An evening with friends

Tonight I attended a very pleasant post-holiday gathering. It took place at friends of my sister's, just down the street near NE 40th and Skidmore. The theme was, specifically, "Port, wine, chocolate and cheese."

The hosts supplied a hefty amount of all promised menu items. The favorites were these homemade dipped caramel-filled peppermint chocolates, with crushed candy cane garnish. We also sampled a tempting white port (more light brown than anything) directly from Portugal that our hosts, Brett and Jessica, picked up in Lisbon this past fall.

There were only four other guests at the party apart from the two hosts, my sister and myself. Two couples, both residents of the same neighborhood, provided intersting stories and commentary.

The first couple operate a high end office and accessories store on NE Alberta.....they were responsive when I asked them if they were planning to carry any of the Freitag line. They responded that this Spring was the launch date, given some delays to shipping and product line agreements....I am not particularly fond of the Freitag line, but I do recognize its current market potential. To set the record straight, I am not a fan of the line because I find it panders to a crowd of snobby status-seeking design types who pay too much for a semi-decent product line. In any case, the brand promises a lot of profits to upscale retailers and apparently it was of current interest to these guys. Perhaps it was the port?.....

The next couple was a nationally known band member and his girlfriend, who also works in the music production biz. Chris W. of Death Cab is an easygoing and relaxed dude and his girlfriend is equally or more as engaging and interested in all things ranging from academic to domestic. It was fun to hear about their on the road stories. I really like the fact that Portland breeds of an atmosphere where rock star profiles find time in their (post-holiday) schedules to fraternize with locals in their neighborhood, talk about things outside their sphere of knowledge (or interest), and do it with amazing success and clarity. I could hang out in Portland on a permanent basis with great happiness with friends of a similar caliber....

Aside from the great party, I leave for Berkeley tomorrow night. For the next several hours I am supposed to figure out how to feed 16-18 people over three days....

It's gift giving day

Concert wrap up:
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks played on Friday night. From what I did hear, it was a fine performance. However, circumstances required a rushed departure. Pre-performance we visited Ron Tom's, also on Burnside, where my sister and I met a couple of annoying dudes whose version of mingling to us seemed more like medieval torture.

Saturday I was a shopping drone.

Sunday it is very wet here. I am going to go food shopping with Sarah and then I am off to Vancouver for an annual gift exchange tradition.

Shall I return not bearing candles or themed socks.

Destination: Malkmus

Off to see Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks. Report following....

It's a holiday tradition

Shopping for the holidays is an annual rite of passage. I tend to try and do all my shopping in 1-2 days, sometimes with favorable results, sometimes the opposite. Today was a decent attempt. Several gifts were procured:

1. Pirateology - gift for nephew Everett, age 7

2. Life of Pi - gift for nephew Alex, age 15

3. Pacifica lotion - gift for exstepmother Stephanie. This particular one smells like Chai. It is amazing.

4. Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolour set - gift for sister Sarah

Fin.

The semester is over. I haven't slept since Saturday night and I am still rolling although I am about to fall asleep in my keyboard any minute. I think it is actually pretty dangerous for me to be handling graphics files in this state...my hand is likely to slip and delete a lot of fine line work.

The only chores I really must do today are 1)look busy while I am sitting outside of Peter's office (if I am in front of a computer he assumes I am working, when in reality I am reading celebrity blogs) and 2)clean off my studio desk. The janitors are rolling in tomorrow morning and have promised to take anything remaining with them, so it's up to me to clear off the altar.

Here's to tonight's sleep.

Post review sleep session

Hours of sleep consumed between Dec 7 - Dec 10: 12
Hours of sleep consumed evening of Dec 10: 14

There is something wrong about the above sleep data. Entirely wrong. However, on the bright side, today I am feeling great and looking even better. My skin no longer resembles that of a haggard 50 year old. My eyes are not (completely) blood shot. I am better hydrated, too. The long days and nights in this building literally take all the moisture and life outta ya.

Herr Bosselmann showed up at our review today. A gem of a phrase he uttered at one point was, "You know, slime is an extremely fascinating thing for 10 year-olds...think about it."

December seems like it is almost over. I will be home in a week. However, there is still much work to be done. I have an exam on science and ecology things on Friday and another design project due on Monday. Which I haven't even begun to think about yet...

Two days on the job and you kill someone

Breaking news from Berkeley's big box neighbor....the irony of the situation is ludicrous.

Emeryville Mayor Kills Pedestrian

It's official. Countdown begins.

Mental state: apprehensive & aware, not shaking

Dehydration scale (1-10): 7.8

Coffee intake in past 24 hours: <10 oz.

Beer, wine & spirits intake in past 24 hours: >12 oz.

Hand residue factor: ink and wash stains

Craving status: New York strip steak

Current desk display: 2 bananas, 1 Blue Moon Lager, 8 pieces of battered trace, laptop, desk brush, Elmer's glue, ipod, engineer scale, 1 eflute 100 scale topography model, drafting tape, various pencils and pens

Most recent sleep period: 230am-830am (sleeping in!!!)

