Barry - wait till March when we launch the Open Architecture Network - that will be the Humanitarian Thread Central for AFH and many, many other groups.
Most folks don't realize that our competitions are just one small element of our work (currently we have over a dozen projects under construction at the moment).
the AFH-MN chapter is pretty strong, as is AFH-UK and AFH-NY. Fargo and Iowa are our fastest growing this quarter.
Jump (or anyone interested in the subject about "stop stealing my bandwidth"). It is concern for anyone that owns a website. Let's say for example I have my own site and I see a graphic I want to use from someone else's site. Instead of uploading that graphic to my server (and using up my valuable allotted space), I just link the image from my page to theirs. So essentially I am stealing the other sites bandwidth because every time my page is loaded with the image, it has to locate the image from the other site as well. Bandwidth is limited for every person that owns a website, so you want to protect it.
This person has something set up on his site so that when people (like us) copy and paste something (an image) from their site and post it into another site (Archinect), it shows that annoying "stop stealing my bandwidth" instead of showing the image. Cute cleaver and a way to "hotlink" protect and prevent other websites from stealing your bandwidth.
we were not sure how many entries would get. I thought around 200/300 but some crazy Bosnian and Serbian blogs picked it up so we have a ton from that region.
Update on the work situation: CADguy quit. He found another job last week. We all knew he was looking because of his family situation. He's seems a little put out that nobody asked him to stay, but really, who would? This new company's going to chew him up and spit him out, in my opinion. It's a big office, and if you don't show up on time and don't produce, a big office is a lot quicker to fire you than a little one, and this particular office is known to have substantial turnover.
Anyway, on to how this affects me..... I'm being trained to take over portions of his job. I was not asked to, I was told I would be. This is upsetting to me, because my job description in this area keeps expanding a little more all the time, and I have no desire for it to. I should have 'played dumb' from the beginning and not let them know I knew anything about computers, but it's too late for that. Now I get to have a nice chat with my boss about this ever-expanding job description, and how to deflate it a bit.
r- ask for more $$$, and if they refuse then it's time to engage in some IT sabatoge- opps I just fried the server - a few times later, then they will get a new IT monkey.
vado, put down the baklava and get your IDP forms filled out! Because though your advice to sashimi isn't wrong, I counter it by saying I see no reason for YOU to NOT get your license!
WonderK- that is just one more reason why I don't want these responsibilities! I'd feel bad taking this stuff on, and then telling them in a few months that I was leaving them for grad school. Not only do I NOT want the technical responsibilities, they deserve to have the person handling that be someone who is more committed to the firm than I am.
Treekiller- $$$ will not solve the problem. I guess it could numb it for a little while though...
vado, my 1 year is upcoming as well...I just got an email from HR this morning (sent to my supervisor, copied to me) that "AP is due for a salary review on or before Jan. 9." Damn straight! Maybe I'll bring some baklava to the review...
vado- remember to wipe the honey off your fingers before typing or clicking on the mouse mr. sticky fingers.
r- maybe it's time to bring up your plans for grad school. most employers will be supportive and won't kick you out into the snow for saying that you're leaving in 5 months - they will want to hang onto your services for as long as possible. While it's easier to wait until you have those acceptance letters in hand to break the news, your boss seems to be calling your bluff. only a FEW MORE MONTHS!
yeah, I've been thinking about that. I'm really, really going to try and hang on til I've got an acceptance letter and financial aid package in hand, though. But yes, I have considered divulging my plans if they try to pack on too much office-management-type responsibilities. But it's a last resort. Or second to last resort. The last resort would be quitting, since I know that I'm fully capable of finding myself another job in short order.
r- it gets harder to find a job in a different city the closer it gets to starting classes. it also gets harder to hide your intentions the closer it gets to the first day of classes. If you can move sooner then later to the city with the university you'll attend - the better the shot at landing a job that will last through grad school and provide some spending $$$
Conference call this afternoon with the client and an outside architect: Ms. thang led them thru her mind fuck plans. I think they put her in her place quite nicely for me. For instance they asked her not to "embarrass the residents" by putting them on display in the pool area. Yah, rationalist, just what you said too. There was no discussion at all about the "convenience elevators", just a big "No, that doesn't make sense". Let's just say A LOT of stuff got changed today, a good chunk of which I had tried to address already when I was working on these plans, that she disregarded.
