4.27.10
Today we had our presentation for the people who work at Kiplin Hall. It wasn’t a typical presentation in the sense that none of the people had any previous architectural experience so we decided to make it more of a history presentation. We each shared information on the time period we were focusing on and the precedents we studied then only briefly described our initial designs for the walled garden. When all was said and done they actually really enjoyed the presentation- they all had their lives invested in Kiplin Hall and worked there everyday so it definitely had its relevance.
After we worked on the tech review so we could go over it with DuPuy at 5- it seems pretty straightforward so hopefully the exam isn’t too hard tomorrow. I need an 84 to get an A….
We watched another episode of Brideshead Revisited later and then I did some internet work- not looking forward to the exam tomorrow morning!
4.28.10
I woke up early for the exam so I went for a run. Exam was kind of difficult- its just a matter of how quickly you can find everything in the book because the questions Bovill asks us we would never have memorized, they’re too specific.
The weather was amazing so everyone who took the exam in the first round sat outside and read/played badmitten all afternoon. I’m almost done with the next Sherlock Holmes mystery- I need to move on to Jane Austen before we go to Scotland! We had a group dinner outside on the patio table set I cleaned and set up from the shed. DuPuy supplied the G&T’s and we watched another episode of Brideshead after. We started to watch Love Actually but I had to go to bed- too tired.
4.29.10
Woke up around 5 am in need of water- Justin was in the same boat...interesting. Woke up for tech with a headache- whoops. We played a round of soccer; most people seemed to be pretty tired though so we didn’t play for too long. Sara, DuPuy and I went into Richmond for a bit to use the internet and run errands. When we got back I tried to do some quick tough-ups on my garden project to procrastinate revisiting project one until after dinner. I was proud of myself for dinner. I made lamb, seasoned with ground pepper and sea salt, and sautéed vegetables- broccoli, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and balsamic- delicious. After I forced myself to work on project one. I actually got pretty into it and somewhat resolved my plans. After that though I lost steam and went to do other work. Hopefully I will be able to convince myself to work more on it later tonight…
Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
The Lake District
4.24.10- 4.25.10 weekend
We left early Saturday morning for the Lake District to get some quality hiking in. By 11 we were at Scales where we started our hike. The beginning was ridiculously hard and, needless to say, I started to feel self-consious about my cardiovascular abilities. I was able to tough it out and we made it to the tarn where the real adventure began. We had a food stop and then we started our climb up the cliff- literally hand over hand climbing. I felt like I was at an adventure course, minus the harness and safety precautions. The climbing actually wasn’t that hard. Believe it or not walking up the hills earlier ended up being the hardest part of the entire climb. Once we made it to the top we admired the views for a bit- truly breathtaking- and climbed over to where prarsailers were ‘sailing’ out then started the descent. Walking down mountains sucks. Its hard on your knees and you always feel like your going to fall. Next time I’m going to parasail down I think.
We were staying at a really cute hostel near Ambleside that was an old converted mansion. Definitely my favorite YHA- plus they had a great breakfast. The next morning we drove to Grasmere (?) and saw a great waterfall then drove into town. We split into two groups: DuPuy, Sara, Dave and Emma went to hike and see another waterfall and the rest of us decided we wanted to rough it and climb up a mountain that we thought looked pretty epic. We had to forge a river- throwing stones to make paths sounds a lot easier than it actually is fyi- and climb some fences, but we finally made it to a hiking trail and made our way up. Today was a bit different in that we weren’t hiking in open scenery- it was more wooded. The weather was misty and foggy, and so by the time we made it to the top we were literally in the clouds!! It was such an awesome feeling. We met up with the others a few hours after we split and we were all exhausted and unanimously decided to head home. Such an amazing weekend!! I have officially found a new love of hiking, I can’t believe I have never done it before! Seriously, one of my favorite weekends, it was great to be outside- after all you simply can’t beat the scenery here.
4.26.10
I woke up annoyingly early today and then was exhausted again by the time we had tech at 10…life is weird. I think my body is just tired from climbing mountains all weekend (what a B.A. thing to say). We did some grocery shopping (yay!) and played soccer later. I was still a bit sluggish though so I just played one game and went for a quick run to try and loosen my muscles up a bit. I finished my seminar topics and put a ‘lick and a promise’ on my garden project for our presentation tomorrow so at least I was able to be productive. A few of us went to the station to watch The Last Station about Tolstoy- so good! I had no idea about his ideas and followers in his later years. Learn something new everyday.
We left early Saturday morning for the Lake District to get some quality hiking in. By 11 we were at Scales where we started our hike. The beginning was ridiculously hard and, needless to say, I started to feel self-consious about my cardiovascular abilities. I was able to tough it out and we made it to the tarn where the real adventure began. We had a food stop and then we started our climb up the cliff- literally hand over hand climbing. I felt like I was at an adventure course, minus the harness and safety precautions. The climbing actually wasn’t that hard. Believe it or not walking up the hills earlier ended up being the hardest part of the entire climb. Once we made it to the top we admired the views for a bit- truly breathtaking- and climbed over to where prarsailers were ‘sailing’ out then started the descent. Walking down mountains sucks. Its hard on your knees and you always feel like your going to fall. Next time I’m going to parasail down I think.
We were staying at a really cute hostel near Ambleside that was an old converted mansion. Definitely my favorite YHA- plus they had a great breakfast. The next morning we drove to Grasmere (?) and saw a great waterfall then drove into town. We split into two groups: DuPuy, Sara, Dave and Emma went to hike and see another waterfall and the rest of us decided we wanted to rough it and climb up a mountain that we thought looked pretty epic. We had to forge a river- throwing stones to make paths sounds a lot easier than it actually is fyi- and climb some fences, but we finally made it to a hiking trail and made our way up. Today was a bit different in that we weren’t hiking in open scenery- it was more wooded. The weather was misty and foggy, and so by the time we made it to the top we were literally in the clouds!! It was such an awesome feeling. We met up with the others a few hours after we split and we were all exhausted and unanimously decided to head home. Such an amazing weekend!! I have officially found a new love of hiking, I can’t believe I have never done it before! Seriously, one of my favorite weekends, it was great to be outside- after all you simply can’t beat the scenery here.
