Target at 2 p.m. on a weekday is like a little heaven. No screaming kids, no lines at the checkout, no Cheerios strewn all over the shoe department. Delightful experience! I stopped on the way home from lunch with my friend Maria at Senor Fish - tasty fish tacos & some excellent commiseration about the usual - jobs, housing prices, biology... but the good news is that she and Mike (Maria is the fabulous artiste who did my wedding invites) bought a house less than two miles from where I live. I will finally have cool neighbors! And Todd closed on his Salem condo - which means a great apartment near Harvard Square will be open as of June - if you're interested let me know and I'll try and hook you up.

The arts and crafts movement is alive and well is Pasadena. It was at least 90 degrees out Sunday and the crowd was substantial considering the lack of publicity BHNA does for its annual house tour. Most of the houses on show were on Mentor and Holliston Avenues, and Craftsman or Spanish Revival styles. At the last house we waited 40 minutes in line to spend 4 minutes inside. But it was time well spent to see such beautiful architecture and interior design and get inspired to keep plugging away at our savings accounts. Bungalow Heaven is an offical Landmark District in Pasadena, with around 800 homes built from the turn-of-the-century through the 1930s. It's between Orange Grove Boulevard and Washington Boulevard, bound on the west and east sides by Mentor and Chester and worth a browse - just don't stake claim on any of the houses WE plan on buying!

What's Saturday in So-Cal without beautiful weather and the buzz of radio-controlled vehicles? We're back now after our morning in Anaheim at the RCX trade show, where the scene was complete with monster trucks, the Batmobile, and 16-year-old models in tank tops and miniskirts. A little coffee at Swork in Eagle Rock pumped me up for some more PC-jockeying. Actually, I'm gathering info for our excursion to Bungalow Heaven tomorrow morning -- they're having an annual House Tour and I figure this may be our only chance to see what these beautiful Craftsman homes are like on the inside. If you're free and reading this - come with! Starts at 10 a.m. in Pasadena.

Earlier this week Akhil and I went down to Disneyland on a work-related mission to see the Snow White show. It was no Aladdin (which is actually decent!), but we enjoyed our dinner with Akhil's colleagues and our ride inside the Haunted Mansion. Akhil has done some work there on "Liota's head." Still awaiting baby news from Deb and Justin - she is officially due in three days! So by the end of the week we should have a verdict. (We think it's a girl.)

I just had the shortest job interview in history. My appointment was at noon. Got back in the car at 12:02. The ad said, "Seeking a highly motivated individual with editorial experience to fill the position of Managing Editor." But what the lady meant was, I'd have to start Monday, work out of her home office around 25 hours a week an hour away in a residential place far out in the Valley, assign, edit, copyedit, traffic, and lay out the entire book (a 50-page tabloid-format newspaper) every week by myself, and she's paying 300 dollars under the table, no benefits, no retirement, and oh yeah, I'd have to sign an 8-12 month contract.

I pretended I didn't really know Quark.

She: Well, thanks for driving all the way out here.

Me: That's okay. See ya.

Or did I just slam the door?

My brother Toad bought a condo in Salem. I am sad - no more Harvard Square accommodations for Akhil and me. But I suppose his diving into the real estate market is a good move. I'd like to do it myself before the six-figure homes ALL turn into sevens. First though, I better get this job thing taken care of. Employers are now taking advantage of people like me to the tune of cash under-the-table, 300 bucks a week salaries. Have they no self-respect? Have I? I got myself into an interview at one of these places - I hope I will have the courage to tell them exactly what I think of their glorified volunteer opportunity but I have been out of work for months. And that makes people do some pretty desperate things... wish me luck.

In other news, Akhil's fellow countrymen, the Kenyans, swept the Boston Marathon Monday. Katie and Heather had a Patriots Day BBQ at our old/new pad at Freeman Street which, sadly, I missed. You see, Heather is moving into the LCC - the Life Crisis Closet - at 145 this month. Priya doesn't live there anymore because she bought a place in Allston a couple of years ago. But two of the "originals" will be living there once again. Funny how things evolve sometimes, isn't it? Six years ago at this time, Heather and Katie lived at Freeman Street, I was looking for a job, about to move into this apartment in Glendale, and Akhil and I were driving an '87 Jeep. Today, Heather and Katie live at Freeman Street, I am looking for a job and LIVE in this apartment, and Akhil and I occassionally drive an '87 Jeep.

Brief update by popular request: you're not missing anything. Status quo intact. (Jobs report, schmobs report. Hmph.) However, I can recommend Ofoto.com, baking your own bread, and films, television and books: "The Fog of War," "The Apprentice," and Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things." In other news, my dad sold the store (congratulations Al!) and, still to come: baby news from Debbie and Justin...