Dearest Man Man,
We need to talk......
I just wanted to write to say goodbye...i didn't want to see your face when i left, because you really do mean alot to me, so i am writing to you, please don't be offended. Don't get worked up, just read on....
We have had alot of good times together, you and i.....the time i got up to close the door when there were loud students in the hall not respecting our time together, the time that i had to wait after class to request entrance to your seminar--i know that was a metaphor(wink wink!!) and remember that time that they had turned up the heat in our room and you were so passionate about the discussion that you were sweating like a man should...that was the first time i noticed your man-cups..."A" right?? trust me i NOTICED, and that is why i bought you that manzere...it was nothing, really.
You will never know how hard it is for me right now to end our relationship, especially since you looked so great today in my favorite shirt...and i was soooo happy that the girl with the mullet wasn't there to distract me....but seriously now...i have other classes and papers to attend to, and i eventually DO have to move back to new orleans....*tear*
this is the best thing for us both, and i know you'll move on...you have to darling...be strong, you deserve a student that will give you the attention that you deserve....for more than just one semester. you are so passionate about architectural philosophy, and so incredibly smart, that i want you to know that you really did bring a bright shining Manuel DeLanda light into my wednesday evenings...and when i'm at home, reading your book right before i fall asleep i want you to know that i can almost hear your latin accent whispering sweet dynamical systems in my ear....your book will always be in my library sweetheart(wink wink!!).
With much love and complete respect,
Erin
[today was our final class in urban dynamics....so the song of the day is dedicated to my main man man: "i will survive" by gloria gayner---i'm a heartbreaker baby...that's just how i roll.]
hey ya'll!! the token texan is back in philly!!
i hope you guys all had as great of a thanksgiving weekend as i did...but i am freakin exhausted...got on a plane @ 9am this morning and finally arrived in philly again @ 4:30 to take a taxi home, drop off my stuff, then booked it back up to school to finish up my work for a presentation for tommorrow morning!!!
my up-coming week of craziness:
wednesday: 8am presentation ali rahim
thrusday: 8pg research paper due(on squatter cities) & a presentation to the class on 6 readings--with mohammad's help
friday: try to finish up thesis asap/ print/send what i have---i am sending a FINALIZED version to ASU after the 9th of december!!!
CRAZY MAN!!! JUST CRAZY!!
i am excited though, because we might have some snow in the next week!!!
THESIS PRESENTATION REHERSAL :: took a LOOOONNNNGGGG time, but got some feedback about what else i need to include and i still need to clarify some things....but overall things went really well....the REAL test is on Dec. 9th when i have to stand in front of 5 UPenn profs and give my little shpeel...i'm a little nerve-wrecked about it but i think it should go well...
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!!!! [to both turkey and non-turkey eaters...]
funny, our neighbors across the street have pulled out ALL stops on the christmas lights....i am having memories of national lampoon's christmas vacation...."clark..is the house on fire??"
have a great weekend everybody....i'll check back in with you again on monday!! as danny glover says..."i'm getting to old for this sh*t.." so i'm taking the weekend off....
song of the day: Free bird....this one goes out to all of the turkeys that survived....
TEXAS PRIDE
going back to texas in 2 days for thanksgiving and although i have a long night ahead--9am tommorow thesis meeting and going to be up all night working--am looking forward to seeing my friends, my dog, my family, MY CAR(OH you have NO clue how much i miss just driving around when i'm stressed out...remember texas exists within the CAR CULTURE)
AND am planning to make a road trip down to NOLA to get some of my stuff...
gotta get back to my cup of coffee and work...i keep trying to tell myself that sleep is for woosies, but it's not quite working...the weekend was just too short...BACK TO WORK NOW....
song of the day: Jenn, "you better work"--ru paul
Personal Notes from the Edge of Reason:
_How exactly do you expect me to respond to your comment: "WOW, you know you REALLY don't seem like you are from Texas?? No really, have you really lived in Texas most of your life?"
and were you really expecting me to wear my denim daisy duke cut off shorts, gingham shirt, confederate flag belt buckle(so big and shiny that it actually works the sun's rays into a laser beam), cowboy boots and hat EVERYWHERE?? I save that for weekends....and i'm still fascinated by the fact that ya'll yankees have so much style, class, and smarts not to mention buildings as tall as the sky...but ya'll must not be very happy, 'cause ya'll wear all them dark colors....your daddy and uncle aren't the same person? wow, i bet that makes for more interesting family reunions...
i have realized since being here[at upenn] that having class doesn't necessarily come with the size of your daddy's pocket book...this just may be a knee-jerk response from my 3 summers in etiquette school or a slightly bitter response from a southerner that breaks the mold...
