My New Apartment!!

Hi! I'm moving! I saw an ad 3 days ago, went to the apartment, liked it, and now, I'm moving in! Yay!

It's a one bedroom, so I'll get a couple extra rooms, for less rent! I'm in a lower social economic neighborhood than now, and will have to deal with unsightly neighbors... But those exist everywhere, I guess. I'll just work on not staring at them...

So this means that my bed's staying with me!

Pictures to come.

Why I love Chinatown

And... Old people. How come Chinatown's always filled with old people? Where do the White old people hang out? Where can you find Black oldies? Well, White ones are in their cars... and Black ones... Church. I'm terrible, I know!

New Year's Resolution

I think my new year's resolution is figuring out how to do resolutions.

I feel like I've got so much that I want, and so many goals, but not many things actually get done. I don't even remember what my resolution was last year (tho, I can probably fish it out of this blog...). I don't think I accomplished it, because I feel like the same person that I was last year, except with a couple more wounds. Attempted, yes, so at least I can give myself that. But I just know that what's more important than having a resolution is to figure out how to do these damn, these goddamn things.

So... this is what's going to happen.
1. Goal setting... figuring out what I want.
2. Information... finding out what it takes. Talk to people, read mags, websites, etc. Get buddies who wants to do the same kinda things.
3. Do little bits weekly or every day.
4. Keep going.
5. Remember again the desires.

Aaron inspires me a lot lately, because I learn from him. The way he talks about himself and emotions I can relate. So maybe we can help each other out. I was really happy... I think it was on Thanksgiving, I felt like I made a friend.

This is my bag of gold nuggets... Desires that's soon to be transformed into resolutions.

I want....
I want to lose weight. I want to be thin.
I want to do more stuff.... like go mushroom hunting or go to a cow farm.
I want to make more friends. Friends that care about each other.
I want to be an architect.
I want to be responsible.
I want to get a kick ass job.
I want to make money, spend less, and dig myself out of this debt.
I want to live in a nice apartment. One with hardwood floor.
I want to goto Turkey.
I want to goto Antarctica.
I want to keep working on my art and try to get a residency or a teaching position.
I want to help people.
I want to make art that I can be proud of.
I want to run a marathon.
I want a pair of stilettos.
I want a fuzzy bath robe.
I want a prius.
I want to get rid of this bed.
Oh, and I want to lighten up. So... develop a thicker skin, enhance my sense of humor etc. etc.
I want to spend more time with the Ocean. (surfing, sailing, swimming, bathing)
I want to laugh more.
I want to be more emotionaly responsible. (as Aaron says... I have to try to lessen the things that make me feel like I want to die... like cigaretts, like asparatine, like casual sex, like doing things without thinking about the consequences, like Christmas, like Birthdays, like losing my job)
I want to try not to make people angry.
I want to be happy.

.....I passed....

"I passed...." that's what I heard on Friday on my voicemail from Kelley... She always whispers when she talks, but it was loud and clear.

Friday, Kelley passed with a speedy one hour to spare.
Monday, I passed by seven points.
Tuesday, John passed. Solid.

So... we are LEED Acredited Proffesional. What does that mean? It means that we get to put it on our biz cards and emails. Well, besides that, it means that we know what it takes to get a building LEED certified (which is a green building rating system).

Yes, it's true that LEED has a lot of problems in it self. It is overpriced, and in my humble opinion it doesn't foster innovation. LEED is an inadequate system and was obsolete at its inception. You can say that it has a fundamental design flaw. It's a point based certification system that encourages people to seek points based on cookie-cutter stategies. You can get a point if you put bike racks on your facility, or if you put in an energy efficient heating system. Doesn't that sound unfair? It is so much more easier to put in bike racks than an energy efficient heating system. It doesn't matter, a point is a point, right?

People are competing to achieve points that may or may not be applicable to the project. But a national sustainable rating system should encourage research, case specifity, and again, innovation. People should compete for newer ways of thinking, and newer strategies for energy efficiency. It just seems like we spend so much energy pushing paper around to get buildings certified, when we should spend energy to try to make things better (aka design).

