Pecha Kucha Video... Finally!!

So I finally got around to uploading the recycleDbin Pecha Kucha presentation from the beginning of May up to YouTube. Crazy!!! Here it is in all its glory. enjoy!

Re-Use Free Market

It's move-out week up at UC, and students across campus are discovering that all the things they unpacked at the beginnning of the year are just NOT fitting back into the boxes and tubs. In the case of the ladies moving out of my house... they've lived there for two years, and stuff tends to accumulate, no matter how hard you try.

Well, never fear. There's no need to cart all the stuff up to a Goodwill in a remote location. Bring your unwanted things to the Re-Use Free Market. It's like a garage sale, except FREE. Which is way better.

Some students with LEAP - Leaders for Environmental Awareness and Protection have taken over the grass between Calhoun Hall and the former YWCA on Calhoun Street for the market. There's a big Portable On Demand Storage unit (donated) set up, marked with brightly colored paper signs. The gist of it is this:

Bring what you no longer want, take what you need. It's all free, and there's been some pretty cool things swapped back and forth. They are accepting everything from clothes to canned food and in-between.

It's going on today and tomorrow (started on Monday but I've been late on the ball) from 1-6 pm. If you're trying to get rid of some stuff OR looking for a bargain (what's better than free??) I highly recommend stopping by. At the end of the day tomorrow everything left over will be donated to charity. Check the website for all the info.

Here's a photo chronicle of my roomie's and I trip yesterday.


the Van full o' stuff!


Everyone immediately starts unpacking and perusing the goodies we brought over. Within ten minutes the water cooler and the 1980 version of the Book Of World Records had been snapped up. I ended up getting a really cute purse out of the deal!

so... bring your stuff by, or get stuff for free. FREE!

Today+Tomorrow, 1-6pm, 270 Calhoun Street.

Diary of a DAAP kid: DAAPworks

It is officially the last week of spring quarter, which can only mean one thing for all the graduating seniors of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning:



DAAPWorks is a week-long college-wide gallery that showcases all the fabulous work done by the graduating seniors of 2009. Fashion is on the 3000 level, Interiors on 4000 in the DAAP Cafe, Masters of Architecture thesis take up the entirety of the Grand Staircase and the Blue Box, the other Designs take up residence in the 5000 level studios, and the Fine Arts are displayed in the Reed Gallery, the Gallery on MainStreet, and work is for sale in the Ceramic studio on the 4000 level.

Unless you are familiar with DAAP, the above statements probably totally and utterly confused you. Sorry about that. Just start at any entrance to the building and you will run into cool work.

The exhibition is free and open to the public on the following dates and times:

* Tuesday, June 9: 5pm to 9pm
* Wednesday, June 10: 9am to 9pm
* Thursday, June 11: 9am to 9pm
* Friday, June 12: 9am to 9pm
* Saturday, June 13: 12pm to 4pm

The 2009 Fashion Show will be webcast at 8pm on Friday, June 12th.

check out the DAAPWorks website for maps and more info.

My film studio had a screening yesterday, so I got a sneak peek at all the DAAPworks projects in all their glory. Needless to say, I feel completely inadequate and underprepared for next year!! Yes, it will all work out somehow, but man... the 09 interior senior's work is GOOD. See?







obviously there are way more projects than this, but I am a little biased towards the Interiors. Come check it out!!

Diary of a DAAP kid: project week

I know I haven't been posting this week, and you can blame one thing: PROJECT WEEK. Doesn't that strike fear into your heart? No? Well, it's like the powers that be decided that having one finals week would just be too easy. So instead they created Project Week, aka the week BEFORE finals, wherein the final project for studio (See DOADK: Studio for details) is due. So after you run around like a lunatic and stay up for 40 hours or so and present all your final studio stuff... THEN you can turn around and study like mad for all those other classes you've been putting off for two weeks to work on studio. It's a good time.

In all seriousness though, it's better than having it all due on one week. Which is probably ACTUALLY why Project Week was created. Needless to say, I've been busy. And now have to go so my studio partner doesn't strangle me for wasting time on the internet.

Here's a picture to look at instead. Enjoy.



(addicted.)

Diary of a DAAP kid: co-op

There is a reason that DAAP is ranked in the top 10 of design schools every year for the last zillion years or so. It is not because of our excellent professors, innovative curriculum, or stellar facilities (am I being sarcastic here? You'll never know.) It is for one reason and one reason only:

Co-op.

The average DAAP graduate in every school except Fine Art will have 18 months of paid experience working at anywhere from 3-6 firms under her belt. So all the other kids at other colleges who struggle to land an unpaid summer internship maybe once or twice before graduation are definitely a step or two behind.

Co-ops get paid a full-time wage and work anywhere from 40-60 hours a week. It's nice because the more experience you get, the more responsibilities you are able to take on as you move forward with different firms.

