Monday, November 27, 2023

[mom] and mary

thought i’d share a story about my mom

 

in 1991 a tornado hit the church we attended.  the next day mom went up with her friends to help clean up. they found the blessed virgin mary had fallen into the “v” of a chair that protected her from debris and damage. after removing the wall that was on top of her they found she barely had any damage, just a chip on her dress. mom took mary home and kept her at our house until the new church was built and its there to this day.

 


 


Friday, July 07, 2023

working[remote]

 to bridge the gap and get a longer vacation, i was able to work remote for two days.  for good internet and for the vibe of an office i actually went and check out the local libraries. 











Wednesday, July 05, 2023

group[spritz]

 i'm on a group chat with my college friends.  my college friends are some of my best and the group chat doesn't disappoint.  we're all a little odd, but on the same page.  one person mentioned drinking spritz's so fourth of july turned into this. 

 

 


 




Saturday, June 17, 2023

Saturday, June 10, 2023

something to take the [edge] off

thrilled the the library here in town has made it possible to check out electric tools.  not that i "needed" to edge the yard, but i was able to do it with just at library card!






Friday, April 28, 2023

opening day [squeezed in versinon]

readers of this blog will know that many of my posts involve keeping traditions going.  i love how keeping favorite events or activities going on year after year, give a sort of rhythm to your life.  it provides a structure for memories in a way.  now i'm in no way oppose to new experiences, but i like a few favorites dotted in throughout the year.

one of those is the opening of  "portland lobster company." besides a couple of years during covid, i believe ive been at every opening day for the past 7 years.  it's a sign that spring is finally here.  a time to put that winter coat away and emjoy patios again.  this year was to be no different.  there was one big item that i had going on in my life, so this year's opening day consisted of just one beer on the patio.  


but it still counts!




Tuesday, April 18, 2023

architalx[notes] 2023

my first year in six years i'm not on the architalx board meant that i only attended one lecture this year.  wanting to keep the tradition alive i took notes in the form of doodles during the lecture.



Sunday, April 02, 2023

Thursday, March 23, 2023

slippery when.....[all the time]

 i hate being that guy who covers up hardwood, but these stairs were so slippery.  they've caused one bad fall and many, many near injuries due to their lack of grip.  so a small home improvement task i took on was getting a stair runner in place.  as much as i love learning about my home by taking on projects, i was happy to have a professional install this.





Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Sunday, March 19, 2023

having a [ball]

any kid from the 80's or 90's remembers that pizza hut would put out a commemorative basketball for the ncaa tournament.  i loved these balls and many of them would have logos of the teams on them.


then they didn't.

well this year they brought it back on mini basketballs, and i had to get one!



Friday, March 17, 2023

finally found the [exet]er library

 the exeter library by louis kahn is surprisingly hard to get into to view.

after a few years and several attempts it finally worked out. i found myself in that neck of the woods during spring break, which meant the public could tour the library and take pictures...since there were no students studying.

i'm torn.  there are very few spaces that give me a sense of awe as i walk into them.  this was one of them.  however i'm not sure if it's because it's actually an awe inspiring space or if it's just because ii studied this building back in architecture school and i finally saw it in person.  either way it was an incredible space to walk through and i'm thankful i took the time and patience to finally see it.













Monday, February 20, 2023

pocket full of [cozy]

 im not sure if it's after i moved to new england or if i'm just getting older, but the pursuit of trying to be as cozy as possible is high on my priority list. whether it's a char, or a seat on a bus, or my bed, or a restaurant....dammit i like to be cozy.  i don't have time to waste not being cozy.  it's no surprise that part of being cozy in the winter time is a fireplace and i find myself drawn to restaurants that have fireplaces.  if no fireplaces is available, a wood fired pizza oven is a great alternative.








Wednesday, February 15, 2023

[covid] hit the fan

 well... covid finally hit our house.


after almost three years of avoiding it, it hit our house hard. our daughter was the first one to show symptoms and test positive.  shortly there after my wife and i did as well.  the real annoying part was that our daughter basically recovered from it in 24 hours, right around the time we got it.  it wasn't painful, but i can't lie, it was miserable.  i'm glad we were all vaccinated and handled it relatively well, but it did suck.


as i'm writing this a few weeks after the fact i will include our daughter brought home just about everything including a nasty stomach bug, keeping us all on the sick list the months of february and march...explaining the lack of photos the first part of the year. maybe we'll all be better when the weather is nice here...sometime in july.

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

new[year]new[job]

 the end of 2022 was a bit more stressed than i like my end of years to be.


the firm i worked at for the last seven years was making some changes and needed to let me go.  [basically, my boss wanted to go down to being a sole practitioner and needed me gone to do that] it was all on good terms but still stressful.


the month of december found me dusting off my resume and portfolio and making calls.  thankfully i was able to get interviews at four great firms of which three produced an offer.  after taking a week to think about it, by the end of the month i had a job lined up and started in january.


hard to say if this will be a good thing or not, but there is something very [aligned] about starting a new job in january. a few shots from around the office...now located on the [east end]