He performed card tricks, too

The male model tonight had a vast array of talents. One, he wasn't half bad at the job we hired him for. He started off the night with a pose that was a crowd stunner. He got on his knees and proceeded to lean back, all the way so I couldn't even see his head. He was spread eagle in front of Sara and I, who had a hard time collecting ourselves and begin the drawing. I only have a skeletal outline of it, but from what I do have you can imagine the situation.



After the first set of 10 one-minute poses, he took a break. He read a bit from a book, some kind of "how-to" manual of card tricks and related magical maneuvers. At the next break, he broke out a formidable wad of 100 bills and special gold coins to demonstrate a sleight of hand trick.


3 min pose


5 min pose


5 min pose

I felt a lot better about this week's drawing results. Men are supposed to be more difficult than women to draw. Perhaps I do not share this sentiment due to the fact that the woman we drew last week more resembled a 13 year old girl than a mature woman. I feel bad for saying that, but that is the kind of harsh criticism folks ought to anticipate in the modeling universe.


10 min pose

I rather like this one below.


10 min pose

And no, he isn't sitting in a puddle of poo in this last one. It just looks that way.


15 min pose

Music notes

Not that I have the time to be doing this, but I was browsing the concert circuit and I came across a notable gem or two.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone w/ the Papercuts, Bottom of the Hill
December 5, 2007 (Wed)

St. Vincent, Great American Music Hall
February 17, 2008 (Sunday)

Explosions in the Sky, GAMH
March 21 & 22, 2008 (Fri & Sat)

Dozing in the library

There are few places in Wurster Hall where a person can get any privacy. There are also few places where you can comfortably take a nap. Naps are seriously mandatory at school these days, as final projects are coming to a close in the next two or so weeks.



I've taken to napping in the library along the south facing windows where there are a series of small tables (they fit one comfortably). It is very pleasant. You don't get the noise from studio (people slamming drawers, nailing, power tools, music, etc.) and it has a favorable microclimate that induces a quick 45 min nap. The tables are not oversized so you aren't uncomfortable haunched over with your head in your arms. And if you need a makeshift pillow, just pull a nice hefty book from the shelves and begin improvising immediately! Plus, people rarely venture along this wall. It seems that napping is one of the preferred activities in this part of the library environs.

Your only risk of napping in the library is one of your classmates coming across you as they get to the end of the stacks. It is important that this napping zone not become too widely known in our class for risk of overcrowding.

Other updates: A male nude model is the main event in my Wed. night drawing class.

Holiday muse-ic

This shall prove to be a grand show featuring both a well established and an up-and-coming Portland music act.

Stephen Malkmus has been residing in Portland for several years now. He recently had a kid, I guess. I saw Blitzen Trapper over the summer at Holocene. They were a little loud and anxious, I thought. I hope that the last several months on the road have polished their act and things will be more interesting this time around.

Too cute

This is from my favorite otter. Happy Thanksgiving y'all.



P.S. Tonight on the way back from my parents' house, we got pulled over for speeding and an obstructed front license plate. Tickets were about $400. However, we were spared the breathalizer.

P.P.S. I wasn't driving.

A car went into the corner store

On Monday night, as I was biking home south on Shattuck, a police car busted past me going 60. Other official vehicles followed seconds thereafter. I didn't think much about it, shit like that happens a lot on the border of Berkland.

I got to my apt., at Grove Street and Adeline, and found my roommate Garrett outside, looking down the street. He said he'd heard a loud crash 5 minutes earlier. We walked down a half block and at the corner a Saturn had apparently veered off the street, hit a tree, and continued its journey into the side of a building with a corner store. The tree was on the ground, a victim of this crime, which appeared to be a case of grand auto theft. The doors of the vehicle were wide open and there were no signs of any driver or passenger. Police were swarming around on the streets, perhaps responding to reports of sightings of the alleged suspect. We didn't stick around to find out.

Based on this incident, the reaction time of the police in Berkeley is pretty good. By the time Garrett and I got to the crash, the crime scene van was already there and they had roped off the immediate area. I am sure the suspect easily escaped. God knows he could have been hiding in our carport. There's a lot of hiding places off of Grove Street.

Strike a pose

1 min poses


10 min pose #1


10 min pose #2


20 min pose

Pie n' Wine

There is a pie and wine party tonight that I probably should not go to given the fact I am really behind on my studio design proposal. We have a preliminary pin up on Monday. But I will nonetheless venture forth toward fruit-studded baked confections and the sacred libation of Dionysus.

Today I spent most of the day completing a draft of an unrelated drawing assignment. It was beautiful outside and I should have been outside running, biking, or shopping.

Light at the end of the tunnel - Wednesday all I have planned to do is pack for my pending 2 night journey up north...and worry about what I have to get done for studio when I return on Saturday night.

I may try a vegan Japanese restaurant with Christina tonight. Not sure if I will end up full after that one, but then again, there is a pie n' wine party calling my name.

Naked people. Six hours of naked people.

Graduate school provides the opportunity to do things you haven't done before. You learn and grow from these experiences, thus enriching your educational experience. I myself have traveled three times overseas on the dime of the Beatrix Farrand fund, among countless parties, receptions, conferences, sponsored field and professional office visits.

Graduate school will also pay for nude models.

