Anything else in the box Pandora?

Uber-dramatic juxtaposed analogy warning:
Setting: A giant red sun sinks into the horizon on a Southern plantation. Silhouetted in the foreground are a giant Oak Tree, and me with my laptop with a cup of coffee between my knees. I look around at the piles of plans, paperwork and invoices around me and slowly stand. I shake my fist triumphantly at the war ravaged landscape and cry "God as my witness, I will never be bored again!"

In simpler terms:
Dudes, I am rocking this 'too busy for my own good' thing. I am currently writing this while eating lunch and reviewing a Main Street application. Multi-tasking has become my bitch.
This is what I am up to this week:
2 lesson plans for TESL school
Meeting with Commissioner of the Streets Dept
Convincing PennDot to inspect my pedestrian light poles
Clark Park Meeting (take 2)
LISC meeting (take 3)
3 facades
1 new business (tanning salon in da house)
First Thursday update due Friday
Baby Shower gift for knocked-up friend
Visit Mommom (2x)
Pick a landscape firm to maintain planters (anyone have a coin?)
Lessons 12,13 and 14 in Pimsleur Basic Japanese
Find some more 'ghost change' for projects
Convince major funder to chill with the rules on a big grant
Walk Dog (5x)
design party invitation (yay!)
Prepare for phone interview with Japan
Conference call with peeps from Cleveland
Interview with Daily Pennsylvanian
Shower (5X)

Oh hell... just check out my board--And that's just work stuff.
Here's the strange thing. I love being this busy--AND-- I am getting more done than one month ago when I only had rescuing the princess on my schedule (sorry Zelda, you've been tabled)
Well, enough bloggin' for now- lunch is done- back to work! Hey you too, don't you people have jobs!?!

Gratitude '07 (in no particular order)

My Birthday on Carnaby Street in London

One Hundred things for which I am grateful. There are probably more like one thousand, but you might be grateful for the abridged version.
1. Another year of survival
2. Incredibly patient, tolerant, tireless friends
3. My little black plastic scooter
4. An extremely well behaved and calm dog who makes urban apartment living possible
5. Two happy parents
6. Straight hair
7. High speed internet
8. No credit card debt
9. Philadelphia's endless cycling trails
10. My corner bar
11. Great Luck
12. A boss who is a friend and a role model
13. Down comforters
15. My passport
16. Sporadic artistic talent
17. A zoning miracle in the form of the Dock Street decision reversal
18. The courtyard
19. An office with a door and a window
20. Freedom of speech
21. Good knees
22. The US Coast Guard
23. Trader Joe's
24. Close-knit, beautiful, hilarious, warm and fuzzy family
25. East coast living
26. Air Travel
27. Every relationship I've had, even the bad ones
28. Wawa
29. A great roommate
30. HBO
31. Healing
32. My electric teakettle
33. My ray of sunshine
34. Forgiveness
36. No pudge brownie mix
37. The Spring Garden Tunnel
38. Grant money
39. Self defense training
40. Wood burning Fireplaces
41. Friends with dogs named yuki
42. Pimsleur language learning CDs
43. Pandora radio
44. Global perspective
45. BBC America
46. My unofficial dog park
47. Michael Nutter
48. Butternut Squash
49. Big Lips
50. Divine sabotage
51. Quantum Physics
52. Photoshop
53. Cute Overload
54. Grid Cities
55. Foreign Films
56. Friends in high and low places
57. Remote entry doors
58. My half of a parking space
59. Youth
60. My ability to mix optimism and sarcasm seamlessly
61. My General Contractor and his plan-fixing crew
62. The loss of fear and the arrival of true confidence
63. Padded bike shorts
64. Amazon.com
65. My neighborhood
66. The Food Network
67. Central Air
68. The R5
69. Outdoor seating
70. The snooze button
71. My summer with the Brit
72. Christmas Trees
73. Morning Star Farms products
74. Good dreams
75. Skype
76. The kindness of strangers when you least expect it
77. Discovery HD
78. Chapstick
79. Sustainable design
80. A brother who always impresses me
81. Endless possibilities
82. The Philadelphia Free Library
83. Soy everything
84. Big Boulder Lake and the people who bring me there
85. Bike Lanes
86. Beach Volleyball
87. The 'front of the house' at the office
88. My Dad for being fun, supportive, surprising, and totally himself
89. 97 miles to the gallon
90. My iced tea making cheerleaders at the finish line in Oreland
91. Long Legs
92. Digital photography
93. Guys with dimples
94. My evil twin changing the rules (but that's enough Gwen!)
95. Google
96. Close calls
97. My Mom for being wise, brave, silly and alive and well
98. The giggles
99. Comp time
100. 2008 right around the corner

Super Talented Friends

When being an adult starts to wear on my soul, which is often, I try to focus on the good points. One that frequently comes to mind is how cool it is when your group of friends suddenly becomes this network of people that have actual skill sets. In high school and college, your friends can't do much other than listen, and maybe give you a ride somewhere. But at this age, suddenly your friends have professional lives that you can take part in, and help them with whatever you've managed to learn since dodgeball. On Friday night, I went to see my friend Erin's opening at the Painted Bride Art Center on First Friday. She is so crazy talented that you want to be a little bit mad at her, but really you can't cause she's also so downright pleasant to be with. Take a look at some of this stuff (photographed by mildly buzzed off free wine me, so the pictures don't due it justice). For a better glimpse, look up Erin Murray on in liquid. I feel the need to add that these are oil on canvas, not photography.
This collection is called 'Unbuilt' which is a study of the various states of ruin our city is in. Erin and her man-child, Chris, lived in Northern Liberties, and now Fishtown, so the expert eye is well trained. The three of us became chums in the No-Libs, and as I walked around the exhibit, I thought I recognized every location. Turns out, I was only right on one of them. I guess Philly has its fair share of vacant lots, crumbling brick and security gates so you can feel at home in many areas of the city.
Here's why Erin is great. Have you ever looked at crumbling stucco, rust stains, cracked asphalt, shuttered storefronts and thought "wow, beautiful." I didn't think so. Considering my career revolves around fixing these things, I face a real existential dilemma, but none the less, she makes you notice the spectacle that is man made decay.
This one was a crowd favorite. Titles 'Southwest Philadelphia', it has an Alamo quality to it, but upon closer inspection, it is stucco, barred windows, and a union-built roof outline.

Chris and Erin being cute

I want to collect Erin's work like Pokemon, but alas, I am a poor non-profit sector CAD monkey saving to move to Japan, so I will have to wait. Erin told me she would give me a drawing as a gift when I get married. I think it would be easier to get a second job and just buy the art, but it does solve one problem for me. Now I have a third item to put in the 'pro' list in my opinion of marriage. The cons list is pretty intimidating, but now I have a solid three on the left. I think I'll put this one above love and below tax breaks. Ah, that's better.

After the show the gang reconvened in the usual places, namely St. Stephen's Green ('the bar' to those in my neighborhood). The Absolut girls were there promoting with free drinks. This went over very well, which brings me to my next talented friend. Anita's very own man-child, Josh (or shwa), is super adept at ruining a perfectly good photo by acting like a jackass. We took about 6, these were the two I liked best. Thanks Shwa!

Anita, Josh and Gail. As my Dad says, 2 out of 3 aint bad.

That'll do Shwa, that'll do.