I hate everyone

Today, I hate everyone. I'm not sure what has gotten into me but it won't let me go. Maybe it's too much to do at work; maybe it's the upcoming Christmas season; maybe it's reading Turgenev; maybe it's because I had to drive a few miles to dinner; maybe it's the fact that I'm helping someone move on Sunday; maybe it's because the dog needs a bath; maybe it's because we, people, are fat, dumb, shallow, wasteful, mean, greedy, and bad; maybe I'm just broke; maybe I need to run or swim; maybe it's Christmas time again; maybe I should walk the earth; maybe it's because I'm doing laundry; maybe it's because I had two breakfasts; maybe there are too many luxury condos out there; maybe I want to be special; maybe that dumbass kid in Omaha with the gun wanting to be famous irks me; maybe I need a hug; maybe I should sail across the sea; maybe there are too many ads in recent issues of the New Yorker.

Maybe I just needed to vent.

Office

I want an office, a small office will do: one with a window or two overlooking a busy street, with hardwood floors, and bookshelves -- wooden bookshelves -- lining the walls. My desk, littered with notepads, will sit on a tattered Persian rug; my cocker spaniel, who will accompany me intermittently, will either lie on the rug in the morning sun or on the ancient hardwoods, near the clanging radiator, on autumn and winter days.

Rain will frequently fall outside the window of my office, usually in the morn. Around noon, the sun will shine in, around the neighboring skyscrapers and through the branches of a near-leafless tree that stands between my window and the street. My dog will frequently visit this tree, wetting the wrought iron that encircles it, though I urge him to let it alone.

A few simple photos will adorn the walls of my office; another will rest upon the corner of my desk. My wife and I, captured smiling in candlelight, will remind me that even on the worst days, this life is better than before.

And the whiskey bottle in the drawer will appear as long lost friends remove their scarves at the door.

Busy

Read:
No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy
Macedonia, Harvey Pekar and Heather Roberson
The Final Solution, Michael Chabon
The Polysyllabic Spree, Nick Hornby

Reading:
Don Quixote
The World Without Us, Alan Weisman

Purchased:
Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev

Passed:
LEED v2.2 exam

Downloaded:
Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew, Spirit If...
Beirut, The Flying Club Cup

Watched:
Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season 5, Disc 1

Celebrated:
Canadian Thanksgiving


Upcoming:

10/15 - Orhan Pamuk @ Benaroya
10/19 - The Women @ ACT
10/26 - Broken Social Scene @ The Moore
11/3 - Into The Woods @ 5th Ave. Theater
11/17 Scott/Powell Performance, Geography @ On The Boards

'Atta Boy Tully!

A mere 25 days after publishing an op-ed in the Seattle P-I suggesting that composting containers be placed in coffee shops, I wandered into the Tully's in Two Union. It was early and I had just got off a red-eye flight from Honolulu so I was a little grumpy. I looked over at a patron's cup and noticed something like "eco-cup, please compost me" written on the side. "Ha!" I said to myself. "They expect everyone to haul these paper cups home and throw them in their yard waste containers, the bastards." But then, I saw it: it looked like a trash can but it was green. I read the text and it said compost. Tully's coffee, out of Seattle, takes a step toward common sense.

I tried to find a market share comparison between Tully's and Starbucks but had no luck. I did, however, find that there are 37 Tully's shops here in Seattle, compared to 102 Starbucks locations. There are 132 Tully's stores nationwide compared to 8,800 Starbucks (as of an October 2006 report on msnbc.com). I applaud Tully's for having the guts and foresight to step out in front, but given the fact that Starbucks has AT LEAST 86 stores for each Tully's locale, the direct impact is going to be neglible. And, based on the 8:30 AM lines at each store near my office, I'd have to say the line at Starbucks shows the gap is even wider.

In the spirit of attempting to do what's right, even if the impact is small, I suggest you try Tully's. It's easily as good, and probably better, than Starbucks and they have a little more vision.

Or you could always just get a travel mug...

What is the world coming to?

http://www.savemoneylivebetter.com/

Eight hours

I walked into On The Boards around four this afternoon; I walked out just after midnight.

If you're tuned in to the theater scene in Seattle (not that I am, though I'd like to be), you probably know what I was doing there. If not, here it goes: I watched a troupe from NYC, known as Elevator Repair Service, read and act out The Great Gatsby, in its entirety. They call it Gatz and I thought it was really cool.

The voice of Nick Carraway started off the evening, or afternoon, rather, walking into the office with a cup of coffee in hand. He fiddled with an uncooperative computer and, while opening his rolodex, came across a tattered copy of the novel. Alone in the office, he looked at the clock then began reading...

...and he didn't stop, except for two intermissions and a dinner break. His coworkers came and went, playing the parts of Daisy, Gatsby, etc. at times while performing mundane office duties at others. They floated back and forth between fiction and reality and I glided along with them.

In an amazing feat of memorization, at the beginning of the final chapter, Nick started flipping the pages, back to front, but continued "reading" as he had been all night. This recitation continued to the penultimate sentence before he reopened the book to read, "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." One got the feeling that he very well could have recited the entire book from memory. Rumor has it that he actually knows the whole thing.

In print

Click here to see my aforementioned article on the Seattle P-I website!

It's been a while

Where to start...a synopsis maybe:

We went to Spain and it was great. I can't begin to describe what it was like to visit a place that had some history. For instance, we went into the room in the Alhambra where Columbus asked Isabel and Ferdinand for financial support for his westward voyage to the Indies. We saw his tomb. We saw their tombs. There were paintings galore: Picasso, Dali, Miro, Velasquez, El Greco, Murillo, Goya. There were many Cathedrals, of course. We saw Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, under construction for another 50 years or so, as well as his apartment buildings and Park Guell. There was a pickpocket too that we met the first day.

