bkroll

Garth

2007-11-13T11:39:00.000-05:00

simpsonized

2007-08-03T13:19:00.000-04:00

Ok, it seems like the thing to do....so here is me...as a simpsons character. I don't know about this.

the Practice Facility

2007-08-02T14:09:00.000-04:00

About a 2 weeks ago I had the pleasure of traveling to Cleveland Ohio to visit the Cleveland Clinic Courts. This was the first project in which I had a major design role throughout the whole process. I have to say...it is a pretty amazing feeling to walk through a building with which you have become real familiar, only on paper and computer screens. To see it in built, tangible form and to move through its spaces is to experience (hopefully) everything you've romanticized in your head during the design process. There is more I would like to say about this but I am out of time. So I will leave you with a few images. I hope you enjoy.

[kree-ey-tiv]

2007-06-28T14:36:00.000-04:00

The previous two posts by Studio109 prompt this post. The writings, especially the latest, reminded me of how I have been feeling for the past couple of weeks. This may or may not be exactly what was being discussed; however, it is in my mind a very related conversation.
I feel that a lot of people misuse, or perhaps, have a lack of understanding of what the word creative or creativity means. Perhaps I do to. I do not want this post to make it sound as if I think I have a divine understanding of the creative, I don’t. Having said that, I do feel that the word is abused. For instance, I am confronted fairly often with design problems that need solutions. One of these problems recently has elicited a solution from me that I am very proud of. It is a well thought out, clean, and clear solution for the design of an office with not enough space and too much program. After presenting my solution to some coworkers I was blown away at the responses. Things were said like…
“oh, this is nice…the client will like this because it is not super creative”
or
“it is not quite as creative as some of the other similar spaces we have done, but it is nice.”
This really frustrated me. I looked up the past projects referenced and found projects with large willful curving walls, and swooping ceiling planes. While these may be more whimsical design solutions they are by no means more creative and should not be construed as such (in my opinion). I think it is very easy to place a curve here or a canted wall there, at ones will. To take a problem and submerge your mind and soul into this problem and emerge with a clean, thought out, meaningful solution that uses materials in a logical, and perhaps inventive way so that one truly solves the problem is to be creative. To draw on personal experience and intuition and then translate that into a new space that meets a set of rules and desires set forth by the client is to be creative. To create a space that people understand and love to be in, all the while making it beautiful is not only creative, its art. Perhaps I am naïve, but in my opinion the creativity of a space is not solely contained in the form, but in the process, solution, and experience. Don’t get me wrong, a creative solution my in fact have odd angles and geometry but I don’t think that that solely can be used as a criterion for judging whether a space is creative or not. I know that this seems to be relating only to architecture but I am sure you can find parallels with this in any aspect of design/art. As I now look back and read this, I fear that this post has turned into a muddled mess of rambling and that my original point has been lost in frustration. If this is true, I apologize.

vacation

2007-06-14T00:50:00.002-04:00

click here

mmmm. coffee

2007-05-31T13:07:00.000-04:00

I have posted before about my love for espresso based drinks. I have to go on the record and say, for a fact, that the best coffee in Kansas City is at the Broadway Cafe & Roastery . Granted I have not tried coffee at EVERY coffee shop in KC, but I have tried a lot and Broadway coffee is FAR and ABOVE the others. I cannot imagine another cup even coming close. I am sorry to go on about this but I will. It is not only the care taken in the roasting of the bean (done in the cafe) but also in the grind (much more important than you think) and then in the extraction of the espresso, but also in the presentation of the cup. For instance, this morning's cup:

try a cup. You won't be disappointed...I promise.

warm weather

2007-05-21T18:27:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday was a day well spent working in the yard. The previous owner was a fantastic gardener and left us a beautiful assortment of flowers that are beginning to really sing. the down side to her gardening was that the yard seemed to play second fiddle as they say. So, my next few months will be spent prepping the yard so that when this time next year rolls around we have a thick, lush yard. Hopefully.

a new look

2007-05-14T23:52:00.000-04:00

All right, now that this little site has had its "once a year face-lift" maybe I will start keeping up with this thing.
All has been well in my world. Abbey and I are very happy in our little home with our big puppy. Huxley is now a striking 47 pounds at 6 months old. It seems just a couple days ago he was only 20 pounds and just a few days before that, I could hold him in the palms of my hands.
The house renovation is still moving forward at a snails pace. There is so much to do that I feel like I cannot focus on just one thing. I feel a little bit like I have ADD. I started the back patio renovation, it is going well, about ready to start leveling the aggregate fallowed by a 2" layer of sand then the laying of the brick will begin. I really want to push on that so I can get it done but it seems other projects keep popping up that get in the way. Oh well, one day this will all be done...right???
At work I am doing a design study of a stadium for a professional football team, I am not yet allowed to disclose which team that is (office rules) A pro stadium is a difficult scale to comprehend and really wrap your mind around. I am beginning to understand the project more and it has allowed my to really explore some of my own ideas and creativity. It has definitely been keeping me busy. I am building a 3d model of it and eventually will have a short animation. Hopefully I will be able to post it on here for you to see.
Well, that is all for now. I will close by attaching some random images of our house for your viewing pleasure. (no one likes a post that has no photos)

coming soon

2007-05-14T14:27:00.000-04:00

Please excuse the mess of this site for now. I am in process of renovating. I am hoping that a new look might inspire me to share more with you all. I hope to have the new and improved bkroll.blogspot up soon. I will see yas when I see yas.

For T.

