Fire

Our state is still burning. It’s crazy. The fires here in Georgia and Florida have been burning since the middle of April. The amount of land that has burned is greater then the landmass of Rhode Island!

In Florida an 18-year-old volunteer fire fighter had been arrested for arson. Wait; aren’t you supposed to fight fires? Fucking moron. He is accused of setting fire to a building on US Highway 301 and setting six other brush fires around County Bradford. If this young man is found guilty, he could face 45 years in prison. What a waste.

Here in Georgia fires have collectively burned more than 462,000 acres. All of the fires have caused a little more than $40 million in damages, but that does not include damage to property.

In County Bulloch, which is about 40 miles west of Savannah, two juveniles were arrested and charged with suspected arson. Last week the smoke was so thick here in town. It's scary because I didn’t realize it was so close to Savannah.

People are just crazy. Why would someone set fires? I mean isn’t there a better way to get some attention? There was a time when people would just streak to get attention or become a performance artist or sing show tunes in a bar. What happened to those days?

Friday

On Friday “N” and I went to Charleston. He invited me to go along on one of his classes’ field trip. They had to tour Fort Moultrie and its batteries on Sullivan’s Island. Unfortunately both of us got sunburned for not wearing any protection. It's amazing how the sun can wipe you out.

Afterwards we had lunch at Poe’s Tavern. Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at Fort Moultrie so his name is passed around on public buildings and businesses. It’s rather like Ethan Allen in New England.

We walked around a little and then met with many of his friends. They were all very nice and a lot of fun. I could tell they all missed him and it’s easy to see why. He makes everyone laugh.

One of his friends made arrangements for all of us to have dinner at Vickery’s. We met everyone there after they got off work. The food was good and the company was great. Afterwards we headed down to market and went to a wine bar. It was kind of crazy in the market area because it was the first night of Spoleto and the wine bar was too loud.

Since we ended up staying late into the evening we didn’t get back to Savannah until around 3:00 AM. However I had a good time and ate some wonderful food and drank some really good wine and met some nice people. It was a nice break from the routine.



Here architectural history students look down a large hole.


Here we are exploring the Pit of Hell. Actually it is inside one of the batteries owned by a fire company. They use it for test burns. The professor dragged us all inside as an endurance test. I kind of liked it, It was dark and dank and reminded me of a tomb.


Here we are being lead down the Steps of Doom. It was a damaged staircase hidden by over growth upon the Temple of Doom. Okay, actually it was battery dating to about 1898.


The structure off in the distance is none other then Fort Sumter, the very spot where the War of Southern Independence began and the War Between the States started.

One Of Those Days

I am having one of those days, again! How about you?

Geek Issues: Blogger Messed Up

My blog has been slightly messed up these past few days. My good friend, Robert left a comment recently, but it would not show up as being there. Then today when I added a post concerning the fashion show it too would not show up.

In order to fix whatever was wrong I had to update my template, which deleted my header, fonts and sound. Blogger states the new templates give you more control. Well yes and no. I usually copied my template into Dreamweaver when I wanted to make changes and now it won't let me do that.

I can't change the size of my header easily and when I uploaded the previous header it was so huge it was out of position. They don't tell you the required dimensions so you must keep changing the size and uploading until you get it right! The above header is my original from when I began the blog. It was the easiest to resize.

I have been toying with the idea of moving my blog over to my .Mac account because it's something I am paying for and not utilizing. It's limited in other ways, but at least it's not as unreliable as Blogger. The only thing about that bothers me about .Mac is you need to know the address to get to it.

Oh hell, I don't know. We shall see.

Party

Last night was the 2007 SCAD Fashion Show. I didn't have tickets this year as I kind of forgot about it or didn't think about it for whatever reason. Anyhow "N" wanted to go so badly I thought he was going to have a nervous breakdown over it. Actually I should state he was more concerned about the after event party.

He wanted to crash it so we did. This year it was heavily guarded with police, SCAD security and two determined ticket takers. They would not let us in of course, but "N" called a mutual friend of ours who has the ear of a family member to the president of the college. Ah, nepotism!

