http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/ en Copyright 2008 Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:54:01 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss As the holidays approach I'm beginning to be reminded of the place I was in this time last year. I didn't feel like I had a lot to be thankful for because of the things that were going on in my life. This year when I look back on it I realize that the whole thing was a sort of catalyst to get me to change my life. It was time to make things better. I'm very thankful this year. Thankful for the love of my spouse who has worked through the tough times with me to give us an even better relationship. Thankful for my health because I finally went to the dentist after two years and he told me to go eat some candy so he'd have something to do next time. Thankful for my career because if I had stayed in Denver I'd be unemployed with nowhere to go. Most of all, I'm thankful for finally realizing the bigger picture and letting a little of my life fall into the hands of fate. http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/11/give_thanks.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/11/give_thanks.html Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:54:01 -0800 "Three or four masterpieces more important than fifty, sixty buildings." I.M. Pei on the tremendous number of his buildings built compared to that of Louis Kahn. http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/11/the_last_of_the_great_high_mod.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/11/the_last_of_the_great_high_mod.html Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:22:37 -0800 I recently learned that the company who took a chance on a scared little intern right out of school and turned me into the professional that I am is now in trouble because of the tough economic times. New home sales in Denver are down 25% from a year ago and there are something like 400,000 unsold new homes on the market. Without the demand for new homes there won't be any need for the architects who design them. Around the time I left there were 17 employees on the architecture side, 5 employees on the engineering side and one front desk/office manager person. The engineers had to let one person go just before I left so I hope they didn't have to lay anyone else off but the architecture side is now down to 7 people. I feel for all my friends there who have been laid off and how sad the office must be without them. The company had worked hard to put together a team of really good people who all seemed to get along really well. I loved everyone I worked with so much it was really difficult to leave but I'm glad I did. It would have been terrible to have to see the look on my friend's (and employer's) faces when they had to tell me I could no longer be a part of the company. Poor, poor friends. I really hurt for all of them. http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/11/tough_economic_times.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/11/tough_economic_times.html Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:38:36 -0800 1. Take a picture of yourself right now. 2. Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair…just take a picture. 3. Post that picture with NO editing. 4. Post these instructions with your picture. Dan Mayer Obie Fernandez]]> http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/10/the_me_meme.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/10/the_me_meme.html Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:27:19 -0800 The last few weeks have been pretty crazy for me here in Los Angeles. Work was dull towards the end of September while the boss was away shopping in Europe but upon his return projects started heating up. First we had to complete a book of proposed design and design items for a Russian billionaire, then we had to do a complete redesign of the outdoor living space for a house in Malibu which was followed by the beginning of work on the former lead of Black Sabbath's new place somewhere just outside of LA... Or something like that. On top of that I received a commission to do the shop drawings for stair case railings at the old Cecil B. DeMille house in Los Feliz which turned out to be a lot more work than I had anticipated. Then, right at the culmination of all the projects my dad and sister were set to come visit. All is said and done now and I had a great time with my family although the stress of everything suppressed my immune system which allowed my dad's nasty colorado cold to infiltrate my body. While my family was here we did a lot of eating out and went to see some of Southern California's best architecture which included the Hollyhock house by Frank Lloyd Wright, the great art deco Griffith Observatory and the Gamble house by Green and Green. I also took my sister to see the fashion district downtown which was heaven for her. On their last night here they stayed at the Beverly Hilton (because my sister works for Hilton Hotels and gets sweet deals) where we were lucky enough to see Kim Kardashian and her famous derriere in person. I'm looking forward to life returning to normal and my cold passing so I can get back to my jogging and eating routine. Halloween is fast approaching and I've got no idea what my costume is going to be so I guess I will be dedicating the next few nights of free time to finding something good. Hope all is good in your hood. http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/10/crazy_time.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/10/crazy_time.html Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:36:19 -0800 ]]> http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/10/were_not_in_a_recession.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/10/were_not_in_a_recession.html Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:57:57 -0800 I am furious about the government bailouts. I heard on the news this morning that the bailout total comes to 816 billion dollars. According to the 2007 census there are 301,139,947 people in the United States. That means if we the taxpayers were to all divide the debit evenly we'd each pay $2,709.71. I hope we won't be required to split the debt but I have a feeling we will have to pay at least something. Nicole asked me today what I thought would happen if the government just let the companies fail. I realized I have no idea what would happen. Would anything directly effect me? Anyone else have any ideas? http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/09/270971.