The Comeback

What’s up? How’s every one doing? How’s everyone doing? Yeah, that’s deliberately two separate questions. [How is every (single) one (person) doing and how is everyone (collectively) doing.] All is well, I hope. I’m kinda in some other element today. Not in my usual self, but it’s all gravy. I planned for a free write last night. Seriously, it was suppose to be a meditation and just to see what came up… what was on the mind. Because of some particular factors, that wasn’t possible. Funny thing is, amidst of that events I found a topic. As usual it’s pretty broad and general, but as always, I hope that it will apply to you in some way or another. As always, my mind is racing… but the mind is supposed to move faster than anything physical [the mind isn’t bound by anything physical].

I touched on that whole, “how I know I’m right” stuff before and I wanted to bring it up again. Right and wrong… it’s something that really cannot be decided upon (ever). What seems to be right may be held wrong in another context or culture. The easiest example of this is any political debate. Pick any political issue, the reason it’s an issue is some feel its right and some believe it’s wrong. I try my best to not live in absolutes; it’s a bad thing to do. There’s always a grey area, the “right” answer is never crystal clear. Anyways, I’m sidetracking here but… back to the subject.

How do I know I’m right? Hmmm… I’ll be honest and say I’m not. I always allow for another person to give me another opinion. I practically beg you to comment here, [that hardly gets answered, but that’s okay]. I’m always begging for a fault in my thinking. So that my thinking and be restructured and hopefully for the better. Some may argue how it is possible that I believe in my decisions or choices so faithfully. I’d answer with “because we have to believe in something.” Many people think I’m being arrogant, when really I’m just confident in what I’m doing. If they would simply just pay a little more attention and give the amount I give in return, then we’d be pretty clear on things. The people that are pretty close to me (and even ask for my advice), I pretty sure they believe me to be a pretty understanding kinda guy… I see a situation in its entirety, not much escapes me. It all gets factored in, when I respond to people. I respect people for what they are; I stay away from generalizations and give humans human qualities. Like the ability to change, adjust, be understanding, and be intelligent, just to name a few. Yeah, that was a tangent but anyways…

Now this all came up when was in a pretty odd situation. You ever notice how those that retire can never really leave? Like Jordan, he came back so many different times. Jay-Z, he retires… but only from making complete CDs. He just gets on the tracks with other people. DMX [one of my favorites] claimed his 2003 CD was his last, yeah there’s another expected by the end of the summer. Smashing Pumpkins reuniting? And what’s this I hear about Guns N’ Roses? Why is it so difficult to walk away from something we love? I claimed my retirement from a few things, and I started to second guess them all. The difficulty is I reasoned them all out. I know why I retired from them. And they’re still clear as day, the decision that is. When I think about it, I still follow the same path to the same decision. Now this may be attributed to the fact that no one has been able to successfully refute my retirement.

So as I’ve been rolling this around in my head; but I wasn’t thinking about it when I was doing Architecture stuff last night. And there was this whole big thing about me having to watch “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” [long story short: there was a whole bunch of cosmological messages hinting to this movie, over the last few weeks. It was mentioned something like 4-6 times in 2-3 weeks.] And so I watched it while I was working on some Architecture stuff. At the end of the movie, I sat there and was like “what is there for me to learn, what message am I suppose to get.” And what was in my mind while I was watching it was: Things never always work out as it was planned. [There’s an issue with wording, but whatever] [Removing as many names and details as possible] it came up to “Am I supposed to reconsider my retirement, because ‘things never always work out the way it was planned.’” And I rolled that around in my mind, and then I remember a conversation that I had earlier in the night that appears to be pretty significant. I’m quoting myself here but I said “sometimes as humans we must be content with the fact that sometimes the solution isn't available and the one we chose just has to be satisfactory.” And the context of the conversation that this quote comes from really has nothing to do with my retirement; it was with/about someone else. The application to this situation is apparent. I guess I just gotta stick with my decision, until some thing pulls me toward another direction. Any thoughts?

***

Most of you already know, I’m a design student… trying to design everything I suppose. And it appears I designed my own future… and yet no one has anything to say about it. I don’t give a damn how good a designer is; they will always have those individuals that argue against it. And this is because design isn’t universally agreeable. It’s too general, and too broad. So if the objection is out there, then there must be someone to bring it.

