On the watching, or not, of fireworks

I went and saw, alone, Superman Returns this evening. Then I ate halfway decent Chinese food at one of the few places still open in Berkeley, and came home where I sit and type this entry, procrastinating the packing and other items that loom in front of me. Having returned from Seattle this past weekend I had over 4000 emails to download yesterday, today I have to start working my way through the real ones (about 1000 or so, many of which I have already dealt with).

And there are many people from Gnomedex I have to follow up with, more on Gnomedex at piecing IT together where I will also blog about my next projects. The MeshWalk on Sunday was a great success and I will also be blogging about that on MeshForum.

But more about the lack of fireworks. Or to be fair, not much more.

It is strange but for a while now, July 4th has been a special holiday for me, a time of friendships, a secular holiday, one that any American can celebrate and enjoy. For a while, it was also an aniversary for me, but not this year.

So this year there were no fireworks.

Tomorrow I start moving, packing, preparing, negotiating my second move this year and prepare to move into the fourth place I've called home in less than a year. A bit scary, but also exciting. My new place is pretty darn cool - much more about that in future posts - and I look forward to living there for a long time to come. But this week will be hard as I pack and move, while working on the many projects and ideas that sprouted while at Gnomedex.

A little bit about my new place - it is in Noe Valley in San Francisco, in a more residential area than I have lived in anytime in the past decade, so that will be an adjustment, but it is still quite near the Muni and some great cafes and restaurants. The place is technically a 1 bedroom, but has a lot of special features.

• A bedroom which will fit a king bed with much room to spare, has a walk-in close, and french doors to the living room
• A kitchen, partially updated, with space for a small eat in table and chairs, plus a gas stove, an older fridge and just a portable dishwasher, but overall a very functional room
• A large living room with a bay window, French Doors and some other great spaces
• A great sun room off the living room, a perfect space for a desk and reading chair, a space I'll use frequently

But it is the second closet, in the living room, that decided the apartment for me. In that closet is the best feature, a large spiral staircase that leads down to the "bonus" room. The bonus room has two windows (opaqued), hardwood floors, and a steel beam running the down the middle of the room. The space is about 25 x 30 (possibly larger, I'll measure it tomorrow) and is, in short, incrediable. A secret den, a workshop, an amazing media center, a recording studio, the potential uses are countless.

For the moment my plan is to use it as my library, to keep an air mattress there as a guest bed, and to set up my newly won xbox 360 there once I get a projector and screen. I'll then get some desks to place by the windows, couches and/or theater seats for the media spaces, and a large table to use as a work surface or game space, plus some benches and other seats.

In short, it will be my lair, the space where I, and I hope many others, work to build and create, play and laugh.

And I'll set up the upstairs to be a fully functional apartment, plenty of room in all of the rooms for everything I need, I'll probably set it up so you almost wouldn't guess about the extra space that lurks below the apartment...

So that's my fun for the week.

And if you are in San Francisco (or passing through) you have a place to stay if you need it, and this weekend if you are around, I'll probably hold a housewarming - contact me for the evite.