Anyway, I gave myself a UTI or YI (I guess I get stressed out easily because the test was a lot, but not hard), but I'm glad I did it. I'm going to get started on the AREs (licensing test) next, with the new year if anyone wants a study buddy.

If you are interested in taking the exam you can check out intheleed.com. It was developed by a former Berkeley student. I read the reference guide, (which I have a photocopy of), and the website for the test.

I am grossly behind schedule on studying

So that's why I'm taking a break to write in my journal.

Uncommon Grounds Coffee Shop
2813 Seventh Street near Ashby in Berkeley.

So this is a cute coffee shop with a little outside seating. Just like the name, the coffee shop is a bit hard to 'stumble upon'. It's located at the end of a large parking lot, and is part of a warehouse where they roast the beans. Eliza took me there years ago, and I'd forgotten about it, until last week when Bill took me there to pick up some emergency bags of coffee beans for his coffee business.

The coffee is cheap, a buck and change. And the barristas are hip and super friendly and nice. They are into Brazilian music. There's a lot of kids books at the cafe, and of course free wifi.

Atmosphere: Casual (Kind of like how Temescal Cafe used to be) Mostly worker bees.
$$: Cheap
Food: Coffee, Teas, Pastries, Sandwiches, etc.
Hours: Not sure, I don't think they're open in the evenings.
Service: Really nice.

week

It looks like a tornado went through my room.
I calculated the hours, and I've worked 65hours last week. This doesn't include transportation time to and from each gigs. At the same time, I feel like I've done nothing, and am still po.
I have a test that I can't fail on the 22nd.
When the 22nd hits I need to concentrate on the drawings.

I havn't had very many responsibilities my whole life. And I can't really handle a whole lot of it.
I chewed out this lady at work on Friday. My ass is on shaky grounds right now. I feel really really bad about that. And I got lectured from everyone about it. Aaron, Bill, mom, everyone.
Got drunk on Friday night. Coke and whisky is my new best friend. Yum! I can't deal with Margaritas. No thanks!

Dreamt of my dad a couple nights ago, and I realized I'm smoking Benson and Hedges... it's what dad used to smoke. I think I really just want to be like my dad.
Or, maybe I still just want to be his only daughter.

Istanbul Turkey

I'm going to Istanbul Turkey next year. May, 2009. For about three weeks. The plane tickets are about $1000 (+). but fuck I'm going to do it, man. Another couple of grand or so for touring. I'll come up with the rest later.

December 2011, I'm going to Antarctica. $6000... that's going to be a big one...

Bill, my coffee boss told me his story, and I've been telling people about it. When he was 31, he had gotten divorced by his ex-wife, the crazy artist. Then he had gotten layed off from work (well, he's got a very expressive personality, so I can understand why). This was his architecture job, doing condos. So he was broke, and you'd think that's pretty bad, but he then found out that he had brain cancer. Ouch. Talk about being at the bottom of the pit. 31, broke, without a career, a wife, and with a huge tumor in your brain.... sucks. So that's when he started his coffee business. Because he really likes coffee, and his ex wife told him that he can't ever do anything with that. And, that's when he met Clair. His current wife.

I thought Clair was really lame. From what I hear, she doesn't do anything. She doesn't clean the house, she doesn't have a job, she doesn't cook, she doesn't fuck, she's not exactly charming. Her personality is like vegan food - dry and 'good'. And if Reiko says 'your house is dirty', it's really beyond the typical hygenic standards. I mean, I understand that raising two kids is a LOT of work, but really(?) I don't even use thier bathroom, I'd rather hold it.

Back then Clair had a few suitors and had a Masters in Business and fell for Bill. And hanged out with him before and after his surgery, when he couldn't even see enough to read or drive for months. I could see why Bill puts up with this woman, and why she gets whatever she wants. I mean, this man does everything... cooks, cleans, shops, and brings home the bacon. This marriage, tho, is definately not what I'd look for. That's what Pat said, and I have to agree.

On another note, I had a million short dreams last night. One involved a bath house and peeing. Another one was about my dad. The synopsis is that I'm overwhelmed, super duper duper frustrated, angry, overcaffenated, and tired. But I'm definately not complaining, because this is fun, and at least I'm not miserable.