Mutterings

11.12.15

Psychopath

Ever noticed how easy it is to spot a phycopath these days. He's the guy sitting the coffee shop, drinking his coffee and earing his cake with no cellphone, tables to hand.

9.12.15

Happy Christmas hipster - now bye this novelty tree

The walking dead. Done any Christmas shopping this year? Your a member of the walking dead, a victem of the consumer driven meaninglessness of the Christmas season where all we are expect to do is produce enough money to bye that perfect gift which will lie forgotten by Janaury 31 ( I'm an optimist okay) any way, ways to avoid succumbing to this dred diseas include, hiding in Outer Mongolia for the duration, build s bunker and hide till dec 26. Also simply stating that you refuse the maddens may lead to dis ownership by family member. Good luck!

Life altering decisions

Being requested to put a proposal together of a short list interview, on a days notice over a potential change of caree in the last week of the architectural building calander is like, asking for snow in Durban in december( insert culturally relevant really hot place here. Really all life altering decisions should be left for January. Don't ask me if I like my job this week, this week I don't even like architecture. I want every building site everywhere to sink into a hole, for every building snag to disappear. It's just this week. But I really aight to not be held legal responsible for an actions intentional or other wise I make this week. I simply have nothing left to give. Nothing left to contribute to the architectural discourses. Happy holidays to everyone in the souther hemisphere enjoy your well deserved break.

4.10.15

Black sheep

Some thoughts, black sheep are still sheep. To be a cow when everyone else around you is a sheep now that's hard.

3.10.15

Convers effect

It may be said that there is a direct relation between the amount of talking people do and the quality of their inner thought proceess and intellect. So people really can say an awful lot, without saying anything really. Filling up the whole world with noise. While others you have to wait for a moment of pure distilled thoughts to come out of their mouths. I guess some people just talk too much.

Balance

Balance. Life is short sometimes you eat cupcakes, some days you get up at 5am and go for a run. It's called balance. At the end of the day, no one is going to ask you how much work you did or care how many famouse clients you've had, or care whether the wall is here or there, or the graffic is pink or blue. Did you live well?

2.10.15

Own your choices

Let's get into it. You made a decision, please own it. And don't go about judging other people's decisions as if your decision is THE only and best way to live a life. If you want to be a stay at home mom, well done you for making that disision stop using your kids as an excuse for why you don't want to see your friends any more, I want to say at home and stare into the eyes of my adorable babies it make me feel complete is enough of a reason, you don't have to use the whole oh i can't come out kid you know bollocks, it make the rest of us feel like if you don't want a kids or don't have one, your lives are some how inferior and not worthy of your energy, which is bollocks. If the contribution you want to make to society

Is to be the head of a Fortune 500 country, or and artist or spend your time thinking deep thought and contributing to greater knowledge of the world. Well done you, YOU are complete. And if you want to do both heck even better. Well done super woman, but don't you dare go around judging other woman for their choices keep your mouth shut, smile and say I know it's a tough job. Cause get what we need all the help we can get, as woman, since no one else is really doing much to encourage woman Astopysicsits, or entrepreneurs, or moms for that matter. Life is tough enough be kind to your self, figure out what you want and go do it. Even if it apears to be incredibly selfish to everyone else. Your life your contribution.

10.9.15

The Stupid People are winning

Consider this population problem. Smart people being intelligent are really having less and less children, because, the environment, over population, cost of quality education , was busy writing a PHD and forgot , adoption is better and so on. Which means that a lot of the new human being born or being born to people with IQ's of around 100 or less. ie stupid people , ok well at the very least mundanely average. Judging by the USA's Republican nominee presidential race, this is a serous cause for concern.

For example on immigration :

Sarah Palin claimed today that Native Americans should leave America and go back to their homeland 'Nativia'. and that " Native-Americans - they're changing up the cultural mix in the United States away from what it used to be in the days of our Founding Fathers.

Dear Sarah, before your bloody founding IMMIGRANT fathers there where an estimate 100 million Native Americans living in North America. And some other useful historical facts I feel they might have taught you before the 5 grade.

and my personal favorite : Donald Trump quote "“My grandparents didn’t come all the way from Germany just to see it get taken over by immigrants. Not on my watch.”

Dear Donald please go back to middle school and learn what the word imitation means.

I digress, my point being that voting for dummies like this really is not acceptable America. The world is in a really bad place right now, and dummies like these mop heads may quite little rally kill us all. They don't believe in climate change and genuinely believe that "God put oil in the ground for us to use". So when in 10 years time, when your dying of thirst and so sort of nuclear winter has occurred because there people have access to nuclear weapons, or in the very least the continue escalation of war in the middle east. Remember that you voted for them. So smart people every where put down your books and start making tiny Smart humans today. since I can read and graduated high school I do believe the brains generally have a lot to do with Genetics.

Coming from a country with a equivalent of Middle School drop out for a president, while highly amusing. I can assure you, is incredibly dangerous. Particularly when someone at some point forgot to inform said idiot and they don't know everything. People with high EQ and Low IQ make for very, very dangerous leaders. Particularly if anyone, anywhere, spends any time wondering
"How they manage to remember to breath".

