a stage full of mistle thrushes

granada_marquee

the_decemberists

last tuesday night, i made a quick decision to go to lawrence to see the decemberists in concert. i had been undecided the whole day, but after finding a few other people that were interested in making the trip over the "that other kansas school" i was able to convince myself. after a few phone calls to my girlfriend it was decided that we'd meet her at the granada. now normally i would have decided that the trip wasn't worth it, but since they are one of my favorite bands, and i know that i could see them with my girlfriend, i decided to go. the decemberists are a great indie band from portland. if you get a chance, listen to them.

my two other friends and i loaded into the car about 7:00 and headed to lawrence. we were running a little late, and were kind of concerned that we might not get tickets. however we walked up to the granada, got our tickets and met jean. to our surprise we hadn't missed the first band. the opening band, sons and daughters, wasn't bad. as surprised as i was listening to them, there is always that anticipation of seeing the band you paid for. the decemberists came out and rock out as expected. they're a very theatrical band, going out and drumming in the crowd, and reenacting being eaten by a giant whale. the only complaint about the concert was the young lad right in front of us, who wanted to dance to every song, in a sort of rhythmic spasm. but what are you going to do, some people just "gotta" dance, and he was obviously a fan.

after the concert we stopped in at jimmy johns, and ate some subs, as we hadn't eaten in our attempt to get to the concert in time. after finishing up, we grabbed some coffee for the trip back. i said good-bye to jean, and we drove west. we all rolled in to manhattan around two, which is no later then a normal night in studio.

i've been into this band for about a year now, and grow to love them more everyday. i never get tired listening to the lyrics and how poetic the words flow together. for the past year their songs have been a staple in the soundtrack to my life. my favorite songs shift depending on what mood i'm in. there is a song on their new album, The Engine Driver, that seems to find it's way to the top of my playlist lately.

colin_meloy

eating_on_the_sidewalk

[hidden]__geometries

geometries found in trajan's forum

this week in in my geometries in architecture class, my partner and i were assinged a project, where we took plans and sections from trajan's forum and tried to find geometries within them. with the few sacred geometries we've learned in class, we set out to see what we could find, looking to see if anything in the plans or sections matched up. in the picture above we've found what we think is the plan based on the sacred cuts. it's not perfect but close. what i found the most interesting however was the process, and how close this assingment parallels my life. you have something presented to you, it's lying in front of you, and you're confused and you can't make sense of it. it might be overwhelming at first. but with a little patience you start to see things. things you can't ignore. you start to see things that line up. you apply what you've learned in the past, lay it over the new problem and things start to come clear. before you know it you've found the answer. now, it might not be perfect but it's close enough to see that it's right. I've felt this many times in my life. i've been confused, and i needed something to unlock it and become clear, sometimes it's patience, hard work, discussion, time, or prayer. in my life, i've learned that everything always works out, somehow......

found_photos

waiting for pizza

this weekend i was looking at pictures on my girlfriends computer, and found some that i had taken but forgotten about. i was delighted that i had found them because of the memories that are connected to the photos, but i had forgotten about them until the moment i clicked open the folder.

i can't believe how times have changed in the last 10 years. i remember waiting months or even seasons to see what pictures had been taken on a roll of film. there was always that slight bit of uncertainty of what was on the roll. "was the birthday party on this roll? or is this the vacation roll?" we'd drop them off at the pharmacy and then wait a week to pick them up. after waiting a week we'd pick up the package. opening a pack of pictures was always a little bit like christmas! we were anxious to see how we looked, and sometimes how much we'd change since the pictures were taken. then there would be those few pictures that had been on there so long that you'd forgotten completely about them.

now with digital photos, you do all this in a matter of seconds. you can see it right after you take it and delete the pic if you're eyes were closed or you didn't get the right angle.

are pictures better or worse because of this technology? did we gain something or loose something with this convenience? i'm a huge fan of sharing my digital photos with the rest of the world, but i do feel that technology is somehow short changing us.

anyway i hope you enjoy the "found photos" i found of one night waiting for pizza. as i finish this blog, i realize that these pictures are only a month old. not even close to the wait of an old roll of 35 mm film i remember from my childhood.


ceiling of flippis pizza grotto in pacific beach

i ain't afraid of no ghost[town]

downtown blaine, kansas

this weekend i went on a little journey to visit some "ghost" towns in rural kansas for a class project. my group and i decided to visit the towns of st. george and blaine. our first stop was st. george which is only a few miles east of manhattan. although it was small i wouldn't consider it a ghost town. there were people walking on the sidewalks and a small crowd in the local cafe. after taking a few pictures of the area my group and i headed up to blaine. we drove to where we thought the town was, and immediately found the church, however we couldn't find the town. we had seen a few abandoned buildings but assumed there was more, we were wrong. the only sign of life we saw were the few people setting up picnic tables at the church. we wondered over and asked a few questions about the town. after a short history of the town they invited us to stay for the picnic but seeing that it was two hours away we weren't sure if we could kill that length of time. driving through town i got out of my truck to take a few pictures. while taking pictures of an abandoned garage, a call pulled over and asked what we were doing. after explaining what we were doing to the older gentleman and his wife, he invited us to talk to his 97 year old mother who lived up the road. deciding to go along for anecdote's sake i followed the couple into a very traditional farm house. upon entering i was that this ladies whole family was gathering for the annual picnic. she explained that the city of blaine was settled by irish catholics from st. louis. the town peaked in 1910 with 250 people but since the decline of the railroad, the town was slowly dying with only a few people remaining. after enjoying some refreshments the family invited my partner and i to be there guests to the picnic. upon hearing that there was mashed potatoes, and pie being served i couldn't turn it down. we went to the church, and ate in the old school basement. during the course of the picnic i was introduced to many people all who gave me a little bit more insight into this small town. after playing a round of bingo and taking a few pictures of the gathering, my partner and i headed back to manhattan, but not with out the brownies and cookies that our new friends had so graciously purchased for us.

inside a forgotten garage

steps to a bank that once stood



doorway to the old depot

st. george grain elevator

my last first day of school

well yesterday was my last first day of school. i was curious as to how many times i've had to got through this and after some disbelief i counted a grand 20 times! 13 for grades k-12, and now seven for college. i'm finally on the last lap of this journey that started in august of '86. instead of heading off to mrs. primm's class with my striped polo shirt, a micky mouse lunch box, and a big chief notebook, i'm heading to professor hoag's class with a solid color polo, a debit card, and a sketchbook. what a trip. anyway....another concern is a name for this blog. i'm not in so-cal anymore, at least not physically, none the less i need a new name. so just wait for the change. also not posting pictures on this blog is starting to bore me, since that's the reason i started this, so i'll just wait untill i get my computer hooked in studio, and start again.