Pssst. Do you want to know a secret? You have to promise not to tell anybody.

I have Tuesdays off.

Well, kind of off. Off of work and I don't have any classes, which means that I can work from home all day, and I do (with an Archinect School Blog interlude, of course). But it's a solid full day without a schedule that I gave myself to work on my thesis and my other class, in addition to my job as a TA and leader of our Graduate Architecture Student Association. Basically I did this because last Spring Semester, I had about twice as many responsibilities, and consequently, the period between January and May was a big blur. If I hadn't blogged about it, I may have even forgotten some things.

Anyway, I wanted to get started on detailing the work that I am doing this semester. In addition to my Master's of Building Science, I am also attempting to obtain a Certificate in Urbanism and the Built Environment. A lot of my classmates refer to this as the "architecture" certificate and for a while, I wondered if it was even worth it, since I already had a degree in architecture. But I've already taken three of the required five classes for the certificate, and I have been pleased to discover that these classes take a much broader perspective on the history and theory of the built environment. In fact, last semester's history class touched on significant pieces of architecture in American history and it put them in a broader context of the evolution of urbanism in this country. It was not only a good refresher for me, but it reminded me of how I love to talk about and study cities in their many forms and varieties.

The classes I am taking this semester will complete my certificate work. They are both half-semester seminar classes; the first one, which I am currently taking, is called "Architecture in the Urban Landscape: Projects and Places." So far we are discussing theories of urban planning and development, and I must say that although it is somewhat tiring taking another class about theory, I am reminded that we are not easily exposed to this type of discourse outside of academia. So if I can't talk about theory in grad school, where then?

I have to get back to reading. Happy Tuesday.