For the next two weeks, a nude model will visit my landscape drawing class and we will utilize her/him for three hours. There will be breaks. Apparently, nude models are traditionally given a five minute break for every 20 minutes of work performed. That means, collectively over two weeks, almost 70-80 minutes of breaks for the nekkid one while we gawk, stare and try to pretend we are only mildly amused.

Monday will begin with a female model. Our professor Chip claims that women are "easier to draw." I wonder what that means. He claims men are "difficult." I would like to know more details about that one.



Having never been in a class with a nude model, I have many questions about procedure, proximity, and expectations. I do hope this person is relatively in shape. Otherwise, I might as well just go hang out in the locker room of the Y with a tablet and charcoal. I am concerned about being too close that I may feel like I am staring.

My classmate Sara, who has taken figure drawing classes before, assured me that while it IS weird, you quickly acclimate to the environment. However, she told me that she's seen it all in terms of models, including a man who appeared to have visible STD symptoms. Ouch.

Oh, we were told that all cell phones will be collected into a box when we enter the classroom as a safeguard against unauthorized photos being taken. Also, there will not be drinking allowed that night in class (which goes against normal operating procedures). Wish us luck. And above all, wish us virile, attractive models!

In memoriam

Dale William Edmonds
October 28, 1946 - November 14, 2003

Next semseter

We've already signed up for classes for Spring semester 2008. Oh, how I wish it were my LAST spring here. Sadly, it is NOT.

Anyway, it appears as though I will not be required to take LA 202: Neighborhood Landscape Design. Under normal circumstances, this course is taught by my adviser Louise and I would jump to take it. However, this year she is on sabbatical and will not teach next term. The course this term is apparently going to be split between two fill in faculty members, one of which I am uncertain I like very much.

The other options are to take either Peter's Advanced Urban Design studio (CP 248) or Randy Hester's Environmental Planning studio (LA 205). I decided to enroll in Randy's studio. I haven't had Randy as a professor since Spring 2006. He's a big reason I came to the department, so perhaps this will reignite my enthusiasm for studio. Lately, I just feel pooped because we've had to crank out obscene amounts of work the last three weeks.

That stuff is pretty mundane, though.

Things to look forward to are Thanksgiving. I will be a basket case trying to get out of here. The good news is that Chip cancelled class on Wednesday night, so I will be able to meander on home before midnight to pack for the mad dash home. I will spend two nights at home and there are already plans in the making to see the Chuck Close exhibit at the Portland Art Museum.

Night Falls on Kortedala

This is Jens Lekman at Bimbo's in San Francisco on Friday,
November 9. Photo credit to Jason.

One powerpoint, two powerpoint, three powerpoint - bust!

Come 11am tomorrow, I will have had presented three Powerpoint presentations in one week. The topics have been diverse, yet interrelated as most things happen to exist in this world:

1. An Introduction to Three Watersheds of Contra Costa County
2. Sustainable Storm Water Case Study: The Mount Tabor Middle School Rain Garden, Portland, OR
3. Mending a Divided Watershed: Rodeo Creek

Despite the flurry of practice, I have not learned how to animate slides yet. That function is generally overused and abused in presentations - we've all seen that circle that flys spinning counterclockwise onto the screen - but it is a good feature to use when you are displaying plans or maps with layered information. So while I do not claim to be a PPT guru, I do have some formidable skillz with this application.

I better sleep, I have to get up in three hours. I really need some damn sleep.

Prevailing over blockage

All I needed to get over this writer's block I've had was to go visit Whole Foods. That place is a cluster fuck of pretension, urban vanity, and irresistable boutique chocolate bars.

I went there with the idea I would spend $10 on dinner and I spent $34. Half of that was spent on some good EFAs from the ocean swimmers. I am almost out of the Walgreen's brand I currently use. These things cost $17 and claim to be derived from "Wild Caught Small Fish" with "No Mercury, PCBs and Lead." Hmm, funny thing but I thought most consumables we buy lack these elements. I love unheeded advertising! Looking at the label more closely, I see that this is a product from Norway or Iceland. I guess they fish on the international boundaries of these Scandinavian countries and can't 100% guarantee the nationality of their net's catch.

After I procured my oil allotment (sp) I got in line near the express area. This area has a clear view of the salad bar and pastry case. I began musing over several of the elaborate confections, one a variation of a Boston Creme, the other a more traditional, yet vegan, carrot cake. In the glare of the case, I saw a man put his hands into the candied pecans container of the salad bar. He continued to crush the nuts in the palms of his hands (it looked like he was warming his hands by the fire) and then sprinkle the crushed contents onto his salad box. The remainder crumbery, not desirable by him, was returned to the greater nut box. The first thought through my head was "Gross" but the second thought was something along the lines of "if you act like this in a public place of relative scrutiny, how in the world do you behave once you get home?" Good lord.

Time to nap. Stay out of the candied pecans.

Writer's hesitation

I've had a few free hours since our doosy of a presentation at 2pm today. I thought about posting a run down of the day's events, but it just isn't terribly interesting to describe. Then I thought about posting some announcement about the tailless raccoon I saw outside of Wurster with my friend Tim on Saturday night, but I realized I've already done that before (it's weird...the thing looks like a odd-shaped bear with no tail).

Still, no spark of inspiration from that either.

