In design there are elements and principles used to guide a person to achieve successful results. Repetition with variation is one of the principles, and since we learn best by application, I thought I would put it to the test.
Sunday dinner: Fresh mozzarella on rye crackers.
Monday breakfast: Fresh mozzarella, rye crackers and avocado.
Monday lunch: Fresh mozzarella (by now we may question the freshness), rye crackers, avocado and tomato.
Viola.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Sunday, January 06, 2008
9 o'clock AM and I headed out to the First Ward's meetings with Don, Rob and Josh. Don and Rob are members. Josh (who reminds me of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo) was friends with a family that he went to church with for two to three years while a teenager, and attended early morning seminary for two years. He came along as well. Cool guy. We all ate tacos together last night at some rather run-down gas station. The tacos were good...like a home-cooked meal.
I guess today would signal the half-way mark. I have been here 7 days and I have 6 days left. The actual day is very long, but together they speed by and it seems like it's too soon to be Sunday. At the same time, it feels as if I have been here forever. Time is a funny thing.
I guess today would signal the half-way mark. I have been here 7 days and I have 6 days left. The actual day is very long, but together they speed by and it seems like it's too soon to be Sunday. At the same time, it feels as if I have been here forever. Time is a funny thing.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Left Law for Design
Natalie - who is from Greece, studied at Cambridge where she received a Masters in Law. She never liked law. Now she is back in school for interior design - the best design school in Greece. And yes - they do have special lighting in Greece, naturally.
I asked.
She and her husband are cat lovers. They buy their own meat (rabbit, head attached) and grind it with bone and all - add suppliments, make it into some sort of soup and freeze it for future use. Speaking of her husband, she always told herself that she wouldn't marry a man who couldn't cook. She says her now-husband played it off pretty good while he was courting her that he could, indeed, cook. Lol. Something he rarely does now, but she still loves him.
For lunch today I went to Panera with Natalie and Eileen (AZ) - I was glad to get to know them better. Also in the car was Paul and Alan, the Canadians, eh? Without meaning to - I am picking up their accent and it's incredibly fun. Rob and Grant were with us as well.
I had a french onion soup.
I asked.
She and her husband are cat lovers. They buy their own meat (rabbit, head attached) and grind it with bone and all - add suppliments, make it into some sort of soup and freeze it for future use. Speaking of her husband, she always told herself that she wouldn't marry a man who couldn't cook. She says her now-husband played it off pretty good while he was courting her that he could, indeed, cook. Lol. Something he rarely does now, but she still loves him.
For lunch today I went to Panera with Natalie and Eileen (AZ) - I was glad to get to know them better. Also in the car was Paul and Alan, the Canadians, eh? Without meaning to - I am picking up their accent and it's incredibly fun. Rob and Grant were with us as well.
I had a french onion soup.
almost time for lunch
Susan is a fiery red-head from San Diego. She's been in publishing for a number of years and now that she is in her 60's, is looking for a new avenue to explore. She started volunteering at a local Japanese garden and then spent 3 months in Kyoto studying Japanese design. She hopes to go back to Kyoto for 6 additional months to continue her in-depth study. The garden is a process, not a product she tells me. I agree. One must approach the garden in a humble way and never let arrogance drive the design - I agree. I have never been overly fascinated by the Asian culture. I am not sure why, but it has never tugged at my soul. I am starting to appreciate it more and am seeing if somewhere along the way it takes me. I have had more exposure to that culture by my associations with ML, Estella, and now Susan (who's artistic style and personality i am enjoying) so we'll see if that leads to anything.
Rob is from Utah State...he wasn't born at the university of course. Maybe nearby. He is going into Landscape Architecture and is color blind. Interesting for a designer/architect. I told him that I think if he can get his black and white graphics to a stunning level then he can do whatever he wants with color and that will become his signature in the field.
Today is Saturday and I am rather astonished that the days have passed by so quickly! The crew is holding up well thus far.....I am trying to think of little things I can do to keep the audience animated. Does that phrase work in English? - 'keep the audience animated?'
Rob is from Utah State...he wasn't born at the university of course. Maybe nearby. He is going into Landscape Architecture and is color blind. Interesting for a designer/architect. I told him that I think if he can get his black and white graphics to a stunning level then he can do whatever he wants with color and that will become his signature in the field.
Today is Saturday and I am rather astonished that the days have passed by so quickly! The crew is holding up well thus far.....I am trying to think of little things I can do to keep the audience animated. Does that phrase work in English? - 'keep the audience animated?'
Friday, January 04, 2008
Kansas Day 5
I have a friend who is studying classical architecture at Notre Dame. Every time I get an email, excitement and a bit of jealously creeps in. What would it be like to be in studio with people who are converted and absorbed by the idea of creating beauty through landscapes and buildings?! Makes me sigh with a smile.
Clayton sends thoughts, ideas, quotes, and electronic files of his watercolors that makes my mouth water! It makes this workshop seem rather elementary and naive. Maybe that's not fair and ML would be disappointed to hear me say that - and I do realize that most of the participants here have NO art background and at Notre Dame in Clayton's program - it is filled with those who have dedicated hours to composing something insightful on paper. Therefore I will do my best to teach and encourage the minds just being exposed to a deeper world of color, lines, texture, etc. I myself have years to go before I would consider myself a true artist.
One of Clayton's paragraphs:
"Nature gives a distinct look to each of her creations because nature loathes confusion. And so does good architecture. A capital is different than a base for the same reason head is different than a foot." God is a god of order and in good design there is a resolution of the parts to the whole. Things are not arbitrary-they have purpose. Think of a musical composition and how a musical score would sound if none of the notes made harmonic chords or if there was no logical rhythm. It would be torture to the ears. It is wise to think of our compositions in terms of the same principles-harmony, rhythm, emphasis, unity, etc. It is also good to think in both macro and micro scales. The entire civic composition (city scale) has been entirely lost and homes, yards, buildings, parks, ets. do not relate to one another in our modern world. Even though our zoning codes restrict us so heavily in terms of civic design, it's worth mentioning so that we can begin to think about our entire civic harmony and resolution and not the current hodge-podge of parking lots and distribution warehouses we call stores. Streets need regularity-landscape can provide a lot of that. I could go on, but that is all for this email.
I'll be in town till the 14th.
Clayton sends thoughts, ideas, quotes, and electronic files of his watercolors that makes my mouth water! It makes this workshop seem rather elementary and naive. Maybe that's not fair and ML would be disappointed to hear me say that - and I do realize that most of the participants here have NO art background and at Notre Dame in Clayton's program - it is filled with those who have dedicated hours to composing something insightful on paper. Therefore I will do my best to teach and encourage the minds just being exposed to a deeper world of color, lines, texture, etc. I myself have years to go before I would consider myself a true artist.
One of Clayton's paragraphs:
"Nature gives a distinct look to each of her creations because nature loathes confusion. And so does good architecture. A capital is different than a base for the same reason head is different than a foot." God is a god of order and in good design there is a resolution of the parts to the whole. Things are not arbitrary-they have purpose. Think of a musical composition and how a musical score would sound if none of the notes made harmonic chords or if there was no logical rhythm. It would be torture to the ears. It is wise to think of our compositions in terms of the same principles-harmony, rhythm, emphasis, unity, etc. It is also good to think in both macro and micro scales. The entire civic composition (city scale) has been entirely lost and homes, yards, buildings, parks, ets. do not relate to one another in our modern world. Even though our zoning codes restrict us so heavily in terms of civic design, it's worth mentioning so that we can begin to think about our entire civic harmony and resolution and not the current hodge-podge of parking lots and distribution warehouses we call stores. Streets need regularity-landscape can provide a lot of that. I could go on, but that is all for this email.
I'll be in town till the 14th.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
8:01
okay - let's get this post in and get to bed....it is currently 1:20 and now that I have the key to the studio (the one and only) that means i am the last one to leave and the first one there....or at least i am supposed to be from now on. ha ha. dur.
so this morning i woke up at 6:30ish and clearly went back to bed thinking that i would get up in 15 minutes or so. the next time i glanced at my phone...8:01. 8:01! i was supposed to be in the lobby at 8:05!
Blast.
Face washed, teeth brushed, make-up on, clothes changes, out the door. 8:09(ish). I need a shower.
i met brandon down in the lobby to head out - he was a little stressed because we were 'late' - hmm. he's the one with a really great attitude but when he said he thought we should start showing up at studio at 7:30 (an hour early!) i openly laughed...'7:30!!?' - maybe 8. yeah......right.
last night i was in the lobby waiting for all of the workshop participants to gather so i could lead the way to the design studio in my ever-so-smashing pt cruiser. there were a number of people gathered and i was making small talk. i glanced over at a man standing in the corner with a ball cap on....double take then a triple. don! no way! ha ha! (no ZPQ - it wasn't yanni) he looked just as surprised as we met eyes, then came over, gave me a hug and i laughed. he said, 'of all the people i thought that maybe i would see here again, you were last on the list!'
don is from arizona, we met exactly two years ago at this very same workshop and now he was here again to get little sleep for two weeks. We formed a friendship quickly last time when he noticed my ensign and was thankful for another LDS member to be in the bunch. who would have thought! it has made me feel so much more at home. his family and business are doing well - he now has three kids and will miss his daughters birthday - once again. bummer.
