A Floccinaucinihilipilification
Okay, I have not written in a long time and I still have nothing to say. So, here are some interesting useless words:
- Callipygian: to have a nice butt.
- Defenestrate: the action of throwing someone or something out of a window.
- Floccinaucinihilipilification: the action or habit of estimating something as worthless.
And I'll leave you with these two conflicting proverbs: Knowledge is power. Ignorance is bliss. (I promis I will write something good when it happens... until then, we wait.)
25th Birthday
It's common for people to evaluate their lives after tragedy, sickens, birthdays, and when a new year comes around -- so it will be no surprise to you that I have just evaluated my life. I'm turning 25. According to livingto100.com -- after answering many "life" questions -- I am expected to live to a ripe old age of 90. Which means I have lived 27% of my life. That's not bad. I've done a lot of major life milestones already -- traveled 3/5 of the USA, traveled to Europe, graduated from college, got a job, bought a car, had a long-term relationship, broke-up, had pets, so on. I was looking online for what people should do before they turn 30 and came across this list:
- Budget and Invest -- Check! I have a massive Excel budget that dictates what I do down the the penny every two weeks. And I am happy to say I started to invest last month. Double Check!
- Drive a Wickedly Cool Car (even if you have to rent it) -- Check! And yes, I had to rent it. I rented an Audi TT 2008 coupe in Germany for a weekend (Recommended retail price: $40,000+). I even went on the German Autobahn over 140 MPH.
- Date Against Type -- Check! This is funny because it was one of my New Year's resolutions. If anyone asks me out, I say, "Yes." I'm trying to find friends, the "one," and also make connections for later in life.
- See the World -- Check? I've seen a lot, but I want to see/return to San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles, Napa Valley, Toronto Canada, Athens Greece, Cologne Germany, Venice Italy, London England, Dublin Ireland, and Thailand and/or Japan. On my maybe list, I would like to see Hawaii, Egypt, Mexico, and Madagascar. For some reason, I have no desire to visit Australia -- you would think I would, but no. I'd also love to go on a cruise -- maybe I could go on a cruise to places I have not been and kill two stones with one bird (I don't like to talk about killing things, hence the back-assward colloquialism -- I'm quirky).
- Live in a Cool Place -- Check! I guess "cool" is defined by the beholder -- I think that living in Germany for 4 months counts.
- Cook a Meal -- Check! I cook for myself all the time and have even cooked more then one Thanksgiving dinner for family and friends. Also, in this topic it also stated some things you should know how to do before you are 30, like Hard-boil an egg, make a pie from scratch (including the crust), make cookies from scratch, bake a turkey, sew a button, open a bottle of champagne, and so on... i'm happy to say "Check" to all of that too!
- Do Something Physically Adventurous -- Check! In 2006 I hiked to the top of Angels Landing in Zion National Park. Angels Landing Trail is one of the most famous and thrilling hikes in the US National Park System. The park's pride and joy runs along a narrow rock fin with dizzying sheer cliffs on both sides. The trail culminates at a lofty perch, boasting magnificent views in every direction. The hike is about 5 miles -- with an elevation change of over 1500 feet -- and takes about 5.5 hours to complete.
- Get a Website -- Check! I've had one for over 6 years and I maintain it myself.
- Be on Television --- Check! I was in a political TV campaign commercial when I was 6 and on the 6 O'clock news once.
- Survive a Broken Heart -- Check. I've had a broken heart, the kind that sends you into depression for months. I didn't know why this was important untill I read more. The site stated that being broken hearted at a younger age will teach you how to pick yourself up and move on. If you know you can do it when you are young, you'll know you can do it when you are older. It's better to move on from a bad relationship then stick with it because it's all you've known. And this is not just about romance, but even relates to your job, investments, goals, and more. I guess it's like chickenpox -- better when you're young!