The motherfucker slipped his hand into Risajoy's bag and pulled out her wallet on the metro, between the airport and our first hotel. He only got $11 and she cancelled her credit/debit cards. That was July 11th. Then, a few days ago, everything from her wallet showed up back here, in Seattle, via registered mail from the U.S. Embassy in Madrid. No wallet, no $11, but all the contents. Someone was nice enough to send it over there after they found it in a trashcan or wherever...

Then there was NYC, my first visit. We stayed a block behind the American Museum of Natural History, which we visited. I tried to go to MoMa on a Tuesday (MoMa, I learned, is closed Tuesday). I had my eye on the met but my blistered feet thought otherwise. We saw a Broadway show: Spring Awakening; we strolled through the east village, the Columbia campus, saw John Lennon's aprtment building, went in the library and Grand Central Station. Saw the Chelsea Hotel, went in Macy's, saw the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building, up close. We walked out of the way to see Frank Gehry's new building for IAC and came across the High Line park-to-be (I happened to read about this recently in the book, The World Without Us). Went to The Strand (I got Saul Bellow's Herzog and a shirt drawn by Art Spiegelman). We took the subway out to Brooklyn to hang with two of Risa's grad school friends and their little daughter. They were super-cool, as was "the city."

What else?
Read some books: Augie March, Herzog, Kafka on the Shore, Atonement, Saturday.
In the middle of other books: Don Quixote, The World Without Us, A reader in Environmental Anthropology.
Saw a band: Wilco
Wrote and essay that will be published in the Seattle P-I soon!
Bought some tickets: Young Frankenstein, the musical.
Thinking of skipping a music festival: Bumbershoot
Excited about another festival, which I am attending: Austin City Limits
Found a bunch of Town Hall events that I want to attend: Rick Steves, Naomi Klein, Robert Reich
Signed up to take the LEED exam
Going to UW later this week to talk about a really interesting PhD program

So much action, right? Right. Unfortunately all this action required funds, which requires that I wake up in about 7 hours. Damn.

Know your Food

Living across the street from the Madison Market rules. Its neighborhood feel, wide selection of produce, policy of encouraging customers to bring their own bags, and reasonable prices are several reasons that I shop their almost exclusively. Plus, it gives my hipness and credibility a boost, which is something that must never be underestimated. Oh, I almost forgot the fact that The New Yorker and Adbusters are some of the magazines on display at the checkout stands. I told you it was cool.

Despite all of these characterisics, my favorite is that it's a literal cornucopia of local food.

Ever since reading an article in The New Yorker about Whole Foods, I've done what I can to purchase local food when that option is available. I had never thought about the distance food travels, and thus the energy consumed, before reaching my plate. Of course I had heard of organic, thought it sounded swell, but didn't realize that was only part of issue, the part that was less important to me. This article cleared it right up and I would encourage any interested party to read it diligently!

Or, for those auditory leaners in the house, here is a talk by Michael Pollan which I heard on the radio a few nights ago. I actually just downloaded the mp3 myself and burned my mom a copy, which I'll be mailing her tomorrow.

SIFF Redux

I have successfully redeemed my six remaining vouchers! Borrowing a line from Big Rig, I have to say that "this ain't no bullshit." Twenty movies is a lot. Plus, we went to see 2 Days in Paris and were unable to use vouchers! I'm tired. Next week I'm going to have to start reading again...

Anyway, my schedule for the next week is as follows:

Sunday: The Paper Will be Blue
Tuesday: The Planet
Thursday: Falkenberg Farewell
Friday: Sex and Death 101
Sunday: Cthulhu

Then, like I said, I'll have to read again. I'm about eighty pages into Augie March but I'm considering temporarily abandoning it for a biography of William James.

Tengo que estudiar espanol tambien porque salimos por Espana en 4 semanas. Manana, vamos a asistir una grupa de conversacion en el bar "Barca." No he ido todavia pero mi profesor me dio que hay muchos hispanoblantes alla. Espanol y cervezas, Que divertido!

SIFF

SIFF rules, it's as simple as that.

So far I've seen an eclectic smattering of movies, listed here in chronological order:

Life in Loops (A Megacities RMX)
Knocked Up
Once
Manufactured Landscapes
Eagle vs. Shark
Big Rig
2 Days in Paris
Running on Empty
Dasepo Naughty Girls (pictured, in case it wasn't obvious)


Tonight's selection will be: Broken English
Next Tuesday: The Planet

Graffiti Guys

Graffiti as Culture Jamming

Graffiti, in its contemporary form, first appeared in the 1960s throughout the streets and subways of New York City. The early “writers,” mostly poor minority kids from the inner city, prided themselves on “tagging” public spaces with their names for all citizens of New York to see. Their motive was mainly to make their presence known in the fast moving world around them. As the art form became more prevalent, different types of writers emerged with different agendas: gangs marked their territory with their names and symbolism, political activists and social critics spread their messages on blank surfaces, such as the western face of the Berlin Wall, and in 1977, a group that would come to be known as the Billboard Liberation Front (BLF), “improved” its first billboard, which was a Revlon advertisement for a moisturizing lotion. In the years since, the use of graffiti as a means to critique mass consumption has become widespread. In fact, it has become so popular that many advertisers have co-opted the style to sell their wares and, even more disturbingly, some of the works themselves have been sold at astronomical prices. The question remains whether or not graffiti remains a relevant method of critiquing modern consumer culture.