2007-04-20T14:30:00.000-04:00

I had a conversation the other night with my dear friend Tessa and I promised I would post something soon. I decided I would post some images of the progress, slow I might add, of the patio in my backyard. The last images I posted of this project was the demo work Dustin and I had done one afternoon. These images show what the current state of the patio is in. I will be working on it feverishly over the next few weeks so to get it done in time to enjoy it for most of the summer. Hopefully. Anyway, enough gab...here are the photos.

Also, I have finally joined the Flickr society. So, if you find yourself at work and want to kill a little bit of time, ( I don't have many photos up yet) click here.

My weekend

2007-04-02T13:53:00.000-04:00

To say that this weekend left my body sore and abused is an understatement. Let me recap for you.

Friday

A typical Friday night for me. Drinking with buddies, finally falling asleep at around 2am.

Saturday

Dustin ended up crashing at my house on Friday night as to avoid a DUI on his drive back downtown to his place. So, Saturday morning I decided to put his presence to good use. For those of you who have been to my house or more specifically, those whom have been in my backyard, you have seen that large decrepit brick bbq. Well, I have recently decided to tear up our back brick patio and relay the bricks so they are level and nice looking again. Along with this I decided to tear down the brick bbq and turn it into a table element with a fire pit in it. In order to tear this down we equipped ourselves with a sledge hammer and eye protection as to avoid eye irritants and went to work. Here are some images that begin to tell the story.

Sunday

I let my wife talk me into running the Brew to Brew road race. This is a relay race that starts at the Boulevard Brewery and ends at the Free State Brewery in lawrence. My leg was the 6th of 10 and was 3.4 miles straight up hill into about a 30 mph wind. Ok, ok the first 2.5 miles where straight up hill and the wind was only blowing about 20 mph. It was tough, but a great sense accomplishment was felt when I finished. I finished my leg in 34 minutes and I am proud of that especially because I have only ran about 4 times in the past year and the longest of those was only 2 miles. Anyway, I may continue this running thing...but probably not.

Mr. Young

2007-03-21T16:56:00.000-04:00

Man oh Man...it seems like every time I decide to post something I have to start it off by saying how sorry I am for leaving my last entry up for so long. If any of you are like me, you check your friends blogs at least once a day and when you continue to see the same image day after day after day...it becomes real annoying. Sorry about that.

Anyway, I wanted to take today to write about one of my favorite musicians of all time. In fact he may well be my favorite if forced to pick one. I am of speaking of Mr. Neil Young. There is something about his unique high pitched voice that seems so real. I don't feel like he is singing to make money or a career or even to entertain, however, singing because he has something inside to say that only singing can express. Almost like it is fighting it's way out and his voice is the medium for which it travels. I love music from this generation. When I say that, I mean music from the sixties and seventies (not referring to "classic rock"). It has so much feeling in it. The musicians were not hand picked by a panel of judges being judged on how "pitchy" they are or how they look. They were people who had something to sing about and that is exactly what they did. They sang. Whether it was about love, politics, sex, drugs, loneliness, and happiness...they just sang it in a way that makes me close my eyes and wonder how great it must have been to hear it live.

I did have the chance to catch Neil Young a couple of years ago with my dad when Greendale came out at Starlight amphitheatre. It was incredible. To watch someone sing and play his guitar with such passion is a great experience. I will never forget it.

The reason I felt it necessary to write this today is because I recently purchased "Neil Young live at Massey Hall 1971".

This is one of those albums that is so good you almost cannot have it on as background music because you will find yourself just sitting an listening to songs like "Cowgirl in the Sand", "A man needs a maid", and "Don't let it bring you down"....it is silly how good these songs are. Oh, and the version of "Old man" on the live at Massey Hall is the best I have ever heard. If you have an extra 14 bucks, go ahead and visit the itunes store in download this album. It comes with two pretty cool videos as well. One of which is Mr. Young on his ranch with footage of the "Old man" he sings about. Anyway, if anyone actually reads this and buys the album...let me know what you think.

2007-01-30T23:57:00.000-05:00

I will first start off by saying that I still do not yet have a list in response to my last post...I know that you all must be crushed. However, I do have a good reason, his name is Huxley. Recently Abbey and I added a new little guy (soon to be big guy) to our family. One month ago today we drove out to Marrysville, KS and picked from a litter of 10 boxer puppies. The decision wasn't an easy one, but after some time we chose a brindle (light brown with dark stripes) boy. Of the two brindle boys in the litter we decided on the smaller of the two. Seeing that his dad was quite large we thought the smaller pup was a good choice. After we had an idea on which one we wanted to take home with us it was time to meet their parents. While the owner was putting the puppies back into there part of their house, out of the ten puppies, the one we had chosen snuck out and came running back over to us ready to offer some more licks. It was at this point we knew we had made the right choice. When we brought him home he was 7 weeks old and 8 pounds. Now, at 11 weeks he is around 16 pounds and his personality is really starting to come out. I will post more about this later as it is getting late. I just wanted you all to meet our Huxley.

a list of tens

2006-12-14T13:12:00.000-05:00

I had this idea on the way to work this morning. It may be a good one or it may be a dud, we shall find out. I would like to ask the few of you out there who read this to participate in a little study. I want everyone to choose 10 songs from any time period or genre. You can choose any songs you want. The interesting part will be that you have to organize this list using some sort of methodology and then explain your list and why it is the way it is. This is sort of
High Fidelity-esque but I think it could be fun. Let me know if you are interested in this and if so, post your responses on your blog or my comments link below. I myself have not yet done this so stay posted for my list in the coming hours/days.

