What I Read...

Most days I have lunch with my Broker at this small Chinese restaurant in Lincoln Park. Almost always seated toward the back is this one elderly individual, clearly from China and always reading the same old book with Asian characters on yellowed pages. For no other reason than this he reminds me of my own deceased grandfather who read only one tattered book over and over, Dante's Inferno. I have it on my bookshelf and have no idea (besides the general premise) what it says exactly--its in Italian. And even if it wasn't I get the feeling that it would still be unreadable to me.

But I do read. I get The New Yorker every week but I have to be honest--its for the cartoons. The stories--especially the Fiction and Essays--are very engaging but the truth of the matter is I don't live in Manhattan and I've been trying to get a caption published in the weekly Caption Contest for years. So each week I scratch my head for the wittiest comment I can muster to match the posted cartoon then barely make the Sunday eve deadline for open submissions. So far no luck there.

The rest of the week I spend time on the following sites. Nationally I read: Sellsius. This is a very cool site with short interesting articles and great photos and graphics. It also has podcasts but I'm not that bored yet. Grow-a-Brain also rocks. Again, short and sweet and a lot of both. Lately I've been visiting Transparent RE a lot--very technical but readable.

All three of these also have numerous links so beware---its easy to wander off. (but that's exactly how I found these sites to begin with.) I make it a habit to click on Rain City Guide out of Seattle every few days but I find it to be a totally different market there and their writings and opinions are more NAR (our industry association)--centered and 'traditional.' I like edgy more. I already 'get' Real Estate 101 but I comment there nonetheless. Oh, and I also interact with Active Rain a lot. An excellent place to engage in comment swapping with other markets.

Locally, its Yo Chicago and the Chicagoist mostly. I take a quick peek and post the occasional comment on ChitownLiving, Chicago Real Estate Blog and my associate's own Chicago Real Estate Local but we're all kind of saying the same thing. (and there's a couple hundred thousand more just like us) It reminds me of a scene in the movie Man in the Gray Flannel Suit where thousands of businessmen in almost identical hats (and gray fannel suits) are teeming a New York City block hurrying in a huge 'gray mass' to get into the same office building before starting time. (just like us real estate bloggers)

And there's more. My wife, Mona receives at least one or two high end, glossy catalogs daily so I have tangible proof that you can mix stripes with other stripes and brown can go with blue although truthfully...I just usually wear black. ( at least until they come out with a darker color.)

Once or twice a year my Broker hands me a book a la Tipping Point and it reminds me that I do enjoy actually holding something in my hand to read. But do I, will I read it over and over until the pages yellow and strangers take notice and make comments behind my back or my grandchildren, God willing, observe in wonder? Not if I get the new laptop I want for Christmas!