Cheap seats for fashion

Even though there are months left in my residency here in the city, I've started thinking back on the other half of my time here. I sort of regret taking advantage of some of the free weekends I've had when I've stayed in my apartment instead of exploring the city and immersing myself deeper in the various bits of culture available to me. But I am pleased to have seen a few very neat things.

One of my favorites so far has been Joshua Bell and the New York Philharmonic. Just a beautiful, fantastic, insert-superfluous-adjective-here, performance. So cool. But unlike the Mahler symphony from the week before, my seat was way, way, way up in the third tier. (For the majority of people in the world who haven't been to Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, that means in the rafters, sharing a seat with the pigeons, looking through a hole in the skylight.) The sound was still good, and it was still a very worthwhile experience.

ButI started thinking about the other things I'm experiencing in a third-tier kind of way. One of the big ones is fashion. I've never been so conscious of fashion as I've been these last few months. Its easy to not care at all what you wear in Austin, especially since its over 90° over 90% of the time. Shorts and t-shirt, done.

But here, fashion is something about which I am much more conscious. I'm sure this is heightened by the fact that I am in a design field. I'm becoming more and more certain that presenting yourself in a fashionable manner is essential to being taken seriously in my field. I used to think it was enough to just be professional in dress when the occasion justified, but something Calvin, the principle, said to my team a few weeks ago really made me rethink that. I paraphrase, but it was something like this: How can we expect a client to believe that we can design something for them that is current and beautiful and fashionable if we are wearing last year's look?

This might seem incredibly vain. I'm trying to put myself outside the issue, but I now agree so strongly with him that I am having a tough time playing devil's advocate. Sure, you can say "the beauty and power of my design speaks for itself," but I think everyone knows that is bullshit. There is no way Le Corbusier sat back in his out-of-style suit and said, "my Villa Savoy speaks for itself." He was a shameless self-promoter, and was definitely very conscious of the image he presented to the public. Why else would he have chosen a pseudonym?

So in this round-about way, I'm getting around to saying that I think I'm going to try to include some 'fashion observations for the frugal-minded' in this blog. I hesitate to say fashion tips exactly, because I really, really don't know much. But just the same, I'd like to offer my observations, partly as a way to codify my own likes and dislikes, and also as a way to incentivize me into paying more attention to fashion. So keep them eyeballs peeled.

Fresh fresh pretty pretty

This weekend I'm going to start a new project. It's going to be pretty ambitious, and it's going to be very cool. I feel like this has been simmering at the back of my mind for a few weeks, and I think its finally time for it to be realized.

No details yet; more Monday.

Danish chairs, 18th century cartography

Reading on the train home, browsing through Design of the 20th Century and saw some pretty excellent graphic design from Knoll Associates in the 50's. It was just a tiny blurb, but the text mentions the effect it had on the branding of the company. I can't wait to get to work with a graphic designer on the branding for my own firm! That's quite a ways down the river I reckon.

Its finally cold enough to wear a coat every day! Its been very pleasant, I enjoy getting to layer. Hopefully it will stay this nice for a few more weeks, at least until Lydia comes to visit. I've got a feeling New York doesn't jump from 80 to 40 in a day like Austin does, so I think we're safe.

I was exploring an incredible website at work today, OasisNYC. There's a tab in the sidebar with historical maps you can toggle on and off. Very cool, very nerdy. Maybe not as interesting if you don't know New York a bit. Its cool to realize that Spring Street used to actually have a spring on it. And Canal used to be a canal. And a new one for me, Broadway dates back to the pre-European inhabitants, the Lenape.

Ending with an incredible chair by the great Finn Juhl: the Chieftain, circa 1960s.

Tape measure

One of my coworkers gave me this tape measure yesterday. A rep from Oasiq, an outdoor furniture company, left it at the office this week. Its a neat little tape measure, and seems like quite a clever leave-behind for a furniture company, as architects and interior designers are constantly needing the dimensions of various pieces of furniture.