Christmas time

2006-12-07T00:29:00.000-05:00

I made the decision a long time ago that I would never adorn any residence of mine with colored Christmas lights. I have never liked them, will probably never like them and could never understand why other people have such an affection for them. I am no Scrooge, I just prefer the plain white lights. Having said that, I will flash forward to present day.

Abbey and I are new home owners, working on about 4 months now. When we bought the house it was a bit run down and completely out of date but with enormous untapped potential. So, for the past 4 months we have been ripping wallpaper off the walls, tearing old walls down, putting new walls up, and basically re-doing every part of the house in some way or another. I am very, let me say it again, VERY fortunate that Abbey is as understanding as she is. When it comes to the house she has pretty much given me free reign. She has let me do everything to this house that I have wanted to with little to no resistance. Don't get me wrong, I run the ideas past her to make she doesn't hate them, and then with her approval I move on. (I will post before and after photos after we get the flooring done, estimated completion date: 2.1.07)

So, back to the beginning. In the spirit of Christmas, Abbey mentioned the other day that she wanted to decorate the house with Christmas lights. I became excited because I love this time of year and what better way to begin the Christmas season than by lighting our first house. This is about when she said that she loves the colored bulbs and then asked which ones I love. She could tell by the way I looked at her that her colored bulb comment didn't sit well with me. She went on about how they always had the colored bulbs as a kid and everyone in her neighborhood had the colored bulbs and it wouldn't feel the same without them. I was thinking there is no way I am putting those awful gaudy colored bulbs on our brand new (built in '53) home. The conversation didn't go much further than that and I kind of forgot about the whole thing. That is until I was at Target the other night wondering around seeing what else I could spend money on. I was walking through the Christmas section and up to the lights. I decided at that moment that since Abbey has been so understanding through this whole house renovation and I love her, I will surprise her by decorating the house with colored Christmas lights. So tonight while she was at Starbucks studying, I went out on the windiest night in history and hung colored Christmas lights on our new home. She was very happy, and you know what? they don't look too bad.

The Cappuccino

2006-12-04T23:00:00.000-05:00

So for the past two years I have been nursing a slight obsession with the cappuccino. I must say though that my taste for the coffee bean isn't solely limited to the cappuccino. I enjoy many other forms of the drink: the latte, the macchiato, the frappuccino, and I consume about 4 cups of the stuff in its pure brewed form [black] each day. However, nothing can top the perfectly brewed Italian espresso mixed with just enough milk to make it creamy and then topped with a healthy amount of perfectly steamed froth. Truthfully, making a good cappuccino is an art form. I can't tell if my love for the breakfast drink stems solely from the taste and delight one feels when sipping on one while reading a book or the paper, or if there is something stronger or deeper there. I feel there is a great amount of romanticism involved with making a really good cappuccino. It is unlike most drinks in that a great amount of time and dedication goes not only in to making each cup, but in learning how to make your first cup. The first time you steam the milk into a rich froth, or attempt to pour a design into your cup. Learning how much milk to seam or how hard to tamp the espresso before extracting it. You know that when you order a cappuccino at your favorite coffee shop, a lot of hours have gone into that very cup.

About 3 months ago, my parents bought Abbey and me an espresso maker for a house warming gift. I am just now getting the hang of it and I must say, I make a pretty decent cappuccino. The only problem with that is, I cannot stop drinking them. Here is an image of one my cappuccinos. I have not yet mastered the artful pour of the milk, but as mentioned above...it takes time.

the new blogger

2006-12-04T01:48:00.000-05:00

I attempted to get on the computer and blog tonight, only I ended up spending the past 45 minutes playing with all the new settings. Funny, with all of the new toys and options blogger is offering now, I seem to have come up with a layout that takes no advantage of them. Oh well, I like things simple. Sorry for the false alarm as I am now too tired to write anything worth while [not that anything I write is worth while anyway]. I was thinking earlier of what my next topic should be. I think I am going to write about my obsession with cappuccino.

And for those who have been asking about our wedding photos:

enjoy.

2006-11-14T23:43:00.000-05:00

check back soon! I feel the need to post is upon me. When? soon.

a quick tease.

2006-08-24T00:20:00.000-04:00

Sorry to those few (maybe no) readers I have out there for the lack of posting especially with the amount of interesting activity I have had in my life lately. It is however, this activity that has kept me from blogging. So in tradition of not blogging I will end here and leave you with these.

http://www.lemonlimephoto.com/sessions/abbeybarrett/

and these.

A quick stop on a 3 hour drive

2006-07-24T00:32:00.000-04:00

Our new cottage

2006-07-07T00:43:00.000-04:00

Beautiful Storm

2006-06-07T01:10:00.001-04:00

I had to post some of the shots I got last night of a storm clipping the edge of the city. These were taken out of my bedroom window. The storm never amounted to anything, not around here at least, but it definately put on a great lightning show.

Leon at the Voodoo Lounge

2006-05-22T13:45:00.000-04:00

Growing up, I spent my weekdays at my mom's house and weekends at my dad's house. During those weekend days we had developed a bit of a routine. Friday night we almost always played monopoly, ate twizzlers and went to bed late. Saturday morning though was when my education occurred. My father, a product of the '60's has absolutely fantastic taste in music. I grew up spending my Saturday mornings listening to some of the greatest rock bands in the history of the world. Bands like Poco, Crosby Stills and Nash, Neil Young, CSN&Y, The Band, Joe Cocker, The grateful Dead, Loggins and Messina, The Eagles, Yes, The Souther Hillman Furrey band...just to name a few. A few weeks ago I got a call from my step mom mentioning she had a great idea for my dad's birthday present. Leon Russell is coming to town. Would you want to go with your dad if I bought the tickets is what she asked me. "Oh I would have to check my sched_of course I would like to go!"
Well, last Thursday was the night of the show at the voodoo lounge in Harrah's casino (which is actually a great venue). The opening band was Dave Mason whom was a founding member of a little band called Traffic ( also, a phenomenal band). Anyway he rocked the stage for a while and I must say sounded equally as good now (60 years old) as on his old albums.

