2/11/10

We met with DuPuy in the morning to talk about our seminar papers that are due at the end of the semester- apparently Zach's mom has read them all and mine were her favorites (I haven't even read them all!). We played a couple games of soccer and then got ready for paired studio crits. It was nice to have a change of pace- single crits can only go on for so long. I was with Chris since his project's site is directly across the street from mine- I'm really liking all of our projects so far. It should be a good review! We worked for a while then went to the grocery store with our allowance from DuPuy. With our newly filled refrigerators and supplies of alcohol we all played ass hole in the study with some whisky sours (I'm really good at making them now after being the bar tender for the night) and wine until 1am. It was a good night.

2/12/10

We had tech in the morning- despite the fact that we still haven't received the exam via e-mail from our tech professor in cp...and a few hangovers...

Next we are off to Durham for the day and potentially the night depending on if everyone decided to go out- we did just get our per diem :)

2/8/10

The mac-n-cheese was a success! Everyone liked it, and I had the duty of feeding DuPuy for the night- he approved as well. Later we projected the Kevin Costner version of Robin Hood tonight- in honor of going to Robin Hood’s Bay the other day. Great movie- can’t go wrong with Robin Hood.

2/9/10

Today we had tech in the morning and then played soccer after. There were only 5 of us who felt like playing so we did 2v2 with a rotating goalie out in the fields between two trees in the allée- we have to keep rotating fields since it is so muddy from the rain and we quickly wreck the fields. Luckily there is tons of green on the estate that we can move around. It was a great conditioning workout because we were just running and passing the whole time since it was man on man. I got beat up a bit because for a while I was playing against all guys- only bruises- poor Sara is still limping around a little bit from the other day. I was pretty exhausted after and once I was tired of reading up on Fountains Abbey (one of the topics I have to present on) I took what I thought was going to be a short nap and woke up two hours later- hopefully I can sleep tonight…the good news was that we have internet at Kiplin now! A man came and worked on it with Zach for a while and eventually was able to get us internet…in the spare apartment…and only two at a time…but it works! The people at the station in Richmond are going to miss us I’m sure. After some more studio work later hopefully we can convince the guys to watch Pride and Prejudice (DuPuy bought a DVD player so no more projecting on the wall!)- I’m banking on the fact that Kiera Knightly stars in it will persuade them.

2/10/10

Woke up early on accident- I really need to get a watch or an alarm clock. My neck is still killing me, playing soccer with boys may not be the best idea. We had studio crits in the morning then hung out until tech in the afternoon. Tech is proving to be really difficult when the professor who gave us the PowerPoint slides is 3000 miles away at UMD…trapped in his house from the snow. Emma and I tried to figure out our assigned review questions and we literally just couldn’t figure one of them out. Hopefully it gets better later in the semester. At least we only have it while we’re at Kiplin. The weather has been crazy here- within 20 minutes it has rained, snowed, sleeted, and been sunny- the US gets snow, and the UK can't make up its mind. After a quick tech session and dinner we all watched Shooter in the study- I think I have watched more movies in the past week than I have in a year, its great. Interview with a Vampire was on the TV, but everyone here was too freaked to watch it- thanks mom and dad for raising me on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Reading then going to bed- such a lazy day!

Soccer was more successful tonight, but Sara hurt her knee really badly and can't hardly walk. Hopefully she gets better soon. Later DuPuy had us watch a BBC special on the history of Great Britain- part 2 of 7...the man narrating it was hilarious. Typical Brit.

2/8/10

Ran this morning then studio. Last night I was TOLD by Justing and Chris that we didn't get the station for the superbowl, but this morning I found out we did in fact have the channel and a few people went over to DuPuy's apartment to watch it. Oh well, I was honestly too tired to stay up and watch it- at least the Saints won :) Emma and I went swimming in Richmond while everyone else was using the internet at the station- still tires me out a lot, but it feels good to exercise. Now I'm just waiting at the station for everyone to be done on the internet- I've gotten so used to not having it I don't know what to do when I have it! Tonight I'm going to make mac-n-cheese like mom always did to prove to the guys that you can make it without tons of butter and it still tastes good. We'll see how that goes...

Friday- While wandering around Richmond Emma and I went into a Bed and Breakfast her parents are thinking of staying in when they visit- the proprietor was hilarious! He showed us all around the inn like he was trying to sell it to us- I have to admit it was a nice place though. Tonight we watched the Inglorious Bastards- Emma and I got it from the library. I was definitely not expecting it to be that gory, but I loved Brad Pitt’s character.

Saturday- Today was all about the coast, and I am a big fan. The drive was creepy- fog everywhere! We drove through some moors which proved to be great driving scenery, and Dave figured out how to hook my ipod up to the car so it wasn’t all BBC channels. First we went to Whitby- amazing! I love the coast. It was an old port town (Captain Cook was here!) and it was right in the medieval fabric so the street-scape was awesome. We walked along the beach and went out onto this dock- the structural stability of which was pretty dodgy- and found some fish-n-chips. I figured if I was going to have it anywhere it should be in a fishing town. Even so, not a fan. It was way too much fried food for my taste- but at least I tried it I guess. Next we drove to Robin Hood’s Bay- even better! The town was really small and placed on this giant hill/cliff to the views to the water were amazing- tons of great alleys. After exploring for a while and finding some A+ ice cream (way better than Maryland’s ice cream, no joke) we headed back to Kiplin. Trying to do studio worked was a lost cause so we printed out a plan for our site model and played rummy and watched The Deer Hunters- totally depressing. Went to bed too late to wake up to go running in the morning- were playing soccer tomorrow though so its totally ok….