So smart people get cracking, leave the library, put down your research and doctoral thesis and act now.

No. seriously I'm really kidding, please adopt children they need families, but think about it.

4.9.15

Life with puppies

Yes we have a new puppy, yes this is our life now. It may be forever who knows, this seems to be the dog with the flatest learning curve ever.

So cute, but so dumb.

Places to live

Places to live and thought on why?

On the edge of the ocean

In the desert with a view of the sky

At the top of the tallest tree.

In a parking space.

In spaces left over in the city.

At the bottom of the sea.

In the ever increasing congested world, when we think of house what do we mean? When we choose where to make home what does that look like. What are the places we can choose to dwell and what informs our decision as to where we make home.

Safer in a boat.

Something to consider, which I read today. If someone is willing to risk their very lives to reach a country, the place they are coming from must be truly horrific, beyond even imagining, a hell of earth, as some would say. On Monday I had the opportunity it visit the new holocast and genocide memorial in Johannesburg. A small reminder how often do good people allow atrocities to happen on their whatch because they cannot imagine a place of such evil. That they are so afraid, to protect their bit of earth, form even a little less comfort for a little more humanity. What has euroup become that it is very very happy to send money and volunteers to other countries, but only so long as those "others" not come and bring their problems to euroup?

14.7.15

Christmas in July #2

Christmas in July

As the off shoot of a fun little commission, Here is a little gift to you all. Since its Christmas ( In July). If you don't understand the needs to celebrate Christmas in July when it's cold and mulled wine & spiced cookies makes sense, Clearly you live in the northern hemisphere, ( We forgive you) and bare with us & our silly little traditions.

High Res Down Loads for your enjoyment

Happy July
Inky Brigs

7.7.15

The plan

Sometimes in architecture we make a plans. We are proceed driven people after all, architecture is a process driven system a follows b follows c and so on. However someone invented, clients and engineers and don't even get me started on contractors. Yup it was one of Those days.PLAN what PLAN?

26.6.15

Don't park

It's not rocket science friends, I get that to your arrogant privileged self this whole concept of non motorized transport is new. However, for most of your country men, have to use shanks pony so open up your eyes and be considerate.

Forget gender

My husband stole all my friends and now I'm not invited. The role of gender stereotypes and age, I seem to find the older I get the worse it becomes, as if society is saying, haven't you got over this yet? Let's be clear, guy friends I was friends with you before you got married not your wife, I like your wife but you were my friend, when you have a kid I want to celebrate with you. Get it! Or are you just an idiot? Things like like, buildings, making things this includes making buildings and embroidery and art I can do all these things this doesn't make me a girl, yes I want kids and am good with kids, no I don't want to spend my time talking about babies, let's be honesty they are rather dull. Ladies don't tell me other wise, I've work with kids and baby sat extensively.

Secondly have we met? Seriously we've been friends for years why on this little green earth do you think I've suddenly changed into a girl who wants to talk about cloths, shoes and I don't know makeup, thinks that interest me 10 years ago and now, politics, business, cuties like discourse, city planning, gender roles, religion , critical theory .... You get the point. So stop it. Just stop it!

12.6.15

Enthusiasm

What I saw when I woke up at 3:22 am today. As if to say, excellent why have you been sleeping all this time. Time to play, ball, ball, ball.

The cloud of unsleeping

Yes it's 3:34am. Yes I am awake, this is due to the "cloud". You know the cloud that mythical place where your data goes to die, always accessible. Guess what it's someone's job to ensure you can access it at 2:26am when you really need to know what the spear sheet said. Know that you are proberbly ruining someone's sleep. The joy of being married to such a manager of cloudy storage( this is not a typo think thunder and lightning and how I will eat you tomorrow at work because I now too am tired) . Is that after the 2nd wake up call for the evening the whole sleep thing is over. You are welcome.

28.5.15

With butter

You can eat your cauliflower pizza. And you rock hard bread substitute and steak with bacon deep fried in coconut. I will be over hear eating my potatoes, potatoes with butter. Also my salad with no oil and fruit lots of fruit. And maybe a skinless chicken. But I won't spend all evening telling you about how wonderful my diet is or how much weight I lost or when I expect to have my heart attack!

Carbohydrate

To all my Banting- cult following friends. Just like to point out that cauliflower is indeed a carbohydrate. It is low in them but still a carbohydrate. Consider this helpful piece of information.

Day job

Email director. Architect. Really what's the difference.

Your email is important to us.

Some times I wish they had told us in university that about 89 percent of my day would involve fielding and sorting though and writing all the millions of emails that are "vital" to the construction of buildings.