So during the conversation, when the client directed a modification, like this room should be next to this room, she would retort with something like "Well, what are you going to do with the void space you just left then?" That got really old, really fast. They just ignored her and moved on to the next issue. So of course she turns to me in dispair with the how-can-they-do-that-face. (HA, that is what they are supposed to do! They are the client, YOU/WE are the architects. A tough lesson was hopefully learned.)
Strawbeary: Be wise like old buddist monk...think carefully before acting. Document and deliver only improvements to the design,
don't shoot it out with her in the ok-corral. It is not worth it.
She will come loaded with bear...as the woodman says. So be ready,
do not waist your time gloating or she will invent your ideas as her own and those of the clients as her own. I have danced with the dragon.
Actually, I think that this is the time to take 2-3 of the better ideas from her plans, insert them into your plan, and present THAT to your boss as a 'blending' of the two (that just happens to be 80% yours).
I bet one of the clients is fat, or at least thinks that they're fat. That's the first thing fat people think of when we see that pool configuration.
tk/bl- I'd actually get a temp/co-op type job here for six months or so, and then move. I'm counting on some sort of TA/RA position or workstudy of some sort to finance my education, so it's likely I wouldn't be able to follow that plan anyway. But I really don't WANT to find a new job right now, I'm just willing to if I am going to be forced into being the new CADguy(girl).
Now that Strawbeary's situation is looking up, here's a new office conflict of the day: Why is it that the architect always, always comes out of every disagreement looking like an idiot?
I sent the CM an email link to a light fixture from an online retailer. Bidding contractor never got the link, only the text, and couldn't figure out what the actual fixture was. Sent an email to the entire team saying "I need more info on the fixture and by the way that website only sells VERY expensive fixtures!" aka "Your fancy-schmancy architect is spec'ing way out of your price range".
But it's not my fault you never got the link - why not just ask for more info instead of making snarky comments about me to the entire team? So I made a snarky comment right back about the sub not doing his homework, which the CM unfortunately forwarded on to the sub - and lo did a shitstorm ensue!!!! Now I'm not only being accused of blowing the budget, but of making bitchy comments about the subs. Never mind that the first bit of snarkiness was directed at me, not the other way around.
Also, since when do bidders ask for pricing from the architect? It's just laziness. For chrissake, do your homework. If it's an allowance item I'll tell you. If you need more info, ask for it politely, I'm happy to oblige.
I should know better than to make impolite comments because in my case, even if they are justified, I just end up getting painted as a bitch.
Don't ya just love it when something like a light fixture blows the budget.
I ask for a proposed change order to install maintenance lights in the truss space of a building around 2,500 sq. ft. So today I get
the proposed change order which is at $2,000.00. Of course I said
no....we want one flood light fixture with two heads mounted in the middle of the building. Now I await a new price.
Bidders make the architect do the pricing since... well, as long as I've been in the biz. (+/- 6 years?) Ha. I fucking hate that kind of laziness.
And you got painted as a bitch, when you were *helping them* do their job! That sucks.
Snooker, at least you got a proposed change order before the work was simply done and installed. We could *not* get our contractors to figure out why that was wrong, and why they couldn't ask for money afterwards.
another story of the client seeing the light.... A while ago, I was working on this parish school. It was small, needed a LOT of help. They really liked the master plan that I came up with for them (actually, better than the option that my boss drew up, but that's another matter). However, at that time they said that we were not on the Archdioses list of 'approved' architects. The process to get on this list is like getting into heaven or something, only more paperwork. We'd actually gotten approval some time ago, but to do a paperwork holdup, we were sort of in limbo. They hired some crappy strip mall architect to do the school instead due to this situation.
