SH - before i saw the pic i was gonna say that looks matter very little with cake. some of the best cakes i've had have looked frumpy. that said, i agree with everyone else, the cake looks really good to me. i really wanna see the cross-section! Cut the Cake!

No, its not bolted to the chair. Its got side runners that are angled just so, and that is enough to keep it from sliding forward.

Thanks everybody. The cake tasted good, but if I did it over again, I'd add more lime juice and grind the sugar finer for the frosting; it had a sandy texture that I couldnt get past.

That cake looks AWESOME. I really, really, really want the recipe. Please? Could you email it to me? You shouldn't feel bad about the frosting look at all -- it looks great!!!! I can't stand the overly perfect, "Ace of Cakes" look anyway -- looks like plastic to me and none of those sheet-icings they use taste good (they taste awful, actually, if you've ever had a similarly prettified cake). Your cook looks like it tastes good, which is the entire point of cake decoration in my book.

The booster is cute -- I love the iron "flair" -- are those bookends, re-purposed? And how did you get the branded effect of the stars?

vado i just got my name mispelled by ncarb too!!!

hello tc, looong time no see. hope everybody's summer is going well!

also, i want cake a cool chair too!

MANTARAY. Paging mantaray. Please email me. Thank you.

Sarah, your cake and booster chair look lovely. Does that actually get Abram up to the correct level? Glad to see that we are all still managing to be creative and productive in our spare time.

AP, I'm glad to hear about your stepfather. Best wishes for his continued recovery.

SH - Mmmmmm. That cake looks awesome. I love the way it looks. I second mantaray's sentiments about overly perfect cakes. Have you given any thought to using confections sugar instead of regular sugar? Just a thought. Would love the recipe too but the fact of the matter is I rarely bake. THis weekend though Im going to attempt to make a friend's baklava recipe. The booster is pretty kickass too.

HI AML!!!! Hope is okay with you and that school is treating you well.

Hi AML!
Enjoyed your pics from the SW.

Hi Fays, agreed. Didn't like that project at all. De-pixelated areas of bldg =public space and openess. PR junk-talk if you ask me.

Anywho. Morning all.

All this talk of cake is making me think of this song, which as of late is one of my favourites since they've been using it for adverts for Baskin Robbins. Yah, cake.

Warning following that link will likely make you dance... in public

Hi Emily, hi aml - good to see familiar faces re-appearing on thread central

fays,
Nah and i do to. Just felt ornery i guess.

yaaay happy birthday to lletdownl!

seconded, yaaay happy birthday to lletdownl!

happy birthday lletdownl!

hi guys, i'm working through the summer until school starts in the fall again. it is weird to be back on an office schedule, and to have a non-stressful job [a first for me]. plus it finally stopped raining so i'm enjoying a super nice 15 min bike commute!

AML,
How much time left in school? I figured you were close to done.
Or are you doing a Phd?

[url=http://www.northjersey.com/news/crime_courts/Feds_making_massive_arrests_in_Bergen_and_Hudson_counties_this_morning.html[/url] this is too close for comfort. glad we changed sites...

hummm that link didn't quite post properly. lets try again:
this is too close for comfort. glad we changed sites...

That's pretty crazy... Both of my big projects are in North Jersey and both involve lots of public officials, but it's GSA for one project and the Port Authority for the other. I don't think either project will be terribly impacted by this case, but who knows.

nam: p h d ! p h d!

that's right, i'm an overgraduate. still have a whiles to go.

ps. glad you liked the pics, it was my first time in new mexico / the desert, the landscape was gorgeous!

AML, hat explains it. I guess i thought you were a MArch(er)...

I love the sw, one of my fav parts of the country that i have travled to mainly because of the amazing landscape which is a great backdrop fro hiking etc..

Having had first-hand experience dealing with various building departments and officials in New Jersey, I am not the least bit surprised by this sting operation.

Happy birthday lletdownl!

Hi fays :o) I'm only allowing myself some posting time because I don't feel well today and can't do much else.

TK i have a picture of that on my table!

i miss nuevo mexico the land of entrapment.

^^ why does this not surprise me.

the land of entrapment part?
:d
Nice pic, though for sure.
Anywho, nite all.

i'm still alive

Quickly. the 'iron' is actually shelf brackets - and they were my idea. As for the branding, well, it was Husband's idea, and in true husband fashion, he took an iron star we had as decor, along with my kitchen torch (used for brulee, ect) and torched the wood around the star.

Abram has decided the jump rope is really a microphone, and is forcing me into karoke.

Husband bought me a Wii for our anniversary since I can't get to the gym. Certainly wasn't expecting it, hell, it wsnt even on my radar. It is fun, though.

Vado, have you stayed in that motel? I think you should take a sppecial trip just for that reason.

Glad everyones stuff is going to plan!

Hi Emily.

Oh, and I will try to email the recipe later. I promise.

SH, I love the Wii. Don't have one but do think it is fun, fun fun.

Also [rant]why (for the second time in a few months) has someone decided the overpass on my bike commute makes a good outdoor toilet. Thanks bums/drunk students. Ever heard of the bushes? Why do i need to see a fresh steaming pile of shit swarmed by flies first thing in the morning.(or ever)[/rant]

lol, nam.

wii looks fun, but would be dangerous in our house. my wife would not join in but am pretty sure kids and i would be playing games waaay too much. hm, now i think about it sounds sorta appealing.