4.26.10
I woke up annoyingly early today and then was exhausted again by the time we had tech at 10…life is weird. I think my body is just tired from climbing mountains all weekend (what a B.A. thing to say). We did some grocery shopping (yay!) and played soccer later. I was still a bit sluggish though so I just played one game and went for a quick run to try and loosen my muscles up a bit. I finished my seminar topics and put a ‘lick and a promise’ on my garden project for our presentation tomorrow so at least I was able to be productive. A few of us went to the station to watch The Last Station about Tolstoy- so good! I had no idea about his ideas and followers in his later years. Learn something new everyday.
Friday, April 23, 2010
it feels like...Spring??
4.21.10
Tech in the am, then we were all inspired by the sunny morning and decided to play a game of soccer. I was suffering a bit because I was still stuffed up from being sick, but it was such a nice day I couldn’t resist playing. Dave, Sara, Jenny and I went into town with DuPuy after to use the internet and attempt to be productive at the station. Our goal for the next few days is to finish most of our seminar topics so we can put our book filled with all of our topics together before we graduate. Since I usually go to the library to do my essays- and apparently other people do too- DuPuy agreed to drive us to Richmond and stay at the Station for a few hours. I was pretty productive and was able to do about 1.5 of my topics. Not too shabby.
When we got back I did a little bit more work then gave up for the night. On the TV agenda for the night DuPuy had us scheduled for an hour of Brideshead Revisited (DuPuy promised not to commentate the show this time) and then the Hangover. I forgot how much I loved the Hangover- SO FUNNY. It was pretty late by the time we were done and I went straight to bed.
4.22.10
Tech in the morning- just one more exam!! After I did some more work on my seminar topics and went for a run. The weather is excellent- it is actually starting to feel like spring here. I wore a sweatshirt and pants and I was…hot! After some more procrastination I finally hunkered down and finished another topic before dinner and then gave up for the night. The movie agenda tonight is the Bucket List- not as funny as what I had originally thought it was supposed to be but it was still a really great movie. So uplifting! If I’m rich when I’m about to die I’m definitely doing that :P
Emma and I got a hankering for cookies so we made peanut butter cookies after the movie- excellent life choice. I read some Sherlock Holmes and went to bed.
4.23.10
We had tech in the morning, and then Emma, Jenny, Dave and I went to Richmond again to do some work. By the time general swim was open at the pool I was able to finish another seminar topic and get a pretty decent start on my last one. Swimming is getting a lot easier; 30 minutes went by pretty quickly this time. I might have to up the dosage! We discovered there is an ice cream shop at the station today- not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing yet- and the ice cream was amazing!! We drove back to Kiplin and I was able to get another good two hours of work done before I was maxed out for the day. Time for dinner and TV time!!
Tech in the am, then we were all inspired by the sunny morning and decided to play a game of soccer. I was suffering a bit because I was still stuffed up from being sick, but it was such a nice day I couldn’t resist playing. Dave, Sara, Jenny and I went into town with DuPuy after to use the internet and attempt to be productive at the station. Our goal for the next few days is to finish most of our seminar topics so we can put our book filled with all of our topics together before we graduate. Since I usually go to the library to do my essays- and apparently other people do too- DuPuy agreed to drive us to Richmond and stay at the Station for a few hours. I was pretty productive and was able to do about 1.5 of my topics. Not too shabby.
When we got back I did a little bit more work then gave up for the night. On the TV agenda for the night DuPuy had us scheduled for an hour of Brideshead Revisited (DuPuy promised not to commentate the show this time) and then the Hangover. I forgot how much I loved the Hangover- SO FUNNY. It was pretty late by the time we were done and I went straight to bed.
4.22.10
Tech in the morning- just one more exam!! After I did some more work on my seminar topics and went for a run. The weather is excellent- it is actually starting to feel like spring here. I wore a sweatshirt and pants and I was…hot! After some more procrastination I finally hunkered down and finished another topic before dinner and then gave up for the night. The movie agenda tonight is the Bucket List- not as funny as what I had originally thought it was supposed to be but it was still a really great movie. So uplifting! If I’m rich when I’m about to die I’m definitely doing that :P
Emma and I got a hankering for cookies so we made peanut butter cookies after the movie- excellent life choice. I read some Sherlock Holmes and went to bed.
4.23.10
We had tech in the morning, and then Emma, Jenny, Dave and I went to Richmond again to do some work. By the time general swim was open at the pool I was able to finish another seminar topic and get a pretty decent start on my last one. Swimming is getting a lot easier; 30 minutes went by pretty quickly this time. I might have to up the dosage! We discovered there is an ice cream shop at the station today- not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing yet- and the ice cream was amazing!! We drove back to Kiplin and I was able to get another good two hours of work done before I was maxed out for the day. Time for dinner and TV time!!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Garden Project: DONE!!
4.18.10
I went running this morning (yay!). I felt pretty good; I think I have seriously increased my endurance on this trip. Today is a workday to try and finish up our studio projects. I haven’t been able to be too productive lately and today wasn’t too different. The only thing the kept me going was that there wasn’t much else to do. While everyone played soccer I also took a break and read more Sherlock Holmes. I really like reading some of the stories now that I have watched the movie- I’m getting some background information.
Since Emma’s parents have been having so much trouble with flights going home because of the volcano we were all speculating about our flights in a month and joking as to how we might ave to get home- QV2 anyone? But then we actually started to worry some about vegetables since they are usually flown in and Sara and I went out to the grocery store for a quick vegetable and fruit run- you can never be too sure!