I was thinking, for some people, the above list could be a list of life time achievements. But, I guess for me it was a list of things to do before I turned 25. I must be 5 years fast. So here is an addendum list, I created, to complete in the next 5 years:
- Learn to fold a fitted sheet (like Grandma)
- Keep a basil plant alive for more than a year
- Pay off all credit cards
- Establish an emergency fund of 3-6 months of living expenses
- Do a simple good deed everyday (whether opening a door, giving directions, or throwing away trash on the sidewalk that was not mine)
National Landscape Architecture Month 2010
April is National Landscape Architecture Month. I am proud to be in the profession that for the third year in a row, U.S. News & World Report has named among the best career choices! National Landscape Architecture Month is most likely April because it is the birth month of Me! -- but I guess more importantly Frederick Law Olmsted's bday, the father of Landscape Architecture. Olmsted designed many very well known national treasures during his career, such as Central Park in New York, Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C, the Niagara Reservation at Niagara Falls, Boston's Emerald Necklace greenway park system, and the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition (AKA 1893 World's Fair). Not in comon knowledge, Olmsted and his associates also designed many of the prestigious academic campuses in the US, such as Yale University (Connecticut), Wellesley College (Massachusetts), University of California, Berkeley (California), Stanford University (California), Cornell University (New York), University of Chicago (Illinois), and many others.
Olmsted was a landscape architect before the profession had a title. Olmested is accredidted with being the father of landscape architecture even though in past histroy we know of people that practiced that which we would concider landspace architecture. One that comes to mind is André Le Nôtre, best known for his garden designs for Louis the XIV palace Versailles. An interesting fact, in the Louvre Museum (Paris, France), hangs portraits of all the designers of Versailles. Jules Hardouin-Mansart portrait has "L'architecte" under his portrait and the other designers have their respective tittles too. But, when you come to André Le Nôtre's portrait, it only has his birth/death year.
This use of "landscape architect" became established after Frederick Law Olmsted, and others, founded the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) in 1899. One of the goals for having ASLA and National Landscape Architecture Month is to promote the profession. Becuase landscape architecture is relatively a young profession, we still need to explain what we are. What most people do not realize is, in North America and Europe, landscape architecture is a very heavily regulated profession. Much like the timeline in becoming a medical doctor, landscape architects are in school for 4-5 years, then complete a 2-5 year internship, during which they must pass the Landscape Architect Registration Exam (5 tests totaling 16 hours and 45 minutes) -- which I have endearingly began calling "the landscape bar," which upon passing receive licenser, then pick a specialization or stay a general designer. And to remain licensed, they are required to receive a minimum of 6 hours of continuing education each year. As you might be wondering, with all of the regulation, landscape architecture must be more then just planting plants in a backyard. You would be correct; landscape architects work on (all at varying scales of design, planning and management):
- urban design
- site planning
- town or urban planning
- environmental restoration
- parks and recreation planning
- green infrastructure planning and provision
- private estate/ residential landscape master planning and design
Landscape architects are also vital members of multi-disciplinary projects including:
- The planning, form, scale and siting of new developments
- Sustainable development, sustainability
- Stormwater management including rain gardens, green roofs, groundwater recharge, and treatment wetlands
- Civil design and public infrastructure, highways, transportation structures, bridges, and transit corridors
- Reservoirs, dams, power stations, reclamation of extractive industry applications or major industrial projects and mitigation
- Environmental assessment and landscape assessment, planning advice and land management proposals
- Coastal and offshore developments and mitigation
- Ecological Design any aspect of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts
So now you know! I believe I have done my online duty in spreading and explaining what landscape architecture is. Do me a favor and tell some other people it is Landscape Architecture Month. And if they ask you what that is, try and tell them or, better yet, send them to this blog or ASLA's National Landscape Architecture Month website.
Working and Exploring
Long time no write. Not much to report. I've just been working and exploring Dallas.