Needless to say this person came down to the front door and the way was parted and we entered triumphantly as we made our grand entrance. Okay, so it wasn't so grand, but it was fun! The place was packed and the drinks were flowing. We met some other friends, acquaintances and freaks.

When the party ended we made our way over to Chuck's. It was quite the letdown. It was very smokey and they were having bad karaoke. It seemed the trailer parks from the surrounding counties had unloaded all at once in the bar so we didn't last long and headed home.

All in all it was a wonderful evening as was the company.

About Me

I believe I am too sensitive. Yes, I know I am. I have Cancer rising. I should think more on things before reacting. I am going to consciously work on this for now on.

If you wish to know more about me I splay myself out below for your enjoyment.

Little Willie

Little Willie, on the track,
Didn't hear the engine squeal.
Now the engine's coming back,
Scraping Willie off the wheel.

~ Cathy Snider

39.1

Well today is my birthday. 39.1 years! Hah, okay I'm 40. Where has the time gone?

Doofus

I can be such a doofus sometimes. It seems all is well with "N" after all. I was in Gallery Espresso this afternoon (imagine that) and "N" came up to me. It was a pleasant surprise. He wanted to know what happened this weekend.

I said I'm not quite sure, but I did remind him he said he was going to call me on Saturday. "N" said he didn't remember he said that, but that he text messaged me. Text message? I laughed and said I never received it. So we talked for a while about this and that. He added he had a nice time and would like to go out again sometime and I agreed.

He invited me to an architecture lecture this evening, but I have to pick up Steve and Jim from the airport. They were at the Kentucky Derby this weekend. So I suggested I call him when I get back and he agreed.

So a doofus I may be, but happy I am. :)

Date

I had a date this Friday night past. You will think this crazy, but it was my first real date in over four years. One reason for this tremendous lapse in time is because I was in a relationship for close to five years. I have been out of said relationship for a year and a half so regardless it is time to date again.

Anyhow there is this guy that has sparked my interest for sometime. I shall call him "N", the first initial to his name. To tell the truth the first time I had seen "N" was in 2000. I was working the circulation desk at the Jen Library and he was a student. My friend and coworker Emma got his name for me. She was trying to push me to talk to him, but I would not. Mainly because I had recently entered a relationship with the above mentioned.

I would see him around from time to time and just think how cute he was. Time moved on and so did he.

Well, this is the guy I had a date with last Friday. I had a good time. We went to Saigon and had dinner. I had Phad Kee Mao with tofu and he had some poor lamb. The waitress pointed out how completely opposite our meals were. Yes, I am a vegetarian and he is not.

We basically talked about many things. Our conversation started off on skin lesions, food allergies, our mothers, movies, TV, etc. He asked me what movie or show I would like to see right now. Really the only thing that came to my mind was the Animaniacs. Yes, a cartoon. He laughed because he said he was watching the Animaniacs while waiting for me to pick him up. Isn't that crazy! Isn't that crazy weird? He doesn't have cable so he rents movies and shows from the public library and the Animaniacs was one of the rentals.

After dinner we walked over to the Pink House with the intention to have some wine in the lounge, but it was insanely packed with tourists in bad attire. So we high-tailed it out and headed to a new pub called WG's. It used to be a gay establishment called Faces. Well, it's not a gay establishment any longer. It felt awkward being in there, but we did have a glass of wine and talked for a while. Then a huge crowd of poorly dressed tourists descended upon us in a continuous row. We bee-lined it out and decided to go have coffee at Leopold’s.

After coffee we drove to his apartment, which is a cute little former slave cottage. Yes, slave cottage. This area of town has tiny little structures that were built for indentured servants and slaves. Most have been renovated into condos and apartments and some are in better areas then others.

We had some more wine and watched an independent film called "Clockwatchers". I highly recommend it. There are so many scenes I can relate to which reaffirmed my desire never to return to an office environment ever again!

After the film I went home. I gave him a hug good-bye and said I enjoyed the evening very much. He said he too had a good time and that he would call me Saturday. Well, he did not call. I figure he must have had other plans, or assignments to work on. He is an architecture graduate student so I am sure he has something to work on.

However I got to thinking isn't it polite to call someone when you say you will. I mean, is it not polite to call and say thank you for the evening? Especially when the other person paid for everything?