Its also a neat thing to have in your pocket when you're designing anything. I find that I can usually guess pretty closely an object's dimensions is if it is in front of me, but there are other things that are so perfectly dimensioned that its easiest to just measure them. For instance, right now, how far back from my screen is my face? How far from my keyboard is my body? How much clearance feels comfortable between my knees and the table top? I think to really be a good designer, you've got to be in touch with the human dimensions of space. That's something I need to think on.

Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin'...

I can't wait to come back to Texas for Thanksgiving! I really miss home sometimes. I can't wait to see my family when I go back, especially Jacob. We've got some catching up to do! I'm also looking forward to eating some good southern food! I really miss good salsa, soft tortillas and breakfast tacos! (Is it strange that I don't think of those as Mexican food?)

I also miss cheap beer, especially Lonestar! I might have to wait 'til I go back to Austin to get that, since Bowie County is in denial about being a true, beer-selling, Lonestar-drinking Texas county. One of these days they'll wise up...

I'm also really craving some time in the wilderness. My happy place, the place my mind visits when I'm too frustrated or tired to think about work, is a trail leading up into the mountains, just me and my pack and food for a few days.

Some things I do NOT miss. Driving is probably the top of the list! I have not once wished I had a car, or wished I was back in Texas so that I could drive. I also do not miss Olive Garden, Chili's, Texas Roadhouse, Outback, Johnny Carinos, Cracker Barrel, TaMolly's or any of the other chains in Texarkana. (Ok, I sort of miss Chick-Fil-A.)

dreaming about different futures

I saw this out the front window of the office the other day. The blimp was circling midtown and kept passing quite close to the observation deck of the Empire State Building. It made me wish that dirigibles and blimps were actually still viable transportation methods, and that I could book passage right now for a leisurely trip down to Texas.

Technology and stuff

Lydia shared a link with me today to Microsoft Surface. This sparked a really interesting conversation about the best ways to use this type of technology, specifically how it could be applied to architecture, interior design, product design and other related fields.

Her idea was that this type of touch technology would be an incredible design tool. You could draw and sketch onto this surface and have your creations immediately converted into 2D digital drawings, or even 3D drawings. She painted a mesmerizing picture of a free-flowing design experience, where the architect draws ideas onto the surface, which are quickly extruded into three dimensions, can be rapidly modified and rendered, and presented to a client. The designer can take hold of the building and guide the client through it, quickly changing colors, downloading furniture, lights, materials from the internet and instantly dropping them into the building.

As a designer, it is a very seductive idea. It is an incredible amount of power that we're talking about. Its a combination of the best parts of hand sketching, BIM drawings and 3D rendering.

I took a photo of the new Cooper Union building by Morphosis this evening after getting my hair cut (finally). Its pretty dang cool from the street. not sure what it is like from the user's perspective, but everything I've seen from Morphosis so far has been pretty cool. If anything could make me want to move to L.A., it would be that firm.

Got my hair cut in a "New York institution", Astor Place Hairs

tylists. Its located in a basement on Astor Place, a famous little street near NYU, the Cooper Union, Union Square, etc. The basement was packed with cutting stations, 30 or 40 grouped around the pillars of the building. I was pointed to an idle stylist, whose first words were, "talk to me." I told her what I wanted, she said, "yeah yeah blend no fade thin on top keep it long got it." She took me to the sink, back to the chair, five minutes later she's finished. I was honestly shocked. never has my hair been cut so quickly and effectively. Amazing. And cheap! The whole time I kept thinking about the place as a giant hair factory, with the scraps falling to the floor, being swept into giant vats further underground and being woven into quilts or tourist t-shirts by rooms of house elves. I like the place. I dig it.

Bah, here's a photo.

Weekends are for eating

This weekend was another weekend of laziness. I felt pretty unmotivated to leave my apartment. My new roommates and I watched a movie or two on the projector, had a couple of beers, and cooked some food. And by cook, I mean I ordered a sandwich from a deli down the street.

