Discovering Perspective

Back in London for a bit. A bit of an escape from Ottawa for a bit and a return to the closest thing I have to feeling at home until I finally find a new apartment. I really miss feeling at home. I really miss getting to walk around in my underwear. I never did it at home and still wouldn't but it was a nice aspect of my apartment experiences. For the last two summers I've had an apartment to myself. This summer I am sharing a house with someone else's family. That isn't easy to deal with, as much as I appreciate them helping me out.

It's been a stressful summer and I am ready for it to be almost over. I think London this week is just another way to move me toward the end of the summer. London for a week, then PEI, then Mekki's parents are gone for a week and a half (temporary privacy which helps relieve some of the not feeling at home bit). And then there is looking for a new place.

I like being home, but it is making me miss having my home. It always happens.

A month or so ago, I heard Mekki talking about Piranesi which struck me as a bit odd. So I asked. Turns out he was talking about a map in Half-Life. I asked if it had anything to do with the 18th-century "paper architect". Eventually he got around to showing it to me and it seems odd but fitting to design a virtual space as homage to a man who designed many architectural spaces but, to my knowledge, never built anything.

By coincidence, around that same time I was browsing through Chapter's clearance and came across a novel called "Piranesi's Dream" by Gerhard Kopf. It is a fictional auto-biography of Piranesi and it is really well written and very interesting from my perspective of someone who loves architecture but is struggling trying to decide how best to manifest my work. Does an architect really need to build (in the traditional sense)?

Well, my body and mind are almost back at normal stress levels. They still aren't completely convinced that I no longer need to be on high alert. I was getting really jumpy and paranoid at work and I guess it takes time to recover.

So, I'm enjoying sleeping in, again my body isn't fully recovered and won't let me sleep in past 9 or 10 but it's getting there.

I finally decided that I should go back and play Devil May Cry. I started and almost finished it two summers ago when the Playstation 2 broke and I just never got around to finishing it. I went back to the beginning and finished the whole thing in two days, which is sad considering I've been waiting two years.

I'm working on a few website designs to bring in a bit of cash and give me something to do until school starts. I don't think it is worth starting a new job at this point, especially since I will be gone for a week.

Mekki and I will be driving out to PEI for Cuyler and Lise's wedding and maybe stopping in Maine to visit Martha. Should be lots of fun.

So apparently the rumour that was going around work was that my boss got angry for me posting a picture of his underwear (possible him in his underwear) to the company website.

*whaaa?*

Where did that come from?

That is the funniest thing I have ever heard and just adds one more amazing story to the pile.

Just to continue with my ranting, I'd like to point out the lack of qualifications of my ex-boss to decide what is a "shameful" web design. Look at the source code for the existing website for Varasmus (not to mention the design).

I wasn't especially proud of the design I had, but considering my hands were tied behind my back, I think it was infinitely more respectable than the existing.

*sigh*

I QUIT MY JOB!!!

I feel so relieved and proud that I was able to stand up for myself and self-respect. Yesterday I managed to hold back and keep myself from walking out and then finally on the sixth time I decided that I wasn't going to be someone who spends their life wishing they could quit their job.

It also helped that my boss set himself up for it. After two weeks of designing a website for the company and listening to his praises about how amazing it was (I hated it, but that's another story), he was harping on me yesterday about when it would be posted, so I posted it. All of a sudden he hated it and said it was so shameful that if I ever did something like it again, I needn't show up to work tomorrow. I said that wouldn't be a problem because I'm not coming back to work tomorrow. I've had enough.

I haven't placed all the details of the psychotic behaviour I've had to deal with. But considering that I've spent the last four years learning to deal with criticism and inconsistent demands at school, trust me when I say this guy was bad. And I have major issues having a chemical engineer telling me what good taste and design is.

I think it is my responsibility to warn everyone I know not to work for Varasmus or Avestin. The level of disrespect is inexcusable and the boss abuses the inexperience and desperation of new grads.

If it ever comes up, my opinion is to be extremely cautious about dealing with Varasmus!

