Twice as Nice

Alright, alright. So now the guilt is really kicking in and I'm going to post twice in one day. Julyne you will make an excellent mother one day.

I realize that I was remiss in my Kenny duties earlier but that is because Kenny has fallen out of my view a bit. My tunnel vision has set in and I have also realized that a little Kenny goes a long way. That being said, here is the latest that I know. He told the old girlfriend not to come visit...god knows what that means for him when he returns to his school of 300 people (total) in the fall and sees her every day (oy!) but that is how he chose to play it. Librarian...god knows. School...I heard rumblings today that he was pissed about something that happened in his program but I don't have details. I can say that Kenny's rumblings, and most anything Kenny related, is heard loud and clear through all of the GSD. A loud crash. Kenny. A sharp peal of laughter followed by "Yea man!". Kenny. A nuclear bomb. Kenny. I will see if some of that exuberance carries details my way soon.

On the home desk front...I've had time to snap the latest in my ode to messiness. Below is the model I was talking about earlier along with a million other things I just can't find the time or desire to clear off my work surface. I'm in hog heaven.

















My butt mate by comparison keeps her desk pristine. Care to comparison shop?



But now I must away to dinner. The guilt is in full swing though so keep your eyes peeled. More on the way. BB

in demand

Hey all...so I was not so subtley told by Julyne to update my blog...her exact words were, "ummmm, update your blog lady". And since I'm so accomadating...well. Here I am. But there will be no photos today. Just a down and dirty update.

First of all, I was briefly in NY last weekend. Which rocked. But threw me out of the Boston/school mode a little bit. So let's just call last week a wash as far as school goes. I was here and we all worked but none of us liked the assignment that much and by Friday I was ready for several beers and a long nap. Which I got. This week is much better. It's all about how messy can Brittan get. Today I am making a model for our latest project (model making, I've discovered, is something I love) and it requires a LOT of cardboard and elmers glue. I daily scrub my fingers trying to delete the gummed up mess of paint and glue and god knows what else from my nail beds before heading home. As I've been prone to say, "God made dirt, and Dirt don't hurt." But it doesn't always bode well for eating out at fancy restaurants. Not that I'm partaking of fancy meals while here. But I'm just sayin'.

What else....last night I went to a Boston Red Sox/Kansas City Royals game at Fenway. Franklin is back in town and he and I cheered on our respective teams (I rooted a bit for both, I admit...) but alas, the Royals lost...much to the joy of the rabid fans that packed the stands. I highly recommend a trip to Fenway for anyone visiting Boston. Old School kickin' it baseball style. Way better than any fancy new stadium I've seen in my limited baseball viewing life.

There is a lot more to tell but I need to get back to the model at hand....I promise to be more prolific with the blog in the next week and a half. And then, sniff, it's all over. Crazy!

Talk to you all soon. See many of you soon as well. B

Long train coming...

Ok, ok...I have been remiss in my blogging duties. But I'm here to make up for it. So let's get started, shall we?

First, what day is it? Week? Month? How long have I been here? Two years? Just three weeks you say?! Impossible. Already I am folded into the fabric of this crazy process. A few highlights from school since we spoke last...

I haven't talked too much about Eric, one of my podmates, but he is the oldest in our group....52 for those counting...and Career Discovery is his vision quest. And man is he having a good time. The whole department was invited on a tour of the Mount Auborn Cemetary in Cambridge (yes, they need Landscape Architects too) and Eric was so enamored of the sights that he looked like this....



















for the duration of the field trip. If he could fly from happiness right now I'm sure the Cambridge police would be getting calls from confused and slightly scared residents everywhere.

I should also add that he and Kenny are best buds. Eric says that Kenny reminds him of himself when he was younger. And somehow I believe it.

I don't have too much new to report on Kenton (Kenny's birth name). The librarian might still be in play but it does not stop him from trying to impress other young things in the studio with his committment and zeal. He and Eric are known to pull late nights/early mornings in the studio and should that impress the Santa Barbara blonde in the pod over, well, he's ok with that. The real drama will begin when his old girlfriend visits at the end of July. Will the dust settle on a victor for Kenny's heart? Stay tuned.

And onto the work itself. It's been very rewarding but the hours have been grueling. As most of you know I am not a morning person and well...this program is forcing it out of me come hell or high water...just so I can get everything done. Our latest project required coming up with a temporary (year long) installation at a harbor front property in Boston that for the life of me...well...here is the...




before







and my proposed after...






and the model I worked with to get there...






Again, I know it doesn't look like much...so why did it take so *&$#@! long to get it all together?! We saw the site on a Monday and had two weeks to concept and create the final product before crit this past Friday. I can only say I am humbled, happy, and glad to have made it through.

Speaking of being humbled and happy...Team Franklin visited last week which also contributed to no blogging. He has seen the pod and can attest to all of the craziness of which I write. He even met Kenny! Now you know I'm not making that guy up!

