Digital Nightfall on 21/11/2007 at 08:05

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Good
- Christmas 2008. This will be the first time in three years where I actually get time off to relax and enjoy time with family and old friends. The school has always had portfolios due on the first day of class after the Christmas break, so for the past three years Dec has been one of the most stressful and work intensive times of the year. Portfolio reviews are mandatory for moving forward in the architecture program - if it's not considered up to snuff, even if you're a four-oh student, you're held back. It's a way of taking accountability away from the professors (who give the grades) and puts power in the hands of the faculty as a unit to decide which students proceed and which are not working out.
- The reason why the portfolio is not due in Jan this year is a curriculum change, which actually turned out to improve my situation. Thesis has been postponed to Summer '08. I can work on my portfolio over the course of several months rather than during a holiday break, and maybe even have enough free time for other personal projects.
- There's a good chance that I will be able to get a certain project which has toiled in development for far too long close to finished during this four week break, with the help of a very good friend on the other side of the planet.
- The Circle is alive and kicking again, thanks to pavlovscat, the continued support of Dennis Nixon, and a new hosting solution from Moghedian. I can't thank pavlovscat enough for this, who also seems happy as hell to be doing it. Everyone wins!
- Food, within walking distance of my apartment is - a burger joint (non fast food), two burrito joints, four sub shops, a fried chicken hole, a Vietnamese place, an Indian place, a sushi bar, a Chinese buffet, a wing joint, two pizza parlors, five casual dining establishments, a Latin restaurant, a German restaurant, a brunch diner, an ice-cream parlor, a smoothy/fruitdrink bar, a coffee shop, a cafe, a greasy spoon, a supermarket, and a soon to be opening veggie place (not sure about that one), and Chinese takeout. Add to that an entire mall food court, and all of the eating places on campus (a list almost as long). I am sure I have forgotten some. I think all of these are under 2 miles away. Burp.
- I am writing again. I find the time, even though it puts me behind in my schoolwork. Life just isn't right if I can't write.
- Tripod + desklamp + clamp = light for reading in bed!
- The high from my two months in Japan still hasn't died down.
- I'm still in love.
- I have cookies.

Bad
- I am less than half a year away from the 'seriously, start your internship' time and I still see autocad as my greatest enemy. Working with that software continues to be a miserable experiences - and I swear it will be the one thing which will cause me to never actually become an architect. On the other hand, the industry standard is switching over to a program called Revit (after, what, 20 years?) which may or may not be any better.
- The aforementioned 'seriously, start your internship' period doesn't exactly fill me with excitement.
- Design Development. The great white shark of the School of Architecture program, and I get to take it next term. It's the class where you take one of your own designs and re-work it for all of the real world systems needed to make a real-world building (lighting, other electric, plumbing, hvac, fire code, ADA law standards, drainage and water repulsion, all that good stuff) ... be nice if they had been teaching this stuff all along rather than just piling it all on us at once, eh?
- The constant tug of war between let the AC run the power bill up, get eaten alive by bugs, and roast alive in my little apartment while it's 60 degrees F outside. The only way I can cool the place naturally is to leave the front door wide open - hence the bugs. No chance for cross ventilation. Oh well, at least when gets down to the 30s (lowest it ever gets here) I'll never have to run the heater.
- Do I really want to be an architect? Wouldn't I rather write and design games?

The Good yet also Bad dept;
- My grandmother's 80th birthday is on Dec 8th, and all of her kids (my aunts and uncles) and many of my cousins are all coming down here for a big party. This is a very good thing - in fact if there was a list of awesome things this would go on there - except I cannot go. Unless by some miracle I manage to get my project presentation finished two days early (it's the 10th) there's no way I can take the time off. And you're never 'done' getting a project ready for a presentation. It's impossible to actually finish a project before a deadline. You keep working until time is up no matter what is or is not finished.

Scots Taffer on 23/11/2007 at 04:09

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Good

CommChat is far from dead.

Bad

CommChat hater players.
Come back noid, still miss you. :tear:

hopper on 23/11/2007 at 09:06

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FWIW, I don't think these two get along particularly well.

Trappin on 23/11/2007 at 22:09

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Bad: I suck at keeping proper business records. Since I'm self employed its important to keep proper business records. The house needs a new roof but I can do it myself - just need to get off my ass and do it. I need some dental work done (bridge) but can't afford it - dentists scare the shit out of me. /phobia

Good: House is paid off and I carry no other long term debt. Nothing to complain about really ( I love to complain mind you). Cut up all but one credit card - just can't live without the infernal things.

crunchy on 26/11/2007 at 22:13

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Good: I just got a promotion.

Bad: Another year older and still single. The chances of meeting anyone are getting dimmer and dimmer.