Day: February 8, 2008

I stopped by the Big Bear to check out their little library and pickup some coffee grounds for ye olde compost bin. Not much there on the bookshelf so I’ll be seeing what I can spare from my shelves, that might make for an interesting coffeehouse read.
Currently I’m reading Sudhir A. Venkatesh’s American Project and I’m only at page 87. It isn’t as much of a page turner as his Gang Leader for a Day, it covers around about the same material but is more academic, and talks more about the governmental bodies that play a role in the history and operations of the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago. There were a few things that have caught my attention so far in the book. One was the story of the Robert Taylor Homes starting off as mixed income housing and how policies helped turned it into a poor people warehouse. The second thing is the underground economy developing and the incentives for relatively benign activities to be driven underground. On this second thing, the underground economy included child care services, food and craft production, car repair, hair styling, subleasing, and under the table labor as well as criminal commerce such as selling stolen items, drugs, gambling, prostitution and ‘protection.’ What I find fascinating are the incentives that keep the non-criminal stuff underground. Anyway, when I’m done with the book I will add it to the BB library.
On seeds, I only got one bite for an exchange. I’ll try again. Any one want to engage in a seed swap meet?