Chiller than most

Oh hi, it's Sebastian Goodvibes. The inventor of laughs, Fridays, perfect
nipples, finding money, and girlfriends that get along with everyone you
like.

The triumph of life

Fate has a new driver - existentialism was solved 10/13/08 7:43 am.

Powder room

Fall has been a busy season. Renovations and travels filled September. The wedding in East London was lovely, best wishes to my cousin and groom.

The imminent arrival of the bump has quickened the glacial pace of the powder room renovation. Prior, the room was unfriendly, garish, dark and ornate - fake patina, unnecessary bathroom accessories.

With new eyes, I reformulated the primary aims: 1) open the space with natural light; 2) simplify planes; 3) provide a light source to the adjacent hallway. This clarity is directly associated with the recent sojourn in my birth city.

Adding the sky light lessens the prior claustrophobia associated with the space. A simple and economical mirror light solution provides a pleasant glow (the dry wall is a mock-up of the mirror). The ceiling height was increased by seven inches by moving pipes.

The door jam detail is simplified by using Douglas Fir and aluminum "L" channel. The Douglas Fir door jam ties the powder room with the rest of the house. The "L" channel ($1.50/ft) provides a clean transition between wood, drywall and secret product.

"I GOT A BIG BAG OF WEED AND COLD CAN OF BEER!!!"

RZL DZL lp.

This record makes me hungry. I love how the flipside is pizza crust.

Pretty much finished.

Here are final pictures before I close the front door.


Picture 1 - Bamboo detail underneath kitchen counter. Initially there was Doug Fir on the vertical face. In the end I choose bamboo instead for a cleaner transition. Why introduce an unnecessary third material?


Pictures 2-3. The 3Form pieces have yet to arrive for the back light effect. In the mean time I found pieces of ABET in the attic to fill the spaces. Homepride Fred stands guard over my books. If you look closely you can see who taught me how to dress gazing into the kitchen.


Pictures 4-5. The upper and lower staircase. By using glass, the hand rail does not take away from the bamboo and Doug Fir details.

Sitting at home gives me an immense feeling of satisfaction. Good design is necessary for clean living under difficult circumstances.

Fight back to school.

Renovations are nearing the end. I learned loads during the design and build. As well, I can compare our build to the neighbor's renovations and CR's preliminary designs.

Things I learned.

1. K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) - Limiting the materials equals less transitions, transitions are difficult. My neighbor incorporated eight different materials in his kitchen. The kitchen resembles multiple kitchens simultaneously from different issues of Dwell Magazine - in other words, his kitchen is cluttered and confused.

2. Absence can be used to define space.

3. 50% of the total wattage in the kitchen must come from fluorescent light fixtures.

4. Cable rails are not code in SD county as off 2008 .

5. Good design does not mean spending tosh cash, nor does it mean using "fashionable" modern build accessories (i.e., cable rails, Zebra wood, Miller chairs). It is poor form to rely on these items to mimic good design.

6. Good form always follows function.

7. I need to keep my mouth shut when I look at other people's builds. They do not want to hear that their house looks like a Design Within Reach showroom. Most people who call themselves a designer are laughable. Chris's engineer friend calls herself an architect because she worked for a construction firm. Last time I checked, an architect is a certified professional. This is equivalent to saying, Chris is an gladiator because he watched an entire season of American Gladiator.

Small block pt 2.

Big Drill Car is playing! They are playing a few reunion shows this summer. We have tickets for the first night in Huntington Beach (much thanks to Martin at Giant Robot)!!! BDC, ALL, Descendents and The Chemical People were my soundtrack to high school. The singer of BDC married a local girl, Penny Swanson. They got divorced years later. She returned to Edmonton and opened Cafe Mosaics on Whyte Ave. During dates in high school I went to Cafe Mosaics often, it was the "alternative" place to be.

The rest of the bookshelf and countertop were installed. I saw Gustavo this morning. He has little things to adjust still.

Small block

Gustavo and his crew are half-way done with the bookcase install. The floating shelves and counter-top are next to be installed. We still need to choose the plastic for the back of the bookcase.