Work is going well. I really enjoy what I do. The best part, I have things to do! -- which make the days go by fast. Every task in each project is like a puzzle -- I love puzzles. My boss is good at what he does and it shows. I am glad that I get to work for someone that has a lot of experience -- and willing to share it. In school I never thought about working in high-end residential. But, I didn't realize how divers a scale high-end residential offers. We work with small residential lots (typical 1/4 acre) up to these gargantuan estates. The scale is truly amazing and has so much diversity to offer. On some of my projects I feel like I am designing a park because of the large scale.
I have worked on projects where the house is established and the existing/new owners just want to update the outside. On the other side, I have worked on projects where the lot is a clean slate because the house hasn't been built. I have had the opportunity to design pools/spas, fountains, courtyards, terraces, motor courts, cabanas, vertical green/planting walls, outdoor kitchens, recreational courts, butterfly gardens, herb gardens, even designing unique stainless steel pots (just like an artist). I think my favorite thing to design are pools/spas, whereas my favorite work task is tied between coloring and cost estimates (they make the time go by so fast!).
I'm enjoying Dallas too. It has a lot to offer. When I was here for my internship two summers ago, I did not have a car -- I really didn't get to explore. Now, true, you don't need a car in Dallas with the vast bus and expanding light-rail system, but I didn't ever think I was going to be here again -- so I didn't even try. And, all I've heard about Dallas, since I moved to Texas 7 years ago, was from people not from Dallas (from rival cities). Needless to say, most did not have good things to say, such as, "Dallitude," "Third World City," and "Self-righteous pompous rich queens." Living here for 5 months, I have come across maybe one "self-righteous pompous rich queen," but that's hardly enough to say the city is full of them. It comes down to this, either other people are wrong or I fit in nicely (and I promise I'm not a "self-righteous pompous rich queen"). As for Dallas being a "Third World City," it upsets me when people think diversity is a bad thing. Okay, maybe I have noticed something you would call "Dallitude," but that is expected from every big city. You wouldn't necessarily call New Yorker's warm and welcoming, would you?
I have not lived in a big city for a long time. I forgotten how nice it is to have culture, arts, diversity, big events, multiples of the same store -- if they are out of what you want, just head over to another one. Oh, and the restaurants! It's almost like being back in D.C. -- almost every type of restaurant you can think of. For some time now, I have been compiling a list of restaurants in cities I visit. If I have visited it, I give it a rating. If it is still on my to-go list, it has an asterisk in front of the name. I have decided to make it public so you can view my restaurant guide.
Speaking of food. I have started to cook again. Two reasons why, I feel like it again and I needed to -- to help me achieve my New Year's resolution to lose 15 pounds. Which, by the way, I have lost 5 pounds, 10 to go. When I say "cook," I mean something that takes over 15-20 minutes to prepare. In the image, I was making my mom's Tomato Zucchini Pasta. It's one of my healthy comfort foods -- and only takes 15 minutes. She makes it vegetarian, I through in cubed chicken. If you would like to see what else I love to make, check out my online cookbook -- also, feel free to send me some recipes you want me to try.
Ok, ok, back on topic. I am still finding all that Dallas has to offer. I think my next stop is the Dallas aquarium. What is fantastic, is once I am done exploring Dallas -- or get tired of exploring Dallas (whatever comes first) -- I can go explore Fort Worth! That's what is so nice about a big city. All big cities I like have another big city near by -- Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin/San Antonio, Los Angeles/San Diego, Cologne/Bonn, New York/the whole east coast, so on. That's just something I have noticed. Anyways, talk to you later.
Cash For Your Gadgets
In today's fast paced electronic world, our gadgets are updated, improved, and redesigned faster then the original product can become outdated (but the parts are still relevant). But I just gotta have the new one! So what happens to the original gadget? If you are like me the gadget, its AC adapter, and user manual went into a ziplock bag and into some drawer to be forgotten. Now-a-days, some businesses around have containers/programs you can recycle and properly dispose of your gadget for free. Yet, I just feel strange about tossing my perfectly working, only slightly outdated, iPhone into a recycling container at Office Depot.
