Some days one doesn't even need to pay attention to learn new things; today for example. I learned all about deed restrictions, subdivisions, and "civic committees". You buy a home (in a subdivision of your choosing), sign along the dotted line (deed restriction), and pay other people to act as your proxy in dealing with neighbors, monitor the length of their lawn, the trees they plant, and if or not their car is an "eye sore" (civic committee). While deed restrictions and subdivisions may have their perks ("clean" neighborhoods) the fact that you pay other people to take over the normal functions of healthy community tilts the scales against them. No thank you, sir. Take your manicured lawn and cedar picket fences born of litigation and injunction - I'll keep my loud neighbors with their cars on blocks and mismatched bushes. I imagine that if we look hard enough the junk-heap where America dumped their downtowns won't be far from the drain field behind such "communities".

In sadder news Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide recently. I suppose he lived too hard and too fast for too long. He was a challenger, and too often we never met the challenge face to face. It is unfortunate that our faults and fantasies will never be scrutinized by the likes of HST again. Perhaps the American Dream will never be found.