Perhaps I am thinking on it too much. I don't know. I did not kiss him good night because I thought one should do that on the second date or the third. In the past I have always jumped right into it and this time I feel like I wish to get to know the person first. Perhaps I did wrong. Perhaps I am thinking "old-fashioned". Perhaps I sent off the wrong signals by not offering a kiss. Perhaps it's my age. I am almost 11 years older. He turned 29 in March and well, I turn 40 this Wednesday!

Oh, hell I don't know and you know what? It's okay. I had a swell time. It was what it was. It was nice to go out once again and especially with a really intelligent, cute guy.

Thank you "N".

Smoke

I noticed last night a rather pungent smell of pine smoke wafting through town. It's happening again right now, but much stronger. I just remembered a large swath of southern Georgia is burning not too far from Savannah. So that must be it. It's giving me a headache so it's time to close the windows and crank up the A/C.

Hard Hat

Okay kids, how do you like my new look?

According to OSHA I have to wear a hard hat while in certain areas on site. The hats get passed around from person to person and the cushioned forehead strap gets drenched with sweat and oil. Gross! So I decided to purchase my own.

This picture wasn't taken on site. It's a Photoshop composite just for fun.

I think I am going to grow my beard back because I miss it. However since I am not fond of hot weather I am not sure how long I will keep it. We shall see.

Becoming My Mum

I am becoming my mother. When I was child my mum would have these very strange dreams and then she would awake "howling". Actually it was more like a "woooo". She would do this periodically and wake my father half startled. My siblings and I would also awake sometimes from the strange ghoulish noise. Or if we were up we would think to ourselves, what the fuck?

She would never say what she dreamt of. Perhaps she did not remember? I don't know. I think it's time I ask her if she does remember because I did the same thing last night!

In my dream I was in my car at night. I wasn't driving. I could not close my door fully because something was blocking it. There were wolves outside the door. For some reason I was making a noise and pissing them off. They would growl every time I opened the door a little. They growled and I would try and close the door again. I realised there was a dear hoof stuck in the upper half of the door preventing me from closing the door.

I tried to push the hoof out from the door and for some reason I taunted the wolves with that strange noise and they proceeded to growl and attack the door. Well I woke up making that "wooo" sound real loud. It terrified my cats so they made a beeline out of bed like bats out of hell.

I sat up and said loudly; "Oh fuck, I am turning into my mum!” I then fell back to sleep.

Tybee Island

Since the weather was so beautiful I decided to drive out to Tybee and go to the beach. Tybee Island is considered Savannah's beach, but Tybee is its own "city". The drive out is a pleasant one. You have to drive over several rivers and through the marsh islands to get to it.

The QuickTime video below is my first podcast, you could say. Anyhow I took the video using my digital still camera and I think the image came out rather well. I pieced the whole thing together with iMovie. It's cheesy, but it was fun.


Click here to get your own player.




The Tybee Island Light House



This picture was taken on north beach facing where the Savannah River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The jetty at one time was much taller. The sea has since caused the boulders to sink and cover them with sand. When I was in my late teens and early twenties I used to climb up them during tropical storms and stormy weather and hope for a big wave to take me away.

One day it nearly happened! I decided no, no I don't want a big wave to take me away and never did that again.

While standing on the rocks and looking out over the ocean you can see Daufuskie Island and just a hint of Hilton Head Island off in the distance.


When I was younger these boulders were fairly new, in that they were recently placed to form the jetty. Since then they have been covered in barnacles and seaweed. They have wonderful texture now.


On the way back into town I decided to stop along the road at one of the entrances to the old railroad tracks. The trains stopped running a very long time ago. In the 1980's the tracks were taken up and a trail was created for people to walk, run or ride bikes on.

At one time the train was the only way to get to Tybee. It must have been wonderful to travel on the train. As you can see from the photograph this narrow strip of land is all that separates your from the marsh on one side and the river on the other. What a view it must have been sitting high up zipping past the palm trees.


Marsh view near the train path.

