IDEO’s completion commences my sabbatical from architecture...FINALLY

exterior rendering showing dual program

interior rendering showing entrance to studio spaces

i'm not exactly done with this semester but having completed what seems like the longest most drawn out project of my life, for lack of a better word, is lovely. the above images are a couple of renderings i whipped up a couple nights ago. mad props to logarithmic mental ray.

TAKE NOTE…a single act of stupidity overshadows all previous achievements

keeping with this blogs recent tradition of highlighting my imprudent behavior i would like to tell a story of a young man who missed his boat from ensenada to los angeles (encase anyone was wondering, that idiot was me). having recently watched boondock saints i feel the need to "tarantino this bitch" to properly set the mood. I'M STANDING ON A DOCK IN ENSENADA WATCHING MY CRUSE SHIP SAIL OFF INTO THE SUNSET AND ALL I CAN THINK OF IS MY MOM AND DAD KICKING MY ASS. having said this i suddenly don't feel like elaborating on the events of the previous 5 hours but i will say that yes, i may have had a few to many drinks while exploring the streets of ensenada, but no i wasn't as drunk as what was conveyed to my parents upon their realization that i was not aboard. in all honesty i was under the impression that we had to be back to the ship at 5:00 pm, but i bet thats what every idiot that misses their boat says. i made it back to los angeles thanks to my awesome friends lechera and elefante from tijuana but thats not really the point of this post...

i'de like to take this chance to do what i have always had trouble doing in person. i'd like to apologize to all those who were insulted by my irresponsible and immature actions last weekend. please disregard my recent acts of stupidity as they are a poor reflection of my character. i'm sorry...please don't fire or disown me!

BON VOYAGE…wait that’s my boat!

this is what it looks like to miss your ride back to los angeles. it's almost amusing that my favorite picture from the entire trip was at a time of desperation in which i realized that i was stuck in mexico...almost amusing.

"oh no...she's a rejector"

two stories, one title.
sometimes when guys sing about giving blow jobs while wearing spandex, makeup, fishnet stalkings, and frilly womens boots from the 80's, i think they're gay...sometimes they have a wife, two kids, and are in the best band ever! i love you of montreal!
secondly...sometimes when you feel like you're hitting on conjoined twins you should just quit and move on. no matter how gorgeous one of them is, its just not gunna happen.

breast cancer saved my life...

probably not the most sensitive title i've ever attached to a post but in many ways true...minus the whole cancer thing, and having breasts...whatever. anyway, after a sorority sponsored event on thursday night to raise money for breast cancer i found myself in an unpleasant situation reminiscent of my early days of puberty and the night i met my first girlfriends dad. the difference was, instead of being told to keep my dick in my pants i was being accused of driving drunk and was forced to administer balance tests as if i was trying out for the fucn circus. while these events may seem different, in both i found myself totally embarassed in front of a new girl and fearing for my life...hence the odd comparison. i wont give the blow-by-blow but i will say that while under extreme stress i found myself constantly referring to the breast cancer event i had just attended and my admiration for the Y-Me breast cancer organization...desperate times call for desperate measures. anyway, i'm happy to say that after mastering my balancing act i passed the breathalysers with a 0.07! (legally drunk = 0.08...isn't that some bullshit!). i was so happy i almost shit myself. so...the moral of the story is, when u go to a breast cancer event with a pretty girl (...and friends), 1) keep it to one drink, 2) turn on your fucn headlights when you leave the parking structure, and 3) keep your dick in your pants...metaphorically of course.

B-Riz + Hiz-Air (1) Midgets w/ Attitude (4)

this weekend at my buddy DM's house i was manhandled by midgets with wiimotes during the first annually Wii tennis tournament. laugh all you want but, coming from someone who didn't even know what a Wii was, it was a blast. as you can tell by the tittle of this post my partner Hiz-Air and i were totally crushed by 14 YEAR OLDS. excuse the emphasis but during one of our 4 losses i referred to my opponent as a 12 year old and was abruptly corrected. "I'M 14 ASSHOLE". kids these days have some dirty fucking mouths. good news is, we totally got the prize for best dressed. that makes us the real Wiinners right?