I then thought about just going on strike for a little bit, hoping that interesting writing topics may just need some time to ferment and ripen.

It's hard to say what will happen. Maybe it's the lack of sleep causing this streak of uninspiration. Who knows.

When weekends aren't weekends

School is great and everything but it gets tiresome when you log in more than 36 hours there over the course of a Saturday and Sunday. Today I arrived at 8:30am and I just got home (it is 2:46am on Monday). The day before was about the same.

Things in my group are good. We left our building tonight in high spirits after plotting out our presentation board, which is more than 6' long. Whenever you plot anything more than 48" long, you always risk having graphics go astray or print out blob-like. By the graces of all that is holy, the 72" board printed out complete and pristine. The colors weren't half bad, either. Our 30 slide powerpoint presentation is also in top form. We run through at 10am tomorrow, and then do the presentation at 2:00 in front of a selected panel of stakeholders and critics. Shall be interesting. I cannot wait until we are done so I can catch up on all the other crap I've ignored for days.

I had a nice catch up with some friends from Oregon on Friday night. We went to eat at Sam's Place, some seafood joint in the thick of the financial tourist trap district. Can't say I adored the neighborhood, but the fish wasn't half bad. This restaurant is one of SF's oldest, apparently. The service is alright, if a little slow but it was a Friday evening.

My take home message of the evening was that people who have jobs have it easy. They have time to dine and socialize, plan morning outings to the spa, and even exercise. People like me barley have time to get 3.5 hours of sleep a night. A condition which I am currently headed toward if I do not wrap this message up soon.

Only 27 min left of my favorite month

Well, the bell is about to toll the end of the fine month of October.

No other month compares in my opinion. October is the time of year you truly feel the day's length fleeting and your senses become awakened to a new palette of smells and colours. The sun begins to set around 5:00pm and soon the dinner hour is completely black, suggesting a different variety of foods should also be introduced. Thinking back to late June, when evenings would often trail along until nearly 10:00pm, the evenings of October seem entirely longer and dominant to the days. Something nice about this October is that it was essentially a dry month, too, allowing me to bike to school and back without cursing Mother Nature.

Now just 21 minutes left in October 2007.

I should take a quick moment to commemorate the birthday of my father and three uncles, who turned 61 and 59 last Sunday (28th). Happy birthday, Pops.

Tonight is Halloween. I am without costume, still at school, and I just finished coloring these perspectives I promised my studio group all weekend. I will now go scan them and head home.

Here is one:


Oh. Here's to a rockin' November.

Shellac = shiny fun things

Our midterm for my Landscape Drawing and Painting class is to make a weird proscenium and memory chamber for two soon-to-become threatened species: Apis mellifera (common honeybee) and Quercus agrifolia (Coast Live Oak). It is a strange project but it is very doable because there are only a few guidelines we must follow. Above all it should be interesting to look at. I think I succeeded.

Look inside the boxes:





Required parts were two matchboxes and one cigar box as the base for the assignment's elements. I didn't want to bother with procuring a real cigar box, so I made one using museum board that I found in a drawer. The matchboxes were easier to come by.

I used a lot of shellac-varnish on my box. Everything is eerily shiny and decoupage-y looking. It would probably go up in flames if one of those matches was lit. I am exhausted from all this craft making. I shall now sleep.

Happy Birthday, Janine

Today is Janine's birthday. Here's to you!

I sent her a card from this cheeky site I just found. Some of these are pretty damn hilarious.

Another gratuituous link...

Click here for Swedish people. I shall be enjoying this performance very soon.

Otter boy

A Monday with Philippe:

Going too far

I found this item on one of my classmate's desks this morning. I believe in haute cuisine and all that junk, but I think this case of fusion has overstepped some delicate boundaries.

The kicker is that this particular person has in the past claimed to be a vegetarian.

Board

This is my board that I will present in 20 minutes for LA 111: Plants in Design. Just posting an entry here while it plots.

D-day is Thurs. 11am

All evening I have been (re)designing the Wurster Light Court. Non-Wursterites will not be familiar with this space. It happens to be an interior courtyard of our monster building which is home to the College of Environmental Design. On the UCB campus.

The design is for my Plants in Design course, so most of the intervention has to do with (you guessed it) plants. So far I like my plant palette. There are many ferns and clumpy grass thingies. Oh, I plan to better articulate this information when Thursday morning rolls around.

We were only given 10 days to do this project (the first 7 days of which I was completely focused on studio and not thinking about plants in the very LEAST). So that gives me less than three days to complete a 10 day long project. Sounds like a typical situation for most misbegotten souls here at Wurster Hall. In between now and Thursday's presentation, I have exactly 8 hours of classroom time and two additional projects to turn in.

I plan to be here until 2:30am. I have class at 8am today, so I need to get at least 3 hours of sleep. I must be well rested, for tomorrow I will be watercoloring this enormous Light Court design.

So that means I must sign off immediately and return to my plant mode.

