Nikki's photosharing

I took a vacation to San Francisco last summer and I enjoyed taking pictures of their Downtown Library.

San Francisco Public Library pictures, August 2006

Son of a Witch

My recent read is Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire. I loved this sequel to the famous book Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West: a novel. I was very attached to the character of Elphaba in Wicked, so I was able to continue her story through her son, Liir. Other mysteries and loose ends were cleared up in Son. This sequel seemed more of a series novel to me than Wicked. I felt Wicked carried strong social commentary. Son of a Witch is a must read for any Elphaba fan, but I wouldn't read it without reading Wicked first. Wicked was recently made into a Broadway musical.

RuneScape

For my work, we were instructed to play the game RuneScape. I really like role-playing games even though I didn't know that's what they were called. I like the concept of talking to characters to go on a mission and solve little puzzles and problems. My favorite games of this kind were Discworld on Playstaion, based on the books by Terry Prachett and The Secret of Monkey Island on Sega CD. With RuneScape it took me awhile to get used to the camera views. But I liked how you could personalize your character and chat with real people/characters. I'm appreciative of the opportunity to play this game and learn about a popular game among children. Now, when I see kids playing RuneScape, I understand why they are so involved each other during the game. My favorite type of games are board games.

The Sombart

I live in an old apartment building in Midtown called the Sombart. The address is 420 East Armour Boulevard. I used my convenient, but low-quality camera phone to take pictures.

The Sombart was built in 1924 and was originally very large apartments for wealthy families. It is now an apartment building with nice units, some of them expensive and fabulous. These were recently featured in the local magazine, Spaces. The Oct/Nov 2006 issue describes the atmosphere: "Its 16 units are home to an astonishing concentration of outstandingly creative, civic-minded tenants, offer soaring ceilings, crown moldings, 3,000 feet of living space in some apartments, and a Big Apple vibe right here in Kansas City" (113).

Elevator Floor:

My apartment is very different and considerably cheaper than the rest of the apartments in the Sombart. I live in the Penthouse. The elevator goes to the 8th floor then I climb the stairs to the 9th.

Doorway to the stairwell to the 9th floor:

My apartment is roof-level with a door in my place to the roof. My apartment is very small and quirky. It is L-shaped with as much hallway as rooms. There's no heat in the winter and no air in the summer and lacks enough power for adequate heaters/air conditioners. There's low ceilings, low water pressure and the neighborhood is dangerous, but I have a fabulous view!

View from rooftop facing East:

View facing West at sunset:


View facing North at dusk:

There is one other identical Penthouse on the roof. The other tenants in the building call us the Roof Rats. We get that name because they know the conditions up here are hardly bareable but they also know we are blessed with this incredible view and instant getaway.

View facing North from my kitchen window, the white building is Costco:

Another view of downtown:

My favorite way to enjoy the rooftop is to sit out there moon watching on summer nights. Also on summer nights, there is a lot of activity in the neighborhood to watch. Being on the roof on the 4th of July is spectacular, fireworks near and afar in every direction!

Signal Tower at night:

View of downtown at night, note the bright lights of Costco parking lot:

View of downtown, I tried to not get the Costco lights:

View of Locust Street from my kitchen window on a snowy night: