Aaack!

Our mac is permanently frozen!

Update: Fixed for the new year! Thank you 'genius bar.'

LEED needs fixing....?

"Lately, even the USGBC seems to realize the solution lies not in giving out medals for greenness one building at a time, but in encouraging greener communities. Density is why the average resident of Tokyo uses as much energy in a week as the average resident of Houston uses in a day. "
-Daniel Brook, Slate

Merry Christmas

Google Graphics

so, how awesome would it be if your job was to come up with and draw these?

May be a bit late for Christmas....

but good gift ideas none-the-less from one of my favorite new sites this year, Inhabitat. I'm loving the plantable calendar pictured above.

Hmmmmm

Sometimes I find this scarier than Iran.

'Fun' Day at Sea

Surprise! Kyle managed to completely suprise me for my birthday. He told me we were heading to Galveston for a quick get-away weekend at a bed and breakfast to celebrate a bit early. When we arrived and couldn't check into the 'hotel' until 1pm, we went to eat lunch, during which he surprised me with a birthday card. The card informed me we were heading out on a 5 night cruise! Completely stunned. It was a gorgeous, relaxing week, all thanks to Kyle's planning!

San Diego

San Diego is just gorgeous! We spent the time with family there for Thanksgiving. Martha made the entire meal (minus a fried Turkey which was ordered) in Matt's apartment, and some quickly purchased dishes since hers which were mailed never arrived! We did a lot of hanging out with family, eating, football watching, beer drinking, and travelling around San Diego. We all wondered why we hadn't been out to see Matt sooner!

Happy Turkey Day

We're off enjoying the company of family, and giving thanks for that. Pictures to come.
Meanwhile, some more do or die news regarding the environment.

What Makes Austin?

"A new report on the 100 biggest economic centers in the country illustrates the factors that drive economic growth in Austin and make the city stand out as a center of innovation and intellectual capital. The report, by the Brookings Institution, focused on America's cities as engines of prosperity for the country. The 100 largest metro areas have 65 percent of the population, generate 75 percent of the nation's gross domestic product and account for 76 percent of its high-tech and other knowledge-economy jobs. Austin-area gross domestic product was $65.8 billion, a half-percent of the U.S. total and 6.7 percent of the Texas total. The local gross domestic product per job was $89,826, slightly above the U.S. average, slightly below the Texas average. As far as innovation is concerned, 110.8 patents were granted per 100,000 people, more than four times the U.S. average. Per-capita funding from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health was $191, slightly above the U.S. average. Venture investing per capita was $409, 4.6 times the U.S. average. There were 4.9 research and development workers per capita in Austin, 119.5 percent of the U.S. average. In Austin, 39.1 percent of adults have bachelor's degrees, almost 1.5 times the U.S. average. Coming in at 130 percent of the U.S. average, were adults with graduate degrees, which account for 13 percent of Austin's population. Newcomers with bachelor's degrees totaled 41.7 percent, which was 110.6 percent of the U.S. average. Average annual wage in Austin was $43,083, 107.3 percent of the U.S. average. In Austin, there were 732,676 total metro-area jobs. Austin ranked 39th among the 100 cities studies in number of total metro-area jobs. The employment rate in Austin was 73.2 percent, 104.5 percent of the U.S. average. Finally, there were 2.5 airplane boardings per capita, right at the U.S. average. The report detailed proposals to promote metropolitan growth on a national scale. For the full report, go to www.brookings.edu/events/2007/1106blueprint.aspx. Most data is from 2005 Source: Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program."
[from the Austin American-Statesman]

Mapping

I really love listening to This American Life on Sundays. For a special treat I go to the local coffee shop and grab a chai and a Sunday New York Times. Today I'm catching up on the radio show, and am loving the October 19th episode about mapping; what maps are made up of, what information is allowed, and what is left out. Maps are quite focused, and give the viewer only select items to see. Or in the case of one of the radio pieces, even hear. Anyways, its a good show to check out and listen to while doing something else.

Plastic, plastic everywhere, and not a drop to drink

This is gross. One of the things we have brought home from living in Munich is their wonderful use of canvas bags for everything - from groceries to clothes to whatever. So much so that the last time Kyle went, he brought back 4 more. They're reusable and washable, if you do happen to bust open something by accident.

Wurstfest '07

and the end to a great festival

Rice virtuoso

Check this out. The piano virtuoso the catalog mentions is apparently a Rice '05 grad - pretty amazing, huh?

Pink

This weekend, after a high school football game and Wurstfest, I'm participating in Komen Austin's Race for the Cure.

Last year there were over 22,000 people who particpated and this year they are expecting 24,000! The sea of pink people is truly inspiring. Austin is doing this wonderful 'Power of 10' campaign this year - $10 dollars from 10 people, and then if 10 people who know those 10 people contribute $10, and so on - just imagine what wonderful things this could accomplish! Breast cancer is the most lethal form of cancer among women worldwide, with approximately 500,000 new and existing patients dying from the disease each year, according to Komen Austin. Thank you to everyone who has contributed and volunteered for this cause!

Happy Halloween!

Metropolis Magazine

From a feature on Peter Gluck in Metropolis Magazine:


The poor state of architectural education also explains why after paying more than $100,000 for a degree, graduates are forced to apprentice for three years while other people sign off on their work, and are finally charged another $2,000 to get a license that a professional degree should prepare them for in the first place. “That’s the kind of shit the AIA would do,” he says. “The profession is already built on the backs of young architects—if they were really concerned, the last thing they would do would be to punish young people coming into the field.”

While I don't necessarily agree with the entire article (I think at least my local AIA is quite involved in improving the profession), there are definitely parts that I'm in total agreement with. Metropolis Magazine is really a great, thorough design magazine. Need to save up some money (and time to read it) for a regular subscription!

the point of no return

“The human population is now so large that the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available at current consumption patterns,” Achim Steiner, the executive director of the Environment Program, said in a telephone interview.

from the NYT

Free Rice

"For each word you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations to help end world hunger."

found obsession

This weekend I pulled out the box o' halloween goodies from the shed, and have confirmed that I am a total sucker for the after-holiday sales. Specifically, as it relates to Halloween, the 'scary sounds' CD. My collection includes:
Sounds of Horror
Scary Sounds
Sounds of Halloween
Halloween Sounds
Creepy Classics
Very Scary Night
Keep in mind that we haven't been in a house that even receives trick or treaters for very long, so 6 CDs is quite a bit. I've loaded them all into itunes, and have promised myself no more Halloween CDs, no matter how low they are priced.
Meanwhile, this weekend we also went by Goodwill to drop off some items, including a dresser. We then proceeded to do some shopping, and I found bits and pieces of what I hope will be a great pirate costume - we shall see. And by the time we were checking out a half hour later, the dresser we had dropped off was already being loaded into a car. Quick turnaround!

the guys do Oktoberfest

Happy Anniversary to us!

Door!

It's finally here - so much better than that -other- door!

Snowman, Snowman

The ice is melting

prehistoric poop

Gross

'Peace' Primary....

Plenty of Sunshine headed my way

ACL Fest!!!

Pecan trees are Falling down, falling down..

Got home from work this week to find this in our backyard:


And you can see in this photo that big patch of sky which used to be covered up by tree:


This is the third limb this tree has dropped. We don't really know why, but think perhaps it could be that there are *so* many pecans this year, its just getting too heavy for this old tree to carry. I guess this is one way to make room for an addition out back!

Football season has begun

from The Onion:

Wedding Cheer

A few weekends ago we went to a gorgeous wedding - Kyle's close friend from high school, CJ, and his long-time girlfriend Nicole were married in San Antonio at the Cathedral (the oldest in the US!). They had a beautiful (full mass!) ceremony, with the Monsignor that gave them both their first communion officiating the ceremony. Afterwards was a very packed, fun, and tasty reception at a nearby hall. And at the end of the evening, they drove away under showers of rose petals. We'd have more photos, but lost our camera right after the rehearsal (therefore, the photo above is during the rehearsal, and doesn't show everyone all decked out in their wedding attire). Thankfully it was found after the honeymoon in someone's car!

YouTube - Cheney in 1994 on Iraq

YouTube - Cheney in 1994 on Iraq

twisting and turning

Very cool

Wikipedia & Hammer Pants

A great article on who helps to 'control' Wikipedia.
Meanwhile, during happy hour yesterday, a discussion ensued regarding whether Hammer Pants were the same thing as Parachute Pants. The majority voted they were not, however Wikipedia redirects searches for Hammer Pants to the Parachute Pants website - and Parachute Pants are most def. not Hammer Pants, even tho the opposite may be true....

Family Reunion

We traveled to Kyle's Aunt & Uncle's lake house a couple weekends ago for a family reunion for Kyle's mother's family. A pretty good weekend, despite continuted rain (in Texas! in the summer!) - we were lucky to have sun on Sunday, though, so took advantage of that. They have a great house for family reunions, and everyone seemed to have a great time. Lots of little kiddos running around! Here's some pics from the weekend:

Spoiled dogs

Yes, I spoil my dogs. I got them brand new beds, but I think they're totally worth it. The ones you get at PetSmart or wherever are around 20 or so, and only last for a year. Which means you're buying new ones all the time. These are made with Crypton fabric, which is totally impervious to scent and stain. Plus they have cute pictures of dogs on them. They also happen to be huge, but Sophie and Lola finally were sharing yesterday. Yes, Sophie looks scared, but don't worry, Lola's not being mean to her - Sophie just thinks the camera is an evil alien out to take her soul.

Oh, Firemans' #4

This past Saturday we headed out to Blanco for a wonderful afternoon at the Real Ale Brewery. It was their 11th Anniversary party, and they threw a totally free event with barbecue and beer - what could be better? Their Fireman's #4 is my favorite beer - I am happy I can finally find it bottled in the local grocery stores.

2 Wheeler Adventures

Well, this past weekend my folks visited, which was great to see them. We took them to the Alamo Drafthouse
to see Pirate of the Caribbean (ugh - definite thumbs down), visited the Blanton Museum of Art, saw a Round Rock Express game (vs. Nashville's own Sounds) which Kyle's entire family came in for as well, and hopped on some Segways for a tour of Austin (more for the benefit of trying out the Segways). The Segways were quite fun to play with - a bit off-balancing at first, but towards the end we were all speeding up as fast as we could, and then coming to a sudden halt. A thoroughly enjoyable weekend!
(And yes, you do need to take breaks when riding Segways - you'd be surprised how tiring it is standing in one position for 3 hours!)

Off to Omaha

Go Owls
Originally uploaded by greenleigh

Last week John informed us that he did indeed rock and got tickets for the Rice/A&M games before they sold out. So, we piled the dogs in the car and headed out to Houston this past weekend. Saturday was of course ridiculously hot (it is Houston), but a tailgate starting at noon certainly helps. By 5 we were ready for the game. Rice won, beating the Aggies and clinching their spot at Omaha. Oh, and Dog the Bounty Hunter was there too - *many* Aggies were going up to him to get autographs.
Rice fans? Not so much....

So, that's Dave, Me, Khoa, Kyle, Betty and John, photo courtesy of Betty (cause we were stupid and forgot the camera).

Kyle is my Hero

This weekend we loaded up the dogs in the car to head out to the Leander Park and Ride Grand Opening. Unfortunately, we never made it - the car got a flat tire about half way there (and its a long way to Leander). Pulled over, and Kyle proceeded on his heroic task of changing the tire, despite my absolute idiocy in parking on a slight incline - oops. But, we made it back to Austin, the dogs didn't have quite the adventure we thought they would, and now I've seen a tire changed, I think I could probably do it myself. But, just in case

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

We'll be celebrating Emmy's graduation from high school!