| To and From Europe: Visit #2 |
[Mar. 23rd, 2008|07:05 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  ecstatic | ] |
I am home safe and sound from my trip to London + Milan. Pictures and details will follow when I am less tired. |
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| An interesting question |
[Feb. 15th, 2008|06:03 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  chipper | ] |
Yesterday while at lunch, a co-worker asked me an interesting question. We had just been talking about some serious business in the office and she switched topics with the following question: "What do you like to do more than anything else in the world?" To which I responded off the cuff with: "Breathe," just to be silly. 'Cuz you know, if I stopped doing it, I'd have some serious problems right quick. She laughed and told me, "not what's necessary, but something voluntary." So I briefly thought of all the things I really enjoy doing to see if I could decide what might rank at the top. With only a few moments of thought I realized I was getting nowhere, so my mind immediately switched tactics to trying to find what the common thread was between all of the activities I greatly enjoy. I stumbled upon another one word answer which worked with the few examples in my mind at the time, but the longer I've thought about it since then, the better it fits.
My one one word answer to what I like doing most in this world is: Moving.
On the surface, it seems a very vague and thoughtless answer, but I promise it's better than that. The first handful of examples I could think of at the time that fit were: the rush of acceleration of take off as well as the 'in-air' feeling while flying in a plane, the wind in my face and leaning in and out of turns while cruising around on a bike, driving fast in my car, flying through the air while Springboard Diving, swimming, twists+turns and hills on roller coasters, the balance and kinetics of Rock Climbing, and just generally being the active person I am. Beyond those very physical things, there are two intellectual concepts that go hand in hand with "moving." The first thing is that when you are moving, you are doing something; and if you finish doing something, hopefully you've accomplished something through your doing. This sense of accomplishment is something I love the feeling of, as most people do, but I also really love the necessary movement to get there. "The journey is just as important as the destination." Moving is also associated with progress, a good thing, whereas not moving is being stagnant, a bad thing. (I know you can make the argument that recession is 'moving' backward, and plateauing at a highpoint isn't a bad type of not moving; but work with me here.) I really enjoy honing my skills, learning, improving, adapting, and -you guessed it - 'moving' forward, in the development in my capabilities and who I am as a person.
While I know there are many other things I know I love doing that don't require 'moving,' but anyone know has been around me long enough knows that will all the energy I have, 'moving' has to be one of the top things on the list of what I like to do most in the world. |
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| Awesome-Bowl Sunday! |
[Jan. 31st, 2008|08:02 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  silly | ] |
Just for the Record:
I don't really care if the Green Bay Dolphins are battling the Seattle Orioles in the PGA Stanley Cup. I just hope Andre Agassi can beat Labron James by putting the 8-ball in the sticky wicket. |
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| Long overdue, I suppose. On teeth, and things. |
[Sep. 16th, 2007|09:30 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sore | ] |
So, people want to know what I’ve been up to. I don’t really feel like typing a lot in order to cover 5+ months of silence, so I’ll just catch people up on the past week or so.
I got my wisdom teeth out on Wednesday morning. My brother and father came to Annapolis to be with me for the operation and to drive me and my car back to the farm. That way, after I was recuperated, I could leave and drive home freely. I woke up from the knock-out gas easily, and my head was remarkably clear on the ride home. When major anesthesia wore off the pain hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve felt pain that strong before, but it was temporary or able to be relieved (like my fractured elbow if I held it in the right way). The pain in my jaw for those few hours was more consistent and unrelenting in that length of time it had me flat on my back (on the couch) begging for mercy. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday weren’t so bad, most of the pain in the sockets had died down as I went to bed Thursday and I was fighting swelling and a stiff jaw for the rest. By this morning most of the swelling has gone down, but my cheeks are starting to change colour with bruising. I will be going back to work tomorrow, and on Wednesday I have a follow up appointment in the afternoon to remove the sutures. Until then, and probably a few days after, I’ll be on the “no chewing” diet.
A few other tidbits:
I’ve finally seen ‘The Bourne Identity’ and I look forward to the other two.
‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ has less straight dialogue than I remember, most of it is in the songs.
I’ve finally made my way to the Imperial City of Archadia in Final Fantasy XII.
I now know what the ‘block’ button is in the Naruto fighting game so the versus fights against my brother aren’t as one sided anymore.
I didn’t do nearly the amount of drawing I wanted to, but I have ideas for several art pieces if I ever get the time.
Carolyn is wonderful.
I can’t wait to climb again tomorrow evening.
And for Brian and Cat, I saw a bit of ‘Rear Window’ on TV this evening on AMC, and they had an advertisement for other Hitchcock films this week. The ad revolved around a quote of his I think you’d both enjoy: “There is no terror in the bang; only in the anticipation of it.” |
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| Chinese fortunes and doctors visits |
[Mar. 2nd, 2007|08:07 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  hungry | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The News | ] |
A co-worker absolutely loved Chinese food, and would order it at least once or twice a week while she worked at the firm. (She has since moved on, because her job description began to change and it wasn’t what she wanted to be doing.) While I may not have joined her every time she ordered out, I did manage to accumulate quite a handful of fortunes,; each representing one meal in the past 6 months. Just for the hell of it, I’m going to copy them into here, and I’m quite surprised how many of them actually are “reasonably” accurate. I lost track of what order I got them in, because that would be a little too OCD for me. :P So in whatever order my hands come across them, here they are:
Avert misunderstanding by calm, poise, and balance. (I think I manage. …mostly.)
Your smile always brightens the cloudiest of days. (I certainly like to think so.)
When winter comes heaven will rain success on you. (Well, maybe next winter.)
Nature, Time, and Patience are the three great physicians. (If you say so.)
You will step on the soil of many countries. (Damn Straight! I’m “racing” my cousin to all 7 continents. I’m in the lead with 3.)
You are going to take a vacation. (Sure, won’t everyone, eventually?)
You have a yearning for perfection. (I do, which really hurts sometimes.)
Don’t be hasty, prosperity will knock on your door soon. (I hope I get to the door before my landlord.)
You are busy but you are happy. (Yes, and I suppose so.)
The joyfulness of a man prolongeth his days. (I’m going to try to live forever.)
You will have a long and wealthy life. (This goes well with the one before, but I didn’t plan that.)
A wise man knows everything, a shrewd one, everybody. (I’ll take both please.)
You will be successful in your work. (This was either the first or the second one, seems to be true so far.)
Speak only well of other people and you need never whisper. (Unless someone is sleeping.)
Struggle as hard as you can for whatever you believe in. (Can you get any more vague? I mean, Hitler could have gotten this one once.)
You will have good luck and overcome many hardships. (in bed. The only hardship will be getting someone into the bed, but that’s what the luck is for.)
In other news, I went to my new doctor for the first time on Tuesday. When we sat down with my ‘new patient paperwork’ she asked me a question that struck me as quite funny: “So, you’re healthy, your parents are healthy, your brother is healthy, you’ve had no serious diseases, you have no symptoms of any illness, you have no general complaints of aches or pains, you have no thyroid or other gland/hormonal issues, you take no medication so need no refill, and from outward appearance seem to be physically fit. Why are you here?”
“Because, down the road something will eventually go wrong. So you having met me and having my file, are the first two steps for any necessary future treatment.”
