Yes DCA that's a photo diary of what I drove around and looked at in the last three days. I've not yet - seriously - ever seen a holiday decoration scheme on a suburban office building that looked good, or even slightly sympathetic to the appearance of the building. It's like the facilities manager buys a big (but not big enough) wreath wholesale and tells his guys to hang it up - wherever.
Actually I take that back. In Portland Oregon, on the east side where 84 merges into I-5 above the warehouse district there used to be a pre-csat box industrial building that had huge red/green illuminated letters on the side saying "Happy Holidays" - it looked decent. And of course the former White Stag sign on the west side of the Burnside Bridge always had a red nose around the holidays.
God I miss PDX so much I could cry. Maybe I'll move back there.
btw, I thought of you as I was packing for Prometric this morning and seriously considered bringing my digital camera to capture another "Archniector at Prometric" photo.
I chickened out, though - with my luck, I would get busted for "copying testing material" if I happened to get someone's computer screen in the background...
do I need to have a conversation with myself? it's too quite around here with everybody else gone for the holidaze...
at least my neighbors with the largerst light display have started to take them down... the most annoying xmas decoration encountered twice so far is automated bells chiming bad renditions of carols in peoples yards. How do their neighbors take the noise???? Just walking down the block and hearing the tinkling, drove me crazy.
most charming decoration is the deer (a doe not a raindeer) that my next door neighbor has hidden in her back yard- no other decorations visible, but the simple wire outline strung with little white lights... feels more like a winter decoration then for the holiday.
wK snooped my usual postings of all things los angeles in the 'nect news- nice work! and found an article in they NYT 'bout the state of starchitecture in the city of angles. So ms. cinci- are you having dreams about moving to lotus land or the big apple for grad school?
if you'd been reading the right topics, you'd know that ms. cinci is coming to visit the LA-necters for school tours and boozy nights. = )
I'm here, sort of. Phoenix has been wierd, and very cold. Both colder and hotter than LA, all in one day, actually. Hopping back on the 10 tomorrow morning to head home, finish up the grad apps.
So I'll be heading to Phoenix end of January - my sister sent me tickets to come visit here. Please, weathergods, let it be 80 and sunny when I show up!
Sorry you are lonely tk. I'm back full swing at work this week. I did a long punchlist today and oversaw a backsplash tile installation including a last-minute cabinet relocation. I was reminded on this one that I need to follow my instincts better: I've been feeling like this one wall cabinet was sort of lonely and projecting into the kitchen space too much, and considered moving it to the corner instead. But I felt like that was too weird to suggest to the clients. So they beat me to the punch today and suggested it themselves, meaning I feel like a jerk because "they" came up with the idea. Oh well - it's better this way, that's what matters, right? I always say design should be collaborative - I just still need to work on feeling confident about my ideas.
I had a nice conversation with a former client today who is going to take some pictures of his house for me to go in my portfolio. That's a pretty good feeling!
No prob, tk....the NY Times makes my top 5 list of "daily checked websites" and I happened to see that one.
And rationalist is right, I am looking at one school in LA, but none in New York, unfortunately. I am applying to schools that have specialized graduate degrees focusing in sustainable or environmental design, or in the case of USC, building science. And, believe it or not, there are not many programs in this country that have this option, or if they do exist, they are not urban. That is kind of the focus/arc of my career, if you'll indulge me for a second....I am very city-centric so if I am going to study it, it needs to be in an urban environment.....not in Eugene, Oregon. No offense to Eugene but I've been there, and if I never went back, I wouldn't lose any sleep (although I could be persuaded to see that new federal building).
LA is so weird though isn't it? It's got literally everything that the design profession has to offer - even sustainability, in some very un-sustainable surroundings (you know what I mean). I don't know, I've been thinking about it a lot lately.....who knows where I will be when 2008 hits!
For now I will just focus on getting tanked in LA with some of my favorite archinectors that I've never met!
Oy... I guess that settles the question of whether it was food poisoning, or if my lactose intolerance is much worse than I thought it was.
I've had plenty of three-ways and coneys from Skyline before with no ill effects, but it's been years since I've had ice cream as rich as Graeter's... Incredibly yummy, but what a price to pay for it.
i have to admit that one of the things i definitely will do this weekend is read about all the famous people that died in 2006. i am sure that i will see many names that i missed over the course of the year. www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0GAjK64VZg]r.i.p. famous dead people
Make Ford #2, WonderK... you missed James BRRRROWN, james BROOOOWN.