Then it happened. After Mason's stage crew had retrieved all of there equipment and Leon's had set all of his up...he appeared. A man with about 2 feet of stark white hair hanging from his head and an equal amount from his face. He made his way across the stage with the help of a cane and took his seat behind his piano. The rest of his band made there way on stage and they began to rock. They began playing Hummingbird, and that unmistakable voice of ol' Leon kicked in and still sounds fantastic. He sounded just as he does on all my old albums of his. I stood there like a little kid in awe with a smile on my face the whole time. I must be brutally honest though, he looks like he is about 152 years old. My dad said it best when he said it looks like old Leon died about 10 years ago. I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to see a musical icon like Leon Russell rockin on stage in my lifetime.

2006-05-08T10:03:00.000-04:00

Throughout the course of my life I have developed quite the affection for food. I love preparing, cooking, smelling, and eating food. I would have to say that My favorite type or genre of food is Italian. I love how simple it is. With such a small palate of ingredients the Italians have a way of creating some of the biggest flavors and diverse dishes. Ever since my stay in Italy I have had this no food will ever taste as good as it did in Italy attitude. The same attitude I have towards coffee, wine, and pretty much everything else. That is until this past weekend. My grandpa came in town to celebrate my dad and my aunt's birthdays. In celebration we decided to go to 40 sardines . Now I must preface the rest of the story with a quick description of my grandpa. He grew up on the Chesapeake bay eating oysters and lobsters. He now lives in Chicago and has enjoyed the culinary delights of the rosebud and other highly respected restaurants. What I am trying to say, he has eatin some really good food and when he puts his seal of approval on it, you know it is good.

Now back to the story. We arrive at 40 sardines and immediately choose a bottle of wine. My family knows the affection I have for the fruit of the vine so they let me choose. I decided to go with a bottle from the 20 wines @ 20 dollars list, the Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon. They have a really fantastic wine list with bottles ranging from 24-350 dollars a bottle. Rather then choosing an expensive bottle I have never tasted, I chose a lesser expensive bottle that I knew was pretty good.

A glass later it came time to order. The special: pan seared scallops with a gruyere potato cake and lightly steamed spinach leaves...I'll take it! But first I would like the house gnocchi. Others ordered things like ahi tuna steaks, Alaskan halibut, roasted chicken, and Parmesan pork sirloin. When the food came, it was just like that scene out of what about bob? All of us where making the mmmmm, oh my, this is de-licious sounds. and eventually dinner turned into everyone passing forks back and forth accompanied by the words, "You have got to try this". Everyone's meals where equally as delicious as mine. The creme brulee I had to top off the delicious meal may have put me over the edge though. Upon returning home I headed straight for the couch to lie down, not raising again for a solid 45 minutes. I was so full that movement of any kind was strictly prohibited. The only other meal I have had that left me as satisfied as this one, a lunch in an Italian town called Piensa. I think of few of you may remember that. I tell you this story for one reason. In hopes that you too will go and experience the fantastic tastes of 40 sardines and when you do, please, tell me what you thought.

2006-05-02T01:43:00.000-04:00

Kansas City on the Fly
So for the last week I have been putting in a few extra hours a night at work. While I don't necassarily enjoy putting in the extra time, it does allow me to enjoy some fantastic light on the way home. I have been inspired as of late to shoot some pics of KC while on my drive home, sometimes shooting from my car without so much as even slowing down. Having said that, here are a few of the images I have added to my library.

2006-04-13T00:06:00.000-04:00

No one that has drunk old wine wants new; for he says, "The old is nice."

~Luke 5:39

I would like to spend some time speaking of a hobby I have developed. I spent some time in Italy a while ago (not that I had to mention that, the only people that read this blog were there with me) and developed a taste for the fruit of the vine. During my travels I tasted wine from many different regions in Italy, Umbria, Abbruzzo, Montepulciano, and the famous Chianti. In fact I took a fantastic trip with some friends via taxi through the heart of Chianti in search of vineyards and the perfect glass. Due to a few too many glasses the night prior, we struggled through the winding roads of Chianti, at least until we found a cafe for a panini and a capuccino. On that trip we discovered a quaint vineyard, Panzanello. It was here where I tasted what I still consider the best glass of wine I have ever tasted. The Panzanello Chianti Classico Reserva 2001. I bought a bottle and a bottle of the Chianti Classico 2002. I opened the '02 the night I asked Abbey to be my wife. Upon tasting this wine, my memories were confirmed. This wine was absolutely exquisite. I am saving the '01 for our one year anniversary. It will join the other bottles I have accrued over the past two years until that date. The stars being: two The Chocolate Block 2003, one Constant 2001 cabernet sauvignon, one Girard 2003 petite syrah, and of course Panzanello Chianti Classico Reserva 2001. I don't know when I will drink these bottles, perhaps I will wait for the perfect occasion for the corking of the Constant (which holds the highest dollar value at $80.00/bottle) or one day grab it on my way out the door to a fast food restaurant as Paul Giamatti discovered to be the perfect place for his vintage bottle, a 1961 Cheval Blanc, in Sideways.
Whenever these bottle find there way onto my palate, I am sure they will be splendid. Besides the financial repercussions of the hobby, I can't think of more enjoyable way to pass the time than sipping on delicious bottle of red.

