me writing anything on here has been rare for the last year. it was a very difficult year in many ways. for the most part things seem to be getting better. a few of the difficulties still persist but even those seem to be improving.

for those of you that don't know. i started dating a guy that i meet at a new years eve party and now i have a boyfriend. justin is a great guy, shy, sweet, and very attractive. he teaches chorus and drama at a high school outside of dc. 
he makes me very happy.

Date:	2007-02-20 09:39
Subject:	new office
Security:	Public
Mood:	happy

these images were taken this morning of the office

Date:	2007-02-20 08:00
Subject:	good morning
Security:	Public
Mood:	happy

well, my last few posts have not been very positive so i am going to change the trend. on friday i was made associate at my firm and i got a nice raise to go along with the title. the expansion and rebuilding of our office is almost complete. i came to the office yesterday even though our office was closed to let the painters in to do the finish paint on the woodwork of the conference room walls. the glass for the walls will be installed later this week. i am making changes at home also, my new sofa and chair look great and i am now looking for a coffee table and side table, i think i have finally made up my mind on them both. the next item is going to be to have my dinning chairs refinished. with the help of childeofthesun my ncarb is straightened out and in the near future i expect to start taking the exams for my license.

since i said i was going to be positive i am not going to discuss the issues at one of my construction sites...

Date:	2007-02-09 08:22
Subject:	NCARB....
Security:	Public
Mood:	happy
Music:	futurama on dvd

christopher is great.... thanks for your help.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

last night was the annual volunteer's dinner. we had a good time, good food, and such.

now back in the office and the construction is very loud today. they have been loud for the last week, but it does not look like much has happened. at this stage there should be big visual changes from day to day... the work was supposed to be done by the 15th of this month, there is no way they can do that since they are not going to put in the carpet till monday.

i am leaving for florida on the 21st, will be with the family for almost a week. every year i dread going down there, but it usually is better then i expect so this year i am trying to stay positive about the trip.

my new sofa is supposed to be at the locale warehouse any day now, i am looking forward to getting it finally.

i got my tickets last night to go see alvin ailey in february (they are at the kennedy every february). i am excited to see them again, i have seen them the last few years, they are great. i also bought my tickets to the tutankhamen exhibit in philadelphia for that same weekend, i am going to be busy.

Date:	2006-12-11 08:09
Subject:	this is it...
Security:	Public
Mood:	hungry
Music:	indiana jones, last crusade on dvd

my new aquarium, i have had it set up for about 3 months now. the fish are doing pretty well.

( Read more... )

these are some images (behind the cut) of my office, the first two are some bad pics taken before the first phase of demo. the other images are during the demo/construction as the demising wall was taken out and rebuilt in a new place. we have two more demising walls to demo in order to open up the entire floor into one large office.

( Read more... )

it is monday morning again and i am at the office as usual. had a pretty good weekend, even though i ended up working most of it. i had to do some shopping. last night went to a birthday party for a good friend. i got to see a lot of people i have not seen in a while. it is always great fun with that group of guys, they are always a lot of fun. hope all have a good week.

Date:	2006-08-22 16:40
Subject:	life as it is
Security:	Public
Mood:	happy
Music:	sting brand new day

work has been going faster than ever. a few weeks ago i decided that i was only going to work the normal 8 hour days and no more weekends. it actually lasted almost two weeks. but the big problem was how far behind i got by not working 10-11 hour days and weekends. then i took two days off last week and i have so much to catch up on now... i have two project now under construction and a third is going to start in about 2 weeks. the one about to start is going to completely mess things up though, to start that construction means that my office and desk will be demolished. we are expanding our office space and it means that we have to move the lawyer's office that is next to us to the end of the hall so that our offices will all be in the same space (the lawyer's office is dividing our space currently. i still have to finish the design of the reception desk.

a few weeks ago i took two days off work (the first vacation days i have taken so far this year). joe and i flew to florida for a long weekend. my nephew, sam, turned four so we all went to my parent's to celebrate his birthday. it was fun, he is at a good age, still a little kid but old enough to understand what is going on.

if you have not seen little miss sunshine.... i recommend you go. it is a good movie. the perfect dysfunctional family. it was a good cast, fun combination of people.

i guess that is all at the moment unless you want me to go on a longer rant about work.

Date:	2006-05-13 15:16
Subject:	THE BABY
Security:	Public
Mood:	happy

thanks to everybody for the good wishes on my new nephew. hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Date:	2006-05-11 08:21
Subject:	Henry William
Security:	Public
Mood:	happy

my new nephew was born 10 may 2006, he was 9 pounds 6 ounces, 21 inches.