Central to the BLF’s approach was the use of humor. Rewording a Marlboro cigarettes advertisement to read “Marlbore,” complete with the word “yawn” coming out of the Marlboro Man’s mouth, or adding a pink brassiere to a bare-chested man on a Camel cigarettes billboard, via non-destructive methods, were ways to attract public attention without causing any permanent damage to the advertisements. Ballyhoo, the short-lived satirical magazine that was first published in 1931, could have been a direct influence on the founders of the BLF. In addition to overtly encouraging culture jamming by way of graffiti (painting mustaches on women in cigarette ads), the magazine ran parody ads and cartoons suggesting that advertisers thought themselves superior to consumers (Klein 305). Lying outside of mainstream readers’ interests, Ballyhoo successfully garnered a readership of 1.5 million before its eventual demise (McGovern 242). The BLF extends the audience of the satirical ad by placing it in a public place, to be seen by those who may not typically be critical of advertising.

The globetrotting English graffiti artist, Banksy, whose real identity is unknown, has become (in)famous for his graffiti criticizing social and political norms interlinked with mass consumer culture. By spray-painting the text “Fat Lane” along a beachfront pedestrian walkway or an image of a rat writing “Yuk” on a wall next to an ad for The Gap, he can successfully draw public attention to the world around them. The theme of anti-consumerism spills over to his paintings as well: natives can be seen holding their spears to defend themselves from oncoming shopping carts; nuns are brought to their knees in front of a “sale ends today” placard; shopping carts and fluorescent traffic cones litter the water beneath one of Monet’s bridge paintings.

Ironically, many of these paintings and prints of his stenciled graffiti are currently fetching upwards of $500,000 in art auctions through Sotheby’s (The New Yorker 5/14/07). Though the effectiveness of the artist’s statement against consumption comes into question as his art becomes a commodity, the fact remains that the intended audience, the general public, can still absorb the message, so long as it remains intact as graffiti. Reinforcing his reputation a bonafide critic, he responds to these outrageous prices with additional pieces criticizing the purchasers. It seems that in the end, Banksy has found a way to finance his travels and continue spreading his message to the masses.

No stranger to tapping into what is considered hip or rebellious and spreading it to the mainstream, advertisers have used the popularity of graffiti to their advantage. One needs to look no further than billboards advertising the markedly un-hip Washington State Lottery to see quotes such as, “I can’t believe how bald (crossed out and replaced with “rich”) he is.” Slightly more hip, and available nationwide at Macy’s, clothing by Marc Ecko sports its logo in a graffiti-inspired font and currently offers the “Ecko Reactions Track Jacket,” complete with an image of a graffiti writer in action on the back. On the company’s website (http://www.ecko.com), graffiti writers can upload home videos of their tagging escapades. By creating a style and forum for a graffiti artist community that focuses on self-expression and braggadocio, rather than critiques of consumption or sociopolitical issues, the company can create legions of walking advertisements. These young artists think of their actions and style as rebellion when they are really operating within parameters set by a clothing company.

This co-optation of popular youth culture can be traced back to the creative revolution of the 1960s, namely to the ads of the Doyle Dayne Bernbach (DDB) advertising agency. For example, an advertisement for Avis rental cars features a picture of a hand forming the universal peace sign; the text above the picture reads, “Avis is only No. 2 in rent a cars. So why go with us?” By combining a popular hand gesture of the time with an advertisement, the ad attempts to appeal to a certain market segment. Pepsi and Volkswagen, among others, also attempted to carve out a committed market share during this era by emphasizing youth and independence, respectively.

It would be shortsighted to say that culture jamming through graffiti is either an effective critique of mass consumption or a futile undertaking. In fact, one would likely find more resemblances between urban graffiti and advertising than either group would care to admit. It would be valid to say that the early graffiti writers were advertising themselves by writing their names on the subway trains of New York City. The same could be said for Banksy’s work: becoming a public figure through his graffiti and criticism has made him on of art’s most sought after names and rewarded him financially. Both advertising and graffiti are easily visible in public areas, are placed without the consent of the public, and both attempt to influence the viewer. However, the advertising industry is likely to remain unfazed by the culture jamming movement since they are the accepted mainstream form of public display.

The future success of graffiti as a form of culture jamming depends on the continued efforts of writers/artists like Banksy, who, with his newfound popularity, is in a position to influence a much greater audience. Additionally, collective underground movements such as the Billboard Liberation Front, the Anti-Advertising Agency, Wooster Collective, Adbusters, and the Graffiti Research Lab, serve as headquarters for those interested in organizing and reshaping modern consumer culture.

Mahfouz (reposted)

I've recently "found" Naguib Mahfouz and I suggest you do the same.

Rough Draft

As previously stated, I'm taking a History class this quarter and therefore writing papers. Below is the rough draft for what I'll be finalizing, starting tonight, and on through the weekend. I realize the thesis is a little weak and that I don't really push any opinions but that will change soon, hopefully. In fact, the professor suggested that I rearrange it by historical period (New Deal, 1970s, Clinton Admin to now) and focusing on a point that I only touch on in the conclucsion, being that change only comes with government intervention. Enjoy (assuming people enjoy essays).

Sustainable Development from the Postwar Era to the Present

Introduction
Though the idea of constructing the built environment in ways that are harmonious with the natural environment can be witnessed worldwide and throughout history, from the igloos of the Inuit to the cliffside dwellings of the Anasazi; from the temples of ancient Greece to the modern architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, the contemporary term “sustainable development” was first uttered in 1987 at the UN World Commission on Environment and Development. Then prime minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Bruntland, may or may not have been familiar with Fallingwater, but she demonstrated her grasp of the concept when she defined this new term as development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Twenty years later, with the environmental cause being a relatively popular issue – recent magazine covers tout “The Greening of America” (Newsweek 7/17/06) and Al Gore succeeded in presenting Global Warming as a real problem in An Inconvenient Truth – one can look around Seattle and see the realization of “green” buildings in a number of places. Far from ubiquitous in the construction industry, these new developments are attempting to change the way that our built environment impacts the natural environment.

