I have been thinking about what possible future topics I might cover – I even carry a moleskin sketchbook around with me now so when a topic strikes me – I can write it down. Actually, I am pretty sure that between the time I have the idea, to the time I can write it down, I have forgotten what it was or lost track of the concept. Considering how hard it is for me to come up with something worth reading, that and along with the fact that I don’t have that many good ideas – this is a problem and when it happens it literally devastates me.
What I can share with you is my list of potential future post topics. These are literally all in the germination phase of my brain (which means that they might never escape that black hole). Currently festering:
- Why I like residential work and why I don’t – give the popularity of “top ten” lists, this one would probably be broken down into two entries.
- My thoughts on fences – now that I have written it down, it sounds pretty dull – maybe this one won’t make an appearance after all.
- Update on the CASA Playhouse competition with a focus on my entry – I would include some sketches and 3D images.
- There are two or three projects from my office that I am planning on posting, they all have a soft contemporary feeling to them. By soft, I mean we mostly followed the maxims of modern architecture but we deviate enough so that you have a place to store all your stuff. These are projects that I don’t think would ever win any awards but our core business is built upon designing projects that work for people and how they live rather than parti diagrams of a concept in built form.
- I have been receiving a number of requests for some of the details we use – makes me a little nervous to put those out there for fear that someone might actually try to build from them. Since I couldn’t include the specifications that accompany and fill in the gaps on these details, I am hoping I can find a way to diagram them so people can still see what we did.
- When not to listen to your client.
- A list of some of the unusual lengths we go through for our clients. I have a case study on a cabana project that I think would fit the bill nicely here
That’s all I have – when those are done I’m dry and I am a little nervous about what might come next. I suppose everyone will just have to see…will I crash and burn? or will something come to me. It will probably be something in the middle.
You might even have noticed that today’s topic isn’t really a real topic either; other than being a day in my life and I didn’t have the time to even attempt something clever. I was talking with contractor this morning who reads my blog and we had a conversation that went like this:
“Where do you get your ideas for what you write about”
“I don’t know, other people’s blogs? Driving down the road, talking to my wife…..I honestly couldn’t tell you.”
“What are you going to write about tomorrow?”
“Nothing – I don’t have anything prepared yet and I don’t have the time to think it through, write it, and find some images to support a topic. I have two projects going for permit this week, the CASA charity event to coordinate, and I have a continuing education class tonight. By the time I get home, I will probably need to get drunk or visit with Michelle, not write tomorrow’s post.”
“Why don’t you tell people all that?”
“You mean write a post explaining why there’s no post? Hmmmmm…That’s actually not a bad idea. I can type it up while I am on the phone to one of the engineers I work with, they never listen to me, why should I listen to them?”
So I apologize sweet and valued readers, this turned out to be a post about why there wasn’t a post today. I will try to do a better job in the future. Even when trying to figure out what title to put on this post, the ones I rejected included:
Are you kidding me? or
I’ve got to try harder or
Jokes on you (definitely not)
I’m thinking about outsourcing this blog to India….
That’s why I went with “Enter Post Title Here??”
Feel free to chew me out in the comment section.
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I absolutely love this blog and I look forward to reading the fences post. Also, an interesting topic might be what you would suggest reading/doing if one wanted to be an architect. I’m an Army officer now, thinking about being an architect when I get out: how the heck do you go about that?
In any case, I’ll just echo what everybody else says: know that people are reading and appreciating your work. I know I am.
Benjamin (that’s my middle name!)
Thanks for the nice message, I am glad you enjoy what I have going on here. I have been thinking about what a person might read if they were interested in becoming an architect and I have been stumped. I have lots of books on architecture and on architects but I don’t know specifically where one would begin if they were thinking about a career change. To put it in perspective, when asked to list my 5 favorite architects my first day at architecture school in college, I could only come up with three. I didn’t know anything other than that I wanted to be an architect (since I was 5) and that I liked buildings. Maybe there is a post topic in your question? It’s going to take some time and definitely more space than the comments section to get into it.
Where are you now? What do you do for the Army? You can send me an email directly at bob@lifeofanarchitect.com
I absolutely love this blog and I look forward to reading the fences post. Also, an interesting topic might be what you would suggest reading/doing if one wanted to be an architect. I’m an Army officer now, thinking about being an architect when I get out: how the heck do you go about that?
In any case, I’ll just echo what everybody else says: know that people are reading and appreciating your work. I know I am.
Benjamin (that’s my middle name!)
Thanks for the nice message, I am glad you enjoy what I have going on here. I have been thinking about what a person might read if they were interested in becoming an architect and I have been stumped. I have lots of books on architecture and on architects but I don’t know specifically where one would begin if they were thinking about a career change. To put it in perspective, when asked to list my 5 favorite architects my first day at architecture school in college, I could only come up with three. I didn’t know anything other than that I wanted to be an architect (since I was 5) and that I liked buildings. Maybe there is a post topic in your question? It’s going to take some time and definitely more space than the comments section to get into it.