i have thoroughly been enjoying my time here - meeting all sorts of people and creating wonderful friendships. paul is from canada, we had some great conversation over dinner about things that we are both passionate about: trees! and besides, he's from canada, as well as rikky and alan....however - rikky is originally from israel and moved to south africa when she was twenty. she says israel has the best tomatoes. then there's tamika from phili, julie and brandon from seattle, anne from texas who is dealing with her teenage daughter - she's got spunk. natalie is from greece and i could listen to her talk for hours. there's still more to meet - grant is rather quite, but will still talk.
i took over the class for a bit while ML 'stepped out' - he told me tonight that i would be running a few things in a few days....hmmm - yeah - just like i am supposed to teach thumbnail sketches at a big conference in sandy on the 21st of this month! i had better start reading up and practicing thumbnail sketches! good grief.
time to git - estella offered to give me a wake-up call around 7:30...that will come too soon.
so this morning i woke up at 6:30ish and clearly went back to bed thinking that i would get up in 15 minutes or so. the next time i glanced at my phone...8:01. 8:01! i was supposed to be in the lobby at 8:05!
Blast.
Face washed, teeth brushed, make-up on, clothes changes, out the door. 8:09(ish). I need a shower.
i met brandon down in the lobby to head out - he was a little stressed because we were 'late' - hmm. he's the one with a really great attitude but when he said he thought we should start showing up at studio at 7:30 (an hour early!) i openly laughed...'7:30!!?' - maybe 8. yeah......right.
last night i was in the lobby waiting for all of the workshop participants to gather so i could lead the way to the design studio in my ever-so-smashing pt cruiser. there were a number of people gathered and i was making small talk. i glanced over at a man standing in the corner with a ball cap on....double take then a triple. don! no way! ha ha! (no ZPQ - it wasn't yanni) he looked just as surprised as we met eyes, then came over, gave me a hug and i laughed. he said, 'of all the people i thought that maybe i would see here again, you were last on the list!'
don is from arizona, we met exactly two years ago at this very same workshop and now he was here again to get little sleep for two weeks. We formed a friendship quickly last time when he noticed my ensign and was thankful for another LDS member to be in the bunch. who would have thought! it has made me feel so much more at home. his family and business are doing well - he now has three kids and will miss his daughters birthday - once again. bummer.
i have thoroughly been enjoying my time here - meeting all sorts of people and creating wonderful friendships. paul is from canada, we had some great conversation over dinner about things that we are both passionate about: trees! and besides, he's from canada, as well as rikky and alan....however - rikky is originally from israel and moved to south africa when she was twenty. she says israel has the best tomatoes. then there's tamika from phili, julie and brandon from seattle, anne from texas who is dealing with her teenage daughter - she's got spunk. natalie is from greece and i could listen to her talk for hours. there's still more to meet - grant is rather quite, but will still talk.
i took over the class for a bit while ML 'stepped out' - he told me tonight that i would be running a few things in a few days....hmmm - yeah - just like i am supposed to teach thumbnail sketches at a big conference in sandy on the 21st of this month! i had better start reading up and practicing thumbnail sketches! good grief.
time to git - estella offered to give me a wake-up call around 7:30...that will come too soon.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
'A diversion' - said in a Legolas sort of way...
December 26th....an outing with some of my favorites.
Please, call me L'
Today has been consumed by preparations for the workshop which officially starts this evening. Brandon and I met ML at the studio this morning and worked until 1 or so....we went and grabbed some lunch (Chipotle) and then it was back to the studio. Since we had everything ready to go I was released and am now back in my room until 7:15 at which time we head back to the studio with all of the, hopefully eager minds excited to kill themselves over the next 12 days or so.
ML has a difficult time pronouncing my name correctly....every time it's something different. After correcting him a number of times I told him to please call me L'. It's simple; it works. Yeah - ML says my name is confusing and complicated, just like women. He asked me if I preferred to be a woman rather than a man.....yes. This all led to the topic of having kids (he being surprised at my virginity) and families and polygamy. Missions, no dating on missions, coffee, and drinking.
ML likes to hang on to topics.....he's one that doesn't let a subject go and will always refer back to it whenever possible. Besides the topic of religion - my status is of some importance and he is determined that I shall get a boyfriend out of this workshop....no thanks, I'll take my payment in another form.
Also in this Kansas story is Estella (niece of ML). She's from Thailand and is so sweet and has a most tender smile. (She's in her upper 20's and I am still not sure if it was impolite for me to ask) At lunch when ML was making some comment (more negative than positive)in regards to a Mormon. Estella, from underneath the table, placed her hand on my right thigh to show comfort in case I was feeling a bit picked on.