Attempts to improve the relationship between housing and the environment are nearly as old as the postwar pattern of tract housing that is the antithesis of sustainable development. Urban development, such as commercial and retail construction, multi-family housing projects, and the skyscrapers that define “downtown” districts have also been criticized for their impacts on the natural environment and have undergone transformations in theory and increasingly in practice over the past several decades.

A Brief History of the Rise of Suburbia and its Environmental Impacts
The shift from the traditional craftsman home to mass-produced suburban tract housing was a result of many occurrences in the first half of the 20th Century. The methodology behind producing these developments was perfected by William Levitt who, among others, was encouraged by the United States government to apply a streamlined approach to construction while building housing for workers in defense plants during World War II (Rome 16). After the war ended, there was a spike in demand for housing for several reasons: new couples formed and old couples were reunited and they began to start families; prewar New Deal reform made low interest mortgages available to much of middle class so single family housing was an option; construction during the Depression was minimal and the omnipresent influence of the media exacerbated concerns by focusing on “horror stories about the housing shortage” (Rome, 18).

Keynesian economics, which focused on consumption as a means of boosting a slow economy, had been proven successful by the increased spending during WWII. After the war, housing construction was seen as a way to both alleviate the housing shortage and spur economic growth (which combated fears of a second depression). Acts such as the G.I. Bill and the Housing Act of 1949 made this new American ideal of home ownership possible and by 1956, more than 60% of Americans owned their homes (Rome 35).

The environmental impacts of these enormous developments were numerous, both during construction and after being occupied. Water pollution transcended the phase of development: erosion during the construction process, a problem in itself, carried soil into waterways and later became a problem due to the prevalence of septic tanks, which were prone to leaking. The increased area of impermeable surfaces of roads, roofs, sidewalks and compacted soil used in yards caused increased stormwater runoff and increased flood damage, especially in developments foolishly constructed in floodplains. The increasing popularity of the automobile contributed to noise and air pollution; the low cost of electricity contributed to the rise of air conditioning and electric heating which in turn encouraged further development without regard to natural ventilation, shade from native trees, or architectural design that attempted to integrate the structures with the environment. Animal habitat was destroyed and open space was lost to further construction or quarantined behind fences.

Water Concerns
With the rise of postwar suburban construction on the periphery of metropolitan areas, the use of septic tanks became commonplace. The builders of these developments selected these sites, which were located beyond the reach of municipal sewer system, in part because the land was affordable, as was the installation of septic tanks in place of neighborhood sewer systems. Research conducted by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Illinois Institute of Technology, conducted in 1969 and 1971, respectively, found that 33% to 50% of septic tank systems failed, thus polluting groundwater and surface water in the area (Rome 112-113).

Concerns over the environmental impacts of septic tanks surfaced long before this research was conducted. According to Adam Rome, the critique of septic tanks began almost immediately after widespread use began, right around mid-century; in the interest of “protecting investments and preventing public-health hazards” (Rome 89), federal agencies and popular magazines published manuals and articles stressing the importance of proper use, but no government regulation existed. In the following two decades, the effects of these systems had evolved to a point where the federal government intervened. The establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970, in response to rising environmental concerns regarding water and air pollution, deforestation, and the prevalence of the pesticides, set the stage for the passing legislation that came to be known as the Clean Water Act (1972). Though this act set maximum levels for pollutants that could be directly introduced to water sources, it did not place any restrictions on the use of septic tanks. However, it did direct state governments to establish their own parameters for acceptable amounts of pollution from indirect, or nonpoint, sources, such as septic tanks and runoff (see discussion below). Unfortunately, plans for rehabilitating septic tank systems in Washington are still not in place, according to a 2004 interview with the Program Manager for Water Quality at The Washington State Department of Ecology .

Stormwater runoff is an important concern in both residential and urban development because it can spread pollution from sources such as overflowing septic tanks and torn bags of fertilizer stacked outside of home improvement stores. Increased runoff can also add to the demand on the wastewater treatment facilities in cities like Seattle, where the storm sewers and sanitary sewers are combined, and in cities where the two systems are separate (in the case of the latter: water flows into manholes through old style covers that have holes for use in removing the covers to gain access). Finally, the elevated volume and speed of water running across an impermeable surface causes floods to be more destructive as well as eroding creek beds and silting waterways as it returns to natural channels.

An interesting contemporary methodology for reducing the volume of runoff that is currently being researched in Seattle is the Green Roof, which involves planting vegetation in rooftop beds to recreate the natural conditions of the land and thereby reducing the quantity of rainwater that requires treatment. During a two-year research project conducted by Magnusson Klemencic Associates, a Seattle-based Structural and Civil Engineering firm, an assortment of test plots, planted in different locations around the city, mitigated from 65% to 94% of the cumulative rainfall . This technology is widely used in Europe, most notably Germany, where the International Green Roof Association is headquartered, and provides myriad other benefits not related to stormwater runoff, such as providing animal habitat, increasing the quality of the air, and reducing dust and smog .

Energy Consumption
The use of fossil fuels and electricity both helped spur suburban and urban development in the postwar era. Many homes were heated and cooled by fossil fuels and the popularity of electrical appliances skyrocketed; the “quality of life” improvements that the suburbs promised had come true. The reach of electricity was also greatly expanded by New Deal reform, thus producing an increased market for kitchen appliances as well as electric air conditioners and heaters. For example, the hydroelectric Bonneville Dam, located outside of Portland, Oregon, and completed in 1941, was constructed to deliver electricity to the farms and rural areas of the Northwest. The Bonneville Power Administration was created by the Roosevelt Administration in 1937 and continues to distribute about half of the power used in the region . Though this specific method of electricity production is sustainable, the resulting availability gave developers the ability to neglect wise design choices – such as orienting houses to receive maximum sunlight in the winter or preserving mature trees on the property to provide shaded areas in the summer – since electricity could be used to power air-conditioning and heating systems.