UK is looking horrible lately, with adjaye going under (maybe), REM given the shove along with dejan sudjic and the commonwealth institute, and rogers proposal for extension to museum slammed by camden council. not good news for architecture today at all.

hi all. I've been at work since 7:30 - couldn't sleep after I came home really late from multiple site visits. I'm fading fast though, worse that I don't have a drop of coffee in my system.

i havent decided if this is cool or not.

sent from my wii

SH, really?
Didn't know you coudl do that.
I say cool, who doesn't need one more way to access the internets..

Here's an awesome video for transit/infrastructure geeks. I remember reading somewhere that the Manhattan Bridge deflects up to six vertical feet whenever a subway train passes over it, but I had always taken that figure with a grain of salt until now.

Yeah, I was really excited at first, but its like the Iphone in that it doesnt do flash - which means we cant use it to watch tv. Shame.

My sister had her baby about an hour ago, and everybody seems healthy. I'm an uncle!

Hi all.

Happy birthday to Mister lletdownll.

And a big congratulations to the new uncle, Living in Gin. Boy or girl? What is the baby's name?

I've spent the past few days in Seattle finding an apartment. I found a great apartment built in 1920 with all hardwood floors, crown molding, existing ice boxes (now used as kitchen cabinets), South facing windows and 2 blocks from campus. It's a gem. I can't wait to return to school. I've been craving this for the past 24 months.

Boy. His name is Elijah. I'm not sure how much he weighs (that bit of info always seems to accompany birth announcements), but the delivery went well and all the involved parties are reportedly doing well.

Sis & family currently live out in Olympia, Washington, although she occasionally makes noises about moving back to Cincinnati. I guess now I have another reason to plan a trip out to the Pacific Northwest sometime within the next few months.

congrats Uncle LiG, and welcome to the world Elijah! My mom is a 'labor and delivery room' nurse. She's working tonight (7p-7a shift)...called a few hours ago to say hi and tell us that she just helped deliver a 10lb baby via c-section. you could hear the poor lil guy crying in the background. strong lungs.

So I think I'm gonna start a thread about interviewing residential contractors (after I use the search function, of course). Meredith and I have been working on a home for my brother and his family for some time now, and we're going to join my bro and his wife for contractor interviews in 2 weeks. We won't be around to oversee things, so our hope is to find someone we can trust to a fair extent...someone that will work with us and that will take the time up front to understand the project...someone that will bring their experience and thinkin/makin skills to bear on the project in a real way. There should be a Psalm for the "virtuous builder" 'cause they're worth more than gold.

'nite all.

AP, I'm glad your stepdad is doing well.

LiG, congrats, it's amazing to hear that cry over the phone, eh? If you haven't heard it yet, have your sister pinch him while you're on the phone with her - your heart will melt.

I'm home again, finally, and glad about it.

And Happy Birthday, a bit late, Mr. Lletdownl! Hope it was fun.

thanks lb. his surgery was this past Tuesday, and just yesterday his trachea was finally extubated. a few days prior to that they removed the baloon pump from his chest. so, although he's got an awfully sore throat (from having a breathing tube in place for 4-5 days) and is still in plenty of post-op pain, he is entirely on the road to recovery -- breathing on his own and with his heart doing its thing with no machine assistance.

n_, Nashville might need some representation here. I posted a follow up to LiG's long comment from my cell earlier, but I must've not submitted it...

oh, What Would Gordan Say?

oh again, KRob...very honored to be following the likes of Orhan and John Jourden as the Archinect rep on the jury. I'm told a 3rd juror will be added to the panel, as in previous years.

makes for a nice sunday morning...

vado, we put sirius radio on earlier while hangin at the pool, and Levon was the 2nd song that played...about 10 minutes after I watched your linked video. something by the doobie brothers was first, and cream's strange brew was third.

happy sunday tc!

everyone's at a pool but me.

Hey AP,

Congrats on the jurorship.
Also, i might borrow from your post above as part of the EP this week.

How did everyone do this weekend?

I might be off to play bocce soon.

Does that mean you will be in Dallas?

Happy Sunday All-
I currently have baklava baking in the oven. Man it smells good. It's actually a lot easier to make than I thought it would be.

AP - Congrats on being selected as one of the jurors/. That's so exciting. You'll definitely have to keep us updated.

I'm currently writing this post whilst on hold with the airline ticketing office. I am reminded of my times on a small(er) island when I called hotlines and company numbers I got an actual person and more importantly they could identify you by the sound of your voice. Funny how I took those things for granted.

Happy Monday everyone. In 4 days I'll officially be on a 30 day sabbatical before assuming my role as lecturer at the Caribbean School of Architecture. I hoping during that time to prepare a portion of my lecturers but as I was told my enthusiasm may wane after the 30th or 40th time I have to prepare one. In the meantime

Hi Tc,

I am busy and in a funk.

I am sure some of melt's fresh baked baklava would cheer me up.

techno: I predict that your 30 days worth of preparation will all be done during the last 48 hours before your first lecture...at least that's how I always work!

Time for lunch.