_i don't EVER want to be on the show "The Real World"....that many roommates can mess with your sanity...present situation included...but it would be kind of nice to have people all over the country sympathize with you on your recent interaction with the roommate that is SUCH an asshole..
_yes i drink alot, but not necessarily because i have lived in New Orleans for the last year...on the flip side of jimmy buffet, i'll blame it on men...until someone plans an intervention, i'll drink this one to you! consider it my happy juice!! ;)
_i love the superficial stories on msn.com...your celebrity gossip brings a bright light into my WAY too serious day!! PLEASE don't gain your sanity TomKat(Tom & Katy)...your quirkiness brings me so much joy...
_Oh MY GOD!! Have you guys heard about this thing called sleep?? it's really pretty cool!! you do this thing where you close your eyes and relax your body, when you "wake up" you feel rejuvinated and happy...it's really fun, and apparently EVERYONE is into it...i've done alot of it recently to catch up with my lack of and am feeling GREAT!!!
SOD(song of the day): Southern Home cooked: Mustang Sally....also the name of the bar that i went to last night...two doors down was Mustang Harry's...i wonder if harry has met sally??
"Families with children who previously lived in Rosen House may be assigned to an apartment either owned or leased by the university. Remaining Rosen House residents will be assigned either to the modular housing or cruise ships or additional space that becomes available over the next few weeks. Once your assignment becomes available, we will relocate remaining items on your behalf.
We will work with each resident individually and notify you of assignment availability. We are unable to guarantee specific move-in dates for anyone at this time. We are aware that some graduate programs begin on January 9, 2006 and will work to accommodate that schedule. This is why it is imperative that you include your program of study / school or college in your contact information submitted to Evane Charles... "
Request to come aboard the S.S. GreenWave Captain....
Song of the Day: Opening song from the show "LOVE BOAT"---so exciting and new....
Progress Report:
-Thesis: chugging along at full speed, FINALLY found the obscure reference that advisor is BADGERING me to read....[he told me to look at the journal "representations" #27--anthony vidler's article diagrams of diagrams...not there so i was so frustrated that i looked through almost every issue for it....FOUND: in # 72.....ask me how much i love/hate lahiji right now]
making progress and am finishing the typing part...starting the actual diagramming and programmatic formalities this week...power point presentation is due next tuesday...
Elegance in Architecture/Rahim: met with him on monday and paper topic is really good but need to focus in....offered to look over thesis for me & to sit in on my review of thesis--dynamical fields are his expertise!! he's going to laugh at me but he is a rock star architect type, so if your meaningful and personally passionate pursuit[say 5 times fast]is going to be ripped to shreds in front of a group of people, it might as well be ali rahim that does it....
Human Settlements/Atkin: post new mexico trip, we have a presentation in front of the class on readings on thursday @ 9am....WHEW that is getting early since i've been losing sleep....
Dig Media-Rhino/Kaseman: i skipped class last week to work on thesis...priorities, but i'll make it up to my hot teacher....by finishing up those 2 assignments this coming weekend....he's really laid back and so i'm not too worried about it....ALSO will be asking if he would tutor me on MAYA since i'm going to be working in that program for almost all of my thesis diagramming of the site....again WHEW, time is SOO incredibly precious when you don't have enough of it... if time is money, then i'm getting charged penalty fees....
Urban Dynamics/DeLanda: he's so great...he said that we could come in early to discuss our paper topics with him and to get references and feedback...then gave us the LATEST possible deadline that he could since
Professional Concerns/Steinburg: he has set up an appointment for us to interview a firm and write a 3-4 pg paper as an assignment....SOOO easy and pretty fun...some project at Bryn Mawr University?? never heard of it....
a classic from highschool days:
Baby Got Back/Sir Mix-A-Lot[inspiration came from a guy BLASTING it out of his car as i was walking to school....
OMG THAT IS MY JAM!!!]
LA face with an oakland booty...even white boys gotta shout...baby got back...36/24/36...only if she's 5'3!! so ladies if the butt is round, and you wanna xxx throw down, dial 1-900-mix-a-lot and kick them nasty thoughts...baby got back
--visualize me singing into my hairbrush/channel changer/water bottle, and doing the mick jagger chicken walk...--
IF YOU START ME UP!!!
If you start me up I'll never stop
If you start me up
If you start me up I'll never stop
I've been running hot
You got me ticking gonna blow my top
If you start me up
If you start me up I'll never stop
NEVER NEVER NEVER STOP!!!
sing with me on this part....
you make a grown man cryyyyyyy,
you make a grown man cryyyyyy
spread out the oil, the gasoline,
i walk smooth, ride in a mean, mean machaaiiiinnneee....