The other day, my boss sees one of the people on their board, who tells her that they had gone to the city planning department the other day, and the city's reaction was, "What happened? The other plan was so good."
So now, they've seen that it might be worth it to clear up this little clerical error so that we can do the project....
haha letdown... hot chip has been swirling in my head lately too. also ratatat.
what's silent shout? a streaming radio website?
**
ok guys, i landed an interview at my top choice in chicago. eek! now i have less than two weeks to rework my entire portfolio. and get a haircut and buy an interview outfit and line up other intervews too so that the trip out there from CA isn't a complete waste of money. man i have butterflies in my tummy!
myriam! yes i love hot chip and ratatat!!!
you have to check out a band called the knife
their album is called silent shout
i think they have a myspace page... trust me on this one
what firm are you interviewing with? maybe you cant say... best of luck anyway
and its possible my firms still hiring but maybe you already tried them
oop. Sorry holtzkiller, I was actually trying to get confirmation of my assumption.... it took me a while to realize why I didn't see 'abracadabra' around anymore.
Is anyone watching this Colbert Report with the Decemberists? It's hilarious.....started off like 60 Minutes.....
lletdownl > i have been obsessed with The Knife for several months now. That song is amazing. Find the Jose Gonzales version of it...it's just as good.
my friend for over 25 years is diying from cirrhosis of the liver.
i went to hospital this morning after not seeing him for a year. he has done some nasty things to me because i did opposed to his drinking and did tough love thing to him on occasions. he systematically alienated a lot of people but he was pretty demonical to me and to his ex wife more than anybody else. he is also from turkey and somewhat our families know eachother even though we've met here. he is a very talented artist and graduate of cal-arts when the school was the best art school in the country.
we use to drink like fish when we were young turks and our circles included some art super stars of today. it was cool and everybody was a poet including baldessari, gilbert-rolfe, kelly, lamelas, duane langston, perna, williams, huebler to name a few.
i saw him starting to lose against alcohol several years ago and i relentlessly tried to stop him even though he pushed me away for doing so. i knew he was going to kill himself at that rate of consumption.
alcohol was just symtom for bigger problems he had. it was loss of his mother at a young age, his divorce, funny workings of the art world etc., all contributing factors. his art was conceptual but he was also producing with traditional technics as well like chiseling and painting.
last several years he'd consume jeam beam day and night and i picked him up many times from the emergency rooms after he passed out on seizures.
i culdn't believe my eyes today how much he detoriated. he told me how much he apriciated for me to show up there and asked my forgiveness which i told him no problem and he should not worry about that.
this was the fucked up world he tried to chisel out of his mind. i am sad.
..................................
it is so real puddles.
he is not the first one in my life. i wish i could drink moderetly, i still would be drinking. i might have saved my ass at the last possible minute.
i know most of you guys are still in your 20's and 30's, and the idea of dying is not natural to ponder that much at that age, but please be careful with booze and the minute it becomes a problem, seek advice/help. one morning i quit cold turkey, but that is very rare case. most people can drink rest of their life and enjoy it, but there are some people who have the potential of losing their lives over it. i could've been one of them.
most people that have problems with alcohol statistically are above avarage intelligent people with many architects and artists among them.
orhan, that is very sad and a good reminder of importance of life. i can see why a lot of above-average or ... perhaps more "sensitive" types would turn to drink--it is hard to deal with being so vulnerable to the world, and artists have to make themselves vulnerable in some way in order to create their art. sad trap.
The story of your friend reminds me of a story Alain de Botton recounts in "architecture of happiness"--it's about Freud taking a walk on a swiss mountainside in the spring time one day with his friend Rainer Maria Rilke. Freud was thinking to himself how very beautiful the day was--sunshine, flowers blooming, birdsong in the air. Nothing more than that. But Rilke turned to him and remarked how sad all the beauty made him, that in a matter of months it would all be gone and trampled, and he couldn't think about the flowers without thinking of the day they will die away. Alain de Botton was making a point about the transient nature of many kinds of beauty, and how those most responsible for it are also those most aware of and vulnerable to its eventual death. It's a beautifully written passage and made me think about a lot of things.
