24 before 25

Erin told me to read her post and do my own - seemed like an easy task until I started it. Giving myself short-term goals is easy. There's no deadline. But giving myself until August 0f 2009 is tough. Trying to come up with goals that aren't all self-critical and instead are optimistically ambitious is even more difficult.

1 Lose the weight - I mean it. I'm down the majority of it already, but I've got 15 to go. I want it gone by Christmas, and maintained all through next year.
2 Run three times each week...outside...I'm too cheap to pay for a membership to the gym these days - for some reason I have a feeling I should be saving money (coughECONOMIC CRISIScough)
3 Learn football - not just the basics, but really learn it during this season and before next year's season starts.
4 Develop a wardrobe I'll wear.
5 Send gifts on time or early - especially to family.
6 Take a trip with my frequent flyer miles to a place I've never been.
7 Make a dress.
8 Make my bed each morning.
9 Vote, and learn enough about the candidate to defend my vote.
10 Write thank-you notes for each gift I receive.
11 Eat breakfast every morning and make coffee instead of buying it.
12 Participate in at least three runs.
13 Use the library for non-work related reading.
14 Throw a baby shower for my best friend, and try not to feel sick over the thought of someone my age reproducing.
15 Try new restaurants in Charlotte.
16 Go on a gallery crawl in NoDa.
17 Go for a run through Uptown.
18 Stop buying so many clothes.......(full price)
19 Spend more time outside.
20 Work on my LEED certification.
21 Keep photo albums up to date.
22 Re-paint my red credenza.
23 Figure out where to live next - locally or not.
24 Spend some time re-learning my old 35mm SLR, AND get the film developed.

Clearly I had to use my list of resolutions, as well... It was good to look back at the list now that we're in the last leg of the race for 2008, see what I've accomplished and what I need to put more effort into. Lets see how this list goes!

sinfully good....

I just arrived back from Las Vegas late last night. I thought I would do a little recap of things we did when we weren't busting it to finish the black, white and yellow bonanza in time for market.

Here you go:

1. Visited the Hoover Dam

2. Had drinks at the new groovy Sushi Samba at the Palazzo

3. Checked out the model condos for the new LEED accredited CityCenter Las Vegas. They had these rad Chihuly glass sculpture reeds in the fountain outside.

Now I could go on and elaborate about these things but I think a little visual candy will do just fine. You can check out more on my Flickr site.

Bottle-Cap Re-Use Project

I check-in on some of the first-year's blogs from time to time to see what their working on in Iarc and because I like to see how their projects vary from person to person. They did a project recently where they had to use bottle-caps to re-make an everyday item. I checked a few that were pretty weak- won't name names...- but this one was AWESOME. It's a lamp-shade and whether it's just a great photo or if it really produces this look, I think it's sweet. Nicely done.

This calls for a trip to Japan!

Klein Dytham architecture created this beautiful Leaf chapel... and it is all green! located within the grounds of the Risonare hotel resort in Kobuchizawa it gives off a thought of serenity.

If you use it for a wedding chapel, the steel veil lifts as the brides does to reveal a beautiful pond. check out more pictures here.

sweet dreams

How awesome is this bed from Hiveminedesign? 2modern is selling it on their website. It is a green product, love it. However, at the high price I might have to save for a while... or make a DIY out of it. Anyone own a really large lathe?

the masdar initiative

A coworker of mine sent this link to me describing a new (Carbon Neutral!) city planned for Abu Dhabi. Its pretty interesting...

Resolutions : 2008

From MK's trip overseas- as always, an amazing photo.

Alright, alright... if we're doing resolutions, here's what I've got so far for 2008 goals:

1] Lose the weight. First and foremost. I won't disclose how much, but I've got a number in my head- June is the goal, then December to maintain it.

2] Save save save. I'd like to remain credit-card-debt-free, and get at least one or two month's paycheck in the bank.

3] Adopt a yellow lab. This WILL happen- and I'm probably the most excited about it out of everything- also in June.

4] Work on LEED certification. I've really got to get my act together on this one... I'm running out of excuses.

5] Take a trip somewhere: I'd love to go to CA this summer with my sister, but I'm open for ideas. I've definitely got the travel bug.

6] I'm not even going to touch the relationship status issue, because I'm declaring that out of my control. But if I were to worry about it, finding someone new to date would be #6.... but that's not the case...