She then gave me a look of “If only all my patients could be this way” and suggested we get some basic things checked on to establish a baseline. Overall, the entire visit was very simple, quick, and amusing. |
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| Sheep Time! meme meme... |
[Feb. 27th, 2007|07:56 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cheerful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Ghostbusters! Theme | ] |
What the hell, why not! (bounced from the one and only Troy)
You reply and answer these questions in said reply. Then you repost the questions as a journal entry so people can answer them. Because I said so, that's why!
1. Who are you?
2. Are we friends?
3. If we’ve met, when and how did we meet?
4. What social event or place would you like to go to with me?
5. Would you kiss me?
6. Describe me in one word.
7. What was your first impression?
8. Do you still think that way about me now?
9. What reminds you of me?
10. If you could give me anything what would it be?
11. How well do you know me?
12. When’s the last time you saw me?
13. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn’t? |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 18th, 2007|11:41 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Home, Annapolis | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  content | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Seal Paul - Temperature | ] |
So, I haven’t posted since November 14th, which is 96 days ago. I know some people who post to LJ often enough that the time between their posts doesn’t even reach double digit hours, mine is well into 4 digits of hours, but I don’t feel like looking at the exact times to figure it all out. Suffice to say, this is not a good way to know what’s going on in my life because so much can change in that amount of time. ^_^
In the past quarter year a bunch of stuff has happened. Like the new year, Happy 2007 everyone, even if we have already gotten through a decent chunk of it already. It’s also the Chinese New Year today, and as with many of the people I went to school with I’m a 1983 Pig, so it is once again my lucky year.
I just got back from KatsuCon, which is where I met Cat last year. If I had written up a “my thoughts on 2006” post right as we moved out of it, she would have factored heavily into it. There were three really notable things that happened in 2006: graduating from Virginia Tech, starting my career as an Architect, and dating Cat. Meeting at a Con was kinda crazy, dating from so far away was hard, but the relationship was wonderful, and my only regret is that it ended so soon. But such things are well past at this point, even if this weekend brought back a lot of memories.
I’ve been reacquainted with old friends since New Year’s (Hey Troy, I know you’re reading this) and now I go rock climbing with them once a week, which is awesome. I had been out of contact with most of my friends, and people to hang out with until a very fortunate message from little Kate when she was in Annapolis for the New Year’s party everyone was attending. Though speaking of friends, I have begun to spend a good deal of time with one of my co-workers, Patrick, and his boys. The eldest two are 10 and 7 and I have gotten them into Magic: the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons (with the help of their dad), and the Civilization series by Sid Meier. The youngest boy is 18 months and while being a little terror, is also exceptionally cute and fun to be around while watching him learn and develop.
Due to my growing relationship with Patrick and his family, when the ice storm hit last Tuesday and my house was without power for 36 hours, I ended up spending my time at his place building and maintaining the fire in his fireplace and helping entertain the kids so the parents could get a break. It was fun to play “uncle” and it made the cold dark misery more enjoyable than if I’d tried to manage alone in my house.
Work overall has been good these past months, and while I’m over the excitement of “I have a job!” and I’m beginning to get the “I’m going to be doing this for the REST of my LIFE?” sensation, I do enjoy what I do. I’ve worked on several projects, some of which are well out the door and under construction, some of which are getting there. I’ve worked on the company logo and business cards and watched the whole transition to the new firm identity. For those who are familiar with the Baltimore Convention Center, the woman who designed it (with the help of a team to finish out the details) is now working at my firm as a new principle. She also brought with her some huge clients and projects, but I’m not allowed to talk about any of them specifically until contracts are signed and we begin work on them. Through her influence we’ve also jumped on a new boat in terms of CAD software which everyone is now in the process of learning, which also looks very promising.
And that’s about it. I might update more in the future, I might not. We’ll see. |
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| Bathroom Happiness |
[Nov. 14th, 2006|12:15 am] |
I used the bathroom upstairs for the first time! Whee!
For those not aware, when I was moving into this house back at the end of September, the Bathroom upstairs next to my bedroom had been gutted and was in the process of being renovated. I've helped out over the past month and a half with the drywall, electrical, and painting. While the shower got installed within the first three days (so I wouldn't have to use the landlord's in his Master Suite), I've been using the downstairs sink and toilet up until now. But tonight, after a final coat of paint earlier in the evening, we hooked up the new vanity and toilet upstairs and hug the light fixture. So now I have a fully working bathroom again! ...even if it isn't totally finished yet.
And now to sleep. |
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| Halloween funzises |
[Nov. 1st, 2006|12:39 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
I HAD internet on Saturday while people were here carving, and then it suddenly went *poof!* for two days. It was very vexing. ...so here are the pictures of the pumpkin I carved this year: ( Pictures )
The carving itself was fun, but the company was far more enjoyable. Will, Karen, and Garth came over, and the initial "Pumpkin Hunt" when they first arrived is nicely summed up over at: Comedity Will did a large one like me, Karen did 2: one about 6 inches in diameter the other about 9, and Garth took 7 little ones to make an army out of (which can also be found on Comedity one strip prior to the one I linked). We jointly made Taco soup, and cornbread, and it was a wonderful get-together we will have to repeat.
I then took the pumpkin into work yesterday to share, and we had a fun time putting it on the Principle's desk before she came in and surprising the heck out of her. The entire office could hear her scream "AHHHHHHHH!!! WHAT IS THIS?!! Who DID This?" It was quite awesome. Last night I went to get a haircut prior to dressing up today so I'd have more manageable hair when I wanted to gel it upwards. The woman didn't listen to me at all and I somehow ended up with a crew cut... I have no idea how that happened. Since when does a "Chili Bowl" kind of style equal something the Marines get? There are no pictures, I look horrible.
Then today, I dressed up as Vash the Stampede to go to work in. I have such a cool place to work where they not only don't mind if you dress up, but they actively encourage it. My hair is currently short enough to stand up entirely on it's own, which did shorten my prep time in the morning and everything went smoothly. No one knew who I was, which I completely expected, but that is completely okay, I enjoyed swooshing around in my trenchcoat regardless. After work I went to the grocery store still in full costume, and while I got some funny looks, people generally accepted it.
While handing out candy tonight, a party of 3 kids actually recognized me! W00T for anime watchers! I knew the little kids would have no idea, and the most common miss-guess was that of a mad scientist. The littlest kids were so adorable! There were about 5 kids that came by that were under 3~4 years old: a "frogie," a fairy, two different princesses, and clown. One of them hadn't quite gotten the whole "Trick or Treat!" thing down yet, but had managed to get right to the heart of the matter with "Tweat pwease!" I gave her 3 it was so cute.
I then spend the rest of the evening sewing on two buttons to my coat, one of which that had come off, and the other that was just getting really loose. All in all it was a great few days! |
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| Baking |
[Oct. 19th, 2006|12:50 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  pleased | ] |
I have been baking pretty much once a week for the hell of it, and then taking my stuff in to work to share. Tonight I made an Apple Pie. I messed up a bit on the top crust, but that shouldn't affect the taste at all. *grins*
But we'll see how well it bakes in the morning before I go to work.
'Night all.
[edit]: The pie tastes fabulous! I even got a compliment: "This is better than Grandma's!" which made me feel really good. I also have enough ingredients to make another one for the weekend/next weekend when several of us are trying to get together. |
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| "Assateague" weekend |
[Oct. 8th, 2006|07:38 am] |
This year we have once again gone to a beach house in Upper Bethany Beach, not camping on the sand in Assateague proper. Since there was a huge storm at the beginning of the weekend, everyone agreed that once again, it was wrth it. It's the same house we were at two years ago Stefanie, by the way. As per tradition, when the clouds are behaving, we get up to watch the sunrise; which this trip has ony been this morning. He's a picture of Sunrise on the Ocean!