Hasta luego, Jean Paul

Jean Paul's last week in Berkeley is nearing its end. Last night marked his farewell party on Grove Street. Things began around 9:30, when JP and his crew (Pete, Ingrid) were the first to arrive. It was nearly 11:30 before a critical mass was established. Many, many people were in attendance; some people we met off the street even dropped in (I warned them not to steal anything). Particular highlights:

1. Michael Gougherty head-butting our dining room door and cracking it.
2. Drinking from the tequila bottle at 3:10am.
3. Realizing, for the second time in a calendar year, that crumbly chocolate cake is not a good party food if you have beige carpet.
4. Waiting for a cat fight to break out between roommate's love interests
5. Watching a guy that brought a bucket of chicken to our party consume nearly every piece of it.
6. Drop in visit from the neighbor at 2:50am.

There are certainly more highlights to be added, but my brain is slow tonight. I've been looking at numbers too long on a spreadsheet.

Corn maze = Good time autumn fun

My friend Andrew has proposed his annual escapade down to Fremont to the autumn corn maize (maze). Each year, he gathers together a group of people to carpool all the way down there to participate in the old-fashioned Halloween pre-gaming.

Seeing that this year there will be no official Halloween party in the Castro, I see the corn maze as a potential alternative venue for the crowds of San Franciscans looking to rabble rouse a bit amongst tall vegetation. With a little planning, beers and flasks can be smuggled in and enjoyment to be had. There are, however, no bathrooms at the corn maze (as far as I can recall) so drink with knowledge of that constraint. Otherwise, you will be wandering into adjacent corn fields to relieve yourself, and you know what can happen out there!


Bird's-eye view of the Fremont Corn Maze

One of the fun things I remember about the Fremont corn maze was the interaction between strangers. It is inevitable that within the group you arrive at the corn maze with someone is likely to go missing among the networks of winding paths and dead ends. If such an event occurs, you could try calling your friends on the cell. However, that route isn't terribly effective given that it's hard to give directions in a place such as this ("take a right at the big group of corn husks" doesn't quite cut it) and given the fact that cellular reception not as reliable as in the city. It is best to ask for some help: "Excuse me, but did you recently pass by a bunch of loud drunk people? One person would have smelled of bourbon. You did? Where were they headed?" Someone might even escort you to them and offer you a swig from their group flask. Good things come from asking for help in the corn maze. Really.

Oh, that reminds me of one important hint: don't wear any shoes that you would care about if they got submerged in mud/manure. I speak from experience. Same applies to your pants.

Consider visiting a local corn maze this autumn.

In other Halloween pre-gaming news, Jean Paul's going away party is this Friday, the 19th, right here on Grove Street. I am trying to figure out where my pad of colored construction paper is. I would like to decorate this place properly...in the spirit of the season.


Think this concept, but much better....

No-zones of victory

Stop the presses!!!! Something amazing has happened in DC! The end of a wholly corrupt system, resulting in millions of pilfered dollars going into the pockets of DC's cab drivers, is about to happen.

Status check:

I think I've posted this image before. I was browsing through my photos of Donnell Garden for my drawing assignment, and I came across this one. It's a favorite. It's just so damn optimistic!

In rainbows

The new Radiohead downloadable name-your-price is really quite good. I prefer a few tracks over others, but usually I end up liking the ones I don't listen to at first the most.

Super easy download, too. I paid 5 pounds sterling, about $11 US. Sure, the really dedicated fans might pay more, but I am a graduate student. I feel like their system sets it up so those like me are able to benefit from others' subsidy.

It's nice to have new Radiohead tunes to listen to. I've listened to The Eraser too much, frankly, since last summer.

Found: skull of varmint

I was in Rodeo this afternoon for some studio work. I walked along Rodeo Creek Trail until it terminated near Hwy. 4. At the top of the ridge is a railway line. I decided to do a little Stand By Me and walk along the tracks so I could get a better view over the creek from above.

On the tracks I found a severed raccoon head. It had enough fur and skin on it for me to identify it. No signs of the body around. Ouch. I will post pictures asap.


The head.


The view of the creek I wanted to get from the tracks.


View of coal products plant on other side of tracks.


Turkeys on the prowl.

Happy 250th!!!! Plus, ants.

This entry is this blog's 250th official entry!!!! Hurray!!! Thank you for your readership and support.

Now that the excitement of that milestone has come and past, I move on to the next issue of concern (IOC). That concern is focused on a small bandit group of ants currently housing themselves in the wall next to the washing machine. This location also shares a wall with guess who's bedroom.

The ants were first discovered when I went into the bathroom. My first duty when I enter the apt. bathroom is to sweep the floor. My roommates are hairy and this is something I do anywhere from 1-3 times per day. While sweeping, I picked up one ant. Odd, I thought, because ants are never present at 3110 Grove St.

I opened the door of the bathroom and noticed a mass of ant activity around the base of the washing machine. Blast, I thought, they must have come in from the rain yesterday. Ants do that, I guess.

I would not let these little bastards prevail, so I armed myself with a spray bottle full of my secret anti-ant formula: 50% bleach, 50% water. This solution can knock out ants in a matter of seconds, plus it helps clean the surrounding environs. So much for Raid.

Status: The solution has worked. There are currently about 30 dead ants on the floor, some of them still wiggling their poor, chemically-attacked legs in vain. They will soon die. I've sprayed the whole area in there with Anti-Ant and I hope that from the remaining survivors they will send a scout to the nest to report undesirable ant living conditions in apt. 3C.