START ME UP!!!
ps. i'm feeling much better after eating more crappy food last night, taking 3 advil, sleeping for over 10 hours, and a big cup of coffee and a few compliments this morning...
IIIIIIMMMM BBBBAAAAACCCKKKK!!!!BRING IT ON ALI RAHIM/TONY ATKIN/ AND NAIDIR LAHIJI!!! GIVE ME YOUR BEST SHOT!!![i am willing to admit that as big of a fan of the stones as i am, i did have to look up the lyrics...]and over the weekend i might as well list my sequence of humiliating events:
_getting a pedicure/manicure and forgetting to shave before hand....it wasn't THAT bad, but one of the asian ladies DID comment to another one and gave her and I a look...i turned BEET red and later tipped her very well....
_falling down the stairs [7 to be precise] at the club before i finished my first drink and NARROWLY missing out and out humiliation as no one was around...i'm okay, i'm okay really...YES my middle name is grace--it's a saying for those not originally from the south...
_having a friend of mine want to discuss inappropriate topics in a VERY LOUD voice, so much so that passerby's actually turned and paused as if to inquire details...a lady doesn't kiss and tell
_overhearing roommates discuss your walk of shame...
there are more, but i'm trying to spread out the incidents....i've hit my max for the weekend
we had a girls night out, went dancing, drank alot, got crappy diner food afterward....slept in. now have to work, but a picture is worth a thousand words and a long explaination of last nights activities...have a relaxing sunday everybody...i'm going to work on it...
song of day: "Sunday Mornings" by Maroon 5
Paper, Paper Everywhere and Not a Page to Burn--to keep warm...it is actually getting pretty cold up here now...daytime highs 50s with 15-20mph north west wind(aka wind chill of 45) and night time lows down to low 40s/high 30s...
YEAH! Extended deadlines!!
my freakout session was induced by the extended deadline of friday to have an iterative version of the thesis paper due....today being friday i'm sure you are questioning my above excitement.
well, last night at 11pm i was really thinking about it and simply said "f*ck it". i went to bed, and slept in until close to 9:15 with my extended deadline meeting with nadir(advisor) at 10:30. i printed what i had--around 4 pages--and went to go meet with him....
i had looked up and read over 10 articles and suggested readings in less than a week, and while i needed to finish making revisions to my paper, you have to understand that i DO NOT have a digital copy of the proposal to work off of....meaning that all i have is a printed copy, so i have to retype a the proposal--40 pgs with photos/images--and the guy had given me 3 days....THIS is why i said "f*ck it" and went to bed, because granted i'd like to think i could save the world, but i'd rather save my sanity....
nadir's response: well you need to finish retyping it and adding the newest bibliographical sources...we ended up discussing what my program would be and how i should mold my thesis to include an appropriate response to the influence of hurricane katrina on my site....
for those of you who forgot my site--i posted photos in a post in august i think??---you've seen it as recently as early to mid-september.....on cnn....it wasn't in the 9th ward, but it was in Treme, the predominantly african american neighborhood just north of the french quarter....there were two different sets of housing projects in that area...the one they had footage of on cnn was the housing project right across from the intersection of my site....under a good four feet of water, and the new was portraying the people in these housing projects as being very involved in the looting and chaos....i only half-way beleive it though...
so anyways, he said my theoretical basis was fully covered once i include the readings that i've done, and he said my case studies were more than appropriate to both the process that i'm intending in the design AND were appropriate to the site(being located under a freeway/dealing with the freeway)....so if i can work on the program and analysis, i will be done with my requirements for the writing section to be submitted to Tulane.....
BUT i still havent' started on the diagramming and visual analysis of the site and other context photos....which is also required both in the paper and for the presentation....
SO to recap: i need to finish retyping the paper by tuesday @ 10am...i need to at that point i have a week to work on basic visual analysis and diagramming to include into the power point--dry run on nov. 22...then i have another week to make revisions to presentation and paper before the board review on dec. 9th.
plus i still need to keep up with other course material....i have to catch up on some rhino(3d modeling program) assignments--only about 2, and i need to work on that paper for ali rahim's course(publishing possiblity!!!--OOOHHH MMYY GOODD!!!!--calm down erin, there are 10 people in the course and he'll probably choose a penn student's paper before yours just to be fair...)....ok got it in check...
Song of the day: This is what i need to keep telling myself, work hard, but make sure to get enough sleep to actually function....."Time is on my side....yes it is...." by [the ones, the onlies] THE Rolling Stones....
Have you ever been under so much stress and lack of sleep that you pull a complete freak out and just embarrass yourself so completely that you don't even realize how weird/crazy/psychotic you are being at the time??
NO THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN TO ME....it happened to a very good friend of mine named Reni....OK OK IT IS ME...
this is the day after, and i am SWIMMING in awkward moments and silences....