Sunrise
@ 7:12 AM it broke over the clouds
...and this was yesterday's winds:
35 MPH
Enjoy! |
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| Theory vs. Reality |
[Oct. 3rd, 2006|10:56 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | pleased | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Hybrid - Finished Symphony | ] |
I got 5 years of edu-ma-cation at Virginia Tech. I thought that might have prepared me for what goes on in the “real world.” Nope. I got 5 years of Architectural Theory, and it went pretty much out the window within a week at Purple Cherry. Not that questions of Architecture don’t have a place in the world that people live and work in, but they play second fiddle to what can actually be accomplished. “The only rules that matter are these: what a man can do, and what a man can’t do.” . . . Thank you, Captain Jack. There was a good example of this sort of thing today at the office:
One of the houses I’m working on has a curved wall full of windows on two floors. On both levels there is a nice curved deck outside of the wall that needs to be supported somehow. The deck is made of planks to be drip through and is 4’ deep while above it, the eave of the curved roof overhangs the edge of the wall about 18”. The issue at the ground level is that the house comes right up next to the edge of the limit of disturbance (beyond which there is allowed to be no digging, machinery, or and form of messing up the soil). After discussing several options that had varying degrees of viability and expense, I thought I came up with a solution that was easy, relatively cheap, and would work out to be somewhat architecturally significant. If the roof were extended, cables or other tension elements could be hung down from it to the two floors of decks below, and no disturbance would happen at ground level. The cables and the mullions of the windows behind would be at the same spacing and rhythm, and everything would work to unify the wall into a solid architectural element. It would have been a wonderful solution in school.
In the “Real World” the legislation says: “if a surface is impermeable, the ground beneath it has been disturbed.” In this way, my “perfect” solution that creates an impermeable surface (the roof) over an area that prior was permeable (drip through decking) would make the building pass over the line of what could not be disturbed. While it is true that it wouldn’t actually be disturbed, it would take time, effort, and money to document that fact and obtain a Variance to the building ordinances. Such paperwork could take 12~14 months and unknown amount of legal fees, and the family has already waited 22 months to get this far and wants their house build. Good-bye theory, you don’t stand up to all the factors of the “Real World.”
It is a bummer that my idea didn’t work, but the plus side was that the two Project Architects listened to my idea and considered it equally with all of theirs. They accepted the potential of it, and the proceeded to work the issue through to its eventual conclusion, even if it was failure. That’s one of the things I like about working here at Purple Cherry, I really am an equal member of the team who is respected and encouraged to think up new ideas on the possibility that one of them might turn out to work, and maybe even be the best at the same time. |
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| Finally the flipside: In Annapolis |
[Sep. 24th, 2006|05:50 pm] |
See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait without you
With or without you
With or without you
Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you
With or without you
With or without you
I cant live
With or without you
[ . . . ]
My hands are tied
My body bruised, shes got me with
Nothing to win and
Nothing left to lose
[ . . . ]
With or without you
With or without you
I cant live
With or without you
With or without you
U2 - With or Without You
That pretty much is the undercurrent of my life right now, even if everything on the surface is groovy. On the other hand, I absolutely despise cigarette smoke and my ex-roommate Steve who all but ruined some of my clothing. I have plenty of stories from the past month, but I can't write them up all at one time; eventually however
Oh yeah, I have internet again. |
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| Movin' |
[Aug. 20th, 2006|04:36 pm] |
This entry is going to be remarkably like the last one. I'm just about to pack up the computer and move it, but I won't have internet for several days (or even a week) after I get it to my new place... so those of you that have my phone number, please feel free to use it.
My new address is:
301 North Drive
Severna Park, MD 21146
Catch you all later. |
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| I'M Done and GONE!!! |
[Aug. 10th, 2006|11:30 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | ecstatic | ] |
Packing up the Computer... cleaning the apartment... 5 full years of college... and that's a wrap.
This is Larom Lancaster, Graduate of Virginia Tech, Bachelor's of Architecture, signing off from Blacksburg, VA.
Catch you on the flip side in Annapolis, MD. |
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| Busy Busy Bee |
[Aug. 1st, 2006|11:26 pm] |
So, it's August already. I didn't post once during July. is anyone surprised? I'm not.
No monthly resolution for July, but for August, it's to MOVE ON WITH MY LIFE! Wow, that's fun to type. By the end of the month, I plan to:
1. Have two job interviews
2. Decide on where my career will take me
3. Finish my Thesis
4. Turn in my book which means I will...
5. Graduate
6. Move away from Tech
7. Find a new apartment near my new job
8. Move in
9. Begin work.
Whew. I'll be busy. Hopefully by the end of the month I can get into a routine at my new job and find some time to relax. Until then, thanks for reading, I'll see you next time. |
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| Userpics |
[Jun. 29th, 2006|08:49 pm] |
Nothing much to report, I only changed around my userpics today. The old standby of Vash and his gun that I've used for several years is now gone, and the crazy one too. In their place I added two photos of myself with similar-ish expressions (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) rasputanian_ and annanaka convinced me). Since I last updated my pics, they increased the count to 6, so I uploaded the Comedity one, and two other Vash ones for different moods.
Sooo.... yeah. Have a nice day, or evening, or whatever time it is for you. |
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| Oops, long gap again. |
[Jun. 3rd, 2006|10:52 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  amused | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Pirates of the Caribbean - Spliced together | ] |
Silly me, I keep forgetting that Livejornal is for posting and not just reading other people's posts. So the last time I wrote an entry, it was March 21. I said I’d be doing these New Year’s Resolutions every month, but if I don’t post for 2 months, I can’t have made resolutions. But anyway, here we are in June. My resolution for this month is: Finish My Design! which will be followed in July by: Make My Book! And then school will be over, not just for the year, but forever. ...or at least until I decide to get a masters.
A lot has happened in two months, and a lot of it I’ve forgotten. I suppose the most important thing is that I “graduated” but since I didn’t really, because 2 classes are keeping the diploma out of my hands, I really wasn’t the most important thing. What was actually #1 was that I got to see Cat for two weeks straight. Man, was I spoiled. She came down the Wednesday before graduation, and left two Wednesdays later, (which is now a week and a half ago). She is so adorable. I can’t begin to describe how utterly cute she is, mainly because it would sound weird 1. out of context and 2. to anyone but me. But since I’m the one that thinks that she’s awesome that way, it all works out.
My Brother, Parents, and Grandparents also came for graduation, and it was really nice to see them. The day before, Will, Cat, and I had done a lot of walking and doing, and we finally stopped to eat at a restaurant, and Will was staring off into space and not being very talkative. This kinda creeped Cat out considering she had just met him until I said “Ya know Will? You look like you could use a good book and a comfy chair. You’re in ‘Powersave’ mode right now.” To which he replied: “Yeah, I really do need a good book. I’m glad to have such an understanding brother.” I feel kinda bad for him, as self-contained as he is (and his is moreso than anyone else that I know), he still needs some companionship every once in a while. I’m the only one who really understands him, and he doesn’t get to see me but maybe once every other month. Hopefully I’ll get a job somewhere close by.