On Friday I went out with some friends to Roberta's in Brooklyn, at the Morgan Ave stop off the L train. The food was excellent, and they had one of my favorite beers, Lagunitas IPA, on tap! I was very pleased. We ordered several things to share between us, a scallop dish with black onion and watermelon, a pasta dish with mussels and oysters, and a couple of great thin-crust pizzas, one margherita and one something delicious with sausage. Everything was excellent and fresh and tasty. Apparently the restaurant grows a lot of their own ingredients in their own garden, which is pretty cool. Definitely worth a return trip.

I am really looking forward to being back in Texas during winter break, although I'm not sure how long my break will be. Yannik and I have been talking about another freezing cold camping trip, and I'm very excited! Nothing sounds better than a few cold days in the mountains right now. Except for walking over the Brooklyn Bridge with Lydia. That is going to be the highlight of the fall! (Not trying to build it up too much, but it will be very cool.)

new place

I found a place to live starting Friday, a converted loft space in Williamsburg, on Kent Ave, right by the water. Its definitely got an industrial vibe, also an "assembled from pieces and scraps" vibe, which is cool. It actually reminds me of my place in Austin in a way.

I drew another bag today, number 2. Picture below. This one is for you Steph. I think I'm going to order some more and keep the series going. Its slowly evolving. I think I need to more strictly follow a set of rules. Now the patterns are really only driven by aesthetics. If I think it looks good, I draw it. Although to be fair, I did start with distinctive wrinkles in each bag. This second one had some excellent wrinkles to trace.

I did something really, really stupid. I rode over to Brooklyn to see the new place, and was in a hurry and rode right past the bike lane over the bridge. I rode across the bridge in the auto lanes and got yelled at several times. I was really nervous about getting clipped, but to be honest, it was not as nerve-wracking as 360 in Austin can be. Oh, and my butt was sore today. Too long off the bike obviously. My burning legs say the same thing.

Oh, saw this excellent guy as I was walking to grab a sandwich today, just across 6th Ave. Really made my day. (He's wearing a kilt!)

Two in a row!

I am starting this post on Tuesday, so if it gets posted today as I intend, that will be two days in a row for the first time in weeks!

I rode my bike to work today! It was the most wonderful thing. It feels excellent to be riding again. My legs are weak (no surprise there) but the mile and a half cross town was a breeze. I'm hoping I can get off about 6:30 tonight so that I can go cruise around. Oh, and for all those who are worried about my safety, there are oodles of bike lanes around.

After the ride to and from work today, I've realized that riding here is not ALL that different from riding in Austin. I'm not going to get rundown because that means the cabbie who hits me is going to get points off their license. And the percentage of bike lanes to road is way higher.

So no worries. Also, if anyone has a room they want to sublet in Manhattan/Brooklyn, let me know!

Two WEEKS! Bah.

What a slacker I've been with this writing business.

Since last post: made friends, drank great beer, ate excellent tacos, dined on a roof with a skyline view, seen the Bambu' installation at the Met, visited the disappointing AMNH, got my bike, saw my family!

Yannik and I are also planning to collaborate on a contest over the next few weeks, although it is proving difficult to manage this over a 5-hour time difference. The project is the Fallen Heroes Memorial, south of Fort Worth, TX. I'm going to copy my thoughts from our first short conversation below.

"i think its an opportunity to play sculptor, architect, and landscape designer al at once. Briony cemetery + Holocaust memorial + something tall

its strange that each fallen warrior gets a photo. thats obviously a chance for a repeating element. maybe the photos are each hidden inside boxes or visible only from one very specific angle. Or you've got to walk through a landscape where each is revealed individually, so that you don't see the memoril as series of images, like a cemetery, but instead its more like a never-ending procession of images."

