6.24.2008
Red paint.
daily weigh-in: 128.0 lb
running on: 7 hours of sleep
The next project on our list of home improvement tasks is a big one! We need to paint the exterior of our house. Lucky for Halsey I'm a designer... I downloaded Benjamin Moore's swatches from their "architects and designers" website, selected some colors for our house, and created a collage for Halsey to see, which included a preview of what our back porch might look like in Harvard CRIMSON!
running on: 7 hours of sleep
The next project on our list of home improvement tasks is a big one! We need to paint the exterior of our house. Lucky for Halsey I'm a designer... I downloaded Benjamin Moore's swatches from their "architects and designers" website, selected some colors for our house, and created a collage for Halsey to see, which included a preview of what our back porch might look like in Harvard CRIMSON!
Labels: DIY, home improvement
6.15.2008
Maine event.
daily weigh-in: 134.0 lb
running on: 8 hours of sleep
I've been meaning to blog about a few trips to Maine that Halsey and I went on this month. We went up to his family's home over the first weekend of June to prepare for the arrival of a new float. Last year the wood float that Halsey & his family/friends designed & built 15 years ago finally suffered a fantastic failure, which meant a new float had to be built or purchased this year. Halsey spent lots of time researching and considering a fancy fiberglass type of float to replace the damaged wood float, and eventually his family made the decision to go forward with that idea. The fiberglass float is about 4X lighter than a wood float of the same size, which means it might be possible for Halsey and his family to pull it out of the water each winter by themselves instead of storing it at a boat yard, where it might be subject to damage as the tide brings it up and down each day. A second advantage of the fiberglass float is that it may be more durable and last a lot longer than a wood float.
Here are some pics from our first trip, which involved a lot of preparation work down at the pier, and some animal viewings in and around the house:
Here is the set of photos from our second trip showing the two day process of getting the float off of the delivery truck and attached to the pier!
Day 1:
Day 2:
The end!
Of course I couldn't resist taking a few pictures before we caught the ferry to come back home:
running on: 8 hours of sleep
I've been meaning to blog about a few trips to Maine that Halsey and I went on this month. We went up to his family's home over the first weekend of June to prepare for the arrival of a new float. Last year the wood float that Halsey & his family/friends designed & built 15 years ago finally suffered a fantastic failure, which meant a new float had to be built or purchased this year. Halsey spent lots of time researching and considering a fancy fiberglass type of float to replace the damaged wood float, and eventually his family made the decision to go forward with that idea. The fiberglass float is about 4X lighter than a wood float of the same size, which means it might be possible for Halsey and his family to pull it out of the water each winter by themselves instead of storing it at a boat yard, where it might be subject to damage as the tide brings it up and down each day. A second advantage of the fiberglass float is that it may be more durable and last a lot longer than a wood float.Here are some pics from our first trip, which involved a lot of preparation work down at the pier, and some animal viewings in and around the house:
Here is the set of photos from our second trip showing the two day process of getting the float off of the delivery truck and attached to the pier!
Day 1:
Day 2:
The end!
Of course I couldn't resist taking a few pictures before we caught the ferry to come back home:
6.14.2008
Home improvement.
daily weigh-in: 132.5 lb
running on: 9 hours of sleep
I have some great news! Maggie (the magnolia tree that Halsey & I planted in place of our poison ivy patch last spring :: please refer to Progress in Suburbia) has bloomed! And her flowers smell so yummy!
Yesterday & last weekend we spent some family time outside rebuilding part of our back porch, scraping it, and prepping it to be painted. Halsey built a new railing, I cleaned the railing on the front porch so it could be painted, and Sequoia climbed a tree.
Today (when it stops raining) we are going to paint the back porch RED! And I'm going to finish wire brushing the front railing...
running on: 9 hours of sleep
I have some great news! Maggie (the magnolia tree that Halsey & I planted in place of our poison ivy patch last spring :: please refer to Progress in Suburbia) has bloomed! And her flowers smell so yummy!
Yesterday & last weekend we spent some family time outside rebuilding part of our back porch, scraping it, and prepping it to be painted. Halsey built a new railing, I cleaned the railing on the front porch so it could be painted, and Sequoia climbed a tree.
Today (when it stops raining) we are going to paint the back porch RED! And I'm going to finish wire brushing the front railing...
6.07.2008
Summer time.
daily weigh-in: 134.5 lb
running on: 8 hours of sleep
Let me begin my post by saying that even though I never expected to be living in suburbia at this point in my life & some of my friends think it is lame, today I realized that it is totally worth it if you can borrow your neighbor's power washer and blast the dirt off of your house with water all day in 92-degree heat. It is a very satisfying feeling, one that I am sure you can not find in Boston proper.
