Might come as a shock to those of you who are unaware of the situation (though I don't think many people read this). To catch you up, the house we're currently in needs to be sold, so over the past couple of months we've been looking around for a new place to live.
Surprisingly, we were able to get one of the rentals that although I've not yet visited in person, appeared most appealing in the online description. We go to sign the lease tomorrow and get the keys Friday. It's all happenin', yo.
I've started packing already. Have my paperback novels/most of my CDs done already. Just need more boxes to put the rest in.
In other news, shared green tea icey ice with big m today and had B&R yesterday. As of late, I've also been frothing over many Cathedrals/Basilicas/Chapels that await me in Europe. Cannot wait. It is going to be amazing. I feel like architecture will always govern my choice of travel destinations (I've always thought buildings and such were the main attraction of any given place) and don't feel like that's unusual at all.
And now for the customary music clip (not really significant, just what I'm listening to at the moment) Love this song. First time I've seen the clip, actually.
Here's a picture of some fried ice cream I had last Sunday night...and my Hokkien noodles, both from a local Vietnamese restaurant. Just thought I'd post these for your viewing pleasure...
In other news also went to see The Perks of a Wallflower the other day - was better than anticipated. I would reveal that I kept crying, but that could totes ruin my street cred, so I won't. Was nicely done, good choice of cast too... I would recommend it, probably the best movie I've seen in a while (however I rarely see [good] movies, so that's not a particularly difficult title to gain - keep your expectations low and you'll probably enjoy) Good soundtrack too...
Going to be working like a mad dog this coming week - opening the shop 3 days, closing on Saturday and my shortest shift is 5 hours, longest is 9.
Today, however I'm off to do some giftwrapping like a boss. Here's to hoping all the items that I'm given are perfectly rectilinear/rectangular prisms/cubes... wish me luck :)
SO, I finished folio almost a month ago now, and while the first Friday of November usually marks the beginning of endless relaxation (and the accompanying boredom), I've managed to keep myself fairly occupied since then. (as Junaberry has frequently reminded me, I NEED structured activities)
This will probably be a fairly boring blog post, but I figure I'll just get everyone up to speed with what I've been up to...
Immediately after folio there was Open House *insert city in which I reside*. As an architecture student, I was SO KEEN for this and really enjoyed it. It served to get me even more pumped and excited about architecture in this city and allowed me to familiarise myself with the different architecture firms, that I may, in future, be employed by. Naturally the main sites I was interested in visiting were the architecture firms (good to get your face out there too, I think) so I managed to make it to around 3/4 of those that were open. There were a couple that stood out -
1. a well established and relatively large commercial practice
and on the other hand
2. a small sustainability oriented practice (that admittedly I had not heard of prior)
It was interesting to see how the different places operated/were set up. While, obviously destination 1 would be a highly respectable and probably exciting/busy place to work, I feel like I'd lean towards option 2. While their office was modest, it was sort of quirky (desks made of reclaimed/recycled doors with plants, natural light, etc dominating the environment) which I liked. Definite contrast to the first, but I loved them both.
I've been thinking quite a lot about my future as an architect, and the kind of work I'd ideally like to get involved in. (problem is how to balance this with actually having money to live, etc) There are a few really great sounding NGOs and other agencies that do work in the field of architecture, though I'm not sure how readily available opportunities to get involved in these will be where I live.
I recently went to a meeting for the last one, to sign up as a volunteer, so I'm hoping some things will come up that I can get involved in. Have also started reading this book (been wanting to read it for years, and only recently discovered the uni library has it):
It showcases a number of design responses to humanitarian crisis and community housing issues. (from temporary tent/shelters to community centres) It's a really interesting read for anyone interested in how design (the importance of which is often devalued in society) can be used to improve the quality of life, etc for people. Once I finished this, I'm going to try get my hands on a copy of a Design Like You Give A Damn 2.
Some stand outs:
Been a fan of Shigeru Ban for a while now:
Paper Log Houses
(they are exactly what they sound like - structures made of cardboard tubes)
I also though Nader Khalili's Super Adobe/Cal-Earth domes were interesting:
Where the above turns into something like this:
But that's enough of that for now.