It was also disconcerting to see my grandfather so frail and unsure. I’ve always thought of my mother’s parents to be Super Grandparents. A year and a half ago they went to Antarctica, one of the harshest places on the planet after they were 80. They’ve taken several 200+km bike trips across parts of Europe, climbed the foot-mountains of Mt. Everest, and always outpaced anyone within 20 years of them. ...And now, after a small stroke, my grandfather clutches to someone’s arm when walking up a short incline, and gets confused and frightened in a crowd. I knew it would happen someday, but not this soon, and not so fast. I really don’t want to move too far from them, so I can share with them the time they have left and enjoy it to its potential.
I got a new computer. It’s a self build from NewEgg, and I’m exceptionally pleased with it. Eetz so Shiney! So fast, so reliable, so powerful. I’d forgotten what dealing with a new computer could be like. *grins* My little ‘Azure’ is going to be with me for a while, maybe forever since I got a big enough case to continually upgrade her when I need to. She should be able to handle most anything that they can come up with hardware-wise, and software’s no problem.
I finished working at Sbarro’s. Overall it wasn’t a bad job. I really liked making pizzas, and by liking it I made them better, and then the managers noticed, and kept asking me to do more. It was a win-win cycle. The serving line wasn’t so bad, I have no problems dealing with people, so that wasn’t the hard part for me; it was just hot. Dishes sucked! Thankfully there was a girl who liked doing them, and any shift we both worked together (Tuesdays) I knew I wouldn’t have to do them, which was a plus.
My photography portfolio is pretty sweet. I made it into a book which really impressed my teacher. All she wanted was 8 photographs “that look like a set,” which could mean anything from mounting, or similar tones, or subjects, or composition. It didn’t matter to her, it just needed to be a set. By the end of the semester, I had enough portraits of people that I could make a set of 8 with only 1 new picture: a self-portrait. I think it came out really well, and I’ll use it again in my Resume/Portfolio, maybe in my Thesis book, ...maybe. Book making was interesting. I liked laying it out and setting the pacing for the pages. The construction was fun too. Unlike some of my architecture models that are tests and malleable, this was concrete and precise; a very welcome change.
That hits most of the high points, and while I might have forgotten something, that’s it for now. Cheers! |
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| Intro to Photography 101 |
[Mar. 21st, 2006|11:54 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  accomplished | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Saving Jane - Girl Next Door | ] |
So, every Tuesday and Thursday I go to "Photogramancy" with Harry, Hermione and Ron... well not quite, but that would be cool too.
We've done several projects so far, and while I suppose I could have scanned any of my other work, but from our portrait assignment these two were just too good to pass up sharing:
( My Darling Cat )
...even if the scans didn't come out as good as the darkroom prints, you'll just have to believe me she looks better on Resin Coated Paper, and better than that in real life.
She's gorgeous. ^_^ |
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| Looking Back and Forward |
[Mar. 6th, 2006|04:47 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Andy Hunter - Go (Original Mix) | ] |
So, three people have been bugging me to get into this "more substantial post" I promised. Well to make you all happy, here it is.
How about this weather though? On Wednesday (the day before I had originally planned on writing this) it was 75, sunny, and a moderate breeze. Then on Thursday it was 30, overcast, and lightly snowing. Friday was sunny and cold (dunno temp.), Saturday was sunny and warm but had high winds and the wind-chill brought it down again. Yesterday was sunny and warm, and now that I'm finally writing this, its overcast, near freezing, and looking like precipitation (rain or snow equally likely). Yay for Blacksburg: the land where Meteorological Inconsistency is the Norm.
The main issue of this post is that February kicked my ass
I was completely thrown off my routine, I barely got any work done, I was spread too thin to really make an impact anywhere, and generally the Month beat me up, drug me to a window, threw me out on the sidewalk from the second story, and left me in a broken heap crying for mercy.
- The Blue Day project was no where near finished by the time the deadline hit, and thankfully I got an extension. It'll still be a lot of work to finish it up, but I'm working on it. So my February resolution was entirely shot.
- I got a job early in the month, and while I was never late for a shift or otherwise did badly AT work, the fact that I had to take ~15 hours out of my otherwise booked schedule didn't help. And the money I make there won't even cover Rent, much less utilities, food, and photography costs. At least it'll keep me from running entirely out of money by semester's end though; that's the only reason I put up with it.
- Studio was a disappointment. At the end of last month I found out what I was going to do with my building. And over the course of this whole month I've ... decided what I'm going to do with my building - i.e. nothing at all. No progress, no work, nothing. Jack is not pleased, I'm not pleased, and the other 5th years are looking at me and wondering what I've been up to.
- The first photography assignment I did (in January) was pretty good, the second had almost no effort in it. I only took 36 of the required 72 pictures, and did that the day before it was due. Also I only ended up with 7 of the required 8 prints and 2 of them I had already done while working on the first assignment.
- I did end up writing the booklet for Sam McDonald. For those who don't know, he's the owner of the building I'm working on. He let me have free access to the building for drawing and photography purposes, and requested that the architects working for him release their drawings of the building to me. It saved me a lot of time, and his only request that was as a return favor, that I write him a pamphlet on Green Building Technologies. I was most grateful for his help and did manage to write up a decent document, but not a great one. Most of the writing happened the night before and had no chance to be proofread. I ended up telling him I'd make another one at semester's end because I was dissatisfied with the scope of the one I had turned in to him mid month.
- I barely made it to any Go Club meetings this past month; one of four I'm pretty sure. I had to completely give up on the Godzilla movies and Wallyball after the first week also. I needed those Thursday nights to draw comic stuff.
That's all the bad stuff that happened during the Month, but there was one super-fantastical-awesome thing that happened, ...which also threw me off my groove and lead to less work getting done than expected: Catherine Kovach. She goes by "Cat" these days and I met her at KatsuCon right in the middle of the month. It's so surreal the way it happened, but it's also kinda a good story. She first came by the table early Friday (only 20~30 min after Garth and I had finished setting up), and recognized us by the penguin and told us she already read our work. Instead of moving on, she then picked up the penguin, which basically started everything in motion. Beth from Paradox Lost who has grown quite attached to Pengi tackled her for "attempting to steal him" which no one was allowed to do but her. This lead to a good half hour discussion and writing that idea down to possibly be included in the Con report. Cat went off to enjoy the rest of the Con at that point, but something else "worked out" in my favor. All her other friends ended up ditching her before dinner, and she didn't have anyone else to hang out with except the friends she made at and around the Comedity table. One thing lead to another and she ended up on my lap behind the table for a good part of the evening, and borrowing Garth's Trechcoat on our expedition (with Beth) to get dinner. She came back again on Saturday, and we basically had a "lunch date" while we went to go pick up food for people again. By the end of the day she had spent another several hours on my lap, I was quite infatuated with her, and it was obvious she returned the sentiments. The issue was that I live in Blacksburg while going to Tech, and she lives outside of New York City while going to Montclair in New Jersey. ~500 miles is no small matter when thinking of starting a relationship.
We were both quite surprised both at the strength of our attraction toward the other and how quickly it developed. What does one do Saturday night at a 3 day Convention when there's mutual attraction but small likelihood of ever really getting to see the other person again? Trade contact info, that's what. Since the Con ended, I have yet to not talk with her at least once a day, and now she's got plans to visit Tech during her Spring Break. I can't express the happiness I feel from having a woman in my life again. It's great to be able to call her in the middle of the day for a quick 2 min point of contact, or relax and chat for 2 hours in the evening. Thinking about her always brings a smile to my face, and I can't get enough of her; which has its disadvantages too. When I want to do nothing more than bask in her company, I'm not getting any work done, and wanting to roll over and get back to whatever dream I was having about her is not conducive to getting up in the morning and making it to class on time. I wouldn't give it up for anything in the world. Her sudden strong presence in my life has knocked me completely off balance, and I need to find my center again (with her) before I can ever hope of accomplishing anything in a productive way.
