anyhow, its news of sorts in a way

We are still in the figuring out stages, but I got some good news a bit back. I've been accepted into a residential design studio in New Zealand this September.The program is a week-long live-in studio taught by 4 well-known architects from both Australia and New Zealand. I'll be studying with 31 other practitioners and students from around the world. The studio is at a lodge in a national park, and the only way to get there is via a small boat, followed by wading to the beach and a short hike up to the lodge. It should be quite an adventure.

If you want to learn more, go to www.ozetecture.org, and then click on the New Zealand class link. I'm also applying for the Murcutt Master Class next July, so wish me luck there.

It's going to be fun, intimidating, amazing and probably quite hard. In the words of my boss at Studio C, "this is a great honor." Actually, I am quite thrilled and honored to have been chosen, and as soon as we can figure out the cash and details for the trip, I imagine I'll be sending in my acceptance letter. Hopefully we'll be able to afford Kristie going with me. She wants to see Sydney, so our plan right now is for us both to fly there, and then me to the fly to NZ for the class, and then we'll go up to the great barrier reef for a week together after I get back. We'll see how it goes with organizing all the flights, schedules and funds. More details as they come, andif any of the two or so people who read this have been, we're taking whatever advise we can get.

For me from you

As all of you know, my birthday is coming up next week. Don't get too excited, though, because you won't be getting anything. I like to switch things up, so for MY birthday, I will be GETTING presents, from YOU, and not visa versa. I want to be surprised so I wont put a big long list here. I'm not a total jerk, though so I wont leave you hanging there wondering what in the world to get me. I like fantastic and wonderful things, but they need to be useful, as well. And don't just pick the first thing you come across, either. Today manufacturers are trying new spins on old ideas that vastly improve upon the original. For example, you might be tempted to get me one of these.


Very nice, right? WRONG!! look at those bristles. you can't get ritz crumbs out with a soft horse hair tip like that! Try this instead...

See what I mean? The bristles are short and stiff, and are arranged in a manner to allow for deeper, more effective digging. And as a plus, its small size makes it perfect for the gal on the go.

So, 4/17.... Remember the date, and I want good cards, too, so don't skimp.

stuff you should know about stuff that is awesome

For our Second Installment in the series, I am proud to present to you,

The Man.

Mr. Oran "Juice" Jones.

What makes The Juice so awesome? Well, two things....

First, He knows how to treat a lady.
Second, He has spectacular control of both his emotions and the english language.

You are quite welcome.





"You without me is like a cornflake without the milk."

Pictures From Grandpa's Funeral

I was going to just pick a few and post them here, but I decided it would be better to just link to my Picasa so that you could see all of them. Here ya go.

Grandpa Sam's Funeral

Grandpa Sam

Grandpa and Grandma Tenney

Well, obviously this has been a long time coming. I'm not really sure what to say. That's probably why I haven't posted since the last one. My grandpa Sam passed away this winter. My parents were here when we got the news, and we drove down to New Mexico with them for the funeral.

At the funeral, they had all the people who were named after him stand up. I felt really lucky to be one of them. There are a lot of things I could say about him that he would never say about himself, so I'll just say that he was a great man. If you'll humor me, I'd like to write a little about what I think of when he comes to mind, and what brings back memories of him:

When you are growing up, you watch your dad a lot, and try to see how he does everything. You see how he treats people and how he makes decisions. You see who he likes and respects, and sort of take mental notes of the things that make up a respectable person. When I was young, it was very clear that my dad was watching Grandpa Sam, and learning as much from him as from his own dad. The respect dad showed him made me pay attention too.

Grandpa was an interesting study. He had this sort of mean, grouchy exterior. As a kid, we knew that playing with grandpa meant two things. First, you were going to laugh. Second, you were going to get hurt. He was as likely to tell you he loved you as give you some sort of deep bone bruise, and after a while I realized that the two were interchangeable.

This is me getting hurt.

I have an insatiable appetite for reading. I will read anything. I will read children's books, super academic look-how-stupid-I-can-make-you-feel stuff, whatever. If it is in front of me I will read it. On night when I was about 18, I went to be and saw a book my Grandpa had left behind from thier last visit. It was "Comstock Load" by Loius L'amour. I finished it that night. I don't know why I got hooked. It likely has something to do with trying figure out grandpa, who almost always was reading a L'amour or Luke Short novel, and I know it has something to do with simple escapism from my daily life. As I write this, I am reading three westerns. Its still an escape (what could be further from the highly detailed, ultra critical world of architecture than the old west?), but I also feel like I catch a little bit of my grandpa when I'm reading.

For pretty much anyone who reads this it will be old news to hear about what a good husband he was. I like to think that grandpa and grandma were a good team. They were dedicated to each other. She did a lot for him, and he acted in a way that never gave her reason to question his appreciation. In my own marriage, I try (and repeatedly fail) to emulate that.

When Kristie and I were first married, we took a vacation to Napa and Gualala, where Grandpa and Grandpa live when I was a kid. I showed her around the places we used to go when we'd visit, and I went golfing at the course he was the superintendant for. It was kind of a stressful time for me. I had come to the realization that I hated doing HR. I was pretty miserable, actually. While we were on that vacation I had an epiphany of sorts. I looked at the years ahead, and decided that I needed to make a change. I remember telling Kristie about how much happier Grandpa told me he was when he started working at a job he loved. I started to ask myself what I could do for a living that would provide that type of satisfaction. Not long after, I had quit my job and after a few missteps, was in school on my way to becoming an Architect.

This is me playing Sea Ranch.

There is really one other thing I'd like to share, and its a small thing. When I was little, Grandma and Grandpa would come down to visit our family a lot. I remember being woken up by him quite a few times, and told to go get money from Grandma so we could take a ride. (That's how I learned that I'd could be a lot happier if I let my wife handle all the money.) This meant I was going on an important mission, and I remember being extremely excited about the prospect. I'd get the money, and we'd go out and get in his truck. I will never forget the smell of that truck. It was a mix of oil, grass and vinyl seats. I don't remember why that sticks out so much. Probably because I used to play in the back of it a lot, and being in the front was sort of a treat. Anyway, our mission was alway the same. We'd go to Winchell's, and he'd pick up a paper, chat with the other customers, and let me pick out donuts for everyone back home. There are two things that I look back on in life as my introduction a "man's" world. The first was visiting my dad at the fire station. The second was being one of the guys at the donut shop in the morning.

On the way home, he'd wait until I'd let my guard down, and then as he was shifting gears, he'd backhand me across the chest. It hurt. I miss him.

Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad

We were really lucky this year, and got to have my mom and dad at our home for the week of Thansgiving. (They can last year, too, but Amy and Josh were still here, and we had the big meal at their place.) It was a lot of fun. I took the week off work and we got to spend a lot of time with them.

We went to a Museum in Denver and saw the travelling Titanic Exhibit. It was cool to see all the stuff they had from the ship. They had way more than I expected. I was really suprised how much of it was in perfect condition.

When you go in, they give you a boarding pass with a name that matches a passenger from the trip. At the end you get to find out if you lived. Kristie was the only one of us that made it in the end.

We went downtown for lunch, and I showed them the Architecture Department at UCD. Kristie took the opportunity to destroy me in Ping Pong. The best thing about eating lunch with mom and dad is that at some point during every meal my dad goes away and comes back with brownies or cookies for everybody.

Kristie and Dad eating at Noodles.

Scott and Mom. I think this was the day it got really really cold.

Yep.

On Thankgiving, we made a super tasty roast, and some sides and had a fun day together, and then gorged ourselves on Kristie's desserts.

While they were here, we got the news that Grandpa Sam had passed away. This was really hard, but we are glad we could be with my mom as she tried to cope with the news. They stayed an extra week (which was great, but bittersweet because of the circumstances), and then we drove down to Lordsburg with them for the funeral. I'll write more about this in the next entry.

Kristie and I wanted to let Mom and Dad know how much fun it was to have them here for so long. We used to hang out with them alot when we were in Gilroy, and it really felt like old times again. We really love and miss them both, and I think I look forward to displaying Madame Honeydew after Dad and I win next time.

Where did fall go?

One of the things I dislike most about school is how it has a way of stealing time from me. As has been the case for more than 6 years now, Fall has snuck in gone too fast. So much has happened. Let's focus on the good things for now.

Kristie and I really look forward to getting pics of the nieces and nephews, and some of my favorites are the pictures Mego and Chuck send of Reese and Quincy at the pumpkin patch every year.

