Tuesday, November 25, 2008

made this set of 10 polaroids for november 25th, 2008. yuri and i went to a couple different places in los angeles.
click here for the set
 
i'm thinking about doing this everyday, or at least every week.

Monday, November 24, 2008

i went to the norton simon museum in pasadena, california.  i took 20 pictures and ran them through poladroid, creating a set of photos as if i had used 2 rolls of polaroid film.  

Monday, August 11, 2008

Thursday, July 10, 2008

consider the weather

"In the twentieth century some landscape gardens were altered or truncated by later developments, such as golf courses or bypasses, but, in the the latter half of the century, the weather also affected them adversely.

The look of many eighteenth-century landscape gardens was sensationally and disastrously altered first by the loss of elms in the late 1960s to Dutch elm disease, which destroyed, for example, avenues at Blenheim planted by Henry Wise. Then there was the dramatic Great Storm of 16-17 October 1987, as a result of which 15 million trees were felled or shattered, in a line east from Hampshire to Norfolk. The trees were still in leaf, which made the toll much heavier tan it would have been otherwise. Many of the losses turned out to be over-mature trees, especially beeches, planted by 'improvers' in the eighteenth century. The effects of the storm of 25 January 1990 were more widespread, since the area affected included Wales and the Midlands as well as the west and south of England, but since it happened in the winter it succeed in bringing down only (only?) 3 million trees."
-The English Garden by Ursula Buchan

pictures from the 1987 storm




Monday, June 30, 2008

a little landscape architecture humor. part of my ongoing ideas for LA t-shirts.

Monday, May 05, 2008

the california coast

the ocean so blue
viewed from a coastal terrace-
the sun on my back

two weekends ago i took a field trip with my landscape architecture 223 class (california landscapes) up the coast of california. it was one of the best experiences in my life. it really reminded me of the great times i had in yosemite institute in high school.














i loved the trip up the coast. it was pretty amazing to sleep out in the open, cook our own food and watercolor all day long. what a life. i really want to go camping this summer. hopefully i'll find some people to go with. i would love to take a leisurely trip because this one was pretty hectic. and taking it while still in school was pretty crazy.


here are some watercolors from my trip. more on my flickr

looking towards mendocino:
mendocino cliffs

my favorite, though unfinished:
sea ranch barn

point arena
point arena







Friday, April 25, 2008

tonight i have to leave it

i'm getting ready for my LA223 three day field trip. i need to be at school in 6 hours. damn. we're going up the coast of california and we're sleeping under the stars. it's going to be quite an experience. like no other one might say. i think twitter might be my only form of contact if i even get cell phone reception. but i shouldn't think about it that way. i should think about it as the immense knowledge i will gain about the california coast and the at least 36 drawings/paintings i will produce. i'm really looking forward to it.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

is typing in small
too hard to read? please let me know.
two girls walking past wurster
commented on its ugliness
and how it reflects the users inside
'just nasty.'
it's called brutalism, dumbass.


jejune
adjective
1.without interest or significance; dull; insipid: a jejune novel.
2.juvenile; immature; childish: jejune behavior.
3.lacking knowledge or experience; uninformed: jejune attempts to design a house.
4.deficient or lacking in nutritive value: a jejune diet.
this is quite possibly the coolest clock ever.

http://www.christiaanpostma.nl/clock_3.htm

Sunday, April 20, 2008

blogging
i've decided i need to read more blogs relative to design and landscape architecture in order to be aware what's currently going on in the field.













hotel transvaal is utilizing residual spaces to make hotel rooms in buildings that are due to be demolished but haven't been sold yet. they range from 1 to 5 stars. i would love to stay in one.

"The supply of rooms is very diverse in terms of decoration, luxury and price, to ensure that everyone has a place. When homes are sold or demolished sloopanden move the hotel rooms. They are then redecorated in a different location."