San Francisco...The Transgender Capitol of the World

I went to frisco this past weekend to visit IDEO (the company i am designing an LA office for) and went to the de young museum, the federal building, haight ashbury...blah blah blah. not to say that that stuff wasn't kool but this post isn't about architecture or marijuana, its about transvestites!

so, some friends and i went out to a few bars while we were up north and ended up at a trany bar. my friend of questionable sexuality recommended the place which kinda weirded me out but i figured it would be an interesting learning experience...sometimes stupid ideas sound good when you're drunk. when i walked in i was expecting huge dudes in dresses "birdcage" style but found myself almost disappointed when i saw regular people. I wasn't until the end of the first round that BO pointed out a waitress who...excuse my french...could have had a dick. i totally wasn't' sure until we decided to take pictures with them and she/he/it put its manly hand on my back. i will say, definitely the most convincing trany i've ever been kissed by.




i tried to run but my buddy JL, the one i mentioned earlier, in his drunken stupor tried to come out of the closet by making out with "it". while trying to justify his actions he later asked me if it was gay to make out with a girl that used to have a penis. i'll leave this question for you to ponder. in case you were wondering, i reassuringly told him he was a fag.


in other news...my mom's failed attempts to turn me gay have lead to attempted canine transsexuality. poor max/maxine

climbing mountains really makes you realize what a fat-ass you are

just to preface this story i'll start wednesday night in studio where i sat all night working on the same fucking program diagram i've been working on for the past month. Thursday...ya, more of the same fucking program diagram and even less sleep. and finally friday, (this will be the last "fucking" of this story...i promise) the most pointless fucking mid review ever.
now that i've got that off my chest i can tell you about my stress free exercise intensive weekend. My dad, his business partner jim, jims son andrew, and i climbed up the side of mount whitney to the cottonwood lakes as part of a tradition we've had trouble keeping. well, its actually been about 9 years since the last time i went but who's counting. there's actually not a whole lot to tell. i didn't sleep at all on thursday night for my presentation friday then skipped most of studio so that i could drive out to lonepine to start my backpacking extravaganza. long story short...we climbed up a big mountain, which as you can tell by the title of this post was not easy, we froze our asses off in the snow like real men do in the wilderness, then we climbed down. sounds boring but it was actually pretty fun. i didn't get any fishing in but since i decided to lug my big ass camera and tripod up the side of the mountain i figured i should take some good pictures. here's a few of the lake we camped on and the surrounding landscape.








a few words of advise to any who feel inspired by this post and plan to go backpacking in the wilderness:
1. bring a large knife or you'll end up cutting up your dinner with a nail file...ask my dad
2. don't be too lazy or too proud to carry up the extra 2 lb padded mat to sleep on, its totally worth it.
3. and finally, check the weather before you go...apparently it snows in the mountains. who knew?

the most depressing 30 SECONDS of my life

instead of partying with friends last night i took pictures of myself in the dark...wow

how to be PC in situations regarding NIKE

san fernando home (sorry about the barrel distortion...not my camera)

while trying to remain relatively "politically correct" i find myself constantly entertained by the stupidity of the human race. when i first saw this amazing site in san fernando this last weekend three questions immediately came to mind: who (with regards to race of course), why, and finally how? while these questions simmer in your own mind let me just entertain you with a few of my own thoughts. who: without jumping to conclusions i"ll simply state that based on the neighborhood i was in it's fare to say that this person has no affiliation with the nike corporation. why: i'm still kinda stumped by this one but i'm willing to give this person the benefit of the doubt and say that it was like that when they moved in? how: and finally, the question that has been really lingering in my mind. unless i'm totally out of the loop i'm pretty sure this isn't something they sell at the local home depot and thus means that this person went to the effort to, by hand, create not only this portion of the fence but a total of 17 of these pieces. now thats dedication.