Also, damn, I wish I'd known what kind of programs you were looking at, WonderK--I would have told you to check out CMU's. They've got this great Intelligent Workplace thingy where all the Building Info Systems students get to work and play and test out their theories (it's in this month's arch record, actually), and many of the people who run the department are superb teachers. (One of the best teachers I have ever had is up there.) Also I cannot possibly recommend Pittsburgh enough. AND it is has been in the sustainability biz much longer than LA... (before leed rating was even around! what's up, alcoa building, pittsburgh convention center, awesome river ecology projects, and mixed use neighborhoods! whoop whoop!) also there are excellent, excellent bars around town. ahhh, i miss pittsburgh.
Wait, WonderK, were you wanting to study under Spiegelhalter at USC? I might know someone you can talk to while you're in town. I mean if that's what you were looking at. I mean I do know someone.
wK- Any thoughts of the frozen north woods of minneapolis? The U of MN has the 2nd MSusDes program created - and you can go dual with an M.Arch... On the east coast - the much maligned UPenn has the Building Simulation Lab that crosses between cybertecture and sustainable design (but doesn't offer any degrees unless you want a phd).
Rationalist- visting a city doesn't normally inspire reading it's newspapers - but then the NYT has a strange facination with LA and reports more about LA culture then anyother city...
tk, U of Minn is another option. However, if you've been checking the grad school thread at all, you'll know it's my "back-up"....no offense to the people that go there or went there but it's only a "sustainable design track" not a MSc in Sustainable Design, like the others. Also they are requiring the most work from me, but this has not stopped them from changing their application web site in mid-process (which has resulted in one of my recommenders jumping ship). So it's been a little frustrating.
As long as we're on the topic, I'm also applying to UT Austin and the Bartlett in London. Anyone for Texas or London? Anyone? :o)
after having worked in this "profession" for a while now, i see absolutely no reason why a person with a ba in architecture should have to waste time and money on graduate school. its a racket and you all should start a revolution against it!!!
wK- I've only been dabbling in the grad school thread and it's been a while since I followed every plot twist. no pressure from the mpls contingent on visiting here... UT is a good school - you can bask in the shadow of pliny fisk \m/
2nd myriam's UT comment. I have an acquantiance (+q knows him better than I) that chose UT Austin over GSD and Princeton after being accepted to all 3 (perhaps other schools too?). Evidently his post-acceptance visits made him feel that UT was the way to go.
myriam, I didn't know Spiegelhalter was so infamous! That guy's hilarious, as long as you're not trying to get actual administrative business transacted.
I have some great spiegelhalter crit quotes stashed away in various sketchbooks. He's a crackup. One of the guys in my year headed out to USC for grad school to keep studying under him. I can't say I knew the man very well--didn't take his studios.
What's going on today? Anything? Quiet here (just trying to keep it on page 1)
I'm just sitting around trying to finish up applications and preparing for my next two weeks, which involves both coasts, BTW. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
I found out today that my planned portfolio printer is not going to work out. Neither is the binder. Now, I have been test printing for a couple days now, and my deadline is next Tuesday, so I *had* been congratulating myself on being ahead of the game for once.
Today I tracked down my backup printer, and found out that the only day I can print with them is tomorrow--and tomorrow ONLY; they will be closed all weekend and Monday and my flight is Tuesday. Also, their binding--my second choice--is going to obscure some of my images. Bugger.
So today I have gone to being ahead of the game to racing-to-finish-everything-tonight. I am pretty nervous and suddenly the quality of my portfolio is looking not-so-hot, to me. I feel like cutting about 50% of it out. It's already 60 pages of images! But cutting out at this point will take time I don't have. Wish me luck. I really want this job.
Same here, WonderK. Surfing archinect while formatting my statements and resumes and such. I have the week off, but am working well over 8hrs/day on this stuff.
Back from Phoenix. My bonus is gone already. I had to pay for the car repairs, and then I spoiled my mom a bit while I was with her, and I'm buying one ticket to the Rose Bowl with the rest.
I'm being taken shopping for wheels tomorrow, so it seems I'll get one Christmas wish fulfilled.
All I have to say is, thank Christ portfolios aren't required for most of my programs. Because I was supposed to have 2 days off this week but I already put in over 24 hours worth of work! I do have to submit one portfolio but the one that I have will suffice, with a "writing sample" attached to the back. This "writing sample" will be a proposal that I did for a client, which is over 80 pages long, so I'm trying to figure out how to edit the darn thing....
I am a little worried about one Statement of Intent. One of the schools is very specific in what it asks for so I might have to rework it a bit to address the specific points. I am hoping this isn't a big deal.
