10__I made chocolate chip belgian waffles

They were delicious. Thank you goodwill for the 2.99 waffle iron. The perfect place to get all the random kitchen gadgets you wouldn't otherwise buy for the cost of 1.

This ridiculously fugly cookie jar agrees, if you've got 3 dollars to spend - the possibilities are endless. He's holding Nicole's christmas gifts, but she doesn't know it yet. We're exchanging them later today. Can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees this guy. It's huge too! Like over a foot tall. Clearly the best hiding place ever.



There's a food blog post coming shortly. Consider this one your appetizer.

09__A green development open house

Working for Windermere real estate, Jesse brought up an open house in my neighborhood that perked my interest. It's a green townhouse development - 8 homes sharing a site that typically would house 3 single family detached homes. Already there's expectations of a densely packed condo feel that I'm expecting to dread. No one wants to live in a condo, they do because it's what they can afford to buy or they love the amenities or some such yuppy reason. The biggest drawback to a set of condos - especially those in a charming neighborhood in the city - is that it removes you from any street level interaction reducing your feelings of belonging to your community. It's no longer your home, it's your building, where I live with 50 of my closest strangers.

When I sublet from the apartment tower near Thomas Circle last year, it was shocking how removed the residents were from one another. It was like a business relationship - you don't live on my floor, I don't know you and I don't care to. You see the same people in the elevator or walking down the halls, but there's an overwhelming sense of anonymity to this labyrinth of hallways & rooms. These people just want to left alone.

Thankfully this development was different. It's 8 townhomes each have a separate entrance from the street level. The design accommodates this by winding a pathway of reclaimed bricks (the "urban canyon" as they call it) through the center like a narrow courtyard. All 8 of the entrances pull off this path, rather than some on the street side and others in the center. This reunites the separate units by giving them their own quiet neighborhood block just steps away from the busy streets of capitol hill.



As for the interiors they feature open floorplans, the latest eco-friendly appliances and heating and cooling systems, greywater recycling, radiant heated floors, and even compressed paper and cashew resin countertops! CASHEW RESIN?





The staging was impressive, they used modern furniture often created through another eco-friendly process, like tabletops made from reclaimed beams of demolition sites. And I was very intrigued by the bathroom vanity:



It's all plywood and cherry veneer! It's not even edge-banded. Not too different from the amateur work I'm actively doing. It is striking & I love that the handles are incorporated into the doors, but I couldn't help thinking how inexpensive the materials were in respect to the enormous pricetag these homes are asking. Then later when I read up on the paper & nut resin countertops in the eco-construction book my sister gave me, I learned that it's the cheapest method available, rivaling that of traditional laminate counters.



So while I was impressed with the overall experience, I was disheartened by the feeling that although the technology is becoming more widely accessible and affordable, developers are finding ways to profit in even bigger ways off eco-friendly construction due to its novelty.

As I would love to live in a home like this, a $660K pricetag (200K more than a comparably sized home in the area) will keep me on this side of the fence for now. On the outside, looking in.

08__The hours that don't count

When trying something new, there's bound to be setbacks. These moments challenge you to stop, rethink, and modify your approach - simultaneously rejecting your (now) incorrect assumptions while adapting to get the end result.

I like problem solving. When you get there, it's worth it. But it's the hours of uncertainty (when it just might fail) that get overlooked.

Today this happened twice.

Problem 1
-------------------------------------
A scanner purchased for $3.99 (and you thought this was important! HA!) from Goodwill turns on but jams as it scans. I admit that I know not one thing about how one of these works, but it's the transparency of the surface that lured me in. "What do you mean it's stuck, you can see the parts turning!"



Notice the handyman's trusted assistant, Mr. Blue Ribbon.



So inside there's motors and plastic gears and rubber bands and circuitry. Many times I paused, thinking you don't have a clue what these are, why are you doing this? Maybe it was that I just paid for a broken scanner and was determined to redeem said questionable judgment, or maybe that I saw tiny screws all over the place and thought that you know how those work - give it a shot. So carefully, I removed one piece at a time, testing after each, and 9 out of 10 times it failed. An hour later, thinking then that it was even more busted than when I started, I had removed and replaced all the moving parts - and who knows why - but it works.

I got so giddy, I scanned my mousepad.



Thank you, Goodwill for the chance to test my total lack of electronical knowledge and succeed where I should have failed. And now for the irony...

Problem 2
-------------------------------------
A recently purchased circular saw $49.99 (significantly more substantial) was supposed to save me time in the dresser project I have in construction. I read the manual, it shows me a pitifully vague diagram that says loosen the lever to adjust the depth of cut. Keep in mind that now we're in my area of expertise. I deal with these parts all the time, should take seconds, right?

But the lever is stuck. There's a bolt with threading that I think I have to adjust. It's entrenched in a crevice of the machine. I try for two hours to loosen a piece I can't reach. Somehow it's the one size wrench I don't have. This is beyond frustrating. I use clamps to try and just jam the lever down.

I get so fed up and annoyed at this new purchase that I decide it's not worth it and it's going back. That's when I realize the lever goes up. It goes up. I spent hours jamming this thing down, and it goes up. The scanner made me feel smart and the saw made me feel stupid.