My boyfriend is once again more famous than me. Check out his article in today's New York Times: A Museum That Lets Its Visitors Become Part of the Art.
Also, my cat is now more famous than me: An homage to the Sydney Opera House (Stuff on my Cat 05/13/2008).
running on: 8 hours of sleep
Let me begin my post by saying that even though I never expected to be living in suburbia at this point in my life & some of my friends think it is lame, today I realized that it is totally worth it if you can borrow your neighbor's power washer and blast the dirt off of your house with water all day in 92-degree heat. It is a very satisfying feeling, one that I am sure you can not find in Boston proper.
My boyfriend is once again more famous than me. Check out his article in today's New York Times: A Museum That Lets Its Visitors Become Part of the Art.
Also, my cat is now more famous than me: An homage to the Sydney Opera House (Stuff on my Cat 05/13/2008).
Labels: home improvement
4.01.2008
News.
daily weigh-in: 133.0 lb
running on: 8 hours of sleep
I know I have been MIA for a while, but I've been working and doing stuff.... Anyway, I have some things to discuss. I'm loving the new dialogue about mixed race people in the New York Times: Who Are We? New Dialogue on Mixed Race. Stop making me check just one box!
Now for some work news. Check out the latest LWA project under construction via the MIT Media Lab webcam.
And of course, my dear super-talented Halsey has been very busy preparing for & launching ROUND, an exhibit at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT. He's also performing live with his band Aesthetic Evidence on Thursday at First Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:30pm.
I was bitterly disappointed this weekend because I went to see the movie 21, which was shot in Boston last year. I managed to wander onto the set, which was right across the street from my office, and was placed as an extra in the scene where Kevin Spacey & Jim Sturgess are walking through Chinatown. The good news is that my scene was not cut from the movie. The bad news is that I am one of the very blurry shapes in the background at the point where the two actors stop to talk after walking past the dancing dragon. So you can't see me. Boooooo.
OK that's it for now. Hopefully I'll start blogging again more regularly. It's hard because life is less crazy now that I'm done with architecture school. I don't want to write about boring stuff like having a job and sleeping regular hours.
running on: 8 hours of sleep
I know I have been MIA for a while, but I've been working and doing stuff.... Anyway, I have some things to discuss. I'm loving the new dialogue about mixed race people in the New York Times: Who Are We? New Dialogue on Mixed Race. Stop making me check just one box!
Now for some work news. Check out the latest LWA project under construction via the MIT Media Lab webcam.
And of course, my dear super-talented Halsey has been very busy preparing for & launching ROUND, an exhibit at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT. He's also performing live with his band Aesthetic Evidence on Thursday at First Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:30pm.
I was bitterly disappointed this weekend because I went to see the movie 21, which was shot in Boston last year. I managed to wander onto the set, which was right across the street from my office, and was placed as an extra in the scene where Kevin Spacey & Jim Sturgess are walking through Chinatown. The good news is that my scene was not cut from the movie. The bad news is that I am one of the very blurry shapes in the background at the point where the two actors stop to talk after walking past the dancing dragon. So you can't see me. Boooooo.
OK that's it for now. Hopefully I'll start blogging again more regularly. It's hard because life is less crazy now that I'm done with architecture school. I don't want to write about boring stuff like having a job and sleeping regular hours.
1.03.2008
It's a new year...
daily weigh-in: 135.0 lb with sub-arctic snow outfit on
running on: 8 hours of sleep
I wrote the date down today for the first time this year and I realized, hey it's 2008! It's also 2 degrees Fahrenheit outside right now. Hooray for January in Boston. I've been busy so I haven't been blogging, but here's an update...
The month of December set the record for the most snowfall EVER in December:
Halsey and I spent Christmas in Connecticut with his family. Here are some special moments that I captured on film:
running on: 8 hours of sleep
I wrote the date down today for the first time this year and I realized, hey it's 2008! It's also 2 degrees Fahrenheit outside right now. Hooray for January in Boston. I've been busy so I haven't been blogging, but here's an update...
The month of December set the record for the most snowfall EVER in December:
Halsey and I spent Christmas in Connecticut with his family. Here are some special moments that I captured on film:
12.09.2007
In memory of William C. Duncan, 1926-2007.
daily weigh-in: 134.5 lb
running on: 10 hours of sleep
My grandpa Duncan passed away last Monday 12/3 after a long battle with cancer =( I will miss him... For now his obituary is posted here.
running on: 10 hours of sleep
My grandpa Duncan passed away last Monday 12/3 after a long battle with cancer =( I will miss him... For now his obituary is posted here.