2006-04-10T23:57:00.000-04:00

MY RETURN TO MOTION

So for my first post in quite some time (excluding the response to a tagging I received) I have chosen to blog about my recent return to an active lifestyle.

I graduated in May of last year and along with my exit from Manhattan, KS came an exit from an life riddled with intramural sports and the occasional pick up basketball game. In place of this I found a sedentary lifestyle to be a comfortable alternative. This is however until I realized that this lifestyle was having negative effects on my figure. I have noticed a few changes, all additions, to the ol' body. I had decided that this is unacceptable about 6 months ago, joined a gym and began working out...for about 1 hour. I had the greatest intentions for myself.
The plan was to work out about 3 time a week and start eating healthier. I even said to myself that I would work out in the morning before work. This is where I should have know that this plan was bound to derail before it even developed. Despite the absurdity of my intentions I gave it a go. 6.30am the next morning, the alarm begins the ring. My hand swings through the air with astonishing accuracy and velocity to strike the snooze button without even so much as grazing the other buttons.

This repeats many times bringing me to today, 6 months and about 8 trips the gym later. I am now however, on my second consecutive day of activity. Last night I played 5 on 5 full court basketball. The work out was tuff, in fact I felt as if my lungs had collapsed about 4 minutes into the first game of three. By the end I felt inches from death.
Tonight I played volleyball in a local architecture league. We lost to HOK, a solid team with two stand out players that can spike the holy hell out the ball.

So as the second day of my glorious return to activity comes to an end...I am sore as hell!

My Top Five's

2006-04-05T17:52:00.000-04:00

In response to a recent "tagging" from Studio109, here are my top five's:

IN THE KITCHEN:

1. Red Wine
2. Black Pepper
3. Espresso Maker
4. Milk
5. Pasta from the River Market

IN THE CLOSET:

1. Your favorite Marino Wool Black Sweater
2. Dry Cleaning
3. Flip Flops
4. Black Shoes
5. The one hat you where when you play golf.

IN MY BAG:

1. Thinking Architecture
2. Day Planner
3. Moleskine
4. Uni-ball vision (micro) Pens_black
5. I-pod

AT THE OFFICE:

1. Post-it Notes
2. Monthly calendar
3. That one great coffee cup
4. 10 x 10
5. Internet

AT HOME:

1. A Fantastic Woman
2. Vonnegut
3. A couch you can sleep on ( not a sleeper sofa)
4. Fresh Flowers
5. A turn table with a fantastic collection of albums

new sites

2006-01-31T11:58:00.000-04:00

I have been working on a few projects for the wedding recently. One being a wedding blog www.abkwedding.blogspot.com and the other being a wedding website, www.cbkroll.com . I hope that you check them out. The website is my first one of any consequence and may be changing over the next few days/weeks as I am still learning how it works and I am a little unhappy with how it looks at the present. But nonetheless, check it out. I will be blogging about the wedding planning process and putting all the appropriate info on the site, i.e. embarrassing pics of the groomsmen and so on. out.

I am getting married!!

2006-01-13T10:29:00.000-04:00

It is true. After a little over 3 years, I finally asked abbey to be my wife...She said yes. August 4 is the a tentative date set right now. We will be married in Wichita so get ready to hit the road kids because this will be a celebration you won't want to miss. I am going to try to start a wedding blog or website with all the info on that so that people can stay up to date with all of our plans. Once that is made I will post the address on this blog so that those few of you that still visit every now and again have access to the site. Well, it has been too long since I have left a post and for that I apologize. I hope all are well out there is computer world. Enjoy your friday.

2005-11-03T17:02:00.000-04:00

I just drank a huge cup of coffee and I am still tired. What the hell is the matter with me??

Julie's big day

2005-10-17T23:17:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I attended a wedding for a friend of mine whom I met really pretty recently. Julie was one of the first people I got to know at my current job. She has been a great friend and it was awesome to be there with her on this beautiful night. Her wedding was gorgeous, not in a church but in a small space in downtown KC. This space used for many different activities was the host of a fashion show a few weeks ago which I went to and on this night looked like a completely different building on the inside. I will stop typing now for I am very tired and post some pics I shot on this night for you viewing pleasure.

2005-10-16T23:33:00.000-04:00

Breakfast of Champions

2005-09-30T01:52:00.000-04:00

I am taking a break from my job which requires ways to many hours of my life, to write this blog. I have had it, too much work not nearly enough play. I love Architecture but I don't know if I am ready to sacrifice all my time to it just yet. I do, however, find time during lunch to grab an hour and read. Over the past 4 weeks, an hour at a time, I have been chipping away at Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. I finished it on Tuesday of this week, and I must say I enjoyed the hell out of it. It was written unlike any book I have ever read. The characters were written about in manner almost making them all equal... so that there were no main characters, or ALL the characters were main characters (however you want to look at it). One however, did eventually stand out. He goes the name of Kilgore Trout. I will not say much more about the book in hopes that you will read it and find out the whole story for yourself, with no expectations or inclinations as to what may happen.
I will say that this book made me laugh out loud on several occasions. My reading spots consist of either LatteLand, Starbucks, or Panera all on the plaza. I make my decision on where I will read each day based on three criterion.
One) whether or not I am going to eat while I read. Most days I bring my lunch and eat it at my desk while I work, so to be able to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and my book without the trouble of sticking food into my mouth. My mouth is the whole in my face located just below my nose where the majority of my air enters and exits my body, It also contains all of my teeth used for breaking food into small enough pieces to travel down my throat into my stomach. If I choose to eat, I opt for Panera and all it's deliciousness.
Two) What the weather is like. For instance, if it is a little chilly, I would like a hot cup of coffee. LatteLand's coffee is significantly better than Starbucks in my opinion so I would opt for LatteLand. However, if it is warm out and I would like something cool and refreshing, I hit up Starbucks for one there divine caramel Frappuccinos. Damn are they exquisite.
Three) Kind of related to the second, If I would like to sit inside or outside. On the Plaza at least, Starbucks has premium outdoor seating. Whereas LatteLand's is nice, but small. Even though there are two LatteLands on the Plaza, there is more outdoor seating at the one Starbucks than at both LatteLands combined. So If I am feeling the indoor vibe, I go LatteLand. Outdoors, Starbucks.
Next hour increment book: Island, Aldous Huxley

