Home is where the loved ones are

[reposted from alt.poly]

Today, I move through my apartment, saying goodbye-and-Goodwill to
things I don't mind parting with. Then I take up that first string of
belongings, that stuff that has managed to make it through countless
cullings over the last few years, and put it into boxes and bins. I
will slap little tags on the boxes to tell myself where the things will
go, which is an exercise in optimism, because really, they have no home
right now, my things.

I know people without homes. I see more that I don't know every day. I
know that it's not out of the realm of possibility that some day I will
not have a home.

I do have a home, though. I may not have a next-apartment lined up. I
may not have a place to put these things, short of finding a place by
the end of the month or renting storage, but I have a place to be. I
have several places. I have a love in San Leandro who will not let me
sleep in my car. I have a love in Santa Rosa, likewise. And I have
friends who love me and will not let me fall. So I may not have a next
house, but I do have a home. I do. It's wherever the people who love
me are, and there are lots of them.

I am rich. So, so rich.

(no subject)

In response to a comment by the_ogre, I listed some off-the-top-of-my-head desires for our new place. I've refined the list, and I'm not friends-locking this one, because you never know who will read stuff and have some ideas of how to accomplish stuff.

I want to live in Berkeley, preferably within walking distance of the Ashby BART and Berkeley Bowl. However. I'm also looking for work (I'm a secretary-type creature) and if I get a job somewhere else (the current best possibility is on Market Street in SF), then I want to live walking distance from *there* if possible. So what we're doing is I'm looking for work (the Market Street place is supposed to call early this week, and I've put in tons of resumes and stuff) and if I don't have work by the time we go up on the 13th, I'll sign up with temp services in both the East Bay and Santa Rosa (where sogwife lives), and look for apartments in both areas (Sebastopol is a possibility, but still, I have a feeling we'll end up in Berkeley unless I get work in the North Bay).

Our apartment requirements:

Our really-truly upper limit for rent is $1100, but cheaper is better (If I get some truly fly job between now and then, we might adjust that)
Our only non-negotiable requirement in a place is that it be in a neighborhood with lots of cool stuff in walking distance -- we walk a lot, and it's our main form of entertainment
Being within a short walk of the BART is a huge plus, and almost a requirement.
An accessible apartment would make a lot of other things secondary; I would greatly prefer it if stonebender could come to my home. I will pout if he can't.
We prefer 2 bedrooms but do fine in 1 or even a very large studio; the bedroom has to fit a king-sized bed
We prefer washer/dryer hookups but do fine without them
Given a choice between a large bedroom and more living room space to have people over, we choose the latter
We don't really care if we have a dishwasher or microwave, but a garbage disposal is pretty important.
Cool neighbors would of course be wonderful, but unless one of y'all lives next door, we can hardly guarantee that, can we? :-)

(no subject)

Words I love to hear:

"Is there any more of that tofu stuff?"

:-)

(Tofu frozen, thawed, crumbled, and simmered in homemade barbecue sauce and onions, served with baked potatoes and salad. I love weekends because I get to cook all day for two days straight. Maybe tonight I'll play with my first package of puff pastry.)