Condo Beginnings
In which we allow people to bash holes in our new home, watch a very large plane land, and wonder about Aquaman’s stretchy leg.
Well, we went and did it. Just a couple of days after arriving in Maryland last week we closed on the purchase of a condo. But we won’t be living there just yet.
We found out about the place and its backstory before it went on the market so managed to snag it at a good price. The condo had sat unoccupied for several years after the previous owners went through a somewhat acrimonious divorce. Notice I said ‘unoccupied’ and not ‘empty.’ It turned out one of the former occupants was something of a hoarder and the condo was full of what could only be termed as ‘stuff.’ Lots of stuff. It took them several weeks to clear it out, and they were still moving things out when we did our final walk-through just a couple of hours before closing. But amazingly they did get everything out.
What we ended up buying was what we wanted, a downtown location, and a great space. It has been neglected and needs a lot of work done to it, but that was all factored into our decisions, both emotional and financial.
When we visited the afternoon after closing the space didn’t feel like it was ours, there was no real sense of ownership even though we had the keys in our hands.
But the demo work to start the renovation kicked off this week and it's going great so far. It may seem strange but the moment we saw that the kitchen and bathroom had been completely emptied and a hole opened up between them so the contractors could reroute some of the plumbing - that’s the moment it started to feel like it was really our place.
All signs of the previous owners have been wiped away and we now have a blank slate on which to develop a new home. We are looking forward to seeing how it all comes together over the coming weeks.
Alan
Other Stuff
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Brabazon Bits
In an excellent example of serendipitous timing a few days ago, the BBC Archives posted a video of the Brabazon’s arrival at London Airport in June 1950. I just happened to have mentioned that exact event in the chapter I was revising that very evening.
Thanks to all the folks who sent me messages to let me know about the BBC post. I was also amazed by the number of comments the post had, at the time of writing it was over 500 - an indication that the Brabazon’s story still resonates and generates (often very passionate) reactions.
Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2024 - “A Guest In The House” by Emily Carroll.
A compelling graphic novel that draws you into the mind and emotions of its central character while gradually building tension, and a sense of impending horror, before hitting you with an ending I didn’t see coming as fantasy meets reality.
Carroll uses a full range of techniques in graphic design from basic stark black and white to full intense color on swirling pages full of intricate design motifs, sometimes merging the two as different aspects of the narrative intersect.
This was a powerful read that will stay with me for a while.
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Bond Briefings
In the latest edition of our James Bond Lexicon newsletter, we discuss recent encounters with the numbers, 0, 0 and 7.
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Before They Were Beatles Updates
The latest issue of the Before They Were Beatles newsletter in which we take a sidebar and look at the history of the Liverpool suburbs that John, Paul, & George called home.
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Weekly Web Round-Up
The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues this week with the foreign editions from March 1969 published in Brazil
This month featured another interesting reconstruction of a Justice League cover by the publisher’s local Brazilian artist. Taking the original cover concept from June 1961’s Justice League of America #5, it has been flipped and the characters rearranged. The thing that keeps drawing my eye on this version is Aquaman’s leg which seems to be stretched as if he’s trying to emulate Plastic Man!
Where on the Web is Alan?
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See you next time
Alan J. Porter
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