That will now be my March Resolution:
Simplify my activities to only what I need to accomplish, re-center my life with the new elements I've added, get back on track with the projects that have stalled, and move forward with confidence and joy.
"Breathe Deep. Seek Peace." |
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| A collection of things |
[Feb. 2nd, 2006|12:06 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
| [ | music |
| | 266. Carbon Leaf - Desperation Song | ] |
January is over, and my resolution has come to a close. I was mostly successful on my Architecture, but not nearly successful on my Blue Day efforts. But my February resolution is to not be at all late with my Submission on the 27th. (My earlier stated resolution is being pushed to March.)
While I say that my architecture has been a little slow, I did make one major, huge breakthrough tonight. I finally found my Thesis question. With it, I can finally proceed and actually, you know, DO stuff. I will be dealing with, drum roll please ... *brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* Entry + Passage. Which brings along with it issues of: Threshold, Path, Sequence, Frame, Moment and Passage of time. I need to formalize the question into a coherent sentence, but as long as I know what it's about that's a great icebreaker.
I had this interesting discussion the other day about how many people I've made out with in my life. And while I originally thought I could count all the people on one hand, it actually came out to 9, so I had to use both. This too me seems both really low and somewhat high at the same time. I mean, some people only ever kiss like 2 people before getting married, or maybe only that one. Yet there's also the couple of people that love to party, and get quite frisky while drunk (even if they don't get to "promiscuous" in the technical sense). I overhear plenty of stories about such parties and I bet they can do in a semester what I've done in a lifetime. Also I was very intrigued with the list of names itself. I somehow have a knack for kissing people with a hard "K-" sound at the beginning of their name. All nine alphabetically are: Christine, Cory, Courtney, Kate, Kelley, Kelly, Michelle, Melissa, and Stefanie. And if you consider the little kid "relationships" I had before high school (whom I didn't even kiss) you find Katherine and Kay. This seems very strange to me, because I don't do it on purpose at all. I have had crushes on plenty of girls that wouldn't fit the pattern, like Sarah, Jessica, Laura, ...wait all those end in "-a" hmm... weird. Whatever, they aren't "K-" names and that's my point.
When Aaron and I were given Fortune cookies from our Chinese food, we were given 3, and I was "lucky" enough to get the pair. But it's not quite so fortunate because he slipped on the stairs coming into the apartment and spilt some of the stuff into the bag, as well as broke 2 of the three cookies. He said that it would reverse whatever fortune lay within, and I was willing to eat them so he didn't incur any misfortune. They read:
"Don't spend your time stringing and tuning your instrument. Start making music now!"
"Be Patient, pleasant and open and you will see more truths."
I took my full playlist and took random off and have been playing each song in order for a few days now and I'm most of the way though my Carbon Leaf block at the moment. It's really weird. I doubt I'll do it again, but doing it once is worth saying "guess what I did."
And finally, the "After you die..." quiz people have been doing. All I have to say is ( O_o? ) |
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| Name meme |
[Jan. 9th, 2006|10:24 am] |
Yanked from rasputanian_
I'm impressed it knew what to do with my name. ...and it's fairly accurate too.
Larom
Extremely intelligent in thought and deed you are gifted at communication and finding practical applications for your ideas. You are strong willed and ambitious and need to have passion, freedom and adventure in your life. Always willing to help others your warm, honest and loyal nature ensures that you are loved by all. It is likely that you will achieve a great deal of success and recognition in life.
Try it with your name?
http://www.bostonuk.com/index.cfm?id=572
[Edit]: I forgot to do my last name and full name, thanks for the reminder Kate.
Lancaster
Versatile, intelligent and artistically talented. You love to enjoy yourself and tend to experience a happy domestic life and material success. You have a methodical and thorough mind and are able to organise large projects easily. Charming and likeable and with more than your share of sex appeal you tend to find yourself in the spotlight and much admired by others. Life is more fun with you around.
Larom Lancaster
Loving to take the initiative you are a person who gets things done and you accept the responsibility of leadership roles willingly no matter what the challenge. You base your decisions on intellect rather than emotion but always act with pure motives. Your strength of will and communication skills are such that you are an influential figure and likely to succeed in anything which you turn your attention to.
Looks like they are all quite good. It's all positive stuff instead of giving a more rounded picture, but I think they fit well enough. |
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| Yanked from lordmookie |
[Jan. 7th, 2006|03:06 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | amused | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Wierd Al - Trigger Happy | ] |
Your results:
You are Spider-Man| Spider-Man |
| 75% | | Superman |
| 75% | | Batman |
| 35% | | Supergirl |
| 23% | | The Flash |
| 20% | | Robin |
| 13% | | Wonder Woman |
| 3% | | Green Lantern |
| 0% | | Catwoman |
| 0% | | Hulk |
| 0% | | Iron Man |
| 0% |
| You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.
 |
Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test
I'm totally not surprised about that. I love jumping, flying, crawling, boucing, and other fun stunts, and (based on the questions) I have morals similar to Superman so they tied. I bet I would have been more similar to Batman if I had said I had a troubled past.
10 Best reasons Gay Marriage is wrong:
1. Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
2. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
3. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
4. Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
5. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
6. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.
7. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
8. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.
9. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans. |
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| Well, it's a new year. |
[Jan. 1st, 2006|11:31 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Dimmer - The Pants Command Me (Invader Zim) | ] |
I think one of the main reasons what people don't fulfill their New Years resolutions is that they forget about them by the time March rolls around. So to do something different, I'm not going to make a traditional resolution, but 12 smaller monthly ones instead. These should be easier to remember and accomplish, and hopefully I won't forget myself to make one for February and onwards. So, resolution:
#1. January - I resolve to not get behind on my two most important projects: my Thesis and my City Limits submission "Bedtime Stories."
To measure my not-behind-ness, the School semester starts on the 17th, when that first day of class comes I want to be able to present my Thesis site to Jack and the rest of the class with a site model complete, and basic program laid out. This way I can make progress with the design as class starts and I won't feel behind the 4th years. If I can manage it, I also want to have nearly finished drafts (Pencils) of all 10 pages to place on my writer Sarah's desk and surprise her when she comes to her desk that first day. This way I can work on editing any panels and dialogue with her and hopefully have a few full sized pages inked before January is out.
Also, since I already know what I want to accomplish second:
#2. February - Make a pair of nice Go boards before the first Go tournament of the semester.
We did something fun today on the farm: we had a bonfire. We have a woodpile of old fence boards and whatnot that we burn every few months and today was the perfect day. Warm, clear, and wet ground. In fact it was so wet, I didn't go down to the fire all day because of an inch of water on the ground around it and I didn't have appropriate shoes. Finally, as evening was ending we had to go put it out, and I did go down to see it. To keep my shoes dry, my mother and I whipped up some impromptu "boots" made out of 5-Gallon Paint Buckets and Duct Tape. It was really awkward walking in them, but great fun as well. I felt kind of like a Hill Giant taking big funny wide steps so my feet didn't hit together sideways. Also in the really soft ground I could kinda stomp and dig in about an inch and not fall over, but it made picking my feet up again really hard. Better than face planting into mud though. I'm 6'1", add another 1" for my normal shoes, and then the buckets were 14" tall themselves. I topped out at 7'4" (or 223.5cm for you metric peoples) with was awesome, you can see me in the picture with my mom next to me for scale:
Take a Look-See |
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| Christmas? again? already? |
[Dec. 26th, 2005|02:29 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Yoko Kanno, Origa - Inner Universe | ] |
Things have been busy these past few days with family time and whatnot, so even though I wasn't really doing anything, I wasn't at my computer writing stuff up. As of Friday the 23rd I have a roommate for my apartment next semester. Dana had a friend named Aaron in need of a sublease and put me in contact with him. We met for lunch and he checked the place out on Wednesday, took a few days to think about it, and then on Friday agreed. From my last entry, my Thesis is starting off well, and so several pieces are falling into place for next semester. All I need now is a job and everything will be all set.