11.25.2007
You can tell you live in suburbia when....
daily weigh-in: 139.0 lb
running on: 8 hours of sleep
...all of your blog postings are about your house or your cat. Well, this post is about both! So there!
Sometime during the completion of my awesome 3D puzzle of the Sydney Opera House, the shell structure began to look like a cat outfit. So... we put it on Sequoia, naturally. I think it makes a great storm trooper outfit. Anyway, we submitted the photo to StuffonMyCat.com and hopefully we will see the photo posted soon!
This week Halsey and I have taken on the kitchen walls. The original owners had once installed a lovely wallpaper to match the tile behind the stove. A second layer of wallpaper had been attached later, and finally a third layer of wallpaper was glued over that. So either the two prior re-wallpaper-ers had neglected to scrape the glue off of the walls before applying their lovely paper, or the first or last person to wallpaper used wayyyyyyyyy tooooooo much glue, because there is a thick layer of glue that I have been scraping off for a week now. I just finished last night.
Now we just have to finish skim coating / sanding all of the walls so we can prime and paint! Yay!
running on: 8 hours of sleep
...all of your blog postings are about your house or your cat. Well, this post is about both! So there!
Sometime during the completion of my awesome 3D puzzle of the Sydney Opera House, the shell structure began to look like a cat outfit. So... we put it on Sequoia, naturally. I think it makes a great storm trooper outfit. Anyway, we submitted the photo to StuffonMyCat.com and hopefully we will see the photo posted soon!
This week Halsey and I have taken on the kitchen walls. The original owners had once installed a lovely wallpaper to match the tile behind the stove. A second layer of wallpaper had been attached later, and finally a third layer of wallpaper was glued over that. So either the two prior re-wallpaper-ers had neglected to scrape the glue off of the walls before applying their lovely paper, or the first or last person to wallpaper used wayyyyyyyyy tooooooo much glue, because there is a thick layer of glue that I have been scraping off for a week now. I just finished last night.
Now we just have to finish skim coating / sanding all of the walls so we can prime and paint! Yay!
Labels: home improvement, Sequoia
11.06.2007
Pumpkins pumpkins!
daily weigh-in: 136.0 lb
running on: 7 hours of sleep
This year I carved two pumpkins and it was very exciting. I don't think I ever carved a pumpkin when I was kid... maybe there was something about the combination of ADHD and knives that scared my parents... anyway, my first pumpkin carving experience was at Halsey's friend Mike MacHenry's pumpkin carving party the weekend before Halloween. I think I did a pretty darn good job! By day my pumpkin looked like a smiley pumpkin head, but by night it was an eerie cityscape!
Halsey and I threw our first party together this past weekend, even though his "Annual Pumpkin Carving Party" has been an event in Bedford for a few years now... I dressed as a nurse and Halsey was my patient! Our friends crept out of their safe urban habitat and faced wild suburbia for one whole night! There were many excellent pumpkins carved at our party... I decided to be a bit less ambitious this time, so I carved a simple cat face.
running on: 7 hours of sleep
This year I carved two pumpkins and it was very exciting. I don't think I ever carved a pumpkin when I was kid... maybe there was something about the combination of ADHD and knives that scared my parents... anyway, my first pumpkin carving experience was at Halsey's friend Mike MacHenry's pumpkin carving party the weekend before Halloween. I think I did a pretty darn good job! By day my pumpkin looked like a smiley pumpkin head, but by night it was an eerie cityscape!
Halsey and I threw our first party together this past weekend, even though his "Annual Pumpkin Carving Party" has been an event in Bedford for a few years now... I dressed as a nurse and Halsey was my patient! Our friends crept out of their safe urban habitat and faced wild suburbia for one whole night! There were many excellent pumpkins carved at our party... I decided to be a bit less ambitious this time, so I carved a simple cat face.
Happy belated Halloween...
daily weigh-in: 139.0 lb
running on: 7 hours of sleep
Oh yeah, and I turned 28 last week.... Halsey made me the best Funfetti™ cake ever, plus he decorated the house with some sweet balloons:
One of the things Halsey got me for my birthday is an awesome 3D puzzle of the Sydney Opera House, which is in fact so cool you can't even get it in the USA or UK anymore. Halsey had to go international to find me such a nerdy birthday present. At least it's not as embarrassing as what I got him for his birthday... 2 tickets to see the "So You Think You Can Dance?" tour in Manchester, NH! Muahahaha, but it was so worth it to see Sabra dance and learn that Danny wasn't an arrogant @$$ at all, just a little shy & awkward when he has to talk in front of crowds. PLUS, we got to see Hok (whom we affectionately deemed "Hok Pocket," or "Hok Pocket-chan" for those Nihon-jin out there, because he is so cute you just want to put him in your pocket and carry him around with you) do Wade Robson's hummingbird dance. Soooo worth the embarrassment of being surrounded by 14 year old girls & their mothers all night...
