Boston & Structures for Inclusion

April 9, 2008

Structures for Inclusion was AMAZING. The conference was eye-opening for a lot of people. It was certainly the first conference of its kind to take place at Harvard, and the students at the GSD put a lot of effort into setting it up and making it run smoothly. We had a great representation from Biloxi: nine from the GCCDS, three from Architecture for Humanity, five Mississippi State students, one Minnesota student, and one Hands On volunteer. I finally met the other Design Corps Fellows: Betsy Ramaccia, Megan Clark, Eric Goldman, Jared Hueter, and Ella Scheuer. We more or less got …

Welcome home…

April 9, 2008

Back from Boston! No sooner do I pull out of the airport than my car gets rear-ended by an inattentive Chevy Tahoe. The accident crumples the trunk, smashes some taillights, and causes enough damage to the frame that the car is totaled. Nooo! My poor little car… I wish I could save it, but I can’t afford to. The other person’s insurance will pay me the market value of the car, but I’d have to shell out an extra $2000 to get it repaired. Man… Anyway, Boston and the Structures for Inclusion conference were great, and I’ll have words and …

Going to Boston!

April 3, 2008

I’m very excited about going to Boston tonight for the Structures for Inclusion conference this weekend. Biloxi is sending a large contingent — 9 from our studio, 3 from Architecture for Humanity, and 6 students. I’ll report back — and I may even have a new camera, as my old one is broken.

Alabama Fun Weekend Road Trip & Doonanny

April 1, 2008

OK in 1994 john henry toney was plowing my garden and plowed up a turnip root that had a face in it . 2 eyes a nose and a mouth , looked just like a man . so he drew a picture of it and gave it to me and i gave it to frank turner who ran a dinky junk shop in Pittsview , and he stuck it in his window as a joke and put a $50 dollar price tag on it . well in about a week some folk art collector came along and bought it . …

A (Typical?) Biloxi Week

March 3, 2008

Today (Monday) : Rode my new bike to work for the first time — very exciting. Then I spent all day trying to finish up a drawing set to take in for a building permit, although I didn’t make it. After a late Oak Street steering committee meeting, I went for a very fun first judo class in Ocean Springs with Will. Sunday: It being sunny and warm, we played Sunday football on the beach, the definite highlight of the day. Got lots of laundry done and sorted through most of my old receipts and bills and things. Also, luck …

UVA Visit – the Epic Tale

February 29, 2008

It’s Monday, February 18th, and I’m finishing up at work when I get a message from my friend Chris. He has a challenge for me: be at UVA for the club swim meet that weekend. The time has come to return, and that time is Vince O’Clock. Reason takes over, but is subsequently defeated, and by Tuesday night I have bought my plane tickets. I’ll be flying to North Carolina, where Chris works, on Thursday night, then driving up for an epic three-day weekend in Charlottesville. Pictures and more after the break:

Going to UVA!

February 19, 2008

I am taking a few days off work to go back to UVA! The plan: flying into Greensboro on Thursday night and driving with Chris up to Charlottesville on Friday. Saturday is the Club Swim meet and party, and we’ll stay through Sunday afternoon. If you’ll be around, give me a call! I want to catch up with everyone that I can. Excited!!

(Belated) Happy Mardi Gras

February 9, 2008

Well things have been pretty interesting here on the Gulf Coast, with Mardi Gras and other celebrations. On Saturday I went to New Orleans with friends from Hands On for the Endymion parade and some celebrating in the French Quarter. We slept in my car as planned, had breakfast at the Café Fleur-de-lis, and drove back Sunday morning. Carnival in New Orleans is a sight — people everywhere, mostly inebriated, teetering under mounds of beads and some garish outfits. The parade was certainly the most elaborate I have ever seen. After a while, pushing through crowds of people screaming for …

General Life Updates

January 29, 2008

Hands On’s 80s Roller Skating Party last night was a blast. Wish I had some pictures… hopefully others will make some available. Felt a little sore today, but still played Tuesday night Ultimate until we got downpoured on. The rear window of my car was smashed while it was sitting in the parking lot at work. No clue what happened. Was it done with a brick? Was it done with a stick? Did they run very far? Why was it done to my car? I got it repaired today, putting me awfully close to having spent more money fixing the …

Joining Up

January 8, 2008

It’s back to work, but not yet back into the swing of things. I shifted as of yesterday to being paid by AmeriCorps, which doesn’t change much except that I have a new weekly meeting to go to, extra paperwork, and four days of “orientation” at Hands On this week. Orientation is tedious, and I’d rather be doing work, but so it goes. I’m looking forward to this weekend, however, and to hopefully getting a new client next week. Outside of architecture work, I want to resume learning Spanish. For now I am working on reading Los Diarios de motocicleta …

design, build, learn. repeat.