modular bird

2012 is the year:

2011-12-31T20:43:00.002-07:00

1. I try to get pregnant.

2. Build my portfolio (again).

3. Apply to M.F.A. programs (somewhere with less winter).

4. Consider art councils/museums/clothing companies.

5. Buy a car (that I can lug stuff in).

6. Buy a bicycle.

7. Commit to doing yoga regularly.

8. Stop doing "responsible" things because I feel like people want me to.

9. Follow my heart, and listen to my gut.

10. Stop making apologies for functioning the way that works best for me.

11. Buy plane tickets and go places because I feel like it.

Project, What?

2011-12-28T22:52:00.001-07:00

As I've returned to watching Project Runway I realize once again, how uncompetitive I can be. The hardest part of watching season 9 is realizing that on some of the challenges, I have absolutely no idea of which is the "best" design. What? How, did I lose my critical ability? Am I really that out of touch with contemporary fashion? How on earth could this have happened to me?
What this means, is that I've had a crisis of identity. If I am not capable of being an accurate judge of under-pressure reality show design, I've got to make some serious changes in my life. This could be a really great introduction for the list of resolutions I need to come up with by Saturday night. First, I should probably make a list of ingredients:

1. Singer sewing machine (birthday present from my mother, circa 2000)
2. Two travel proportioned water color sets
3. Olfa rotary cutter (28mm)
4. Self-healing cutting mat
5. Card table
6. Neon pink clothesline
7. Coconut Heishi strands
8. Box of United States road maps (circa 1976)
9. Bottom 24" off four IKEA window sheers

Yikes.

I may not be ready for this challenge. I might sorta kinda need some help.

One Wish List from Svpply

2011-12-16T23:02:00.000-07:00

Friday Night with Warby Parker

2011-12-16T21:03:00.004-07:00

It's nothing new that I wait until the very last minute to get eye exams. I usually run out of contact lenses, and then when I just can't stretch those little daily wears any further, I try to wear my glasses for a while. I inevitably break them in a day or two, rendering me seriously vision impaired. This time, I'm planning ahead. My prescription expires the end of January, and I've already started shopping for my new glasses.

Warby Parker has $95 gender neutral vintage styled glasses, that rock my world. Now, you do have to consider that I'm practically a miniature person, so not all of their styles will work from me, but if you take a look at the video I made, there are some that ain't so bad. In addition to being able to try 5 glasses on at home for 5 days without paying a cent, Warby Parker partners with VisionSpring.org by donating a pair of glasses for every pair they sell.

I'm practically sold, but I just have to know which ones! If you have experience with Warby Parker, like style that gives back, or know which pair I should purchase, please leave feedback. Thanks. How's that for Friday night lights?

Nissan Leaf Commercial Got me at Gas Powered

2011-09-24T12:54:00.001-06:00

2011-09-11T22:26:00.000-06:00

When one simultaneously watches a documentary about Alice Neel, and reads something written by Thorbjoern Mann, one becomes very aware of the "wicked problems" that exist when one decides not to choose. Perhaps it is a symptom of my generation? This inability, at times, to focus in on one thing? I am multi-tasking. The result is less focused, but multi-layered thinking about what it means to make shapes, to communicate ideas, and to solve little clever puzzles.

“Our infrastructure is essentially developed. The easy problems have been solved. Designing systems today is difficult because there is no consensus on what the problems are, let alone how to resolve them.” --(‘Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning’, Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber)

According to these guys, part of my problem, is I can't decide. I try to be decisive in my regular life. I make discerning choices about the foods that I eat (vegan, fresh, and varied), the clothes that I choose (comfortable and just a little unconventional), the places I live (walkable with street trees). I feel that I have a grasp of what matters to me, what I find morally suspect, and that my daily decisions are more than anything, intentional. However, despite my opinions and personal taste, I am stymied by decisions about my "career," about travelling long distances, or depleting my bank account via erroneous "large" transactions. I am really good at making small decisions, writing lists, marking things off those lists, but those big life-changing things?'

This isn't to say I haven't made inspired resolutions, or that I haven't gone through the process of creating a system for attacking a "wicked" situation. I am The Future Problem Solver generation. I solved the problems of the ozone layer from a school desk, determining that research, discussion, and deliberation were tools one could map out on index cards, that one could draw schematics that clearly animated the horrors of refrigeration and hair spray. I have sold all my belongings and moved across the country on at least 3 occasions in my adult life. I have forfeited job security to join new communities, and learn how poverty is really defined. I have made something out of nothing, and more than once given up my connections and grounding to start off somewhere new.

It's when one stops moving that it becomes more difficult.

There must be a decision made about the process and the end goal. One must decide who the stakeholders are, and if "self" even enters the equation. If one is always making choices outside of oneself, one does not become Alice Neel.

If one makes no decisions, one is middling.

So, even if you don't know what decision to make you feel compelled to look like you have at least thought it all out. You want people to believe you when you tell them what you've chosen next. You want to stand by it all, and only backtrack if there is a miserable failure. You end up a little like me, with 15 potential futures, and a handful of present situations that keep those future possibilities mostly impossible. You play out the roles of your present, and secretly design alternative outcomes, but rarely admit to them when outside your home. You are afraid to succeed at an alternative idea. You are afraid to fail. So, you do the thing that seems most likely to make it through your concerted planning process. And, then... then when that doesn't work out, you take a risk. Then you are a little more like Alice Neel.

See:

Mann, Thorbjoern. 2004. The Nature of Design Problems; Mismatched Problems and Approaches; and The Trap of Working Sequentially. Time Management for Architects and Designers: Challenges and Remedies. New York/London: W.W. Norton, pp. 65-69, 73-81. (14)

2011-08-23T07:10:00.003-06:00

Start of a new term at school. I feel split, once again. In the meantime, I am streamlining my online selves. Perhaps I will make invisible things visible again... but for now, it is simpler to be like this.

Rawr!

2011-07-22T08:17:00.000-06:00

Love me some CSA

2011-06-09T17:30:00.001-06:00

Sit for a While

2011-06-04T17:12:00.001-06:00

Pedestrians and Park Planning: How Far Will People Walk? | Sustainable Cities Collective

2011-05-16T14:52:00.002-06:00

http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/city-parks-blog/24937/pedestrians-and-park-planning-how-far-will-people-walk
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Foot Path

2011-05-15T14:45:00.001-06:00

Water

2011-05-09T08:54:00.001-06:00

Range Finder

2011-05-04T16:28:00.001-06:00