helen househunt.

i have never really had to hunt for a house. my family moved several times when i was a child, but the decision-making rested with my parents by virtue of the fact that i was four. then when i moved out on my own at eighteen i moved directly into the house where my dear friend christina was already living. easy.

now i am hunting for a house, and might i add that i am doing it in a city i have little to no knowledge of. hunt is perhaps the wrong word. a house is not an easter egg. no one places the perfect house for you somewhere- you must search for a house. i am searching for a house and i think i finally have found a lovely place to stay on sydney's lower north shore. hooray!

but in the past week i have seen a number of houses, none of which (for better or for worse) were quite what they seemed in the adds on gumtree.com or domain.com.au. what follows is an exact record of my experience of one such house earlier this week copied word for word out of my journal:

feb 12/08
6:00pm

have just come from shani and stu's in st. peter's. hello. on the agonizing walk (due to flip-flop blisters) a black cat crossed my path- in front of a cemetery! a pit bull barked and gnawed at me through a gate. i walked past a number of dilapidated storefronts, auto parts warehouses with slamming metal doors, and abandoned sheepskin dealers. then got to 307a prince's highway- shani and stu are a nice goth couple. and they have a pet snake. named scope- short for kaleidescope. he's an american cornbread- or something. and they live airport adjacent and the jet flying overhead shook the roof. and they live directly on a busy, noisy traffic artery clogged with pick-up trucks and service vans driven by guys who might not eat carrot cake cupcakes and listen to the 'juno' soundtrack. on my way out there was an actual cockroach on the stoop. honest to god.

funnily, none of this was in the ad.

though it is only $150/week....

the snake is actually called an american cornsnake but the rest is true. and the snake lived in an open tank. just for good measure.
..........
here is some info about the snake:

"the american cornsnake (elaphe guttata) or red rat snake is a north american species of rat snake. a corn snake suffocates its prey by wrapping its body around it. constricting prey is a basic instinct for a type of snake called a constrictor, and it will perform this action in the wild and in captivity."

that's all.