Ultimate in Biloxi

June 9, 2009

Regular readers will know that one of the highlights of life in Biloxi is Tuesday night Ultimate. Our weekly pickup game goes back more than three years, when volunteers from Habitat for Humanity and Hands On Gulf Coast first began playing at the Salvation Army field. Since then, dozens of regulars and hundreds of volunteers have kept the game going. But we’re always looking for more people to join us: Tuesdays, 6:30-9:00 Salvation Army’s Yankie Stadium 575 Division Street, Biloxi, MS Ultimate (also referred to as Ultimate Frisbee) is great fun and some of the best exercise you’ll ever have. …

Terminal Ageusia

May 18, 2009

I have mentioned before that “the Bad Movie tradition has completely ruined my taste in movies.” However, it does not end there. I am beginning to understand that living in Mississippi is slowly but surely ruining my taste in everything. I have arrived at this shocking conclusion based on a painful assessment of the evidence. The case of bad movies is only the beginning. Watching bad movies for their own sake gradually negates the desire to watch good movies. Why watch a good movie that would require you to think and have emotions, when you can simply watch a bad …

Carmen’s Dedication

May 8, 2009

This morning, Hope Force held a dedication for Carmen’s house, which I have been working on over the past year. Thanks to their hard work and the work of Christian Aid Ministries, the house has turned out very well. Carmen, her husband Clarence, and their children are very happy! The house has a ramp that zig-zags up to a wide front porch, a spacious living room with an adjacent kitchen, and a hallway that leads to the three bedrooms and two bathrooms. See more photos from the dedication on Flickr [19 photos].

The Trace – Building a Neighborhood

April 24, 2009

My updating has not kept up with the progress on The Trace. This is the 28-house Habitat for Humanity neighborhood that Kristen, Sam, Nadene, and I worked on from August through November of last year. Thanks to the effort Habitat has put in over the last nine months, the neighborhood is nearly complete. All it needs is some landscaping work and, of course, people! The certificates of occupancy have been delayed while Habitat waits for the City of Long Beach to approve the neighborhood plat, so nobody has moved in yet, but twelve families have already been selected for houses …

And… I’m Back!

April 6, 2009

Once you stop writing for even a couple days, it’s easy to fall into that bad habit. Life has been eventful recently; there’s plenty to write about, if I can get around to it. There was my parents’ visit in February, a great architecture conference in Dallas called Structures for Inclusion, and more discussions about the mission and values of the GCCDS. Carmen’s house has made a lot of progress, as has the Trace, which is turning out to be a wonderful project. Spring in Biloxi brings all kinds of excitement: I flooded my car in a ditch, saw an …

Mardi Gras.BLX

February 25, 2009

Yesterday was Mardi Gras, the conclusion of the Carnival season. This is the second Mardi Gras I’ve spent in Biloxi. (And Ocean Springs and New Orleans). The parade featured 120 floats and other units and an estimated 85,000 people showed up to watch.

Sunday Gras

February 23, 2009

Sunday was an eventful day and, as usual, I only managed to take a few pictures. I am not sure how to train myself to be better at this. I went to New Orleans with Doug, Jesse, and KC, and met a large group of friends to watch the Krewe of Thoth and Bacchus parades. Here’s a look at Thoth passing our friend’s house on Magazine Street:

Don’t Smoke in Bed

February 21, 2009

Alan, Leah, and I did the TatoNut ride this morning with the Gulf Coast Bicycle Club. About 30 miles total through scenic Ocean Springs, ending at the TatoNut donut shop. When I returned home, I found this scene next door: Nobody seems to have been hurt. Don’t smoke in bed.

So Legit

February 16, 2009

For America, it was yet another Monday; for me, it was my first official day of work as an intern architect in the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio! “Why so excited,” you ask, “when you’ve been working there more or less continuously since September of 2007?” Because — and this is crucial — for the past three of those months, I haven’t been paid. These are the joys of university hiring. Anyway, I’m psyched to have everything finally official. Among the many things I have this week that I didn’t have last week: A job. The expectation of a salary. …

Spring in Biloxi

February 9, 2009

This weekend was sunny and beautiful. Spring in Biloxi is a long, warm, tranquil season that gradually melts into summer. This Friday, Alan and I biked around Ocean Springs; later on, a group of friends and I went to a Seawolves game, stopped in at the Pub, then watched a bad movie, Witch’s Sabbath, back at our house. On Saturday, Ocean Springs held its Mardi Gras parade (the first of the season; different cities and groups stagger their parades between now and Mardi Gras, which is the 24th). Alan, Molly, Brooke, and I met up to watch the parade go …

design, build, learn. repeat.