renaissanceCOBALT

I may be setting myself up for more disappointment, but tonight I finally got started on deviantART.com.  For the first time I drew something other then the source imagery I was looking at.  Not my finest work, but it's a start.

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I have always admired and looked up to honest and true leadership.  Perhaps, as of tonight, we may have it for the first time in my lifetime.  I'm hopeful that you President Elect Barack Obama can do the kinds of things that I had nearly given up on in our leadership.

That's all I need.  Over the past few weeks (months?) I've just been more and more pressed for time.  Too many ideas to explore, projects to start, and just so little time.  Hasn't helped that work has leaned more to the technical and management side of the architecture world then I'de like.

Finished: Address signage.  Thanks to our friends over at 100watt, we got a good deal on these lit address numbers.  Quite simply, we have the coolest address on the block.  Now if only the exterior of the house matched...

Finished: "Master" Vanity, also known as Ikea Hacked.  Happy with the Lack shelving system we have been using for a tv stand for about a year now, Wendy and I designed our bathroom vanity based on the same line of furniture.  After some lucky finds at our local Ikea, we ripped a tv stand down the middle, mounted it and a standard shelving unit to the wall and wal-la, we can finally brush our teeth somewhere other then the bathtub.  Next step: find a mirror and a light.

The inspector comes tomorrow and the work will be finaled, I hope.  The long, tedious, yet rewarding chapter will be over.  We are finally home, ready to tackle the little projects of homeownership, and ready to start a new and exciting life here in Daly City.

100% CDs for Sanchez were submitted yesterday.  It's a huge relief to have this off of my shoulders for the time being.  Now back to the design projects that I had to put off for the last few weeks.  Berith, Canaan, Living word, Strong Tower: I'm back.

I know you said not to worry.  But we are.  Be careful Mom, Joe, Grandpa, and everyone else in Ike's path.  

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One of our projects was featured in the Chronicle Magazine over the weekend.  A lot of credit goes to Joe, who was the lead design/manager of the project, to Eugene for letting it run it's course, and to Pat Barker who really had the vision to see it through.  I'm proud to have played even a minor part in it's realization.

The writer has hinted at possible Dwell potential and is eyeing our Berith project for future articles as well.  Here's hoping.

Check out the full article and more pictures (some of them look chopped off, will have to scan better ones in when I find my scanner) at SFGATE.COM.  Photo by Marion Brenner.

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Last week I gained another year.  I am now twenty-seven.  I am the same I age my father was when I was born.  I'm approaching two years of marriage and almost 6 years in a relationship.  By this time next year I will have been a home owner for over a year.  A father for more then six months.

I'm not an architect yet, haven't even started taking tests.  Haven't started IDP for that matter.  I'll get there though, still on track for 2010.   Hopefully, by then, I'll know enough start being an architect, not just wear the title.

A lot has transpired this year.  Work has been up and down, periods of steady growth and shared vision mired by the occasional disagreement or someone not working out.  Two steps forward, one step back.  That said, I have been managing projects more or less successfully, several of which are going to be under construction soon.  I have attempted to be the rock at the heart of growth and the stability when things go awry.  Time will only tell if I have been successful.

We bought our house.  A most amazing and wonderful event.  To finally have a place to call our own.  To make into a home where we can grow together and grow our family.  Though stressful and full of both discouragement and hope, we have transformed the typical into the special.  It is a place where we really can bring a new life into this world come February.  This place is ours, and it will be his or hers.

The family has gained and it has lost.  Grandpa passed in July.  It is hard to believe he is gone, but in his passing I think everyone is a little bit closer.  He would have liked that.  Though I don't think he ever got to meet them, we have added two cousins to the family, one by birth, one by marriage.  Next year's reunion should be the biggest yet.

A lot has been done.  Even more is still unfinished.  Lists won't go away, but if I can just keep crossing items off then 27 will be a good year.  

I've only wore a tie a dozen times in my life.  Once willingly (for my brother's wedding).  And only twice by choice (the first time was at my wedding).

Granted, my initial reason this second time around was to prove to Wendy that I could.  You see, I had never successfully tied a tie either.  So, as Wendy got ready for work, I did a little searching online, found some helpful diagrams, and did a passing good job if I say so myself.  She was suitably impressed, I felt pretty good about myself, and knew I would fit in at the fancy restaurant we were going out to.

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As the day went on, I realized there was more significance to the tie.  It was one of the ties I brought back from my Grandfather's funeral earlier this summer.  All day little snippets of time spent with him came to mind.  The crossword puzzles he always worked on in the morning.  The jokes he would always tell at our family reunions.  How he made fun of me and Wendy because he never saw us not holding hands that trip to D.C.  I realized that, in that little piece of fabric, as well as my heart and my memories, Grandpa will live on.  It makes me feel a little better about tying a rope around my neck every now and then knowing that he is there with me in spirit.

The building process is usually organic.   Ours certainly has been.  But none of those changes are nearly as big as this:

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I guess come spring I'm going to have to start paying better attention to posts like this, and this, and this.  I still owe my future self an update, just wanted to share this little tidbit now that I'm able to.