I THINK I ATE SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN CHINA

30 seconds

Dana Point...10:52 pm

my max is cuter

so i got home on wednesday's afternoon and drove strait to lucky boy for a breakfast burrito, which mite i add, was fucking amazing! but, even more exciting was what i was greeted by as i walked through the door. i sat down to eat but before i could take a second bite my mom told me to close my eyes because she had a surprise for me. i put out my hands and was shocked when i was handed this little puppy.


his name is max and he's a little terror. the funniest pary of the whole situation is the immense amount of hatred lizzie (my moms other dog) has for max. all he wants to do is play with her but lizzie wont have anything to do with it. so...we now have two dogs in the house, one thats extremely jealous and wont eat, and another new addition who is totally cute but is only 10 weeks old and still isn't potty trained. its quite the fiasco.

The End

this is officially my final blog for this summers study abroad trip...how depressing. that was the fastest three months of my life! it feels like just yesterday i was sitting at lax drinkin bloody mary's while waiting for our flight to china. as fast as it went i still cant wait to go home. its weird being away for so long. for my last couple days here without school work hanging over my head i decided to play tourist and see all the things i missed or wanted to go back to. heres some photos...

berlin dome

gallery by schinkle

1968 olympic stadium

libeskin's jewish museum

gehry's dz bank

foster's reichstag dome

to be continued...

The BIGGEST BEER CAN i've ever seen

the beer tasted like shit, but the experience was worth it. whats up with the germans and their need to make everything so big?..and even more important...why aren't they all fat?

the ultimate driving machine meets the ultimate manufacturing

not to say that my time in berlin hasn't been eventful and educational, but my experience at the bmw factory in leipzig this last tuesday made my trip. designed by zaha hadid, the entrance of this factory, as can be expected from zaha, is beautiful. but, where the magic happens is inside. unfortunately, we were not permitted to take any pictures during our 2 hour tour. past the administrative functions of zaha's building lies a massive factory (obviously not designed by zaha) which encases the most advanced and intuitive manufacturing i have ever seen. while walking through the factory i felt like i was in a starwars episode, totally surrounded by machines building machines, droids transferring parts from one station to another, and a surprising lack of human inhabitance. i never realized how advanced production of these beautiful cars was. hers a couple pictures of the exterior

oops, i did it again

for some reason oblivious to me, i decided to ride the the line of the berlin wall on the hottest day since we've been here with a cut off t-shirt and no sunblock. real smart! you would think that i would have learned after my last sunburn incident which left my hand prints scarred into my chest. apparently i'm a slow learner.

yes, it hurts as bad as it looks

uhhh...ya, thats my watch tan. sexy isn't it

i'm gunna die of chines food poisoning

todays been a stressfully day. first a fucked up haircut and now this...


my buddy just sent me a link about a popular snack in china. it made my stomach turn. lets just say...i ate these a few times and now i know why they tasted like cardboard. check it out.

no-hawk

so i tried to get a fohawk/mullet/weird euro haircut today (they're really popular in germany) at this hair studio next to my apartment but things didn't quite work out...actually, i got the exact fuckin opposite of what i wanted. after about 5 minutes of hand signals and the most broken english i have experienced yet, i was under the impression that the hair stylist knew what i wanted. 2 min later i realized that she was doing the exact opposite of what i asked for...a bozo haircut if u will. she cut the back really short, trimmed the top, and left the sides totally long. to make a long and extremely nerve racking story short, she totally fucked up my hair! don't worry, it all fixed now. this is officially the second time i have tried and failed to get a fohawk/mullet/weird euro haircut. i think someone is trying to tell me something.

