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the cubicle farm is bring me down

leander

i am so frustrated lately. i should get a blog. i took a nap late in the afternoon. i don't have cable and permenantly shelved the book i was reading. somehow fictional stories about elsewhere and sprawl belong in the places the content describes. shoe boxes lodged in closet corners.

i guess i am writing for justification that i am not alone in a struggle to get somewhere. i have found lately, my friends from undergrad days are all loosing touch. it's been a few years so it makes sense. one of my friends from school won a metropolis award recently, and it is amazing to see success, but at the same time frustrating...knowing i am still on my way. he's a few years older...more settled. wealthier.

maybe too much studying for the ARE has depressed me. it's frustrating to know working in one of the most prestigious (corporate) firms in the country is not satisfying. it's frustrating knowing i have to stay here for a year more.

i am just 25. i think architecture school only gives expectation. over the past couple years since, i bide my time studying, drafting, and conferencing. please tell me it gets better. the most eventful day since i moved to california involved me running over a palm frond and nearly breaking my axel.
i know i'm not corporate material. i just thought it would be a good primer before grad school. i need my own firm...just filling in the gaps in between now and then is difficult to visualize.

 
Jul 24, 05 1:50 am
leander

bringING me down.

Jul 24, 05 2:00 am  · 
 · 
brian buchalski

you are obviously suffering from a middle life crisis...the good news is that it will end, but the bad news is that given your age this implies that you will only live to be fifty years old and, in other words, just when you are hitting your peak years as an architect you will have died tragically young and we will all lament the loss of your talent and wonder about what might have been but this is little consolation because you will still be dead

you could also try asking that wonderful resource to humanity known as "dear abra" for some advice

Jul 24, 05 3:08 am  · 
 · 
siggers

oh dear puddles, I think that's exactly what I'm having! I don't want to die young :(

I sympathise leander...

Jul 24, 05 6:20 am  · 
 · 
vado retro

ah i believe you have my stapler...

Jul 24, 05 9:56 am  · 
 · 
leander

yes! it is a quarter century crisis. feeling a little better this morning. just cracked open a dwell from a couple months ago i haven't read due to moving, etc. there is an interview with dan rockhill the director of studio 804 in lawrence, ks. (i went to check out the grad program a year ago, but opted out because it's hard to leave california)
anyway, he says that the purpose of studio 804 is to allow students to understand what it takes to make a fine piece fo architecture and "someday, when they look out that office building window two or three years from now totally disgruntled, they're going to say, 'Dammit, I'm going to take charge and make something happen myself.'"

So, whoever's applying to Berkeley for Fall 2006. See you there!

Jul 24, 05 1:28 pm  · 
 · 
brian buchalski

no! there is no such thing as a quarter life crisis.

it is a mid-life crisis, do not allow the emotion of your temporary optimism to cloud your judgement. you will die at fifty years old.

plan accordingly.

Jul 24, 05 3:38 pm  · 
 · 
leander

i am trading in my sentra for a convertible i can't afford. that'll solve all my worries!

Jul 24, 05 4:28 pm  · 
 · 
THREADS

well I think your first problem is that you read dwell. That's not going to help you. Try detail or something. Otherwise you might as well read record and dream and dream that one day you might have a front page next to the big guys...and who knows maybe you'll win the PA by the time you're 32.

sigh.

Jul 24, 05 5:56 pm  · 
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vado retro

leander i test drove an '02 jag x type on wednesday have been thinking about it all week.

Jul 24, 05 7:55 pm  · 
 · 
THREADS

was it red?

Jul 24, 05 9:12 pm  · 
 · 
leander

vado: buy it! who cares if you go bankrupt. or even better! lease the thing. no one in LA seems to mind.

Jul 24, 05 9:47 pm  · 
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vado retro

iz only two grand more than the msrp of my car. i m just not bourgoise enough.

Jul 24, 05 11:43 pm  · 
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liberty bell

Yes, it gets better. Yes it all gets so much better. Call me maryanne but every day I enjoy life more and more. Did my time in the corporate world, self-employed now, happier waking up every day, even though more broke and less stable. I feel honestly happy for my school mates who have achieved much more acclaim than I, they've done the work, they deserve it.

I've said it before - the 20s suck. The 30s are so much better (except sometimes I feel like I might be a little old to be wearing my Architecture Sucks T-shirt, which I totally adore). Architects don't hit their prime til 50.

Hang in there leander. You're not alone in your frustration. Get through the ARE and a HUGE weight will be lifted - it feels so good to get that done. When you get the license, have a big party, you will deserve it.

Jul 25, 05 11:08 am  · 
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norm

liberty bell you maryanne

Jul 25, 05 1:14 pm  · 
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lletdownl

shit... i just turned 22 and i despise everyting... thats normal right?