Concurrently, public interest in solar energy was increasing in the wake of conservation measures for coal and fuel oil during WWII; progressive engineers, scientists, and writers embraced the idea of conserving resources and using sunlight and thought it essential to the survival of the human species. Wealthy groups and organizations, such as the Rockefeller Foundation, endowed research projects to develop the technology necessary to harness energy from sunlight. The results of these projects were very promising: one project conducted at MIT found that 75% of the heating required for a household in Boston could be provided by the sun. However, the federal government never supported further solar research; it preferred to invest money in nuclear research since it had military applications. Without federal support, the market for solar power never developed to its full potential and the builders preferred to keep using traditional heating technology since the price of heating oils remained very low (Rome 46-53).

Solar design was another concept that was popular amongst the conservation-minded public and architects. As mentioned previously, the orientation and layout of a house could be such that passive solar heat was maximized in the summer, via south-facing walls of windows, and minimized in the summer, by large eves that blocked the overhead sunshine. Insulated window manufacturers were early proponents of this design approach since they stood to profit handsomely (Rome 55). Once again, this philosophy never really caught on because of the prevalence of electrical or fossil fuel powered air conditioners and heaters. Socially, the contemporary mindset of modernity through consumption versus economy through thrift prevented the widespread popularity of solar design.

However, the OPEC oil embargo of 1973 revived interest in both passive and technological methods for climate control in buildings as well as solar technology. The American Institute of Architects formed the AIA Committee on Energy and further explored the benefits of properly orienting buildings on sites and using materials, such as triple-glazed windows, to increase the efficiency of the buildings climate control systems . The National Renewable Energy Laboratory was founded in 1977 to advance solar research and is currently working in conjunction with the United States Department of Energy (formed the same year) to develop Zero-Energy Buildings. Over the next fifteen years, the federal government’s role in furthering sustainable development was minimal but it remained a priority for many professionals and European governments. The sea change at the federal level in the United States came with the election of Bill Clinton in 1992.

Contemporary Developments
Ronald Reagan removed Jimmy Carter’s solar panels from the White House roof, and terminated the tax credits for others who bought solar panels, six years before Bill Clinton was elected. Soon thereafter, one of the most successful movements toward sustainable development came with Clinton’s “Greening of White House” which was a plan to significantly increase the efficiency of the building. Among other modifications, the insulation was upgraded, energy-saving light fixtures and office equipment were installed, and mechanical systems were upgraded. The results, three years later, showed that $150,000 per year was saved in energy, water, and solid waste expenditures . The Rocky Mountain Institute, one of the premier supporters of sustainable development, now considers the White House a “world-class environmental showcase. ”

While this project spurred further government investment in upgrading federal facilities, the private sector would soon have a ranking system to encourage sustainability. The nonprofit United States Green Building Council (USGBC), which incorporated in 1993, set out to design such a system and accomplished their goal in 1998 with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, which can be likened to a seal of approval for green buildings. Points are awarded to a building based on certain sustainable criteria such as the use of local or recycled materials, erosion control during construction, on-site stormwater detention, and access to public transportation. The rating system has been extremely successful; as of September 2003, nearly 140 million square feet of new construction had been registered with the system .

Discussion and Conclusion
The shift from traditional construction practices, which had typically relied on local materials and resulted in buildings designed to coexist with, rather than overpower, their environments, to mass produced housing was accelerated in the years following World War II. The existing New Deal programs along with the demand for housing, the technological improvements, and the capitalist spirit all contributed to rapid development of land at the periphery of urban centers. The government encouraged such development, as it was crucial to economic growth, and, possibly due to cemented American ideals regarding the quantity of resources and space at our disposal, failed to address environmental concerns until the damage was already done.

Throughout the years, the scientists, engineers, writers, architects, and activists struggled to bring attention to the problems that the new patterns of development were inflicting on the natural environment. More often than not, their efforts did not succeed in changing the industry as a whole but they had small victories intermittently. The major triumphs for the movement came when the federal government passed legislation to protect the environment or served as an example. The foundations of the most recent push for sustainable development can be traced to early 1990’s with the actions of the federal government in greening their own buildings – and showing that efficiency does lead to savings in dollars and resources – as well as the formation of the USGBC. With the current political situation regarding fossil fuels and terrorism, as well as formalization of scientific theories regarding human impacts on the climate, the timing for continued progression in sustainable development could not be better.

Good Sport

In the spirit of participating and being a good sport, I'm going to fill out this meme. You, dear reader, may be experienced with this sort of online chain letter, but I am a rookie. I'll do my best to provide insight into how deeply the pop music scene of 1997, the year which I became a man (read: turned 18), affected me. The billboard chart comes from the appropiately titled popculturemadness.com website, which I must thank for keeping track of such intriguing information...like to hear it, here it go:

December 7, 1996 - February 21, 1997: Un-Break My Heart - Toni Braxton
I vaguely remember this song and, if I remember correctly, there was a scantily clad Toni in the video. So basically, like a soon to be 18 year-old boy, I ignored R&B music and focused on the physical attributes of the ladies. Is that so wrong? I was spending my time with A Tribe Called Quest.

February 22 - May 21: Wannabe - Spice Girls
If this is the song that goes: "tell me what you want, what you really, really want" then I have in fact heard it. Thought it wack but heard it nonetheless. Probably listening to 311 instead.

March 22 - May 2: Can't Nobody Hold Me Down - Puff Daddy and Mase
I think this was when Puffy first broke into the scene as a frontman rather than the producer for Craig Mack, whom was known for "kickin' new flava in the ear," at least in my room. If it's the song, it used the same sample that Ice Cube used for "Check Yourself" which was pirated from George Clinton - I might be wrong. Anyway, I liked Ice Cube's The Predator more than this.