After dinner Jenny Chris Dave and I played settlers so we wouldn’t be going to bed at 10:30 and made it to a more reasonable midnight.
4.19.10
We had tech in the morning- we have moved on to electrical now. Then DuPuy took some of us into Richmond so we could get a few things done. Jenny and I went swimming- I am determined to go at least 2 more times so I can get my money’s worth. I paid 14 pound for a 10 day pass, I figure if I go 7 times it was only 2 pounds a trip. After we went grocery shopping- I think I’m going to get off the wagon officially now that I have almost paid DuPuy back and get a bottle of wine. I went with South Africa- I don’t think I’ve ever had their wine and we DID just watch Invictus.
Back at Kiplin we are in production mode so we can finally finish this garden project. It is supposed to be done by tonight- shouldn’t be too bad. Its crazy how les stressful this is compared to real studio!! Much better living conditions.
I started to feel kind of crappy by the end of the night- my cold is getting worse- and had to go to bed around 11:30. I was basically done with my project though I just need to finish drawing some trees on my aerial axon- nbd.
4.20.10
Today we did York, officially. We walked the old Roman wall, saw some pretty cool ruins- I love them- and went to the Viking Museum. Apparently York has some serious history involving the Vikings and they uncovered a lot of artifacts to help tell the story of their lifestyles etc. The museum was ridiculous though- it was literally an amusement park ride. They strap you in a suspended car and move you through ‘Jorvik’- the Viking York. The best part was in the end when they were describing the actual house of a Viking and in the back of the ‘house’ in the yard was a man behind a wooden woven fence going to the bathroom. He was ‘busy’ and we should ‘keep moving’. At least the Brits have a good sense of humor.
Before leaving York Zach, Chris and I went to a beer store and I got some of my new ‘classy’ beers that I have discovered on this trip- Duvel and Chimay. So good.
We watched the second dvd of the Che Guevera documentary before going to bed. I felt bad- since I can’t really breathe out of my nose due to a (I think) sinus infection I kept feeling like I was breathing really loud. I felt like the kid from ‘Hey Arnold’.
I went running this morning (yay!). I felt pretty good; I think I have seriously increased my endurance on this trip. Today is a workday to try and finish up our studio projects. I haven’t been able to be too productive lately and today wasn’t too different. The only thing the kept me going was that there wasn’t much else to do. While everyone played soccer I also took a break and read more Sherlock Holmes. I really like reading some of the stories now that I have watched the movie- I’m getting some background information.
Since Emma’s parents have been having so much trouble with flights going home because of the volcano we were all speculating about our flights in a month and joking as to how we might ave to get home- QV2 anyone? But then we actually started to worry some about vegetables since they are usually flown in and Sara and I went out to the grocery store for a quick vegetable and fruit run- you can never be too sure!
After dinner Jenny Chris Dave and I played settlers so we wouldn’t be going to bed at 10:30 and made it to a more reasonable midnight.
4.19.10
We had tech in the morning- we have moved on to electrical now. Then DuPuy took some of us into Richmond so we could get a few things done. Jenny and I went swimming- I am determined to go at least 2 more times so I can get my money’s worth. I paid 14 pound for a 10 day pass, I figure if I go 7 times it was only 2 pounds a trip. After we went grocery shopping- I think I’m going to get off the wagon officially now that I have almost paid DuPuy back and get a bottle of wine. I went with South Africa- I don’t think I’ve ever had their wine and we DID just watch Invictus.
Back at Kiplin we are in production mode so we can finally finish this garden project. It is supposed to be done by tonight- shouldn’t be too bad. Its crazy how les stressful this is compared to real studio!! Much better living conditions.
I started to feel kind of crappy by the end of the night- my cold is getting worse- and had to go to bed around 11:30. I was basically done with my project though I just need to finish drawing some trees on my aerial axon- nbd.
4.20.10
Today we did York, officially. We walked the old Roman wall, saw some pretty cool ruins- I love them- and went to the Viking Museum. Apparently York has some serious history involving the Vikings and they uncovered a lot of artifacts to help tell the story of their lifestyles etc. The museum was ridiculous though- it was literally an amusement park ride. They strap you in a suspended car and move you through ‘Jorvik’- the Viking York. The best part was in the end when they were describing the actual house of a Viking and in the back of the ‘house’ in the yard was a man behind a wooden woven fence going to the bathroom. He was ‘busy’ and we should ‘keep moving’. At least the Brits have a good sense of humor.
Before leaving York Zach, Chris and I went to a beer store and I got some of my new ‘classy’ beers that I have discovered on this trip- Duvel and Chimay. So good.
We watched the second dvd of the Che Guevera documentary before going to bed. I felt bad- since I can’t really breathe out of my nose due to a (I think) sinus infection I kept feeling like I was breathing really loud. I felt like the kid from ‘Hey Arnold’.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
4.15.10
What a lazy day. I woke up right before tech started and then did some work after class for studio. After lounging and watching scrubs with the guys for a bit I took a shower as a distraction- I should have gone swimming in Richmond when DuPuy and Emma went in to do some errands!! Emma’s parents flew in today- I’m excited to meet them! They are going to tag along with us tomorrow, and make us dinner (so I automatically love them).
I did some more work until I gave up and read some more Sherlock Holmes- the library here has the complete illustrated novels (I finished Maus a while ago). For dinner I made- I kid you not- pork faggots. I saw them in the grocery store and had to find out for myself what it is all about. The answer: not too much. They look like giant meatballs but are made of pork liver…so basically they’re not too excellent. But I can say I tried it! Now I have to figure out how to have this as leftovers…I could only pawn one off to the guys. Maybe stir-fry? After dinner I watched Burn Notice (I’m really missing all my American shows) and am doing work in my room. All in all, a not-so productive day.