I should join the Geek Squad. I'll need thicker glasses... with tape.

07__When something you thought was finished surprises you...

Just this week two projects that I had wrapped up on my end months ago have surprised me with how well they're turning out.

In architecture news, we've just submitted a revision set for the roof deck of my old neighbor's house in DC. When this project is completed in the coming months it will be the strongest testimonial I have to date towards my own design aesthetic. The Deckers were ideal clients, allowing me to approach the project with a blank slate, developing ideas together, and respecting my knowledge in the trade. Six months later the construction will soon begin. Check out a preliminary design rendering!



My last week in DC I spent many many hours building a set of bookshelves to wrap around the ceiling of John's room. It was really challenging to form fit them to walls that weren't so square (they were too hip to be square) but the finished product looked pretty good. Here's a photo of when I was done with them:



I just saw the photos of them painted, and wow - I'm impressed. John put a geometric pattern that is quirky and yet totally fitting for a room already featuring a Dr. Seuss pole. Check out these images, it came a long way.







Updates to follow soon with photos of the workshop I've recently finished setting up in the basement - plus the most involved project I've built to date (as far as the joints go) should be finished this week. Our apartment will have furniture soon!

06__Flash mobs = instant fun + lasting memory

Remember having a pillow fight with your sibling? Or playing dodgeball in gym class? How about Halloween choreographed dance routines in hazmat suits (bye, bye!) Now take any of these already fond memories and bring hundred of people who've never met together.

What you get is spontaneous entertainment. The anticipation builds - everyone is still strangers at the onset. Then in a moment, the crowd breaks down all individual boundaries of space and anonymity to provide 5 minutes of absurd fun that you can't believe you just witnessed. The crowds are controlled - since partaking in these activities outside of the flash mob would probably be deemed a newsworthy assault. "Man attacked by pillow fighting gang! Victim said to be in stable but embarrassed condition."

Last March, on a visit to the city during West Coast road trip 2008, there were rumors swirling that such a mob was assembling. It was happening at 3:15 at the Pike Marketplace. Emails had been traded and forwarded to friends and friends, bringing hundreds to the tourist center of town. Included in the mission was to keep your pillow discretely stashed away until the signal. There was a suspicious attitude on the faces of everyone involved. Does he have a pillow in the shopping bag? Is that guy hiding one under his shirt, or is he just oddly rotund? The heavy cop presence certainly makes me think something is about to happen - but how did they hear about it? It is supposed to be a mob, who's the snitch?

Then 3:15 comes. Everyone is still. They look at one another, wondering if this event was just hype - as there are no pillows to be seen. At the strike of the next minute a yell silences the chatter of the crowd. Everyone opens their bags & backpacks screaming. Unknowing tourists are petrified, scurrying from the pack.



The next 3 minutes flash by, but the memory is priceless.

Seattle has an affinity for these trivial pursuits. Regularly, crowds of 100 or more gather on the tennis courts of Capitol Hill to play 50 on 50 dodgeball. The intensity will amaze you, expect high competition and even taunting in the quest to gain the superiority these "ballers" wish they had in middle school.



Then just today - as advertised in the local paper - a group organized to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Thriller. This decked out group of over 100 zombies in full costume and face paint performed in Pioneer Square as part of a global effort of simultaneous reenactments to achieve a Guinness world record. For what, I'm unsure. Most people reenacting Thriller at once? Surely stiff competition for that title. We can't just let the inmates at CPDRC have this one?? Regardless, here's all that face paint in action.



At the end of it all we may still be strangers, but united with a passion...

for silliness.

05__Our Town... I f***ing love that play!

In the ever-so-poetic words of one of my architecture school colleagues, here's some photos of our place. We'll start with my favorite part: the view!! Capitol Hill is to the right of the picture
and Downtown is just beyond the tree line. At the top of the block, you can see the entire skyline.



Here's another glance before the sunset:



Moving inside, our apartment is the top floor of a house. Not one room like before. Take a look at where all our stuff was supposed to fit... at 9' x 10'. Also eye those hardwood floors I helped put in.



We really did luck out with the location of our new apartment. It's an easy drive that takes less than 10 minutes door-to-door for me in the early mornings, at a whopping 3 miles. Even better it's a block away from one of the only bus lines that does not force you to go downtown to get anywhere. Nicole can easily bus to work in less than a half hour - incredible for public transit.

An additional benefit is we're only 10 blocks from the nightlife center of town. The central district doesn't boast an impressive list of amenities within (it's all residences) but the proximity to everything else is perfect. Plus there's a moment when you cross 18th Ave when you're at the crest of the hill. In one direction you see the Seattle skyline, then turn around and to view a gorgeous mountain range. It's quite surreal.

So for the interior of the apartment, there's the kitchen (with skylights)



Plus hardwood floors and tile countertops, which I'd never really considered before but love the look of.



Move to the other side of the stairway and you'll see the living room. These two spaces are relatively open to each other, with half walls between them and the stairs. Check out the coat rack I finished today (in the foreground).



