The Countdown is on

Memorial

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. - Malachi 4:6

Unfortunately the hearts of the children have not yet been turned to the fathers in Denver. Since I can't be home this holiday weekend I took a drive through the oldest and largest cemetery in Denver. I'm shocked at the lack of flowers decorating the graves of loved ones. Only about 10% of the graves had flowers to indicate that they were remembered, and grocery stores do not have plats of mums on sale. I've always loved cemeteries. They feel like sacred places to me, full of stories. I considered continuing my family's Cache Valley tradition of adopting a forgotten grave and making sure that it is decorated each year, but with tens of thousands of lonely headstones on memorial weekend it seems futile.

Thankfully the veterans are remembered with flags, but no flowers from the families they were torn from. For those of you in Utah, where Memorial Day is marked with trips to multiple cemeteries dripping with flowers and visiting families, be grateful that you live in a place where people still care about their heritage. And I am thankful that even though I can't be home, I have family who will remember all those who have come before.

April Showers

I haven't figured out the winters in Colorado yet. The year before I moved here the Metro area was hit my a series of blizzards over Christmas that trapped people in their homes for weeks. It was so severe that it resulted in a Blizzard Baby Boom nine months later. I was so worried I bought a new car before I moved. Since then the storms have pathetic, and the snow doesn't stay around for long. Last week temperatures in Denver were in the 70s for the Tax Day Tea Party (more on that to come), but on Friday the biggest storm of the season hit. Coloradans are horrible drivers in the snow, so I took a Snow Day and stayed home. By Friday night we had 8-10" of wet, heavy snow on the ground. It's the most snow I've seen since I left Utah, and it was beautiful.

The storm continued through Saturday and the snow turned to rain. Rivers of water and slush ran through the streets.

Today temperatures reached the 60s and the snow is all but gone.

I'm so disappointed. I wait all winter for snow. It finally comes in April and it's gone in 36 hours. On Tuesday the temperature will be back in the 70s.

Richard III

True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings;
Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings.
Richard III, 5. 2

Was Blogging Ever Cool?

Click to enlarge.

Google Me

I'm not much on memes, but when I ran across this one I was intrigued. It combined two of my favorite things, googling and picking out pictures. So here is a collage of all things me. The funny thing is I googled all these pictures last fall and never had the chance to post them. Now I can't remember what I was thinking when I picked them out or which trait they represent. Your guess is as good as mine. Click on the collage to see it bigger.

Google Me

my AGE, my MIDDLE name, my favorite place to TRAVEL, my FIRST job, my GRANDMOTHERS name, my favorite VACATION spot, my kids NICKNAME, my VICE, my first PET, my favorite COLOR, my SCREEN name, my first LOVE, where I LIVE, what I studied in COLLEGE, my FIRST name, my favorite FOOD, my favorite ANIMAL

Shigeru Ban

Innovative design from one of my favorite architects. Shigeru Ban and the Pompidou Metz was the subject of my senior thesis.

Blankets for Christmas

via flickr

My friend Liz posted this story about her mom on her blog.

Last year during one of her lessons on traditions she showed the students a picture of a little girl on Santa's lap and asked them what they thought she was asking him for. A little boy in kindergarten responded immediately by saying that she was asking for a blanket. My mom responded by asking why, and the little boy said, "Because her body shakes and wakes her up at night because she is cold."

Her family has started a Blankets for Christmas campaign to donate fleece blankets to children in need. Read more here to find out how you can help. 

A Conversation with My 8 year old Nephew on His Birthday

Me: What did you dress up as for Halloween?

Ethan: Indiana Jones.

Me: Did you have a whip?

Ethan: No, I forgot it at home.

Me: Did you have the hat?

Ethan: Of course! What's Indiana Jones without his hat?

Me: laughing

Ethan: No, I'm trying to tell you a joke! What is Indiana Jones without his hat?

(Answer: The Hatless Adventurer)

Daedalus Update

Athena likes the lamp too.

Daedalus

This is my new lamp. It's named Daedalus, after the Greek architect who created Minos' labyrinth. According to mythology Daedalus and his son Icarus were imprisoned by Minos to protect the secrets of the labyrinth. In order to escape he created wings out of feathers and wax for himself and his son. They flew away from Crete to freedom, but the careless Icarus flew too high and the heat from the sun melted the wax in the wings and he fell to his death. Daedalus eventually landed in Sicily where he built a temple to the god Apollo and offered up his wings as a sacrifice.

Design as beauty and tragedy. It seems apropos to own it.

What my cat typed after I left the room

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Think she's trying to tell me something?

Vote!

This video is part of the nonpartisan AIGA Get out the Vote ad Campaign. My philosophy has always been if you don't vote you don't have a right to complain.

"What we do here affects the rest of the world. People follow."

Gensler alumn Cameron Sinclair is featured in a new Gap ad. Watch it here. As co-founder of Architecture for Humanity he is one of my design heroes. I met him in Qatar and he is kind, passionate and genuine. (Plus he told me I was a rock star!) If there is ever a day when I don't show up for work it will probably be because I've run off to join him. If you aren't familiar with him here is his Ted Talk.

Is the election over yet?

Now that the VP debate is over and McCain is in Denver today to take his turn at campaigning, I thought I should finally get around to finishing my report on the DNC. 

I love this quote posted in the Pavilions. Denver definitely increased its pulse during the convention and it made it a lot of fun to be in the midst of. I've missed the craziness since it ended.

Bands played in the streets. (The keyboard player's shirt is awesome, is it not?)

Statues came to life.

People spoke their minds.

And everyone showed off. I can't wait for the election to be over, but it was fun to be a part of it.

PS: The homeless were finally allowed to return to the streets of LoDo.

PPS: McCain Palin 2008!