I did a little snooping on the internet and discovered gazelle.com! Get this, it is an online company that buys back your slightly outdated electronics (cell phones, mp3 players, laptops, gaming consoles, PDAs, so on). I told my mom about it and she sold her original first generation 8 GB iphone for $120! Once she told me that, we went into drawers and found old cell phones, iPods, and my 10 year old PDA and sold them for $50! It's like finding $50 that has just been sitting around.
Oh! gazelle.com even pays for shipping. More good news, if you use one of the links to gazelle.com from my blog, make a free account, and sell $50 in gadgets they will give you (and me) an extra $10 -- a good referral program. If your gadgets are to old, they will even pay shipping for them to just recycle it -- you don't even need to leave your house to properly dispose of your gadget. That is a green company.
Halloween Candy
Well, it must be almost Halloween in this material world of ours. I was at Walmart the other day (yes, Devon went to Walmart, pick up your lower jaw) and found the aisle of Halloween candy. You read right, aisle of candy. You have to understand, it does not come through well in the photo, this is about 80 feet (160 feet if you include both sides) of candy -- CANDY. This aisle is in addition to the normal (non-Halloween) aisle of candy. The best part, no prices are listed. And we all know it's proven that you buy more when no prices are listed -- I don't know if that is true or not, but it probably is.
Now think about this. As of July 2009, there were 883 Walmart stores in the USA. If every Walmart in the USA has this aisle of candy, how much candy is that? My other question is, what happens to the candy this is not purchased? I know some will go on clearance and get gobbled up (pun intended), but what about the stuff that isn't. Does it go back to the manufacture, get repackaged, and they try again? Is it resold next Halloween? Does it go to the dump? Or does it somehow magically end up in little-old-ladies' handbags?
Here are some fun facts I found online from my research. Austin, Charlotte, and San Antonio lead USA Halloween spending on candy and decorations, with $53 per household. Only 26% of homes gives out full-sized candy bars -- those that do are usually the "Ah, rich people... probably make [you] drink cider and bob for apples" (props to you if you know what movie this quote is from). Prohibition was a sweet age of revenge: Baby Ruths, Oh Henry!, Charleston Chew, Mounds, Milky Way, Reese's peanut butter cups, Bit-O-Honey, Mr Goodbar, Milk Duds, Butterfinger, and Snickers all debuted between 1920 and 1930. The average person will spend around $20 on Halloween candy this year. I ate Twizzlers while writing this blog.
Thoughts: Lunch
I hate to eat lunch alone. It's horrible, you feel so self-conscious. Just sitting there chewing your food and you don't know where to look. How long can you pretend you're intrigued by cutting or unwrapping your food. So you try and act like you're really involved in reading a flyer/triangular ad that's on the table. Yet, when you try to turn the ad you hit your drink. And so you starting thinking that people are staring at this poor fool who nobody would have lunch with and who can't even turn an ad without knocking over a cup of coffee, and it's horrible and I hate it. So next time you think you will just pretend and look mad. That way people will think you wanted to eat alone. But then it backfires -- by the time you are done eating you are really mad because you kept thinking about how no one would have lunch with you. I hate to eat lunch alone.
Just Sweating Like a Pig
You probably do not know this about me, but I like researching the origins of sayings/phrases. It may stem from my mother being a linguist or that I am extremely bored -- you pick. Recently, I explained to a friend that the saying "sweating like a pig" makes no sense. Most people say it when they are sweating; yet, pigs have no sweat glands so it is impossible for them to sweat. So why do we say it? It turns out that we are all incredibly ignorant or use it wrong. The expression should be used when you are doing nothing. When you are home and sitting on the couch and someone asks you "what are you doing?" you should say, "Just sweating like a pig" indicating that you are carefree, not under any pressure, and not sweating. The only origin information I could find was that the expression "sweat like a bull" (yes, bulls actually sweat) from the 19th century (Cassell's Dictionary of Slang). In Palmatier's "Speaking of Animals: A Dictionary of Animals Metaphors," it suggests that the "like a pig" may have developed from a 17th century expression "bleed like a stuck pig." Then merging with "sweat like a bull" -- I guess that is a possibility. On the other hand, maybe it evolved from the instance that pigs "sweat" as they turn slowly on a spit over a fire. It is not really sweat of course -- just the fat dripping off.