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/09/270971.html Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:40:54 -0800 As of sunset tonight I will have been married for two years. I can't say they've been long years. Too quick if you ask me but I guess that means we've been having fun. I'm still crazy in love with Nicole and setting my eyes on her now feels no different than the day we first met. We're happy to wake up with each other every morning and if that's not a perfect marriage I don't know what is. I wouldn't change a thing about her. I recently had a friend tell me that if he were to meet Nicole and I separately he'd immediately know that we were together without having to tell him. I guess that means either we're perfect together or we look like brother and sister. I'm hoping for the prior. I love you Nicole. Thank you for taking my name and giving me the best two years of my life. http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/09/two_wonderful_years.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/09/two_wonderful_years.html Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:31:44 -0800 Ron Niebrugge pulled from incredimazing.com. The bears seems so incredibly human to me. Amazing. ]]> http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/08/frickin_cute.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/08/frickin_cute.html Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:44:51 -0800 Dan posted about a conversation he had with a friend years and years ago that taught him to see the colors in people's skin. I had a similar memory of a conversation while trying to fall asleep tonight: In college I was studying for a physics test with my friend Carly Greto when the conversation turned away from the terribly boring physics to a much more lively topic; our dating lives. She was explaining to me that she had been seeing the brother of a friend of hers and now when she's around her friend she sees traits of the brother in her and when she's around the brother she sees traits of her friend. She also explained how it weirded her out a little and I found this peculiar but couldn't relate in the slightest at the time. I'm not sure how long after that conversation it started happening but if I were to ever meet the siblings of a girlfriend (or spouse) I couldn't help but notice their similarities. At first it was a little unnerving but now I think it's amusing and can't but help smile when I see the similarities between my wife and her brother and think of my friend Carly. I'm not sure what Carly is up to these days but I hope she's doing well. Last I heard she moved to NYC. If it weren't for her I don't think I would have ever made it through that physics class. Thank you Carly. Thank you for the passing physics grade, the DC cap, the brownies you made me and altering my view of the world! ]]> http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/08/carly_mae_greto.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/08/carly_mae_greto.html Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:26:49 -0800 I just purchased my first stock! How exciting! I purchased 35 shares of United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) which manufactures semiconductors for electronic equipment (including the iPhone). A year ago when the first iPhone came out they had a good jump in share price. I'm hoping it will happen again. Yay stocks! http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/07/stock_market.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/07/stock_market.html Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:36:56 -0800 ]]> http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/07/caffine_intoxication.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/07/caffine_intoxication.html Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:46:09 -0800 other website yet I urge you to do so. Anything cool that happens to me here in Los Angeles I will be posting there. I had a cool post today about someone I met. Nicole and I have been in Los Angeles a little over a week and we're totally loving it. Moving was one of the best things we've ever done!]]> http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/07/mymovetolacom.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/07/mymovetolacom.html Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:02:06 -0800 We made it!! Nothing eventful happened on the drive out but that's a good thing. When we arrived at our apartment to sign the lease and get the keys they informed us that the elevator is temporarily out of order and our apartment is on the 4th floor!! Shitty! Luckily the guy felt bad and gave us $500 off next month's rent and then told us the maintenance guys would help us move all our stuff. Six of them showed up to help and we moved everything in about an hour. Our apartment isn't all that small and we can actually see the US Bank Tower from our living room window. We're in the middle of Koreatown but strangely there isn't a single Korean person in our building. Our neighbors are mostly hispanic but all the shop signs a street over are in Korean. All the neighbors are really nice and love Oni and there are these produce trucks that park out on the street right in front of our building where you can buy cheap produce. I'm really beginning to love this place. I started my job today and I already can't believe how amazing it is. They told me I can't tell everyone our list of famous clients but I can tell you one of them is a big green angry monster and another recently got out of jail because he accidentally filmed some under age college girls taking their tops off and made a lot of money from selling the tape or tapes or series of tapes. I'll try and post more often since I've got so much to tell. Keep checking back!]]> http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/06/safe_and_sound.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/06/safe_and_sound.html Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:43:32 -0800 Nicole and I are set to move this Sunday. Hopefully we can get all of our belongings packed and loaded into the truck by the time our party starts on Saturday. Then the plan is to leave the party, catch some Zs and then start on our 15+ hour journey to Los Angeles. I need to finish a side project before I leave and it's making me a little uneasy because there's a lot of work that still needs to be done. Also, I feel like half of our house still needs to be put in boxes. I'm hoping to be worry free by 4:00pm on Saturday. If you'd like to attend our going away plus many other celebrations party just show up at: 2730 Downing St., Denver, CO 80205 US any time after 4:00pm on Saturday. There will be food and beer for everyone! Hope to see you there. http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/06/sailing_away.html http://www.melonandorange.com/dom/2008/06/sailing_away.html Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:51:18 -0800