san francisco quickie

monday | 10.05
_we're told at the very end of a very long review that an impromptu field trip has been planned to san francisco so we can visit the california academy of sciences and other museums, since we're designing an energy museum this semester.
_it just so happens that outside of studio, for another class, freckles, kydrich, gramps, and i are also doing a case study of the california academy of sciences building. we archinerds squeal.
_freckles' parents apparently have a wonderful flat up in SF, too, which we can stay in gratis.
_EEEEEE!

tuesday-wednesday | 10.06-07
_begging of instructors of other classes to postpone deadlines and due dates.
_frantic trip-planning while trying to get the rest of our work done.
_much waffling back and forth on driving vs. flying.

thursday | 10.08
_slept 3 hours in the morning.
_franctically packed for the weekend in 20 minutes.
_went to classes, presented our work (last, which meant we were in class until past 10 PM).
_hopped in gramps' '89 volvo wagon with freckles, gramps, gramps' wife, and dirigible boy.
drove all night. well, gramps did.
_road trip bonding conversation topics:
__what kinds of things we would teach at our future schools of badassery.
__[i pointed out all the boys' suggestions were redneck activities. they then began to add in ninja skills.]
__architecture's social responsibility versus its autonomy as an academic discipline that has definite interiority and an ivory tower.
__police brutality and gang/drug wars in gramps'+wife's 'hood.
___yeah, very light topics, i know.

friday | 10.09
_arrived very early morning.
_dropped dirigible boy off at his parents' cute flat near golden gate park (forget the neighborhood name).
_picked kydrich up from JC's hotel room (she caught a ride up with him...nope, not Jesus and not jc chasez, either).
_got to freckle's parents' flat penthouse in nob hill. collapsed into bed right after a shower.

_3 hours later, red+boyfriend show up asking me to let them in to drop off their stuff (they flew up and BARTed in).
__i crawl into bed again, then realize we need to get up in an hour anyway.
_kydrich and i head out and walk the couple blocks to get the best dan tats (chinese egg custard pastries) ever.
__we come back and share with our housemates-for-the-weekend, accompanied by espresso courtesy of freckle-rents' machine.


__our view during breakfast:


_MUNI it to golden gate park.

_get discounts to get into the california academy of sciences. it's $25 normally. good cause, but still. i'm a poor grad student.
__discount #1 student/school group discount.
__discount #2 for taking public transportation.

__docent gives us a mini talk about the architecture, LEED platinum rating, yadda yadda. team bushy nips (see the building's green roof for why we named our case study group that) already knew it all from our research but did pick up one new, fascinating tidbit about the performance of the photovoltaics.
__see lots of fun stuff. seriously, go there next time you're up in SF. SO worth it!



one of the visiting researchers cataloging birds. ew


outside of boob, i mean sphere #1.


freckles + toad face off.
(LOVE her paul smith specs. they make me look like a bad nerd, not a cool nerd, unforch.)


SQUAAAAWK!


looking down at the people in aquarium below the rainforest.


lots of these in the rainforest sphere.


ribbit


under the sea (under the SEA!)


giant catfish


classmates + strangers






cutie vine snakes




coolest.job.ever.


JC in one of many dorky tourist pics of him we took that day.




while kydrich was touching things in this tide pool, i VERY loudly proclaimed the deliciousness sea urchin while one of the employees was telling another group about sensitive species in tide pools. kydrich kept nudging me. clueless me kept on. oops. said employee then winked at me and offered to sell me some of the uni. ha.




albino alligator!


giant taxidermy. ew.


giant cockroaches eat veggies. who knew?


spastic penguin + spastic kids. eek.


yo.


kydrich + JC rejoice over the kill.


look what we found to hold our free water!




herzog + de meuron's de young museum from the roof.


see the guy smiling in the background?


computer sensor-controlled, operable skylights to allow for passive ventilation.


skylight + shade system over the interior "piazza."

_kydrich, JC, and curvy took a break from museum hopping to EAT!


we were so ravenous we didn't notice the misspelling until i uploaded this photo.


complimentary chai.


nice paint.


garlic naan.


the remains.
even after we had stuffed ourselves for about $8 each.
SO delicious, too.
daal, aloo gobi, chicken tikka masala, and chicken curry.
oh, and regular, garlic, AND onion naan. you can never have enough naan.

_back to the park to check out the de young museum.


cool shadows at the de young museum.


from the observation tower.


view of the california academy of sciences from the de young.




fun fluorescents' reflection.


JC and super skinny chillaxin' on an andy goldsworthy piece.


JC + curvy
(we missed the tut exhibit).


JC


"ow ow ow," says the grass behind the california academy of sciences.

_on the way home...


...kydrich and i stop by her old, rather scary 'hood to check out the federal building by morphosis.