Jul 25, 05 1:40 pm  · 
 · 
A Center for Ants?

corporateaccountspayableninaspeaking... justamoment... corporateaccountspayableninaspeaking... justamoment...

vado... chicks love jags.

Jul 25, 05 6:30 pm  · 
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dia

Nina, forget Vado, this is going to be my next car [god willing].

Jul 25, 05 6:36 pm  · 
 · 
dia

Yes, I will even pray to God [just in case] to get this car...

Jul 25, 05 6:38 pm  · 
 · 
A Center for Ants?

humor always helps.

Jul 25, 05 7:15 pm  · 
 · 
A Center for Ants?
linkified
Jul 25, 05 7:23 pm  · 
 · 
A Center for Ants?

crap
retry

Jul 25, 05 7:24 pm  · 
 · 
leander

yes, humor does help. and for us ladies.
shopping!
i am getting an eames rocker in elephant hide. take that coprporate paycheck!

Jul 25, 05 7:32 pm  · 
 · 
strlt_typ

let's hang out...i'm in that mode too...we can talk about how boring life is and how music doesn't sound too great lately...

Jul 25, 05 7:45 pm  · 
 · 
A Center for Ants?

dammson-

spot on the music. i can't find anything that doesn't sound tired and played-out anymore...

leander-
shopping works for guys too. we just buy different things. like my new surfboard this weekend. though i wouldn't mind some nice furniture either.

Jul 25, 05 7:57 pm  · 
 · 
pomotrash

you are taking the ARE and you're only 25? Damn! How'd you do that? Most of us ARE-monkeys are cresting 30. based on my observations, you need to slack off a bit. Does your town have a Go-Kart track? That never ceases to ease the pain of cubie-land.

Jul 25, 05 8:09 pm  · 
 · 
leander

i live in california. and i worked every summer after 2nd year for design centers. So, in california before 2005, if you registered with the ca. architects board (work experience, transcrpits, etc) you get an authorization to test. blows my mind. so, i figure i'll take it while i'm working for a firm that will actually pay for it.

anyway, music is terrible. i am listening to cds i bought in 2001 that were released in 1995. i have this conversation with my best friend all the time. how we miss 1997. i miss kids in the hall, normal people (before everyone got boob jobs and large credit limits) and david egger's talent.
and as for life being boring. well. i went to to the grocery store today and i was very proud of myself.

Jul 25, 05 8:26 pm  · 
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strlt_typ

the phantom of the opera movie helped 2 hours of my yesterday's life enjoyable.

Jul 25, 05 8:35 pm  · 
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leander

hahaha. i just googled an old coworker because we lost touch... the link took me to my old firm's piece of crap website. hahaah! nevermind, my life is fabulous in comparison.
get this: i needed 300 bucks A DAY BEFORE PAYDAY because i had to pay a ticket. so. if i didn't pay it that day the fine would double. my old boss said, well, sorry to tell you that's what parents are for! i quit a week later. now i see they have another young transplant girl...what the hell is a junior project manager?

at least in the cublicle farm i get paid holidays.

is phantom of the opera good? i need to see that. i tried to watch the life aquatic but fell asleep.

Jul 25, 05 8:41 pm  · 
 · 
A Center for Ants?

kids in the hall????

no no no. it was all about the state. and sifl and olly. sigh...

Jul 26, 05 11:13 am  · 
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strlt_typ






Jul 26, 05 3:18 pm  · 
 · 
lletdownl

hey center for ants... there is A TON of really good music out these days... try out
arcade fire
clap your hands say yeah
architecture in helsinki
lcd soundsystem
xiu xiu -fabulous muscles or la follet

kids in the hall is one of the greatest shows of all time
and ill tell you what a junior project manager is.... "TEMP!"

Jul 26, 05 3:51 pm  · 
 · 
leander

hahah! yeah i know that she is a temp. i feel sorry for her. oh well, she will learn like i did.

i love the arcade fire! it has a permanent place in my cd player. i am also so happy you listen to architecture in helsinki. i looooooove imaginary ordinary. i swear you should listen to ratatat. they're pretty good when driving into unfamilar cities at night. it's really creepy when driving along laurel canyon / mulholland.

Jul 26, 05 10:00 pm  · 
 · 
leander

liam lynch is my boytoy!

Jul 26, 05 10:04 pm  · 
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strlt_typ

there's a road that connects mullholand and topanga canyon...it's great during the daytime...there's a stretch of road where it's lined with large trees on both sides and they canopy over the road...it get's really dark and shadowy in there

Jul 27, 05 8:04 pm  · 
 · 

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