I guess it is good for the world that Rilke didn't turn to drink, although he did end up dying pretty young if I recall. (in his 50s or 60s?)
orhan sorry you are in a bad way due to the deterioration of your friend. i am lucky that alcohol has never really destroyed anyone i knew( unlike cigarettes which basically killed my fathers whole family)
Orhan, I am sorry about your friend. I am glad that he is able to accept your love, even though it has been tough love at times (and good for you for trying to help him), for him now at the end, as that gives both of you peace about your relationship.
I think I tend to joke about things like drinking and sex knowing full well that other people might take it wrong. I know my limits and forget that others may not. Same thing with just being ana rchitecture student - the stress can easily get to be too much and self-destructive actions can start to happen - most universities offer free counseling for students, and students who are reading this, please take care of yourself however you need to.
I saw Gilbert-Rolfe (is it Jeremy?) speak at Ctanbrook - what a well-spoken dude he is!
sux, orhan. i've certainly had a lot of people around me that either will end up in that situation yet or stopped themselves before it went too far. i've never been the one strong enough to intervene, having come from a home where drinking was daily/constant.
it's not easy to stand up to a stubborn friend or family member that is battling a weakness. the fact that you did speak up demonstrates the genuine nature of your love for your friend. I'm in the midst of a situation now where I run the risk of alienating a family member by taking a stance against a destructive course they have chosen. it comforts me to know that your friend appreciated you in the end. thank you for sharing this with us.
my father is an alcoholic, and at times was abusive - both physical and mental - so my sympathies are for those that your friend hurt; you, orhan and his respective loved ones. i am sure all of you had to endure embarassment, guilt, anger, sadness and have had to make excusses, worried incessantly, had late nights of holding drunken heads back, have had to be an intermediary to keep your friend from hurting himself or others, have had to drive or try and keep your friend from driving, have had to divest yourself from a relationship that could have benefited both, i could go on and on...the thing about alcoholism is that everyone who is not a raving, self-destructive drunk can see where this is headed, but the person who is an alcoholic.
again orhan, my sympathies are for what you had to endure, and for a loss that you could have never prevented.
thank you for all the comments. you guys are really like a family here. i really appreciate a lot.
lb yes, jeremy is a great talker too. being from england he really speaks and writes well. he wrote great articles in the first issues of october magazine along with rosalind krauss. funny enough he wrote a beautiful description of my friend's work many years ago. i don't see him that often anymore but he is always in his studio working by himself year after year. he is also a close friend of frank gehry.
Thread Central
Barry - wait till March when we launch the Open Architecture Network - that will be the Humanitarian Thread Central for AFH and many, many other groups.
Most folks don't realize that our competitions are just one small element of our work (currently we have over a dozen projects under construction at the moment).
the AFH-MN chapter is pretty strong, as is AFH-UK and AFH-NY. Fargo and Iowa are our fastest growing this quarter.
what? I have to visit neighboring states and another website to indulge my AFH fetish?
Any news to share about the Open Architecture Network?
We will release more information in the new year. First we have to get through all the logo entries.
C.
When will the logo entries be 'gotten through'?
Jump (or anyone interested in the subject about "stop stealing my bandwidth"). It is concern for anyone that owns a website. Let's say for example I have my own site and I see a graphic I want to use from someone else's site. Instead of uploading that graphic to my server (and using up my valuable allotted space), I just link the image from my page to theirs. So essentially I am stealing the other sites bandwidth because every time my page is loaded with the image, it has to locate the image from the other site as well. Bandwidth is limited for every person that owns a website, so you want to protect it.
