Howdy from the East....The Far East that is....

This is a lame way to update, I know, but I am right now I am sporadically available because I am here:

http://borget.info/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/Hong-Kong-Skyline-night.jpg

I will follow continue on to:

courtesy of lonely planet online

I'll be stateside at the end of November. If I finally find a camera, then I'll post some photo-ops. If not, then please imagine me, an asian, who, being white on the inside, feels more out of place here than anywhere else in the world.

See you on the flipside...

A bit of Insight...

image from The Times Online

Take a look at this article. Not only does it capture a lot of my own current hesitations about this profession, it provides great insight into a place I spent one mind-blowing, madly-frustrating year. And I didn't have to do the interviews....

Keeping Busy

Somehow, I've kept myself busy. Here I was thinking unemployment would mean a lot of free time on my hands. Not so much.

Just as we wrapped my parent's house, this project came along - a renovation of a small home that used to be rented out. We have (I hope) about two or so weeks until we're done.

Still working with my contractors, still learning a lot. This time, however, I took on a bit more responsibility...I'm still a rookie, but was given access to power tools. Casework, check. Kitchen Cabinetry, check. You know architects...we think we can do everything. Let's just say that I feel extremely lucky to work with an expert patient enough to back me up.

Pictures are probably better than words:

Living Room (Before)

Living Room (In Process)

Entrance to Kitchen (Before)

Entrance to Kitchen (In Progress)

Upstairs Bathroom (Before)

Upstairs Bathroom (In Progress)

Kitchen (Before)

Kitchen (In Progress)

Maybe, just maybe, once this place is done, I'll finally get a chance to think about filling some free time.

Insiprations

I used to post inspirations. Maybe I should start again - a way to get myself back into the mindset that, above all, to create exciting things, you have to be excited about things...

Check this out:

Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear from Gabe Askew on Vimeo.

Rolling with the Punches...

It was only 6 hours. Less than a full day of work. But, I was exhausted as I walked back into my colleague’s office after the first day of our charette. 24 kids really sap the energy out of you.

That I would assist in a project dealing with kids surprises most of my friends. Mainly because, well, I am not what you’d consider a kid kind of guy. At least, that’s what people would say if you asked them about me.

But there I was, floating around my ghost life, planning a project with kids in mind. What did we want them to get out of the project? How could we achieve that? What am I doing here?

Variations of that last question have preoccupied me a lot lately. What am I doing here? What am I doing teaching kids about the design process? What am I doing with a respirator over my face and lacquer dust accumulating on my jeans? What am I doing on painters stilts? What am I doing with this 60 lb jackhammer jammed against my hip?

It’s August. In a month, I will have officially left my office life for one year. The steadfastness of that routine, the 9 to 6 (or well, 8 or 9 or 10), the desk where I kept my papers, the co-workers who I lunched with – all of that has also turned into a ghost world, one that goes on without me in it. The life I thought I would return to in a few short months? That door has now closed.

So, when I received that call from my old colleague, pondering my interest in a trip back east, what else could I do but say yes? I had nothing planned beyond the completion of my parent’s home, and her proposed dates were well past that benchmark. And, given our past experiences working with each other, this small project would be diverting if nothing else.

Teaching kids brings back ideas and lessons that fade against the grind of conference calls, redlines, deadlines and bosses. Reminders of why you thought this was a profession you wanted to be apart of. In the confines of our temporary studio, Idealism trumped cynicism. Imagination trumped practicality. Why can’t an empty lot become an area for outdoor play and worship? Why can’t abandoned railroad tracks become the foundation for a local amusement park? In the end, our exercises were about exploring the richness of possibilities, in hopes of igniting the interests of our young participants. Getting wild and outrageous ideas on paper, in models and with words reassured us that we had at least made headway.

For two weeks, I found relief in knowing what I was doing. Unlike this past year, where my days have been spent feeling pretty incompetent, for two weeks I was suddenly the “expert”. That’s a good feeling.

Limbo is cool for a little while, but I still haven’t quite found comfort in rolling with the punches, which I guess this entire past year has been about. Yet, while not necessarily loving life in the unknown, I find myself less and less inclined for a return to the way things were. I look back on this past year with a sense revelation. As though I might be close to a breakthrough. To what, that remains to be answered. But it seems close enough to imagine and dream. To ignore reality and think of possibilities once again.