Today he told me "It's a nightmare for an architect to work for someone with bad taste."

I completely agree.

(This followed his deciding that insulting my proposed design wasn't enough so he should take a stab at my wardrobe. I'll have you know that drunken bums in the Market give me a strong 7/10 for style!)

I tried my hand at the driving range this weekend and think I have found what I need for a bit of stress relief and peace. It was Cuyler and Lise's bachelor/ette party this weekend and we went to Thunderbird for some driving range, mini putt, and go karts.

Considering the course is only a few blocks from my work, after a bad day I might just head out to whack a bucket-o-balls. It's probably close enough that on really bad days I can get a half bucket in over my lunch hour.

Met an interesting person today at work. She came in for an interview and I think got scared away (probably rightfully so).

Anyways, check out her website SonicScape. From my understanding, she is working on interactive webart.

I don't like real world. Want to return to fantasy land ASAP.

That's what I tell people when I say I'm interested in becoming a professor someday. Why not make fantasy (aka academic) land into real world.

My boss told me the other day that if I want to play at being the intellectual I could go work at the gallery and get paid half as much. "Here we do the real work." *ghaa*

"Real work"
"Real world"

When you realize how fictitious all the rules are that you have to abide by in the real world, it seems somewhat hypocritical. Doesn't it? For example... the Ontario Building Code or playing along with what your client/boss wants. It seems the same thing as b.s.'ing a paper and personally I'd rather write the paper. It feels less like selling out for some reason and more like being clever and creative.

Oh well, less than two months to go for the fake reality until I can return to my reality of choice.

Given yesterday was Canada day and Mekki and I weren't interested in dealing with the mobs downtown, we spent the morning trying to decide what we wanted to do. We went to go toss a frisbee and made it to the park in time for the thunderstorm. We quickly ran back to the house, after enjoying the rain for a moment. I finally suggested that we bake something. Always a fun idea when bored or trying to procrastinate.

We spent a bit of time searching for recipes and decided upon olive bread and pasta with broccoli and pine nuts. Unfortunately we discovered that we had no broccoli so we improvised for the main dish, which turned out super well and tasty. But, the great experiment of the day was the bread. Mekki had never made bread before and new recipes are always risky but we prevailed and the bread did indeed rise and made everyone's mouth water. Mekki also discovered the great work out of kneading dough. I told him that is why you never mess with an Italian grandma!

It takes a lot of time, but if you find yourself with an afternoon with nothing to do...
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Olive Bread

1-1/4 cups warm water
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp molasses
1 tbsp olive oil
1-1/2 tsp salt
3-3/4 cups bread flour
1/2 cup kalamata olives (pitted and chopped)

Directions
1 Place water, yeast, and molasses in a mixing bowl; stir
to mix. Let stand for a few minutes until mixture is
creamy and foamy.
2 Add olive oil and salt; mix. Add flour, about a cup at
a time, until dough is too stiff to stir. Add olives
and fresh herbs.
3 Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board. Knead,
adding flour as needed to keep from being sticky, until
smooth and elastic. Place in well oiled bowl, and turn to
coat the dough surface with oil. Allow to rise until
doubled in bulk, about an hour or so.
4 Punch the dough down, split into two pieces, and form
into two round loaves. Place on greased baking sheet .
Spray with cold water and sprinkle with sesame seeds if
desired. Let loaves rise for 25 to 30 minutes.
5 Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for about 45
minutes, or until they are brown and sound hollow when tapped
on the bottom.
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If you recall my post a while back about being accused of switching tags at Value Village, I am happy to report that the store manager contacted me to apologize and thank me for bringing the incident to his attention. He also offered me a gift card for the store.

When I went to the store, I was amused to find the exact pair of shoes responsible for the whole thing still on the shelf almost a month after the fact (this time priced at $9.99). To add to the whole ordeal, the manager felt bad for keeping me waiting while he was in a meeting so he gave me the shoes on top of the gift card. All that is great but I mostly appreciate just having been contacted to know that the situation had been addressed.

I'm not one to hold a grudge and so I look forward to future treasure hunting at Value Village.