Bought a book

I bought a book. You know the second hand kind that smells like, mildew and other peoples sweaty pictures. Actually I got so exited I bought 4 of them, it was scintillating. This is not because I don't read I read all the time, I have a kindles and all my books are synced between all my devices. This is because it has been years since I've been on a book browsing evening. I was amazed to discover that the book shop was still open. (apparently someone still reads hard copies). Gues what else it had really good stock, all the great reads where in. Some times happiness can be contained in simple little acts that you really love to do, remember to do them sometimes.

19.5.15

Soul

On dying well. I believe there is such a thing. My grandmother passed away yesterday. I went to the park into the wild autumn expanses and imagined that her soul was a million butterflies in flight. I though she would have liked that image. I hope in her last moments she found a glorious and vivid end to a life well lived.

But why

So times architects dispair of these kind of questions but why does city council require x or y. I don't know why, they made this requirement up last Tuesday after attending "training" entitled useless requirements your department needs to implements and drinking a bottle of wine, or smoking a splif. Honestly no one knows you just have to comply and play within the boundaries of their rules. They are like god but without the warm cuddly love your Neighbours part. Resistance is futile. The life of an architect birth, city council , death.

15.5.15

Brain power

Yes, yes, yes it's been one of those weeks. You know when people say architects are such know it all,I'd say yes have you any idea how many things you have to know in order to design and co ordinate the construction of a building?

Here is a random list of things I've had to lean about in Oder to design things.

How ballistics work,

How hospitals function

How schools function

The process involved in film productions

How 20 family's live and relate to each other ( surprisingly not the same at all who knew?)

How super evangelical churches function ( why there can be no loss of eye contact between crazy preacher and people coming forward for prayer / alter calls)

How to move and display a car collection of 20 cars up a steep hill in a private home.

How bank branches work.

The history of the Xhosa people's

How cellphone stores sell you stuff.....

UH, You get the picture.....

Another question I don't really want to know the answer too is why are there so very many photos of DIFFERENT, atomic bomb explosions when you search for images of atomic bomb on Google?

Anyway on that cheerful note happy weekend everyone!

9.4.15

Ordinary humans

Really we are all a unique little arrangement of atoms arn't we. So be nice, be kind and wait to open doors for people. And bring cake. Everyone likes cake.

Luck?

That is all. That is all. Also being nice to people helps too. ;0)

Cement is to concrete...

Please remember this the next time you call the large slab of concrete on your patio. Cement. Sincerely architect.

Hero's

Some times, if you can find a hero, you may just find that you are going to be a hero for someone else. Go climb those mountains.

I don't believe in humans

When you think no one will believe your idea or theory something always remember that nearly everything we believe and know to be true today at some point was beloved to be a myth, unprovable and some hair brained idea of a lunatic. The world does indeed contain black swans.

16.3.15

Wednesday

Have you ever noticed that everyone who has anything to plan in the week, sceduals it for Wednesday evening I mean honestly people there are 5 days in a working week, must there really be 10 events all planed for the same day. Share nicely so we can all go to all your wonderful, lectures, exhibitions, church groups, urban events.... Make us all happier and don't make us choose.

Bitter and Twisted

Ok I shall condense to being bitter and twisted of late. It's nothing really but there are only so many things your "friends" can miss before you're not friends any more. So to all my friends with kids hire a sitter or drag your kids along to something... Drink a mojito, once in a while, before you start complaining in ten years time that you have no life. I get that you love your kid but really balance is the spice of life.

Walk Gently

A wise person one said, walk gently in the Live's of others, who ever you may be, no matter how well you think you know this person and their story, walk most Gently. Dance across the very surface of their soles with the lightest of treads. Presume nothing. Particularly if you are in a position of 'authority'. Teachers , Priests & Pastors, Imams and Holymen / Woman, Family Members, psychologists, friends.... you never know when what you do your say may forever change the course of that persons life, let it be only for the better, never for the worse.

16.2.15

Ghosts - There be dragons.

I'd don't know about you, but sometimes something happens, something a little disturbing perhaps and suddenly some event or the other from your childhood is recalled in Technicolor glory and its like for a while your 5 years old again, and 'thar be monster's thar'. Suddenly your spouse or partner is way confused by your reaction to said triggering event.

Something happen in our neighborhood this weekend, a lets call it a mild fever of some mob justice. Idiots running around beating on thieves, and generally being hot headed with firearms etc. Luckily no one was seriously harmed (including the thieves) And some cooler heads prevailed in the end. But suddenly some similar & related stories from my childhood came crawling up from under the neatly laid lawn and flower beds of my life.

Some of which explains why I absolutely abhor violence and can't stand firearms. And possibly why I'm generally in favor of pasavism, and all form of social justice. We are have all built our lives upon the ghost's of the monsters from our childhoods. Don't get me wrong for the most part my child hood was good. But there is some stuff there which is to say the least; a little messed up.

So when someone does something, or behave's some way, which is odd, or over reactive. Please remember this qoute.

"If you would judge first understand"

Many, many people are walking a journey you know nothing about, So be kind and ask what is this about now. and for goodness sake I've spend a lot of money on therapy don't dig in my garden, the soil is thin in some places. Also if your soil is thin, go speak to someone about that.