It's like heaven in your mouth

2005-09-14T14:10:00.000-04:00

So over my lunch break I have discovered something that maybe you all were already aware of. This discovery I speak of goes by the title IZZE. This is a juicy, sparkly, fantastic mixture of sparkling water and 100% pure fruit juice. The flavor of choice today was "sparkling pear." Two sweet pears have been bottled and blended with the perfect amount of sparkling water to create a beautiful, crisp, refreshing beverage. Other flavors offered by IZZE are blackberry, lemon, clementine, blueberry, and pomegranate just to name a few. If you have the time I highly recommend you pick of a bottle, while you are at it pick up some ETHOS water and save some kids. (I will blog about that another time) . I just love finding new beverages that satisfy my tastebuds, I might even consider it a hobby of mine...If I see something that I have either never heard of or just never tried, I will purchase it at least once and give it a fair shot at becoming one of my favorites.

2005-08-29T13:53:00.000-04:00

Monday morning blues.

So I want to take a moment to discuss the feelings that float throughout a monDAY. First of all, monday morning...I wake to the sound of my alarm clock and instinctivley I hit the snooze button in about .5 seconds. I repeat this about 3 times. I am telling you this because Mondy mornings bring with them an incredible regret for ever getting a job. Waking on a these mornings is incredibly difficult for me, infact I marvel at hard it is really is for me to rise. Once I am up, I am in the shower as quickly as possible, I need the hot water to keep me awake or I will fall off of the awake wagon in record time. After the shower is when my thoughts start to clear up and become more reasonable. I arrive at work at around 815 or so and begin my workday. around 930 is the time I realize that Mondays really are not that bad, It's just the 5 day outlook that gets you down. You know, the weight of the next four days bearing down on you is hard to handle some times. Having said that,however, no matter times I go through this process of hating Monday mornings then realizing that there really not that bad...come next monday at 715 when my alarm begins singing is hell song. I will forget all I have learned and hate Monday morning again, at least for an hour or two.
Monday night is a different story. I love Monday nights. This is my thought process:

ahh i got through another monday already, oh ya tomorrow is already tuesday_ wow after that its already hump day, thursday then friday...hmmm. do I have plans for friday, I should call kingsley and get something figured out...I am going to play golf on saturday...man i love saturdays.

As you can see it really only is the Monday morning part of the week that I have problems with, and that only lasts an hour or so. Now that I have let you have a rough peek into my monDAY thoughts, tell me about yours...what goes through your head on monDAY??

I am back baby

2005-08-28T23:13:00.000-04:00

I finally have internet in my new place. It is amazing how reliant we, or maybe just me, have become on this connection to the world. I remember in highschool I never was the kind of person to just sit down at the computer and "surf the web" let along start a blog and somewhat keep it updated. Now after sitting in front of a computer for the last 3 years, basically solid. I seem to feel some comfort knowing that this connection is just in the other room for me to find solice in whenever I want.
Well, I really have nothing else for you now. I have been working way too much lately and have had no time to do anything. Not even get my apartment clean or make it my home. there are still boxes and piles of things just screaming to be put away. I look at them and quitely promise to get to them after work. but when I don't leave work until 10 or so i have to look at said items when I get home knowing that i will probably tell the same lie to them tomorrow. Hopefully this week will be a little slower and i will have time to start taking care of some of these things. I will update with pics of my space once it starts to take shape.

two top 5 lists for your weekend pleasure

2005-08-12T13:00:00.000-04:00

first of all..the music:

5 selected songs that must, if they don't already grace your collection [vol. 2]

1.Tegan and Sarah_Time Running
2.The Shins_Caring is Creepy
3.Rent:Original Broadway cast_entire 2disc soundtrack
4.Pavement_The Killing Moon
5.Michael Buble_feeling good (a little corny I know but still really good)

next in true weekend fasion:

5 drinks that you must give your pallate the pleasure of experiencing:

1. Chimay blue (belgium beer)
2. Moretti la Rossa (italian beer0
3. Tanqueray No. 10 and tonic
4. Caucasion (white russian)
5. either Meyers, or Appelton Estates Rum (both equally as exquisite dark Jamaican rums) and a spash of coke.

2005-08-11T14:43:00.000-04:00

the weekend is in sight!

the longest week EVER!!

2005-08-11T14:01:00.000-04:00

So this week is seeming to take especially long to pass. This morning I looked at the clock at 9.52am and then went back to work for about an hour and a half...only it wansn't an hour and a half. I looked at the clock and it read 10.17am...25 minutes...that is all the time that had passed, perhaps one of the most depressing moments of the past 3 days. The reason the week is taking so long is because of what I have to look forward to this weekend. I am finally moving!! Yep, stop the press, you heard me correctly, I am changing locations from the extra bedroom filled with antique furniture at my mom's house to a kick ass loft in the river market area of kc. The move commences promptly at the wake up hour on saturday morn.

