Park Ridge Power House

All I could think of, going through this Park Ridge McMansion that seemed to have been emptied out due to a foreclosure, is that this was the home of people who went for what they wanted -- no holds barred.

And if that meant owning an ugly, overpriced dish in the shape of a crab, so be it.

What did they care? These were people who believed in the beauty of their dreams! The power of their vision! The intoxicating scent of their own overripe ambitions!

People who probably paid top dollar for a surround-sound system, without actually knowing that it's called "surround sound."

A steady schedule of grueling workouts only added to their mastery of themselves and the people around them.

After all, they had studied the ways of personal power. They understood it. They controlled it. The world was theirs, and the universe existed solely to respond positively to their intentions!

At least until the bottom fell out. Now, the universe wants nothing to do with them.