Uber Geek, I Am Not

I come to the realization I am not an uber geek. Yes, it is true. Now this is not to say that I am not a geek in general, because I do love my techno stuff and I do so love my Mac's, but I am not an uber geek. What does this mean to you? Nothing. It's all about me.

I am so happy not to be working in IT administration or on websites for people and I am so happy not to be forcing myself to learn and follow up on my Apple Technician certifications. I realize I have never been truly happy until now. I am a designer. A decorator. An organizer. .... A queer guy with an eye. ;)

Yesterday I spent four and half hours at a furniture store making the final furniture selections. It was really enjoyable. Today I was at the Hidden Pointe Townhome site. The builder, architect and I were going over the plans of the unit the builder purchased. The kitchen was being redesigned. It was a lot of fun!

Then we went to lunch at some meat-eating establishment with really bad wall paper. You know, some kind of BBQ place. I didn't realize we were going there. I did manage to find a small salad with no meat and I dare say I had a huge plate of CHEESE FRIES and diet Coke. They were so good.

Now I am going to spend the next hour and fifteen minutes on the treadmill.

Just For Fun

While visiting The Banal Chew the other day he had a post linking to this, The Perception Laboratory's Face Transformer.


So I present the following scary photograph of yours truly. Here I am at the ripe age of 21. Look at that big hair, the tan and what's with the mustache? It was my Miami days while attending the International Fine Arts College (from Hell).

Now after morphing, I present to you the new East Asian me!



Hey let's take it further. Here is my baby, Nora-Grace, the little Boo. Isn't she sweet? Don't let that face fool you. She will bitch slap you given a chance.



Now after morphing, I present to you primeval, ape boo-cat!



BUT WAIT!

Here is Modigliani Boo and last, but not least....



Magna Cartoon Boo!

Office?

You would think as a design consultant, decorator or whatever you would call my fabulousness would have a brilliant office at the Hidden Pointe Townhome job site, right? NOOOOOOO!

This is it. I'm stuck in one of the unit’s four-car garage's where it's ten degrees cooler then outside that bloody door! Meanwhile, outside there is a masonry saw, a jackhammer and fifteen workers are hammering away above me. I simply can't work under these conditions!

Heh, heh. I'm just kidding. Actually, I am enjoying the environment very much, but I did move my "office" to the builders shed.

Mischief

What is it you ask? Why it's a wax putti ball sphere thingy, duh.

You see it's like this. Melissa purchased this ghastly thing in Birmingham many, many moons ago. It was her plan to give it to someone as a gag gift. Truly, it would make anyone gag. She ended up giving it to Steve and Jim a long time ago. Recently it made its way back to Melissa.

For about six months or so we pondered on what to do with it and how to give it back to Steve and Jim. We came up with the idea to drill a hole into it so we could insert green glow sticks and hang it in there yard late in the evening. Well last night was that night. Steve and Jim had out of town guests and were at a pre-St. Patrick's Day party so we jumped on the opportunity and set our plan in motion.


Look, it's a glowing green Putti UFO ball sphere thingy!


In this picture the power of the Putti ball is attracting spirits to it. In the world of the paranormal the spirits are called orbs. Like attracts like.

Being that Savannah sits on some rather bizarre lay-lines it has a mighty vortex. Often referred to me as the Vortex of Goo.

Since so many terrible things have happened here the goo is powerful and there are many trapped spirits. Savannah is one of the most haunted cities in North America for that very reason.


Melissa, my accomplice could not stop laughing.

Afterwards we returned home triumphantly and finished a bottle of wine! However Steve and Jim telephoned later in the evening and threatened retaliation. Is this the end of the Putti wax ball sphere thingy? We shall see.

P.S. Yes, the beard is gone. WIth the recent weather being in the 80's I can't deal. I am not fond of hot humid weather. When it arrives I get cranky. So there you have it.

Clients! Clients! Clients!

I haven't had much time to read blogs or to blog myself. All of a sudden I have many clients! I am not complaining by any means. I am just well, relieved and very busy. I love every minute of it!

These days I am just trying to figure out time management. I have never seen my calendar so full. The interesting thing will be juggling all the different designs I have to pull together.

Again, I love every minute of it.

Scary!

Savannah can truly be scary sometimes.