Austin - Long Center

finally a close new art-specific venue that's separate from UT.

open house this weekend

just another reason

Obama in Beaumont, TX

reading for fun

happenings

so thanksgiving vacation was wonderfully adventurous and fun. there's nothing like camping under old-growth redwoods and hiking the vast forests, rivers, and coastlines that comprise northern california.

now its back to a too-busy routine of pre-holiday events, deadlines, and activities. pictures should increase / continue once a new camera is acquired. other than that, life progresses.

good times

so i passed the LEED examination this past friday and now get to call myself a LEED AP

after a good friday of celebrating, there was soccer tournament saturday where we kept true to form and played down to inferior competition; drawing two games before dominating the last (1-1, 0-0, 5-2) which earned us second in the division, but left us one point short of advancing to the next round. of course that would have meant two more games on sunday, so perhaps it was for the best.

now that studying and test taking are done, its time for thanksgiving trip preparation: Redwood National Park!! so most of yesterday was sifting through post flooring boxes and unearthing camping gear, warm weather clothes, and travel items. most fun will shortly be had. now its just finishing up a weeks' worth of work by tomorrow afternoon and then off for adventure.

i'll do my best to explore thoroughly and take sufficient photos to document random events.

ciao,

jeff

with wind comes a front

so one more day until the home flooring is complete - and it is excellent. so much so that i have forgotten all previous abstractions of the space (which is a good thing).

tomorrow i have committed to take the LEED test in order to become an 'accredited professional'. the program is a good comprehensive design with positive economic sustainable points layered with environmental foundations under the auspice that people are bettered throughout. the good thing is that i get to find out the results immediately afterwards; unlike having to wait 4 months as with my PE exam (although the PE does carry much more weight).

other than that i must recommend the following NYT Magazine article on Daniel Day-Lewis; an excellent piece on all fronts: the prose of the article, the subject, and the quotes contained within.

amazing as it is, next week is thanksgiving. i guess i should begin to plan in more detail my California vacation? perhaps even pack a little...

another late summer weekend gone (and in november none-the-less). lots of outdoor adventure: lakeside lunch / happy hour on friday; evening kickball; then saturday UT football tailgating. sunday brought gold and soccer adventure (our second win in which i played quite well).

hopefully flooring will be complete today and i can get in a good amount of studying for friday's leed exam. and then next week is thanksgiving holiday camping trip. amazing it all comes so fast.

so the great flooring project of '07 is almost done - hurray indeed.

i'm excited to see the complete bamboo in all of its glory and of course to redistribute all my stuff out of its 'very large pile' format. it's kind of exciting.

so that should be this weekend and then the remainder will be the usual outdoor fun; work studying; and musical enjoyment.

oh - and if you're interested, watch Austin City Limits on Saturday night for the Arcade Fire taping that I was able to attend: one of the best live shows i've ever seen. you can see a summary of it here.

so good changes finally. not quite yet in the ideal job front; but finally on the condo. bamboo flooring repairs will commence this week and hopefully be complete by next. should be a great new look (finally). it is odd how one acclimates so well to ones' surroundings. i guess it is a human evolutionary nature to be comfortable and conform to a home; no matter how inconvenient or old certain things become (long after they should be replaced). a good topic to explore later in full.

this weekend's fun included soccer games; an excellent oktoberfest party; more soccer; AND a hoa meeting where we finally chose a new property management company to replace our current ineffective / unresponsive entity.

should be a busy holiday week of fall transition.

cheers,

jeff

so close

so camping was excellent as always. although camping in such proximity to a vehicle always has that lack of 'pure isolation' feeling. take a look at the flickr page for photo evidence of hill country journeys.

elsewhere, work continues to go; new work is still out there, yet appears to be an elusive creature. soon enough i hope.

this weekend is the official fall celebration: oktoberfest, halloween, and the triumph of cool temperatures that allow fires.

i'm planning on making the family's famous german potato salad for saturday, which hopefully will offer great sustenance after playing two soccer games.

live pleasantly,

jeff

eh

well, it is the best time of the year. activities of outsideness with little searing sun but just the right amount of breeze. the ability to wear multiple types of clothes. transition foods and cooking; all the good things that make you want to be productive.