4.16.10
Emma’s parents came to Kiplin in the morning so they could go around with us today. We went to Helmsly first- very cool little town. We went to the castle there and then drove over to the Rievlaux terraces. They were pretty cool- literally a flattened terrace in the landscape, about a half-mile long, overlooking an abbey with a folly at either end of the terrace. We drove back to Helmsly and picnic-ed with our lunches and ice cream (!) then headed toward Castle Howard.
The house and gardens were spectacular. Definitely one of my favorite places to date- plus there were peacocks everywhere, go figure. We wandered around the gardens then went into the house, it was cool to recognize the scenes we saw in Brideshead Revisited. The folly was excellent- I wish we could have gone into it. It was a great day, and pretty leisurely- we were actually able to ‘stroll’ as opposed to ‘march’. Back at home we relaxed and had dinner in front of the TV and watched Che- pretty cool documentary, but I wasn’t really in the mood for it. Went to bed- couldn’t read Sherlock, too tired!
4.17.10
Another day on the road- first stop: Scarborough. It’s a town on the coast, and the castle there is built up n a cliff. Very cool. We climbed down to the beach (think Jersey Shore- no lie) and walked along the beach until we worked up enough courage to climb back up the giant hill to get to the car. We sort-of lost Chris somehow, and waited around at the car for a while until he found us. We drove over to some cliffs- basically a bird haven. So.many.seagulls!! The views were spectacular though. We drove over to Flamborough to see the lighthouse and climb down the side of the cliff there to go onto the beach. We discovered an inlet with some coves, but the tide was coming in and we had to climb some precarious rocks in order to make it out. Long drive home and dinner! Work day tomorrow- unfortunate.
What a lazy day. I woke up right before tech started and then did some work after class for studio. After lounging and watching scrubs with the guys for a bit I took a shower as a distraction- I should have gone swimming in Richmond when DuPuy and Emma went in to do some errands!! Emma’s parents flew in today- I’m excited to meet them! They are going to tag along with us tomorrow, and make us dinner (so I automatically love them).
I did some more work until I gave up and read some more Sherlock Holmes- the library here has the complete illustrated novels (I finished Maus a while ago). For dinner I made- I kid you not- pork faggots. I saw them in the grocery store and had to find out for myself what it is all about. The answer: not too much. They look like giant meatballs but are made of pork liver…so basically they’re not too excellent. But I can say I tried it! Now I have to figure out how to have this as leftovers…I could only pawn one off to the guys. Maybe stir-fry? After dinner I watched Burn Notice (I’m really missing all my American shows) and am doing work in my room. All in all, a not-so productive day.
4.16.10
Emma’s parents came to Kiplin in the morning so they could go around with us today. We went to Helmsly first- very cool little town. We went to the castle there and then drove over to the Rievlaux terraces. They were pretty cool- literally a flattened terrace in the landscape, about a half-mile long, overlooking an abbey with a folly at either end of the terrace. We drove back to Helmsly and picnic-ed with our lunches and ice cream (!) then headed toward Castle Howard.
The house and gardens were spectacular. Definitely one of my favorite places to date- plus there were peacocks everywhere, go figure. We wandered around the gardens then went into the house, it was cool to recognize the scenes we saw in Brideshead Revisited. The folly was excellent- I wish we could have gone into it. It was a great day, and pretty leisurely- we were actually able to ‘stroll’ as opposed to ‘march’. Back at home we relaxed and had dinner in front of the TV and watched Che- pretty cool documentary, but I wasn’t really in the mood for it. Went to bed- couldn’t read Sherlock, too tired!
4.17.10
Another day on the road- first stop: Scarborough. It’s a town on the coast, and the castle there is built up n a cliff. Very cool. We climbed down to the beach (think Jersey Shore- no lie) and walked along the beach until we worked up enough courage to climb back up the giant hill to get to the car. We sort-of lost Chris somehow, and waited around at the car for a while until he found us. We drove over to some cliffs- basically a bird haven. So.many.seagulls!! The views were spectacular though. We drove over to Flamborough to see the lighthouse and climb down the side of the cliff there to go onto the beach. We discovered an inlet with some coves, but the tide was coming in and we had to climb some precarious rocks in order to make it out. Long drive home and dinner! Work day tomorrow- unfortunate.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
4.13.10
It was crappy outside so we were forced to stay inside most of the day. We had tech in the morning then crits after. I had a pretty good crit- he likes my design so now I just need to tweak a few things and produce!! I’m definitely tryna finish this project ASAP.
After my crit (I had to go last ughh) I thought about running…then thought about not running and decided that was a better option. Zach mentioned steak night at Wetherspoons in Richmond so we piled into the van and half went to the grocery store the other half went to dinner. I opted for steak, and unfortunately, they ran out of steak!! How can you run out of steak on steak night!? In the end I basically got a pile of burned meat and peas…I had to eat some of the pork chops with ketchup it tasted so bad, but at least it came with a Guinness. Back at Kiplin I tried to study a bit for the tech exam tomorrow, but gave up and went to bed. Should be an interesting exam tomorrow morning…
4.14.10
I woke up and went on a run before the exam. There is a small road almost right across from our entrance to Kiplin Hall so I decided to check it out. It was awesome! I was basically running in farms- complete with wonderful smells…
The exam wasn’t so bad- I had to guess a lot though and I ended up getting an 86 (!). That’s ok my average is still a 92. I did some work on my presentation and ate lunch then while everyone played soccer I took a nap/slumber. I was so cold today it must have worn me out- weird. Dinner now and DuPuy wants us to watch Bride’s Head Revisited tonight since we are going to castle Howard on Friday.
It was crappy outside so we were forced to stay inside most of the day. We had tech in the morning then crits after. I had a pretty good crit- he likes my design so now I just need to tweak a few things and produce!! I’m definitely tryna finish this project ASAP.