This person has something set up on his site so that when people (like us) copy and paste something (an image) from their site and post it into another site (Archinect), it shows that annoying "stop stealing my bandwidth" instead of showing the image. Cute cleaver and a way to "hotlink" protect and prevent other websites from stealing your bandwidth.
rationalist,
We received around 650 so it'll take a week or two.
C.
That's cool. I was just curious, as I couldn't find it in the brief.
we were not sure how many entries would get. I thought around 200/300 but some crazy Bosnian and Serbian blogs picked it up so we have a ton from that region.
fun stuff.
Update on the work situation: CADguy quit. He found another job last week. We all knew he was looking because of his family situation. He's seems a little put out that nobody asked him to stay, but really, who would? This new company's going to chew him up and spit him out, in my opinion. It's a big office, and if you don't show up on time and don't produce, a big office is a lot quicker to fire you than a little one, and this particular office is known to have substantial turnover.
Anyway, on to how this affects me..... I'm being trained to take over portions of his job. I was not asked to, I was told I would be. This is upsetting to me, because my job description in this area keeps expanding a little more all the time, and I have no desire for it to. I should have 'played dumb' from the beginning and not let them know I knew anything about computers, but it's too late for that. Now I get to have a nice chat with my boss about this ever-expanding job description, and how to deflate it a bit.
r- ask for more $$$, and if they refuse then it's time to engage in some IT sabatoge- opps I just fried the server - a few times later, then they will get a new IT monkey.
No less than 10 of my coworkers are currently occupying their time by decorating our second christmas tree with office supplies.
rationalist, please join me in saying.....only a few more months!
its my year anniversery at my job. i aint doin much today except eating baklava and surfing the web. i'm kind of tired and need a break.
vado, put down the baklava and get your IDP forms filled out! Because though your advice to sashimi isn't wrong, I counter it by saying I see no reason for YOU to NOT get your license!
WonderK- that is just one more reason why I don't want these responsibilities! I'd feel bad taking this stuff on, and then telling them in a few months that I was leaving them for grad school. Not only do I NOT want the technical responsibilities, they deserve to have the person handling that be someone who is more committed to the firm than I am.
Treekiller- $$$ will not solve the problem. I guess it could numb it for a little while though...
only a FEW MORE MONTHS!
vado, my 1 year is upcoming as well...I just got an email from HR this morning (sent to my supervisor, copied to me) that "AP is due for a salary review on or before Jan. 9." Damn straight! Maybe I'll bring some baklava to the review...
to paraphrase clemenza " leave the idp, take the baklava"
vado- remember to wipe the honey off your fingers before typing or clicking on the mouse mr. sticky fingers.
r- maybe it's time to bring up your plans for grad school. most employers will be supportive and won't kick you out into the snow for saying that you're leaving in 5 months - they will want to hang onto your services for as long as possible. While it's easier to wait until you have those acceptance letters in hand to break the news, your boss seems to be calling your bluff. only a FEW MORE MONTHS!
yeah, I've been thinking about that. I'm really, really going to try and hang on til I've got an acceptance letter and financial aid package in hand, though. But yes, I have considered divulging my plans if they try to pack on too much office-management-type responsibilities. But it's a last resort. Or second to last resort. The last resort would be quitting, since I know that I'm fully capable of finding myself another job in short order.
r- it gets harder to find a job in a different city the closer it gets to starting classes. it also gets harder to hide your intentions the closer it gets to the first day of classes. If you can move sooner then later to the city with the university you'll attend - the better the shot at landing a job that will last through grad school and provide some spending $$$
good luck!
hallelujah!
hallelujah!
hallelujah, hallelujah, halle-eh-lu-jah!
Conference call this afternoon with the client and an outside architect: Ms. thang led them thru her mind fuck plans. I think they put her in her place quite nicely for me. For instance they asked her not to "embarrass the residents" by putting them on display in the pool area. Yah, rationalist, just what you said too. There was no discussion at all about the "convenience elevators", just a big "No, that doesn't make sense". Let's just say A LOT of stuff got changed today, a good chunk of which I had tried to address already when I was working on these plans, that she disregarded.