I was also lucky enough to celebrate my birthday with my parents & brother in my hometown of Westminster, MA. My very loving parents created a minimalist birthday cake this year... it might have had something to do with the fact that the Red Sox were playing in the World Series that afternoon...
running on: 7 hours of sleep
Oh yeah, and I turned 28 last week.... Halsey made me the best Funfetti™ cake ever, plus he decorated the house with some sweet balloons:
One of the things Halsey got me for my birthday is an awesome 3D puzzle of the Sydney Opera House, which is in fact so cool you can't even get it in the USA or UK anymore. Halsey had to go international to find me such a nerdy birthday present. At least it's not as embarrassing as what I got him for his birthday... 2 tickets to see the "So You Think You Can Dance?" tour in Manchester, NH! Muahahaha, but it was so worth it to see Sabra dance and learn that Danny wasn't an arrogant @$$ at all, just a little shy & awkward when he has to talk in front of crowds. PLUS, we got to see Hok (whom we affectionately deemed "Hok Pocket," or "Hok Pocket-chan" for those Nihon-jin out there, because he is so cute you just want to put him in your pocket and carry him around with you) do Wade Robson's hummingbird dance. Soooo worth the embarrassment of being surrounded by 14 year old girls & their mothers all night...
I was also lucky enough to celebrate my birthday with my parents & brother in my hometown of Westminster, MA. My very loving parents created a minimalist birthday cake this year... it might have had something to do with the fact that the Red Sox were playing in the World Series that afternoon...
10.27.2007
Revolving boyfriend?
daily weigh-in: ? lb
running on: 8 hours of sleep
Noooo..... just Halsey and his band performed at the Revolving Museum in Lowell last night!
running on: 8 hours of sleep
Noooo..... just Halsey and his band performed at the Revolving Museum in Lowell last night!
10.26.2007
Walking through Boston.
daily weigh-in: ? lb
running on: 8 hours of sleep
I've seen many interesting art pieces cropping up in Boston. I took some photos on my walk to work this morning:
running on: 8 hours of sleep
I've seen many interesting art pieces cropping up in Boston. I took some photos on my walk to work this morning:
More bizarre cat behavior.
daily weigh-in: ? lb
running on: 8 hours of sleep
I haven't lived with a cat in quite a few years, but I do know that Halsey's cat Sequoia is not normal. Look where he chooses to sleep! Wedged between Halsey's desk and his weight bench! He'll do anything to snuggle up with the heat vent...
running on: 8 hours of sleep
I haven't lived with a cat in quite a few years, but I do know that Halsey's cat Sequoia is not normal. Look where he chooses to sleep! Wedged between Halsey's desk and his weight bench! He'll do anything to snuggle up with the heat vent...
10.18.2007
I am not your mascot.
daily weigh-in: 138.0 lb
running on: 6 hours of sleep
I hate the Cleveland Indians. And it has nothing to do with the fact that they're leading in the series against the Red Sox right now.
running on: 6 hours of sleep
I hate the Cleveland Indians. And it has nothing to do with the fact that they're leading in the series against the Red Sox right now.
10.16.2007
Why it's fun to have a cat.
daily weigh-in: 142.0 lb
running on: 7 hours of sleep
Sometimes they sit on you inappropriately and think it's totally normal.
running on: 7 hours of sleep
Sometimes they sit on you inappropriately and think it's totally normal.
10.14.2007
Progress in suburbia.
daily weigh-in: 141.0 lb
running on: 7.5 hours of sleep
Halsey has magically transformed our nice mound of dirt into an extension of our lawn and a magnificent magnolia tree. This is an area where a bunch of gnarly bushes used to thrive. Here are some before and after shots:
Before the dirt came (but after we cleared out the gnarly bushes):
After the dirt came:
Now:
We're also considering planting bamboo in our yard. It's pretty. And Asian.