The Bauhaus

the corner of gropius allee and bauhaus strasse

this week we went to the bauhaus. for those of you who don't know, the bauhaus is the culmination of all that is modernist architecture. since my first year in arch school i've been subjected to architectural history, all of which somehow ties back into walter gropius and the famous picture of this building below. it was almost surreal to, not only see it in person, but to spend a night there.

the bauhaus (a very close impersonation of the famous bauhaus photo)

sorry i haven't been posting very often or in very much quantity. there's alot going on here in berlin. between all the class, school work, bike tours of the city, and the most outrageous party scene in the world, i'm not sleeping too much. i cant believe i'll be home in 2 weeks...this trip is going way too fast. how depressing.

i cant think of a title for this post that isn't insensitive

on friday we visited our first concentration camp just outside of berlin. although it is apparently not one of the most preserved of the camps in germany it still evoked feelings of entrapment and darkness (of course it didn't help that it was gloomy and raining).

the entrance to the camp which all prisoners walked through. literally translated "work will set you free"

central gathering area for all prisoners

one of the few abandoned guard houses remaining on the site

possibly the most disturbing area in the camp...this is were prisoners were taken in groups and shot. it is conveniently located next to the morgue

one of the remaining guard towers

on a lighter note...this is my place of work. as you can see, we have a studio on the 10th floor of this 15 story building. on floors 12-15 is one of the best clubs in berlin (or so we've been told). on friday night after our depressing but good visit to genenkstatt concentration camp, we decided to test the waters. it was great. i wont reveal too many details but i will say that i left the club at 7 in the morning. unfortunately, saturday was solely a day for recuperation. i cant wait to go back! (after i get some work done of course)

mein neues Junggesellehaus!!!

what do you guys think of my new bachelor pad in berlin? doesnt it look cozy?

just kidding...

Guten Tag! (06.18-07.02)

i think that means good afternoon? i'm in berlin, germany now which means that my 2 week vacation is over. sorry i havent posted anything in a while, i've been without my computer and internet for the last couple weeks. my last couple of days in england and my week in spain were great. i'm not gunna give you the blow-by-blow cuz i don't want to bore anyone but i guess i'll hit the key points. i think i saw every tourist attraction in the city and a lot of amazing architecture. gaudi's work (sagrada familia, park guell, casa mila...) and the contemporary architecture of the city (barcelona forum, agbar tower,...) was amazing. as usual...here's some photos.

sagrada familia

park guell

barcelona forum

i have no idea what this is but it looks kool

...ditto

agbar tower

back to work for me...

Food and a Bath (06.16-06.18)

finally!!! some good food! for the past few days i've done nothing but eat and drink. its so nice to eat food not because i'm starving or because i think it would become an interesting commentary for the blog, but because its good. and the beer...dont get me started on the beer. LP and i have been getting shitted - 'dritte' (my new favorite norwegian way of saying drunk) at lunch and dinner almost every day. sunday we shared a traditional sunday roast and a plate of bacon wrapped faggots! yummmmmm. The english love their faggots!!! that afternoon i began my new list of things i've tried...BEER. Sorry, the list will not be as exciting as the one i compiled in china but it will definitely be more fun for me. i think this list will last the duration of this trip.



monday we took a trip down to bath and actually made it there!!! third times the charm! bath is a beautiful city renowned for (i bet u can guess) their baths. after a tour of the roman baths and a stroll around the city we decided to pause for a quick pint in a local old mans pub. while at coeur de lion, i began to talk with an older gentleman who was a retired engineer. by the end of my pint i had met a few of the other old men (all very interesting and intelligent people), the owner of the pub/brewer of the beer i was drinking, and the owners of some other local pubs. they gave me a list of the top 10 pubs in bath and a map where they were located. it was great. if only i had time to go to them all. next time...







tried to go to london on tuesday but missed our bus...not a whole lot to say about that. instead LP and i went to a pub and had a few pints, walked around bristol and did some shopping, got my hair cut, and finally "drank the bar dry" (an event at the bar that LP works at). they needed to get rid of their booze, we wanted to get drunk, so it was pretty much a win win situation.



off to barcelona tomorrow...sangria and paella here i come.