Hello Friend

Wow… it’s been a while, it’s like every time I get to do this is few and far in between. It’s like trying to meet with an old friend; plans don’t always fit right and all that stuff. But don’t forget, I love doing this. So hello old friend, how is everything? As always, I hope all is well and if not it will be. Man… a lot has happened since I was last on here, let’s see… hmmm… lots of work (but you already knew that, because if there wasn’t I’d be on here), you probably don’t care too much for it [if it was architecture, I’d be all about it; but its like trivial stuff, not even school work.] So what’s happened? Just life, I suppose. I got married.


Ha! Yeah right, but it’s a nice transition into tonight’s topic. You know that “How to” page on Google’s homepage is really good. It comments on many different topics that are pretty epic. http://wiki.ehow.com/Make-Your-Parents-Love-You-for-Who-You-Are, that’s a good page if you haven’t read it, it was posted a few days ago. I think your parents, ya gotta be on good terms or else it’s hard to do something you believe in… it’s hard to go through a struggle without any support. Anyways, that’s a topic for next time. Even still tonight’s [was pre-thought before this http://wiki.ehow.com/Have-a-Healthy-Relationship showed up, nevertheless its nice information to read afterwards… it’s a different view (kinda)] topic is on relationships with people (other than your parents). I spend all this time praising wiki.ehow.com and now my argument differs from it. Here’s an original idea: read both and decide on something for yourself. I’m merely presenting my view of things.

Friends… quite possibly the only thing that is so common but not a whole lot of individuals know how to do it correctly. That’s kinda a negative view; I know there are many individuals that have no one else to depend on. It’s that what a friend is some one to depend on? It’s not all they are, but it’s a pretty important trait. When it comes to friends, it’s difficult to find the one that is genuine. I think I’ve been blessed with quite a few individuals I can truly depend on. The criteria for a good friend are pretty extensive, and I know I won’t hit on all the traits… but hopefully I’ll get the heavy hitters.

friend P Pronunciation Key (fr(image placeholder)nd)n.

1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.


2. A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.


3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.


4. One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement: friends of the clean air movement.


5. Friend A member of the Society of Friends; a Quaker.

(I love dictionary.com, knowledge is power)
Dictionary.com always provides a pretty good basis; I always take it with a grain of salt. I’d argue with 2 and you’ll see why in a little bit. I want to highlight 3 though; I think that’s pretty important.

The people I call friends has quite a few individuals in it, truly individuals, people are very different from each other. And I love it, it’s not just those individuals that I grew up with, so we’re not bound by the simple fact of time. I have newer friends and I have elementary school friends, and they all follow under my criteria for friend. In our current era, (and I’m not helping this either by joining facebook.com, I’ll argue for this later) the term friend has been abused and mistreated. [I see www.facebook.com as a way to keep in touch with individuals that have flown away, it’s nice to check up on people… see how the trials of life have developed whomever, and it’s not to the extent that it is like a stalker (i.e. friendster.com or whatever it is)]

Lemme get on point, I wanna take that definition I highlighted and start there. In the struggle that we call life, we’ll find individuals fighting for the same thing that we’re fighting for. Whether it’s a real problem we’re trying to solve or just trying to have that time where we can take it easy, we’ll have people trying to achieve the same thing. When I think of the people I call friends, I could (and have) told them by dreams and my plans for life. There’s no feeling of their reaction as negative. When you tell someone your dream (not the one some of you have a night), there are a few things that could happen (I’m highlighting two): they could laugh at you or they could accept you (maybe even try to help you get there). When I’ve discussed what I wanted to do in life, (and maybe this is by general nature) but there’s never a fear of being laughed at; further more, I haven’t been laughed at—why tell someone something you truly believe in, if you think you’re going to be laughed at. There are all these intangibles when it comes to friends, it’s never anything material. With this comfort zone of being able to tell someone your deepest thoughts, there comes qualities of the relationship—trust, I think, is the biggest. I trust they won’t laugh, I trust they will accept it, and I trust them with that information. Anyone that’s two-face is not a friend, and everyone knows this but no one really believes it. People can tell when someone isn’t being genuine; you can hear it in their voice or tell by their body language. And I know it’s the tip of the iceberg, but I lost my train of thought [the next section is nagging me to get to it]

So, how to be a good friend… well be genuine. That ehowto I gave earlier, I would argue that’s what makes a good friend relationship. The “how to” takes about a relationship in terms of significant other. I argue all those qualities should be present with your friends. The first section, that’s the best statement of telling the truth to people. Another quality a good friend should have is a good listener. Listen. I’m not talking about just hearing them out, letting them vent. They could vent to a teddy bear or bottle if they wanted to, when someone says something to you—listen to it, and think about it (it’s not hard…). How can you give feedback if you’re not listening? Again, tip of the iceberg, but the next section is naggin’ me [man, I type pretty quickly, there’s got to be a way where I can just think and it types it all out].

