spooled thoughts

Design Six Feet Under

2005-10-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

So, I'd forgotten about this client until I got a phone call from her two days ago with a question about her plan. She wants to make some changes to the 'memorial' to her husband that I designed in the back yard last January - the day AFTER her husband died!

Yes, that is correct. SURPRISE to me....

I called the client that morning, it was a weekday. She informs me over the phone to please knock when I get to the house because there are a lot of people sleeping. I think "ok" kids probably home sick.

Get to house. She opens the door before I can even knock and gives me the universal 'shush' sign with finger over lips. We quietly walk into the kitchen. She says, 'I competely understand if this is too uncomfortable for you but my husband died yesterday. We had made this appt. months ago together and I felt I needed to honor it.'

Me: I think he would have understood if you would have cancelled! I remember telling her that as long as she was comfortable that I could handle it. After losing 5 grandparents between Rich and I over the previous year I was pretty comfortable with grief.

She explained what she wanted, I designed (at her kitchen table) listening to funeral arrangement phone calls, her crying on the phone to friends, and grieving family members slowly walking into breakfast.

At some point she tells me that her husband suffered for years and she's glad he's not in any more pain - there was a 'guide/help' dog in the house. i can only assume he has some degenerative nervous disease.

The whole thing was surreal. I completely felt like a fly on the wall or ghost moving through the house that these other people didn't even notice.

Miscellaneous

2005-10-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

Here goes the long list of the last few weeks...

1. Had a guy honk at me in traffic only to wave at me. He then proceeded to lick his lips in a 'seductive' and 'suggestive' way. All this while driving 75mph on Loop285. I feel sorry for his girlfriend or wife, but made it worse was that this guy was older than my dad!

2. Client from hell. Interior designer that at the point I was trying to verify lot lines with her commented 'You are suppose to know these things, this is no creating a lot of confidence in your abilities' Sorry I don't have a GIS/GPS mapping system imbeded in my body to know these things...She then leaned over me as I designed and questioned every symbol I drew as to it's variety/size/shape. Again she says 'You have to ask me before you label it because I do have an opinion. (Having admitted that she knew nothing of plants I find this irritating) Well, I had a bunny that opinion of her after leaving her house.

3. We must have spoken to loudly that we were finally able to put money in the savings. The house came up with an evil scheme to destroy the upstairs ac AND furnace at the same time. Damn money pit

4. Finished the dining room in two day! Thanks to time off during the ac/furnace renovation. Walls are plastered, painted and sporting new wall plates/sockets.

5. CLARB (Council of Landscape Architecture Review Board) decided to only offer the tests this December on a regional basis. So, if I want to take the one section I need to I have to drive to South Carolina. I don't think so, I'll wait until next April and June.

6. Saw a lady let her grandson pee into some bushed in the Walmart parking lot! What was wrong with the bathroom inside the building 40 yds away?

Thoughts on Katrina

2005-09-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

1. The New Orlean Mayor. He was demading buses to get people out from Greyhound. That's a private company the federal government can't take over. New Orleans had lots of school buses in the days before the flood that could have moved people. It does fall on the city/state to have an evacuation plan in catastrophic events.

Sidebar: The Governor: She waited 24-36 hrs to ask for help? It was a category 5 hurricane of course you need help!

2. FEMA.....well, it's FEMA and there's a guy in charge with no disaster experience...enough said.

3. The loss of life is great but sometimes you just have to scratch your head. One of the first stories to hit was how 30 people died in an apartment complex on the BEACH! Ok, this is like standing in the middle of your yard with a F5 tornado headed straight toward you. The tornado will win.

4. The levees....people are blaming the federal government. It is not the fed. goverments responsibility to fix it the expense lies on the state and local governments.

5. Rebuild? From a landscape architectural/environmental stand point, New Orleans should not be rebuilt in it's entireity. Green spaces and retention ponds need to made for water runoff/overflow in the future. Save what historical and decrease the population to limit disaster in the future.

6. People on TV: I don't understand and will admit to ignorance if someone can explain to me how a survivor that is clothed, fed and now has a roof over their head(most likely in a diffenrent state that require a plane or bus ride free to them) can say on national television that no one has helped them?

7. Chaos: It's going to be chaos for a long time. We were not prepared as we thought we were. Wheels are going to spin for a while until we sort out the best line of action. how do you approach a 90,000 square mile debris field? The world trade center was about 1 square mile and to think how long it took to organize those efforts.

Anywhere but here

2005-08-10T11:48:00.000-07:00

Have you ever gotten the sense that you are not where you're suppose to be or doing what you're suppose to do?

