We signed the lease and emailed it monday afternoon, sealing the deal, and Saori mailed off our checks (which actually seals the deal). So we're set. At this point I have a new address. And some items to add to my list of things to do, including:

• Set up electrical account
• Set up gas account
• Get internet hooked up
• Register with University City as a resident

I got around to looking at the apartment finding company affiliated with the school, which showed a very large amount of apartments and houses and duplexes for lease. The rents were all over the place, but reassuringly, they seemed to jibe with what I'd found online in other places. Location is almost everything, especially where prices are concerned. Oh what a difference a few blocks makes. 

Speaking of relative distances, St.Louis area is incredibly segregated.

St.Louis County, (metro St.Louis if you will) is 70% white, 24% African-American. The city of St.Louis itself is 47% white, 50% black, and East St.Louis, Illinois, just across the Mississippi, is 97% black. Other depressing demographics- the city of St.Louis has 2.4% Asians, about the same number as 2.6% Hispanic/Latino. It's going to be tough to find good Mexican food. It's also going to be a bit of a change for me, very used to seeing Latinos everywhere, to start seeing black people everywhere. Even downtown Phoenix, which probably has a very high proportion of black people in the valley really doesn't have that many, or rather, downtown tends to be a big ethnic polyglot. 

So tomorrow is my last day of work. I was surprised to hear that they're actually going to have a little going away party downstairs complete with snacks. To be honest, I feel a little awkward about it, apart from my natural social awkwardness, that is. On the one hand, its great that the office is going to miss me, and it's a good opportunity to tell everyone goodbye, and I am kind of touched by the sentimentality. On the other hand, I am the first person to voluntarily leave the company in about two years. For the dozen-odd people who were laid off over the depths of the depression, there was no fond farewell for them. At least it sounds like a pretty small thing- 3pm for snacks, as opposed to a goodbye luncheon.

meeting days

We had another all day meeting today with all the consultants. Mechanical-Electrical-Plumbing, Structural, Civil, Landscaping, and of course the interior designers-cum-architects. The first half the day was really good and we got a lot of stuff resolved since we had the MEP and structural guy working together in person on how to run ducts around structure and ventilate the whole thing. I think we have a good handle on how to run all the ductwork in and around the main spaces, which is really what I've been focusing on in the last week.

I know, really exciting stuff. Ventilation.

Well, its a good excercise for me to learn about ducts, HVAC systems, etc anyway.

The second half the meeting turned into a design charette with the interior designers presenting several schemes and all the other consultants coming up with their own design ideas. In a bitterly funny turn, the interior designers are coming up with designs closer and closer to the original floorplan we had, that they said they could beat but are now realizing that was probably the best solution. Oh well.

Last friday I met mom and tay for dinner at Los Olivos in Scottsdale. She's back in town now, and probably for awhile. Saturday Saori and I drove around to the Desert Broom library in way north Cave Creek, and to check out the architecture of the Arabian library in North Scottsdale. I liked the arabian library much better than the Desert Broom, although they were both by the same architects. The new Arabian actually has a little cafe inside which is pretty cool since the entire building is clad with rusting metal panels. We also hit a yard sale way out in the desert and we had to drive on a dirt road to get to it. They were selling saddle blankets with a bunch of other horse stuff. I actually drove a quarter mile down a private road following another car I thought was heading to the garage sale. That night we played the card game asshole for five hours outside with some of Saori's friends.

Weekly Update!!!

Lots of stuff going on:

Project update: The client gave the interior designer full creative control over the project, which we think was arranged between them from the get-go. I thought maybe we'd drop the project, as insulted, backstabbed, and bamboozled we were, but the company decided to stick it out because (a) its business, and business is to make money, (b) they want to be seen as able to work with any company, and (c) its a high profile project with a big client they would like to continue to work with. The interior designers are a mess to work with, they're basically not doing the work they said they would do, and they keep trying to take the project back to square 24 when we're on square 193. I'm working out roof assemblies and structural connections while they're rethinking the shape of the building. It's incredibly frustrating because they need to prove that their designs are better than ours (which is supposedly how they got creative control) but their problem is that there are so many constraints on the building, OUR designs are the simply the best, optimized solutions because we worked months on them trying out options and configurations. The "designs" they are beginning to arrive at are virtually identical to ours except less interesting.

Tonight, I was picking up some photos at Walgreen's when I ran into the night manager there, and it turned out to be an old friend of mine, Erik Brekke. I am terrible with names, but for some reason, his always stuck with me. Maybe its because he's a huge six and a half foot Scandinavian who dances like Michael Jackson. Anyway, I was surprised to hear he'd graduated and gotten married, and was putting away money to move to the east coast.