Christmas was yesterday, and I did a pretty good job in avoiding it this year. I didn't listen to the radio much, so I missed most of the Christmas music. I barely watch TV, so most of those Commercials were avoided. My daily walk to and from the studio doesn't pass by any festive houses or shops or anything to really remind me of the season. And most of all, I never did any shopping. Going to Kroger once two weeks ago was the extent of my retail experience, and what's great is I feel no guilt. I basically only got 3 presents this year (I say basically, because "one" present was 3 books), and a largely insubstantial gift from one other person. For these people I can easily give them gifts in return, and I don't feel bad about all the other people whom I could have bought presents for that didn't get them for me.
Those sentiments lead into a realization I came to yesterday: I don't like presents. But on the other hand, I love gifts. That sounds very odd, and most people would probably say they are the same thing, but I shall draw a fine line distinction between the two that will illustrate why, to me, one is worthwhile and the other is not. In a simplistic way, it boils down to the wrapping paper. As far as I am concerned, a "present" is defined as an object that has been wrapped (whether it be a traditional box with paper, or a bag with tissue paper, or whatever), has its identity is hidden from you at the time it reaches your hands, and is also tied to a specific occasion. Presents are generally given twice a year, once on a person's birthday and again on Christmas. But what if I want to give you something on some random Tuesday just because I feel like it? What if one night I spontaneously pay for both our dinners when we go out some night?
A "gift" can be mostly or entirely insubstantial, vague, or unwrappable. To me, a gift is really about a thought, even if it has a physical manifestation or monetary cost. If I make an exquisite carving by hand, more than likely I'd be hard pressed to find a box good enough. What I would want to do is merely walk up to the person and hand it to them. There's no pretense of hiding, just a simple "Here, I made this for you" which the receiver can appreciate immediately. What I am giving them is the physical representation of the time, effort, and thought I have given the gift and therefore them, which is as important as the physical object itself. I think I can also generalize that most often (though I admit not entirely), both parties are present when a gift is exchanged, though with a present it's much more rare. When you have to be there face to face with the receiver of the gift seeing their reaction as it happens, most people will put a bit more effort into it. The thought of "Let my but this trinket and wrap it up in a box because I need to give them a present" is gone. What replaces it is (hopefully) "What can I give them that they will treasure for the rest of their life?" I hope that clears up why I prefer "gifts" over "presents."
I would also like to extend a "Thank You" to the three apartment girls for the book they gave me: "The Atlas of Frank Lloyd Wright." The Atlas was exactly the right book I needed to complete my set of books on him. I have "The Wright Style" which tells me ideology behind his work, and the Atlas to know where to find it. To round out the collection I have a book just about Falling Water to get into the nitty gritty details about the construction.
There were a few gifts that I would have loved to give this year, but were unfortunately outside of my power or abilities:
For Garth, a delightful job that he will enjoy, to start his career off right.
For my Parents, a better balance of rain and drought to keep the grass green and not become mud.
For my Grandparents, an end to my Grandfather's mini-heart attacks to ease their worrying.
For Stefanie, a new, more compatible roommate for the Spring Semester and onwards.
For my Brother, a more enjoyable job with better co-workers, but not one with longer hours. The book does need to be finished.
For Sarah, a wonderful relationship with her new boyfriend (who is not me...).
For Karly, a relaxed and comforting atmosphere at home.
For Chel, a complete absence of all drama between now and graduation.
For Kelly (Berger), admittance to the perfect Grad School.
And for myself, the ability to meet all the deadlines I set for myself.
Since I have no control over any of those things, I can merely hope they happen in some satisfactory way in the "near" future.
Enjoy! |
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| Architecture + Randomness = A Good Day |
[Dec. 21st, 2005|10:17 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Orbital - Bigpipe Style | ] |
I've started work on my Thesis, and I'll admit it's gratifying to get to choose what it is I want to do. On the other hand, when I get into the wrong frame of mind, I worry that I'm not doing it right, and that everything is so vague. ...But that's the point. I have to define my way and discover this for myself. I've gotten a few things done so far. I went to Richmond last weekend, and spent about 8 hours walking around the downtown area between Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. (On Saturday I played in a Go Tournament in Arlington, and went 1-3 in 4 rounds). Things were not quite exactly what I was looking for, or really hoping for, but I did end up with some promising places to do my Thesis and ideas about them. I then made up this little visual presentation for my professor Jack, which I made into a "small" .pdf to share with you all: ~2.5 MB *.pdf file
I hope no one has any trouble downloading it or viewing it on the technical side of things. As for understanding it, I hope it's readable to the masses as well. It's a 12" x 36" document, so you'll have to scroll around to view it all. I hope people don't mind.
It's briefly discussed in the document, but I went to Richmond looking for something that doesn't exist. What I was looking for was an old building that had lived out its useful life and was deteriorating and basically abandoned, yet still in a surrounding context of well kept buildings of a similar vintage. My goal was to find something 3~5 stories from near the turn of the century, at least pre-WWI. When I was walking around, I came to the realization that such a thing is basically impossible to find in the States. We have a much faster turn around rate of recycling buildings or tearing them down and starting over. What I was looking for would probably be easily found in most of Europe (which is where the idea pretty much stemmed from) or parts of Asia that also haven't thrown their history out the window.
The other thing I found both invigorating and appalling at the same exact instant is how much work needed to be done. Downtown Richmond is a mess. I walked by countless abandoned buildings, empty lots, ramshackle construction, and the place has density and building placement as organized as the acne on a teenage boy's face who has just hit puberty. I could barely believe that a city could get like that. I don't know what combination of factors caused it, but I'm sure going to try to look them up. Finding a place to do my Thesis became both very easy and very hard; easy to find a place that needed help, but a hard time deciding among the hundreds of places. In just those 8 hours I came up with tow more completely new ideas for a thesis which would have taken me in completely different directions (which are outline on the pdf). Any more time I spend there will also probably be equally full of ideas, and I could safely say that I could live my life in Richmond and never be out of work. ...but would I find a place so bad depressing in that I as a single person can do so little to help it? And what is the rest of Richmond like? I mean, all I saw was bout 50 blocks at the heart of it. Does everywhere else need that much help to? I hope not.
While walking around, two buildings really excited me. First, this one on the corner of Main + 5th: Picture because of it's curved corner. And second, this one contained in the triangle made by Marshall + Adams + Brook streets: Picture because of how it deals with its triangular site. On Friday, I actually went into the first building and talked to one of the guys in there. It turns out the church next door bought the building, and while had made do inside as it was, has now hired an Architect to do a renovation. If I chose the building he'd be very willing to ask the Architect to give me a set of the drawings to work my own renovation off of. He was obviously thinking that it would be easy to get some free work out of whatever I did, which I didn't mind. While talking to him, he said that he might arrange for me to meet the Architect he hired, and insinuated that if I impressed him with the job I did, the guy might hire me when I'm done. That defiantly perked my ears up. The only worry I had was that the building facade was still in good enough condition visually and structurally, that it wouldn't be reasonable or feasible to tear it off to give the building a facelift, which would hamper the flexibility I would need to really do a good job.