After my crit (I had to go last ughh) I thought about running…then thought about not running and decided that was a better option. Zach mentioned steak night at Wetherspoons in Richmond so we piled into the van and half went to the grocery store the other half went to dinner. I opted for steak, and unfortunately, they ran out of steak!! How can you run out of steak on steak night!? In the end I basically got a pile of burned meat and peas…I had to eat some of the pork chops with ketchup it tasted so bad, but at least it came with a Guinness. Back at Kiplin I tried to study a bit for the tech exam tomorrow, but gave up and went to bed. Should be an interesting exam tomorrow morning…
4.14.10
I woke up and went on a run before the exam. There is a small road almost right across from our entrance to Kiplin Hall so I decided to check it out. It was awesome! I was basically running in farms- complete with wonderful smells…
The exam wasn’t so bad- I had to guess a lot though and I ended up getting an 86 (!). That’s ok my average is still a 92. I did some work on my presentation and ate lunch then while everyone played soccer I took a nap/slumber. I was so cold today it must have worn me out- weird. Dinner now and DuPuy wants us to watch Bride’s Head Revisited tonight since we are going to castle Howard on Friday.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Happy Birthday Emma!
1.) I forgot to mention that the other day a few of us went on a walk around the property and had some serious bonding time with the sheep here. All the sheep around the country have been having their lambs in the past few weeks so the babies are too cute for words. Actual sheep are pretty ugly, but damn they start out cute. We were just walking around in the fields trying to coax some of them to get close so we could pet them. As Dave said, “why aren’t they like dogs and just come running up to you to pet them!?” Needless to say, we didn’t pet any. Maybe one day.
Last night Jenny, Dave and Chris taught me how to play settlers- great game. Highly recommend it. We played (Chris won), and I did some sudoku and went to bed.
Today I woke up with all the church-goers and did some work online looking for architecture firms in DC I might be able to apply for an internship at. I’m trying to find some smaller firms so I will have more meaningful work to do rather than get lost in the crowd of a 100-something person firm fetching coffee. It’s a lot harder than it sounds- I think I’m going to have to ask DuPuy for some recommendations on that one.
It was an amazing day so we took advantage and played some soccer. The games are getting longer and longer because we’re all getting better on defense- I love it. We came back inside and pretended to do work and we all eventually gave up trying and just watched the masters. Go Phil, good for him. The guys all wanted Tiger to pull it out in the end, but lefty had it in the bag.
4.12.10
Emma’s birthday! We had tech early and then went off to Harewood Estate. The gardens were amazing, great scenery. They had a mini zoo with penguins (random) and birds. The oddest part though was the geo domes (yes, seriously) that were supposed to be some interactive children’s attraction where you could watch movies and write on chalkboard walls…its sad what some of these places need to do in order to keep people coming.
We went home so I could make Emma’s cake (Jaclyn’s choc. choc. recipe) and head over to A Taste of Thai in Richmond for dinner. The food was amazing, as usual, and then we headed over to the station to watch our bargain Monday movie: Shutter Island. It was weird, makes you think twice about reality…is this even real!? We ate cake and ice cream back at Kiplin, the cake was a huge success! Time to try and do some work in prep for crits tomorrow. We need to finish this garden project!
Last night Jenny, Dave and Chris taught me how to play settlers- great game. Highly recommend it. We played (Chris won), and I did some sudoku and went to bed.
Today I woke up with all the church-goers and did some work online looking for architecture firms in DC I might be able to apply for an internship at. I’m trying to find some smaller firms so I will have more meaningful work to do rather than get lost in the crowd of a 100-something person firm fetching coffee. It’s a lot harder than it sounds- I think I’m going to have to ask DuPuy for some recommendations on that one.
It was an amazing day so we took advantage and played some soccer. The games are getting longer and longer because we’re all getting better on defense- I love it. We came back inside and pretended to do work and we all eventually gave up trying and just watched the masters. Go Phil, good for him. The guys all wanted Tiger to pull it out in the end, but lefty had it in the bag.
4.12.10
Emma’s birthday! We had tech early and then went off to Harewood Estate. The gardens were amazing, great scenery. They had a mini zoo with penguins (random) and birds. The oddest part though was the geo domes (yes, seriously) that were supposed to be some interactive children’s attraction where you could watch movies and write on chalkboard walls…its sad what some of these places need to do in order to keep people coming.
We went home so I could make Emma’s cake (Jaclyn’s choc. choc. recipe) and head over to A Taste of Thai in Richmond for dinner. The food was amazing, as usual, and then we headed over to the station to watch our bargain Monday movie: Shutter Island. It was weird, makes you think twice about reality…is this even real!? We ate cake and ice cream back at Kiplin, the cake was a huge success! Time to try and do some work in prep for crits tomorrow. We need to finish this garden project!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
hiking!
4.7.10
Woke up and took advantage to the internet while everyone else was still sleeping. I’m looking up some summer camps that I might be able to work at over the summer in case I don’t get any architecture related internships- working at the gym sucks.
Tech in the morning so we could go into Richmond later when the pool is open. I forgot how hard swimming is! I’m beat- total body workout. Once we got back to Kiplin I took a nap then did studio work until dinner.
4.8.10
Honestly- drawing a bit of a blank for what we did this day. I know we went to Richmond to go grocery shopping and get some movies from the library there. They STILL don’t have Pride and Prejudice again so we got the Dark Knight and the Fantastic Mr. Fox. We decided to watch Mr. Fox tonight- great. Love the part where he salutes the wolf at the end. Now everyone raises their fist to me as a greeting, its great.
4.9.10
Today we went to Leeds to meet some people from the architecture firm that did the renovation on the study center at Kiplin Hall. It actually ended up being one man, who didn’t really seem to know what we were doing there/why we were there. Oh well, it was cool to go there, the firm seems pretty interesting. Plus we learned there is a 5,000 pound fine for every bat you kill on a development project- apparently they’re endangered. After meeting with him we walked around Leeds for a bit then went off to see Harrogate.
