Monthly Archives: May 2008

Yesterday, a fellow blogger, Linda McLaughlin, wrote about the congestion in her area of California. It made me think about my area. My family moved from one New York borough to another way back when there was still land to buy and build on. Growing up back then was great - the streets were empty except for an occassional car or two - so we could walk or ride our bikes anywhere and everywhere. Homes were of decent sizes with property all around them. I mean room – ROOM. We had a pool and a swingset and still plenty of space for a barbecue and outdoor seating.

Now? Well, those larger homes are being thrown down. New homes are being built. New is good, I suppose. Most of the time. But not always. In many cases, one home is being demolished and four or more homes are being built on that one property. Each of those four or more miniscual homes are priced higher than the one large house that was destroyed. Property taxes are higher for each than a quarter of the original plot… and just imagine the parking situation and overcrowding in schools, supermarkets and banks!

Some areas don’t change much at all because they’ve already been over developed. Take for instance Brooklyn, New York. Over developed? Well, yes. Living is tight in many areas, but in one particular area of Brooklyn called Gravesend, a builder has made excellent use of a very small space – a space that was once used as… a driveway.

Now, tight living might not be for everyone, in fact I know it takes a certain mindset to live so close to other people, but you have to admit, this little house does indeed have a certain charm all its own.

Yes… that’s it, nestled in the center there.

It’s a one bedroom, one bathroom home that sits on a parcel of land measuring 113.67 feet long and 7.25 feet wide. Yes. You read that correctly. The interior of the house is just under 300 square feet.

Here’s the living room, looking toward the front of the house.

And the living room again, this time looking toward the back of the house.

Kitchen… WITH a washer and dryer.

Bedroom with the Murphy bed down…

Same bedroom with Murphy bed retracted…

A wonderful feature to this home is the patio space out back. Here it is looking toward the front of the house…

And the patio again looking toward the back…

The listed features of this home include a tumbled stone entrance walk, 2 satellite dishes and receiver, a window air conditioner and built-ins in the bedroom.

And all of this charming space is available for the low price of…. ready? ….hang on… it’s a bargain…

$179,900!

Ahhh. Where else can you find such a charming and reasonably priced claustrophobic living space? I’ll tell you this, the next time I complain about congestion and tight quarters, I’m going to have another look at these photos.

BookEnds‘ agents Jessica Faust and Kim Lionetti blog daily. Their blog from Friday, May 2nd asked the question – Why do you blog?

I answered this way -

“I blog for a couple of reasons – getting my name out there is one, and actually it’s the reason I started blogging. But the more I do it, the more enjoyable it becomes. So reason number two for me with blogging is fun. I also like ‘talking’ to other people this way. And finally, it’s like any other workout, the more you do it, the stronger you become. I’m working my creative muscle by blogging. It’s my warmup for the day. I get feedback, which I love, and most of all, I get new words on a page. ”

I realize my original reason for blogging – or for wanting to learn how to blog – was to do it because everyone else seemed to be doing it. It was the ‘in’ thing. As a pre-published writer, I felt it was important to keep up and to participate – and to get my name out there for when I get “the call”.

As a writer, I’m used to my private little world. I like my space and don’t mind being called a loner. Of course, that’s not what I am. I do like people. It’s just that my characters are such fun to play with that I don’t always want to leave them behind. And so, blogging seemed to be a way to connect without having to push my writing to the side for any great length of time. And now that blogging has become such a fun (and addictive) thing to do, my characters benefit. I warm up here and then I’m primed and ready to run with the story they want me to write for them.

And so now I pose these questions to you – Why do you blog? And is your reason for blogging different now than it was when you started?