Well, we aren't as cute, but we thought we'd take the camera with us to the pumpkin patch this year.

My cousin Rey got married, so we went down to the reception. Amazingly, none of the pics with either of them turned out.

Kristie, Diane, Karen, Kathy, and one Sam's kids (I think.) OH, and Greg's arms.

Scott and Grandma

Grandma, Kristie, Karen (w/ Sam's kid), Kathy, and Tami

I love my Grandma.

Chartres Cathedral vs Victoria's Secret

So I am struggling to finish up grading the last few essays of the semester when I come across the following statement.

[This was written in summarization of a discussion of French High Gothic Cathedrals]... "The portal like the interior made an attempt to become as thin and skeletal as possible. It seems as though Gothic architects tried to achieve the same things as modern day 'supermodels.' "

This is amazing to me. This is a super hard class with a no-nonsense instructor with a reputation for failing people. This alone should be reason to think twice. Worse yet, it isn't funny. I might have let a good joke slide.

Worst of all, though.... it isn't even right. Ouch.

Lacey Lou

Ok. So its been two years since I brought Lacey home, and I thought I'd post a few pics. This way mom and dad won't forget how much they love her.


This is from her first night home playing with the Toy Kristie got her.

1st haircut.

Playing with her carrot

Sleeping with her carrot

Someone peeked at the presents before Christmas last year.

Opening Presents - Take 3 (Christmas Morning)

Looking for someone to play with at the Komen K9s for the Cure race.

An Honest Fight

As long as the "must be present to win" rule is out the window, (and I haven't hear official word on that yet) I am perfectly willing to enter the race.

Today's campaign is all about soundbites. You have to get your message out quickly, and in a way that hits THE key points. Most importantly, in todays media saturated world of instant fact checking, you have to be honest.

What message do I want to communicate? Simple. Kristie and I are the ONLY ethically sound choices. Just look at the facts:

Megan has produced two kids, but one of them is Megan II. I say that's a push.

Paul gets up after everyone leaves for the day and switches out the wrappers on the Atkin's, Zone and LA weightloss bars with Kudos.

Josh's fantasy football team is much better maintained than the interior of his car.

Melinda trained a colony of bees and then sicked them on her own dog.

For her own health and safety, Hollee's skin can't come into contact with anything related to nuts. Giving her the box might be misconstrued by the an overzealous DA as an attempt on her life.

Aaron wears Abercrombie and Fitch. Please visit this link, and then come to your own conclusions about whether that is appropriate.
http://www.abercrombie.com/anf/index.html

Mark put in a tennis court so he would have a reason to wear all those white skirts he keeps in the back of his closet. (That is, when he bothers to wear anything at all.)

While mom and dad were in Colorado the DVR broke. Amy taped over the only copy of Christmas 82' so she could watch Oprah and Dr. Phil after she got home from work.

Scott and Kristie set a good example and are loyal friends to all.

A real man

I personally believe that Michael Bolton buttons his shirt all the way up every morning. Sometime during the day, though, the shirt realizes who it is on, and the top few unbutton themselves.

Snubbed Again

Well folks, I really don't know where to begin. I'm trying to put my disappointment into words, but they just aren't coming. What elese could I have done? I spent the entire year gorging myself on candy and ho-ho's thinking that it would be the master stroke that put me over the top. Well, I guess not! This morning I turn on the computer, and there it is staring back at me, "Matt Damon. People's Sexiest Man Alive"

Matt Damon?!!! I mean Matt Damon?! Come on, He's not even sexy! Ok, he might be "fit" and "trim", but sexy? Stop fooling yourselves, People Magazine? First of all everyone knows that sexy guys have stubble because they are too cool and manly to shave regularly. Second, sexy guys have, or have had, long hair. Third, you got to be a bad boy to be sexy. You got to do rebel stuff like ride a motorcycle, have a brooding personality, or read western novels. Finally, Matt Damon is an actor. When was the last time that you saw an actor and thought, "Oooh, He's sexy."? Sexy guys do stuff like carpentry, welding, or architecture. They aint in no wimpy plays.

I think I've made my point, and next year maybe they'll choose someone who's REALLY sexy.

Until then, I guess I'll have to shelve the "from the desk of... People's Sexiest Man Alive", and go back to the "From the desk of ...a stunningly handsome, yet unrecognized, superstud".

