Procrastination Station

2 posts last month, that's a new record! Now that it's May and winter still has it's grip on the country, that means only one thing: procrastination season. That's why I'm writing this post now. I should be working on one of my projects, but I find that telling all 2 of you about my projects to be a much better use of my time. Hell I'm even procrastinating writing this post. It's taken me at least 15 minutes to get this far. The only thing architorture students are better at the BS'ing is procrastinating. Nothing inspires quite like a deadline in 12 hours. While I have a ways to go before reaching that level of creativity, I am at the point where all wee I have been crafting very unique meals to avoid working on my projects. Tuesday was fish tacos, made with those frozen fish sticks from my childhood that I hated then but I love now. Ooo... Facebook...

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...Okay I'm back. They were wrapped with mixed greens, Colby jack cheese, and Thousand Island dressing. Delish. Wednesday was cheeseburger wraps. For the reason I was out of hamburger buns and only had one burger left, I grilled it up then cut it into slices. Then, I wrapped it with the same mixed greens, Colby jack, and BBQ sauce. Again, very tasty. Tonight, I reached way back into my childhood. I ended up with a mix of mac & cheese, sliced hot dogs, and corn, all in a bowl of deliciousness that warmed my tummy and made me wish I was still 6 years old. At least then I wouldn't feel guilty doing nothing. Hold on, twitter calls...

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I forgot to mention that I made cookie bars last night! I was going to make cookies and I had all the dough mixed, but then I realized I was too lazy to actually make 4 dozen cookies and wait for them to bake. So I just plopped the dough in a cookie pan and let it all bake. Now, all I have to do is cut a bar out as I want one. I feel so Minnesotan. Now I need some hot dish and jello salad. Oh dear, that would be quite the Lutheran Church lady pot luck! Okay, enough about that. (I have mastered the accent by the way, just ask me to do it. I will)

The weight of the world, or at least a third of it, was lifted off of me on Tuesday. At precisely 11:00am, our Architecture and Ecology term project review began. My partner (my roommate) and I were first, thus were the first ones in the class to be DONE WITH OUR TERM PROJECT!!!!! The project was to pick a building and to analyze the sustainability of the building. What makes it green? How does it incorporate sustainability? Basically, how does it satisfy everything we have learned about this semester. We chose the Hiawatha Maintenance Facility in Minneapolis because not only is it local, but it is a really cool project. How many public work maintenance facilities do you know of that are LEED platinum certified? How many maintenance facilities do you know of? Probably none, unless you live next door to one. Anyway, I'll describe this in another post later. Maybe after finals week, hopefully before Denmark. OMG I leave in 45 days for Denmark I'm so excited I had orientation today and it just got me so excited to go abroad and see why the Danes are the happiest people in the world and they have amazing design and its not America which I have been in my whole life.....
Calm it down...

Another project I am currently procrastinating is my workshop: Space, Light, Material, and Mies. The premise of the workshop is simple. We were given a 3ds Max model of the Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe (look it up, do it). Using the renderer Vray, we are creating images of the house. We are studying light, how the environment affects the space, and changing materials. Basically, we are creating our own versions of the house. Once the tech side was cleared up (I'm still not entirely sure how to use the programs) it has become quite an interesting workshop.

My final project is perhaps my most engaging. I'm in a service learning Street Life Seminar. The premise of a service learning class is that we work with a community organization to provide a service to the city in which we live. This semester we have been working with Juxtaposition Arts (JXTA) in North Minneapolis. Our focus has been the West Broadway corridor to Penn Ave. We have been doing various activities and projects throughout the semester. For the final project we were given free reign. Propose any project in North Minneapolis that addresses the needs of one of the three community organizations with which we are partnering (West Broadway Business and Area Coalition [WBC] and the Penn Avenue Small Area Plan along with JXTA). I chose to work with the WBC and their facade improvement program. Through this program, they provide business owners along the corridor matching funds to improve their facades. Members of WBC identified a business owner who has been considering applying for a grant and I have been working with him to create a design for his building of which he would be proud. The final review is Monday, which is why I should be working on that, but instead I am writing to all you fine people. I will describe this in more detail later as well. This project has by far been the most exciting, as it is giving me the chance to go out into the community and to actually work with a real client. There is also a real chance that once we decide on a final design, it will be handed off to a real architect and the renovations can begin. But the ultimate goal is for him to decide to apply for the grant. Regardless of the final design that is implemented, if he applies for the grant, this project will have been a success.

Wow, that's a lot of text. And that's an hour of procrastinating. I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you, all 6 of you, for helping me put off the inevitable. But more importantly, you now know the inner workings of an architorture student's mind while procrastinating. Now to start those projects... tomorrow...