Curiouser and curiouser

Some thoughts for the summer:

1 - wish that books were longer/cheaper 200 pages for $13- is not acceptable and will be read by one and a half days
2- wish I lived near the ocean so I could just sit out on the beach every day and not be tempted to go into the mall and buy things [like expensive books]
3- wish I could get a job because I don't live near the ocean and have to buy expensive books as a result of my circumstances
4- wish I didn't just sit on the computer every day writing on this blog because I'm getting very bored

Okayyyyy.... anyway I have rediscovered Susanne Langer. Well i guess i never really discovered her in the first place, Francisco told me to look her up after i spoke my long and boring bit about what music i like and why... but its really surprising to me how on target he was with my thinking. I was reading up on Langer last night and all of her research is extremely intriguing and definitely something I want to learn more about. Basically she was a philosopher of art in the 1940s and she was especially concerned with aesthetics and music. She is very curious to me because she was concerned with the irrationality of thoughts and in creativity... kind of the things that were catching in that book i just read by Edelman [second nature]... that these modes of expression are really what make us human etc... but especially interesting in respects to Langer and Edelman is their concern to connect the humanities and sciences. These two: Langer a philosopher a and Edelman a contemporary neuroscientist both aimed to place the humanities on the same level as science showing how the two are derived from the same levels of brain function/capabilites... that sciences are not necessarily the "king" when trying to learn about truth and knowledge. In fact one of the books i picked up to look at yesterday was specifically about how the arts and humanities were the drivers behind all of the major scientific breakthroughs since the Enlightenment. I'm not sure how true this claim is, it seems that both camps play off each other in the advancements of cultures... although i do agree that the humanities have more of a direct and real connection with the minds of people in a society than the sciences do.... i mean to be real the sciences are abstractions and a specifically separated from the greater society so that what is being observed can be studied in depth... blah blah... ugh i definitely suck at writing things on here lately... its all just bored talk and nothing interesting.... hopefully my summer plans will make this blog a little more colorful and interesting... maybe I'll go on to discuss some of that now.

Yup, summer plans.... so far i'm thinking visiting marissa in boston at some point, seeing evan over in hull, going to nyc to hang out with aileen and elsie ... going to lake as much as possible -- and probably connecticut, too.... anndddddd going to martha's vineyard with ericcc!! ahhh!!! i love martha's vineyard its like being in a fairytale land where you don't have to worry about anythinggg... you take a 45min ferry and forget about all the troubles of deciding on a major/ not having a jobbbb and arrive at this beautiful island of little houses and biiiiig long beachesss.... and the camp area where his place is is sooo awesome .... its a labyrinth of little houses all nestled in close together and its like going and finding your real place in the world --- too bad this place is probably completely dead in the wintertime otherwise i think i'd seriously consider living there.

 Ahhh - another sidenote I have to get off my chest... forewarning: this is going to be very heated and angry... because i am sooooo sick of hearing people put down architecture majors saying stupid shit like "oh they don't do anything when they are complaining of all their work and staying up late" or "oh they just go and socialize all night long" well fuck you useless people. i was given a comment like this the other night by some "business owner/ rpi grad" down in Troy and let me just say you are completely in oblivion and in your own little world of normal sleep hours, expectations, work, whathaveyou.... archies don't stay up late because we just enjoy talking to each other all night long... its hard work. Models take foooooreeeverrr to make, not to mention we have to have a completely working computer model to work off of first before we build something in real life [in most cases... unless we are building study models to inform our computer modeles] and if people thinkg that these things [computer models and built models] can be slapped together quickly then they have to be kidding themselves... there are always spatial and layout issues that need to be resolved... passive/active site strategies that need to be maintained and tons of other requirements depending on the project, design site, professor, etc.... it's not jsut sitting behind your lovely little desk reading some shit about business or cells while youre surfing facebook... this is frantically creating a coherent building virtually and at a scale in real life... both of which take manyyy long hours of care and planning... whatever you make in the computer isn't going to be exactly what you see in real life... so then you go back and redo things, remake the models... and mind you the models aren't everything... once somehting changes that means you are back making new plans, sections, diagrams, renders.... and each of these things takes hours in themselves... i mean look at real firms... creating a great work of architecture takes months to years.... and most archi schools teaching philosophies are to try and treat the classroom as a real-life situation in a firm.... [sooo designing what most firms would take months to years for iiinnn... what? 3-4 months?] yea. So to all you archi haters you really have no idea and should just shut up... words can't even express the pain and long hours we put in every night while youre off watching tv, reading from books, eating dinner... all in your nice little dorm or room wherever you live... we live and work in our studio... hardly get to sleep or eat.... build and rebuild all night long and come back to do it again and again.... some of you probably think too "oh i'll just design it right the first time" too bad it's not that easy and somethig you see as workable and beautiful will be the most destructive example of bulding some professor has ever seen... they will rip you to shreds after you havent slept and you know what that means?.... you stay up even later this next night to redo everything all over again.... so while youre getting your little lab books all tidy and writing down all those equations thousands of peple have already solved before you... dont be hating on the architects who are working their asses off exploring everything from physics, geology, hydrology, ecology, finances, and the like to create not only a workable design but something that will be loved, accepted, and ethically acceptable in society and the classroom.

disgruntled.
c