(click to enlarge)
The secret to our lasting,
never regret, by name, the one gorgeous exception - a room
ends up being the same for us, we realized
and suddenly, and more
with the words you choose
each, they are dear indeed.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
HANDI DANDI WASH 'N' DRi
Very fast yet focused weekdays have caused the value of weekends to skyrocket. Weekends are worth their time in gold. I met Elio for a late breakfast and we sat against one side of an octagon shaped Denny's in Chula Vista (excellent breakfast: omelette, sausage, bacon, hash browns and 3 pancakes, for $6.99). I parked outside of the Wash N Dri. It looks like a fun place to do laundry! I loved the drive to Chula Vista. I am constantly filming scenery, making clips in my mind, with every drive, bike and stroll. This has been a busy day with morning mountain climbing, intermittent painting of boxes and finally using up gift cards that I've accumulated after 2 years (Crate and Barrel, Borders, Ikea). I waffled all over Borders trying to decide between a book on metaphysics, Spanish in the car, design magazines, or one of Jeanette Winterson's latest novels, Lighthousekeeping. Jeanette won out because Elio always has a book with him and I like that idea, because I'm in the mood to support a fellow woman artist, and because I hardly ever read fiction. Amongst my other purchases is an extensively adjustable task light from Ikea. It is the Kama Sutra of lights! Any position! I've endured the single-source, ceiling-mounted, nothing-special-dining-room light for too long. It makes me feel like nothing because the same generic light is cast on me, the table, the walls, everything. My new light is like a familiar smell, bringing back memories of every late night idea, all-nighter in studio, every favorite pencil or x-acto knife I've ever held in my hand. The light is a switch for turning on creative space, illuminating only what's before me and graying all the rest into nothing.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
My first encounter with OSHPD (pronounced Awsh Pawd)
Office of Statewide Health and Development. At 7:30am this morning I was picking up my first completed set of drawings and drove to La Jolla w/my boss for an OSHPD plan review. I'd imagined the OSHPD folks to be more institutional looking: stern-faced, with ample pocket protection, white shirts and navy blue ties. Instead, they were friendly, in polo shirts and printed hawaiian short-sleeves, no ominous office supplies just a red pen and the approval stamp. My boss said it was a very good plan review and thought I did pretty good for my first time out. In other news, my building codes teacher gave me 22.17 out of 22.5 on my homework for a final score of 99%. I don't think I've ever had a teacher withhold .33 points before and it makes me like this teacher even more.
After a long day of 8hrs of work and 2hrs of class I couldn't face another lean cuisine at my laptop so I headed to Betty's for a bowl of their sopa de tortilla con pollo y una cerveza and took a seat at the bar because the restaurant was full. Baja Betty's is the local gay bar/restaurant but apparently it isn't gay enough because 15 min. into dinner a half-drunken straight guy sat down next to me, first assured me he was not trying to pick me up, then attempted to buy me a shot of tequila, asked if I have a girlfriend and asked if I'd like to meet him out some time, then asked me 3 more times if I want some Tequila and then joked about being a violent drunk. I'd have left sooner but the server was taking forever to run my card. I guess I'll be sticking to frozen dinners and the unlimited friendship of my computer from now on.
After a long day of 8hrs of work and 2hrs of class I couldn't face another lean cuisine at my laptop so I headed to Betty's for a bowl of their sopa de tortilla con pollo y una cerveza and took a seat at the bar because the restaurant was full. Baja Betty's is the local gay bar/restaurant but apparently it isn't gay enough because 15 min. into dinner a half-drunken straight guy sat down next to me, first assured me he was not trying to pick me up, then attempted to buy me a shot of tequila, asked if I have a girlfriend and asked if I'd like to meet him out some time, then asked me 3 more times if I want some Tequila and then joked about being a violent drunk. I'd have left sooner but the server was taking forever to run my card. I guess I'll be sticking to frozen dinners and the unlimited friendship of my computer from now on.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Theme: Swapping
Sensationalist, traumatic, challenging - that is why Wife Swap is my favorite reality show. Everyone should do a swap at least once a year. It doesn't have to be wife swap, you could do Kid Swap, or Significant Other Swap or Grandparent Swap or Pet Swap. After the drama of being swapped everybody always learns something new and they end up fiercely appreciating what they have. Of course the candidates are set up as complete opposites, they put vegetarians and cannibals together, black and white, wealthy and not-wealthy, rural and urban, democrat and bush-lover, aethiest and christian and it's fun to watch! You really see these families in their natural habitats unlike other reality shows where the whole plot plays out in a malibu mansion.