So during the conversation, when the client directed a modification, like this room should be next to this room, she would retort with something like "Well, what are you going to do with the void space you just left then?" That got really old, really fast. They just ignored her and moved on to the next issue. So of course she turns to me in dispair with the how-can-they-do-that-face. (HA, that is what they are supposed to do! They are the client, YOU/WE are the architects. A tough lesson was hopefully learned.)
Strawbeary: Be wise like old buddist monk...think carefully before acting. Document and deliver only improvements to the design,
don't shoot it out with her in the ok-corral. It is not worth it.
She will come loaded with bear...as the woodman says. So be ready,
do not waist your time gloating or she will invent your ideas as her own and those of the clients as her own. I have danced with the dragon.
Actually, I think that this is the time to take 2-3 of the better ideas from her plans, insert them into your plan, and present THAT to your boss as a 'blending' of the two (that just happens to be 80% yours).
I bet one of the clients is fat, or at least thinks that they're fat. That's the first thing fat people think of when we see that pool configuration.
tk/bl- I'd actually get a temp/co-op type job here for six months or so, and then move. I'm counting on some sort of TA/RA position or workstudy of some sort to finance my education, so it's likely I wouldn't be able to follow that plan anyway. But I really don't WANT to find a new job right now, I'm just willing to if I am going to be forced into being the new CADguy(girl).
strawbeary,
seriously...fuck yeah!...i was feeling the frustration reading your stories...
enjoy those two cocktails at the party...
it was more like 8 coktails, thank you very much
see beary, it all works out in the end, no need to stress - just watch the car crash and take notes.
i don't feel fat, but i wouldn't want to be on display either. there was a reason you guys didn't see shirtless pix of me from maui.
congrats, strawbeary, on a step forward. sounds like your clients are savvy and not shy. both good traits in a client, imo.
Now that Strawbeary's situation is looking up, here's a new office conflict of the day: Why is it that the architect always, always comes out of every disagreement looking like an idiot?
I sent the CM an email link to a light fixture from an online retailer. Bidding contractor never got the link, only the text, and couldn't figure out what the actual fixture was. Sent an email to the entire team saying "I need more info on the fixture and by the way that website only sells VERY expensive fixtures!" aka "Your fancy-schmancy architect is spec'ing way out of your price range".
But it's not my fault you never got the link - why not just ask for more info instead of making snarky comments about me to the entire team? So I made a snarky comment right back about the sub not doing his homework, which the CM unfortunately forwarded on to the sub - and lo did a shitstorm ensue!!!! Now I'm not only being accused of blowing the budget, but of making bitchy comments about the subs. Never mind that the first bit of snarkiness was directed at me, not the other way around.
Also, since when do bidders ask for pricing from the architect? It's just laziness. For chrissake, do your homework. If it's an allowance item I'll tell you. If you need more info, ask for it politely, I'm happy to oblige.
I should know better than to make impolite comments because in my case, even if they are justified, I just end up getting painted as a bitch.
Don't ya just love it when something like a light fixture blows the budget.
I ask for a proposed change order to install maintenance lights in the truss space of a building around 2,500 sq. ft. So today I get
the proposed change order which is at $2,000.00. Of course I said
no....we want one flood light fixture with two heads mounted in the middle of the building. Now I await a new price.
Bidders make the architect do the pricing since... well, as long as I've been in the biz. (+/- 6 years?) Ha. I fucking hate that kind of laziness.
And you got painted as a bitch, when you were *helping them* do their job! That sucks.