Harrogate was a great town. It was a ton of topo (kind of reminded me of Bath), and there are some amazing parks and grand houses near the edges of the town. Once we drove around for a while we headed back to Kiplin.
After dinner we played Ass Whole (finally!) for a while and watched the masters a bit. After cards most everyone watched the Dark Knight, but I got some internet work done and cleaned the kitchen- I wasn’t tired and that’s what I do when I’m bored, I can’t help it. I blame mom. ☺
4.10.10
Another early start and off to hike! We went to a place Damien (the gamekeeper) told us about. It was apparently the highest altitude pub/inn in the UK. We found a trail- which wasn’t too hard there are farms surrounded by stone walls everywhere with little gates and holes in the walls for people to walk through and hike! The farmers just let people walk all throughout their land. Its great. We hiked up a MASSIVE hill all the way to the top (sweating- it was at least 65 today). The view was amazing. I’m officially converted, I want to go hiking all the time now!!
We climbed back down and ate lunch. The next stop was a waterfall- a bit more difficult to find. It was amazing we climbed to the top of the waterfall- walking over literally an I-Beam of a bridge and had a beer at the inn there. We stopped at another waterfall/rapids area and went home. We were beat, but it was too nice of a day to not play soccer. It was a great game; we’re getting a lot better.
Shower, dinner, relax, probably bed early. I’m beat.
Woke up and took advantage to the internet while everyone else was still sleeping. I’m looking up some summer camps that I might be able to work at over the summer in case I don’t get any architecture related internships- working at the gym sucks.
Tech in the morning so we could go into Richmond later when the pool is open. I forgot how hard swimming is! I’m beat- total body workout. Once we got back to Kiplin I took a nap then did studio work until dinner.
4.8.10
Honestly- drawing a bit of a blank for what we did this day. I know we went to Richmond to go grocery shopping and get some movies from the library there. They STILL don’t have Pride and Prejudice again so we got the Dark Knight and the Fantastic Mr. Fox. We decided to watch Mr. Fox tonight- great. Love the part where he salutes the wolf at the end. Now everyone raises their fist to me as a greeting, its great.
4.9.10
Today we went to Leeds to meet some people from the architecture firm that did the renovation on the study center at Kiplin Hall. It actually ended up being one man, who didn’t really seem to know what we were doing there/why we were there. Oh well, it was cool to go there, the firm seems pretty interesting. Plus we learned there is a 5,000 pound fine for every bat you kill on a development project- apparently they’re endangered. After meeting with him we walked around Leeds for a bit then went off to see Harrogate.
Harrogate was a great town. It was a ton of topo (kind of reminded me of Bath), and there are some amazing parks and grand houses near the edges of the town. Once we drove around for a while we headed back to Kiplin.
After dinner we played Ass Whole (finally!) for a while and watched the masters a bit. After cards most everyone watched the Dark Knight, but I got some internet work done and cleaned the kitchen- I wasn’t tired and that’s what I do when I’m bored, I can’t help it. I blame mom. ☺
4.10.10
Another early start and off to hike! We went to a place Damien (the gamekeeper) told us about. It was apparently the highest altitude pub/inn in the UK. We found a trail- which wasn’t too hard there are farms surrounded by stone walls everywhere with little gates and holes in the walls for people to walk through and hike! The farmers just let people walk all throughout their land. Its great. We hiked up a MASSIVE hill all the way to the top (sweating- it was at least 65 today). The view was amazing. I’m officially converted, I want to go hiking all the time now!!
We climbed back down and ate lunch. The next stop was a waterfall- a bit more difficult to find. It was amazing we climbed to the top of the waterfall- walking over literally an I-Beam of a bridge and had a beer at the inn there. We stopped at another waterfall/rapids area and went home. We were beat, but it was too nice of a day to not play soccer. It was a great game; we’re getting a lot better.
Shower, dinner, relax, probably bed early. I’m beat.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
To the COAST!!
4.5.10
(Happy Birthday Grandpa!)
We worked on studio in the morning until tech at 2. I don’t even know the last time I had to sit and work/think/focus for that long a period of time! School is rough sometimes! We had individual crits then played soccer after. We were all dead tired- playing soccer three days in a row is not in our athletic/conditioning abilities just yet. Dinner then we watched Troy. I forgot how good Brad Pitt looked in that movie…
I started to read Maus today- excellent. It’s a fast read because it’s a graphic novel, but the content intense and it brings a really horrible time in our history to the public. It’s a man essentially interviewing his grandfather on his experience in the Holocaust. I’ve gotten a little carried away though- I’m almost half-way done and its over 200 pages! I need to pace myself…
4.6.10
DuPuy was getting restless so he took us on a trip to Craigside and the coast today. It was an early start, but it was worth it because we had a great day. Craigside is an estate in Northumberland (near Scotland) where the owner essentially designed nature. He ordered for almost every tree and plant that is currently there to be planted in its spot and yet its purpose was to appear as if it were there naturally. Great concept- and extremely hard to pull off! Nature’s beauty is hard to replicate. It was so weird though because it literally looked like we were in upstate New York. Really gorgeous and we got to hike around a bit.
After, we went to the coast to see an old castle that is currently in ruins. It was right on the water and the walk there was phenomenal- a 1.25 mile walk along the water, walking on the beautiful green grass with sheep grazing literally yards away. So England.
Back home we ate and relaxed a bit. I read more of Maus until everyone wanted to watch a movie- I opted out. I’m tired of watching movies!! Plus I finally got the internet to work so I need to take advantage!
(Happy Birthday Grandpa!)