May 3 - May 23: Hypnotize The Notorious B.I.G.
Now we're talkin' (as far as rap goes, which seems to be the way that '97 went). At least B.I.G. really was from the streets. My friend Luke already had the first B.I.G. album so I was acquainted. As for rappers with initials, I prefer ODB.

May 24 - June 13: MMMBop - Hanson
Wack. Where's my Dr. Octagon CD?

June 14 - August 30: I'll Be Missing You - Puff Daddy/Faith Evans/112
Is this the Police rip off? If so, I liked the video. It reminded me of that movie "Toys" with Robin Williams. As for the song itself: at least it expressed a little emotion though it's too bad that the good rapper from this crew had to get shot. I was moving away college at this time; first CD I remember listening to on campus was Liquid Swords by the GZA. The first or second weekend of the semester we went to see Rage Against the Machine and The Roots in Austin. ?uest did a drum solo and Tom Morello's mom came out on stage (not during the drum solo).

August 30 - September 12: Mo' Money, Mo' Problems - The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy and Mase
I'm sure I was really tired of Puff Daddy by this point, as I am with his being all over this survey. My roommate loved Metallica and so I was probably hearing a lot of them around this time.

September 13 - October 3: Honey - Mariah Carey
I don't remember the song. I was busy giving country a try; if you're not from Texas you probably don't know Robert Earl Keen.

October 4 - October 10: 4 Seasons of Loneliness - Boyz II Men
I thought these guys fell off in 8th grade (circa '92 for me) with Jodeci, Kriss Kross and Another Bad Creation. But you know what, Technotronic never failed to impress.

October 11 - January 16, 1998: Candle In The Wind 1997 - Elton John
Never cared much for royalty but I do like Elton's song that goes, "From this day on, I own my father's gun..."

Experimenting with Experimental Theatre

My personal predilections regarding politics and culture are, more often than not, reflected officially in print by Seattle’s alternative weekly, The Stranger. Sure, there are occasions when their recommendations for a Wednesday night involve, say, a bondage party at an abandoned warehouse (which might not be all that bad) but I’m referring to things that I can tell my mom about: plays, shows, author readings, etc. In this last issue, Lindy West was raving about a two-man comedy act, down from Bellingham, known as The Cody Rivers Show. Adjectives such as intelligent, unique, and hilarious were abundant and, though I’m not particularly any of those things myself, I certainly enjoy seeing other people that are.

When opening act, a comedian named Sean Devlin, who was holding a Stella and talking about the sub-par quality of the majority of heroin-inspired music, asked the sold-out crowd if we had seen the headlining duo perform before, the majority of attendees cheered and applauded. “Oh,” I thought to myself, “I’m not as hip as I thought.” Surprising, huh?

Anyway, the actors came out, arms spread and tiptoeing around, making wisecracks about those who were brave (or late) enough to sit in the front row (“Green on the top, red on the bottom, eh? Well, Merry Christmas to you.”) Suddenly they transformed into quick-talking market employees who laced their advertising with confessions of adolescent misadventures (“Two tomatoes for 99 cents, take back an onion, throw in three bell peppers for a dime, the old man was a bastard so I dropped out and joined a dirty circus.”) The skits went on: they derided professors, acted in slow-mo, performed a song and dance number, impersonated a mother bird feeding its young, threw in a little slapstick, all with accuracy and energy, originality and insight.

I could go on but my “review” couldn’t do it justice. The show played for two nights only; Saturday night was sold out so I can only assume the same for Friday. They’re on the road now, in the bay area, I believe, so if you’re down there, I’d say spend the ten bucks and see a performance with some soul.

About Time

So, what's new with you? Me? I've been busy...

My graphic novel reading habit has finally paid off. A few months back I was trying to find a ticket to go see Art Spiegelman give a lecture here in Seattle. I acquired the ticket and in the process came across another activity presented by Seattle Arts and Lectures called Wednesday University. I clicked, scrolled, and discovered a class about consumption and consumerism that had been given last winter. I cursed the heavens for missing it and vowed to track it down.

Shortly thereafter, I found myself emailing the teacher, who is also a professor at UW, and asking her if I could enroll as a non-matriculated student in her "History of Consumerism and Consumption" class for the Spring quarter. My request was blessed, signatures were obtained, and money was paid. I'm three weeks into the class, as of yesterday, and totally digging it. We've read Thorstein Veblen, talked about Heinz, watched a film about Coke; we have examined how women fell prey to the advertisers while in search of sovreignty and how patriotism and consumerism almost go hand in hand. If you're in the market to do a little shopping yourself, I'd suggest "Sold American" by George McGovern (we, in the class, refer to the purchase of books as a positive mode of consumption). Furthermore, my final paper is going to attempt to address the development of sustainable building practices and why it has taken so long to implement them.

So yeah, I stumbled into the right place.

In maintaing my own consumptive habits, I've:

read the Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami and almost all of Palestine (graphic novel) by Joe Sacco.
watched the first few episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm from season one as well as the movie "Avenue Montaigne."
bought plane tickets for a month-long sojourn to Spain with my lovely bride (Jabiz, if you read this, we're coming to New York on the way back.)
listened to quite a bit of Ratatat, Explosions in the Sky, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Amon Tobin, and The Roots.
been to my second Seattle Men's Chorus performance to watch Jeremy sing.
gone to see Sarah Vowell.

So yeah, what's new with you?

Married Man!

Today marks my one week anniversary of being wed to lovely Risajoy and I feel it's time to muse over our special evening. Since marrying her was the easy part, I'm sure this post will center more on the party itself (which was rad, as one friend put it).

