9.8.08 | The setting is a small auditorium space near the center of São Paulo, Brazil. Men and women in suits are chatting as seated participants untangle their language translation headsets. A projection screen glows with the U.S. Green Building Council logo in front of the table arranged for panelists. The flags on formal flagpoles stand at attention in the corner, reminding me of the Brazilian love affair with bureaucratic measures.

9.8.08 | Living on one level has its advantages, certainly for an “aging in place scenario, but not for efficient hot water delivery. Contractors, bless their hearts, have not a lick of sense when it comes to the logistics of daily living. Consequently, our water heater had been installed at the extreme southeast corner of the house and the two frequently used bathrooms were way off in the opposite corners. 

9.1.08 | I have been slapped in the face by globalization. I can’'t say I wasn’'t warned: my next-door neighbor told me all I would find in Arizona were the “5 C’s”: Cattle, Citrus, Climate, Copper and Cotton. And he was, unfortunately, right on.

8.18.08 | Every cheesy teenage “slasher” movie includes the same scene: the victim opens the attic door and peers into the blackness. What lurks within is evil and she knows it – but she ventures up the stairs nonetheless. Fool.