On an unrelated note, I have received several bizarre packages at work over the past couple of weeks. I can only imagine what my deskmate thinks when he sees me opening all these small, ticking packages. A couple of them are now perched above my desk, watching over me smugly. I get the feeling that they are quietly watching me, waiting for me to screw up and miss a deadline. On long days, they haunt my periphery, mocking me every time I glance up.

You blank-faced, pestilential chronographs, your days are numbered.

CAREER is almost CAREEN

I bought a book this evening, Gray's Anatomy. I do not intend to read it. I bought it specifically for the anatomical engravings by H.V. Carver. It is fascinating to me that the subjects of the drawings, though they have many layers of skin and muscle peeled away, are all quite calm and peaceful. It is fantastic to see the body neatly drawn into pieces, carefully dissected in black and white.

I have a deep nostalgia for things like this, drawn and engraved with a care and precision that has been erased by computers. It is the same sense of awe and loss I felt when I saw the drawings for the UT clock tower in the Architecture archive at school. The archivist was describing the way that the architects worked, the materials they used for these detailed, precise drawings. I can remember her telling us that the paper they used is no longer produced, and the pens can only be bought from one company.

It is incredible that such a deep and ancient skill is now almost completely lost. The architects I admire from the last century all possessed skill with a radiograph I will never have, nor will any of my peers. Now that computers can replicate the work of a draftsman in a fraction of the time, hand drafting is dead. My heart hurts thinking about it. It tears me up to think that the beauty of architectural drawings is now so dependent on a computer. Plotters cannot create beauty. They can only replicate unconvincingly what a hand does so naturally.

To my eyes, a huge part of the natural beauty of hand drawings is the mistakes. Errors, imperfections, tiny jumps in a line, smudges, little wrinkles, the way vellum stretches a little when you press too hard. The hand wants to do something perfectly, but there are always traces.

I was chatting with a fellow employee over dinner at work a few weeks ago, and we were talking about working as architects, and she said that had she known she would never get to draw, she wouldn't have entered the field. I actually agree with her very much. There is nothing that I enjoy about sitting in front of a computer all day, except for the satisfaction that I derive from doing something well and occasionally cleverly. I think it is only my obstinate optimism that keeps me convinced that I will not always have to work this way. Sure, I'll put in my years as an CAD-monkey, but that is not the end-game. I will get to design how I want to design. I will work in pencil and ink and charcoal and watercolor and trace paper and vellum! I will draw on yellow trace paper, and on vellum, and on heavy Stonehenge, and I will wad it up or tear it in half when I completely botch it up! I will spend all night drafting with a parallel bar, 'til my eyes burn and my hand shakes! And I will be happy!

Thinking about a career

I accomplished very little on Saturday. It was essentially an empty day. Sunday was much better. I met Aunt Lynn's friend Mary at her East Village apartment to talk about the possibility of house/tortoise sitting. Her apartment was excellent, big and spacious, great location, and filled with so much personality. It was exactly what the apartment of an artist should be: a plethora of collected objects and created things, layered throughout the apartment such that nothing seems to ever be in the exact same place. You might have a general idea where one thing is, but since you last saw it, it has traded spots with some of its friends. Everything invites closer inspection and wants to tell you a story, and it doesn't matter if it is a true story or not.

I think this is an excellent way for a career to be shaped. Projects like layers of ideas, telling many stories. And objects (both made and unmade), waiting for discovery. A career doesn't need to appear as a cohesive volume of work, like an encyclopedia of a life. I think it is better to be an apartment full of stories, with something new to find each time you look. I suppose this means that an architect whose career is presented in volumes of work is really being misrepresented. Or under-represented. Not sure if there is an answer here.

Another long week

My project is steaming along nicely this week. We almost have the plan locked down, at which point we can make sure the sections, elevations, etc. are all cohesive. The next step will be to move into nitty-gritty details, which will be excellent to my portfolio.