The night before was our rehearsal dinner which was marked mostly by socializing and imbibing. Something vaguely resembling rehearsal was conducted with the tabletop as a plan view of Marco's and forks; mainly, "the girls will come down from here and you pick them up and bring 'em up front." As the night went on we managed to meet up with some more out of town guests at two local bars. Needless to say, it was awesome to spend time with people that we don't see often enough, whether they were in from out of town or from across town.

I woke up Saturday morning in my brother's hotel room; we decided that I wouldn't stay at home the night before so that the first time I'd see Risa on our wedding day would be as she came down the aisle. Traditional, I know but it was well worth it. The remainder of Saturday was spent running last minute errands: picking up the cake, the PA system, wires from Radio Shack to hook up the ipod, etc...

By the time the fellas and I arrived at Marco's Supper Club, some guests had already arrived. The pastor was there as was the father of the bride and my family. I rushed around getting the sound right as people came and waited for my bride to arrive. I was cool though; talking to everyone, shaking hands, introducing people to one another. The appetizers were out as were the cocktails. Marco's staff was amazingly proficient and welcoming as was the proprietor himself (read: he and his restaurant are awesome; you really should go there). Then the phone call came!! They were close. Both the pastor and I had an immediate need to use the restroom to calm our nerves; he said, "ladies first" so I scurried off and left my masculinity with him.

Back at the front I cued up Al Green's "Let's Get Married" as the bridal party made their entrances. In retrospect, I think they ran because as soon as I looked up they had all arrived. I faded out the song with my thumb and switched over to M. Ward's "Fool Says" for my gal. Her father brought her down, past the bar, and all of the guests were on their feet! She looked incredible and I know I had the biggest smile possible painted across my face. Jeremy proceeded with his awesome sermon as Risa tried to pull me closer. Had I relented, the guests would have lost sight of the MC and since he was wearing the nicest suit, I couldn't let that happen. At one point, I allegedly stood up on my toes and leaned it toward her because I was so excited. I believe it because I've never been so happy in my life.

The ceremony ended a little awkwardly because it wasn't planned; I think I said, "let's party", which we did. We turned the tunes back on, signed the license and proceeded with the eveninig. The toasts were excellent, the cake was incredible, and the rest of the evening was awesome.

It's really funny, to me at least, that my nerves were cool the majority of the night. I did get excited when I knew she had arrived but thatt was just because I couldn't wait to see her. A friend of Lynnie's, the dance-machine, Jackie Brown, told me that she had never seen two people that meshed like Risa and I do. She told me was ecstatic for us and a little jealous too. Her comments are cemented in my brain and they just reinforce what I've been thinking all along.

I'm one lucky guy. (Go ahead, call me sappy now.)

Apparently, I’m an over-reactive, bigoted, redneck

I’ve always taken pride in my tolerance but it is currently being tested by my instincts. Let me explain: almost two weeks ago my girlfriend, one of her friends, and I were rear-ended, at stoplight, by an immigrant woman who was TAKING OFF HER SHOES while driving. She works in a kitchen, at a casino, and I’m sure she had just put in a long day. Her feet probably hurt. I can empathize: my lower back hurts at times from sitting on my wallet in my ergonomic chair, in my climate controlled office, thirty-two floors above street level, overlooking Elliott Bay, so I understand. However, my back felt fine the evening of the accident because we had just spent the day in Bellingham, shopping for artisan earrings, before stopping off at a party on the way back into town.

She was driving a 2002 Kia Spectra; we were in our five-month old Toyota Prius. I think this is the part that infuriates me so; we are spending our kind of hard-earned money on a vehicle that is better for the environment and now the rear bumper has been scratched by a lesser automobile. Speaking of quality, her insurance was of an inferior sort as well. After hassling the no-name company for two weeks, I came to find out that she had cancelled her policy and was driving around without coverage. So of course, I hate her. Upon discovering this, I immediately took the elevator down to street level, whipped out my cell phone to call her and vent. She was not at work and they would not tell me when she was coming in next. Is that because they are hiring illegal workers? Did that really just cross my mind? It did. Come to think of it, right after the accident occurred, the first thing I said, or maybe it was more of a yell, was, “Do you have insurance?” I wonder if I would have said that had it been some meathead in a Hummer and a three-piece suit...

So now I have an internal conflict as well as an external one on my hands. Nothing new, I guess, but usually I’m not questioning the validity of one of my supposed values. My dad summed it up by saying that is how it goes: you follow the rules and the morons of the world run around screwing everything up. Maybe that’s it, maybe she’s just stupid and my real problem is with stupid people, regardless of race. Or broke. Don’t those two things usually go hand in hand? Stop it! You are from Texas but you have assimilated to progressive Northwestern ideals.
Luckily, we have uninsured motorist protection on our platinum-grade insurance. The woman who hit us did offer to pay for the damage in cash so maybe we will accept it, maybe not. I sure as hell won’t accept pesos though. Just kidding. Isn’t that what they call Black Humor?

Speaking of, there were these three black kids on the bus last night making so much noise…

Wish me luck

So, if you know me, you know that I'm a little disenchanted with my career choice. Therefore, I'm trying to change it. Below is a copy of the statement of purpose letter that I'm submitting to the geography department at the University of Washington tomorrow, 1/15. Who knows what will come of this? Not me. I'm excited to find out though.

Statement of Purpose
A step in this direction is somewhat daunting but I am embracing it nonetheless. I was trained as a Structural Engineer at Texas A&M University where I took two courses in geography to fulfill my undergraduate social science requirements. I originally chose geography over the more popular economics pairing because, at eighteen years old, I thought maps were more interesting than money.

I cannot say that we talked extensively about maps in either my Human Geography class or in the Political Geography class that I took two years later. I do, however, remember the professor telling the few engineers in the latter class, “you are not here to be educated; you are here to be trained.” Upon hearing this, I reflected on the narrowness, or maybe more of a specialization, of my curriculum and realized that I was enjoying this particular class so much because it covered so many different areas: history, economics, political science, and physical geography.