On a more serious note...my project this week is upgrading a bariatric procedure room and swapping out the current gypsum board walls with lead lined walls and a lead lined door assembly so a brand new GE fluouroscopic X-Ray can be installed and used in the room.
*deep inhale* I just love that new X-Ray machine smell! All of the walls have to be torn out and new special lead-lined gyp board has to be used. I'm going to see if I can order extra and redo my bedroom as a fallout room.
On a more serious note...my project this week is upgrading a bariatric procedure room and swapping out the current gypsum board walls with lead lined walls and a lead lined door assembly so a brand new GE fluouroscopic X-Ray can be installed and used in the room.
*deep inhale* I just love that new X-Ray machine smell! All of the walls have to be torn out and new special lead-lined gyp board has to be used. I'm going to see if I can order extra and redo my bedroom as a fallout room.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Notes on Southern California
(oranges on the patio at Greg and Joan's)
1. Never drive to L.A. on a Friday after work.
2. For naughty architectural indulgement head to Palm Springs.
The entire stretch of highway between San Diego and Los Angeles was stop and go. By the 4th hour (of what should have been a 2.5 hr drive by normal standards) I was talking to myself and making crazy lady gestures to no one. I might have been chittering too but I think I was just rolling "r's. By the time I made it north of L.A. to Camarillo, the site of M's mom and two boxes of leftover chinese food almost caused me to either cry or laugh hysterically. That was good leftover chinese! Saturday morning we all ate at a french breakfast cafe, where I consumed a croissant that probably had 3lbs. of butter baked into it. Greg gave me a sample of his new slow-smoked and slow-braised ribs and they were amazing. He had about 6 racks of ribs cooked and packed for the day's business at the Hi Cees BBQ Cafe. I suggested I take them all for the road and he thought I was kidding. Ribless, I headed for Palm Springs and once I got there the exhilirating rush of modernism washed over me. The mid-century furniture show was so-so but I did stop in a gallery on Palm Canyon and saw the first U.S. exhibit of an Australian couple's work Korban/Flaubert and it was amazing. They do very elegant industrially driven pieces of sculpture. The link I've included here shows a picture of a woman in a swimsuit reclining on a metal tube with a dent in it. After seeing that piece in person, I wouldn't recommend that use for it.
The simplicity and beauty of the Palm Springs style of modern architecture is going to stay with me as a fat footnote to my Next Generation Nursing Home Project. The NextGen Nursing Home has been a slow-growth idea that's now going through a phase-change. Part of the reason I took my current job is due to the very specialized and niche nature of health care design and remodeling. The State of CA has a strict regulatory agency that oversees every inch of carpet and drywall that gets moved or built in health care. I'm learning a lot from my boss in 3 weeks about the bureaucratic processes of getting heatlhcare design done. Yes, I bleed modern and drool over beautiful residential structures but I can learn that anywhere. My boss doesn't even have to do any marketing because her field of design is so specific.
But back to the Next-Gen Nursing Home. My first job while still in high school was working at a nursing home in Woodbury, MN in the food dept. I pushed a food cart around and scooped out questionably edible mash in perfectly rounded mounds. The place was even considered to be a fairly NICE nursing home and it had a 2 year waiting list. Most of the CNAs were barely out of high school and didn't care a great deal about who they were taking care of. I was in that nursing home because my great aunt was put there by her husband and I couldn't bear the though of her being there alone. I worked there for 4 years and after high school I continued to commute back on weekends while I attending college in Wisconsin. When my great aunt passed away it was in the middle of the night due to a fall on the bathroom floor. Ultimately, I believe it was negligence due to the staff and by design of the place. Nursing homes need a complete overhaul and infusion of innovation. The staffing model needs an innovation in who is hired, how they're vetted, how they are trained and what they are compensated. The design needs to be patient-centered as much as it is provider-centered and innovative uses of technology is not even on the radar in nursing home design. For example, there's a university research group on the east coast that's developing embedded sensors that can detect that an elderly person has fallen and alert caregivers, I could go on for another three pages but I'll probably be putting together a plan and prospectus that will go on for 300 pages. Currently, I'm looking for advisors, researchers, administrators, engineers, designers, thinkers that would be interested in collaborating electronically for now on this project. I intend to get my Architect's license in the state of California within 3 years and then put together actual plans, acquire the land and attract the funding for such an endeavor. Ultimately I'd like to create a model that would be adopted by others. My most important supporter, Malinda, is on board and I truly believe that we will make this happen.