Now I argue the “how to” shows how to be a good friend (and it was intended to show how to have a healthy relationship), so the question comes up how do we pick a significant other? Because obviously those qualities have to be present when picking a significant other, what separates a friend from a significant other? Now I haven’t completely mapped this out, but there are a few things that would separate a friend from a significant other. I think being attracted to, is something small but a part of it. More importantly is someone you want to procreate with. Someone you want to create life with, that’s not exactly something that’s done between friends. I know I’m a reflection of (both) my parents, I can see traits and qualities of both. Think about this when picking a significant other. Basically, what would you like your kids to be like? This will probably lead to some argument for dating, something along the lines of seeing how they react to particular situations and finding their true nature (we’ll talk about this later). But back on point, significant other, the person you marry is and should be someone you’d like to see copies of—someone to procreate with. Here’s something to think about: How can you choose who to be with, if you’re not comfortable with yourself?

And as always, these are my opinions; they have been developed as a result of my experiences and thoughts. With that, I always welcome yours because they are derived from your experiences and your thoughts.

Current Era

Hey everyone… how’s everyone doing tonight? I hope all is well with you and yours. There’s been something that I’ve been thinking about lately… it’s the simple question of progress. Are we making any? This question has a pretty broad scope so, I’m going to narrow it down for everyone. Hopefully, make it simpler. Most of the nation enjoyed the Super Bowl today, [Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers]. During the course of the game, there were a few records that were broken. In this small scope, progress is can be easily seen. When records are broken, its clear there has been some advances in a particular field. With the (generally) always entertaining commercials, we can see advances in technology among other things. Here, progress is evident. In other particular fields of interest, progress isn’t so clear….

For my focus tonight, I’m specifically talking about Architecture. Has architecture made progress? When we study architecture it’s about epic works of art and major forward movement. We hear stories of Louis Sullivan, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Frank Lloyd Wright, among others [merely selected for their popularity]. Was their fame and greatness given to them during their life time or after their passing? Was Le Corbusier helmed as one of the best architects to ever live or did he get that after he passed away? Who can say who is going to be truly great? Who is the next big name in architecture? Who is the next “Sullivan,” “Wright,” or “Mies?” Is it Rem Koolhaas? Is it Adrian Smith? Is it Frank O. Gehry? Or is it someone who isn’t vastly known right now, only honored among architects like Douglas Garofalo. Furthermore, who determines who is truly great and who is just a member of the rest of the crowd? The problem with these questions, I believe, is there is no way to answer them. How do we define greatness? Are we only remembered when we are dead or gone? I would love to be admitted as a truly great architect, but it’s not my top priority. My top priority is to be heard. I would prefer that my messages through my architecture echo louder than those that I place here on this blog, but those are all in the details. [Although, I would also love if my blog receive recognition… but like I said, it’s not necessary.]

Wow… I’ve kinda diverged from the actual question of progress. Have we made progress in architecture? In technology… yes, what about design? Does it merely change with the times? In architecture, we can look back and say “hey, that’s classical” or “that’s gothic.” How do we determine what is modern? How does something like post-modern exist? And if the term modern applies to a certain time period (from this year to that year), what do we call our type of work now? What is our style in this time period, what will we be called when it’s looked back on? I suppose this post isn’t so much about progress, maybe it’s just a question of what type of era we are in. Funny question about time… how do we define it? Maybe it’s only useful as a 4th dimension of labeling things.

