dios mio! miami is COLD
I may have to rethink my previous prejudices against miami. sure, it has a euro-trash vibe, most of the neighborhoods suck, and it can be humid, but I have to give credit where credit is due. I'm staying in the art deco historic district, which has lovingly restored and preserved the architectural integrity of many of these amazing buildings. south beach is walkable. the
stone crabs and key lime pie are great (and good for celebrity sightings during super bowl week, if
dan marino,
chris carter, and
fat joe count as celebrities to you. most surreal celebrity moment yet: watching dan marino "rap"
Lean Back to fat joe. white men in their 50's should never rap.)
so I need to amend my anti-miami stance. its a great city for 3-4 days. any longer than that and I think I would go crazy. weirdly, its quite cold here right now, so I left cold and rainy LA for...cold and rainy miami.
sadly, I forgot my camera in LA, but
flickr means never having to bring a camera. behold, the beauty that is LA's art deco district, so very different from LA's art deco (or new york's, or chicago's, or london's, etc etc):
beinvenido a miami
I'm going to miami next week for all of two days to speak at a
conference - a decision I'm now regretting. not the trip to miami, the fact that I booked it for so little time. but I have work and responsibilities back in LA, and a
class to teach at USC, so I didn't think I could spare the time. and I keep reminding myself, I don't really like miami. any city that makes LA look classy, is not the city for me. plus, I hate humidity. my hair does too.
now I realize I should have just gone down there for the weekend and at least enjoyed some cubans and
crabs (the food, not the lice). and most of all, the art deco. now that I did the LA art deco tour, I should have booked a little extra time in a city renowned for their
art deco district. fortunately, at least my
hotel is also art deco.
and happy coincidence: friend and former student zac is in town at the same time, so we'll find time for a drink or two in south beach.
sick sick sick
for half of last week, I tried to convince myself that I just had laryngitis but actually felt fine. and that worked until this weekend, when I finally succumbed to the plague. now I actually feel as bad as I sound, so posting may be light. need to nurse myself back to health before I head to miami next week to speak at a
retailing conference.
and btw, sudacare
shower soothers and neither soothing nor vaporizing. in fact, they suck. save your money.
follow the LEEDer
this is shaping up to be an architecture-filled week. I finally joined the
LA conservancy - something I've meant to do for, oh, I don't know - maybe two years. I joined because I decided a good gift for john's birthday would be a walking tour in downtown LA, followed by lunch. we did the art deco tour, which was wonderful. john and I go on so many modern architecture tours, celebrating the simplicity of design (which sometimes crosses over to a slavish devotion to austerity), it was refreshing to tour these over-the-top buildings designed with excess in mind. my only regret - we never made it to the
eastern columbia building - I suspect because john kept holding the tour up taking pictures. above, find my crappy
ones. they almost pass for buildings in new york, no? until you take a look at that sky - that could only be LA in january.
last night josh and I attended the reception at
livinghomes to celebrate their
LEED platinum certification. I think josh is going to be posting on the party later on
curbed, but let me sum up:
kelly kapowski was there and looking very well preserved since her saved by the bell/90210 days - but what she was going at a party for sustainable design is anyone's guess. I mean, where is ed begley jr when you need him?
I have a new crush on
eric garcetti, who is one of the most amazing public speakers I've ever witnessed. smart, articulate and passionate. and huge fan of curbed - apparently we're on his RSS feed. any politician who has an RSS feed, who even knows what one is, has my vote. and he agreed to go to dinner with josh and me sometime. most of the attendees got a hearty handshake from eric, we got a high five. seriously. a high five. at the age of 33, I wasn't quite sure how to react to the high five. we also spotted
ray kappe, who has apparently no memory of being
interviewed by me for curbed, and his wife shelly - who was completely endearing and does remember ray's interview. the speeches were interminable, the house is beautiful (steve glenn gave josh and me a tour about a month ago), and all the leftover food was turned into compost.
tonight, going to a walk-through for the new
W development going up in hollywood. something tells me they're going to be lacking a composting machine.
school starts
I prefer to teach while reclining. I started teaching today. and started a
blog for the class. excited to be back in the classroom, but exhausted from the effort. after a day spent on campus, I get to spend my night working on a
radar project. deadlines are so much fun.
habitat 825 update
its been a long, long time since I've posted photos of the progress at lorcan o'herlihy's habitat 825. the condos are even now available for
pre-sale and should be ready for occupancy by april. it seems like just yesterday they were
breaking ground, amidst the
kerfuffle the MAK center caused. so her's the latest, taken on sat when I was at the schindler house. That scaffolding should be off any day now...
2007 docenting duties
My first docent weekend of 2007 is approaching. I'll be at the
schindler house this sat from 11-2:30, giving tours of the house (free with admission). this time I'll try to remember to bring my camera to snap the progress of Habitat 825 next door since its been months since I've posted on it, and it looks like its almost done. Occupancy is supposed to begin
April 1. wow, that was fast.
anyway, I believe I'm nearing the two year mark at the schindler house sometime in 2007, and its still pretty fun. my favorite groups are usually the college students (I love the kids. Kids! Get
on my lawn!), but who doesn't love the occasional german tourist, with their fanny packs and black socks? the other thing I love - I'm still discovering new details in the house. A joint I never noticed, or doors that swing in both directions, or the fact that the indoor fireplaces still work. who knew? not I.
the only downside - the schindler house's new kitten rudy (guess who he's named after) is now housed somewhere in the palisades. Rudy liked to follow the docents from room to room, like the ghost of Schindler, silently judging our performance. I miss that cat.
Labels: habitat 825, lorcan o'herlihy, mak center, schindler
new year's resolutions
I got back to LA a few days ago after ten days in nyc. ten very hectic, but not very cold days. and as always, coming back to LA is always a relief. after over three years here, I still don't take the weather for granted. I'm still amazed by clear skies, sunlight and warmth. I still feel giddy when I see roses and jasmine in bloom in january.
this trip was mostly about seeing friends and family, so there was very little in the way of "culture" - high or low. I did manage to make it to cooper hewitt with my sister and johanna to see the
design triennial. at this point, the cooper hewitt has become a xmas tradition for my sister and me. my favorite piece in the show was by
joshua davis - and I'm sorely tempted to order a print of his from his gallery in barcelona (pictured above). ironically, his studio is just a mile or two from my parent's house.
so this is the time of year everyone makes their new years resolutions and I've been determined to only make resolutions I can actually keep, since my resolve is weak. so so weak.
thus, my new years resolutions are all media-related, as in, I am determined to consume MORE media:
- watch battlestar galactica from the beginning. I've watched the miniseries/pilot - now I'm determined to catch up via netflix.
- ditto for the wire.
- read the power broker. this is the one that might actually take most of 2007.
I feel like I had a few others, but I forget already. ok, maybe I'll throw one non-media related one in there. I really should take calcium.
Labels: design, new years, resolutions
I may have to rethink my previous prejudices against miami. sure, it has a euro-trash vibe, most of the neighborhoods suck, and it can be humid, but I have to give credit where credit is due. I'm staying in the art deco historic district, which has lovingly restored and preserved the architectural integrity of many of these amazing buildings. south beach is walkable. the stone crabs and key lime pie are great (and good for celebrity sightings during super bowl week, if dan marino, chris carter, and fat joe count as celebrities to you. most surreal celebrity moment yet: watching dan marino "rap" Lean Back to fat joe. white men in their 50's should never rap.)