2. For naughty architectural indulgement head to Palm Springs.
The entire stretch of highway between San Diego and Los Angeles was stop and go. By the 4th hour (of what should have been a 2.5 hr drive by normal standards) I was talking to myself and making crazy lady gestures to no one. I might have been chittering too but I think I was just rolling "r's. By the time I made it north of L.A. to Camarillo, the site of M's mom and two boxes of leftover chinese food almost caused me to either cry or laugh hysterically. That was good leftover chinese! Saturday morning we all ate at a french breakfast cafe, where I consumed a croissant that probably had 3lbs. of butter baked into it. Greg gave me a sample of his new slow-smoked and slow-braised ribs and they were amazing. He had about 6 racks of ribs cooked and packed for the day's business at the Hi Cees BBQ Cafe. I suggested I take them all for the road and he thought I was kidding. Ribless, I headed for Palm Springs and once I got there the exhilirating rush of modernism washed over me. The mid-century furniture show was so-so but I did stop in a gallery on Palm Canyon and saw the first U.S. exhibit of an Australian couple's work Korban/Flaubert and it was amazing. They do very elegant industrially driven pieces of sculpture. The link I've included here shows a picture of a woman in a swimsuit reclining on a metal tube with a dent in it. After seeing that piece in person, I wouldn't recommend that use for it.
The simplicity and beauty of the Palm Springs style of modern architecture is going to stay with me as a fat footnote to my Next Generation Nursing Home Project. The NextGen Nursing Home has been a slow-growth idea that's now going through a phase-change. Part of the reason I took my current job is due to the very specialized and niche nature of health care design and remodeling. The State of CA has a strict regulatory agency that oversees every inch of carpet and drywall that gets moved or built in health care. I'm learning a lot from my boss in 3 weeks about the bureaucratic processes of getting heatlhcare design done. Yes, I bleed modern and drool over beautiful residential structures but I can learn that anywhere. My boss doesn't even have to do any marketing because her field of design is so specific.
But back to the Next-Gen Nursing Home. My first job while still in high school was working at a nursing home in Woodbury, MN in the food dept. I pushed a food cart around and scooped out questionably edible mash in perfectly rounded mounds. The place was even considered to be a fairly NICE nursing home and it had a 2 year waiting list. Most of the CNAs were barely out of high school and didn't care a great deal about who they were taking care of. I was in that nursing home because my great aunt was put there by her husband and I couldn't bear the though of her being there alone. I worked there for 4 years and after high school I continued to commute back on weekends while I attending college in Wisconsin. When my great aunt passed away it was in the middle of the night due to a fall on the bathroom floor. Ultimately, I believe it was negligence due to the staff and by design of the place. Nursing homes need a complete overhaul and infusion of innovation. The staffing model needs an innovation in who is hired, how they're vetted, how they are trained and what they are compensated. The design needs to be patient-centered as much as it is provider-centered and innovative uses of technology is not even on the radar in nursing home design. For example, there's a university research group on the east coast that's developing embedded sensors that can detect that an elderly person has fallen and alert caregivers, I could go on for another three pages but I'll probably be putting together a plan and prospectus that will go on for 300 pages. Currently, I'm looking for advisors, researchers, administrators, engineers, designers, thinkers that would be interested in collaborating electronically for now on this project. I intend to get my Architect's license in the state of California within 3 years and then put together actual plans, acquire the land and attract the funding for such an endeavor. Ultimately I'd like to create a model that would be adopted by others. My most important supporter, Malinda, is on board and I truly believe that we will make this happen.
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