It's a great system because with quarters, you're only ever in school or at work for 10 weeks. That's just enough time to get bored and antsy. By the time you're ready to stick Prismacolors in your eye sockets, the quarter is over and you're ready to move on to something else. It works quite well for those of us ADD types.

However, in case you haven't heard.... the economy SUCKS. No one is getting loans or spending money... which means that there aren't too many people building buildings (except the government, but that's a whole other blog post...) So exciting opportunities working with firms who build flashy retail stores, amusement parks, hotels and other totally unneccessary but cool buildings are no longer viable employers.

Out of 130 companies that usually take co-ops during the year, only 30 hired students to work during spring quarter. Luckily for me, I waited and am now in the process of attempting to get hired at a firm. I actually have a six month stretch instead of just three months (called "double-sectioning") and unfortunately, trying to get a job for the summer has been just as difficult.

I won't go too much into my personal search, as I am still in the process of finding a job. All I will say is that it's frustrating, to say the least. An architecture firm can't lay off 40% of its workers and then turn around and hire a co-op. This is understandable.

The upside of it all is that hopefully the job situation will get better by the fall, and if not then, DEFINITELY by next June. That's when I graduate, and will be looking for a full time position. On one hand, I sort of wish I was graduating this year... but on the other hand, I'm really glad I'm not graduating into this crazy job climate!

But still, keep your fingers crossed for me!

Fringe Fest Kick-off!

Saturday morning I showed up at the corner of Race and Vine to help promote the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, which is starting Tuesday and goes until June 6th.



The Fringe Festival is an opportunity for little-known artists who want to push the envelope to showcase their work. It's 12 days/nights of theater, visual art, film, poetry, dance and even puppets. According to the website, "Our artists push the boundaries of the “norm” and continually experiment with style and content. During the festival local, regional, national and international artists invade downtown Cincinnati for 12 days of artistic celebration in both traditional and non-traditional spaces."

The venues are all located in Over the Rhine, but if you park in the Kroger Garage they are extremely walkable. The best part is that tickets are only $12, which is a total steal for great new shows.

There is a party Tuesday night (tomorrow!) sponsored by CityBeat to officially kick off the festival. The visual arts opening is from 6-8pm at the Art Academy of Cincinnati (with free wine/beer, sweet!). Then the party moves to the Know Theater around 9pm with music by Eclipse, food from Venice on Vince and Mixx Ultralounge, and beer specials from Christian Moerlein. Free food, free drinks, free music, and cool people. You probably couldn't ask for a more fun Tuesday evening.

Taste-ing Cincy

I know, I know. Everyone has (and will) be posting all about Cincinnati's favorite culinary fest. But it was fun! And there's more to my experience than just the food (though I could write JUST about the food)

I went at the very beginning and the very end of this three day food party, and the two experiences were practically polar opposites in every way. Except for that I ate yummy food both times.

Going twice meant I tried a ton of different food. My lineup: sweet potato fries from Behle St. Cafe, chicken cajun pasta from Indigo Cafe, coconut shrimp from Vitor's, sushi from Mixx Ultralounge, cheesecake from Washington Platform (round two:) crab rangoon from Bangkok Bistro, fries and Mt. Carmel beer cheese from Mac's Pizza Pub, lamb kebab and rice from Cafe Istanbul, and baklava from Mythos.

Wow, I sound like a total fat kid. BF helped me eat a lot of it, so give me a break!
Instead of going into a long descriptor of each dish, I give you the Best and the Worst of my Taste of Cincinnati:

Best: Tie between Coconut Shrimp and Crab Rangoon!!


Coconut Shrimp with Peach Reduction ( I think... ) - totally delish, as long as you like the coconut texture ( which I do! )



Crab Rangoon - Good mixture of crab and cream cheese, interestingly shaped in a thin wonton wrapper that wasn't too bready. The sauce definitely made the dish - not that red sugary crap you get at China Buffet.

Worst: Cincinnati Roll from Mixx UltraLounge



And when I say worst, I mean "most ill-suited for a hot street fair." I went against my better judgement and got the roll. This roll was deep fried tempura style, so there wasn't much danger of spoiled seafood, but it was just not the right thing for 90 degree heat. I will have to go and get sushi from the actual restaurant in order to truly pass judgement on it. But next time... no sushi at Taste.


The first day was hot, muggy and crowded. I hawked fliers and programs for nearly four hours, and totally feel sympathy for anyone who does that for a living. The second day was cooler and way more chilled out. The crowd had thinned out, and it was easier to navigate. The best part of the evening was sitting on Fountain Square watching people from completely different backgrounds and life stages boogey down to Leroy and the E-Funk band. That was so, SO awesome. It gave me a renewed sense of hope for this city. It could happen here...