The time has come once again for me to sign up for parts of my licensure exam in December. The thought struck me the other day - Am I really doing this for myself or because it's one more accolade for my parents/grandparent? My paternal grandparents have always been hung up on titles, awards, achievements.....Visits to them were always more like interviews than 'catching up'....

I've actually had the thought since graduating if I EVER had a passion for landscape design or if it's just something that comes easily to my artistic brain so 'What the hell.' It's hit me that I don't subscribe to ANY garden publications or architectural digests. My clients are sometimes more aware of new plants than I am. Of course, I've recently subscribed to a few publications so maybe this will get the juices flowing again.

There are alot of other things I'd like to do. There are certainly days sitting in rush hour traffic when I get to contemplate 'Anywhere but here' scenarios. Things that have come to mind over the last few years...

1. Bed and Breakfast owner: Growing up in a tourist trap(New Braunfels, Texas) I was surrounded by little houses renovated into retreats for the weary traveler. I am perpetually enchanted by people from different walks of life and different places around the globe. This is probably the one idea I feel the strongest about.

2. Chef - I love to cook! It is truely one of my passions! Although I don't think the hours would agree with me any better than my current 12 hr days. But, I could combine this with the B&B idea and do breakfast and lunch only.....

3. Artist - I don't really think I'm talented enough to be rich but I can hold my own. My fear would be losing any and all artistic inspiration and putting out 'blah' work. There are days that I feel this way about designing yards......just 'blah' here's a plant and then somehow getting a euphoric high off the fact that I just don't care at that moment.....bad Amanda

4. Tennis instructor - I once was a talented player....this aspiration would take some serious training on my part, but I adore little people and being outiside.

5. Faux painter or interior designer - I figure why not just complete the professional package! Rich will balk at this one since I can't even finish a paint job in our home in two months, but I think money would motivate me more. I just like too many furnishing styles and eras to achieve this in my home....I need more walls! And since Rich is against blowing anything out our adding on, I'll just add clients....

That's the short list so far.

Commuting thoughts

2005-08-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

The start of random thoughts I have during my travels.....

Why if the highest speed limit is 75 do they even sell cars that can accelerate to 150?

ohhh, that sucks....broke down in the middle lane of a 6 lane highway

There was a accident at 5 a.m. this morning on Loop 285....whole truck with car windshields turned over and shattered glass across 5 lanes. Completely screwed rush hour. That reminds me of another wreck involving a cow trailor crashing on I-75 south at 3 a.m. in the morning and backing traffic up into TN for a whole day. Face it what do you do with 100+ head of cattle that are either dead or injured? Which brings me to the line in 'Good Morning Vietnam' when Robin Williams is joking about a jack-knifed water buffalo and dropping a little napalm to 'cook er down'......

I sooo should have charged that client for another half hour of my time...I'm too nice....But dammit if the client that stood me up this morning won't pay an extra half hour!

Airconditioning bill for July 284.00! Ugh! There goes 'fun shopping' for a while. yet, another reason to seek a more temperate climate if/when we move out of Georgia.

Masticating nostalgia

2005-07-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

As I get older, I try harder to hold onto the memories and experiences of childhood. Since cooking is my second passion, I crave making dishes from my past and creating new ones. I even have a special journal/cookbook where I write down any recipe that comes out correctly. The most recent addition has been Mexican pizza.

But alas, there are some flavors I cannot create in my kitchen, despite my epicurean talents. (using a big vocab word that astounded Rich)

My sister recently told me about Vodka sauce and insisted that I try it. She claims its addicting and it's the best thing this side of an orgasm. Her words not mine. (you just have to know her) I have since tried Vodka sauce. It tastes like spaghettio sauce, no kidding. GAG! Maybe that flavor was only addicting the other side of 9 or 10.

Fast forward to today as I ran through the Super Target grabbing various items. There in the freezer section were Push-ups...orange, strawberry and lime flavor, but I only grew up with orange.

I'm a 'pure sugar candy' fiend. I LOVE things like jelly beans, chalk hearts, and twislers. We can put orange slices and 'circus peanuts' in this catagory as well. I love them and can accredit my great grandmothers, Mamoo and Omi, for this. They each had a stash in a draw or ornate glass bowl and every time we came over my sister and I each got one.

Rich talks about mixing Kool-Aid to the point of saturation with sugar. Yuck! At least now, but then you were going until 6 in the morning.

There is no return policy

2005-07-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

Question is why would you buy something if it had a HUGE defect or didn't fit? The educated consumer doesn't do this when purchasing clothes, furniture, cars, etc......so WHY would you do this when you buy a house!

If trees are important to you why did you buy a lot without ANY trees (pines or otherwise) and then proceed to complain about having no shade? And then tell me you want full shade plants in the yard and act insulted when I say you can't do that? Yes, the trees in the design will grow but a 12' tree with a 3' wide canopy is not going to create a shade pattern any time in the next 10 years.