7] Do a better job at keeping up with photo albums. I've got one that's almost complete and one that's started, but keeping photos printed regularly and not picking at the albums for other projects is something I've got to put some effort into.

8] Drink less diet coke; drink more water.

9] In light of your bed-building-aspirations, I'd really like to find a chair to upholster for my bedroom. I'd love something with some clean lines, possibly with a mid-century-modern flare to it, and the goal is to spend NO MORE than $60. It'll be an adventure.

10] Plan UK trip. My two sisters and I will be traveling to the UK in the Summer of 09 in honor of my 16 year old sister, Erin, graduating from high school. We plan to hit up England, Scotland, Wales and Dublin (most likely in that order). I'd like to get as much of that fully-researched and planned as possible this year.

Alright, mine seem to be a bit more wordy than yours, erin, but what's new. This is all I've got- let's pull this out in December and see how we did.

*We'd love everyone else to comment with their resolutions, too, for a little shared inspiration!*

made by girl

I found this really awesome card website, made by girl. Jennifer Ramos has created this paper goods site to raise awareness for the environment and is taking a stand by making all her goods 100% recyclable materials. The cards are funky, quirky and fun and even better funny. Here are a few of my favorite picks:

Congrats, Girls!

That makes two: Lindsay Rowland & Maggie Richardson (both girls we graduated with) have now passed the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) exam & are now accredited professionals- a huge, life-long title. I'm so proud (and jealous), and hopefully that will be my inspiration to get my act in gear!

going green [in response]:

Treehugger.com's CafePress Shop

I posted something up about a radio-host I'd heard that morning, expressing his opinions about the concept of "global warming" and "going green." He was talking about how unappreciative he was for the whole thing, and anyone jumping on that "bandwagon." After checking back today, I realize we have received a rather lengthy comment, disagreeing with my opinion. We aren't sure who the person is that left the comment, nor is this really about that- simply a response to the novella that, I hope, sums up his / your take on the situation.

This is what the comment said:

What “ticks me off” is how many people have fallen for the whole Global Warming phenomenon. The entire environmental protection movement was hijacked years ago by socialists and communists as a way to curb private property, chisel away at capitalism, and basically damage the very fabric that this country was founded upon. What better way to take away someone’s basic rights than to put the notion in their heads that they are responsible for natural disasters, from increased strengths of hurricanes and tsunamis to heating up the entire planet’s temperature so that glaciers are melting and polar bear cubs are dying. In the words of John Stossel “Gimme a Break!”

I know that facts to liberals are paramount to kryptonite to Superman, so you may want to stop reading at this point, especially if you have high blood pressure. Thirty years ago, the top scientists around the world (not unlike the same who are on the whole Global Warming bandwagon) were predicting that the earth was in a state of Global Cooling and went on and on about how many people would die because the crops that were planted around the world would have less days to grow before they had to be harvested. I guess Global Cooling wasn’t as sexy as Global Warming because shortly after we didn’t enter a new ice age, the same alarmist scientists poured themselves a big glass of shut-the-hell-up.

Defeated, they waited until the earth naturally went into an age in which the temperatures are naturally rising – something that has happened since the earth was created! Then, they came back in full force, led by the human robot himself, Al Gore. Gore was a sore loser after the U.S. Supreme Court had to step in to prevent the liberal Florida State Supreme Court from allowing the liberal Florida State Legislature from rewriting election laws once it became apparent that the 2000 presidential election results rested on the hanging, dimpled, and pregnant chads of the Sunshine State’s ballots. So, after crying and whining for several weeks in late 2000, he eventually conceded after every recount, before and after, showed that he was a loser. Like the defeated climatologists in the mid-70’s whose Chicken Little-like cries of “The sky is freezing! The sky is freezing!” didn’t catch on, Gore became the leader for the Global Warming cause. Of course, when he was in the White House with Clinton for 8 years, he didn’t seem to do too much then, did he? I guess it’s easier to complain about someone else in office than to ask your buddy Bill to do something like pass the Kyoto Accord that would severely hamper businesses all over the country. BTW, didn’t every single Senator vote against the Kyoto Accord during Clinton’s presidency? I thought so.

