Well, I suppose I’ll follow in the footsteps of all who have gone before and attempt a monumental post of sorts. This post will be my 200th post, which I was attempting to save for the last day of my second year. But due to bad post management, it’s something like two weeks early, and celia60 won’t let me get away with waiting just a little while.

Even though we have a severe lack of new blood coming in, there might be a few people who don’t know me, or at least know of me. I am a forum lurker (which might be exaggerating since I’m averaging around one post ever 3.65 days). I am a Hatrack Chat (AIM) regular, and some might even claim a citizen of the room since I’m often present at least in name. In addition to Feyd Baron, I also appear occasionally as Architraz Warden, though last time I tried that in the forums, I got e-lynched for it.

Basic information is something along the lines of a 22 year old Texan, born and raised. You may or may not try to hold that against me, and I do have that traditional sense of state pride that seems to abstract to many. I’m attending Texas Tech University (30,000 students) which is located in the panhandle of Texas, in the city of Lubbock (200,000 people). Lubbock is the heart of both the Bible belt as well as tornado alley, which provides a nice debate that has been started in another thread. When I attend church services, they are located at a Methodist Church (Methodists being the happy-go-lucky Christians). I was raised as a Methodist, dabbled briefly with Baptist churches when I came to college, and returned to Methodist because I admire the priorities of the their churches in Lubbock, which have been funding a dozen or so houses for Habitat for Humanity the past few years, as well as other commendable activities.

I am currently majoring in Architecture and Business Administration. Four and a half years ago when I started college, I had the same majors. I’m proud of myself, the seven years I’ve wanted to be an Architect has been the longest I have ever stuck with anything in my life. Good timing on that, since it costs a great deal of money to change from Architecture to some other field. I can look forward to at least another year of school, at then end of which I will leave with a Masters of Architecture and Masters of Business Administration (with nearly infinite emphasis on the Architecture degree). Let me say it now, I more than likely have a sub-standard mastery of English, though this is partially due to the fact I don’t particularly like the language.

As for my social life, well… I pretty much completely lack a social life. The time I spend working on school related issues is a ridiculously large percentage of the day, and is often erratic enough were I end up pulling one or two all-nighters after weeks of having something that resembles free time. If I’m around Hatrack, I’m normally working on some Architecture related task, and ignore most everyone until I get frustrated or feel like I have earned a break. Other reasons can be blamed as well. Many of my original college friends have graduated and moved on to despise the real world, and wish they were back here. Others I rarely see due to continuous time conflicts, many of whom are Architecture majors. While I’m not particularly pleased with this, I have accepted the fact that I came to college for an education, so that must come first. Many would disagree with that, but it has served me well enough this far. The problem will be changing this trend once I do enter the real world.

My general disposition and attitude is that of a band nerd. I suppose I’ve always been one, and will always be similar to one. Somewhere along the way I missed the train to join so many other Hatrackers in the life of computer geeks. Technology and I generally have an agreement: it doesn’t be any more difficult than it has to, and I don’t kick it. This has suited me well enough so far. Since I am a band nerd, I do play musical instruments, specifically the Trumpet and the French Horn. Or well, I did play them at least. I haven’t played either in a few years, since I got hit across the face with a racquetball racquet, ::squeamish people skip a bit:: which severed my lip into two pieces, right along where the mouthpiece rests, which required six stitches (three inside my mouth, three on the outside. I’m not sure if I could even play them at all without relearning my embouchure. I was never all that good, though I thoroughly enjoy instrumental music, both listening and playing, and the people I met could not, and still can not, be bettered in my opinion.

My inspiration for everything creative, but non-architecture related is Douglas N Adams. Although he died a few years ago, he continues to provide an example of an excessively creative person who can lead a productive life, and one that might even be normal at times. If you haven’t read any of his books, I cannot recommend Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy enough. Even if you don’t like the books later in the series, Hitchhiker’s Guide is an incredible book. DNA also provided me with my motto throughout my college years, which has been: “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they fly by.” And anytime I need a quick laugh, I only have to read the whale chapter. If you don’t get it, read the book.