I think we shall become friends.
ML has a difficult time pronouncing my name correctly....every time it's something different. After correcting him a number of times I told him to please call me L'. It's simple; it works. Yeah - ML says my name is confusing and complicated, just like women. He asked me if I preferred to be a woman rather than a man.....yes. This all led to the topic of having kids (he being surprised at my virginity) and families and polygamy. Missions, no dating on missions, coffee, and drinking.
ML likes to hang on to topics.....he's one that doesn't let a subject go and will always refer back to it whenever possible. Besides the topic of religion - my status is of some importance and he is determined that I shall get a boyfriend out of this workshop....no thanks, I'll take my payment in another form.
Also in this Kansas story is Estella (niece of ML). She's from Thailand and is so sweet and has a most tender smile. (She's in her upper 20's and I am still not sure if it was impolite for me to ask) At lunch when ML was making some comment (more negative than positive)in regards to a Mormon. Estella, from underneath the table, placed her hand on my right thigh to show comfort in case I was feeling a bit picked on.
I think we shall become friends.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Jan 1
January 1st. The first day of the year 2008, the first day I ever rented a car for myself, and the first time I ever paid a toll to continue driving on a road. $2.37?
It reminded me of the first time I took a coat to the dry-cleaners......a rite of passage. ha ha.
There's always a first time.
So I am here in Kansas (also the first time I have ever spent the 1st in Kansas) Hmm. I am here to be an assistant to ML for a 2 week design bootcamp.....oh - excuse me, I meant workshop. It officially starts tomorrow night, but since I am going home early I came early to help set up, etc. So far it's me and Brandon, or Brandon and I....he is a workshop participant who will also help out where he can. He has a great attitude. Brian will be the other assistant...yikes - that not very many of us! We will have less than 25 participants....when I attended this same workshop 2 years ago there was double that, and that was considered small. But with a small group we should get a lot accomplished and become a tight-knit group, with memories to create.
I arrived in Manhattan (uh-huh...Kansas, Manhattan that is) and checked in to where I would be staying, then I headed to the design studio to see what I could do to help.
ML (the design workshop wizard) greeted me with a surprised smile and a hug - and then I was shortly greeted thereafter..."you married?"....."nope." He looked at me...and followed it up with "you are too picky," said as a statement rather than a question. "uh-huh." We were off to a good start. :)
A little while later we were on to the Sunday subject that we had some discussion about two years ago as some will remember....ha ha. Why don't I work on Sunday? :) - What in the world would I possibly do for an entire day that didn't include work, tv, movies, etc.....after all - church was only three hours (3?!)...then what?!? - Like I said - we are off to a good start.
I say that with all sincerity. It shall be a great two weeks full of questions and answers....on both sides I might add. ML is very deliberate in his thinking and some might say opinionated...I would concord, I think he would too...maybe.
Well, we are off to eat Chinese (which i have a feeling we will be doing a lot of - hey, as long as there are fortune cookies) then it is back to the studio.
It reminded me of the first time I took a coat to the dry-cleaners......a rite of passage. ha ha.
There's always a first time.
So I am here in Kansas (also the first time I have ever spent the 1st in Kansas) Hmm. I am here to be an assistant to ML for a 2 week design bootcamp.....oh - excuse me, I meant workshop. It officially starts tomorrow night, but since I am going home early I came early to help set up, etc. So far it's me and Brandon, or Brandon and I....he is a workshop participant who will also help out where he can. He has a great attitude. Brian will be the other assistant...yikes - that not very many of us! We will have less than 25 participants....when I attended this same workshop 2 years ago there was double that, and that was considered small. But with a small group we should get a lot accomplished and become a tight-knit group, with memories to create.
I arrived in Manhattan (uh-huh...Kansas, Manhattan that is) and checked in to where I would be staying, then I headed to the design studio to see what I could do to help.
ML (the design workshop wizard) greeted me with a surprised smile and a hug - and then I was shortly greeted thereafter..."you married?"....."nope." He looked at me...and followed it up with "you are too picky," said as a statement rather than a question. "uh-huh." We were off to a good start. :)
A little while later we were on to the Sunday subject that we had some discussion about two years ago as some will remember....ha ha. Why don't I work on Sunday? :) - What in the world would I possibly do for an entire day that didn't include work, tv, movies, etc.....after all - church was only three hours (3?!)...then what?!? - Like I said - we are off to a good start.
I say that with all sincerity. It shall be a great two weeks full of questions and answers....on both sides I might add. ML is very deliberate in his thinking and some might say opinionated...I would concord, I think he would too...maybe.
Well, we are off to eat Chinese (which i have a feeling we will be doing a lot of - hey, as long as there are fortune cookies) then it is back to the studio.
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