my new favorite tv-on-the-internet show

I don't have cable. I don't have a tv for that matter. But I do have the internet. Not that I have time to watch tv-on-the-internet, but I make it my reward for working hard all day long. I watch more shows than I care to admit but I stick to ABC because, well, they have the best shows and the BEST video player out there. It is great. Thank you ABC. So I tell you all this because I have a new favorite tv-on-the-internet show ... Pushing Daisies. Now I saw a zillion billboards and such for this show all summer and had no plans on watching until I did watch the pilot one day ... and I love it!


Mostly I love the witty banter between the characters that is reminiscent of The Gilmore Girls, only not as much pop-culture reference (sadly). Also, the wardrobing is stellar ... quirky and fun. Chuck, the female lead, always has fun dresses on that are very retro and cute. You can't really figure out what decade its suppose to be ... really it suppose to be timeless I think. Echoing the charm of the 20's I think but more hip and modern. The colors on the set pop and the voice-over of the man from those Walgreens commercials is PERFECT for the mood.


Ned and Chuck often wear brightly colored chucks (the converse shoe) and the buildings are very dramatic and iconic. Victorians, Richardsonian Romaneque buildings, craftsmans and this one below (which is often shown as a graphic ... lots of cool computer graphics encorporated too for the comic-book-esque feel as well).



The picture below is from an episode when they first "kiss" (they can't actually touch, so no kissing can happen - gasp! oh the angst that I love! hehehehe). Watch it so we can talk about it ... it is so funny I laugh out loud ... and I watch it by myself ... that means its REALLY funny.

keep on truckin

so i guess that i don't totally stink at this graduate school thing ... although my mind may change next week after I have another mid-term and 4 papers due (yeah its going to be a GREAT weekend). i did really really well on my first real paper in graduate school and it was just what i needed to keep my head in the game. i needed a little positive reinforcement for all my crazy ideas and views on preservation and sustainable communities. on the flip side, however, i am not necessarily rockin my exams these days ... never was that great at tests in comparison to papers. but i wonder how i am going to feel when i realize it translate to a B- or a C+. right now i don't much care ... which is the problem. i have forgotten how to study and hold large amounts of information in my head for art history tests and that is exactly what i need to do right now. maybe i will have to have a tough semester before i really get my stuff together. who knows ... until then i will keep on truckin.

Wish the FedEx truck would keep on truckin ... all the way out of my picture!

This is a building outside of the Foggy Bottom Metro Station in DC

I am sure some preservationist don't like this idea ... its facadism (keeping the facade of an historic building only) but I say its clever, witty, and keeps the character of the town homes while providing office space. Plus the are no bones about what part is modern (hint, its the dark glass parts) and what part is OG (original gangster ... or original building in this case). I also like how the concrete echoes and incorporates the scale and style of the original building, while being suspended in the dark modern glass.

my shelter from the storm ... in paisley

I thought that you might be wondering what my little room in Eugene looks like ... I tried to make it a nice place to cocoon myself in, you know - in anticipation of all that studying and all that rain. Its not much, but its my shelter from the storm. I have more things to add ... oh and keeping it clean is always a battle.

Enter my room - I put some cute Anthropology frames I bought a year or so ago
on some cute blue and green cards I got - so they would stand out ... I think it worked!

Up-close shot of the frames ... I love them! They are so very baroque (hehehe)

This was my first idea of a "wall hanging" - I wanted a picture wall like I had in DC ...
plus Kelly gave me three great photos of Europe in frames and I wanted to hang them!
I tried something, but it looked awful on my wall.

Instead ... I tried:
This is the far right hand corner of my little room.
It was bare, so I made a collage of green, blue, beige and some paisley/leafy cards I found.
I think it softens the room a bit and I like the way it turned out.

So my closet doors are TERRIBLE, AWFUL, HORRIBLE ...
so I applied some IKEA mirrors to them.