And here's a lovely picture of me & my newly adopted cat who loves me enthusiastically probably because I eat a lot of meat and his father is a vegetarian (ahem... Halsey). Also he probably loves me because I'm ALLERGIC to him. His name is Sequoia. He is named after a tree. There's also a tree called "meta-Sequoia" which is what I would a name our second cat if we ever got a second cat, which we WOULDN'T because I am allergic to cats. But you have to admit our cat is awfully cute:
I also have some pictures to share from last weekend's event in Burlington, VT:
Halsey is SUCH a rock star. I love him =) *sigh*
In other news, my two-time "buttmate" (It's an architecture thing. If you don't get it, don't worry about it.) Big Al, a.k.a. Templetoes, turned 26 tonight! SOOOO old..... anyway, I attended the festivities at his apartment in Boston's South End this evening. It was a joint "Sweet 26" birthday party with his good friend Chris. Alec's better half Sarah made a rockin' cake. Here are some incriminating pictures:
While I was at Alec's "Sweet 26" party I had a chance to peruse Everything I Ate by Tucker Shaw, and I must say I was inspired. I know I log my weight each time I post a blog entry, but what if I photo blogged all of the food I ate!?! Halsey already thinks I'm a freak because I look like I weight about 15 lbs less than I actually do, I eat A LOT, and I have been known to enter bacon eating contests and not come in last place. This could bring my blogging to a whole new level. I start tomorrow.
running on: 7.5 hours of sleep
Halsey has magically transformed our nice mound of dirt into an extension of our lawn and a magnificent magnolia tree. This is an area where a bunch of gnarly bushes used to thrive. Here are some before and after shots:
Before the dirt came (but after we cleared out the gnarly bushes):
After the dirt came:
Now:
We're also considering planting bamboo in our yard. It's pretty. And Asian.
And here's a lovely picture of me & my newly adopted cat who loves me enthusiastically probably because I eat a lot of meat and his father is a vegetarian (ahem... Halsey). Also he probably loves me because I'm ALLERGIC to him. His name is Sequoia. He is named after a tree. There's also a tree called "meta-Sequoia" which is what I would a name our second cat if we ever got a second cat, which we WOULDN'T because I am allergic to cats. But you have to admit our cat is awfully cute:
I also have some pictures to share from last weekend's event in Burlington, VT:
Halsey is SUCH a rock star. I love him =) *sigh*
In other news, my two-time "buttmate" (It's an architecture thing. If you don't get it, don't worry about it.) Big Al, a.k.a. Templetoes, turned 26 tonight! SOOOO old..... anyway, I attended the festivities at his apartment in Boston's South End this evening. It was a joint "Sweet 26" birthday party with his good friend Chris. Alec's better half Sarah made a rockin' cake. Here are some incriminating pictures:
While I was at Alec's "Sweet 26" party I had a chance to peruse Everything I Ate by Tucker Shaw, and I must say I was inspired. I know I log my weight each time I post a blog entry, but what if I photo blogged all of the food I ate!?! Halsey already thinks I'm a freak because I look like I weight about 15 lbs less than I actually do, I eat A LOT, and I have been known to enter bacon eating contests and not come in last place. This could bring my blogging to a whole new level. I start tomorrow.
9.26.2007
Bought some dirt today...
daily weigh-in: 135.0 lb
running on: 7 hours of sleep
Firstly, today we launched the new Leers Weinzapfel Associates fancy flash-based website... check it out:
http://www.lwa-architects.com/
Otherwise, things have been very hectic lately. On Saturday Halsey & clambered around in our poison ivy patch in the backyard clearing out all of the evil plants that have been plaguing my darling boyfriend. He has had chronic poison ivy since the beginning of August! Even though I've been removing the plants and working in the same areas of the yard as Halsey among the alleged poison ivy plants, it hasn't affected me yet. It would be so ironic for me to not be allergic to poison ivy since I'm allergic to EVERYTHING ELSE KNOWN TO MAN. And poor Halsey has to suffer through the itching all by his lonesome. I guess I should feel lucky. Anyway, we cleared out the big area of the yard and moved some huge boulders back to the stone wall using an innovative technique that I like to call the "shove smaller rocks where the giant rock used to be while lifting the giant rock with a poorly fashioned lever and fulcrum" technique. Anyway, we've decided to plant a magnolia tree, maybe some clumping bamboo, and grass to extend the lawn into the large hole where the rocks and poison ivy used to grow. So this morning a large truck drove into our yard and dumped 3 yards of dirt into the hole! Woohoo!