I remember a time when Tupac Shakur was alive, when Notorious B.I.G. was leading the east coast rap. Did I take them for granted when they were alive? Are they great now because they were taken away? Why is it so difficult to cherish something that we have, when we have it? Maybe if that doesn’t relate to you, how about Troy Aikman… inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday. Hmmm… that’s a pretty good example; after he retires he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame. Or Jerome Bettis, who announces his retirement at the Super Bowl… here’s a better example, Hines Ward, the MVP of tonight’s game. He’s never the guy to show-off, he just does he job. He did his job in this Super Bowl and was recognized as the MVP of the game. Will he be inducted into the Hall of Fame? Seems like it’s up to a committee to decide on that question. These little defining moments that separate what is truly great from those that are members of the crowd are slim and slight. Fame is a difficult honor to chase. I think the right way is to go after something you truly believe in, and not to chase fame. If there’s a message you want to give the rest of the world, give it. If there’s something you’re begging to scream at the top of your lungs, scream it. I’ve noticed, among other things, that when something in kept inside a person it only leaves to destruction of that person. As a human being, I’ve been given so many different opportunities to express myself… I plan to use them all.

How do I know I’m right? I think we’ll save that for another time.

A part of a whole [Part 1]

Wow… I find myself apologizing every time I come online to post on my blog. It’s like I’m not fulfilling my part of the deal, my honor to have a blog and a microphone to speak from. I can only apologize, it’s not like I’m not thinking… it’s just…. Never mind, there are no excuses.

The topic for today is an issue that’s been swirling around in my head (this is only the tip of the iceberg; there will be more on this as it develops). Many of the stuff I’m integrated in have brought this to my attention. During a discussion in one of my classes, I was getting the tone that most everyone was rather afraid of being a part of a whole. The question was posed “are we losing our sense of region?” Basically, are we losing the sense of a Chicagoan or New Yorker? Rem Koolhaas [OMA Architect] has stated that we are losing the sense of Urbanism. The skyscraper is making all the cities look the same and there’s nothing unique from city to city. I would ask, what’s wrong with being a globe and not just cities. What would happen if there were cities that ran the world as a cohesive unit, together? What’s wrong with the idea of “World City,” coming full circle? Imagine if there were a number of cities that literally ran the world, kinda like offices in a worldwide corporation. What would we be divided by then? Beliefs… if we are going to have a division, I say have the division on trivial beliefs. Something as small as, I am a White Sox fan vs. I am a Cubs fan. These are beliefs we cannot go to war over. [Possibly, a small step toward World Peace?] The only problem with having to come to an agreement on big issues is always a problem. Recently, the question of abortion was voted on again: Pro-Choice vs. Pro-Life. Whether you want to believe it or not, there are advantages to both sides. I always find the answer is always somewhere in the middle. [We’ll talk about abortion some other time, gotta refocus.]

I’m a Buddhist, and for the next part of this blog, I feel I need to provide a little background information. Over time, there have been two separate ideas for Buddhism. The general goal is enlightenment; this is where the division comes. Some people in enlightenment for the individual, others believe in enlightenment for all. I am a believer in enlightenment for all. As I understand it, if we [as humans] are all trying to get to one place (whatever you wanna call the place, enlightenment or heaven) why can’t we get there, together; that’s my justification. Furthermore, whatever I do in life let it be for the good of all. Here’s how it fits into my argument for globalization.

If the cities/countries that have power, and make the selfless act of helping another city/country then we’ll all get to where we are trying to get to [enlightenment or heaven, there’s more… I know]. Things like AIDS awareness, are steps in the right direction… making things a world problem, world issue. Banning together to achieve a goal, “Together we stand, divided we fall.” Remember, we’re all on this planet… all part of a whole. I have no problem with lending a helping hand. Others will argue, we have our own problems to deal with; this is true, we do have problems, but with this design wouldn’t we be able to help each other? Some countries are hungry; some countries have an abundance of food. Keep your eyes on the goal. Then some would argue “that’s their problem, we shouldn’t make it ours.” Can you hear how selfish that is? Here we are with the tools we have to save another, yet we don’t act. Makes us look like a real hero, Superman should be jealous. Yeah, Superman… [In the comic world] an individual that saves the planet that he’s not from, a planet that would exile him if the majority knew he didn’t belong. He completes a selfless act every time the planet is in need.

