Betterness by Kawika Holbrook

Boy in the Bubble

Have you heard? Real estate, baby. "Investments can't go bad. It'll make you rich. You'll regret it if you don't do it. It looks expensive but is really not." The new dotcom boom feels like the dotcom bubble. Scares me stupid. The average house in San Jose costs 35 times what it would cost to rent for a year. We bought a place that, if forced to because of a bubble burst like 2000, we could live in for a decade or more. I can't get over the idea that you never really pay off a mortgage until your ready to retire. What if the polar ice caps flood the coasts? (Yes, this is how I really think about these things.)

Redefining the UN, Terrorism

Overhauling the UN: "We will not enjoy development without security, we will not enjoy security without development, and we will not enjoy either without respect for human rights," Kofi Annan said. Nice words. I wonder if this definition will help the UN take action or merely mire it in more debate: "...any action constitutes terrorism if it is intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organisation to do or abstain from doing any act."

Commentathon

My friend Greg is preparing for his second "Commentathon" to raise money to fight the cancer that took his wife and my friend Cheryl. I owe $200 to the cause. Actually, I owe much, much more. A blog entry, the quality and quantity of which have been lacking for years, is my start.

Bet's over. Honor must be served.

I am posting an email from my friend Dave. We had a bet. I lost. Twice. The email makes me sad for a variety of reasons. I could try to explain why, except that Dave explains it better in the email than I can right now. The bet will be honored. And I have some hard work to do.

***
Howdy,

A couple action items for you:

1) The bet is over. Send $200 to the Cancer Society. In memory of Cheryl and in continued best wishes for Martha and Minako.

2) I'm changing domains. Please change all references from www.pander.us to www.soundofwaves.com in your blog.

Now, some supplementary commentary:

It's taken me a while to call the bet due, because I've been really conflicted about contacting you. On the one hand, I'm really disappointed in you to the point of being somewhat hurt. Not because you lost, but because you promised me you would take the bet seriously when we reset it to double or nothing. I specifically warned you not to do this unless you were serious. You may remember I get a stiff neck about things like this: Do not make hollow promises to me. I know you are busy, what with the house and moving and all, but perhaps that would have been a good reason to evaluate whether you really could commit to the bet?

On the other hand, I have now completed fifty-three paintings, and a handful of other things. So for me, the bet was a good impetus to get my ass in gear. Now that it is, I'm spending an hour or so each day drawing or painting. But you know what? My joy in getting to this point has been rather spoiled by the notion that you didn't keep up. Yes, I know it's my problem, but there you are.

In any event, this has left a bitter taste in my mouth. The damn thing is that I like you a lot Kawika, but your flakiness pisses me off.

Give my best to Jenny,

Dave

Tuned In, Turned On, Ticked Off

I'm sitting in an empty house, listening to my iPod, waiting for Comcast to bring us the wonderful world of this "tele-vision" (abbreviated TV, I hear). I've spent the past hour asking for our water to be turned on, garbage to be collected, power to flow, and bills to change direction.

Comcast was able to install internet (yes, I spell it with a lowercase "i" because I don't think it's proper that it be owned by anyone) last week but not TV. Why? Because. That's all I really know.

I'm sure there's a service out there that promises to get your utilities up and running without making you lift a finger. I, however, have been lifting my finger a lot lately. Can you guess which one?

Comcast, in particular, seems intent on paying nice phone reps to apologize for disconnected contractors. They've offered me discounts. Then they've billed me $414 for disconnecting service I wanted transfered. And so on. A half dozen calls so far.

One week ago, a nice person asked me to wait at home between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. for TV to arrive through a cable. Ten minutes remain before I have I sigh loudly and call again.

Audio Upstarts

"Radio pissed on their own product and then cluttered it up." BusinessWeek dogpiles on broadcasters , which we all like to do, and highlights how podcasting and digital technology are helping ordinary people and upstart enterprises bypass an entire industry.