Things You Never Knew: Sandra Bullock
Oh yeah, you might find this interesting. -- I forgot to tell you. When I was in Germany, watching German Entertainment news (like E!) I discovered that Sandra Bullock speaks fluent German. Who knew! ,,Danke Aller"
German Trip: Last Thoughts
So I am currently on the plane going home to Texas. I have just some last thoughts about my trip:
- I could barely say, "So say we all." I think I got it out once. I was trying so hard to hold back the tears (to even stay standing) that I couldn't open my mouth. As the train pulled away and I could no longer see the black jacket, I slowly sat on my luggage, and tears just would not stop. Someone walking from one side of the train to the another stopped and asked if I was okay -- well, I am guessing that is what they asked, it was in German. I was on the train for an hour, sitting on my bag in the same place I was standing as the train pulled away. Great, I am writing this and I am crying again. I am sitting in the middle of two strangers, crying. Oh, I just love traveling...
- Lufthansa is an amazing Airline. From Houston to Frankfurt (and vice versa) you get hot towels, two full course meals, two movies, music videos, world news, sometimes a documentary, location/status updates, and a few snacks. Not to even mention 4 free alcohol/soft drinks -- and this is economy class! I guess for the price and all the above I can give up personal seat-by-seat air conditioning.
- Germany is so far north that it gets very long days in the summer. The sun comes up around 4 am and set at 10 pm. No Joke. Last night it was sunny -- yes sunny -- at 10 pm and the sun just started to set (twilight till 10:30pm).
- I have had many personal first in Germany. Self-exploration, if you will. You know the phrase "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?" Well, what happens in Germany is going to be bragged about! Boo-Yah!
- Having gone abroad, I feel the US is very ethnocentric and slightly oblivious to the outside world. So much happens outside the USA and I never hear about it -- unless it makes another country look bad. You can find information on other countries, but you have to hunt for it. It is not in the main news. That needs to change -- if we want a unified world.
I went with Dominik to watch him vote for the Euro parliament. The ballot looked like legal documents from cartoons -- just kept unrolling like a carpet. And the funny think is that you just mark one box on the whole ballot -- it is a lot of paper for one vote.- I want to move to Germany and everyone I know in Germany wants to move to the USA -- ironic. If I move to California (or something) I would love to have them visit -- it would be the least I could do to repay them for hosting/entertaining me. Sigh, I miss everyone already.
- I have learned that no county is perfect. I really like Germany because I am an outsider looking in. I do not know all the pros and cons. I know most of the pros and cons for the USA. Sometimes you do not know a pro until you know other country's con.
- I should learn German. What is funny, Dominik taught me how to correctly pronounce, "I do not speak German" in German (,,Ich spreche kein Deutsch"). So I can speak that I do not speak German. I find that hysterical. Don't you? I didn't think you would -- see, I know you.
- Okay. USA immigration. What ever happen to people arriving at Ellis Island, signing a book, and becoming USA citizens? Doesn't the big green lady say, "...give us your tired, your poor, your hungry...?" When did "we" start charging around $2000 and taking up to 10 years to process people?
- I'm slightly freaking out. I brought soil back from Rügen Island and I am not going to declare it. Well, I brought sand back, which is an ingredient in soil, so technically I am not lying by saying I did not bring soil back. And I brought a Rügen rock back for John -- he collects rocks from around the world.
- Oh, one last thing: If you're going to San Francisco, make sure to wear a flower in your hair. And if you go on a road trip, make sure you have a good singing buddy -- "We can be heroes, forever and ever..."!