Also going down this saturday night, is the return of ben folds to kc. I can't wait for this show, he will be perorming with rufus wainwright and ben lee. The stage happens to be just down the street from my previously mentioned new place of residence. so pre-show festivities are a mi casa for my close friends. the night will most definately be momorable.. or perhaps not! it you know what i mean. anyway I am sure some pics will make there way onto this blog on monday or so. they should be mildy entertaining.

Architecture vs. the computer...

2005-08-01T10:54:00.000-04:00

...the computer wins.

Well first of all I will apalogize for neglecting my many (1 or 2) blog frequenters for about the last 2 weeks or so. I have been absolutely swamped at work. Our 100% construction document were due monday morning at 12 noon. However, a little kink has been thrown into the equation...
...I arrived this morning in usual fasion, around 820 in the am. Knowing that I had an unusual amount of work to do before the noon hour struck I sat down and opened autocad, bypassing my usual pre-computer cup of coffee and morning discussion with the gentlemen who resides next to me on current events or the workings of his latest hobby project [usually re-building a car or something of the sort] and went right to work. This particular morning I was updating some previously finished elevations, but that is beside the point. The point is, at about 930, a solid hour into my work autocad crashes. All work gone, my fault for not saving but you know how it is when you start something and get a good flow going, saving doesn't always occur to you as it probably should. The interesting part of this short anecdote is that the whole office came to a screatching hault. You see my autocad crashed because there was a problem with our server and our drive that houses our cad and all cad files is non operational at the moment. Looking around, every person in our office is standing around and doing nothing. With the computer out of commision our Architecture stops, completely. This happening is showing just how reliant our profession has become on the computer. [or at least my office, but I feel that it would be a similar scenario at almost any other office]. Just something to think about, plus this little hiccup in our server has givin me time and a subject to blog about.

next on the agenda:

album vs. compact disc

the album wins....

I recently visited a friend of mine's house the other night. We sat out on his back deck and drank beers while listening to music. Wer were listening to the usual music format these days, the cd [actually the typical music format these days is probably more acurately .mp3, .mp4, .wma or whatever the newest file type is, but for sake of argument we will go with the cd]. We then decided to switch it up and turn to vinyl, my choice of band. I parused the collection, which is quite impressive for a young man just out of college, with bands like crosby, stills, nash, and young, steely dan, hendrix, simon and garfunkle, eric clapton, and the list goes on. My final choice was Jethro Tull Aqualung, and damn was it exquisite. the music though lacking the extreme highs and lows that the digital format brings to the table just seems to have a different life about it. The band feels as if they are in the room playing a little show just for you. Maybe it's the nestalgia that I have knowing that this particular piece of vinyl was around when all of the world events which were being so elequantly described in the music where actually taking place. Or the idea that this album may have switched hands with as many as 25, 50, 100 owners since it's creation, effecting each listener a different way. Or perhaps it just sounds better. Any way you cut it, the vinyl is my choice.

2005-07-19T14:20:00.000-04:00

WITH GORILLA GONE,

WILL THERE

BE HOPE

FOR MAN?

2005-07-18T16:10:00.000-04:00

WITH MAN GONE,

WILL THERE BE HOPE

FOR GORILLA?

2005-07-14T22:28:00.000-04:00

Thursday's

5 selected songs that must, if they don't already, grace your collection. [vol.01]
[this is something new that I am starting. every thursday evening i will prepare you for the weekend by suggesting 5 songs i feel are essential for your personal music library.]

the list is as fallows:

1. Dilate_ani difranco
2. Wondering_ben folds
3. Neigborhood #3_the arcade fire
4. We might as well be strangers_keane
5. Hands down_dashboard confessional

*if you have trouble obtaining one or more of these glorious musical endevours, drop me a line as i may be able to help

2005-07-14T16:07:00.000-04:00

emotions

last night my little brother and I took a last minute trip to Manhattan to finalize my move. Originally I had until Aug. 1 to get completely moved out of my apartment, a new development occurs, tenants want to move in early. Now we have to be out by July 17, however, earning us a little extra cash for the effort.

After some genuinely hard work from around 8.30pm-1.00am, the apartment was looking good. Good, that is in the destroyed, beer stained, treeted like a playground look. It was at this point that I realized something...

It is really over. I hate to get all sentimental about leaving college because all I talked about during my final sememster was how ready I was to get out and get a job and a place etc... While I am still enthusiastic about all of those said items. I am realizing how much I will miss my previous lifestyle. I am really beginning to see how lucky I was with the friends that I made. And while I know they will be my friends always, it's cause for a moment to just sit back and remember.

2005-07-14T15:48:00.000-04:00

a sudden burst of skill

So I attended a ku med intramural softball game the
other day, which coincidentally abbey was playing in, and aside from the man-eating gnats making dinner of me, I had a pretty fantastic time. Abbey used to play softball with me on my team in manhattan; however, the scene was much different there. I recall Abbey [i will cut her some slack, i do believe it was her firt jaunt with the sport] nonetheless, I remember her more often then not, completely missing the ball. If she did make contact, she would hit roughly 07% of the ball and it would creep across the ground to the pitcher like a wounded animal preparing for death. But wait, what is this i see, full swings, no running starts at the ball, a step forward and a cut that would make any northern woods lunberjack proud. She figured it out! All of a sudden she has turned into one of the best female softball players I have ever seen. It's like one day she showed up at the field and just decided to be good. My hat is off to you dear Abbey.