Even though man has no more control over Global Warming than we do over how hot the sun is or how far away the moon is, you do have to admire the ability of the media, Gore, and pretty much every leftwing actor in Hollywood who has jumped on the whole concept of “going green” and how they have managed to convince the sheeple in America to buy into what they’re selling without looking at the price tag. Not only have they guilted many adults into feeling bad for enjoying our way of life as compared to other countries – having our own homes, cars to drive where we want and when we want, having air conditioner in our homes and offices, being able to provide for our families and take the occasional vacation, and so on – but they have since gone after school children with their liberal nonsense, going as far as teaching them that because mommy and daddy use incandescent light bulbs, don’t turn off their water while taking showers, drive cars, and so on, that they are responsible for Global Warming that results in polar bear cubs and penguins dying each year. And like most liberals, grade school children tend to believe what they are told because they don’t have a fully developed brain that can rationalize situations and, for lack of a better term, wade thru the bullshit.

In a nutshell, Global Warming is nothing more than a tool of the liberals in this country – people who hate the United States of America, and everything that it stands for and was built upon – as well as people from other parts of the world who are simply jealous of what we have, both in terms of personal freedom and private property rights. Since the scientists and climatologists whose research is funded by government grants realize that they will lose their jobs if they speak out against Global Warming, naturally they continue to perpetuate the growing myth. However, most of the scientists who signed the Kyoto Accord that started a lot of this nonsense have since recanted their position of Global Warming because their results were cherry picked and manipulated much the same way that the recent results from more than 1,000 individual studies were manipulated to suggest that second hand smoke causes certain kinds of cancer when the original studies couldn’t even conclude that first hand smoke caused the same kinds of cancer. But thanks to the agenda of the media and other liberals, entire cities are now turning what was once an annoyance to some into cause to infringe upon the rights of individual property owners (as in, the restaurant and bar owners).

What better way to convince the masses to do something that a minority of people simply don’t like than to convince them and others that their actions are hurting the entire planet and killing off species of cute little animals? I’ve heard grown men say that they were raised in this era of Global Warming guilt and they actually felt bad – before learning that it was nothing more than a way to control them and how they lived their lives – about driving his car to work everyday in order to support his family. But this is exactly what the liberals want – people to feel bad enough to change their lifestyles. While they preach equality and say that everyone should have the same basic things in life, what they really want is everyone to be equal…equally miserable. Look at Gore himself. He lives in a Tennessee mansion that uses over 20 times more electricity than the average home and flies all over the world in his private jet. Yet, he talks repeatedly about how everyone else can leave a smaller carbon footprint by giving up their cars, changing their light bulbs, unplugging all of their appliances when they aren’t being used, and, if they are like him and can afford to enjoy the fruits of their labors and the freedoms that our forefathers died to provide for them, and as a way of easing their guilt, they can do like he does and use as much electricity as they want…so long as they send money to a company (which he owns, BTW) to plant trees in their name. I wonder how many of those trees are currently burning out of control in California, in part because of the years and years that the tree-hugging liberals refused to allow clear-cutting that would’ve eliminated most of the brush and old-growth trees that are currently on fire.

I doubt if anyone reading this is going to change their ideas about Global Warming. But maybe, just maybe, somebody will get off their arse and do a little research, other than at AlGore.com, CNN.com, ABC.com, etc., and learn a little more about Global Warming and other ridiculous attempts by liberals – from the media to Gore to actors – to control peoples’ lives. And the next time you’re watching your local evening news and the pregnant weather girl (oops, I mean the pregnant weather chick) comes on and shows that today’s high beat the record from 1892, ask yourself why it was so hot in 1892. How many SUVs were on the road back then? How many factories were spewing smog into the atmosphere? How many of your grandparents were destroying the earth back then? Of course, that same sort of logic can be applied to other things as well, like second hand smoke, for example. How many nonsmokers die of second hand smoke each year after being subjected to years and years of going on road trips as children with parents smoking in the front seat? Or, how many employees who worked in offices in the 70’s and 80’s where smoking was prevalent have since died because of second hand smoke? As a matter of fact, how many people have died as a direct result of second hand smoke? The answer…last chance to turn away before your little liberal ears start to bleed…is 0! Which, ironically, is how much of an impact man has on Global Warming…0%!

Erin and I are always up for a good discussion, and are happy we've provided a place to express our opinions, as well as for the people reading this blog to express theirs, as well. However, we hope we are setting a better example by trying to look at the world at hand, design included- not using slander and aggressively distasteful comments similar to those provided above.