I took a picture of this excellent little stool that appeared in the office earlier this week. Its being used in another project, and I'm guessing the showroom sent it over for us to see. That is one of the incredible things about working here: when you want to use a piece of furniture or a light or a particular fabric or finish, its almost always just a few blocks away. A couple of weeks ago, I researched a German artist for a client, and after pricing several of his pieces, I realized that the only gallery that carried his work in the States was 6 blocks north of the office.

This is Oreo. He is some strange half-breed, possibly a dog. He is very quiet, yawns a lot, and moves at a sedate pace. He seems to possess some large degree of wisdom, or perhaps has experienced so much of the world that he is no longer surprised by anything. He is actually quite cat-like in his self-sufficiency and self-possessiveness. I would enjoy spending more time with him, but he is only around for a week or two while his owner is out of town.

Totes-my-goats

I left work early yesterday, after feeling like a zombie all day long. I think I had five cups of coffee, and was still feeling drowsy and dim. So I asked to leave at 10:30 instead of midnight, and managed to get a wonderful 7 hours of sleep!

My order of 3 tote bags from cheaptotes.com came yesterday too, and I spent about an hour drawing on one when I got back to my apartment. It was incredibly relaxing, and I think that littl bit of creativity helped me wind down after being stressed out all day. I wanted to make a geometric line pattern that has been in my head for a week or so, and is inspired by Sam Messenger's art, plus lots of other influences not so obvious (or even remembered).

I think I'll draw on another one this evening. And have a beer. And go to sleep early I hope!

Quickly before bed:

Grandma, I am sorry that I haven't been posting more frequently! I keep intending to get in a better pattern, but this week has been tough.

A quick overview:

I am working on a house on a hill in Connecticut. The conceptual parti is a floating box. Calvin (the principle of the firm) is using the Farnsworth House as a point of departure. It is also supposed to be a counterpoint to the 18th-century colonial further down the lightly wooded hill. Another inspiration is the traditional Japanese house, particularly the wood construction and fusuma, sliding doors made from wood and paper.

This week has been particularly busy, as we are pushing the project forward as fast as we can. My team had a meeting with Calvin last Friday, then again today, and a third Friday. Each meeting means lots of changes, lots of work. Added to that, we are meeting with a structural engineer tomorrow, and we want to have a final-ish plan ready for the client on Monday. All this to say: this week has been tough.

I've worked 'til midnight every night, and arrived at work an hour earlier than almost everyone as well. Been very tough to come home and write a blog entry, hence the reason this is the first all week. I apologize, my faithful readers, you few, you happy few, you band of blog-readers.

Darwin must have been from New York

I just had a thought that made me laugh aloud. (The frequency with which this happens is inversely related to the amount of sleep I have had divided by the number of cups of coffee.) I was standing at the sink, thinking about my plans for my birthday evening, and I started chuckling about the ways I am adapting to living in New York.

1. I sleep with noise-cancelling earplugs. The window AC in my room vibrates so loud that it rouses me out of deep sleep nightly.

2. I have deadened my sense of smell. There are too many stinky things in my neighborhood for a sensitive nose.

3. My balance has improved dramatically. I can now stand on a crowded train without a hand on the bar while carrying my bag, drinking coffee, and reading my book.

4. I have developed an excellent resistance to coffee jitters. This is very useful on mornings when I've only slept three hours (because of my rattling AC unit).

5. I no longer feel fatigue in my feet. I actually don't notice them at all. On a side note: they also move faster than at any other time in my life.

I think I'll keep adding to this list as I adapt further. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes!

Sounds, smells, things to see

I like to remind myself how lucky I am to be in this amazing city. Every now and then I get a little depressed that I'm not in Texarkana hanging out with a wonderful girl, or in Springhill with my family, or in Austin with my roommates.

When that happens, I try to remind myself to look around and enjoy how incredible everything around me is. I love to imagine the histories behind each brick facade, and think about the people who have lived there.

Last Sunday, the 4th, I went to a park along the Hudson and met some friends on a bench looking out over the water. We sat for a while, waiting for the sun to set. A constant tide of people flowed behind us, looking for places to perch and watch the show.