As for architectural inspirations, they are far too numerous to cover here. I’m currently interested in Critical Regionalism, New Urbanism, and Sustainability; all of which speak against the general, non-intellectual, suburbization of the world. While I’m not as outspoken about this topic, it is something that I felt strong about before I realized the movements had names. I am currently working on my Masters thesis. Someone mentioned before that they are unhealthy, and I couldn’t agree more. The brief description is that the building is a Historic Bus and Trolley Restoration Facility located in Tucson, Arizona. It will attempt to incorporate the three methodologies mentioned above into a cohesive city block. If you are truly interested or have anything you might be able to add, e-mail me.

Nearly all the happenings worth mentioning are a year old now. There was a stretch of 9 or so months that had the dubious distinction of being the best and worst time of my life up to this point. The start was certainly along a high note, which had me packing to leave for a four month study abroad program in Prague (in the Czech Republic) and Vicenza (in Italy). The weekend before I left is when Douglas Adams died of a heart attack, so that was a small gray cloud. The trip itself was incredible, and something I certainly needed. The culture and history of Europe is something that is simply missing from a vast part of the US. The class that went was small enough for each student to know all the others within a week, but large enough to be divided into multiple cliques. While the trip was beyond explanation in a positive way, the happenings back here were not so agreeable. Towards the middle of the summer, my parents told me that my uncle, who was one of the two relative who I talked to more than once every other year, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and would likely pass away within a month or less. A week later, my best friend from college was killed in a car wreck, and his girlfriend was nearly crippled. I had parted on slightly less than wonderful terms with them, and had to find out about the accident from a second hand e-mail. These two events put a bit of a tail spin on the summer, so that the rest of the summer I was either having a really good time, or was having a relapse of guilt or depression. Once I got back to the US, I had decided several years ago that I would take an internship that fall, and get some real world experience (as well as some money). I finally set up interviews after two weeks of searching, on September 10th, 2001. I received a job offer the following morning while I was watching the terrorist attacks. The internship, like the summer before, was not without its downfalls, but still something that I would not trade looking back at it. Since then, life has either decided to give me a break, or highs and lows of normally college days have been sedated from that one year.

I can’t complain about the way life is going at the moment. I believe I have a good start on my thesis, which I get to start the interesting part of this spring. I designed and built a coffee table which everyone has an opinion on, and more often than not it is a good opinion. No one, however, has volunteered to help me move it since it weighs about 150 pounds. But they all think it looks remarkable. My graduate business classes are actually more tolerable than I would have thought, though I’ve only taken two so far. I’ll be taking three BA classes next semester while I’m working on my Thesis, so my mind might be changing very soon.

Well, I believe that is by far the longest post I have ever made. Hope I didn’t bore you too much, and thanks for reading all the way through (if you managed to anyways). Look for another of these around… 2005, when I will be approaching the half a millennia mark.

Feyd Baron

PS No, I didn’t make of list of people I would like to thank. I would forget someone. Consider it this way, if you’ve gone out of your way to have a conversation with me, consider yourself thanked.

 

~Jane~
 

One question for you -

quote:

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. I designed and built a coffee table which everyone has an opinion on, and more often than not it is a good opinion. No one, however, has volunteered to help me move it since it weighs about 150 pounds.

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What in the world is it made out of?
 

Tammy: The table is made out of 5 sheets of Baltic Birch Plywood (Scandanavian plywood that actually looks nice). That's all it's made of, outside of 6 screws, some wood stain, and some glue. I'll be adding a picture link very soon.

Feyd
 

quote:

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The brief description is that the building is a Historic Bus and Trolley Restoration Facility located in Tucson, Arizona.

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Where exactly in Tucson? I'm very familiar with Tucson, so street names will work.
 

And suggestions on styles or courtyard preferences?

