We live above the freeway: how can we cultivate quiet?
My husband and I are about to apply for an apartment. It’s almost perfect! Except for the interstate being a stone’s throw from the balcony. Are there any non-damaging but permanent ways to help keep our apartment relatively quiet and calm?
My unglamorous life in an artist’s loft
The loft was 1500 wide open square feet, shaped like an L. Rent was about the same as what we’d been paying for our studio, which is to say relatively affordable considering the space, but perhaps not when you consider the lack of kitchen, bathroom, and heat. It was cavernous, freezing, and filthy. WE WERE IN. We would live the dream!
Make surreal video lemonade of the lemons of noisy neighbors
So this one time, the condo beneath ours was completely gutted and remodeled, with heavy construction for a couple weeks. The construction guys listened to a lot of Russian pop while they worked. Hours and hours of it. At a certain point, it got so ridiculous that I had to capture it. No tape deck, so I used my camera…but then I had to figure out something to fill the screen with while recording the ridiculous music. This very odd video was the result. Obviously, audio is key — and patience doesn’t hurt.
The easiest, lowest-investment neighborhood improvement you can make: eyeball graffiti
I am a sucker for googly eyes. I keep buying them. FOR NO REASON. When I pass them in an aisle I black out, only coming to as I walk out of the store, several packs of googly eyes in my bag.
Finally, I have a use for them: eyebombing.
How to make bank with yard sales
My husband and I are getting ready to move into a smaller space with our son — right now we’re renting a house, but are going back to an apartment soon. This is all part of a bigger plan to downsize our living space and therefore our possessions, and it’s one that we’re really excited about.
This was our first garage sale, and we were NOT prepared for the singular anxiety and crazy-making that comes hosting a yard sale. Luckily, we pulled it off, and here’s how.
Starting conversations about inequality in finding a home
In the recent foreclosure crisis in the United States, a disproportionate amount of women and racial minorities were the victims of subprime loans and mortgages with adjustable interest rates — statistics that speak to inequality in housing. For Anita Hill, there is a “sense of belonging that comes from being at home” – so what happens when one is without a home? Reimagining Equality reveals that these biases are historic in the American construction of what “home” means.
My door is open: why I’m pretty public online about my home
Rockethaus is pretty public. I run two blogs dealing specifically with homes, I tweet pretty much all the time, and I am also a normal Young Professional living in America. A LOT of my life happens online, publicly, where other people have access to it, even people I don't know terribly well. We talk about parties, problems, events, and projects, and we do a lot of it completely in the open. My mom would argue that it's dangerous for people to know where I live and what my habits are, but I prefer to think it's part of community building.
Eavesdropping: one of the many joys of city living
Our condo faces onto a courtyard, and when the windows are open there’s definitely a little Melrose Place action that happens. We hear neighbors coming and going, having sex, spanking each other, etc. It’s always entertaining.
We can also hear the callbox at the front gate. Monday night, this is what Dre and I heard, as we sat on the couch staring each other silently with wide eyes that said, “Don’t start laughing! They’ll hear you!”