Random pieces that range from the built environment to more personal
From the Series- “Misadventures of a Working Stiff” Having recently retired, I am temporarily, staying near where I grew up. And I find myself reflecting on the early days of my working life, and in particular, the dreaded summer job. My favorite year of college was my sophomore year. The freshman year, spent in a … More Roadkill-Ode To The Summer Job
At the end of June, I retired from Architectural practice. It has been 40 years since I started my first job as an intern in Colorado. I moved to San Francisco in 1989, and the time since has been split equally between San Francisco and Berkeley/Oakland. But San Francisco was why I came to the … More 35 Years In San Francisco
Growing up in Upstate New York meant enduring hard, tough winters. Initially, it didn’t bother me. Well, maybe my hair freezing on my walk home after swim practice did, but it was all I knew. My grandmother lived with us back then. At some point, she announced she was going to spend part of the … More Snowbirds
They sit quietly on tree-lined neighborhood streets. Often surrounded by single family homes , small apartment buildings and bits of retail, the branch library tucks itself gently into these neighborhoods, elegant public buildings at home in these more modest settings. San Francisco and The Bay Area are blessed with many fine examples, many of which … More Collections – A Salute to the Branch Library
At some point every day, I go for a walk in my neighborhood in Berkeley. It is a modest neighborhood of mostly one-story bungalows , an occasional apartment building, and a scrappy commercial district . But every few blocks, there is a larger house or building that isn’t part of the pattern. And I am … More Neighborhood Stories- 3 Houses
Awhile back, I figured out I have had 16 different addresses since leaving for college. A long time ago to be sure, but I was still surprised that there were so many. Sure it counts a different dump each of my college years, and episodes like house sitting for 3 months on a cul-de-sac in … More Moving Day- Packing Up The Family Home
Back in the late 80s, I was living in Colorado, having just received my Master’s Degree in Architecture. Colorado was in the grips of a terrible energy related recession , and it really couldn’t have been a worse time to hit the job market. My first job ended after 6 months when the firm … More Welcome to The Dollhouse- In Praise of the Bungalow Court
As an Architecture student way back in the 80s in Buffalo, one’s introduction to contemporary Architecture had two threads. First, the late 19th and early 20th century’s seminal works, many of which were in our back yard thanks to Buffalo’s incredible treasures of Wright, Richardson, Sullivan, and Burnham. The second thread covered the next generation … More Two Modernists In Connecticut.
This is an update to a post from last year We live on the backside Nob Hill. When you stand up at the top , near Grace Cathedral, and look south, your eye follows the canyon of the street down towards Market and the Tenderloin. Between the Tenderloin and Nob Hill, is the Tendernob. The … More The Tiny Shops of The Tendernob
After a long layoff with the blog, I have some things to say again. More to come, and more frequently ! Among the many changes encountered in moving from San Francisco to West Berkeley a few years back was the extraordinary range of places to buy food. Berkeley is world-famous for its grocery offerings, particularly produce, … More 99 cent dreams
urban ambles 