Drawing experiment #6

Click here for larger detail.

Stuck

Hmmmm....so it started raining really damn hard here in Berkeley around 11:00pm. I am determined to wait out the storm before I leave Wurster. This crap has GOT to stop sometime. That said, the idea of riding my bicycle home in this is less appealing than staying here all night.

It's not such a downer, I guess, since the first year grad students are pulling an all nighter to finish their Blake Garden installations and presentation materials before 9am tomorrow. I feel bad for them. All I am doing is inking a drawing about bugs in a belfry. They have to produce life-size installations, 30 scale models, and plan and section drawings for the review. I remember doing that and it was a shit load of work.

Life is better as a second year.

Update from the Wilson Center

I've been unsuccessful in getting a hold of George Seay, my old boss at the Wilson Center. Aside from catching up, I was hoping to get some insider tidbits about Haleh's homecoming. She had been in Iranian prison since May. Recently released several weeks ago, she is now back at work in DC. I am sure the sound of those noisy gold wrist bangles she always wears is a welcome sound in the Center's hallways.

Link to October 2007 issue of Centerpoint is here.

A whole mess of new skivvies

I am set for Fall 2007. Undergarmetwise that is. In the mail today I received a shipment of many pairs of new underwear and 3 new bras. They aren't anything particularly new...the same styles and sizes from years past. Still, I would argue there's something that puts zing into your day by tossing out the old and stepping into the new. Wadda bang!

I've had to order these things over the web for the last few years. I could probably never find the time to actually physically go bra and underwear shopping. Seems like a waste of time if you know what you want. I'd rather spend my weekend in good company, listening to music in the park, or even having a productive Sunday night at Wurster Hall. Who would have guessed?

Speaking of productivity, time to begin drawing...

I can't be your boyfriend

Below is a link to another great single off the new Jens Lekman (Yans Lake-man) album to be released this week. I got it a few days early!

A Postcard to Nina

Aside from Jens, the weekend was pretty action packed. Friday entailed field trip excursions to the Musee Mechanique, drinking with classmates and professor at Vesuvio's, freaking out about Blue Angel jets weaving about SF's skyscrapers, and bussing ourselves west to see the opening acts of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival out in Golden Gate Park. We saw quick bits of John (Cougar) Mellenkamp and Neko Case, but failed to stay (due to the cold setting in) to see Jeff Tweedy. The day was made complete with an injera meal unit enjoyed with Jason. Fast service, lightening fast. In that respect, that place is entirely NOT authentic in the Ethiopian sense. Here is a link to probably the most authentic Ethiopian restaurant in the continental United States. It takes anywhere up to 3 hours to have a meal here. There is a good chance you will also get something delivered to your table that you did not order. And you will pay for it.

Sunday I returned to Golden Gate Park to see HBRSB, one of my favorite your bluegrass bands. They've seen a lot of the world since I first saw them in early 2005. Way to go. There were TONS of people there, making it really hard to even hear anything at the central Banjo Stage. Christina and I left there to find the Star Stage, far removed from the major event foot traffic. We still managed to see some great acts before leaving at 4:00 PM.

Since that time, I have been at Wurster Hall mulling over parcel maps of Rodeo, CA.

This is the week of field trips. Tomorrow studio heads out to Rodeo, again, to visit the headwaters of Rodeo Creek at Fernandez Ranch. Tuesday, for Plants in Design, we head out to Emeryville to the Chiron corporate campus. Chiron was one of the big anchors that started to redevelop around the train tracks many years ago, effectively reshaping the city form.

Is it me.....

....or is that not the greatest picture of Jerry Boone in the Oregonian? At least his coverage of my stepdad isn't so bad....yet.

Socratic habitat

This is an actual school assignment. I still have to watercolor it.

Also, the best thing on the Interweb today:

Collision

About 12 feet from my apartment building this morning I had a bike collision with a pedestrian. I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but today was also the first day I remembered to wear my helmet. Turns out I didn't need it to survive this wreck - my victim would have benefited more from having it having taken a spill on the sidewalk. Anyway, the poor girl (14 years old) was certainly more calm than I was post-impact.

Nothing like almost maiming someone in public to start off your day!

Two favorites

=

Click below to hear a song from the much-hyped Jens Lekman album Night Falls Over Kortedala, to be released Oct. 9:

The Opposite of Hallelujah

He is playing at Bimbo's Friday Nov. 9. I'm excited for this Swede.

Pilgrim journey

No, I am not journeying to Mecca. I am only going home for Thanksgiving. But I thought it warranted a posting since I haven't done this for give or take a decade.

I really do not recall a time I've gone home for Thanksgiving in my 20s. I've been in school all that time, or living across the country, so venturing to Portland for what is essentially a drawn out meal never happened. It was always "too expensive", "too crowded" or "too annoying". But this year changes everything. I am showing up for my turkey leg. And I will not take kindly to being assigned to the kiddy table.

Goin' to the Village

This upcoming Monday I am going to the heartland.....Davis, that is. Davis, CA is where my professor Rob Thayer lives. He lives in the famed Davis Village Homes. Completed in 1975, Village Homes was "designed to encourage both the development of a sense of community and the conservation of energy and natural resources." Most of the people that live there ride bikes as their main form of transportation and probably have admirable carbon footprints. Some even do not own cell phones, much like my professor.