Yesterday I went up to Burlington, VT to watch Halsey's band Aesthetic Evidence perform at club Metronome above Nectar's. They did great! I also got to spend some quality time with Nikki, my good friend from high school, since she lives in Burlington with her husband.
running on: 7 hours of sleep
Firstly, today we launched the new Leers Weinzapfel Associates fancy flash-based website... check it out:
http://www.lwa-architects.com/
Otherwise, things have been very hectic lately. On Saturday Halsey & clambered around in our poison ivy patch in the backyard clearing out all of the evil plants that have been plaguing my darling boyfriend. He has had chronic poison ivy since the beginning of August! Even though I've been removing the plants and working in the same areas of the yard as Halsey among the alleged poison ivy plants, it hasn't affected me yet. It would be so ironic for me to not be allergic to poison ivy since I'm allergic to EVERYTHING ELSE KNOWN TO MAN. And poor Halsey has to suffer through the itching all by his lonesome. I guess I should feel lucky. Anyway, we cleared out the big area of the yard and moved some huge boulders back to the stone wall using an innovative technique that I like to call the "shove smaller rocks where the giant rock used to be while lifting the giant rock with a poorly fashioned lever and fulcrum" technique. Anyway, we've decided to plant a magnolia tree, maybe some clumping bamboo, and grass to extend the lawn into the large hole where the rocks and poison ivy used to grow. So this morning a large truck drove into our yard and dumped 3 yards of dirt into the hole! Woohoo!
Yesterday I went up to Burlington, VT to watch Halsey's band Aesthetic Evidence perform at club Metronome above Nectar's. They did great! I also got to spend some quality time with Nikki, my good friend from high school, since she lives in Burlington with her husband.
9.07.2007
Busy bee.
daily weigh-in: no idea
running on: 6 hours of sleep + 1 RockStar energy drink
The past few weeks have been crazy. There's that whole "working 40 hours per week" thing that I am still getting used to... we have a deadline today for a 100% design development drawing set, so that is keeping me very busy at work. Last weekend I officially moved in with Halsey, so I now live in his house in Bedford, MA! That reduced my car insurance payment by about 33%... The move has already taken up lots of my free time, and my weekends are booked through October. Halsey has managed to sign me up for three weddings (congrats Susie, Rick & Rob!), many hours of wood chopping / yard work (according to Maura's husband Pete, this is called "nesting"), and other fun weekend activities / trips. In addition to all of this, Halsey has several performances coming up that I will be attending. You should come too. Check out the schedule of Aesthetic Evidence's upcoming shows. All the cool kids are doing it.
running on: 6 hours of sleep + 1 RockStar energy drink
The past few weeks have been crazy. There's that whole "working 40 hours per week" thing that I am still getting used to... we have a deadline today for a 100% design development drawing set, so that is keeping me very busy at work. Last weekend I officially moved in with Halsey, so I now live in his house in Bedford, MA! That reduced my car insurance payment by about 33%... The move has already taken up lots of my free time, and my weekends are booked through October. Halsey has managed to sign me up for three weddings (congrats Susie, Rick & Rob!), many hours of wood chopping / yard work (according to Maura's husband Pete, this is called "nesting"), and other fun weekend activities / trips. In addition to all of this, Halsey has several performances coming up that I will be attending. You should come too. Check out the schedule of Aesthetic Evidence's upcoming shows. All the cool kids are doing it.
8.15.2007
Entertainment update.
daily weigh-in: 135.0 lb
running on: 7 hours of sleep
My blogging has been terrible lately, I know. Today I calculated that in the three years that I have had a Netflix subscription, I have watched 244 movies (that's an average of 0.2 movies per day) which means I have paid $2.89 per movie rental. That makes me feel good about my decision to join Netflix, considering it costs $5+ to rent movies in stores.
In slightly more exciting news, Halsey & I bought a giant flat panel LCD HDTV for his house this week. It's a 37" screen and it is hot hot hot! My old *refurbished* (bad bad bad) Olevia 27" LCD HDTV died. Let's be honest though, it was never really alive. Within the first few months that I had it, it would sometimes... not turn on. As in, the happy blue light that indicates that the TV is plugged in but not turned on simply was not blue. And sometimes it would turn off when we were in the middle of watching a really important show. Right at the end usually. I was busy with thesis so I couldn't deal with it, and hey, it worked sometimes... I thought my apartment with the crappy electricity that would blow a fuse every time you used the hair dryer and the toaster at the same time could be to blame for the power problem. Eventually the TV stopped working altogether and the Olevia tech support people thought it was a power supply failure. So I bought a new power supply box for $60 and installed it myself. It fixed the power supply problem (the blue light would turn on), but the screen wouldn't light up. Finally they made me send it back across the country (for $80 shipping) only to tell me that it would cost $100 more than what I originally paid for the TV in the first place to fix it! (Of course it was super cheap in the first place, which is why I bought it!).... And then of course there was nothing customer service could do, so I just told them they could keep my stupid TV and shove it... somewhere nice. I hate Olevia's customer service so much right now... don't ever buy a refurbished TV from them, and make sure you're getting has at least a 1-year warranty if you buy a new one from them. End of rant.