Don't mind the mess ... but this is my cute little bookshelf that
my loving mother put together for me.
A few baskets with green paisley inserts hold all the ugly stuff
and some of my books get to be displayed!
I have IKEA plants and vases of course ...
plus I made little "place mats" for my plants out of
those blue and green cards I used on my wall too.

Again, don't look at my mess ... look at my tree! I love it (IKEA again)!
This is my getting ready station (since there are
3 girls in this apartment with only 1 bathrrom ... I
have a few mirrors to make sure the make-up gets put on properly
(make-up?! who am I kidding ... I am a graduate student - hahahahaha)
PS - the top part folds down like a secretary's desk and I hide my printer
and school supplies in it - its soo NEAT!

Pumpkin Picking (sort of)

I went with the two love birds (my roommie and her beau) to a pumpkin patch last weekend ... we had a hay ride and everything! I even had a big soft and chewy ginger cookie - yum!

(not to be confused with chewy granola ... still in pursuit of that).

Bethany and Ally

Ally and Marcus

Our little red wagon with our pumpkin picks!

when did i become obsessed with red?

I never used to like red. When did that change?

It happened in that order ... hmmm and I have a red (and white) polka-dot dress ... strange.

Remembering Why I am Doing This

In attempts to remind myself why I came back to school, I pulled up these pictures of some innovative uses of historic buildings in Spokane, Washington. I went there in September as part of my field school in Northern Idaho (it was only an hour and half drive from the State Park we were working at). To me, a lot of these structures are what are appropriately re-purposed historic buildings, giving new life to this part of the city and getting people back living in these well worn and experienced buildings, adding richness and texture to their everyday lives. What is of major concern to me however, is the fact that these buildings in turn are extremely expensive and luxurious beyond sustainability. That I am not ok with. If everyday people can't afford to live their everyday lives here, then historic preservation and adaptive reuse is just one more elitist movement that has no practical application to millions of people. Not cool. But check out the pictures and take in the awesomeness that old buildings are.

This building had a carriage entrance and everything,
still intact, that opens up to a receiving courtyard.

This is a fancy hotel.

This is a converted steam plant ... seriously the coolest industrial vibe.

One of my artsy-fartsy views from the top story.

Imagine this is your office ... on the fifth floor of an old steam plant ...
restaurant/brewery in the basement and first floor ...

Oh, and this is your neighbor-office on the fourth floor ... that is his window ...
not to the outside, but to the outside of his office looking into open space in the building.

Couldn't get a good shot of the pool-table/lunch room for one of the offices ...
loft style overlooking the whole restaurant below.

One of the conference rooms in the basin of an old boiler ...
drop in a floor and put in some AV equipment and we are good to go.

The developer got local artists to design tables, and art pieces around
the building using old hardware from the steam plant.

Oregon Coast

This weekend I took a mini road trip with some new friends! Check out the fun:

Bethany, Marcus, and Megan walking to the sea lion cave look out ...
turns out it $9 a person to go down to the look out and they
weren't even there that day ... so we poked around the cheesy gift shop.

Megan, Ally, and Marcus chillin on a big tree that fell over t
he river that comes into the Pacific Ocean.

Cool juxtaposition of steel and trees.
The bridge was pretty cool spanning the little valley that the river ran down towards the ocean.

The bridge ... asymmetry can be beautiful don't you think?

"Sexy architecture" as Ally (she's an architecture undergrad at UO)
claims all of her classmates would say.
I would have to agree.

I like the horizontal of the brick (I wish the window wasn't boarded up)
and the diagonal succession of steps in the upper left corner.

Gears of the working light part of the light house - cool huh!

The turning light gives you a small window of opportunity to take a picture. Don't worry I got one without the cage, but I liked this one better, just as the cage is coming back around again.

I was hoping that these pictures would come out better because the way
the staircase railing wraps around was so cool!

Bethany and Marcus climbing back down the stairs of the light house -
I love the brick!