Tonight Saori and I had hit the central phoenix Buffalo Exchange and picked up some new clothes. I got a LeTigre zip up jacket (no replacement for my lost Zara, but nice anyway), a dickies jacket, and a nice slim cut sweater/shirt. Saori got some cool clothes too. We were killing time waiting for the hour photo developer.

Cameras! We've been doing a lot of cameras lately. It started with Saori getting me the lomo multi-exposure camera (which we're finally figuring out how to get images superimposed on top of each other). Then last weekend we picked up an old "Partytime II" Polaroid camera and a dirty old manual camera which looked pretty nice for $20. With a bit of research we found it was a Pentacon RTL reflex camera with a Hoya Asahi lens. Everything manual. Detachable coated lens made in Japan, camera body actually made in East Germany in 1960's. We cleaned up the lenses as best we could and shot a roll of film. The photos are really cool. Focus is really nice and the lens coating gives everything a warmer tinge. Learning a lot about cameras too.

Last thursday Saori and I went to the Muse concert in Mesa. For my birthday, Saori got me tickets. We were one of the first groups to get in, and we got a good seat in the middle. The venue was the Mesa Amphitheater, which is an outdoor theater, but it was really good. They set up a flat, standing area for the 50' or so feet from the stage, and then they step it up with terraces, so you can see over the mosh pit crowd to the stage. Really hard to find a bad seat. Muse was really cool, they played a set of their biggest hits and it was just a great show. The lead singer had a piano set up on stage, and in one of the songs he switched mid-song from playing guitar to playing this electric piano, and they had the piano set up an array of lights so you could see the notes playing across it. Huge crowd of people.

Friday was the birthday of one of Saori's and my friends, Mai, who is currently a roommate of my old roommate, Sal. We brought some drinks and barbecued on her back porch with a mix of Japanese and Taiwanese and Mexicans. It was a really fun night.

Saturday night we were supposed to meet my studio friend Joe and his wife Nicole for dinner, but we discovered the Phoenix symphony was playing Tchaikovsky, so we decided to hit that up. It was really fun, we got to get dressed up, drive downtown, and grabbed a bite of pizza with the DeLaree's, and then listened to the concert. It was a good concert. They started with a new composition of a local composed, which sounded to me like a movie score for a mediocre historical drama. Then they played some Tchaikovsky's piano music with an incredibly talented Pianist whose hands literally blurred with how quickly they were moving over the keys. He was a bit of showman, adding lots of dramatic arm movements and flourishes. He also returned for not one but two encore songs.

At intermission, a man in line asked me if I liked "this stuff better than R&B." Most people there were the stereotypical city matrons and couples in their late 40s onward. After intermission, they played a complete ballet written by Bernstein, which sounded a lot like New York, New York, and West Side Story. I realized that John Williams sounds a lot like Bernstein. They finished off the concert with a series of Hungarian Dances by Brahms, concluding with the famous Dance Five. Saori was jumping up and down in her seat she was so excited, because we'd been humming the tune for a few weeks without being able to recall either the name or the composer.

That night we played asshole, a card game, with Saori's roommate. Its actually a lot of fun, and very addicting. Its like a stripped down version of Bridge, with no partners, trump suits, or bidding. All cards are dealt out, and people lay down cards in turn increasing in value. 2 is high, 3 low, etc, and the objective is to get rid of all your cards first. After the first game, the winner and loser exchange the worst and best two cards, respectively. Its fun. One Saturday, Mai, Saori, and I played it for 9 hours straight. Part at Mai's apartment, part at a coffee shop, and part at Saori's apartment.

August to Yesterday

Apologies are in order, dear readers, who have not left this blog by the wayside as its creator has.

It is a new lifestyle, one which does not have the same level of excitement or insight as a college student. I go to work in the morning, come home, do some stuff in the late afternoon, eat dinner, and go to bed early. There's really not a whole lot more than that. In fact, I'm finding myself living an ironically 1950's dream. Early mornings and long days at the firm, a place of my own to relax, and a car to enjoy sunday drives.

Which is not to say I'm not learning anything. On the contrary, the project I'm currently working on at the firm is by far the most complicated anyone on my team has done before. The intergroup politics and relationships seem to do a majority of governing of how the project is taking shape. I'm not happy with the way the project is turning out, but its a fascinating and intense introduction to the birth of a building. It's a shame that I really can't go into the details here about it. But I am writing these things down, keeping my eyes and ears open, and getting down to it. I can say at least that the project is developing along a concept that I came up with, which is satisfying, even as it gets perverted by the various parties associated with the project.