Date:	2006-04-23 18:53
Subject:	my weekend
Security:	Public
Mood:	happy
Music:	west wing

this has been a very good weekend. after work friday i meet joe at the lisner auditorium for a modern dance performance. i had won the tickets simply from registering for the lisner newsletter. the performance 'thresholds crossed' was billed as a fusion of east and west links between the u.s. with the former soviet union. it was pretty good except that the images being projected behind the performance tended to be more of a distraction. i often found myself watching the images and forgetting about the dancers.

saturday evening joe and i went to dinner with some friends of his at a belgian cafe on 8th street se. then we went to a party at one of my friend's place. we had a good evening and it was fun to meet joe's friends and to introduce him to my friends.

sunday we went to brunch, then to the embassy of finland to see an exhibit on wood architecture in finland. the exhibit is very nice and the embassy building is a great building. we then went to the national cathedral and he showed me around. i had never been up to the upper levels of the west-works.

joe is a very nice guy and he is so sweet, kind, intelligent.... it has been great getting to know him and spending time with him the last few weeks.

Date:	2006-04-20 09:18
Subject:	what you you seen people doing while driving?
Security:	Public
Mood:	content
Music:	the hiss of air from the a/c vents

there are a number of things that you should do while driving, this post is not about those...

there is the popular cell phone usage while driving, eating, drinking, etc. but it gets much worse. i have seen some odd things people do while driving:

recently i saw a guy driving at night with the interior light on so he could read the newspaper.

a friend once confessed to me that he liked to drive long distances while wearing women's underwear... and nothing else.

reply with the strange things you have seen (or done) while driving.

Date:	2006-04-11 08:00
Subject:	princeton
Security:	Public
Mood:	happy
Music:	lena horn sinnerman - extended version

saturday morning my friend mark drove us up to princeton university. he is an alumni and also teaches a class there. he had been asked to speak at an event/dinner for prospective graduate students to the university. the meeting and dinner were held in the new molecular lab building. it was a nice building, the large curving glass walled space has a free standing conference room that was designed by frank gehry. this is from his horse head period... don't laugh, i am serious. he has designed several horse head conference rooms. the one in berlin is copper clad if i remember correctly, there is another one in glass, and this one is lead.

there are a number of good, recently built modern buildings on campus mixed in with the neo-gothic. there are even a few neo-roman buildings. a mix of styles that is always nice on a good college campus. but a grouping of new buildings is a bit disturbing... i think they are supposed to be student residences. these buildings are designed in yet another revival of the neo-gothic style (a revival of its own). they are building in this neo-gothic style at the same time as a new building by frank gehry (curving metal and glass) is under construction just a few hundred feet away. i find it funny that in between these two buildings is gordan wu hall. this was designed by robert venturi, famous for his post modern designs. he likes to take very traditional elements from buildings and reduce them to very simple elements, sometimes to just a silhouette of the element.

Date:	2006-04-06 06:44
Subject:	where i am at this point....
Security:	Public
Mood:	content

i had not posted much since my recent "return". not as much because of how busy i am or not wanting to post as much as just not knowing what to say. i was not wanting to write in detail about my day to day activities. i expect most people would find the day to day work of an architect as boring as the next person's job. i rarely find my job boring though, so lets see what you think. yesterday i started my day at the office by cleaning off my desk. i had spent most of the day before preparing for a meeting with a client to pick finish materials for a project (we hope to start construction soon). i filed papers, sorted cut sheets on various light fixtures, toilets, etc. after finishing that i had to review some drawings for the renovation of a small apartment building. i then had to send these to the company that prints our large format drawings. i then had to call an engineer that is famous for not answering his phone or returning messages. i did not want to talk to him, but i had to call anyway. so when he answered the phone i was rather disappointed, mean while my boss and coworker was laughing at me because i had to actually talk to him. then it was back to finishes for the condo. we had chosen a carpet for the lobbies and stairs only to find out that the line had been discontinued, so back to square one. the second choice is scheduled to be discontinued in june, since it will be at least the beginning of the year before we would need it... back to the search.

saturday morning i am heading up to princeton university. a friend of mine that teaches there and at maryland university has invited me to attend a meeting and dinner in a building designed by frank gehry. then i will take the train back sunday afternoon. so that should be interesting.

i have been chatting with a guy and we are going to meet for dinner on sunday night, that should be a good evening.

but till then, back to looking at carpets, toilets, and door knobs.

i hope everyone is having a good week.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A GREAT GUY

bigfundrew

Date:	2006-03-27 11:54
Subject:	good morning sunshine....
Security:	Public
Mood:	annoyed

not a very event full weekend. worked most of it... yes, i am still trying to get this one project finished. with my boss's blessings i completely blew off the deadline this past wednesday. when i told the client we would not be providing them with anything until this week my boss, who was listening in on the call, said i should have told them next week.... i wish she had said that before i spoke to the client.

friday night i went to titan. had not been there in some time. had fun, ended up having dinner with some friends.

i had a good time at the cabin the previous weekend. even though i ended up working part of the time it was great to spend time with everybody. our trip to West Virginia was even good, and the best part uneventful. i was surprised that we were able to convince huggybeardc to get out of the car to take the pictures of the fresh fire church...

okay, i think i get the point, i do not post enough, i am not well behaved, and i am not believed.... at least somebody was glad that i posted again....

i was nudged by.... you know who you are! i will try to post more soon.