The author will not be taking any questions from the audience today, only suggestions for relaxation methods: chemical/holistic/legal/illegal/etc.....
please enter your suggestion here:____________________________________
I just want to spend the day by myself anyways...i have a critical mass of human interaction, and i reached it two days ago...5 roommates and constant interaction has a way of taking a toll....
Song of the Day: This one goes out to Kris in DC...happy birthday!!
"Golden Years" by David Bowie.....
I NEED MORE SLEEP!!!i don't think i realized how tired i really have been recently, or how many long nights i've had, UNTIL THIS MORNING!!! i literally had to DRAG myself out of bed to get to class and i've been living from cup to cup of coffee trying to stay mentally astute....
but it can only work so well in ali rahim's "elegance in architecture" class where the insightful questions come fully garbed in the archispeak....and this class is like a fashion show where everyone else is wearing prada and i'm wearing target and pronouncing it like it's french: "Taargaaay"
i do understand these deep concepts--the effect of the class hasn't FULLY degredaded my confidence to where i'm questioning my mental capabilities and sanity--and i am fascinated by all of it, but the class is based off of question/comment type discussions, and of course everytime i open my mouth[which has only been a handful of times total] i sound like a 15 year old at thanksgiving, still sitting at the kiddy table and trying to join the conversations at the adult table....
ok, enough metaphors: the class makes me feel like a horribly retarded speaker...
i'll be okay, remember today is WEDNESDAY---or what i like to call Manny DeLanda day--630-9 man man and i have our personal time together...too bad our date is always attended by 20 other people...like its a CLASS or something!! bitches stay away from my man man.
And Manny this song goes out to you:
"Lumps" by Black Eyed Peas: "what you gonna do with all that breasts all that breasts inside that shirt....i'm gonna make make make you work, make you work work, make you work!!"
my sister came in town this weekend: LOTS OF FUN DITCHING WORK & PROCRASTINATING!!! YEAAHH!!! [betsey ross house, christ's church, independence hall--after being throughly frisked by national park rangers...it was hot, liberty bell, franklin court--YOU GET THE IDEA]
--fun little story: there was a boy[i would say around the awkward age betw. 12-15] on the tour with terrets syndrome(?spelling)....okay, i have never experienced anything like it...not to be insensitive, but at first i thought it was just some hyperactive kid that was getting away from his parents....until the weird noises started--think the three stooges...
when i figured who it was and what was actually happening i felt bad for him especially because around half way through the tour the kid was getting dirty looks from some of the adults on the tour....
but then it did get kind of funny....the whole tour moved to the upstairs level of the independence hall and the kid and his dad and some others walked into this somewhat gated off room...the kid was at the front and had some kind of twitch where he actually set off the alarm in the room, and he made the three stooges noise cause it scared him...when the way too caffinated tour guide BURSTS into the room and starts yelling "WHO SET OFF THAT ALARM?? THIS IS NOT A JOKE!! WHO SET OFF THAT ALARM??!!!" the guy was screaming at all of us and we were just dumb-founded....DON'T MESS WITH THE NATIONAL PARK RANGERS KIDS!! they may not carry guns, but trust me they don't have too!! scary....and of course as the park ranger is waiting for a response the kid has another three stooges moment....it broke the tension and the guy left...
is it cruel and insensitive to wonder what his first date with a girl is going to be like?? i would go out with him if it wasn't creepy and sick--mary kate lateruno....he did seem like a really quite, sweet boy...aaaawwww...
until today....where i'm pretty behind in the thesis process:
dates of importance[but only to me...like you guys really care...i wouldn't if i were you]:
Nov. 22: have finalized paper and practice 30 min. power point presentation of thesis to get ready for board review
Dec. 5: finalized paper due at ASU by noon--2 dig copies, 1 printed version 8.5x11 with glossy photos[i like shiny things...YEAHHH!!]
Dec. 9th: board review--we present all of our research and initial diagrammatic analysis to a board of 5 penn faculty AND the other penn thesis students[REALLY KIND OF FREAKED OUT ABOUT THIS....i keep thinking "they're all going to laugh at you, they're all going to laugh at you"---just nerves, but i will probably freak out at level 9 the day before....]
but at least dec. 9th is the last day of classes....WHEW!!
ps: helen, HOW could i visit[and live for 4 months] in the city where the first US laws were developed without getting you something....EXACTLY!!! so i got some gifts for you!
SONG OF THE DAY: "sunrise" by simply red----OOHHh that month long class in Italy....WHERE IT WE WOULD HEAR IT EVERYWHERE!!! of course it drove me crazy at the time, and NOW...miss it. that song and the incredible cappucinos!
Dearest Man Man,
