things will fit. If this happens, or if they can fit her bed into the room they have set up right now, then I'll move in too. But I admitted to her that very likely I would think twice if she didn't, because I know no one else in the whole building (though Lesleigh knows me by sight and reputation on account of her friendship with Tara, and my sexy gothy friend Sean. She even knew all about my Super-Villains thing. She has a lot of the posters in her room, which is flattering... and she breeds tarantulas, which is just a cool ass thing to do).

I admit right now I'm desperate. Like, I probably wouldn't even be considering it normally, but I'm just tired of the whole thing. And I like the idea of living with all of these cool freaky types, and I can put up with a smallish room, since it's about the size of my room now, without the closet space (unfortunately). Anyway, it's an ambitious project, and didn't give me the impression of a student slum at all. Something kind of communal about it, and while I'm not wow-geeing over that specifically, I think it's a nice way for people to get along, and there are going to be people of all talents moving in, and they all aim to contribute in some way (carpenters, baking types, and even a seamstress is moving in).

They're actually going to be opening up a club there, which is keen. There's this gigantic hall, which right now is dubbed "God's living room" (all the rooms will have names in the end, but right now the house is just cordoned off into named sections, like "The Front," (where I'd be) "Tiny Town" (smaller, cheaper rooms for the poorer, younger freaks), and so on.) which is soundproofed because it used to house raves, and now will be used for goth/industrial gigs on Fridays and Saturdays. It will be unlicensed in the liquor sense (too much hassle, especially with minors living in the house), but legitimate in the taxation and health inspection sense. Which is a cool idea. And they're implementing super mega cable avec zillions of unusual channels in the common living room area, and even free necessities like toilet paper, just because there will be extra money around.

So.. it could either work out really well, or be terrible. The key factor will be how well everyone gets along, and if there are any troublemakers or slobs (Tara's boyfriend is going to be cleaning the entire house regularly in exchange for reduced rent, which while I'm clean for my own purposes just means I can live free of other people's messes), and so on. Fortunately with such an open-ended condition on residence, the baddies can be forced out.

It's also way super downtown. I could walk to school in thirty or forty minutes if I had to (an easy walk for me, who is used to more arduous journeys in Kanata, where buses stop running quite early), or take a ten or fifteen minute bus ride to Carleton, and to get to work all I need to do is walk ten minutes to the bus stop on Albert and essentially be able to wake up an hour later than normal.

It also just means that with such low rent, I can afford a few luxuries, like my own phone line, and things like a VCR, and maybe a small fridge. I'm still not set on it, and if Broken can get her student loan this year, we'll probably get a different place, but presently I'm really tired of looking, I've found a place I will probably like quite well, and in the end I'm not tied to any contracts if I hate it.

Still, it's a neat way to interact with people for the first time out on one's own... like residence, but with privacy on demand. Tara insists that she would be barging in frequently, but as I enjoy attention to an almost insatiable degree, I think that would be swell by most of my worldly standards.

Brought to you by Jolt Cola, with
the buzzing and mild irritation of
caffeine induced paranoia.

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