And to end on a Kenny note (because really, you need a thread in these things) my friend Curt back in NY made me extrememly happy when he told me that he had started greeting a select few with "Ca-Caw!" To all of you I say, "Ca-Caw!" And see you soon hopefully. Your podmate. B

Current Chaos

So after my brief foray back into blogging last night I felt remorse that I hadn't kept up with it better so here I am again. I realized that the pics from yesterday were rather "clean". So let's get down to the nitty gritty. First, two of my podmates,



Dave (in red) and David. This pretty much gives you the attitude we strike when summer calls but the studio calls louder.




And then there is me. I call this,





"self portrait". Or the current chaos of my desk.









Let's give you a little more info. The smell of wood...though I'm not sure if it is the desk's surface or if someone is burning designs into balsa for a model. Chatter...near and far...ideas being passed around, thrashed, supported, regenerated, revised....you get the picture. Tracing paper rustling as fellow students draw their ideas out over our oversized waterfront plans that comprise the site of our current project. What else, the "sssshhhhhtttt" of scissors splicing through paper as a GSDer prepares boards for tomorrows crit with images of planting choices and color schemes....

The list could go on. And so must I...to all of the verbs I just wrote above.

I'm glad you are all enjoying this as much as I am. Even if laying out in the grass with a bottle of wine and a sweet companion calls to me as well. But for now I am here in the flourescents and not necessarily unhappy about that either. See you soon! And again, come visit!!!! B

Midway to Friday

Hi ho! It's Wednesday and where have I been? In the studio! A poor excuse for not blogging but...well, it's the only one I've got. Speaking of the studio,






puruse the trays going up










and scan the close up of tray one.












I snapped these this morning on my early morning arrival before the masses swarmed in. I really need to capture the teaming beehive that this place becomes starting around 9 am. Perhaps a little time lapse movie. Hmmmm....well, for now these will have to do. And I will have to go to bed. But not before the Kenny Update! He "totally" hooked up with the librarian. Twice. The drama has begun. Catch you all later in the week. B

ps...and since many of you have asked...to "kill" in crit is good.

In Summation

Okay. So how long have I been here? A year? Oh, only a week. Hmmmm. Things happen fast here. Already I've logged 27 hours making two different models of fences made from panty hose. You want to see my contribution to the Atlantic Yards construction sites you say? Done.



This would be the rigid fence.











This would be the flexible fence.










The idea being that you had to use the same material for both. 27 hours you say? They don't look like much. I know. Sad but true. And yet somehow they killed in crit. Who knew?

But you are all wondering about Kenny I know. One of these days he's going to get wind that he is prominent in my blog and then what will happen?! I'm sure we'll find out.

Here's what I can tell you about Kenny this week. First of all, he greeted me one day with a birdcall that sounded like, "Ka-ka! Ka-ka!". The woman unlocking the dorm floor door in front of me was a little confused but I got it. The next day he wore a fedora to lecture and sat in the front row during "Career Day". Afterwards he milled around and questioned each of the professionals who had come to explain their personal experiences as Urban Planners, Landscape Architects, and Architects. The boy is thirsty! Except he doesn't drink.

Last night my "podmate" (more on what that means later) Eric and I commandeered Kenny for a night out on the town. Which led us to the Barking Crab in downtown Boston. I highly recommend it for purposes of cracking crab legs on the water amidst a rowdy crowd of urban professionals and locals.

The upshot of the dinner is that basically I am Kenny's love coach now. Kenny, if you are reading this, dump the girlfriend who can't say she likes you and get busy with the dreadlocked librarian who "facebook friended" you. I don't want to try to get into what that means but it's all the rage with the majority of contestants in the game of under 21 dating.

There is much more to write but I'm too tired to make it happen now. I will say that the schedule is grueling. Sleep...well, I'd like a little more of it. The process takes immense concentration and ingenuity. But the result felt pretty good to present.

Two last things. I want to introduce some of my podmates. Yes. I said podmates. Here at the GSD they split you up into "trays" and "pods". A tray is the floor you are on and it is called a tray because the building has been designed like a football stadium...steps leading up to the top in tiers except the tiers are large enough to accommodate multiple open studios that are grouped in "pods". A pod consists of 8 desks in 4 carrels. Whoever is in your carrel is your "buttmate". I'm not making this up. I just learned that tonight at dinner. My podmates are all of an older descent. The youngest in our ranks is 26...so that means that after the big critique we can....

you guessed it....

drink....













Starting from the left you have me, Elise, David, Sarah, and the afore mentioned Eric. Dave and Ken are missing from the picture as they were missing from the drinking but we like them anyway. I'll give the lo-down on everyone another day when I can do them justice. I will say that we pretty much spend 15 hours a day together at least and so far no one has shot anyone. Stay tuned for dramas to unfold. Nah...we are a good bunch.

And finally, I have to give a shout out to Team Franklin who inspired this blog in the first place. He's got one of his own that is definitely worth the read. Check it out here.

Team Franklin is coming to Boston soon and will hopefully be filling in his peeps about pods and trays in his own special way. Don't just take my word for it. Get a second opinion at http://franklinespinal.blogspot.com/

Okay, enough for now. See you on the morrow. B

Day of few words

Tanner Fountain...one of the inspirations for this crazy endeavor. It's midway between my dorm and the GSD (the Graduate School of Design). Come visit!