On my birthday, Saori took me to to fish and chips for lunch, and surprised me with a little slice of pound cake with candles. That night we went to Flemmings in Scottsdale, where we had a great steak dinner. One year ago, I celebrated my birthday at Lomo in Buenos Aires with Malbec wine and wonderful beef. This year, we got the best steak in the house, Oscar style, which meant that it was cooked with crab meat and Bearnaise sauce on top. For dessert we split a phenomenal chocolate lava cake which was served with a candle after our waiter discovered that it was my birthday. We found out when we got the check they gave it to us for free, at a normal cost of $11. To go with my filet mignon, I got a glass of chilean malbec, the closest I could get to Argentina.

The next day, Saori and I picked up Taylor and we went to India Palace for dinner, the restaurant he'd been wanting to go to since eating there with me my freshman year. I think Tay is good at school, at least he seems to be going to class and doing his essays. He's already made friends with most of the people on his dorm floor.

We had a busy weekend. Saturday, Saori and I drove around downtown Phoenix, taking an impromptu tour around Meier's federal courthouse, and around deserted downtown. We then made a visit to the Arizona Rock and Mineral Muesum, a museum I've not visited in at least ten years. We spent about two hours there, looking at rocks, and I ended up buying a big solid copper sphere, some 'tv' rock, and a beautifully polished petrified oak slice. Saori picked up a gypsum desert rose that she'll try to mount on a ring. After the museum, we drove around the desolate areas southwest of downtown Phoenix, stumbling on the new Cesar Chavez library. I was blown away as this library looked exactly like my library project third year in architecture school. We pulled over and explored it, and I picked up a CD they were selling of old cuban salsa from the 1950's. Very cool.

Gliding Along the Root Canal

Stressful day at work today. We keep coming up with problems we haven't really solved yet, and that should have been solved before this point. It's stressful and challeging, but I think we're eventually going to get everything as it should be, just because we don't have any other options. At any rate, I was half-happy to get away and on to my root canal.

The procedure itself was actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be. They numbed me up first with a gel, then gave me about 3-4 shots which I didn't even feel, which pretty much knocked out the entire area. They put a thin latex shield with a hole just for the tooth and stretched it out to catch debris from falling into my mouth. The drilling wasn't bad and apart from a few pinches and cold and hot sensations, it was pain-free. They set me up with a cap and a temporary filling for now, until I go back in next week. I was in and out in about two hours, including all the waiting time.

I took the rest of the day off of work, as it was already four when I got out of there. After Saori got off work, we walked to the Coco's by my apartment for a light dinner and some coffee. Afterwards, I drove to the airport to go to her sister's wedding up near Washington DC. I don't envy her red-eye flight, but I do miss her already.

Last night, we were going to try to hunt down an Indian food place, but wound up at Cherryblossom Noodle Cafe, a Japanese restaurant. I've actually only been to a few Japanese restaurants which serve other foods than sushi. This place has really good Udon noodle and tempura, and, always a good sign, there's always many Japanese people eating there. Actually, Saori has run into at least two of her friends every time she's gone.

Performance Review and Design Forum

I forgot to mention, last week, I presented my studio "thesis" project at work during the official "Design Forum" they have every month. Basically, during lunch a person presents a place they went, a project they worked on, or something else related to them, completely optional. I took all my work and over two nights compiled it into a powerpoint presentation, which was actually the ideal format for this project, since it was best described by the flythroughs, animations, and videos I took. Most of the firm came down to see it, and it was pretty well recieved. I think I impressed the principals, at least they commended me on my presentation ability. So that was that.

This week, I had my performance review meeting, which wasn't nearly as official as I'd been expecting. I met with two principals I'd worked under, and we talked very informally about my goals, where I ultimately want to end up, how I felt I was doing, and if I needed anything or had any comments or suggestions. Went pretty well, they said they were glad to have me, and they really appreciated my abilities with sketchup.

Work is work, pretty normal. Tuesday, Saori and I met Chase and Tovah at the Phoenix art museum. Tuesday nights are extended until 9 PM and its free all day. After walking around the musuem, we had a big Chinese feast in Tempe. The next day, I met the pair again at the Heard Museum for lunch. The Heard has a really nice small cafe off the main patio, a little effeminine in touch but really good food. I got two hand made tamales with an ancho chili and hominy cream sauce. They went back to Colorado that night.

Here are some photos of my life and where I live


My Public Shoebox

This week has been a lot easier than the last, and I've actually had some time to work on design as opposed to just doing autocad plans, sections, and elevations. No late nights, which is a good thing.