Feyd

(and this is seriously going to throw my post average out of whack. I'm going to have to go on a hiatus after this)
 

There is one house (if you can even call it a house) they built that won an award. (actually the archetict won the most prestigious of the awards, they won an award for the actual building of the home) When I went to the openhouse, I actually did not see any "living space" at all (I know their bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms were somewhere??). It was like a maze, with galleries and libraries here and there. You'd walk out of one room that seemed to exist only for the purpose of displaying a painting, into a courtyard that was right in the middle of the house. Beautiful.

The most intriguing thing about that house was that you'd never even know it was there. The block walls (stucco) that surround it, are covered with bougainvillea. It's near that old ritzy hotel resort (near downtown) that is surrounded by a similiar wall.

Regarding themes, the general Spanish theme that so many of the buildings seem to have in that area is beautiful to me.

Then again...what you may be after is something entirely different.
 

Hehe, kidding. Cool post dude, hope im here for your 250th.
 

congrats! and don't forget your towel! :: hands cup of real tea ::
Satyagraha
 

BTW- I have double that- and i've been here for just one year!

[This message has been edited by JuniperDreams (edited December 02, 2002).]
 

quote:

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I'm going to go ahead and add an "Ask Feyd" bit to this thread.

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Now you're just asking for it

Where do you want to be in 10 years?

Do you still play racquetball?

Do you dance? And if so what is your favorite kind.

Oh and what sort of music do you like?
 

celia,

In ten years, I will have passed my liscensing exam for Architecture, but will probably not have started my own firm yet. Odds are I will live somewhere west of the Mississippi, probably in Colorado or Arizona. I might or might not be married. I might or might not have children. I will have a dog, and odds are it will be an Australian Shepard, particularly in the variety of a Red-Tri, and will probably be named Dusty. I'll probably be in the process of designing my own house, but be another ten years from actually building it. I will probably also embody the "starving artist" stereotype.

And yes, I play racquetball when I can, although I managed to break a string on the racquet last time. Thesis is interefering with both playing time, and the ability to get the racquet repairs.

Sarah,

I occasionally dance, but not well. Something about two left feet... When I do dance, it's normally something country related (because it's fun and relatively easy) or swing dancing (because it's fun and the music is really good). Anything else I'll try at least once.

I like pretty much all forms of music except Rap, new R&B, and country. I can tolerate country. My favorite types are insturmental, and range from movie scores (Water World, Beyond Rangoon, Braveheart, Crimson Tide), to classical music (composed by Hindemith and Nelson particularly), to big band and swing (Rhapsody in Blue and Sing, Sing, Sing, are the greatest songs ever written).

And I'll have table pictures up as soon as tomorrow, I just got finished putting the final touches on it.

Keep asking,

Feyd

And some real tea would be nice... does it come in a small glass made of bone?
 

Ni!
 

What would you say if I told you that I was the anti-christ?

After you sacrefice a goat and rip its heart out, then do you summon the hell fire?
 

The "Ask Feyd" part was a very nice touch. I think we should all adopt that into the milestone thread tradition.

http://architraz_warden.tripod.com/directhit/id2.html

Feyd Baron

PS And no complaining about me using the name Architraz Warden for the site. And no complaining about Tripod hosting it. Too many things...
 

I like it!

Have you gone into production yet?
 

Everyone has had an opinion about the table, and they also have suggestions. Glass panels replacing the wood panels on the table top is the most popular suggestion. I think the next modification will be a table top used to exhibit drawings and photos... Then, I'll work on the sides of the table, and then on the shelves. Glad I only have business classes one semester...

Feyd
 

I'd say your quite wrong, and should be looking for celia. If she isn't it, she would know who is I suspect.

And since I'm not the person asked about in number one, I don't know about number two. People who do things like that around here are likely to be stoned.

Feyd
 

T, no, then you eat the goat. hellfire is something you just sort of have or don't have, there is no summoning.

wait, this is feyd's thread. silly Baron, stop trying to make this about me. just for that, the questions get harder.

what is the nature of god?

what attracted you to the baptist church?

btw, i really like the table. some friends have a coffe table with a small amount of shelf space underneath and a glass top. personally, i love the shelf space, but i hate the glass top. i don't know that i'd want company seeing what i have stored in there!