Then to the left of the photo above is the bedroom. We recently found an incredible fabric shop in Capitol Hill. It's inspired me to reupholster chairs for our dining set as well as fabricate an inexpensive and alluring wall covering.



It's hard to see in this image, but it is back lit (with my usual x-mas lights of course - the $2 lighting solution) - providing an ambient glow to relax by. Now if we could finally clean the place up a bit... In time?

Come visit! A nice couch is waiting for you.

04__Ready, set... race! (conference)

It's an annual event featuring lectures and workshops, and might be one of the only places where such a discussion of awful stereotypes and perceptions is confronted so openly.

So much excitement filled the air the night before the race conference. This could have been the group that was together rather than a city-wide feeling (hmm? A dozen Americorp folks who work everyday to promote equality.) For this group, it may draw comparisons to something like the Superbowl. There's the keynote speaker/QB, whose performance everyone has been awing all season. You'll find discussion panels resembling offensive lines and workshop coordinators giving halftime speeches to rally the team for the second half (in this case: the future).

The only problem in this analogy is that everyone involved is playing for the same team. That everyone who would attend the race conference already supports equality among all groups and those who would benefit from such a candid conversation about race in a PC world would never show up, unless forced to attend as part of a job training exercise - more about this later.

One of the workshops asked us to rank as a percentage "how far we've come in promoting equal rights in the US?" We listed basic rights, then the groups who could exercise those freedoms and when they were granted. Obviously the last 40 years have rapidly improved, "but are we there yet?" was the follow-up question. A diverse group in a progressive city (such as Seattle) came to a consensus that we're 20% of the way there. The rights exist, but mostly on paper rather than in practice... and the list of examples where these are still restricted is abundant.

Now shift the conference to a city deeply rooted in the South. Change the dynamic of the audience to a work training session and one without any minorities in attendance. Their answer to the same question most often is 90 to 100%. How can we confront the problem when those who practice racism most think we've solved it?

Obviously it's a tough issue to deal with, but one where awareness is the first way to help. And for those of you who couldn't care one bit about sports analogies, here's your halftime show:



This is what happens when your conference is set in the tourist mecca of the city... you can see one of the blue legs of the space needle in the background of the photo. So this guy can juggle fire - big deal - what else can he do?



He can balance a unicycle on his chin! Now, I'm impressed. Follow this up with a Disneyworld monorail experience (which I did ride part of the way home) and Seattle Center really does have it all. If it all is a trashy theme park.

03__Steve the architect / baker?

A new calling? I doubt it. Within the first week of being in town, I realized that with a job market the way it's been going the past few months - I can't count on securing a job in architecture anytime soon. This doesn't mean that I wouldn't consider working for a firm again, just that when you only find one post a month for an opening you need to find other means.

I work 5 days a week at the Columbia City Bakery - recognized as one of the best places in town for breads, pastries, and coffee (which says a lot in a city which loves its coffee)



Honestly, I find the change in scenery from a cubical to behind the coffee bar to be really refreshing. I spend my mornings (starting at 6 am! can you believe that i could do this) greeting customers, talking about life - hobbies - sports - vacations, then get them their espresso and pastries. Aside from standing on your feet all day, this is an ideal way to make a living.

The staff are awesome, they're all in their 20s and 30s - and great company for the shifts. Seeing everyone putting so much work into these delicious foods makes me a bit jealous that I don't know how they do it. The bread is incredible! Plus ham and gruyere croissants & a different quiche everyday! If there were ever a ploy for me to gain some weight - this is it.



Today I learned how to make a dry cappuccino. Just espresso and milk foam. Much harder to achieve than it sounds. I am anxiously awaiting the chance in life to bring these skills to the coffeehouse/furniture shop that features all my own work. A neighborhood hub where you can buy the furniture you sit on, designed by the owner himself. This may very well be my life's ambition. If there's anything I have learned from the experience so far... it's that coffee brings people together.

Another exciting feature of this job, is how many regulars I've gotten to know in only a couple weeks. Just a few days ago I met a local glass-blowing gallery owner who told me that she's looking for a local craftsman to build the platforms for her displays. After talking it over, it may be one of my first projects out here! The bakery should be a great way to promote my own work in the coming months.

02__Ultra-Mod Pod Party

Thanks to everyone who came out to the going away party. It was so good to have a last hurray with full contact games and even a bonus room.

That fine specimen of a moving pod, decorated industrial-minimalist, served a perfect escape from the rain and intimate seating for 10.

By the morning of the move, it looked more like this...



The rest of the night was a blur. Ask Andy how the night ended - if you think it'd be cute to know we shared a bed unintentionally (or subconsciously who knows?) The friendly owner at Tenley wine & beer asked the next day if there were good stories from the party. What do you say to that? "Woke up with someone in my bed and have bruises from wrestling for pong balls, but your keg was delicious!"

01__Welcome!

Lots of things are changing, the surroundings are new (again), career aspirations are in flux, and you may be wondering: "what's up in their lives?"

To anyone that wants a little insight into our days here in Seattle, I give you this blog.

I'll do my best to update about once a week. I see it as an exciting way to show off the projects I'm working on and to give a bit of news to family and friends. Enjoy!