Snooker, at least you got a proposed change order before the work was simply done and installed. We could *not* get our contractors to figure out why that was wrong, and why they couldn't ask for money afterwards.
i have a tendency to hear a song and get ridiculously obsessed and cant stop listening to it for serval weeks
but i have to say...
theres a song on Silent Shout by a band called The Knife called Heartbeats
jesus...
im trying desperately to contain my excitement at my desk here
boy from school by hot chip too
another story of the client seeing the light.... A while ago, I was working on this parish school. It was small, needed a LOT of help. They really liked the master plan that I came up with for them (actually, better than the option that my boss drew up, but that's another matter). However, at that time they said that we were not on the Archdioses list of 'approved' architects. The process to get on this list is like getting into heaven or something, only more paperwork. We'd actually gotten approval some time ago, but to do a paperwork holdup, we were sort of in limbo. They hired some crappy strip mall architect to do the school instead due to this situation.
The other day, my boss sees one of the people on their board, who tells her that they had gone to the city planning department the other day, and the city's reaction was, "What happened? The other plan was so good."
So now, they've seen that it might be worth it to clear up this little clerical error so that we can do the project....
haha letdown... hot chip has been swirling in my head lately too. also ratatat.
what's silent shout? a streaming radio website?
**
ok guys, i landed an interview at my top choice in chicago. eek! now i have less than two weeks to rework my entire portfolio. and get a haircut and buy an interview outfit and line up other intervews too so that the trip out there from CA isn't a complete waste of money. man i have butterflies in my tummy!
myriam! yes i love hot chip and ratatat!!!
you have to check out a band called the knife
their album is called silent shout
i think they have a myspace page... trust me on this one
what firm are you interviewing with? maybe you cant say... best of luck anyway
and its possible my firms still hiring but maybe you already tried them
ha ha, i haven't tried *anything* yet, this is the first resume i sent out! (eek!) i'll email you. thanks for the tip-off.
rationalist- are you trying to out my doppleganger? that identity was supposed to hush-hush ;-)
not that i've been hiding in a forest or something.
oop. Sorry holtzkiller, I was actually trying to get confirmation of my assumption.... it took me a while to realize why I didn't see 'abracadabra' around anymore.
no damage done... just trying to keep my employer in the dark about my posting habit!
the other side of the mirror has a vampire schedule - he only comes out at night...
Is anyone watching this Colbert Report with the Decemberists? It's hilarious.....started off like 60 Minutes.....
lletdownl > i have been obsessed with The Knife for several months now. That song is amazing. Find the Jose Gonzales version of it...it's just as good.
my friend for over 25 years is diying from cirrhosis of the liver.
................
i went to hospital this morning after not seeing him for a year. he has done some nasty things to me because i did opposed to his drinking and did tough love thing to him on occasions. he systematically alienated a lot of people but he was pretty demonical to me and to his ex wife more than anybody else. he is also from turkey and somewhat our families know eachother even though we've met here. he is a very talented artist and graduate of cal-arts when the school was the best art school in the country.
we use to drink like fish when we were young turks and our circles included some art super stars of today. it was cool and everybody was a poet including baldessari, gilbert-rolfe, kelly, lamelas, duane langston, perna, williams, huebler to name a few.
i saw him starting to lose against alcohol several years ago and i relentlessly tried to stop him even though he pushed me away for doing so. i knew he was going to kill himself at that rate of consumption.
alcohol was just symtom for bigger problems he had. it was loss of his mother at a young age, his divorce, funny workings of the art world etc., all contributing factors. his art was conceptual but he was also producing with traditional technics as well like chiseling and painting.
last several years he'd consume jeam beam day and night and i picked him up many times from the emergency rooms after he passed out on seizures.
i culdn't believe my eyes today how much he detoriated. he told me how much he apriciated for me to show up there and asked my forgiveness which i told him no problem and he should not worry about that.
this was the fucked up world he tried to chisel out of his mind. i am sad.
..................
orhan...i'm speechless...i often joke about drinking but i still have a difficult time just trying to imagine losing somebod because of it
that globe is very nice though...
it is so real puddles.
he is not the first one in my life. i wish i could drink moderetly, i still would be drinking. i might have saved my ass at the last possible minute.
i know most of you guys are still in your 20's and 30's, and the idea of dying is not natural to ponder that much at that age, but please be careful with booze and the minute it becomes a problem, seek advice/help. one morning i quit cold turkey, but that is very rare case. most people can drink rest of their life and enjoy it, but there are some people who have the potential of losing their lives over it. i could've been one of them.
most people that have problems with alcohol statistically are above avarage intelligent people with many architects and artists among them.
vado, I got 10 through 4. I've had enough E5 for tonight.