Now, people would question, “what about the guy you wanted to remove from architecture school.” Furthermore, “if you have the have the tools to help someone, why don’t you?” There are some that don’t want to grasp the picture that I’m painting. Those individuals I cannot help. There are those that are trying to grasp that same image, I question if they’ll get the image before it’s too late or grasp the image in its entirety. I believe in the human being, the ability to change is phenomenal. I partner those that are willing to achieve the same goal that I am trying to achieve; I would hope that we are on the same page. How do I know my goal is right? Is my goal noble enough? Is helping somewhere else when I am most fortunate, is that noble enough? Then people always ask, why aren’t you helping now… why are you spending your money to go to school and all this other jazzy stuff. As long as it is providing me with more tools to achieve my goal, then I must give my time for it. A samurai doesn’t run into battle with just a sword and expect to win. To answer the first question I would respond, if the individual is inadequate then their help would only hurt; we would take steps backward, because the job of an architect is very powerful—thus, it has many of responsibilities. [Things like protecting people from the weather while they try to achieve their goal, and assisting people to their job, those are just a small taste.]

Others would then question, what about losing culture? What about Globalization washing the sense of region? Here’s where the job of the architect is most evident. When an architect designs, the architect would need to worry about where the architect is… pay tribute to the location… if the architect is in Paris, the design would reflect the culture. If the architect is in Tokyo, there should be evidence of that in the design. Don’t just pop-up cookie cutter buildings that have no references. If a building were to be relocated, then the building needs to feel out of place. How you express this as an architect that is your style.

Now you always have those individuals that say “Hey, if you’ve got this great idea… then how do we get there?” I answer with a simple quote: “Be the change, you want to see in the world” [Gandhi]. I believe it… and honestly, how hard is that?

Hungry For More

Guess who’s back, and in full effect? Yeah, that’s right. And honestly, it’s good to be back. Many people were asking how the break was and this and dat, and I must say, the break was kinda long. That’s probably due to the fact that I did next to nothing during the break, yeah… me, do nothing… yeah it was kinda rough. But I’m here now, and that’s all that matters. [I’ll fill ya in on the details of the break later… maybe… if it’s relevant]

I had two classes today; my philosophy class was the later one. The first day of this class was rather simple, mostly stuff like: this is the syllabus, this is what we want to achieve in the course. It’s more of a writer’s course, course level 400 something. No actual discussion today, so I won’t bore you with that… moving onto the earlier part of the day. Oh Yeah!

Architecture started at 10:00 this morning, and it was AWESOME! Jumped right in saddle, the professor provided an excellent introduction to the course and its material. He hit a lot of key points that I was rolling over last semester… some of the stuff I've already talked about. Things like what we do as a profession of Architecture, [moving forward while looking back], Time [its importance] and more… can’t think of it right now… wanna move on. [He seems to like dissecting words and wordplay… sounds like anyone you know?] He brought one particular thing that I didn’t think so much about. [That’s the key to get on my good side. Showing me something I didn’t think of. Think that’s kinda hard?] Anyways, there was a blurb about the maintenance crew and starting anew. The link was pretty detailed and I’m not in the current state of mind to reiterate it, but I don’t know about you… but the first thing I did of the New Year was clean up. Cleaned up at home, cleaned up at the apartment, cleaned the computer, Cleaned. He made the point that there must be a clean surface before you can begin anything. And I rolled this over in my head; I've always cleaned, subconsciously, probably because my father always asked that I cleaned. Almost planting the seed that I clean to begin anew, New Year, New Project, New Semester, lots of new things going on. He also brought up Janus, the Roman God of gates, doorways and thus beginnings and ends. [Very important to Architecture] January comes from the name Janus, ending the year and beginning a new year in January, also the idea of preserving the year. Lots of ideas, I’ll probably discuss through this month. He also brought up… damn… lost transmission… brought up… hmmm… oh yeah! Friedrich Nietzsche, the “first modern” philosopher, a philosopher that blazes his own trail. [There’s another thing to get on my good side.] Now, I've read Nietzsche material before and I’m familiar with it… I just didn’t think it would be brought up. There is no belief in coincidences here. I wouldn’t doubt that some of the Nietzsche material has made me what I am today… things like not being able to make a decision without reason and blazing my own trail and thinking… making my own decision… listening to the context of a quote before judging the quote… all those things… many other things… too much to explain. An explosion on the first day… and I welcome it. Now, I talk about weedy out the crap, and only wanting the crème of the crop… this professor will remove some students… I will attempt to match this, moreover when he is absent, things like discussion and studio. For the rest of the students in my classes “what does not destroy [you/me], will make [you/me] stronger.” [If you didn’t get it, that’s a quote/idea by Nietzsche]