When I talked with Jack today, overall design flexibility was one of the main concerns on his mind, and pointed out the limitations of the Main + 5th project fairly quickly. He was also drawn to the Brook St. triangle, and spoke highly of all the options I had with it. I did continue to cover the other two idea I had, but he dismissed them fairly quickly. The Corridor project he laughed and told me that it would be a great Thesis if I had 3~4 years to do it in, and for the other project he basically said it was just that, a project, it didn't have a real solid intellectual question behind it. I definitely agreed with him on all counts, and was leaning in the direction he pointed me anyway, but it was good to touch base with him and get some validation for my ideas. Here are some more pictures of the Tirangle site that I will be using: Picture 2, Picture 3, Picture 4, Picture 5, Picture 6.
On a completely unrelated note, I channeled some of the King this evening. Now before any of you get visions of me dancing around, gyrating my hips and singing in a wonderful Baritone, it wasn't Elvis I channeled in my thoughts. It was a much bigger King. (below is just my side of the conversation to preserve the other party's privacy)
FlyingBMonkey5: we, the royal We, the royal King of all Cosmos, has a job for you young Prince. We have a task for you to do? Yes. Yes we do. We have a task.
FlyingBMonkey5: Do you know what this task is tiny Prince? I suppose not. With your miniscule body, you must have a microscopic brain to go with it. To go arm in arm down the street with it. Your little body, prancing down the street with your sub-standard brain could not fathom the task we have for you.
FlyingBMonkey5: This is our fault. As parents we have failed you in giving you such an inadequate body. We are ashamed.
FlyingBMonkey5: You have not guessed it piddling Prince. You have not tried to guess it at all. Not once. You bring us shame. You should be ashamed that your parents feel shame for you. We will be so shameful of our son who is so full of shame over his parents being ashamed. All of our shame shall gather together like a pink cloud and float away together like cotton candy on a summer's breeze. That is what it will do.
FlyingBMonkey5: Do you feel better now pee-wee Prince? We do.
FlyingBMonkey5: You're awfully quiet Pinprick Prince. But that must be because you have no voice. It would be a mistake to have a big powerful voice with such a scrawny body. So you must not be able to speak well yet, can you my insignificant son? Do you not have ideas of your own? No opinions to tell us? The Royal Us. Us that rule over the Cosmos. You must have some opinion of how we do it. You must want to tell us how much you love the way we rule it all.
FlyingBMonkey5: it is such a chore to rule it all though. Such a unbearable task. Yes, a task. Did you know we have a task for you itchling Prince? We bet you didn't. We don't think there was a way in all this Cosmos that we rule over for you to have known. So we shall tell you. We shall tell you what a plump task we have, but one with an air of melancholy to it as well. A very tasty melancholy it is too. Much like Japanese Ice Cream is Melancholy. Have you ever been to Japan? I suppose not. You should visit today. As if that were possible.
That was fun. ^__^ |
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| LJ Month-by month meme |
[Dec. 10th, 2005|04:19 pm] |
(Stolen from nixve)
Go to your journal calendar, go to the first entry of each month, and post the first sentence.
(I post so infrequently that I'm going to put the date of the first entry of each month, because it's kinda funny and kinda sad how deep I've gone into a month without posting...)
January 6:
So yeah, ...I'm going to Europe for the Spring Semester for all those that didn't know.
February 13:
I've been keeping a journal since I left, well actually since I sat down to wait for my plane to leave, and I wanted to type it up entry by entry exactly and update my LJ that way.
March 27:
Just a quick announcement.
April 15:
My-my-my.
May 8:
Here I sit, atop this mountain.
June 7:
I HAVE INTERNET AGAIN!!!!
July ... nothing
August ... nothing
September... nothing (not even about my birthday)
October 15:
Finally over the hump.
November 1:
I haven't posted in a while, so few things to catch up with:
December 10:
(Stolen from nixve)
Total entries so far this year (including this one): 19
Wow, I couldn't even fill up a whole month. That's sad. |
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| Catching up |
[Nov. 1st, 2005|12:32 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  thoughtful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Okazaki Ritsuko - For Fruits Basket | ] |
I haven't posted in a while, so few things to catch up with:
1. I played in my first AGA (American Go Association) Go tournament 3 weeks ago. I am now officially ranked as a 17kyu with two wins and two losses. The fourth game of the day, and my second win, was the best game I have ever played. I'd like to thank "Bob" (I never found out his last name) an 11kyu that pushed me so consistently for excellence. The game was unhurried, but far from relaxed. It was fantastic.
2. I carved two pumpkins this year, photo links are as follows:
First #1, #2, #3
Second #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6
As an after though on how to improve, I think I should have carved the power symbol from the inside of the pumpkin so it wouldn't have been visible from the outside, and yet glowed through the skin. Something to think about for next year. I might try something cool with a tattoo or something.
3. A friend of mine by the name of George (some of you know him, some don't), has gotten sick with strep throat. ...and a sinus infection. ...and an ear infection. Considering his current condition, he would like everyone's help with the following:
And finally,
4. A good friend recently said the profound statement below to me, and it has become my current question in life that I must resolve and help define my character further:
"A lack of self-consciousness is a beautiful thing."
True? False? Conditional? |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 13th, 2005|10:02 am] |
|
Finally over the hump. It's easier on this side. |
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| Work-work-work |
[Jun. 14th, 2005|11:50 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  determined | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna - The Blood of Cu Chulainn | ] |
I'm having work issues. People have read of my times with Giant, and now that trouble has doubled. Yesterday in the morning I got a call back from a Civil Engineer in the area by the name of Tom Basham. I had called him on Friday about getting a job with him, and so it's not too surprising that it took him a business day to get back to me (with a weekend in the middle). So I go and talk to him, and he offers me a job right then and there. My mind goes "Wahoo!" and I say yes before any rational thought can actually occur. I did have enough mental capacity to bring up my conflicts with work this week, (Giant Midnight to 8:30AM Thursday, and a meeting with my other Architectural boss, Frank, on Friday), but thought I could avoid all other problems. We then agreed that I'll meet him at 8AM the next morning.
...on my way home in the car, I realize that I have now 3 jobs, 2 of which will most likely try to make me work 35+ hours a week (Giant and Tom Basham), and the third being around 20. 90+ a week is rough for anyone, but having it for three separate people leads to schedule conflicts. The most prominent being that I get off of Giant at 8:30 and I should be at Tom's office at 8. So my first step was to try and correct that. I figured that if I could get more shift of less time for the same total, it'd work out "just fine" though would be rough to live though. It turns out that isn't possible. I talked to my boss at Giant, Larry, and he says the Union requires an 8 hour shift for night stock. Also since the store closes at 11 and night stock shows up at Midnight, I can't work from 11PM to 7:30 AM because then there'd be an hour of no work they'd by paying me for.
If I could work for Tom between 9~9:30 to 6~6:30 I could work shifts for Giant prior. But a quick math check shows that I won't have time to do anything but sleep those days, and if I work 5 days a week on both of those jobs I only have 2 days and 2 evenings off of them to work on the stuff for Frank, which is unacceptable.