Sunday- Early rise to get on the road to York. Love the city- there is a whole section of shops and cafes that are limited to pedestrian walking so it gives the feeling of a very leisurely city- even though it’s the most developed town we’ve been to since London. We were given a free three hours to roam around the town and find internet until we meet at the cathedral to go home. Currently sitting in a great café- great music, I kind of want to ask what the mix is…

Internet sagas...

2/2/10 continued

After we got back we ate dinner and DuPuy had us assemble the shelves they bought- total disaster. The shelves were pretty crappy and near impossible to put together- there was a lot of hammering going on. We did studio until we couldn’t bear it anymore, and we watched V for Vendetta projected on the wall in studio and went to bed- love that movie.

2/3/10

I woke up early and ran with Jenny around the lake a few times. We met and had tech in the morning and broke for lunch. Chris- as we found out later- had a bit of an adventure during the break. He was dribbling the soccer ball around the lake and accidentally kicked it in the water- then to save it he dragged the row boat from the follie and chopped through the ice to get the ball back- I’m sorry I missed it. DuPuy walked us around the estate and the lake after lunch to explore our surroundings- we found some great places to play soccer. Then we met for studio and presented our site analyses and discussed possible solutions for each person’s building and precedents to look at. We ended for dinner and then just worked later that night. Emma is sneezing all day long- its making me nervous since we sit next to each other in studio- I don’t want to get sick! A few of us took a break to watch TV and play Texas Hold’em until we got bored. It was 12:30 by then and DuPuy had given us a 1am curfew so we worked for 30 minutes and went to bed.

2/4/10

DuPuy was coming over at 9:30 to start individual studio crits, and I woke up a little before 9. I had a great crit– DuPuy has lots of ideas and is really helpful. I worked on a Sketch-Up massing model for the rest of studio based on the crit I got, and by 1:00 studio was over and I was eating lunch. Random- we were considering if there was such a thing as ‘too much tea’ since each of us goes through at least 2-3 cups a day. It’s the only thing that keeps us warm! We finished the chapter we were on for Tech and prayed for internet- no such luck. We were going to go swimming but its hard to get the courage to go outside when its still only ~60 degrees inside. We cooled our heals until dinner and had yet another saga with the internet. Apparently we are just past the last phone line- a.k.a. we are in the middle of nowhere and don’t get service. We gave up on studio and played rummy- Dave won- then watched the documentary ‘Helvetica’- trust me its more interesting than it sounds.

2/5/10

Its another rainy day but were heading to Richmond for a dosage of internet and a few more site analysis measurements. Dave and I went swimming first- yay! - now I’m just procrastinating going out into the rain for some quick photos and ground level measurements…why is it so dreary today!?

2/2/10

I taught Dave and Zach how to play pitch last night!! I just need to teach one more person then we can play partners- I;m so glad everyone here likes playing cards. Today we basically worked on our studio project all morning while DuPuy was shopping for art supplies. It was one of the most productive studio sessions any of us have every had- we literally worked on site analysis for four hours, in almost silence. Go figure. We were going to play a game of 4v4 soccer but it was snowing/raining so we decided to opt out. After DuPuy got back the girls and Dave tried to go swimming at the local pool but it was only open for lessons after 4- we went at 4. So now we're just using the internet at the train station and are going to go grocery shopping after. Hopefully I can get a game of cards going later tonight...

1/31/10 continued...

After coffee+internet we rushed to meet DuPuy at an old fortress right next to Durham cathedral- they changed it into a College!! COuld you imagine having a dorm room and going to classes in an old fortress!? It was amazing too because the ownership had changed a lot overtime and throughout the different design time periods so there were tudor sections, norman sections etc. Then there was this norman chapel that had been found and recovered- it was in amazing shame and very architecturally significant...you should google it. Emma, Sara and I then went to the grocery store and got ingredients for curry and started cooking. We made a group dinner and all sat down for a nice meal. We went into the studio and did some work, then I watched tv with the boys (extreme weather! on bbc) and called it a day.

2/1/10

Today we had tech in the morning after I went running- that class should be interesting- and then drove to Richmond again to pick out our sites and decide the program we want to design there. I ended up choosing a site right across from a football (read-soccer) pitch (read- field) and I am going to design a sort of swimming/sports complex and maybe have a restaurant/bar to come hang out in before and after any football games going on across the road. I'm excited- I'm going to have to do a lot of structure research though to make it legit- should be interesting. I also bought a 10-day pass to go swimming at a 'leisure center' near our house- I need to get in shape. Tonight we are going to see Sherlock Holmes- it should be cool since we were just in London for a week.