The show was pretty incredible. 25 minutes long, five boats shooting off fireworks over 1000 feet high. Those are just numbers. Something about watching fireworks in New York City seemed unsettling. I was reminded of soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, hearing explosions in the distance and knowing that they were being fired at their buddies.

Also, this final image is for Lydia.

Projects now. Projects soon.

One thing that stinks about having a real nine-to-five is losing all the free time I enjoyed at school. Its very frustrating to come back from work tired and ready to sleep, especially when I keep having cool ideas that I want to work on.

Project 1: Greenhouse for the Wommacks
I have a few goals for this project. Its a small space, and functionally pretty simple: it must keep plants warm in the winter. But I also want it to be able to open or transform in some way to become a shaded, breezy shelter in the summer. I've had a couple of ideas: it could utilize fins or louvres that would insulate in the winter and vent in the summer. I've also sketched a couple of methods of using a counter-balanced wall system that could be positioned in a closed position in the winter and cantilevered as an awning in the summer.

I'm also interested in using some sort of transparent, air-filled polyurethane bubbles to construct an insulated facade. These could be combined with a thick thermal wall, possibly even a green wall. A green wall would require a lot of research of course, since you don't want to plant something on a green wall that will die in a month or two. A dead green wall is super depressing.

The bubbles idea leads me to my second project.

Project 2: Climate-responsive envelope system

This idea is not very fleshed-out. It would build on the work of Jean Nouvel, Herzog and deMueron, Buckminster Fuller and many other architects and engineers. Basically, I have an idea for a building system that would use inflated polyurethane bubbles to negotiate the needs of program and environmental control. I feel like there is a way of filling these bubbles or pillows with a medium that could be altered to change the building envelope's transmittal of heat, light and air.

I think that the building could respond to the sun and rain and heat by modulating the contents of each bubble. Imagine one of those Wooly Willy toys, where the sun and heat and rain are the magnetic wands, and the contents of the bubbles is Willy's beard, following the magnet.

Project 3: Paper Creation

I've got about 30 pieces of bond paper (thin, translucent) that I've pulled from the recycling bin at work. They are all roughly 22" x 17". I want to make something to liven up my living space. The paper will accept ink, graphite and markers best. I've also thought of folding it, making some type of wall-covering origami of sorts (similar to the stuff we did in VisCom last semester Yannik).

I'm going to spend some time thinking about this one, but I'd love ideas too. Maybe I can create something this weekend.

Today is still Wednesday, yes?

This has been a long week.

The following video I took this morning. It is my favorite thing about my commute to work in the morning. Standing at the front of the platform, close to the mouth of the tunnel,watching the train come blasting past me, the blast of air almost bowling me over. So cool.

I love the subway, for all the obvious reasons (efficient mass transit, cheap, requires no concentration, and I can read while I commute), but I also love the subway because it is powerful in an unstoppable, seismic way. And it is terrible, the way a Greek god must have been terrible to behold. In an excellent way, it is primitive.

Speaking of movies, there are a couple of movies on that I want to see, maybe tomorrow afternoon. One is called Restrepo, a documentary about a platoon of soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal valley. It looks incredible, visceral and gripping. The second I'm interested in is Winter's Bone, a drama set in Missouri that won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. My main hesitation with both of them is the movies to which they are compared.

Resterpo is described as being as "visceral as Hurt Locker, but real." I did not like Hurt Locker. It was not compelling to me, nor did it seem to be realistic. It was not visceral. It just seemed fabricated, soldiers given emotions that filmmakers think they should feel. (This reaction is partly my own gut instinct and partly gleaned from conversations with a friend in the military.)

So hopefully Restrepo is not an over-editorialized mushy documentary, but it might be.

Winter's Bone has been compared to Precious, which looks terrible. I have no interest in seeing Precious, and I hope that Winter's Bone is not similar.

Mondays are the longest.