My typical day is to wake up around 6:45, shower, grab a bowl of cereal, and walk to work, which takes about ten minutes. The street my office is on is 90% residential, with all these great tiny houses from the 1930s that have been renovated, and added to. Every one of them has a porch and they all look completely different. It's a tree lined street, so the walk is always a pleasure. Once I get to work, I check emails, get some hot water for my mate tea, and start work. There's usually a short informal meeting sometime in the morning, and then I walk back home for lunch. Sometimes, I hit schlotzky's deli or burger king instead if I'm short on time, but I enjoy the psychological benefits of going back home and walking outside. Work the rest of the afternoon, and then leave at 5:30 for the walk back home.

This week I met some friends for drinks at chilis, went to a surprise birthday for my roomate in Argentina, and went to the company picnic.

The picnic was fun, way outside phoenix at Lake Pleasant. Water level was very low, which was interesting to see. It was still very cold and refreshing in the 110 degree heat. They provided us with two boats, a pontoon boat for cruising and a wakeboard boat for tubing and skiing. They also had plenty of bbq.

second week... performance review time!

What a week its been!

Monday, I started my professional career as a salaried “Job Captain” of the architecture office I work for. I am working with a team of two project architects and a guy closer to my age with more experience. We had a big client meeting Friday, so it was really crunch time this week. What I did was pretty standard drawings: plans and sections, but I also did a bunch of work tabulating areas and comparing them to previous meetings to make sure we were working within a certain square footage. A client would not want to to find out that he was paying for more space. It was pretty tricky and aggravating sometimes.

We reconfigured the parking garage to make it more affordable and efficiant, but the numbers were just not working in plan, so I had to make a 3d model and calculate each floor including ramps, and then the numbers started working. One thing I realized midweek is that the thing that really bogs my work down is the little incorrect details. I see one thing wrong in the plan, correct that, and see other little things wrong, and spend awhile trying to figure out why its wrong or why a certain wall won’t match another. Way too much time. I need to find a method of getting my work done on time, without sacraficing the quality of the end result. Maybe it doesn’t have to be 100% the way there for the stage we’re at. Maybe we can hold at 80 or 90%. Its probably a learning curve thing too. I’m decent at Autocad, but I’m not really good, fast, or intimate with it, so that’s another thing.

The first day I started, I was surprised to see that there were three OTHER new people starting work with me. One of them was an intern from ASU, like I was between my third and fourth years, one of them was like me, a recent graduate form out of state, and the other was a guy from one of my studios last year, who graduated with me. So that was a bit of a surprise. For the size of the firm, there’s been a lot of new hires since I’ve been associated with them. There’s a lot of work to be done.

Tuesday, the HR guy came by and gave me a performance review questionaire. My second day on the job, and I was being lined up for a performance review. As illogical as it seems, I realized that I’d technically been with the firm for about a year now, including my summer internship, my time in Buenos Aires and working a few hours a week last semester.

But nothing struck home that I was now a regular employee until I received a black wire in basket, a black swingline stapler, a black tape dispenser, black scissors, and a black wire mesh pencil holder.

I worked a lot this week for this client meeting. In total, I put in over 50 hours of work. Staying late, coming in early, coming back to work after dinner, that kind of thing. Good thing I live close. Actually, almost every day I’ve walked to work, and sometimes back home for lunch too. It’s less than a ten minute walk from where I live. We got it all done, nicely, correct, and printed out, with only some minor crises. Actually the whole thing went pretty smoothly due to the experience of the people in my team, and I left at 10:30 AM Friday after the architects left for the meeting. I used the rest of the day to relax, do laundry, and studiocleaning. Since quarters are so hard to come by, I’ve started drying my laundry outside on a line. Works pretty well.

Saturday morning, I drove to a co-worker’s house and we and some of his friends drove up to do some salt river tubing. Salt river tubing is essentially floating down the salt river, more like a creek, on tubes for a few hours while drinking beer. There are hundreds of people out there. As this was my second time, I thought I was pretty well prepared. I brought a lot of extra water, hat, sunglasses, I wore a shirt, and used a lot of sunscreen, but for some reason, I neglected my legs. At any rate, after floating down the river for a few hours, the front and inside of my legs were badly badly burned from my ankles to midthigh. Not blistering, but close to a second degree burn. It hurts like hell. My skin is bright red, it hurts to walk, and its so sensitive that it stings a bit when the wind breezes over it.

After I got back home, Saori took me out and we drove to a friend of hers for dinner who happens to be an ER nurse. She’s Japanese too, and has been like a big sister or aunt for Saori while she’s been here. Anyway, it was a very nice evening, she made us dinner, and her neighbor gave us a tour of the milky way with his big telescope. I was wiped out by the end of the day. Saori’s friend gave me some aloe gel and moisturizing lotion to help with the burn, and this morning I went out and picked up some of my own. It’s going to be a few nights of sleeping on my back.