Bachelor Party

Thanks guys, it was definatly an enjoyable weekend.

New Car

Laura and I bought a car yesterday. It looks like the one above. It’s a white Toyota Corolla, not a bad little car but nothing fancy either. We were also initiated into the world of car buying (and selling). Loans, financing, power of attorney, survivorship: lots to think about. Personally I would rather think about transformers, which I saw this weekend. So here is my car as an Autobot:

Thesis

I finally got my thesis model in my possession and have done my preliminary round of photographing. My thesis was to design a building in which different factions of Christianity could come together through service to their community instead of theology and worship. I found my opportunity in the Christian student organizations at UTA. The organizations cover the entire spectrum of the Christian church, from Catholic to Pentacostal, but all provide the same services to the campus (free lunch, international ministries, general hangout area). Other more practical benefits include: strength towards the University, efficiency of space use over the week, and a central active location. Onto pictures:

Wall and Roof Closed

Roof Open

Both Open

First Floor/Site Plan

Second Floor/South Elevation

Thrid Floor/Section

Wall Section

East Elevation/Section

West Elevation/Section

The Funny Pages

I love the Sunday comics. Laura got us a subscription to the Dallas Morning News pretty much just for the comics. So here is my personal rundown of comics that have been an inspiration and of those that are continuing to be:

The Far Side (retired)
Gary Larson
Using everything from cavemen to aliens Larson invented the single panel comic. He had a great (if weird) sense of humor, usually calling on the ordinary around us and twisting it in just the right way. His drawings were simple, kind of dorky and always surprising in how much story they could tell in a single image. These were my favorite as a child and have inspired both the good (Bizzaro) and the bad (Close to Home) in the current industry.

Mutts (current)
Patrick McDonnell
Absolutely beautiful from an artistic standpoint. Stories are often a bit too cute for me but often they can be very powerful in their simplicity.

Pearls Before Swine (current)
Stephan Pastis
The opposite of Mutts in a lot of ways. Unashamed with its horrible art, but always laugh out loud funny due to its very cynical outlook on life.

Peanuts (retired)
Charles Schultz
I will admit that I didn’t like peanuts growing up but it has definitely grown on me and I can see now why it is so highly regarded. Great characters with a great outlook on life while set in a very real (harsh) world.

Get Fuzzy (current)
Darby Conley
This is what Garfield should be (I am assuming that Darby knows who he has ripped off). Bucky and Scatchal are exactly what you would expect from a cat and dog who could talk; often misunderstanding the human take on the world yet fitting in to the current culture remarkably well. Gritty yet clean art.

Dilbert (current)
Scott Adams
Consistently one of the funniest comics in the paper all due to the office environment. Adams is a genius (yet must still work in a cubicle somehow).

Calvin and Hobbes (retired)
Bill Waterson
Cannot begin to describe how influential Waterson has been in my life. Come over to my apartment and you will undoubtedly be bombarded with this comic strip. Beautiful art, wonderful characters, imagination, great philosophy on current culture, Spaceman Spiff, Transmogrifiers, Calvinball, I could go on. This strip will change your life (or it should in my opinion).