We worked on studio in the morning until tech at 2. I don’t even know the last time I had to sit and work/think/focus for that long a period of time! School is rough sometimes! We had individual crits then played soccer after. We were all dead tired- playing soccer three days in a row is not in our athletic/conditioning abilities just yet. Dinner then we watched Troy. I forgot how good Brad Pitt looked in that movie…
I started to read Maus today- excellent. It’s a fast read because it’s a graphic novel, but the content intense and it brings a really horrible time in our history to the public. It’s a man essentially interviewing his grandfather on his experience in the Holocaust. I’ve gotten a little carried away though- I’m almost half-way done and its over 200 pages! I need to pace myself…
4.6.10
DuPuy was getting restless so he took us on a trip to Craigside and the coast today. It was an early start, but it was worth it because we had a great day. Craigside is an estate in Northumberland (near Scotland) where the owner essentially designed nature. He ordered for almost every tree and plant that is currently there to be planted in its spot and yet its purpose was to appear as if it were there naturally. Great concept- and extremely hard to pull off! Nature’s beauty is hard to replicate. It was so weird though because it literally looked like we were in upstate New York. Really gorgeous and we got to hike around a bit.
After, we went to the coast to see an old castle that is currently in ruins. It was right on the water and the walk there was phenomenal- a 1.25 mile walk along the water, walking on the beautiful green grass with sheep grazing literally yards away. So England.
Back home we ate and relaxed a bit. I read more of Maus until everyone wanted to watch a movie- I opted out. I’m tired of watching movies!! Plus I finally got the internet to work so I need to take advantage!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Happy Easter!
4.4.10
Everyone went to the York Cathedral this morning to mass except Sara and I so it was a quiet morning. Almost too quiet- I’m used to eight people running around the place. Emma and Jenny had bought 9 chocolate imps in Lincoln when we went the other day and left them out on the counter for everyone so Sara and I hid them. It was as close to an Easter egg hunt as we could get. I finished reading my book while everyone was out- good ending. I’m excited to be moving on to a new book though. Jenny is going to let me read Maus- it’s a graphic novel set in the holocaust.
Once everyone came back we went on a mini imp hunt and then geared up for soccer. It was another perfect day for soccer, and today we had a bit of an audience. Kiplin Hall officially opened to visitors on Easter so there were tons of people here- at least 20 cars. Every once in a while I would look up and see people crowded around the gate watching us play. Zach broke my shoes- he stepped on my foot and stayed put while I kept moving and ripped my laces from the whole left side of my shoe. I had to wrap my laces around my shoe so it would stay on. Dave and I went for a quick run around the lake after the game and then we all freshened up for dinner.
Sara essentially made the dinner, but since she used to be a vegetarian I helped her in gutting and stuffing the ducks and Cornish hens. Dinner was excellent though, and we finished with some cake- courtesy of Zach. Great meal.
We watched the Secret Window- way more creepy than I thought it was going to be, but the ending was pretty predictable if you thought about all the clues they gave you throughout the movie. Its all about the perfect ending…
Everyone went to the York Cathedral this morning to mass except Sara and I so it was a quiet morning. Almost too quiet- I’m used to eight people running around the place. Emma and Jenny had bought 9 chocolate imps in Lincoln when we went the other day and left them out on the counter for everyone so Sara and I hid them. It was as close to an Easter egg hunt as we could get. I finished reading my book while everyone was out- good ending. I’m excited to be moving on to a new book though. Jenny is going to let me read Maus- it’s a graphic novel set in the holocaust.
Once everyone came back we went on a mini imp hunt and then geared up for soccer. It was another perfect day for soccer, and today we had a bit of an audience. Kiplin Hall officially opened to visitors on Easter so there were tons of people here- at least 20 cars. Every once in a while I would look up and see people crowded around the gate watching us play. Zach broke my shoes- he stepped on my foot and stayed put while I kept moving and ripped my laces from the whole left side of my shoe. I had to wrap my laces around my shoe so it would stay on. Dave and I went for a quick run around the lake after the game and then we all freshened up for dinner.
Sara essentially made the dinner, but since she used to be a vegetarian I helped her in gutting and stuffing the ducks and Cornish hens. Dinner was excellent though, and we finished with some cake- courtesy of Zach. Great meal.
We watched the Secret Window- way more creepy than I thought it was going to be, but the ending was pretty predictable if you thought about all the clues they gave you throughout the movie. Its all about the perfect ending…
Sunday, April 4, 2010
4.3.10
We started work on site analysis this morning after everyone woke up. I am starting to get pretty excited for this project. The site has a lot more going for it then just a walled in green space- there is a stream running along the backside of it and a greenhouse etc. I have been charged with designing a Georgian Garden- a picturesque, geometrical, organized garden set in nature.
I bought blood pudding at the grocery store the other day at the deli counter- the woman told me how to cook it etc so I decided to make it before tech class today. Honestly, not bad. Not bad at all. I might even buy some more next time I go shopping.
After tech and some studio work we played soccer (!!). It was amazing outside. Perfect soccer weather- sunny and a little bit chilly. I missed soccer- yet another reason its nice to be back at Kiplin.
We watched Braveheart after dinner. I couldn’t even make it all the way through- it was SO LONG. How long can you drag that on!? Not exactly my favorite. Reading then going to bed- I’m almost finished this book!
We started work on site analysis this morning after everyone woke up. I am starting to get pretty excited for this project. The site has a lot more going for it then just a walled in green space- there is a stream running along the backside of it and a greenhouse etc. I have been charged with designing a Georgian Garden- a picturesque, geometrical, organized garden set in nature.
I bought blood pudding at the grocery store the other day at the deli counter- the woman told me how to cook it etc so I decided to make it before tech class today. Honestly, not bad. Not bad at all. I might even buy some more next time I go shopping.
After tech and some studio work we played soccer (!!). It was amazing outside. Perfect soccer weather- sunny and a little bit chilly. I missed soccer- yet another reason its nice to be back at Kiplin.