[This message has been edited by celia60 (edited December 06, 2002).]
 

quote:

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to big band and swing (Rhapsody in Blue and Sing, Sing, Sing, are the greatest songs ever written).

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[swoon]I think I'm in love![/end swoon]

<-love Rhapsody in Blue. And swing dancing. And tables. they're so useful! ;0p

great post, Feyd. Here's to many more *raises glass*
 

I'm not sure the nature of God is a question about Feyd. I'll have think about the ruling on that one.

And the other question. Well, by the time I got to HS, my parents had stopped attending church (Methodist at that point). One of my friends invited me to a retreat of sorts, so I went, and didn't find it too intimidating at that point, so I continued going for about four years. Like so many other times, the people were the big draw, and when the people were no longer around, I attended solely on the ideals. The focus, however, of the Baptist churches here are noticeably different than those in Coppell, so I ceased attending the services of that demonination, and went back to being mostly Methodist.

And even though these aren't questions, I'll address them anyways:

If I do happen to use transperant table tops, I will consider plexiglass, which is a bit quieter than the glass would be. Plus, the way the table is laid out, the glass would be either surrounded or backed by wood, which would eliminate a lot of that edge the glass noise has (think glass covers on dining room tables). And if I had something in the boxes, it would be well designed and planned, and not just clutter. That's for the much lower shelves.

And well, yes. Big Band music is just great. Both of the songs I mentioned can make me feel better if I'm in a slightly less than happy mood. That's really what they were written for in the first place (Rhapsody in Blue being a song for the Depression, and Sing, Sing, Sing is a song for WWII)

Feyd
 

I have a drawing of a house I want to build, Who should I to turn it into workable blueprints?

 

Happy to know that there are young men with class still being made.
 

[This message has been edited by Tammy (edited December 07, 2002).]
 

Architect's can certainly draw it up for you, but it will certainly cost more (and in the end, they'll just hand it off to a recent college grad). Hope that answers the question well enough.

And Tammy, no worries about the double post. I'm going to get this thread to 50 if I have to post the next 10 times myself. I am however, trying to keep to general level of content in my posts.

Anyone else?

Feyd
 

Our furniture class had our presenation today, which I was most convinced was tomorrow. So, after the intial panic wore off (I found out an hour before hand, and had to make my nametag), I settled and thought about what I was going to say. To my surprise there were actually two or three dozen people there.

The presentation went very well over all. Recieved some critiques and comments from four of the faculty that were present. One of them was probably the most praising comment I've gotten in college:

"In a time when furniture is becoming lighter and more versatile, it is rare to see a well done, monumental piece. You have done that very well with your table."

I was mostly beaming after that part (because the professor who said it caused the previous two people much consternation.) There were other comments that were positive, and many of the critiques were issues I had personally known, but made a different choice, or were details that I knew of, but were too late to fix.

Oh well, that's enough stalling for tonight, since I have a review tomorrow to determine if I will be allowed to continue on the thesis path. I will have a much more professional table page up this week, as well as some of the other projects that Tech's finest could produce.

Feyd

EDIT: While I'm at it, I'll add my favorite comment I made during my presentation: "You don't know how much blood, sweat, and tears I had to sand off of this thing."

[This message has been edited by Feyd Baron (edited December 09, 2002).]
 

Feyd
 

When you join the real world, do you plan to work with large or small structures?
 

Yeah, if any of you hatrackers out there write some books or make some movies (as well as some money), I'd be happy to design houses for you and such. Unless of course I start practicing Architecture, decide I don't like it, and become a Business Professor anyways...

And I'm not sure what I will design when I get out into the real world. I really like campus and masterplanning designs, though the call for those is becoming a bit more limited. I've also been impressed with religious design, in that every religion or denomination has very different requirements. The variety there would be pretty cool. I might end up designing only houses as well. That is what I originally intended, but have lost a bit of interest in that lately. I suppose we'll see soon enough (another year or so)

And now, Feyd is in some serious need of sleep...

Feyd