Stinky Steve

This one has been a long time coming, but I thought I'd spend a quick second to post a few pics from Steven's adoption hearing.

This is the picture we sent to Alaska to let them know that it was probably time to get the hearings over with.

Amy, Josh, Steven and Judge Walters

Kristie, Amy, Steven, Josh and Scott just after the adoption was made final.

Josh and Steven wait while Amy pays adoption fees, and gets the official papers. How do you know Steven's adopted? Well, if the other boys were there, Ty would have already stolen one of the courthouse cop's handcuffs, and Parker would be in trouble for telling him to do it.

Lamy, Josh and Stinky with their lawyer, and our friend, David J. Warner, esq. David did an awesome job getting everything setup, and trying the case. He is also quite handsome, has a stellar 14' turn-around jumper, and sings like an angel.

Its almost like he's not writhing uncontrollably in an effort to get away from me, and that sorry excuse for a goatee.

We've always felt like stinky was part of the family, and we're happy to finally have some to make it official. We feel so lucky to be a part of his big day.

We love you, Steven
Aunt Kristie and Uncle Scott

Rocktober

I figured I'd wait for Rocktober to end before posting my pictures from the recent playoff run by the Colorado Rockies. Denver as been clad in Purple and White since late september, and it has been a lot of fun. While my heart will forever belong to the green and gold, we've been going to Rockies games since we moved here, and have become fans of them too.


My school about 6 or 7 blocks from Coors Field, so decided to walk down to a rally they had in hopes of winning the tiebreaker game to get into the playoffs. There were A LOT of people there.

This is Coors Field. It is the best place I've ever been to see a game.

They had a band playing and tossing out t-shirts (one of which Kristie now sleeps in), and giving away prizes. Dinger, the Rockies mascot, is in the middle of the picture. Dinger is a adolescent purple dinosaur of questionable gender. Dinger sucks, and needs to go away forever. This is Dinger:

This is my suggestion for his/her replacement:

So, the Rockies got into the playoffs and eventually won the National League Pennant before losing in the World Series. Kristie and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the game 4 of the NL Championship Series, when they swept the D'backs. It was awesome.

Scott and Kristie during the game. The guy next to Kristie brought his own whiskey, and was very drunk. His buddy ended up pouring beer on his head during the game, and after it was over, they got into a fight. Fun Stuff all around.

The celebration when the Rockies won thier way into the series.

I took this video about 10 minutes after the final out. It was as loud a place as I've ever been.

All in all it was a fun ride, and hopefully it'll happen again next year, and the A's or Rockies will win it all.

-scott

Trinity

Last month, we got news that our close friends Mindy and Barrett Adams lost their 5 yr old daughter, Trinity, on September 16th, so we got some flights and flew out for the funeral.

We have known Trinity since just a few hours after she was born, and she went through a lot in her short life, so it was especially hard news to take, and there was a lot of crying. The funeral was really nice (one of the most light-hearted I've ever been to, or at least as far as funerals go.), and it was good to be there for Barrett and Mindy. (Mindy and Kristie were each other's Maid and Matron of honor, and have been best friends since high school. Scott has known Mindy since they were like 11, and Barrett since they were in high school.)

We spent some time with them after the funeral, and talked about Trinity. She was born with a severe heart defect called Hypo-plastic Left Heart Syndrome. I'll likely butcher the details, so go to http://www.trinadams.com/ for the details. Basically, though, it's fatal without a complicated and risky series of open heart surgeries at 3 different stages in childhood. She spent months in the hospital, and in her first two plus years, she suffered, and overcame, way more than anyone should ever have to in thier entire life. Her parents suffered right along side her, but eventually were able to see her come home and live a life outside the hospital. She spent her last 3 years learning and playing, learning to talk and dance and walk. She got to play with her cousins, go to Disneyland, Hawaii, and lots of zoos and other fun places. She never was made to feel different, unwanted, or inferior. She lived a life where everything and everyone was her friend.

We'll miss seeing her grow up, and we wish we could have been there for the happy times, but it was good to know that the helpless little baby we knew from before we moved to Colorado was able to grow into a happy little girl.

Barrett, Mindy and Trinity

Scott, Kristie, Barrett, Mindy, and Rich at Mimi's in Gilroy the day after the Funeral. Rich is Mindy's Brother, and he dedicated the grave. He also made a really nice temporary headstone.