"I don't think she's a good historian at this stage in the game"

Life List: new entry, design and construct dream house...this is already on my list, actually, but I'm going to expand on the idea in my post today. I'll recap my list now, since even I forgot some of this stuff.

• Write and record a song, if not a whole album
• Write something and have it published
• Design and build my own house - have bowling lane in the basement/garage
• Own a boat and actually use it
• Bowl a perfect 300
• Visit all 7 continents and, assuming it's commercially available sometime in my lifetime, the moon.
• See the 7 wonders of the ancient world, the natural world, the modern world, etc...
• Attend music festival (minimum 100 bands)

Dream House: there are certain features in architecture and landscape design that I am drawn too and I would like to discuss them now. For starters, I am not an architect and while I've always been drawn to that particular career, I am currently on a programming or bust path that I'm afraid if I veer off of, I may never find my way back. This being said, there is nothing that doesn't prevent me from eventually going back to night school to get a degree in architecture as well. I already plan on getting my Bachelor's via night school once I get a programming job somewhere. Also, I have no intention on building this dream house any time soon, therefore technology and personal tastes will inevitably change drastically, therefore it would only be natural for me to plan on doing this again in, let's say, five years again - based on where I am then, I should be able to better gauge my own future.

Now in my previous 'dream life' post (Modern Man's Hustle), I decided to very specific in regards to certain features of the house and of geographic location. First, both of these things have already changed since writing that in October and second, geographic location in particular isn't nearly as important as previously implied. As a matter of fact, the concept of being on Lake Michigan itself is actually a lot less attractive to me right now...but I'll explain all that later, let's start with some features.

• The home has as small of an ecological footprint as technology proves possible at the time - building materials made of recycled goods, solar panels, etc...
• Tori would like to be on a lake, but I see myself more on a river, like a gentle, wide river flows through the backyard so that we can have a dock and maybe there's a shallow area a little upstream where we can skip across on rocks to the other side. This river will attach to a larger lake, which I don't mind sharing with others as long as there are no motor boats, only rowboats and the like.
• I would like to have a couple of acres...I'm not greedy when it comes to land by any means, understanding the upcoming struggles with urban sprawl and overpopulation, I have come to terms with the fact that land will soon be a rare commodity, it'd be nice to have. This is where not being geographically restricted comes in handy - I'd like similar weather as we have in Michigan, but I know Tori likes the deep South, so perhaps someplace in Kentucky (my childhood dream state) or Tennessee would be nice.
• I would like a mountain backdrop, but not snow peaks - I'd like hiking area but come on, I'm not climbing a mountain, I just want to walk up and down some big, heavily wooded hills (again, the Appalachians fit nicely in this description).
• Tori and I have been talking a lot about houses, just in general, and we've decided that an indoor pool would be best regardless of location. I still like the aforementioned hour-glass shape with a Plexiglas floor providing the ceiling for the basement and also the in-pool bar, but I'm not criminally attached.
• As of late, I've taken to liking a more spread out, ranch style home versus the more upright type house I described earlier. That's not to say I'm going to restrict myself to a single floor - certain aspects I really like require multiple floors like the vaulted ceilings, the lighthouse design over the breakfast nook and I've always had a spot for spiral staircases, I would probably just spread the first floor out with the master bedroom and bath, then put the kids on the second floor or something.
• Tori and I would like a greenhouse, although we'd also want a gardener to do the main garden part (we might take care of the vegetables or whatever).
• Tori would like a wraparound front porch and while I'm not really sold on that idea, I'm not a front porch guy (I'd rather see an understated front door myself), it does have a certain charm to it. A large back deck is an obvious must, as well as a big tree centralized in the yard perfect for a nice tree house.
• I would also like to design and implement a unique and creative communication system throughout the house - something like a Lego train that can go everywhere in the house carrying small packages and/or written communique.
• An extensive library of books, music and movies is a must.

That's it for now - what about yours? Ta.