I get better pay at with the two designers, I like the work better, I like the people better, I like the hours better, I'll have more free time, the commute is better, and having them on my resume, and more importantly in my memory is what summer internships are all about; the experience. The Giant job is just a pay check.
There is a quick any easy solution to this: I could just walk out on Giant. People have done it in the past, people will do it in the future, but it doesn't feel right to me. The Giant job is bad on all fronts; it has no real redeeming value compared to the other two. So the decision is a no-brainer right? ...what about loyalty? I made a commitment to Larry when he was in a tight spot. I saw how understaffed Giant is already, and I'm doing a good job (not just a passable one) in helping them... what can I tell them? "Your job sucks, I don't care, find someone else"? It's not fair, and not right to treat him and the career he chose like that.
Those were the issues on my mind last night as I was going to bed and I didn't have time to type. Today has resolved the situation.
First off, I went into work at Tom's office at 8AM like I said I would. The first thing I found out is that the other staff wasn't really expecting for Tom to hire me so fast like that, and there's not much work yet. So the fact that I'm going to miss part of a morning because of a night at Giant, and all of Friday to talk to Frank this week isn't that big a deal. Secondly, they're paying me by the hour, and don't want to waste their money. So while I might work 40 hours a week, I might only work 30, or less. I'll just show up at 8 every morning, work until I have nothing else to do, and go home. This works out remarkably well in two ways. They don't mind giving me a planned half day off (or even a full one) once a week to go see Frank and get work because it's likely I'd be taking the time off anyway. And if I show up an hour or two late because of Giant once a week or so, it wouldn't be that big a deal because it just pushes work back, not negates it. So two thumbs up there.
As for the Giant job, I don't really want to be working it longer than I have to, and the graceful way I decided to quite was to give them my "two weeks warning" but actually make it 4 weeks because I have other stipulations on it. So I went to talk to Larry, and told him because of the new work load on my Architectural stuff I'd only be able to pull shifts at night onto Saturday and onto Sunday, weekends where I don't have to go into work immediately following. Though I did tell him I'd work tomorrow night's shift and get it over with; I had made a commitment on that. The 4 weekends of work will take me all the way to ConnetiCon that I am attending with Garth, and all the jobs will pause for that. But I won't be going back to Giant after that point.
Larry was really understanding about the whole thing and even told me: "I wouldn't blame you for walking out right now; you shouldn't feel bad about doing that. It's you're future doing that stuff. You're going to school for a reason, right?" He's right, and he's a nice understanding guy. ...which is exactly why I would feel bad about walking out.
So everything's resolved now. I'm working for Tom Basham from 8AM - ? (near 5) every weekday, and in the evenings doing Frank Deichmeister's work. Then once a week I go into town to talk to Frank about what I did, and get the stuff I need to do next. And finally I work Giant from Midnight Friday night into Saturday at 8:30AM and again from Saturday to Sunday. Then during the day Sunday is my "day off" with an early bedtime. |
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| ...and now to cut myself off further from all my friends. |
[Jun. 11th, 2005|04:36 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  annoyed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Carbon Leaf - Life Less Ordinary | ] |
I picked up my second job for the summer. I'll be working for Giant again. That's not really the bad part. What I'm not too thrilled with is that I'm not working Grocery anymore. Grocery wasn't the best job in the store by any means, and I didn't actually like it, but now I'm doing something worse: Night Stock.
My new shift schedule is Midnight to 8 AM 4~5 days a week. This means I have to sleep either through the mornings or in the afternoon/evenings. I joke that I'm solar powered because I wake up with the sun pretty consistently even if I'm tired. This goes almost completely against that. Now I'm going to have to find time to sleep during the day time when the sun is up because my night is full of work. Also it'll throw me completely off base and break the sync I have with all of my friends. Everyone I know will be at work when I'm awake and active, then I'll be asleep when they are around and active, then when they go to bed I'll be going to work while they sleep.
It might pay more, but I really, really hope they find someone better for this job and move me back to the day shifts. Until then, everyone have a great time, I'll see you again in a few weeks (hopefully) |
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| People just don't care anymore. |
[Jun. 10th, 2005|08:01 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  melancholy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Judy And Mary - Chiisana Koro Kara (Fresh) (kawaii-radio | http://kawaii-radio.net) | ] |
This is the first time I've heard of it ... and that makes me very, very sad.
What if leaders of the world's major religions got together one day and denounced all religious violence? What if it really happened? And nobody cared?
How very depressing.
Taken from cutelildrow to spread the word further. Sorry to those where it becomes a double post. |
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| I'M BACK! |
[Jun. 7th, 2005|08:43 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | overjoyed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Frank Klepacki - Stomp | ] |
I HAVE INTERNET AGAIN!!!!
(It's been down since last Saturday, 11 days ago) |
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| Farewell/Hello = Ciao |
[May. 8th, 2005|05:06 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  nostalgic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna - The Blood of Cu Chulainn | ] |
Here I sit, atop this mountain
One of my studio-mates had that statement at the bottom of her profile while she was here in Riva. ...but she never actually made it to the top, only stayed in the valley. As you can see, I did make it to the top. I didn't even take the trolley, I hiked the damn thing in 3 hours. Boo-Ya!
Today I leave Riva again. We left Riva several times during our travels around Europe, but we always came back. It became like home, and while I knew I would leave someday, that day was always far off. That day is now today. I will leave this wonderful place and likely never return. It's possible in the decades of life I have left that I might make it back someday, but unlikely. I look forward to going home, I look forward to seeing friends and family in person instead of just as names over AIM. ...but I will miss this place. It has become very special to me: Riva the town some, but more Europe as a whole. They do things slightly differently over here, and some of it's good and some of it isn't, but either way it feels comfortable.
I want to come back to Europe and explore some more. My most favorite memories were of walking down back alleys, peeking into courtyards, and generally poking around where "tourists" aren't expected to go. You find some nice places that way. "Europe" isn't about the big name places anymore, not to me at least. Paris, Venice, Barcelona and Prague are all nice places, don't get me wrong. I was glad I went to them, and I liked it a lot; but the smaller cities like Chambery, Bellinzona, Nimes, Graz, and Valencia in my mind had so much more character. I may or may not visit those cities again either, but I'll try to keep off the beaten path when I come back. And I will be coming back. For this trip, it's time to go. It's time to say farewell to Riva, and farewell to Europe, and say hello to Blue Top, Blacksburg, and the great ol' US of A again. The Italians have one word for both (informal) greetings and partings: Ciao (Chao). And that's what it's time for...
This is Larom in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland, Europe signing off.
Ciao. |
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| The hour draws nigh |
[Apr. 30th, 2005|04:04 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  working | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Cake - The Distance | ] |
Thursday, May 5th, at 8 PM Zurich Standard Time (ZST) I will present my Espresso Bar + Boat Dock for final review.
Friday Morning (anytime before Lunch), May 6th, I will hand in a book to my professor describing my findings about European streets, small plazas, and courtyards.
Friday Evening, May 6th, between the hours of 5PM and 8PM ZST there will be an open house here at the villa for an exhibition of our work for the entire semester. The whole town of Riva San Vitale is invited.
From now until then I have to produce several (read 9~12) Architectural Drawings of my project, finish 2 models, choose 20 of my best photographs (out of 3,201 total), Scan+reproduce 3 of my best travel sketches in large format, aid in the physical construction of elements of the exhibition, analyze sketches + photographs of plazas, write up impressions, lay out pages, and pint + bind a book.
I'm confident I can get it all done. But still, wish me luck. ...and few distractions. ^__^ |
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