Of course, being the poor recent architecture school grad that I am, I bought another Olevia TV because they really are the cheapest brand out there, and the picture is soooo nice. I made sure to get the TV with the 1-year on-site warranty though. Anyway, it's happy and pretty (for the time being) & somehow its tuner picks up all of the network stations in HD through Halsey's rabbit ears! Who knew?? We watched the movie "300" on it last night and it was awesome. Ah, the struggles of love / hate relationships.... I'm torn.
running on: 7 hours of sleep
My blogging has been terrible lately, I know. Today I calculated that in the three years that I have had a Netflix subscription, I have watched 244 movies (that's an average of 0.2 movies per day) which means I have paid $2.89 per movie rental. That makes me feel good about my decision to join Netflix, considering it costs $5+ to rent movies in stores.
In slightly more exciting news, Halsey & I bought a giant flat panel LCD HDTV for his house this week. It's a 37" screen and it is hot hot hot! My old *refurbished* (bad bad bad) Olevia 27" LCD HDTV died. Let's be honest though, it was never really alive. Within the first few months that I had it, it would sometimes... not turn on. As in, the happy blue light that indicates that the TV is plugged in but not turned on simply was not blue. And sometimes it would turn off when we were in the middle of watching a really important show. Right at the end usually. I was busy with thesis so I couldn't deal with it, and hey, it worked sometimes... I thought my apartment with the crappy electricity that would blow a fuse every time you used the hair dryer and the toaster at the same time could be to blame for the power problem. Eventually the TV stopped working altogether and the Olevia tech support people thought it was a power supply failure. So I bought a new power supply box for $60 and installed it myself. It fixed the power supply problem (the blue light would turn on), but the screen wouldn't light up. Finally they made me send it back across the country (for $80 shipping) only to tell me that it would cost $100 more than what I originally paid for the TV in the first place to fix it! (Of course it was super cheap in the first place, which is why I bought it!).... And then of course there was nothing customer service could do, so I just told them they could keep my stupid TV and shove it... somewhere nice. I hate Olevia's customer service so much right now... don't ever buy a refurbished TV from them, and make sure you're getting has at least a 1-year warranty if you buy a new one from them. End of rant.
Of course, being the poor recent architecture school grad that I am, I bought another Olevia TV because they really are the cheapest brand out there, and the picture is soooo nice. I made sure to get the TV with the 1-year on-site warranty though. Anyway, it's happy and pretty (for the time being) & somehow its tuner picks up all of the network stations in HD through Halsey's rabbit ears! Who knew?? We watched the movie "300" on it last night and it was awesome. Ah, the struggles of love / hate relationships.... I'm torn.
8.01.2007
Woe is me.
daily weigh-in: 137.0 lb
running on: 6 hours of sleep
As you can see, my blogging time has not increased in the past week. Unfortunately my roommate with the internet/cable TV account moved out and canceled our service. And of course NONE of the 20 or so visible wireless networks in my area are open networks. What the h*#@ is wrong with you people? Can't you see that I need to get online? My adoring public is suffering without news of my life!
Well, here's a very brief update: a few weeks ago my grandparents (on my dad's side) celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary! Congratulations! That's a really really really long time... My pro photog bro snapped this fine picture of the whole family (even Heather & Halsey made the cut!):
Speaking of my pro bro, two Sundays ago I attended the opening of his first photography exhibition at Jumpin' Juice & Java in Gardner, MA. You can go there and look at his pretty photos on the wall and order prints from his. So do that. Now. Or I won't be your friend anymore. Here's a picture of I took of his pictures. WEIRD, right!?!?!?
This past weekend I took a few days off from work and traveled up to Maine with Halsey where his family has a house. I got to meet his sister & her husband, plus spend lots of time with his whole family... it was super fun!
While we were vacationing, we completed several projects... which apparently is what we do whilst on vacation in Maine. For example, the float had some damaged decking that needed to be replaced, so Halsey and I spent a day ripping up the decking and replacing it. Here are some pics in case I am not being clear:
The next day it was realized that the well cover needed repair. Just a quick reapplication of the tar paper. Oh, did I say quick? I meant another full day of cutting boards and nailing things together:
I've got to say, it's a darn good thing I'm an architect and reformed mechanical engineer, because I actually do get a huge kick out of these things.... which of course is why I blog primarily about them.... There were however some more quintessential moments captured during our vacation, most importantly the lovely sailing:
Halsey won't tell you this himself, but he is quite the accomplished sailor. He even competed on the team at Yale. I know what you're thinking... keeper!
