Hey everyone,
Still no real progress to report, I'm afraid, at least with the studio... But I thought I'd just come one briefly to mention a pretty exciting bit of news, at least for me.
In order to address the many things that have gone very wrong in my part of town, a friend of mine -- someone I met in our community a couple of years ago while networking with people to find solutions to our many area's problems -- has decided to run for city council in 2010, although the process is a long one that is starting now. We have a lot of work ahead of us in getting he word out about her candidacy, but I am confident she will unset the incumbent.
I intend to be very active in her campaign, which will again make it challenging for me to work on my studio project. It is frustrating to be so close, relative to where I started, but it is difficult to explain in terms that do justice what a mess our city has made of our part of town. For example, our house was built in 1999/2000 and the fire station planned for a couple of blocks away has yet to break ground. Our nearest fire station is about 8 minutes away and my neighborhood has already suffered a devastating house fire that nearly claimed the lives of four of our city's firefighters, arguably due to the delayed response due to our lack of adequate fire protection here. Plus, our city has the smallest police force in the United States for a city our size, so crime has been a top concern. Irresponsible governance of development has resulted in huge mistakes that will be difficult or impossible to correct, I could go on and on... The point is, I really fear for my community's health and longevity, that if I don't work hard to take steps to right our ship, this place won't be worth living in at all... Hence, the studio completion is simply not a high priority for me right now.
I can only hope and plan to put in some effort on the studio here and there, out of guilt and motivation and stress relief. And I really do want to enjoy the prize of having completed it someday! But my community is dying and I feel a genuine calling to try to save it.
Thanks for the continued interest. The proddings do help.
--Keith
"Converting a garage into living space requires a city permit . . . homeowners insurance won't cover a structure that's been changed without a building permit . . ." --Sacramento Bee, May 27, 2006
Life would not be the same without something to obsess over for me... glad to here your working on good things. I feel the same 