I have more the post about, particularly my Summer holiday job/travel plans, among other things, however I think I'll leave it there for now. On a side note, finally bought San Cisco/Last Dinosaurs albums yesterday. GOOD STUFF INDEED.
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are SO CUTE. Well, I think they make a nice couple anyways.
Just watched them on The View.
If I thought I couldn't love Kristen Bell more, this proved me wrong. Mad respect, yo.
(you can skip the JB part if you like)
Note her peplum top ;)
This is a trailer for the movie they're promoting:
I'm trying to watch it now, but I think I've killed my internet this month, so it's taking forever to load.
Less than 1.5 days left... (which most likely means less than 1.5 days of blogging left)
Went for lunch/shopping with Stan, Big M and Little S today. (in an attempt to spend the little time we have left together) Came home with socks, underwear and a full stomach. Not the most exciting purchases, but beats staying at home... OH and I also bought Canola oil (on special at Woolies!), broccoli and tomatoes, as requested by my mother. (SO MUCH EXCITEMENT)
Naturally our first major stop was OK-Mart, but I'm sad to say, my ol' reliable store, let me down. The clothing was pretty tasteless. (Little S compared it to Supre - harsh, but accurate) Got three pairs of socks for $2 though, which was good.
Went to the food court for lunch (classy). Naturally I had Sumo Salad, Stan had Salsas, Big M had Sumo and KFC and Little S had KFC and Red Rooster. (ironic how the littlest of us all had the most unhealthy meal...though to be fair, she hadn't had breakfast and usually doesn't eat like this - except for having 2 dinners every now and then) ...the fact that they hit up multiple fast food joints sounds more impressive, but I assure you my meal (surely by weight/volume) was larger. I had 3 varieties of the pre made deli salads (medium size): spicy lentils and couscous - falafel, barley and quinoa - falafel barley and cous cous - or something like that. They were all good and complemented one another. I can't believe I managed to finish the whole thing! (OK, I'm lying - of course I finished the whole thing, it is ME we're talking about here.) That said I'm still stuffed 4 hours after having finished this... was the most filling thing I've ever had from Sumo Salad. Sometimes this particular one can be stingy (the city food court is generally more generous) but this time they piled it on. (BEST PART was I got it for free, because I had been saving my Sumo points)
MY LUNCH.
STAN'S LUNCH... a burrito of some sort (I think)
BIG M'S LUNCH. (blurred pic of KFC above - she was trying to shove my camera away to hide her shame) and her small Sumo salad (look's pretty gross here, to be honest because of the dressing on the lid)
LITTLE S had a KFC burger and Red Rooster chips...I didn't manage to acquire photographic evidence of this.
Afterwards we shopped around a little and stopped by the op shop across the road, but I was disappointed by their selection also. Then Stan and I went to Woolworths (to get oil obvously) and after to the fruit and veg shop, where we were accosted by an elderly asian lady, who (if I heard correctly) asked us if we were Chinese and reached into her handbag, presumably to pull out the pamphlets/whatever they were that were inside. Stan politely declined for us and we proceeded to browse the fresh produce. Then we met Big M and Little S at the bus station (they had gone to acquire a metallic pen from a newsagency) and made our journey home. Stan chuckled to herself on the bus...Little S became concerned.
Now I'm at home. Been on the internet a bit. Stan asked me to put up the photos she took of me whilst I was eating today in a folder called 'walk throughs'. I was confused.
Our conversation went like this:
STAN: littlemishelle, can i suggest making a folder called "walk through" and putting a bunch of the model shots i took of you up on facebook?!?!?! SO FUNNEH.
ME: wait...walk through?
STAN: THAT MODEL THING TYRA IS ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT.
ME: ??? All I remember from Tyra is 'smizing'. *'SMEYES-ING'
STAN: that thing where the models go into audition at model agencies or whatever with their portfolios and shit.