"This is the largest hotel in the world because the streets of Transvaal are also the corridors of the hotel. Residents of Transvaal are obviously the hosts and women of this hotel. Here hospitality is first"

















i find this purse beautiful. it's made from soda tabs by brazilian women who also write a note to you that comes with the purse. i wish they made a tote bag or something manly out of them.


purchase here.

more to come later.
suri cruise is 2























and i'm 22. this should have been posted on april 18th.

and who can forget melissa joan hart's birthday:














i had an amazing birthday weekend.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

insomnia
i took a nap today and drank a lot of coffee. now i can't sleep. i've watched all the tv i've downloaded, i've sketched out my chip assignment, eaten some food and tried to fall asleep. all that's left to do is wikipedia.

a check in on the two epidemics we focused on in chip's drawing class reveal that they have found the origins of sudden oak death (santa cruz and mount tam) and that it is genetically mutating to avoid eradication. also found is that air pollution could be masking the odor of flowers, causing honeybees to miss their scent trails. says one jose d. fuentes "Scents that could travel for more than half a mile in the 1800s now probably travel less than about 600 feet." interesting...

i'm looking forward to this weekend.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

i danced ballet with jen
it was fun until it wasn't funny anymore. then we had to stop. sorry for the single line posts.
i like taking the bus at night
because it doesn't stop, except when i want it to. but you have to make sure the bus driver is sober.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

drawing contours for topographical models

makes me sad. watching vh1 reality television scares me.

Friday, April 11, 2008

i will never understand...

why photoshop does not have a hotkey for brightness/contrast.

Monday, April 07, 2008

"i don't like having to pretend that i belong here"

Sunday, April 06, 2008













this is hakea drupacea, or sweet hakea. it's an australian native.
qualia

is "an unfamiliar term for something that could not be more familiar to each of us: the ways things seem to us."

"The 'what it is like' character of mental states. The way it feels to have mental states such as pain, seeing red, smelling a rose, etc'"

redness is the canonical qualia. there is no way to actually describe what red looks like.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Sunday, March 30, 2008

new words for me:

qualia: "an unfamiliar term for something that could not be more familiar to each of us: the ways things seem to us"

zinnwaldite: a color that resembles the mineral zinnwaldite (a potassium lithium iron aluminium silicate hydroxide fluoride silicate mineral in the mica group)

and a new concept:
Adelson's checker shadow illusion
"In outside space the chat over the garden fence is dependent on the fence's existence. In other words, public, social intercourse, needs a certain degree of barriers."

-dieter kienast
three new albums

i've been listening to a lot of new music lately, which is a big thing for me. i rarely find so much music i like.

first: vampire weekend by vampire weekend























second: this is alphabeat by alphabeat























third: in ghost colours by cut copy

















perhaps some reflection will come later.

Monday, March 24, 2008

quotes

i'm not usually one who looks for meaning in memorable quotations, but this was a strange occurrence. on my plane trip home for spring break, the flight attendant quoted leo f. buscaglia. it was strange.

"
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

it was strange because it was unexpected. i don't know why the flight attendant said it. so while that quote was bumping around in my head, i was driving in pasadena on lake and i drove past dwell, a furniture store, and the quote was on their front window. it was an odd coincidental experience. maybe it has some meaning?

Saturday, March 22, 2008

tomato soup

what do you do when such a familiar thing is no longer pleasant? what do you do when you can't stand to be a part of something that has been all you've ever been?
i am home.

things are good. but we do need food in the house.
i am so glad to see my family and my dogs.
it's always so strange to be back here.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

my head feels light.

i got my hair cut today.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

a landscape flipbook


vegemite


tim from australia sent me some vegemite. i love to eat it on toast with an over-medium fried egg. it's pretty delicious, one of my favorite meals for sure. unfortunately it's very hard to find in america. my jar is already half eaten. it's made of brewer's yeast extract and is one of the world's richest known sources of vitamin B.
21 11 1/2.
it's almost a palindrome.
who's it gonna be?

leslie a. ryan
karl kullman
bradley cantrell or
richard alomar?

we shall see.
a list of a few landscapey things i like to start this thing off right.
  • adaptive reuse
  • long, linear spaces
  • semi-formality
  • abandoned places
  • phytoremediation
  • residual space, loose space, soft spots, hybrid space
  • edges, ecotones, borders, barriers, transitions
  • simplicity
more to come? eventually i'm sure.