_back to the flat to watch the sox vs. the dodgers.
__well, for the boys. the girls gabbed and drank wine.






ugh. the view.
so much more interesting than baseball on TV.

panoramic shots i haven't stitched together yet from the 2nd floor balcony:









amazing produce.


FIGS! FIGS! FIGS!


ugh. i want. such a well-outfitted, organized, kitchen.

_antics


red's boyfriend, soxfan.


red.

_THE digs!


entry hall.
yep, that's backpainted glass in taupe with a floating console at the end of it.


kydrich's bunk.


my bunk.


my cozy nook, again.


DEEP soaking tub with phillipe starck hansgrohe axor fixtures. yum.

_ended the night with a pre-party at our fabulous digs for our other classmates.
__didn't make the party party as i'm lame. well, because i had a super early flight the next day.

_the end.
__LOVED walking around the city in the perfect weather (warmer than it usually is, but still so pleasant!)
__LOVED all the convenient public transportation. forgot how much i appreciate it as much as i'm an angeleno that loves to drive.
__LOVED the amazing flat we got to stay in.
__LOVED studiomate bonding time.
__LOVED the museums.
___[wish the bear could have come, too. instead, he passed a test for something he needs for work that weekend. woohoo!]

welcome pauses

• san francisco
• jason mraz concert
• l.a. eyewear sale and lunch at m cafe with school buddies
• "working" at home on a day when i don't have class until 7 pm
• last night--pumpkin carving, treat gorging, wine and cider drinking party at gramps' warm, cozy bungalow. i seriously felt like i was at grandma's house, welcoming in fall somewhere that has four seasons, in an all-american tv show circa 1950something. vinyl on the turntable, hot spiced apple cider in the most amazing 1950s villeroy & boch china teacups, rich red wine in austrian crystal goblets, trader joe's hors d'oeuvres galore, homemade potato leek soup and baked goodies, and absolutely no pretension. the hilarious company also helped. as did the girl with the infectious laughter.

hopefully i'll blog the above with pictures eventually. eventually.

mutually heightened experiences

nerd alert.

i am reading for class. i was hungry. i got some yummy munchies to accompany my reading. i now deeply understand how a good wine can not only complement but actually enhance a reading experience.

seriously delicious reading for a class (i sounded the nerd alert already) helped me taste the fruity notes of the wine deep down in my fatty salami. the peppery bite of the salami's crust made me feel even more euphoric than i already was from the heady reading. the contrasting groundedness of the reading's subject matter made the flaxseed crackers taste nuttier, earthier, heartier.

and yeah, i don't feel like posting on facebook tonight as i should with all these random, mini posts. what?



reading: chapter 2 of strange details by michael cadwell.
eating: columbus brand peppered salami on trader joe's brand flaxseed water crackers. no wine. well, maybe minus the traces left from curing the salami.

caught up

on top chef, that is. not the rest of life.

the sad thing is it reminds me a lot of school now and stresses me out a bit to watch it. school would make a great reality show, except no one would understand anything we talk about.

oh, and i'm so jennifer, by the way. in so many ways. however, she's probably a lot better at her craft than i am at mine, considering she's an executive chef for eric ripert, and i can't even get an internship.

i'm working on the not freaking out, not doubting myself, and knowing i'll somehow deliver at the real end even if i lose a couple quickfire challenges here and there (due mostly to said self-doubt and freaking out) this semester. really.

i feel somewhat human again

review for first studio project done. it went fine, considering that most of the review time was spent by our critics engaging in some rather aggro '"discourse" (AKA heated arguing) over what should and shouldn't be taught and how it should be taught to us "newbies." and yes, they referred to us as "they" while we were sitting there with them and presenting to them. it was quite edutaining, however, and gramps and i got a tiny bit of real feedback from the argentinian who pronounces "newbie" as "woogie."


some other select quotes from the review:
"if you're going to use a dumbass wireframe, and that's a technical term..."
"if you realize the night before a review that all of a sudden you have mussoloni's mausoleum, you just need to scrap it and start all over again."
"the real question is, 'how dirty can you get?'"

then we got the amazing news that we pretty much have no studio work for a week!!! a week! this is big. well, we do have to go visit the site for our next project, but we don't have any outside of class time work for the rest of the week. OH! and we are taking a field trip up to san francisco on friday. whee!!!

afteward, some studiomates and i had a giddy dinner of sausages, beer, excited planning for the weekend, and hilarious conversation.

i didn't do my homework for today, but for once, i am not beating myself up over flaking. "they used to call me anal girl in school," (i'd give a prize to the first person to guess where the quote's from, but i don't have any prizes) because i always get my shit done, no matter what. however, they give an amount of work they know is impossible to get done, and something's gotta give somewhere sometimes. most others know the art of working smart and have mastered halfassery when required. i unfortunately am just a workaholic. not today though, not today.