Emchap's Shit from the Internet 10/20/21 đ
This week, I went to my first-ever HOA meeting, which as a former âtoo many clubsâ high school student, was very exciting. It ended with me being on the paperwork committee (along with the other Emily who lives in my building), because of course it did. Iâm looking forward to learning how condo building taxes work.
When I bought this place, I had (along with the more standard-issue condos) been looking at co-living communities. Co-living, also known as âthat thing that was nice until WeWork got ahold of it,â involves some degree of communal living plus additional private spaces. Typically (at least in the USâit may be different in whatever Scandinavian country it originated from) that means that thereâs a shared common house with a gym or yoga room, a big kitchen, and social or meeting spaces; often thereâs communal guest lodging. But then thereâs also just your normal condo units, and people live in those but actively participate in the life of the community.
It is to some extent a larger, more formalized version of my last living situation in the bungalow-hood, where my across-the-driveway neighborâs possession of a vacuum with an extender attachment meant that I never needed to buy one for the three times a year I needed to get at cobwebs, and where we all watched each otherâs cats and hung out in the driveway on the weekends.
But all the co-living units I saw were inconveniently located, or sold immediately, and so instead I bought my current place, which is in a self-managed condo building of nine units. (Which is sort of co-living that isnât into astrology. We have no yoga room, but we do have a shared storage unit of creepy ladders!) The HOA meeting was the first time Iâd met most of my neighbors, and it was nice to put faces to names. I learned that one likes the same session lager that I do and that in at least some of the other units there are picture rails in the living room; I discovered which unit owner is the one all the other ones make slight fun of for being crotchety. (I did also learn that the basement is overall his domain, so I guess heâs king of the ladder closet.)
When I bought the place, a friend joked that in six months Iâd be running the HOA. I did learn that our HOA president (also on the paperwork committee, shoutout nerds) is not running for re-election next year, so who knows. Perhaps I can build us all a shared kitchen.
Shit to read
I am currently reading Paul Carrâs first novel (after being a fan of his non-fiction work for years) and am really enjoying it. Itâs a thriller set in San Francisco written by someone who actually knows how large tech companies work, making it fun instead of grating.
I enjoyed this Talia Lavin piece on The Way Down, a documentary about a weight loss-based fundie cult which is responsible for the death of at least one child.
This piece on how to make management not terrible (from AHP, unsurprisingly) was really goodâit features a long interview with some early Mozilla employees, and the things they say about tech company management track stuff is so, so true.
McSweeneyâs has still got it.
God I cannot get over this Andrew Lloyd Weber piece on how he feels about Cats (2019).
Shit to eat
Toss a cup of water and a half cup each of brown sugar and granulated sugar into a pot.
Turn it on medium-high, and walk away for a little while. Come back when itâs thicker.
Toss in a tablespoon of pumpkin spice andâif youâre feeling luxuriant, 3 tablespoons of actual pumpkin.
Cut the heat down to medium, and keep boiling it until itâs whatever consistency brings you the most joy.
Put that shit in your coffee and go with god. Itâs decorative gourd season.
Shit to watch
The needlessly thorough roast of Dear Evan Hansen is exactly what it promises.
Shit to buy
Old Navy was having a 50% off sale last time I was on their website and is now having some even wilder sale, but if you want decent-quality cheap jeans, now is your time to shine. I got a pair of skinnies and two pairs of straight leg because I am afraid of teens making fun of me.
Iâve found myself really wanting a big fuck-off chunky loafer lately, and was kind of into these.
A can of pumpkin. Use it for that syrup and turn the rest into pumpkin bread.