Rob invited anyone in our class up to Davis on Monday during class time to come tour Village Homes. We can even stay after for dinner. One of the groups in our studio is the "Renewable Energy" group. They are charged with proposing ideas about energy conservation and alternative production to the Town of Rodeo. Hopefully they can find some design concepts we encounter and find a useful application for them in Rodeo. That is the hope.

I am along for the ride in the true sense of the word. I am in the Rodeo Creek Watershed Restoration group, so this stuff probably won't help our group too much. However, since I got to UCB, I've wanted to visit Village Homes simply because it is a well-known and successful example of environmentally mindful residential development.

We are allowed only to come if we ride our bikes and take Amtrak to Davis. From the Davis train station, we ride to Village Homes on two wheels, helmets and all.

Fifteen

My efforts to retrieve my misplaced favorite corduroy jacket are once again spoiled. I left it at a friend's house a few weeks ago. Shame, too, since it is beginning to get cool in the mornings and evenings (and I come home LATE, by the way).

I've been in the city a few times since losing it and I always phone the people that live there but none of them have ever been home to open the door. I asked Brendan about tomorrow night and he said it was likely everyone would be at the big Critical Mass. Apparently, it is the 15th birthday (or anniversary) of the monthly tradition that effectively ties up traffic at rush hour and induces utilization of public transit out of the city center. After a rough spring, the close-knit membership alliance has managed to stay out of the press.



I've only done CM once. It was Halloween 2005, I believe. Good time. I wore this amazing blond mermaid wig. (BTW, wigs will overheat one in a snap. If you wear one, dress light.) I kind of want to go again, should be a nice ride. Hopefully no old people in minivans will be assaulted and/or berated in public intersections by militant bike ninjas.

Field trip to Contra Costa County

My studio course, LA 201, Ecological Factors in Urban Landscape Design, took a trip to the bowels of Contra Costa County on Sunday. For almost 11 hours we toiled out there looking for any threads of environmental hope for this place. Anyway, below are some images of what we found:


Into the culvert we go....


Land slump


That's the way they do it in Pinole.


For some reason, my camera turns all skies pink lately...This is a channelized Rodeo Creek. Beautiful!


Great old building in Rodeo's downtown. Too bad its structural integrity is about zero based on the posted sign on the front window. I love the arcade entrance.


The coal fire plant in Rodeo off Hwy. 4.


What you see a lot of in Rodeo: powerlines on almost every hill landscape there is

To be Mayor...

The Oregonian carried a short story on my stepfather's annoucement to run for Mayor of Beaverton, OR. So far, I guess, the media coverage seems better than worse.

Good luck to him. The bid is for NEXT fall's election. All in time. Plenty of time for some skeletons to fall out of the closet, though.

It's a weekend. Really.

Well, kind of. It's going to be kind of a weekend. 'Kind of' for two reasons. One, I have nothing (big) due on Monday, so it feels like I have free time. Two, I have to go on some kinda hellish field trip all day on Sunday, from 7am to 6pm, up in Contra Costa County. We are going up there to look at about a gazillion things for our Ecological Analysis Planning and Design Studio.

So it is, therefore, kind of a weekend. I look forward to Friday night and Saturday as long as I get in before 12am. While Sunday is spoken for, the other two days got potential.

A major episode of 12 year old boy humor happened in my Plants in Design class. You wouldn't have guessed, but it did. While my professor was lecturing us with a powerpoint presentation on English Landscape Gardens, a slide flipped up with a map of Stourhead. Stourhead is one of those kinds of estates that are featured in all of the Jane Austen novels. Anyway, the map caught my attention because it included the location of an inn with a name that I cannot believe has not been changed or altered in modern times. See for yourself.

Also, in other news, my stepfather Bruce is announcing to the City of Beaverton tomorrow that he is running for mayor. This could get interesting. Hmm, I make an early prediction that the new Dalrymple-family Porsches are not going to impress local voters.

Let's go to Yosemite

From my drawing class:

My parents like cars or something

Since I left Portland this summer, my mother and stepfather have dabbled in conspicuous consumption to an extent that leaves me more than a bit queasy. There is little explanation to it other than the fact that my stepdad Bruce is an extremely easy sell for anything with four wheels. This past weekend, my mother and he decided to purchase two (yes, two) more (yes, more) Porsches. They already had one Porsche before last weekend, which I complained about at every opportunity, plus a Jeep Cherokee and a Mustang convertible.



I do think that buying two Porsches for two people, when those two people already have three cars between them, is a pretty idiotic idea. According to them, it would seem that one must have more than one or two choices of vehicles to be happy in this world.

I begin to wonder if we are related at all.

Sincerely,

Miss E
(proud owner of an 18 year old VW)

P.S. Five dollars says I won't be allowed to drive my mother's Porsche the next time I visit. Lame-o.

On the earphone

Jens Lekman, Oh You're So Silent Jens Lekman

Post Veteran's Day Music

The Walkmen have announced fall tour dates...

Tues, Nov 13, The Independent

WALK, don't run.