Viva la Powerchord.
WondERK, justgot the knife froma friend. Not bad.
orhan, that is very sad and a good reminder of importance of life. i can see why a lot of above-average or ... perhaps more "sensitive" types would turn to drink--it is hard to deal with being so vulnerable to the world, and artists have to make themselves vulnerable in some way in order to create their art. sad trap.
The story of your friend reminds me of a story Alain de Botton recounts in "architecture of happiness"--it's about Freud taking a walk on a swiss mountainside in the spring time one day with his friend Rainer Maria Rilke. Freud was thinking to himself how very beautiful the day was--sunshine, flowers blooming, birdsong in the air. Nothing more than that. But Rilke turned to him and remarked how sad all the beauty made him, that in a matter of months it would all be gone and trampled, and he couldn't think about the flowers without thinking of the day they will die away. Alain de Botton was making a point about the transient nature of many kinds of beauty, and how those most responsible for it are also those most aware of and vulnerable to its eventual death. It's a beautifully written passage and made me think about a lot of things.
I guess it is good for the world that Rilke didn't turn to drink, although he did end up dying pretty young if I recall. (in his 50s or 60s?)
orhan sorry you are in a bad way due to the deterioration of your friend. i am lucky that alcohol has never really destroyed anyone i knew( unlike cigarettes which basically killed my fathers whole family)
Orhan, I am sorry about your friend. I am glad that he is able to accept your love, even though it has been tough love at times (and good for you for trying to help him), for him now at the end, as that gives both of you peace about your relationship.
I think I tend to joke about things like drinking and sex knowing full well that other people might take it wrong. I know my limits and forget that others may not. Same thing with just being ana rchitecture student - the stress can easily get to be too much and self-destructive actions can start to happen - most universities offer free counseling for students, and students who are reading this, please take care of yourself however you need to.
I saw Gilbert-Rolfe (is it Jeremy?) speak at Ctanbrook - what a well-spoken dude he is!
now we know that a brick can be a globe...
sux, orhan. i've certainly had a lot of people around me that either will end up in that situation yet or stopped themselves before it went too far. i've never been the one strong enough to intervene, having come from a home where drinking was daily/constant.
my most sincere condolences, Orhan.
it's not easy to stand up to a stubborn friend or family member that is battling a weakness. the fact that you did speak up demonstrates the genuine nature of your love for your friend. I'm in the midst of a situation now where I run the risk of alienating a family member by taking a stance against a destructive course they have chosen. it comforts me to know that your friend appreciated you in the end. thank you for sharing this with us.
someone will take this wrong.
my father is an alcoholic, and at times was abusive - both physical and mental - so my sympathies are for those that your friend hurt; you, orhan and his respective loved ones. i am sure all of you had to endure embarassment, guilt, anger, sadness and have had to make excusses, worried incessantly, had late nights of holding drunken heads back, have had to be an intermediary to keep your friend from hurting himself or others, have had to drive or try and keep your friend from driving, have had to divest yourself from a relationship that could have benefited both, i could go on and on...the thing about alcoholism is that everyone who is not a raving, self-destructive drunk can see where this is headed, but the person who is an alcoholic.
again orhan, my sympathies are for what you had to endure, and for a loss that you could have never prevented.
thank you for all the comments. you guys are really like a family here. i really appreciate a lot.
lb yes, jeremy is a great talker too. being from england he really speaks and writes well. he wrote great articles in the first issues of october magazine along with rosalind krauss. funny enough he wrote a beautiful description of my friend's work many years ago. i don't see him that often anymore but he is always in his studio working by himself year after year. he is also a close friend of frank gehry.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.