Andrew: My first reaction to that was “well, I’d like my family to be a geek commune!” but I think that’s not necessarily a permanent requirement I should try to force (though it would make a glorious short-term living arrangement at this part of my life, at least – want… Maker House… now).

I’d really like to try being a summer random at pika, or living in a more populous geek apartment (I love living with Chris, and I also think I need more people to hang out with after work on an almost-daily basis). I would love to be your housemate.

And yeah, I need to learn the words that other people use for this.

One thing about geek coops is that membership isn’t necessarily stable. When I’m 60, am I still going to want to be in a household of twentysomething single hackers? Do I want to live only in a household of twentysomething single hackers now? I do want elders around, I want kids around, I like the richness that diversity of ages brings. And I would adore living with families.

It sounds like what you want is about a half-dozen people who live together, fascinate each other, and support each other intellectually, physically, and emotionally. People who challenge each other in ways that are hard, and who respect each other’s differences in ways that they learn from them and refine them. If you could find something like this, I don’t think that you would have a problem committing to it.

Why would a commune have a problem letting you take off to Europe for a month? There’s no kids to worry about, if there’s a house pet someone else could take care of it, and anyone who had a similarly flexible job might just join you. I think the biggest struggle for in joining a group would be being there. Now, if you were needed, that would be one thing, because you are very good at being there when you are needed. However, in order to develop the bonds that you are looking for, you are talking about people who spend a few hours together daily, cooking together, sharing together, drinking together, building the bonds that allow them to call each other out, open up, and love each other (not necessarily romantically). But knowing you, I think this struggle would be vastly helped if it was a place you always wanted to be. And a house full of tinkerers and projects and fascinating conversation might just be what you need to pull you away from your job after 5 PM.

If you do decide to put this together and I am able to find a job in Boston, you can count me in.