I spent today in the office, I worked 12.5 hours. I'm also on my third book since I arrived 16 days ago. I read "Stranger In A Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein my first week, Isaac Asimov's "Nemesis" last week, and I just started Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar," which I'm sure will be incredibly depressing. But it seems to be one of those books that is read and praised by many people, although my first impression is that Plath may have been one of those people who speaks because they can't stand silence.

I enjoyed Heinlein's book though. "A week after reading it, my impression is that Heinlein had something to say but maybe didn't understand people enough to really sell it convincingly. It came off at times like a goofy nerd sitting in a room writing a book about what the women he wished he could meet.
Saturday night I went to Brooklyn and met Amanda and Gustavo, two friends from school, and we went to a bar and had a beer. I really enjoyed Brooklyn, particularly Williamsburg, the neighborhood we were walking around. It was hip and young, and I think I could enjoy living there.

I went walking around after work Thursday last. I wanted to see a gallery exhibit off of Bowery, about 15 minutes from my office on foot. I got there about 8:00 and they were having a concert, but I was able to poke my head in and check out a couple of the pieces. The exhibit was of heroin baggies, stamped with different street names. The artists went to areas frequented by heroin addicts and collected the rubber-stamped baggies from the ground. Some of the stamps were quite terrifying, like Last Temptation and Deadly Sin. The most striking piece was the 12 foot tall wall covered in 1800 baggies that represented the amount of heroin an addict will consume in a year.

I then went walking south toward the towers in the distance. It was nearing dusk, and the lighting became dramatic, so I made a few pictures. The most moving part of the evening was seeing the Federal courthouse complex. Its not something I can fully explain, but something about the massiveness, the inhuman nature of its scale, was deeply unsettling. I felt strangely nervous walking in front of it, and I felt a strong urge to cross the street just to put some distance between it and myself.

I will write again tomorrow. I have more pictures to share.

I miss the Turnip Truck

I've been neglecting you, Oh Turnip Truck.

I've been very busy at work, staying late almost every day (which is why I am here, so no complaints about that). I then take the 1 train from the Houston stop north 150-ish blocks. I am really getting used to the ride I think. I can now nap for 30 minutes of the 35-minute ride, and wake up just as we are passing 125th Street, three stops south of my stop, at 157th.

I'm getting to start a new project this week, a remodel of a space into a dance studio. I have started by designing ADA-compliant bathrooms, (ADA is the American Disability Act) which is pretty tricky in this case, since they must fit into a certain footprint and be maneuvered around existing structures.

This weekend I slept in. Saturday afternoon I went to the Brooklyn Flea. I saw some pretty neat furniture, and if I'd taken the time to browse the clothes, I'm sure I'd have found neat stuff there too. If I move to New York in the future, (and have a real job and a real lease) I think it would be really cool to furnish a place just by flea-market shopping.

I'm planning to check out a brewery this weekend, not sure which. I want to find a nice local beer or two. Also, just found out that my friend Sabrina is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I'm very excited to get to see her!

I'm posting a couple of pictures form the office. The photo at the top of the post is what you see when you step off the elevator. Quite a jumble of great stuff! I really like the two matching chairs below. I am not sure who designed them, but they look like Borge Mogensen. If anyone has a definite i.d., I'd love to know!

This desk is pretty cool, obviously and antique of some sort. I made a picture of this one for mother and father, as I thought it might be closer to their time period of interest. More talk later. I've got more to say about my weekend, but my fingers are out of words.

First day. 15 hours.

I must remember names. I must remember names. I must remember names.

Day one was polarized. Arrive 10:00am, leisurely tour, introductions. Set up email, read office intro stuff. Bored to tears for much of the morning. (I love my job, but the first hour or two of inactivity seemed so long when I was so anxious to start helping and working.) Walked around the office, took a pic or two. The top picture is the kitchen/printing/materials/library room. Pretty cool room. The next picture is the excellent wooden floor by my desk. very hip and sexy. Also throwing in a pic of my workspace. (I might possibly move at the end of the week, once an intern leaves.)