Whoops, sorry, I should stick to the grad school thread!!!
On a side note, I am terribly excited about spending some Christmas gift cards but I just haven't had the time yet.
yeah, I've got this, this, and this one waiting for me when this grad school madness is done. They are all sitting sadly on my bookshelf, looking very lonely at the moment. My boyfriend's next to them on the couch, also with a very lonely expression.
I dropped our car off at the dealership for service this morning and took the complimentary shuttle back to the King Street Metro station. The morning sunlight at an above-ground Metro station is always delightful, and it is my favorite part about taking our car in for service. (That's the one "downside" to living close to the city - most of my daily commute on Metro is underground, save for a few minutes in the light at Arlington Cemetery.)
I'm supposed to be on vacation, too, this week. However, I've been in the office twice already since Tuesday. Today I've got nothing planned, although I should finish my Architect's Field Reports because I promised them "by the end of the week."
Okay. I'll crank them out and then have the rest of the weekend free. It's kinda like homework, isn't it?
Thread Central
Dammit. Think before you type. Think before you type... Think, garpike.
make sure he keeps his garwondLer to himself...
Yes DCA that's a photo diary of what I drove around and looked at in the last three days. I've not yet - seriously - ever seen a holiday decoration scheme on a suburban office building that looked good, or even slightly sympathetic to the appearance of the building. It's like the facilities manager buys a big (but not big enough) wreath wholesale and tells his guys to hang it up - wherever.
Actually I take that back. In Portland Oregon, on the east side where 84 merges into I-5 above the warehouse district there used to be a pre-csat box industrial building that had huge red/green illuminated letters on the side saying "Happy Holidays" - it looked decent. And of course the former White Stag sign on the west side of the Burnside Bridge always had a red nose around the holidays.
God I miss PDX so much I could cry. Maybe I'll move back there.
hey, did anyone else get a cool card from Archinect?
thanks Archinect, and Merry Holidaze and safe travels for the New Year!
Love,
Beta
can't find the original but this is one of the BEST chrissmassy songs.
Bartlett Boy strikes again!
beta - yes, the card from Archniect is great.
btw, I thought of you as I was packing for Prometric this morning and seriously considered bringing my digital camera to capture another "Archniector at Prometric" photo.
I chickened out, though - with my luck, I would get busted for "copying testing material" if I happened to get someone's computer screen in the background...
However, shopping malls - another mainstay of the suburbs - seem to have been designed for holiday decorations.
(Pentagon City Mall)
happy Chrisnukkaza!!!
do I need to have a conversation with myself? it's too quite around here with everybody else gone for the holidaze...
at least my neighbors with the largerst light display have started to take them down... the most annoying xmas decoration encountered twice so far is automated bells chiming bad renditions of carols in peoples yards. How do their neighbors take the noise???? Just walking down the block and hearing the tinkling, drove me crazy.
most charming decoration is the deer (a doe not a raindeer) that my next door neighbor has hidden in her back yard- no other decorations visible, but the simple wire outline strung with little white lights... feels more like a winter decoration then for the holiday.
wK snooped my usual postings of all things los angeles in the 'nect news- nice work! and found an article in they NYT 'bout the state of starchitecture in the city of angles. So ms. cinci- are you having dreams about moving to lotus land or the big apple for grad school?
if you'd been reading the right topics, you'd know that ms. cinci is coming to visit the LA-necters for school tours and boozy nights. = )
I'm here, sort of. Phoenix has been wierd, and very cold. Both colder and hotter than LA, all in one day, actually. Hopping back on the 10 tomorrow morning to head home, finish up the grad apps.
So I'll be heading to Phoenix end of January - my sister sent me tickets to come visit here. Please, weathergods, let it be 80 and sunny when I show up!
Sorry you are lonely tk. I'm back full swing at work this week. I did a long punchlist today and oversaw a backsplash tile installation including a last-minute cabinet relocation. I was reminded on this one that I need to follow my instincts better: I've been feeling like this one wall cabinet was sort of lonely and projecting into the kitchen space too much, and considered moving it to the corner instead. But I felt like that was too weird to suggest to the clients. So they beat me to the punch today and suggested it themselves, meaning I feel like a jerk because "they" came up with the idea. Oh well - it's better this way, that's what matters, right? I always say design should be collaborative - I just still need to work on feeling confident about my ideas.
I had a nice conversation with a former client today who is going to take some pictures of his house for me to go in my portfolio. That's a pretty good feeling!
That made me smile, myriam. That IS a nice feeling. Good job.
congrats on 4000 lb. archinect needs to create an advice column with you at the helm!