Just as suzanne wrote, we agree:

This type of attitude totally ticks me off as well. It's the same with those who say "global warming is a hoax." Well....ok...believe what you want....but shouldn't one take care of their environment anyway? Aren't we the care givers of earth?

I'm sorry to have gotten back on my soap-box in response to this comment, but after seeing it, I wanted to say that this is NOT our goal here. We love feedback and we love debate, but discussing this planet should be feasible without political slander and an abrasive attitude.

Looking past the global warming issue and into the resources we are quickly running out of: even IF it's natural in terms of rotation for the planet to heat and cool in waves greater than we have immediate expectations for, we are (without a doubt) using more of our natural resources than we ever have in the past. What happens when those run- out? A natural era is going to naturally replenish our supply of oil? I'm sorry, but even if you don't buy into the idea that "baby polar bear cubs" are dying and homeless because of our selfishness, and even if you don't believe that the use of coal is helping that disaster, I find it hard to look past the amount of resources we have left as it quickly runs out. Who was it that said something like "we have sufficient resources for man's need but not for man's greed?"


As Robert Orben said, "There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all."

Response

photo from PBS website

I started to do this as a comment but thought it was worthy of a post so here it goes:

yea... that TJ, I think that would have pissed me off too! I think you should write an email. I used to listen to them and honestly sometimes I think they say things to get a rise outta people. However I think it is ignorance for him to say that!

My dad sent me this in an email this morning:

"Soapbox for the day, With “water” becoming the new “oil”, conservation will become incredibly important. Since fossil fuels are limited and have become the cause of global strife, wars, political dispute and rising economic worries, we need to encourage the exploration and use of solar energy! The technology exists and the looking at models across the world, some governments are giving economic incentives to develop solar energy (Germany) !!! (I saw a very good program on NOVA last night)"

Clearly its NOT a bandwagon!!

Stupid TJ...

Jamie Wieck's Growing Business Card

This morning I was listening to Ace & TJ, and usually I try to avoid the morning-talks because either there's a girl with an annoying voice or a stupid listener calling in to try and relate with his / her off-the-wall story that doesn't ACTUALLY relate at all, or whatever... I try to keep my mornings calm with just music. I wish I had done the same this morning.

TJ was talking about a phrase that completely turns him off of a movie, situation, story, actor/ actress, musician, tv show, tv network, sports team, business, etc. Going Green. He was talking about how sick of hearing about it he was, and how he feels like it's more of a bandwagon-type thing. Everybody says it, but nobody really does the research to know what it's about, let alone the history that has built the craze. He went on to mention Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," and instead of praising it for creating awareness (no matter how many people followed in suit to do a bit of research), he criticizes it for having "at least a dozen lies."

Probably the worst comments followed as he mentioned Global Warming, saying that he can't believe so many people are blaming man-kind for global warming- for the planet being "a little bit warmer." Honestly. I sat there and all I could do is laugh. As a designer working with and around several people who are actively pursuing LEED accredidation, let alone "green-design" pursuits, it's almost impossible to take that kind of comment seriously. I thought about writing an email, but if Al Gore can't convince someone to open their mind up to the possibility that they can make a difference, I don't think I'm going to be able to right now either.

Blog Action Day

In honor of today's Blog Action Day... a day for all bloggers to post about the environment.. I am going to post about Ideal Bite so everyday is a day for the environment!!

At Ideal Bite you can sign up for a daily tip sent to you directly by email everyday. I have found lots of useful tips from the great people at that site and my favorite part is with every "bite" they give you a cocktail fact.

They even have a store with "biter gear" I think I am going to buy this groovy Euro-hip Aluminum bottle.

You can find more funky cool designs at the Sigg bottle website.

organic eating?

A few months ago I found Kate Walsh's dining table (on the left) in an article in O at Home. I have been totally in love with it ever since. Today was our last day on the photo shoot and the home owners had an equally awesome table (the one on the right). I think this is something I want to strive to emulate for when I have my own home. They are so cool and one of a kind. And to your post on reclaimed wood this could be a really cool way to use it!

Below are is a quick shot look at the house we have been at for the last two days. It was a festival of materials. My favorite is the Austin Limestone.The flooring in the kitchen is cork tiles. The fossils in the limestone are gorgeous. And those are the 2' gold fish I was telling you about.