Thus the foundations of my career plans were formally shaken; here was a subject that interested me more than the path I had chosen. I had previously considered changing the focus of my studies but I hadn’t had a clear idea of what would better suit me. Being the pragmatic Texan I was, I chose to continue down the road that I had nearly completed traversing. A semester later I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree and continued on to a graduate program. I continued to spend my days learning the intricacies of Structural Engineering and my nights searching for meaning in novels.

Upon graduating, I accepted a structural engineering job in Denver, Colorado where I decided that philosophy was the path of study for me and audited a course at the University of Colorado at Boulder for part of a semester. Less than two years later, I accepted a similar position in Seattle, where I took an English literature class as a non-matriculated student at the University of Washington. Alas, both of these areas were at the opposite end of the spectrum from engineering: too abstract, not technical, not always logical, etc. I enjoyed the subject matter, the discussions, and the opportunity to use the right side of my brain, but I realized that I would be unable to apply any of these newfound skills to the physical world.

As these conclusions were gestating, my interests in the physical world had begun to develop in areas that I never would have imagined possible as a youth in Texas; mass transit, urbanization, and sustainability are words that have gone from the periphery of my vocabulary to the core of what I believe is important. I find myself spending evenings at Town Hall listening to researchers discuss the merits of replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct with surface streets and increased transit; I initiate conversations about the merits of urban density; I make it a point to read articles such as a recent one by Elizabeth Kolbert in The New Yorker about the oceans becoming a massive sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide; I send emails to my friends in Texas urging them to watch An Inconvenient Truth and Who Killed the Electric Car?; I help my fiancée pay for a Toyota Prius so that our one-car household can be as green as possible. Rather than focusing on the Professional Engineer’s exam, I am studying for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) accreditation exam, which is a program implemented by the United States Green Building Council to encourage and reward environmentally friendly development.

All of this attempted activism satiates my immediate desire to improve the quality of the environment but it is immediately reversed, in my mind, every morning when arrive at work. As I sit down at my desk to design shopping malls and parking structures to be built in Anaheim, California or Honolulu, Hawaii, I feel like I am directly contributing to part of the problem rather than the solution. I would prefer that my creative and intellectual energies be directed toward a progressive end that I can support as a citizen, rather than a rebuilding of the status quo.

Geography interests me because I feel it spans the gap between the technical aspects of my current career path and the people that are ultimately affected by these developments. The path of study that I feel suits me the best would be an area that straddles geography and a branch of civil engineering. Relationships between LEED accredited buildings and traditional buildings would be an area that piques my interest; transportation issues and resulting effects on public health, mobility, and psychological phenomena is another.

The University of Washington’s department of geography would suit me for myriad reasons. Upon browsing the website and speaking with several professors, namely Dr. Tim Nyerges in the geography department and Dr. Scott Rutherford in the civil engineering department, I feel like research is being conducted in the areas that interest me and that the mindsets of these two faculty members parallel my own. I also feel that the community at large has the same concerns as I do and that living here has nourished this part of my identity. Furthermore, and more personally, my grandfather earned his doctorate from the University of Washington about forty years ago.

Keeping in mind my interests in the quality of life in the urban environment and the effects of the constructed environment on nature, I came across other faculty members whose current research and research interests lead me to believe that I would be a good fit. Dr. Sarah Elwood’s current project using GIS as a tool for urban planning and revitalization certainly piques my interest. Dr. Suzanne Davies Withers’ interests in quantitative methods and urban housing are also areas that I find very interesting. A few months ago I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Tim Nyerges in person about his work with the civil engineering department and the medical school and found this interdisciplinary research effort especially captivating.

Although I am currently applying for acceptance into the Master of Arts program, I hope to continue on at the Doctoral level. I realize that in coming from a different background there are many basic literatures pertaining to geography that I am not yet familiar with and, thus, there are certainly fascinating areas that are still unknown to me. The opportunity to take a few classes as a nomatriculated student, at the undergraduate or graduate level, in order to help construct the foundation I need as well as giving me a chance to meet some faculty members and prove my worthiness, would be greatly appreciated. I am very excited by the potential opportunity to work and research in an area as compelling as geography and feel that I have a deep-seeded interest and desire to further advance the discipline.

Premier Post-Holiday Posting

Christmas has passed and so has the New Year. My Birthday is coming up shortly (January 11th) and I plan on spending it as follows:

First, a celebratory Italian dinner and Machiavelli, on Capitol Hill...

Followed by an evening at Town Hall to see Matthew Stadler and his presentation entitled, "What Has Become of Cities?" I have never read one of this gentleman's books though I have read his pieces in The Stranger. For more info, check out: http://www.townhallseattle.com/calendar.cfm



And while we're on this subject, let's talk about the viaduct debacle.

As many of you know, Seattle has a butt-ugly, multi-level, relic of the 40's (or so) jammed between our downtown and Elliott Bay called The Alaskan Way Viaduct. It was severely damaged in the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake and is in danger of collapsing during another seismic event, so they say. Our mayor wants an overly expensive tunnel. Some people lacking in intelligence or creativity want to rebuild the behemoth that is already there. The smart, progressive crew over at the People's Waterfront Coalition want to tear that sucker down and improve mass transit in Seattle. Check 'em out at http://www.peopleswaterfront.org

Governor Gregoire decided that we were going to vote on this so now is a good time to read up and tell your friends.

I'll close with a quote that is somewhat related:

"The monuments of learning are more durable than the monuments of power. Have not the verses of Homer continued 2,500 years or more, without the loss of a syllable or letter, during which time inifinite palaces, temples, castles, cities, have been decayed and demolished." -Francis Bacon