ME: OH a 'go-see'?? LOL
STAN: LOL YEAH. what's a walk through lmao? i think that's from the devil wears prada actually...
Just for the record, don't judge our reference to top modelling and such. I used to watch ANTM in my youth, but now find it incredibly embarassing/ridiculous to watch. In other news I have started reading 'The Help' by Kathyn Stockett (I'm sure you all know about this considering it was made into a movie - which I have not yet seen) I'm only about 30 pages in, but am liking it so far (the writing style is easy to get into)
Music of the moment:
I discovered this project last year in my precedent research and it has since been referenced by other people I know/my last studio coordinator. Modern Japanese design = flawless.
8:36am: Go to the grocery store to buy food for the chumps who decided to come over today. Get: bag of pretzels, pandan buns, Aloo Tikki snacks and frozen corn cobs. Get home and become concerned that my food reserves are insufficient.
9:36 am: Get on the bus to go buy calico with little s to make a banner for our Save the Children group. (WAIT, make that 9:41 or thereabouts because the bus was running late...no surprise there)
...okay too lazy to think back to what happened at what time now... basically we bought calico and got on the next bus home. (riveting stuff) From this journey I learnt that little s is infatuated with the elderly...and we must be careful not to leave her alone with them, else she may take them home with her. When we neared the local shopping centre, I decided I didn't have enough food to accomodate the ravenous fiends who would soon invade my home. Bought some chickpeas, baby spinach leaves and snow peas (decided to make a salad... devo that avocado was so in poor condition/pricey) and got some lotus and red bean buns.
Got back, made salad, put on Across the Universe for Little S to watch (I say for little s, but it was secretly for me) and waited for pinkham to get here to help with the banner. (her lettering skills were required) Next came Big M and Kevin... by this point it was 12:30-1:00pm... naturally we ate lunch shortly after their arrival. I was disgusted when Big M brought a McDonalds salad into my house. I tried to mask this disgust.
My salad: baby spinach leaves, carrot, chickpeas, snow peas, cashews, small amount of pepitas and some mashed up aloo tikki. I enjoyed it (tasted better than it looks here, to me at least), but the last ingredient was more spicy than desired by some of the crew...to this I say MAN UP... jks my apologies.
Corn cobs and some whole aloo tikki. From this I learnt that Big M is keen on frozen corn cobs.
So we spent the day painting our banner, eating food and whatever. Wynn dropped by and Stan came soon after. (I'm surprised everyone fit into my house to be honest... don't be offended if you weren't asked to come... it was initially just going to be little s, pinkham and I, but these other folks can't get enough of me, obviously) We managed to finish the banner. Was a tad awkward when Mum got home though... as in we all went silent and pinkham attempted to continue a discussion, with talk of uni courses... I was amused. Whipped out the steamed buns when everyone was there... they were a hit.
Totes dominated Kevin at a game of pool. He was concerned that he was losing to a girl. I berated him for this comment and continued to embrace my glorious success. Also looked at some primary school class photos for the laughs. Highlight of the day was when Stan was admiring the 'Children' in 'Save the Children' (my portion of the banner) ...this is probably an indication of my need for approval, but lets not dwell on deep rooted psychological issues ... Banner ('poster') painting LIKE A BOSS, YO.
... I'm sure I'm forgetting any moderately interesting/exciting things that may have happened today, but I'm tired/lazy... and I've shared my food pictures, so I think my job is done here. Also, I actually LOVE Jimmy Fallon so much. Watched him tonight, as I often do - episode with Bill Cosby/No Doubt. He's adorable... funny, intelligent, aesthetically pleasing... I think he's the best Late Night host out. Watch him, if you don't already.
Listening to this right now...
Gonna go brush my teeth now. (cool story bro)
x
EDIT// I remember the funniest part of this day. When Big M, Kevin, Stan and I were sitting in my bedroom on floor cushions. (2 per cushion) Kevin points to ours and says 'LOOK A COCKROACH' and Stan squeals and leaps up (practically hitting her head on the roof). THE END.
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