At 3:00, after two bites of my sandwich, BOOM! Its go time! Photoshopping to the max, packing and catalogueing materials, more Photoshop, and lots more Photoshop!

Nonstop, from 3:00pm til 1:00am, pausing only for Japanese diner food. What a whirlwind first day!

I took a break or two to check out Calvin and Zach's (the principals of the firm) furniture collection in the lobby area. Lydia, you'll dig this next picture. The small part of their collection that I've seen is just beautiful. At least 40 pieces are gathered in the lobby, apparently only an 1/8th or less of their whole collection. Damn.

Speaking of damn, the view from the front of the office is breathtaking. We're on the tenth floor, and facing north up 6th Ave. You can see the Empire state building at the top of the hill, and the spire of the Bank of America tower. Picture below.

Oh, and this morning was quite the intense experience as well. Apparently real grownup architects work right up to the dealine too...

Moving in, nesting

Today was exhausting! I was on my feet for 8 hours straight, and my hooves are sore. I'm pretty sure I've doubled my lifetime subway mileage today as well, if not more. This morning, I woke up, had an apple and a Clif bar then started making some calls about apartments. I set up a couple of appointments for later in the afternoon, then set off to find my office in SoHo. Ajna and I rode the 1 downtown, and I got off at the Houston St. stop. My office is on the tenth floor of the building in the first photo.

The second photo is the Highline park, an awesome elevated park just completed on the west side of SoHo, I think maybe in the Chelsea area? I'm still a bit shaky on my neighborhoods. Anyway, the Highline is very cool. It is planted with all sorts of wildflowers and has neat benches and nooks and tiny performance spaces. Very cool, but crowded this afternoon. Apparently all the touristy stuff stays crowded all summer, then it thins out in September/October.

I then went all the back north to 158th St., where I met my soon-to-be roommate Graham. We chatted, I dug the room and the vibe, and I cut him a check on the spot. Room found. Done. I then had to go all the way back south to meet Ajna, borrow her keys, and move myself in to my new place. Oh, I met her in the Lower East side, at Houston and Allen, which meant I had to navigate a transfer from the 1 to the F train. I handled it like a pro.

I have just finished moving in. My room is pink, as the third pic shows. It has a window, a bed, a chest of drawers, a very nice drafting table, and a closet. I will be quite comfortable. The only downside is that I'll have to deal with laundromats for the first time in my life. Not looking forward to that. But maybe I'll just do laundry once a month eh?

The truck has arrived

I'm feeling pretty wiped now. Long day of travel. My friend Ajna is letting me crash at her place for a night or two, but I really hope to find a place to live tomorrow. That is my main goal. Secondly, I'm going to get a MetroCard, which Ajna said is 90 bucks and good for a month. If I've got time, I'm also going to make the trip down to SoHo and find my office. If I find a place to live quickly and have some free time, I'm going to go down to the Modern Museum of Art and maybe the Folk Art Museum.

Oh, Ajna's place is in Harlem, and on the ride from the airport to here I drove by the Apollo Theater! Landmark #1, check! This area is pretty incredible. Its been a few years since I've been to Ny, and I'd forgotten how many people you see just hanging out on the streets. It was dark when I arrived, so I'm really looking forward to seeing everything in the morning!

Packing and Trashing

Tomorrow I will be in New York! The few days since I accepted my internship with Tsao & McKown Architects have been an ongoing task of elimination. First in wide swathes, now in smaller slices, one thing at a time. I started off by donating the over 3/4 of my closet. From the remaining 1/4 closet, (items that actually fit) I decided I needed half with me in New York.

I packed this half, counted the bags, tried to lift them, and started cutting more unnecessary clothing. Finally I am down to two bags and a carry-on. Mother insists that the 30 lb. hangup bag that is larger than I am qualifies as a carry-on as well. It is not.

Still looking for a place to live, but it looks like I'll probably be in Washington Heights or somewhere around there.