new drawings

Cured tuna heart

We're in San Francisco for Mrs. 8's holiday party and last night we went to a hole in the wall Sardinian place, called La Ciccia.
For once, I ordered better than my better half--a fergola pasta with grated cured tuna heart. They pack the heart in salt for three months until it is bone dry, but is full of flavor. It stilll tastes like tuna but the curing brings out the sea, the savory.
I kinda want to see if I can't source a heart and try curing it myself!!

more new art

Chris Ezzell, Shahreyar Ataie and I executed this installation for a local non-profit who wanted to energize the alleys in Pioneer Square. It hangs sixteen feet above the alley (so a firetruck could come through). and is made of about 600 2 liter bottles, welded wire mesh, rebar, and suspended from steel cable.

It took a couple of weeks to put together, and some high wire rigging but should be hanging at least through Jan. 4, perhaps longer if the city greenlights an extension on the permit.

new art

A little 6 x 9 line drawing that came out of memory of the Neskowin River flowing through the beach out to the ocean.

Supersaturday

It is so shocking when in Seattle we have a cold crisp winter day. Blue skies, frost, and the chill vibrating thru the air.

Anyway, I've been slammed at work and haven't had the necessary bandwidth to treat my baby right, but with the alley art installation complete, mrs 8 and I spend the day in heaven--first at the januik winery, then the market, got some oysters, hefeweizen and now are getting ready to cook mussels with chorizo. Fantastic day!!

my other blog

I haven't posted here for awhile in part because I am writing a more professionally oriented blog over here.

For those of you, a tiny minority I'm sure, that get off on green building, design, land use planning, building science, enjoy!

things I've tried to convince my wife of lately

Steven Seagal starred in a smash Bollywood hit, Kung Fu Vishnu, about a hard boiled cop how tracks a murderous gang to the colorful streets of Mumbay.  

It was such a success that they immediately made Kung Fu Vishnu Tu--Black Belt Sari.  

misc biz

1.  I am abandoning my annual themed book tour, since I am on track to finish like 4 books this year.  

I think I'll switch to trashy crime novels.  We are about to hit the oregon coast for a vacation so I should be able to plow through about 14. 

2.  I finished my tests for architecture licensing and am close to getting that stamp.  

3.  April has been nonstop guests:  brother in law and his girlfriend, other friends, and then my parents for almost a week.  We need some time to entertain ourselves rather than others. 

4. how did we get so far in debt? 

5. I think I've forgotten how to ride a bike. 

24 trees

We've just spent a ridiculous amount of time building a display for the AIA's storefront--every month a different architecture firm has a chance to feature their work.  We took a different take--creating a commentary on use of resources in residential construction.  

It's called "24 trees"--the number of trees in a 2000 square foot house (about 20,000 board feet of lumber and plywood).

The tree trunk sections have an amazing physical presence--especially since they take up the entire storefront and float on a lightweight steel frame.  

We just installed it after 4 days of building the framework, custom fitting each section so the entire sidewalk face is perfectly flush and designing graphics (inside the office, on the back of the steel posts).  On top of everything else going on, this was a marathon, but hopefully it makes a strong case for creative, sustainable design as an alternative to the soulless schlock that is consuming our natural resources.  

amphibious Segway

fantastic day

got up and made Mrs. 8 french toast, read the paper

walked around chinatown, taking in the Year of the Ox festival, plus special H/T to Samurai noodle for the best Ramen in town

power nap

dinner at Matts in the Market: fois gras, pistachio encrusted seared sea scallops, paired with this funny anais flavored french red from the Loir (not the Loire) region with a peppery finish (chateau Belliviare, i think).

then the symphony--for an evening of russian crowdpleasers: Boronin, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, but by the 3rd act the Lagavulin with dinner was kicking in so we left.

awesome day.

those zany romans

first off, I have to wrap up last year's World Book Tour.  

Thin veneer of awarenesss of global literature?     Check.

Suitable stand in for actually traveling the globe?    No.

Learned some stuff?   Check

Can regurgitate above stuff at cocktail parties to amuse and impress?   No. 

Book theme got me to venture into new genres?     Check

This year's book theme amazingly original?  Strike three

Nevertheless, I'll forge on... 

Announcing this year's theme (cue drumroll):  The Centuries!  

One hundred years, one book.  

Since I can't plough through more than twenty books a year, I'm starting in the first century and damn the 21st. 

First up:  I, Claudius.  Those zany Romans, with their plebian slaughters, and Emperors keeling over at dinner because someone poisoned the figs.  

Now, I know that reading a bunch of either history or period books may seem like nails on a chalkboard for some, 

but I'm a glutton for punishment.  The more ridiculously esoteric, the more I'm attracted to it.   I first bought Satryicon by Petronius, but I'm pretty sure I should just watch the film.  

things I've tried to convince my wife of recently:

her potentially winning trivial pursuit question:

What percentage of Corsica is made of quartz?

her, after much gear grinding: 2%???

to which I answered: eee, sorry 3%

Nevertheless, she won.

out of the frying pan, into 2009

cheers to my loyal reader, you know who you are!

lets recap the year in a stream of consciousness.

highs in no order:

babycakes (you know who you are)
Statue of Liberty Plaza completion
Obama
lots of art production
another home renovation complete, and the results are way more satisfying than I expected
new hoopdi safaris to campgrounds unknown
project published in Fine Homebuilding
Iphone

lows:

the hamster wheel of paychecks and bills has weighed me down mightily
the prospect of a long term recession breaking down my firm
our inability to get pregnant--more than anything this year, this has just killed me.

two steps forward, one step back:

I'd like to say I met my 25 book world tour goal, but the last three months, I barely turned a paper page (stranded at 18 I think). While I have a new living/dining room to point to as a cause for this lapse, I'm sure I could have squeezed some novellas in at least. Still the ride around the world was fun and pushed me out of a comfort zone of english classics. I'm mulling 2008's theme, and am open to suggestions...(sure 18 books is fine, but for super literate Seattle, it is pretty mundane. (as an aside, W. supposedly read 85 muthafukin' books--that is just laughable!))

And although I've passed all my exams now, I took 2 so long ago they've expired so I still have more studying to do. Ridiculous.

It is late, and this halcyon recollection is pretty boring--note to future self: 2008 sucked monkey balls. whenever you read this, you can do better.