Should I stop at 4004 for awhile, since it looks cool?
Naah - I've got too much to say about that damn bling project to keep my mouth shut!
Love your 8-track comment on the ipod thread, vado.
No prob, tk....the NY Times makes my top 5 list of "daily checked websites" and I happened to see that one.
And rationalist is right, I am looking at one school in LA, but none in New York, unfortunately. I am applying to schools that have specialized graduate degrees focusing in sustainable or environmental design, or in the case of USC, building science. And, believe it or not, there are not many programs in this country that have this option, or if they do exist, they are not urban. That is kind of the focus/arc of my career, if you'll indulge me for a second....I am very city-centric so if I am going to study it, it needs to be in an urban environment.....not in Eugene, Oregon. No offense to Eugene but I've been there, and if I never went back, I wouldn't lose any sleep (although I could be persuaded to see that new federal building).
LA is so weird though isn't it? It's got literally everything that the design profession has to offer - even sustainability, in some very un-sustainable surroundings (you know what I mean). I don't know, I've been thinking about it a lot lately.....who knows where I will be when 2008 hits!
For now I will just focus on getting tanked in LA with some of my favorite archinectors that I've never met!
WonderK: Did anybody else get horribly sick from that meal at Skyline / Graeter's, or was it just me?
Just you, my friend. I went home and added red wine to wonderful stomach mix. No offense but you don't live here anymore, and I'm a professional, lol.
Oy... I guess that settles the question of whether it was food poisoning, or if my lactose intolerance is much worse than I thought it was.
I've had plenty of three-ways and coneys from Skyline before with no ill effects, but it's been years since I've had ice cream as rich as Graeter's... Incredibly yummy, but what a price to pay for it.
Oh no! Sorry. Perhaps you should have had wine too! Damn I wish I had some now....
Do you ever get that sinking feeling when somebody famous dies, because usually there are two right behind them?
Former President Gerald Ford, dead at 93
So who's next?!?
i have to admit that one of the things i definitely will do this weekend is read about all the famous people that died in 2006. i am sure that i will see many names that i missed over the course of the year.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0GAjK64VZg]r.i.p. famous dead people
it's late...tonite
Make Ford #2, WonderK... you missed James BRRRROWN, james BROOOOWN.
Also, damn, I wish I'd known what kind of programs you were looking at, WonderK--I would have told you to check out CMU's. They've got this great Intelligent Workplace thingy where all the Building Info Systems students get to work and play and test out their theories (it's in this month's arch record, actually), and many of the people who run the department are superb teachers. (One of the best teachers I have ever had is up there.) Also I cannot possibly recommend Pittsburgh enough. AND it is has been in the sustainability biz much longer than LA... (before leed rating was even around! what's up, alcoa building, pittsburgh convention center, awesome river ecology projects, and mixed use neighborhoods! whoop whoop!) also there are excellent, excellent bars around town. ahhh, i miss pittsburgh.
I'm sorry, the grad school is called the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics. It's run by a bunch of Germans. You know how they like weighty titles... ;)
Wait, WonderK, were you wanting to study under Spiegelhalter at USC? I might know someone you can talk to while you're in town. I mean if that's what you were looking at. I mean I do know someone.
myriam.....dahling......I am way ahead of you. I know about James Brown, I was wondering about who would be #3.....
And I already sent in my application to CMU! ;o)
Thank you for thinking of me though!
actually former president ford roles in at #142 of the year...
wK- Any thoughts of the frozen north woods of minneapolis? The U of MN has the 2nd MSusDes program created - and you can go dual with an M.Arch... On the east coast - the much maligned UPenn has the Building Simulation Lab that crosses between cybertecture and sustainable design (but doesn't offer any degrees unless you want a phd).
Rationalist- visting a city doesn't normally inspire reading it's newspapers - but then the NYT has a strange facination with LA and reports more about LA culture then anyother city...
tk, U of Minn is another option. However, if you've been checking the grad school thread at all, you'll know it's my "back-up"....no offense to the people that go there or went there but it's only a "sustainable design track" not a MSc in Sustainable Design, like the others. Also they are requiring the most work from me, but this has not stopped them from changing their application web site in mid-process (which has resulted in one of my recommenders jumping ship). So it's been a little frustrating.