2005-07-12T14:45:00.000-04:00

so here are some more pics of my work space at ellerbebecket. Sorry the pics are so small but I wanted to put a lot up without taking up ton of space on the screen. anyway, let me know what you think. we are moving soon to a new office in a new building, but for the time being we are moving down a couple of floors in the building that we are currently occupying. I hope we end up somewhere downtown either in the crossroads district, river market, or the downtown loop. I dig it down there...Alright, back to work.

2005-07-12T10:12:00.000-04:00

my work space at ellerbe after one month and one week of use.

inspired

2005-07-12T02:50:00.000-04:00

so i have recently been inspired by the author of studio 109 to take the time to make this blog a little more personal. i have spent the better half of an entire evening on this machine trying this, and trying that only to end up with a blog which i don't enjoy looking at. it has been taking me kind of a long time to get into the workings of the blog for this is my first encounter with html language. i think i am getting the hang of basics though so look for something a little more pleasing in the future.

i am going to make a genuine attempt to blog more than i have been lately, but i am too damn tired to look at this computer screen anymore tonight.

until later, in the words of my good freind j.c. stoner....

"I'll see yas when I see yas"

I'm making a comeback tour.

2005-06-30T16:02:00.000-04:00

So I have totally fallen off of the face of the earth since starting me new job at Ellerbe. I haven't posted anything since, I believe my first day of work. Speaking of work, all is well. I am finally starting to feel really comfortable here after one month. My roles are beginning to take shape and become apparent to me. One thing I can't seem to get used to however, it getting up at 645am. That really sucks. I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation and will do anything in my power to stay in bed for just one more minute.

I am definately not seeing enough of my girly. She is even busier than I am. Abbey has only been at KU med for about 3 weeks and has already had about 4 tests and 10 quizes. [she finally knows the struggles of school taking up more personal time than it ever should...something she used to harp on my all the time for when I was in Architecture school]

A friend of mine, Jason Bervert, has a wedding rapidly approaching and that mean that a bachalor party is on the way. YESSS!! [oh how I love bachalor parties] So this weekend we are kicken the day off with some bbq and beer and then the night will just go down hill from there [i am reluctant to further endulge you on the specifics of said evening for fear that some church going folks or children under 18 may wonder onto this blog.] As you can imagine, it will be a good time.

That is all I have time for now, I promise I will get some new pics up soon. until then

pace [that is peace in Italian]

2005-06-01T09:41:00.000-04:00

my work space at ellerbe

first day of work

2005-05-31T18:04:00.000-04:00

so, i just finished my first day of the "real world" here at ellerbe becket. it seems like a cool joint. the office is pretty chill and wide open. I have a feeling I am going to be doing a lot of 3d type things which is ok, that seems to play a huge roll in their design process, hopefully meaning i may have the opportunity to offer my hand in some design decisions. however, as you know 3d max has the inate ability to be the prime source of all my frustration. ( maybe that was just knox induced)...we will find out.

I will have pics of the office and my space up soon. until tomorrow....peace.

2005-05-08T16:41:00.000-04:00

i will say one thing...i can't wait until i am out of this immature, self-centered, politically currupt college we call capd.

2005-05-06T05:37:00.000-04:00

So this is a project some of my of my buddies have been working on for past few weeks, and finished this evening. The project was to design and build a viewing box to be places in downtown Kansas City. The approach taken in this case however, was to capture sound. The "coffin" is to be placed on unused train tracks in the crossroads district. A user ( sorry wendy) then sits in the box, closing the door, being directly connected to the auditory life of KC. Acoustically the coffin is ment to capture sound and let it reverberate with in the space. Overall I think this project is pretty nice. it definately took a more tectonic roll and didn't just take the project at face value, like many of the other projects.

2005-05-04T15:39:00.000-04:00

53 hours and 20 minutes left of architecture school...WOW what a ride.

anything to get me away from max

2005-05-04T13:07:00.000-04:00

so yesterday i began my maiden voyage with
sony's vegas film editing software. my task, to create
a moving logo for our film which we have been working
on all year long. the film is set to premiere friday the
6th of may at 8pm here in seaton hall. the logo venture
went fairly well, things are still real rough and need
a lot of refinement; however, look pretty decent.
the above image is a still frame when the name of
our team is revealed. the people below are us, the
manifest studio.

2005-05-01T18:52:00.000-04:00

a little ani for ya

people used to make records as in a record of an event
the event of people playing music in a room
now everything is cross-marketing its about sunglasses and shoes or guns
and drugs you choose
we got it rehashed we got it half-assed
we're digging up all the graves and we're spitting on the past
and you can choose between the colors of the lipstick on the whores

-ani difranco

2005-05-01T18:00:00.000-04:00

Now that is a big head!

2005-05-01T17:47:00.000-04:00

And so another day begins.

If any of you know what this is, than you understand my angst when seeing this image. I have started every day of my final semester in architecture school gazing into the emptyness of this window on my computer screen. "five more days" that is what I have to keep telling myself.

2005-04-30T01:22:00.000-04:00

sony center in Berlin Germany [i am in the middle on the left]

This photo was taken while traveling through Europe, after living and studying in Italy for 5 months. These 3 other cats and myself traveled to Switzerland, Germany, and France together after our studies had subsided. I will never in my life forget those travels and the time spent abroad. Architecture, art, friends, and Abbey even came and met me in London for spring break. It was beautiful.

2005-04-30T01:04:00.000-04:00

deep thought @ cafe ignorante

2005-04-29T18:46:00.000-04:00

smiling because was in Italy.

b[kroll]

2005-04-29T17:06:00.000-04:00

So this is the begining of what I fear may be an addicting hobby which yanks me from my everexiciting work in studio.