OK that is all for now. I'll still try to blog some pics from Yellowstone as it was quite beautiful. For now I can refer you to my picture of my brother's picture of Yellowstone. It can be yours for only $260...
running on: 6 hours of sleep
As you can see, my blogging time has not increased in the past week. Unfortunately my roommate with the internet/cable TV account moved out and canceled our service. And of course NONE of the 20 or so visible wireless networks in my area are open networks. What the h*#@ is wrong with you people? Can't you see that I need to get online? My adoring public is suffering without news of my life!
Well, here's a very brief update: a few weeks ago my grandparents (on my dad's side) celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary! Congratulations! That's a really really really long time... My pro photog bro snapped this fine picture of the whole family (even Heather & Halsey made the cut!):
Speaking of my pro bro, two Sundays ago I attended the opening of his first photography exhibition at Jumpin' Juice & Java in Gardner, MA. You can go there and look at his pretty photos on the wall and order prints from his. So do that. Now. Or I won't be your friend anymore. Here's a picture of I took of his pictures. WEIRD, right!?!?!?
This past weekend I took a few days off from work and traveled up to Maine with Halsey where his family has a house. I got to meet his sister & her husband, plus spend lots of time with his whole family... it was super fun!
While we were vacationing, we completed several projects... which apparently is what we do whilst on vacation in Maine. For example, the float had some damaged decking that needed to be replaced, so Halsey and I spent a day ripping up the decking and replacing it. Here are some pics in case I am not being clear:
The next day it was realized that the well cover needed repair. Just a quick reapplication of the tar paper. Oh, did I say quick? I meant another full day of cutting boards and nailing things together:
I've got to say, it's a darn good thing I'm an architect and reformed mechanical engineer, because I actually do get a huge kick out of these things.... which of course is why I blog primarily about them.... There were however some more quintessential moments captured during our vacation, most importantly the lovely sailing:
Halsey won't tell you this himself, but he is quite the accomplished sailor. He even competed on the team at Yale. I know what you're thinking... keeper!
OK that is all for now. I'll still try to blog some pics from Yellowstone as it was quite beautiful. For now I can refer you to my picture of my brother's picture of Yellowstone. It can be yours for only $260...
Labels: apartment, family, Maine, photography, travel
7.25.2007
Thanks Maura.
daily weigh-in: 136.5 lb
running on: 5 hours of sleep
My dear best friend, Maura, has pointed out that there is a video of me on YouTube from the bacon eating contest back in February! Check it out:
running on: 5 hours of sleep
My dear best friend, Maura, has pointed out that there is a video of me on YouTube from the bacon eating contest back in February! Check it out:
Labels: random events
7.23.2007
I can do anything you can do, better.
daily weigh-in: 135.0 lb
running on: 5.5 hours of sleep
I have been working full time since I got back from Wyoming/Montana and I have yet to time-manage blogging into my new schedule =( Working 40 hours a week is something I haven't done in about 4 years, so I'm a little stressed by the change! You'd think working 80 hours a week at school would have made this transition a relief, but it's very different... I don't like conforming to the 9am-6pm schedule because I always forget to schedule appointments and take care of basic errands during these normal business hours.
Thus, I will post this article to get back on track. It's from the Washington Post and it was written today about the firm I work for (Leers Weinzapfel Associates): Shaping the City: Award for Boston Firm Shows How Far Women Have Come in Architecture.
I still want to post some pictures from my Yellowstone trip, and I have yet to organize my final thesis material for posting purposes! ugh!
running on: 5.5 hours of sleep
I have been working full time since I got back from Wyoming/Montana and I have yet to time-manage blogging into my new schedule =( Working 40 hours a week is something I haven't done in about 4 years, so I'm a little stressed by the change! You'd think working 80 hours a week at school would have made this transition a relief, but it's very different... I don't like conforming to the 9am-6pm schedule because I always forget to schedule appointments and take care of basic errands during these normal business hours.
Thus, I will post this article to get back on track. It's from the Washington Post and it was written today about the firm I work for (Leers Weinzapfel Associates): Shaping the City: Award for Boston Firm Shows How Far Women Have Come in Architecture.
I still want to post some pictures from my Yellowstone trip, and I have yet to organize my final thesis material for posting purposes! ugh!
Labels: architecture, work
