Just a thought as usual…My wife and I are AirBnB hosts with one of our homes. The neighbors there are thrilled…because…Our home is now the nicest in the area. It is a must to keep the house beautiful in order to get our … nightly rate AND to receive Great Reviews from our Guests. Unlike Most long term rentals our Home is Maintained and cleaned once or twice a week as Guests check in and out. We have had ZERO visitor problems as we do our due diligence when we screen them. Again…Unlike Most long term rentals where when you sign the lease you are pretty much stuck with your tenant for a year unless you want to run up high and unrecoverable legal expenses with no guarantee of prevailing. For travelers and hosts alike AirBnB is a Blessing. If you look at how many nights are delivered through this service versus any problems incurred the percentages are Extremely low. There are way more problems with long term tenants… or empty homes…or uncaring property owners and the like. I also find it interesting that the demand for this style of travel in Las Vegas and elsewhere is in part fueled by the entities that want it gone the most…the Greedy Hotel Owners. Yes…you can get a mid week room at a nice resort for $49…but when you check in you find the daily resort fee of $29 plus $10 parking (surely to rise) and of course the room/resort tax…so…WHOOPS!!! your Bargain $49 room is now $100 a night!!! I’m Not young but I do attempt to embrace new technologies which allow people to participate in new ideas and delight in entrepreneurship. Technology will win in the end…ask Kodak and Polaroid…heck…ask the Taxi authority about Lyft and Uber (BTW you don’t have to wait 45 minutes or longer anymore for a ride from a cab). Attack on our Neighborhoods? WoW!! I thought that was what Isis is planning…
Blog
Not today…Not here…
The events of the last few days and how they have touched my family have given me even more resolve into how I view certain things in this world. I vowed when I created this site that it would, for the most part, be the one that I won’t express political opinions. I am boiling over at the moment BUT I will keep my vow and, for the time being, keep what little semblance of sanity I currently maintain…the World is in Perfect Order
Purity is Waning
I’m not sure that there ever was much purity of purpose and commitment to creativity but I would certainly like to think so. I actually believe that many of the artists in the past that we consider great today were driven by true passion and determination to excel at what they did. Today, in a transition that began a few decades ago, it is certainly not nearly enough for an artist to make great paintings or sculptures. The artist must do much more that create. They cannot simply stay in their studio, work until their brain hurts, and accomplish what used to be heralded as creative and as a result gain some small or large measure of notice by their peers and dealers. In this info world they have to market themselves. I believe that their skill in this area has to be almost as good – and more likely better – than their art. It also seems that with all the social media available to the public…many believe that they have the opportunity to be famous…even if only in their own mind. Most may be able to do one or two things that may be considered relevant or inspired but not many have the ability to sustain their creativity over a period of time. Longevity and consistency is a mark of success that only dedicated hard working talents can achieve. The proliferation of so much mediocrity and the availability of such to an ever present mass audience begins to blur the lines and to confuse as to what really is of substance. In the long run this phenomenon is leading to a much lower level of creativity and the available art, whether visual, audio or other, is suffering. This is current reality and whether good or bad, right or wrong, it is changing the one thing we have in common with out Creator God…the ability to create!!!