http://melonandorange.com/dom/ en Copyright 2011 Thu, 26 May 2011 21:47:56 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Hi, It's me. Yep, still here and breathing. What's new you ask? Well, now I'm 27 and about to be 28 (next month) and I feel like shit's coming together more now than ever. Don't ask me to explain it. Perhaps it just maturity... Or lack of... Either way, does it matter? I'm just another one of the billions of people on this planet with a voice. Why do I deserve to be heard? http://melonandorange.com/dom/2011/05/still_breathing.html http://melonandorange.com/dom/2011/05/still_breathing.html Thu, 26 May 2011 21:47:56 -0800 I wanted to quickly say that it's 78 degrees here right now and everyone back in CO had a snow day today. While I could have really used a day off I'd much rather be at work hung over than have to scrape my car off in the morning. http://melonandorange.com/dom/2009/03/not_snowed_in.html http://melonandorange.com/dom/2009/03/not_snowed_in.html Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:32:45 -0800 14 Rare Color Photos From the FSA-OWI. My initial response to the first few photos was that they were fake. Obviously the result of a high budget, excellent casting, and a great costume designer. I felt like there was no way that these high resolution color images could have been taken more than 60 years ago. After all, every picture I've seen from the World War II era has been in black and white. I felt like the rich colors, excellent lighting and great foreground focus is certainly the work of modern photographers but then I did a little research. Color film was in mass production in 1935 and fine camera equipment had been around long before that! After reading up a bit on the history of the photos I did realize that they were indeed real. I'm not sure why I felt so disconnected from the people of the past and for some reason seeing people from 60 years ago that look just like we do, (only wearing different clothes and accepting segregation) only now in color, has had some weird effect on my perception of times gone by. I guess some small part of me felt like color was only something recent generations were able to witness when it's really just been that the past has been portrayed in black and white in all modern media. Growing up only seeing black and white images of our grandparent's generation has really made me cherish these few photos and long for more. It really makes me wonder why they weren't all in color and how my kids are going to feel about our parent's generation when portrayed in the media. Will all men be wearing orange polyester and have mustaches? Will all women have feathered hair and bell bottoms? Or will it all just be filmed with modern cameras using an expensive lens that gives it the cheap grainy/smokey porn effect? It remains to be seen.]]> http://melonandorange.com/dom/2009/03/wwii_ear_color.html http://melonandorange.com/dom/2009/03/wwii_ear_color.html Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:21:31 -0800 Fuck You, Penguin to add to that list. He recommended it to me as a way to cope with the stupidity of the most popular internet videos and I can't thank him enough for it. And if you're not a 10 year old girl and love all the cutesy pictures and videos of baby animals that never seem to stop circulating the internet I hope you're offended.]]> http://melonandorange.com/dom/2009/01/fuck_you_penguin.html http://melonandorange.com/dom/2009/01/fuck_you_penguin.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:58:35 -0800 "Evolution of Dance" Youtube video with a live sequal to his internet performance. I stood there in retarded awe as I watched this idiot who can't dance shake his legs and flail his arms to a mix of terrible well known dance songs. It was after his performance during an interview that he stated his Youtube video has had 109,596,364 views and if you google it you will see a description of the video as, "The funniest 6 minutes you will ever see! Remember how many ..."!!! What? Who the fuck thinks this is funny??? Is the rest of America really that low brow and Mormon? I couldn't imagine anything less funny or more G rated and decided that he must be the antithesis of Jim Norton. I guess if there is a heaven there must be a hell and Jim Norton you are my Jesus. ]]> http://melonandorange.com/dom/2009/01/funny_vs_not_funny.html http://melonandorange.com/dom/2009/01/funny_vs_not_funny.html Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:57:31 -0800 If you would like to update your little black book my new address is: 884 Palm Ave. #201 West Hollywood, CA 90069 Send me a post card! Oh, how I do ever enjoy postcards. Comparative notes on the new and old apartments: Better -It's bigger. -There are no mice or roaches -The lobby doesn't smell like a baby's diaper -The ceiling doesn't poor water when it rains -There is room for two in the kitchen -There is a real closet -The elevator doesn't have two manual operation doors -There is no gang graffiti -There are no warnings posted in the lobby about carcinogenic compounds within the building -We have reserved parking spaces -There are no gunshots -One mile from work Worse -There are no children who want nothing more than to pet Oni and have him sniff their little faces -There are no Ice Cream Trucks, Roach Coach Kitchens, Tamalies sold by announcement or belled wagons selling fried Mexican goodness -I won't be practicing my Spanish nearly as much -Rent is nearly double The move was definitely for the better but I will miss Koreatown. http://melonandorange.com/dom/2009/01/moved_again.html http://melonandorange.com/dom/2009/01/moved_again.html Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:51:26 -0800 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://melonandorange.com/dom/2008/11/give_thanks.html http://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://melonandorange.com/dom/2008/11/the_last_of_the_great_high_mod.html http://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://melonandorange.com/dom/2008/11/tough_economic_times.html http://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://melonandorange.com/dom/2008/10/the_me_meme.html http://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://melonandorange.com/dom/2008/10/crazy_time.html http://melonandorange.com/dom/2008/10/crazy_time.html Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:36:19 -0800 ]]> http://melonandorange.com/dom/2008/10/were_not_in_a_recession.html http://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://melonandorange.com/dom/2008/09/270971.html http://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://melonandorange.com/dom/2008/09/two_wonderful_years.html http://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://melonandorange.com/dom/2008/08/frickin_cute.html http://melonandorange.com/dom/2008/08/frickin_cute.html Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:44:51 -0800