Liberal Craziness, Day 2

This is a view of the craziness outside my building today. Protest drama came in the form the Pro Life Rally. SWAT teams dutifully arrived, but mostly to keep everyone on the sidewalk so they wouldn't be hit by the buses. Protestors are certainly passionate, no matter what they are shouting about. This woman with a bull horn was on an hour long anti-abortion rant. I wonder if she changed any minds. I wonder if anyone changed another's mind today.

I haven't had any luck on the celebrity front, but a friend in the office did. Susan ran out to Barnes & Noble and got this picture of Susan Surrandon outside of Earl's. 

I would put her outfit firmly in the what not to wear category. Who wears plaid pants?! But as a whole the democrats I've seen are universally bad dressers, as these pictures attest.

Further down the road were the Anti-Bird Porn protest group, because birds have a right to privacy too.

I got a copy of their manifesto. It's written in Russian on the back. 

Check out their website. These are important issues!

Bill and Hillary were out making sure everyone was registered to vote, but don't you think they're preaching to the choir? Wouldn't everyone at the DNC already be registered?

Then there was the Jesus Saves Guy, but he's always here so I don't think he counts. I didn't see any McCainiacs out today, but I did find Fox News. Not the local Fox, but the real Fox! I wanted to give them a hug too.

Sean Hannity got his own shout out below. Message to "Hillary's Non-Obama Supporters": Run! 

See what I mean about bad fashion?

Classy. Not just the twist open relax, but the VPL of the woman on the left.

I wasn't fast enough to get pictures of the donkeys riding around on segways, but one thing I haven't seen at the DNC are the homeless. There are a group of regulars that are on the streets every day but they are nowhere to be found this week. The joke is that they were all given movie tickets, but I suspect they were bused to Fort Collins. 

Stay tuned for Day Three.

A Republican at the Democratic Convention

It's been 100 years since it happened last, and when it finally came around again I find myself stuck in the middle. I'm a Republican and the Democratic National Convention has descended on downtown Denver. This is even more annoying than having no interest in baseball and finding myself in the midst of the World Series last fall. It does however make for an interesting walk at lunch.

Light Rail this morning was packed! (Once again proving Americans do not know how to use public transportation, but that's a rant for another day.) My building is on lockdown and I need picture ID and a keycard to get on and off my floor. On the walk in a local news crew was reporting in front of a stall called Denver-crats selling "Obama-bling". 

When I snapped this shot the reporter (Chris Parente from News2, in the blue shirt) had just finished saying, "Good Morning Denver, Good Morning delegates, and Good Morning Oprah!" (apparently she's in town), and was throwing the shot over to the vendor.

At lunch Kitty, Thana and I headed out to catch some action. Not that I've been here that long, but I have never seen this many people in Denver. It was almost like being in Chicago or New York, except for the SWAT teams.

The Police are everywhere, and in huge numbers. They're not messing around. 

The crowds don't seem to mind though. The atmosphere is charged, and it's a little surreal to see it all. The usual buskers are out.

I see this guy everyday, usually singing "Hotel California", but he's been joined by a slew of new street performers.

The number of vendors has also doubled. In addition to knock-off designer bags (a Denver staple), you can now get a bit of entertainment with your over-priced t-shirts.

I wonder, if you buy two shirts, will you get the third joke free? 

There are more protestors out than there are delegates or tourists. PETA pigs, anti-war activists and vans with awful photos of aborted fetuses plastered across them are making their way through the streets. (Making me very happy I'm staunchly pro life.) I also ran into some McCain supporters who gave me my "nobama" sticker. I was so happy to see them I wanted to give them a hug. 

I just saw on the news that shortly after I left work the police had to tear-gas a protest group across the street from my building. Tomorrow I'll see if I can get pictures of a riot.

Spring in the Rockies

Sorry for the lack of posts. Spring has been pretty busy but I'm enjoying a little lull at work. I thought I should catch everyone up before things get crazy again. 

In April I was able to attend my first groundbreaking ceremony for a project I worked on. Speeches were given, project boards were displayed and everyone, including me, took turns posing with shovels. I'd like to tell you all about the project, but it's for the government and if I put up details on the internet I might get audited. But here are a few photos of our presentation boards and some of the people I've been working with. The building is under construction and it will be exciting to see it as it goes up.

In May I participated in a Spring Swap hosted by my friend Susan. I sent a package of my favorite organizing supplies to Marilyn in Utah, and I got this lovely box of goodies from Raphelle in Brooklyn.

It included all her favorite things for spring, from makeup to sidewalk chalk. It was wonderful to come home to a box of spring fun!

In May I was part of my office's IIDA Pret-a-porter team. We were teamed up with an office furnishings dealer in town and our challenge was to turn their products into high fashion. We chose one of their task chairs, tore it apart, and remade it into a dress. It was so much fun, and we won 2nd place in the professional category. You can check out photos of the night here.

Memorial day week I flew home to visit my family. I was there for nine days and had absolutely nothing to do. It was wonderful! My niece Paige turned 8 years old and was baptised. She even asked me to give a talk at the baptism. As you can see she was very excited.

Her message in chalk says "Party on!" I'll post more photos of my week home when I download them from my other camera.

When I got back to work I found out I'm going to be on the IIDA chapter board as the new Student Liaison. For the next two years it will be my responsibility to represent students in four states. I'm not quite sure what I've gotten myself into, but it should be fun.

After all my hard work this past year I decided to splurge a little and on Saturday I bought myself an oil painting. I went to an art market held by a local art league and fell in love with this painting by George Coll. It was painted in the Denver Art Museum and is finally bringing some color into my beige living room. 

It's much richer in person. You'll have to stop by and see it.

That's my quick recap. I really need to write about my trip to Qatar and a few other things I've been thinking about. Unless I get distracted by the warm weather.