When you bought the house you didn't notice the 10' between you and your neighbor? I promise it was there. Then why are you now griping about no privacy and how you want to put up a huge fence and God forbid that the 'Neighborhood Gustapo' governing the additions to your yard aren't allowing it.

You live at the bottom of a hill. Water runs downhill. Your neighbors do NOT have to apologize for the laws of gravity occuring on their property. You need to apologize for the letter you sent saying they were flooding your yard....

You do not have a water problem...you have bermuda grass in the shade and it's not going to grow there....which equals no grass to absorb the assumed water problem....

General client craziness:

Yes, I understand your busy but my time is just as important as yours. So, NO I will not talk to you about YOUR yard over the phone and then design it without you here. Would a dentist talk you through a root canal over the phone because you were too busy to come to the office?

No, I can not draw in the rain...the paper gets wet! Do you see a third arm to hold an umbrella?

No, I can't come inside to draw your yard after walking around for 30 minutes. I do not have a GIS imbedded in my body that has already laid out and measured your yard. Landscape is outside not inside your house.

From one client even before saying hello : "What are your qualifications?" Imagine this in a very condescending and parental tone. Apparently, I looked to young for this client. I promise I've been doing this for 5 years, I just look like 22.

From some gay, male clients, who later said they didn't want me to design their yard. " We don't want anything 'pansy' we have enough pansy going on in the house as it is" I nearly spewed coffee across their lawn.

Contradicting thoughts

2005-07-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

It's late and I have to work in the morning so this is going to be short....

For those that don't know what I do, I'm a landscape architect for Pike Nursuries and Design Group here in Atlanta. I drive 100+ miles a day to see three clients and design those three yards in a 12 hour time frame from January to June. Yeah, I was burned out back in April.

Corporate got a comment card back from a client of mine today that said 'The plan was simplistic and inpractical'.....Now how can those two words exist in relation to each other? Maybe I'll think of the answer tomorrow.

Pot calling Kettle?

2005-07-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

Social groups try to separate themselves into those accepted in society and those shunned. In the history of the United States, it would be largely agreed that the African American has been the most degraded race. ( Although, there is a different arguement for the American Indian all together.)

At what point does an ethinicity/social group rise above the level society defines them at? And as this hierarchy changes do others sink lower or does society find a new 'peeon' to torture and taunt.

Continuing on to what caused this thought.....I am at a clients house today, African American couple, fairly affluent. At some point they are watching tv and start making fun of a gay reporter on some random station.....Now, if there is a pecking order does this mean 'gay' is lower than 'African American' or does it mean the cards are stacked differently from this couples view. how would a Indian, Chinese, English, or Hispanic order things?

Maybe equality is only as equal or acceptable as people view a group from their level.....

There must be something in the water

2005-07-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

So, I grew up in a small town and every week check to see what local news I can find on the Herald Zeitung. Or as my mom has called in for many years, 'Ten minutes of reading' solely based on the fact it consists of no more than 10 pages.

I consistantly scan the obituaries to see if I need to send a sympathy card home. Recently there has been a huge number of people dying in their 90's or even 100's. The lastest is a women that was born in 1898 and died July 13th, we will call her, Eve. You count them 106 years! (her birthday was this November)

The human brain just can't wrap itself around that number or maybe it's just the facination with all she saw in those years. While our generation will see advances in medicine, transportation, computers, etc....we didn't get to see the START of everything we consider a modern day convience.

My paternal grandfather, Papa, has been on my mind a lot lately. He just celebrated his 86th birthday on June 25th. Since losing my grandmother, Kiki, in Oct. 2004 he's become decidely morbid about life. Phrases like 'I won't live long enough to wear that out' and 'I just want to die' come out of his mouth. He's forgotten about the blessings life bestowed upon him and the family that surrounds him.

Sociology has told us that depression in the geriatric population is common as friends/spouses/relatives of their generation pass on, so what kept 'Eve' going all those years?

My maternal grandparents lived life everyday like it was the last. Hearing Papa pontificate on how awful life is I know that there are two grandparents in heaven that would trade places with him, if not for just a day.

Getting back to what's in the water....

The thought has occured that maybe it's the lifestyle and slow pace life takes when you live in a small town that prolongs life. All this running around, high-stress, pollution in large cities is what takes the life out of us. Or maybe it's just genetics. My family settled in that town in 1845 and hasn't really left.. No one gets to leave.....at least not forever. You go have adventures and then come back home to family, church, and friends.

Here we go!

2005-07-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

I guess we all need our creative outlets. Lord knows I've got my share of crazy stories from work and play throughout the last 4 years.....I would hate to forget anything important