of course that is complemented by work and my continued inability to transition to a job where i can make a difference, challenge myself, and utilize the backpack of skills i've been acquiring. i'm planning on adding one more skill set (LEED accreditation) and then attempting to find a dynamic development position. hopefully something will come up; but after constant searching and evaluation i'm coming to the point of realizing that i might as well just do things myself. you know, throw on the mantel of entrepreneurial spirit and learn from some failures while achieving varying degrees of success.

i have come to realize that organizations and structures are not set up to excel, but to perpetuate; and there's nothing exciting or challenging about the predictable unless it is your passion, which even then can become rote.

so i think i'll have to put on my pants and stride out with a sense of running things instead of convincing people to let me join their team.

fun times as always,

me

need more postings!!

so much to do. opportunities everywhere and obligations about. that and change; some good things, some sad, some hopefull...

something i need to put on the schedule and buy:
illumination

LCRA and water; what we do.

link

fall / summer transition

well, an excellent weekend was had venturing up north for family time and northern fall appreciation. there's nothing quite as great as visiting the chicagoland (and by proxy Michigan, Indiana, & Wisconsin) this time of year. the air is brisk and full of change while the transition of fall takes effect. there is nothing quite as fulfilling as this and makes one greatly consider how much fun it is to experience such seasons; to the point of longingly considering living in the region. of course then one remembers how that quickly changes to short days, bare trees, and the gray sullenness of early and late winter. it is this period after daylight savings time has passed that the memories of outdoor roaming and life hibernate until late march when hope and the explosion of spring and the energy associated with it return.

the good thing is that i now get to look forward to several months of fall here and prepare for camping, soccer, late night softball, and general non-heat controlled outdoor adventure.

work progresses and i am transitioning to more construction activities as various projects move away from design towards construction. this is a nice change and will help the malaise that has overtaken this past month due to ambiguous project management and general office chaos. hopefully this period will provide further experience and ease into a facilitated change towards a yet-to-be found ideal position.

other than that football so far greatly disappointing in both the fantasy and team rooting realm; which is thankfully saved by the cub's push towards the postseason and the inevitable heartbreak associated with rooting for such a team.

vacation!!

so only about 10 minutes until i get to leave work, head home, hurriedly pack, and then head out for nap and travel day.

i'm looking forward to full fall foliage fun

photos are sure to follow

ok - time for updates.

ACL weekend just finished which doubles as a local music vacation and the opportunity to enjoy all that is local music culture. so counting labor day and this weekend's trip to door county; i have three 4-day weeks in a row; which is quite nice. it is especially nice because of the amount of work and 'interesting' prioritization by group leaders of various projects. we still seem to be understaffed with those in charge seemingly unconcerned with project delays and client reactions.

on the job front: the Airtricity job didn't pan out, which i anticipated after they were less than communicative in the post-initial interview process. so i'm slightly disappointed, but i plan on continuing the search for a position where i can better apply the full breadth of my knowledge, experience, and passion. its probably for the best that the wind power position didn't pan out as it involved quite a bit of travel, and if their communication in the interview process was of any indication of the company's operation; things might not be all that well run. so hopefully something local pans out here in the time leading up to the end of the fiscal year.

this weekend brings more adventure as val and i head up to door county in wisconson (which is apparently on the lake - i always figured it was an interior county for some reason). so hopefully i'll get a great taste of fall in time to return for the great end-of-summer stretch here in austin.

take a look at flickr for pictures of this weekend and i should post the northern excursion pictures next monday or tuesday.

ah yes, the first day of school. plus extra work - so assured busyness continues.

hopefully air work opportunities present themselves after the traditional end of vacation times.

weekend events were mostly relaxing and festive; i believe pictures might even be in order...

so this weekend should be quite a bit of fun:

saturday offers relaxing, grilling, and flugnacht

sunday has the austin hot sauce festival in addition to the usual happenings

plus all the fun the rest of the week...

has it been this long?

to sum up: too much work, not enough free-form thinking and fun time.

no advances on new employment or any other major changes.

in short; the summer progresses.

weekending

well that was quite pleasant; a relaxing and productive weekend.

so summer has finally come in all of its radiating glory. i am still in the process of physically acclimating to my usual riding and running activities of 90+ degree heat. usually, i'm able to accomplish this in june when the heat transition begins; but this year i've had to wait two extra months. so i look forward to yet another lunch ride today in 100 deg. temperatures and possible an evening commute in the same.

this week promises much excitement with condo board meetings, possible job interviews, the above-mentioned outdoor merriment, as well as home renovating.

too much fun?, one can only hope.