While unpacking kitchen items I came across a pencil holder my old office mate made for the wife. It was fabricated from a solid block of stainless steel with 15 holes drilled into it. Apparently it took 40 minutes for each hole to be drilled. The block goes well with the cabinets.

Turf Fight Club

The same guy fucked me twice tonight at the Turf Club. First instance was him fucking with our food at the grill. Second instance he kept on elbowing the pregnant wifey. Both times I told him to fuck off. Both times he complained to his girlfriend about me. The second time I yelled at him extra and flipped off the girlfriend. Darren and I were ready to fight. I hate dudes who wear untucked vertical striped shirts, him and his friends were squishy Gaslamp dudes. Of course the odds of victory would have been better if Chris actually showed up like he was supposed to with Erik. My better half deescalated the second confrontation.

Fucking Chris. Way to be a stand-up guy.

Seminar

Seminar this morning.

It was good.

Here are observations.

1. Attention, adaptation and orienting response are intertwined - Adaptation is highly underrated.

2. Prof. X and Y have aged tremendously since I saw them present their model at CNS '98. Fast forward ten years, they are fine tuning the original '98 model. They do it very well. Sitting in seminar I realized that I do not want to be doing basic research in the twilight of life. The talk was disheartening on a personal level, but theoretically rich in the sciences.

3. While walking past the spectators on their way to the US Open, I realized that no one in the outside world cares about science. I could hear the cheers from a mile way accompanying each hole Tiger Woods sank. People did not cheer when Prof X's model predicted performance across differing luminance levels.

Sigh ....

Kitchen completed ... more or less.

The kitchen is basically done. We are happy with the way it turned out. I need to buy two more light fixtures for the short cable run above the sink, mend dings and remove the protective plywood layer off the finished bamboo floor. We still need to run bamboo up the vertical face of the sink counter.

Points of interest:
1. The big metal disc on the wall is a transformer for one of the cable runs. I am unhappy with the protruding transformer. The woman who helped us with the system is a certified idiot. In the end I called Tek Lighting directly for help.

2. We chose Caesar stone for the back splash, we wanted the material to read such that it is continuous from the floor to the counter and up the wall. Moreover, by not using tile we minimized grout lines which in turn makes cleaning a breeze.


3. Roberto is a complete cock sucker. I made him come on a Saturday to remove the panels so that he could refinish them. I pointed out that the finish was blemished and too heavy (likely due to a dirty spray nozzle). He told me that he did not have a clean room to spray panels and that the average person would find this acceptable. I stated that our stairs were finished on-site and the finish was far superior. Moreover, Jen told him that it was irrelevant what the average person thinks. He reluctantly resprayed them all. They turned out nice in the end. Just to be an asshole, I casually let it drop to Roberto that the craftsman who finished the stairs did not have an advanced degree from CMU. I am sure that really pissed him off.

4. I also wanted the cut-out on the far end of the cabinets. That cock sucker tried not to do it. He called me several times to whine about it (i.e, "I have a MFA from CMU and that just looks wrong"; "This is your last chance, are you sure you want this?"). I am happy I stuck to the original idea. I really like how the cut out breaks up the cabinet. I can confidently not recommend Roberto to anyone, he has a serious chip on his shoulder.

Certified Idiots

A) FUCK YEAH! I agree with the central thesis.

B) Last night, I called out a neighbor for being a certified idiot. My friends Ian and Heather are visiting, they happen to be of the darker persuasion. We decided to sit in the hot tub after running. While attending to the dog I overheard a lady ask them, "From your behaviour, it looks like you two don't live here." An educated person will quickly recognize that this is passive racism. What types of behavior would would one exhibit to live in my neighborhood? Or conversely, it was not like Ian and Heather were stealing hub caps or gardening.

I walked over and laid into her, "That's really rude and fucked up of you."

She replied tersely, "Do you live here? What unit? I've never seen you before."

I replied with my unit number and street. I asked her where she lived. She only gave me her unit number. I pressed her on what street she lives on. I recognized her street and dropped the Del Mar bomb.

"Oh, you live on this side of the street, we live on the other side."

I let the statement hang uncomfortably between us. She apologized for her fucked up behavior.

