i brush my teeth way too hard. i can go through a toothbrush in just under a month. when i brush, it's like i have a personal grudge against my teeth. the blue it's time to change your toothbrush indicator hasn't even begun to fade before i've completely destroyed my oral hygiene utensil. i need to take it easy with the brushing, lighten up on those teeth. teeth aren't my enemies, they're my friends!

i spent the early half of this afternoon going to a bunch of open houses in the cambridge area with my father. we looked at places in the cambridgeport area, kendall square, porter square, and close by avon hill. i'm looking for a nice apartment to buy, 2 rooms preferably, 1 room if it's a really great price/location/furnishings. these were my first open houses. if you've never been to one, this is usually how it goes down: you come in, you're greeted by the real estate agent, you sign a little guest book, you take a printed sheet detailing the crucial house facts, and you look around the house with the agent occasionally chiming in with some more useful information. i find looking around the empty house with other people interested in the same property kind of unsettling. i mean, you're essentially competing with them to buy this place (assuming that both parties are willing to bite). i also find it kind of weird walking around somebody's house when they're not there, like you're actually invited to be a voyeur into their lives. the framed photos on the walls, the books on the shelves, clothes in the closet, items on the dresser bureau and in the bathroom, all signs that these are homes of real people, real people looking to sell their homes and find it perfectly acceptable to let strangers walk around where they live.

it's exciting though, house searching. there's still a lot of steps to be taken before it happens though. i have to visit a couple of banks and see what kind of loans i can take out with my salary and financial credit. stay tuned.