For the wrist challenged

Stephen Colbert has come up with a very keen promotion, advertising and public awareness vehicle: The Wriststrong Bracelet. The idea was hatched as a result of him breaking his wrist this summer.



Having just broken my own wrist this winter, I feel happy someone is taking the time to spread awareness for the wrist challenged.

Philippe's Inner Place Holder....Read strip below

Just



Keep



Scrolling




Down



Until




You



Can



*See*



The



Entire



Achewood



Cartoon!



Whoops



It



Will



Take



A



Few



More



Lines.

Philippe's Inner Machinations

Finally, a flow chart of my favorite otter. After I post another entry, you should be able to read the whole thing. Or I can do a placeholder....Let's see....

Give me a drop.

I think I suffer from persistent dehydration. Problem is, I don't really suffer from the typical symptoms of thirst that compel one to consistently rehydrate. The only time I must have water is when I exercise and after. I've gone entire days at school (typical 830am to 1230am) having consumed nothing liquid except 8 ounces of coffee. I get home and don't even feel that parched, but I do feel pretty terrible.

A couple summers ago, I went to a very nice place to have a full massage. Afterward, the masseuse woman told me she could tell I wasn't hydrated enough because of the way my skin felt - like she could lift it off my back and it would just "stay". So gross.

I need some kind of timer to remind me to sip water in class all day. Something like a low frequency vibration or electrical shock. I would do well in the desert...or at a behavior modification clinic. Ready and willing.

In other news, I will try to post thumbnails of my work from my drawing class this term. We just did a fun one on California landscapes and signage.

Also, in court today UCB failed to evict the tree sitters from the coast live oak grove that abuts our building. I guess they will be here for a while longer.

Ghosting Copenhagen

Today I learned a new term in urban historical research and mapmaking. "Ghosting."

Ghosting, as Herr Bosselmann verbosely described, is the exercise of overlaying new maps on top of old, examining each one through the other, looking to see the process of urban transformation over time, looking to see which historical forms have remained, looking to see which have not. And understanding precisely "why".

In sum, looking to the past to understand the present; taking it one step further to predict the patterns of our urban future.



It is quite a fascinating topic, for sure. That said, Herr Bosselmann is a little impatient with my current pace of taking his simplified chicken-scratch maps and turning them into a multi-layered smorgasborg of urban know-how. Thus is the reality of the student-professor digital divide.

Things I was told today:

"It is your job to outsmart the computer's laziness."
"Ghosting is going to teach this computer a thing or two."
"Yes, the reason that block disappeared so long ago is due to the tannery."
"We must not forget the moats, Rachel. We certainly must not."

Six years old...

Six years ago tonight I was at a PJ Harvey show with my boyfriend of the time, I'll call him Darren. The tickets, if I recall correctly, had been an early birthday present I'd received weeks before. The show was at the 9:30 Club, a nice venue near the U Street corridor on Washington, DC. PJ's most recent album was Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea. A notable album for sure.

Despite the promise of a fulfilling evening ahead of me, I do remember I would have much preferred not to go. In fact, since way before I got these blasted tickets I'd been not too psyched about a number of things and been rather depressed.

Returning from the show that night around midnight on September 11, very frustrated and melancholy, I made a promise to myself. The promise was that the next day, as soon as I could, at the very first opportunity, I would sever all ties with Darren and start to be a happy person again. As I tucked myself into bed that evening, I made a plan to email him with the news before he'd even had his damn coffee. It would be harsh, but it was entirely overdue and I'd lost all patience at that point anyway.

Eight hours later and I am at work (Correction: our work, Darren and I were at the same organization). I believe I was writing down some points that I planned to include in the email. I remember I'd gotten there pretty early that morning, right around 8:15 am so no one was really around. My coworker Karen was already at work with me. She had gotten into the habit of getting to the Center early at the start of the week so she could go home to Alexandria, VA before 4pm. Karen was nearly 8 months pregnant at the time. I continued to draft my email, happiness ever increasing, until my friend Charlie chimed in over AIM to tell me to immediately go find a television.

And the rest is history.



I left the Wilson Center at 10:45 with Karen. I had a solid plan to walk north for nearly two miles to my apartment in Adams Morgan on Belmont Road, NW. Later, she could find a way for her husband to pick her up. It didn't matter, really. According to Karen, we just needed to get out of our office and out of downtown which was less than 1/3 mile from the White House.

Am I a heartless wench because I didn't check on Darren before I left work with her that day? Perhaps I am. No, I am. But considering the circumstances going on in the world at the very moment, I could have cared less. I still am glad I made the call to guide a very pregnant woman a couple miles to a safe place on Sept. 11. With every anniversary of 9/11, Karen, without fail, emails me to say thank you again and includes photos of her awesome kiddos. My efforts that day have been a gift that continues giving.



Later that night, even despite the fact that Darren grew up in New York City, and was really devastated by the terrible events of the day, I kept my promise to myself. I kind of hate myself for being so self-serving and cold, but it really had to be done. The idea of not breaking up with him and having to console him over the tragedy for a number of indeterminable weeks was simply too much. In retrospect, he probably appreciated it. At least, that's how I spin it.

Here's to being six.