That was the end of the conversation. My complex is divided in half: one half lives on the bluff overlooking the ocean while the other half lives close to a noisy road (and likely rent instead of own). The price differential between the two halves is substantial. We live on the bluff side.

I hate to floss, but it was appropriate in this context.

I wanted to ask if she rented or owned, I'll ask next time.

PS. It must be tough to live with four sets of tits. What a fat fuck.

Lights

Lights and switches were installed this week. Jim made the call to the A-Team to install the electrical. Steven and Alfredo were unsuccessful earlier in the week with the electrical. However, Alfredo was successful in destroying the dry wall while attempting to install the dining room light. Watching them was frustrating, they had no clue how expensive the fixtures were. The A-Team consisted of a senior electrician with a bad head cold and an assistant, an Ivy League educated lawyer. The assistant struck me as a little odd, his hands were extremely soft. I got it out of him that he had switched careers less than a year ago. In the end, the A-Team installed the dimmers, chandelier and dining room light.

Roberto, the over qualified carpenter with a MFA from Carnegie Mellon, is installing cabinetry tomorrow. He is another guy I cannot figure out.

The architect sent an invoice for his visit two weeks ago. He invited himself over to check the progress and billed me for it. How do you like them apples?

Random shit.

The sights and smells of life (Mong Kok, HK).

I love the city (Mong Kok, HK).

Stanley Market boardwalk (Stanley Market, HK).

Tugboat (HK from Kowloon).

Year of the Rat.

Too cool for school (Goldfish Market, HK).

My favourite Honky (Stanley Market, HK).

Look familiar (private residence, Kowloon Station, HK)?

Rhine Valley Yogi Bear (St. Goar, Rhine Valley).

One of those rare mornings.

A lot has happened in the last little while. For starters, we have a new member on the architectural review committee. We are expecting the arrival of a little one this fall to join our kooky family. The new member demanded that changes be made to accommodate his/her fussy needs before s/he takes residence at our abode.

The architect and I are best friends again. He stopped by yesterday to check the progress and revise some details. I said I would have to think about the changes. He replied half-jokingly, "You don't need to think, just agree! I'm here now!" He is a funny guy. His latest project is on the cover of some architectural digest journal. He must be feeling pretty good about himself these days.

I woke up this morning feeling relaxed and settled about the design changes. For me, waking up at ease is a low probability event. There were some details I was never entirely convinced, however with the revisions everything comes together. Simplifying the design facilitated the transition between living areas and building materials.

Enough jibba jabba, here are the pictures.


In the kitchen, we are going to use the orange stone on the back splash. By eliminating tile, we eliminate introducing an extra material that would have required an awkward transition with the dry wall and counter top (This would have required the introduction of yet another material, likely a Fry Reglet product. You can see the reglet to the left of the countertop leaning against the wall.). We are also running the bamboo up the vertical face of the counter to provide symmetry.







Here is the handrail in progress. We are not using cable rail anymore since little people have a tendency to use them as ladders. Plus, I personally feel that cable rails are overused and are a lazy solution to provide a "modernist flair" to an otherwise uninspired drab build. We are doing something different to preserve the openness of the stair case. Stay tuned ...



This is the serpentine trim detail from the bottom staircase. I found out this is not typically done, you either love it or hate it. We repeated this detail on the other side of the staircase that runs along the drywall. Some members of my family probably recognize this detail.

Heidi, Esq.

I can add a couple of letters after my name now. I'm done law school.

Goddamn I Hate Studying

Canadian income tax law sucks more than finding out that WWF wrestling is fake.

source

Orange rhyming dictionary

The counter top company came by today. They installed half of the counter top. The other half of the slab was off by 1/16 " on one of the corners. It is a very slight difference at the corner, but this difference grows non-linearly away from it. As a result, the reveal distances with the other slab is entirely thrown off. It is subtle, but I am sure it would drive me crazy over time.

They are taking the piece back to the workshop to correct. If you look closely at the waterfall detail, you can see that we used a mitered joint. As a result, the slab appears to flow uninterrupted towards the floor. I am happy we choose orange, it certainly does brighten and warm the space. If Alfredo dings the counter, like he did with the cabinet door, I will certainly punch his lights out. He starts to fidget when I am around, I wonder if I make him nervous.