We watched Braveheart after dinner. I couldn’t even make it all the way through- it was SO LONG. How long can you drag that on!? Not exactly my favorite. Reading then going to bed- I’m almost finished this book!
Friday, April 2, 2010
4.2.10
Went running in the morning- there are so many geese around the lake!! I might have to start running in the area instead of around the lake from now on. I’m not trying to have a death by geese.
Already starting on studio- we went out and did site analysis for out next project, which is conveniently just a walk outside. We are designing a garden in the space next to Kiplin Hall that we are currently using as a soccer pitch. After we fixed lunch and settled in for some tech- so not used to that. We hung out and then went grocery shopping. I bought way too much- I love grocery shopping! We bought food for Easter dinner- girls get Cornish hens, boys get duck and everyone gets stuffed peppers. Yum!
Getting ready for a nice night of cards and a movie. Oh how I missed Kiplin…
Went running in the morning- there are so many geese around the lake!! I might have to start running in the area instead of around the lake from now on. I’m not trying to have a death by geese.
Already starting on studio- we went out and did site analysis for out next project, which is conveniently just a walk outside. We are designing a garden in the space next to Kiplin Hall that we are currently using as a soccer pitch. After we fixed lunch and settled in for some tech- so not used to that. We hung out and then went grocery shopping. I bought way too much- I love grocery shopping! We bought food for Easter dinner- girls get Cornish hens, boys get duck and everyone gets stuffed peppers. Yum!
Getting ready for a nice night of cards and a movie. Oh how I missed Kiplin…
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Kiplin!!!
3.30.10
I woke up in the morning to run. Bad idea. I could only run for 20 minutes because I was nervous about my face and hands- it was so COLD!! I made it back to the hostel in time to eat before the French kids came down for breakfast and relaxed the rest of the morning until we set off to explore the town on our own. Jenny, Zach and I went up a church tower to get some aerial views of the city, then sketched a gate to one of the colleges and ran into Emma and Dave there. After we had enough sketching we went to lunch and we went to sketch a round church we saw the day before with DuPuy- plus it was inside so extra bonus for staying warm. Jenny and I wandered around after that to find some Easter candy for ourselves then went to the botanical garden. It was really helpful since our next project is a garden project- plants are so hard to design and create layers of color with. This next project will be interesting.
Jenny and I went for coffee then met up with everyone at an Indian restaurant I had found earlier. I am really starting a love affair with Indian food- it is so good!!
After our dinner we went back to the hostel and found a few people watching Pirates of the Caribbean- so good. After the movie I went to bed- busy, cold day- I really like Cambridge! Sad to leave tomorrow, but ecstatic to be back at Kiplin not living out of a suitcase.
4.1.10
I didn’t even know it was April Fool’s Day until about 2:00 so go me. We left Cambridge in the morning and headed for Lesceister to see a Sterling building at the University there. DuPuy loves Sterling. He was very innovative when DuPuy was in architecture school, and –honestly- he did experiment a lot with window types and glazing. He is one of te main reasons why we are able to do such amazing things with curtain walls and double skins…but why we went an hour out of our way to go walk around it is beyond me…but I did kind of like it.
We made our way to Lincoln after that and saw the castle and cathedral. The weather was crazy while we were there. During the two hours it was sunny and WARM, then freezing and windy, then raining, then hailing, then just cold and cloudy again. Honestly, the weather here is phenomenal. The cathedral here is definitely one of the largest I have ever been in- and it has the famous imp! DuPuy sent us on a mission to find it but we sort of cheated considering the handout they gave us had the answer on it- whoops! As an Easter gift he bought us all a keychain with the imp on it- very cool.
After some traffic and grocery shopping we made it back to Kiplin!! The place had been cleaned and was beautiful. I made dinner right away- steak and vegetables, yum. I had been needing some quality iron for a while now. Its just so expensive to buy a steak! We chatted and I unpacked and organized my life while most everyone watched the Departed. Sleep soon.
I woke up in the morning to run. Bad idea. I could only run for 20 minutes because I was nervous about my face and hands- it was so COLD!! I made it back to the hostel in time to eat before the French kids came down for breakfast and relaxed the rest of the morning until we set off to explore the town on our own. Jenny, Zach and I went up a church tower to get some aerial views of the city, then sketched a gate to one of the colleges and ran into Emma and Dave there. After we had enough sketching we went to lunch and we went to sketch a round church we saw the day before with DuPuy- plus it was inside so extra bonus for staying warm. Jenny and I wandered around after that to find some Easter candy for ourselves then went to the botanical garden. It was really helpful since our next project is a garden project- plants are so hard to design and create layers of color with. This next project will be interesting.
Jenny and I went for coffee then met up with everyone at an Indian restaurant I had found earlier. I am really starting a love affair with Indian food- it is so good!!
After our dinner we went back to the hostel and found a few people watching Pirates of the Caribbean- so good. After the movie I went to bed- busy, cold day- I really like Cambridge! Sad to leave tomorrow, but ecstatic to be back at Kiplin not living out of a suitcase.
4.1.10
I didn’t even know it was April Fool’s Day until about 2:00 so go me. We left Cambridge in the morning and headed for Lesceister to see a Sterling building at the University there. DuPuy loves Sterling. He was very innovative when DuPuy was in architecture school, and –honestly- he did experiment a lot with window types and glazing. He is one of te main reasons why we are able to do such amazing things with curtain walls and double skins…but why we went an hour out of our way to go walk around it is beyond me…but I did kind of like it.
We made our way to Lincoln after that and saw the castle and cathedral. The weather was crazy while we were there. During the two hours it was sunny and
After some traffic and grocery shopping we made it back to Kiplin!! The place had been cleaned and was beautiful. I made dinner right away- steak and vegetables, yum. I had been needing some quality iron for a while now. Its just so expensive to buy a steak! We chatted and I unpacked and organized my life while most everyone watched the Departed. Sleep soon.
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