As long as we're on the topic, I'm also applying to UT Austin and the Bartlett in London. Anyone for Texas or London? Anyone? :o)
after having worked in this "profession" for a while now, i see absolutely no reason why a person with a ba in architecture should have to waste time and money on graduate school. its a racket and you all should start a revolution against it!!!
wK- I've only been dabbling in the grad school thread and it's been a while since I followed every plot twist. no pressure from the mpls contingent on visiting here... UT is a good school - you can bask in the shadow of pliny fisk \m/
vado, you don't know what you're missing!
i got a masters degree already...
i always hear good things about UT Austin, but have not once heard anything bad, so that makes it sound attractive to me. Same goes for the town.
2nd myriam's UT comment. I have an acquantiance (+q knows him better than I) that chose UT Austin over GSD and Princeton after being accepted to all 3 (perhaps other schools too?). Evidently his post-acceptance visits made him feel that UT was the way to go.
myriam, I didn't know Spiegelhalter was so infamous! That guy's hilarious, as long as you're not trying to get actual administrative business transacted.
I have some great spiegelhalter crit quotes stashed away in various sketchbooks. He's a crackup. One of the guys in my year headed out to USC for grad school to keep studying under him. I can't say I knew the man very well--didn't take his studios.
I served with him on the curriculum committee at USC for almost a year. Just a sample of the conversation:
Anybody: "Do you think the B.S. Arch students need to take two semesters of history? What about theory? How about one history, one theory?"
Spiegelhalter: "Well yes, I think it's very important for technology to be integrated into the studio courses, etc. etc. etc."
It was pretty hard to get anything done, but it was hilarious to see someone who was not used to him try it.
"eet's verry imPORtant"
ha ha ha, I can hear him say that...
we used to call him speigelrocker.
What's going on today? Anything? Quiet here (just trying to keep it on page 1)
I'm just sitting around trying to finish up applications and preparing for my next two weeks, which involves both coasts, BTW. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
I found out today that my planned portfolio printer is not going to work out. Neither is the binder. Now, I have been test printing for a couple days now, and my deadline is next Tuesday, so I *had* been congratulating myself on being ahead of the game for once.
Today I tracked down my backup printer, and found out that the only day I can print with them is tomorrow--and tomorrow ONLY; they will be closed all weekend and Monday and my flight is Tuesday. Also, their binding--my second choice--is going to obscure some of my images. Bugger.
So today I have gone to being ahead of the game to racing-to-finish-everything-tonight. I am pretty nervous and suddenly the quality of my portfolio is looking not-so-hot, to me. I feel like cutting about 50% of it out. It's already 60 pages of images! But cutting out at this point will take time I don't have. Wish me luck. I really want this job.
Same here, WonderK. Surfing archinect while formatting my statements and resumes and such. I have the week off, but am working well over 8hrs/day on this stuff.
Back from Phoenix. My bonus is gone already. I had to pay for the car repairs, and then I spoiled my mom a bit while I was with her, and I'm buying one ticket to the Rose Bowl with the rest.
I'm being taken shopping for wheels tomorrow, so it seems I'll get one Christmas wish fulfilled.
All I have to say is, thank Christ portfolios aren't required for most of my programs. Because I was supposed to have 2 days off this week but I already put in over 24 hours worth of work! I do have to submit one portfolio but the one that I have will suffice, with a "writing sample" attached to the back. This "writing sample" will be a proposal that I did for a client, which is over 80 pages long, so I'm trying to figure out how to edit the darn thing....
I am a little worried about one Statement of Intent. One of the schools is very specific in what it asks for so I might have to rework it a bit to address the specific points. I am hoping this isn't a big deal.
Whoops, sorry, I should stick to the grad school thread!!!
On a side note, I am terribly excited about spending some Christmas gift cards but I just haven't had the time yet.
yeah, I've got this, this, and this one waiting for me when this grad school madness is done. They are all sitting sadly on my bookshelf, looking very lonely at the moment. My boyfriend's next to them on the couch, also with a very lonely expression.
I dropped our car off at the dealership for service this morning and took the complimentary shuttle back to the King Street Metro station. The morning sunlight at an above-ground Metro station is always delightful, and it is my favorite part about taking our car in for service. (That's the one "downside" to living close to the city - most of my daily commute on Metro is underground, save for a few minutes in the light at Arlington Cemetery.)
I'm supposed to be on vacation, too, this week. However, I've been in the office twice already since Tuesday. Today I've got nothing planned, although I should finish my Architect's Field Reports because I promised them "by the end of the week."
Okay. I'll crank them out and then have the rest of the weekend free. It's kinda like homework, isn't it?
Steven, there's really an architecture firm in Louisville called One World Architecture? That's so simultaneously optimistic and imperialistic!
i thought they were rastafarians maybe...
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