Homey Thoughts from the White Board - Sept 16

That's "Homey," as in:
  
hom·ey/ˈhōmē/

Adjective:

(of a place or surroundings) Pleasantly comfortable and cozy.

and not:

Homie        

The term "homie" was started by Mexican-Americans, most commonly in East Los Angeles, though, of course, the credit given for the term goes out mostly to African-Americans. The term derives from Homeboy, and was shortened down to just "Homes" or sometimes spelled "holmes", which is another Mexican-American term, commonly used in California. Rapper Biggy Smalls has used the term Homes/Holmes commonly.  Source: UrbanDictionary.com, with spelling errors corrected.

Anyway, yesterday I went to the Weber County Heritage Foundation's 2012 Historic Home Tour.  It was an assignment for a class.  No, really.  I don't know what all those other people were doing spending $15 quid to go around people's houses and gander at their architecture, but I was there for the betterment of my education.

The theme was "Mid-century Modern."  I had in mind a bunch of 50s era houses (you know, mid-century), but apparently mid-century is code for late 1960s and early 1970s.  They were all up on the hillside above Ogden High School, though.  Nothing in the ghetto.  If they'd been in the ghetto, they'd have still had their original shag carpet.  Plus some new additions, like a meth lab in the basement and some chalk crime scene outlines in the driveway.  Maybe a shell casing or two, and a used needle.  You know, ghetto charm?

Ogden isn't as bad as I make it out to be.  Certainly not as bad as wherever this place is.  That's pretty brazen, don't ya think? / Source: RideLust.com

But no, this was all about the rich people's living.  One of the places was huge!  You could tell the folks living there were loaded. Another house had been bought over six years before by some people in California but it was practically empty of furnishings because the tour guide told us (and I quote): "the new owners are still in the process of moving in."  For six years?  When I got done with the tour and came home, I thought to myself that my house will never be in anybody's tour, unless there is a mass murder committed here after we leave, and it makes it on the "Ghastliest Places in Ogden Tour."

Hey, I'd go to that.

Speaking of ghastly places, one of the houses on the tour was on Eckles street, just outside the ghetto.  It was the old Larkin home.  I guess the Larkins were rich because they were in the funeral business or something. There was a plaque in the parlor that said something about mortuary arrangements, and it had the family name on it.  I'll have to ask my former Russian history professor - Dr. Larae Larkin - if she is related to these Larkins at all.

The house was pretty cool.  Very old when compared to the others on the tour.  Built in 1911.  It's also on the Utah Historic Registrar of Homes, or something like that.  I'm sure everything on Eckles in that little stretch is on the list of Utah's historic places.  Or "hysteric" places, as my mom used to joke.

When I was upstairs in the Larkin home, I noticed the decay that they place had suffered, and the verisimilitude of it made me think that it'd make an epic spook alley/haunted house.  You know, sell tickets and scare teenage girls during the month of October?

Or even better, it'd make a great setting for a little wheeze of a ghost story.  This made me decide to take out my cell phone and try to surreptitiously video the place.  The home tour ticket said no photography was allowed, but since the Larkin place is currently for sale, and since it is a "historic" site, I decided to bend the rules a bit.  I'm going to attempt to put that footage on here.  It's thirteen minutes worth (ooh, thirteen - another good omen for a ghost story!), and I was doing it with my phone held rather clumsily in my hand, so if you get bored or get queasy from the view... well, you were warned after all.

Special thanks to the nice tour volunteer guy whose name I didn't catch.  He did a good job of showing me around and answering my questions, and only gave me one sidelong glance when he noticed I was carrying my cell phone kinda funny.

Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler. - Albert Einstein

There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken... - C.S. Lewis

Ghost: The outward and visible sign of an inward fear. - Ambrose Bierce

There's no such thing as a soul. It's just something they made up to scare kids, like the boogeyman or Michael Jackson. - Bart Simpson

The parting comment:

Source: LolSnaps.com

Wisdom from the bathroom stall wall.  Wish I'd seen this one as I was doing my review of The Bro Code the other day, as it would have fit there quite well.  Truer words..., eh?