Where are you now? What do you do for the Army? You can send me an email directly at bob@lifeofanarchitect.com
Hey Bob,
I have been really enjoying going through your old posts and keeping up with the new ones. It is crazy that after years of practice it was your blog that made me conscious of how parallel the lives of architects really are (I have only worked in two small offices so please forgive my naive realization, but thank you nonetheless). Thoroughly enjoyed An actual day in the life… post
I agree with Collier’s comments. One of the unique things about your blog is your engagement with readers, which I know takes additonal time, but adds depth to the post. I personally enjoy the variation of topics and your writing style (straightforward with some funny – actually laughed outloud twice).
With work, a wife and a 14 month old, I barely have time to read your posts – but do anyway – and can’t even image trying to maintain a blog. I hope you can find a good balance, (and that too is the life of an Architect). Even if you went to MWF posts I would still be here. Hope to see something on Fences and When not to listen to your Client…very intriguing!
Hey Bob,
I have been really enjoying going through your old posts and keeping up with the new ones. It is crazy that after years of practice it was your blog that made me conscious of how parallel the lives of architects really are (I have only worked in two small offices so please forgive my naive realization, but thank you nonetheless). Thoroughly enjoyed An actual day in the life… post
I agree with Collier’s comments. One of the unique things about your blog is your engagement with readers, which I know takes additonal time, but adds depth to the post. I personally enjoy the variation of topics and your writing style (straightforward with some funny – actually laughed outloud twice).
With work, a wife and a 14 month old, I barely have time to read your posts – but do anyway – and can’t even image trying to maintain a blog. I hope you can find a good balance, (and that too is the life of an Architect). Even if you went to MWF posts I would still be here. Hope to see something on Fences and When not to listen to your Client…very intriguing!
Bob;
I think you’re being too hard on yourself (which is not uncommon for most architects).
It appears you are posting nearly every day. If so, you may be aiming too high.
You are getting comments and engaging in discussions with readers. That’s important.
Do you think you could post on a less rigorous schedule and not feel guilty about it?
Give it a try…
(Of course, this is coming from an architect who only gets new content out about every other week!)
Collier,
My original goal (that I set just 2 months ago!) was to try and publish M-F. That was when I had 20-30 easy topics to cover. Now, as I learn that I don’t have anything to say, it is becoming harder but I am sort of enjoying the misery that is coming along with the challenge. The good news is that a by-product of doing this blog is that I watch a lot less TV, read more, and generally pay more attention to what’s going on – that’s probably what I have become addicted to.
Thanks for taking the time to comment (BTW, something appears a little wonky with your RSS feed)
Bob;
I think you’re being too hard on yourself (which is not uncommon for most architects).
It appears you are posting nearly every day. If so, you may be aiming too high.
You are getting comments and engaging in discussions with readers. That’s important.
Do you think you could post on a less rigorous schedule and not feel guilty about it?
Give it a try…
(Of course, this is coming from an architect who only gets new content out about every other week!)
Collier,
My original goal (that I set just 2 months ago!) was to try and publish M-F. That was when I had 20-30 easy topics to cover. Now, as I learn that I don’t have anything to say, it is becoming harder but I am sort of enjoying the misery that is coming along with the challenge. The good news is that a by-product of doing this blog is that I watch a lot less TV, read more, and generally pay more attention to what’s going on – that’s probably what I have become addicted to.
Thanks for taking the time to comment (BTW, something appears a little wonky with your RSS feed)
TTI,
Thanks for your comment. I am right there with you when it comes to starting a post with a kernel of an idea (I have several right including the soon to be famous “Fences” post. So far, I haven’t had the spark to go back to them. Unfortunately for me, when I write the process is more like diarrhea than anything else – it either comes all at once or not at all – and with the way my brain works (or doesn’t at times) my writing can’t keep up with my thinking. I will be doing something, maybe even something important, and I’ll have an idea, work through several thoughts and ideas on the subject, conclude that I have a viable topic and literally forget the original idea. It’s maddening and I should probably be taking some sort of multi-vitamin for it.
Thanks for the story.
TTI,
Thanks for your comment. I am right there with you when it comes to starting a post with a kernel of an idea (I have several right including the soon to be famous “Fences” post. So far, I haven’t had the spark to go back to them. Unfortunately for me, when I write the process is more like diarrhea than anything else – it either comes all at once or not at all – and with the way my brain works (or doesn’t at times) my writing can’t keep up with my thinking. I will be doing something, maybe even something important, and I’ll have an idea, work through several thoughts and ideas on the subject, conclude that I have a viable topic and literally forget the original idea. It’s maddening and I should probably be taking some sort of multi-vitamin for it.
Thanks for the story.
I’d like to read about your thoughts on fences. No sarcasm intended. The other day I was walking by a cemetery and saw one lost slipper on the sidewalk. I wrote about that slipper and all the possibilities of how it got to be there alone and dirty and owner-less. Then I wondered if there was no barrier between the sidewalk and the cemetery…how far could that slipper have gone? I’m not sure if this sounds relevant at all, but I want to read your future fence entry to see what your thoughts are. What’s a fence to you?
Looks like I’ll be writing something? on fences….
I’d like to read about your thoughts on fences. No sarcasm intended. The other day I was walking by a cemetery and saw one lost slipper on the sidewalk. I wrote about that slipper and all the possibilities of how it got to be there alone and dirty and owner-less. Then I wondered if there was no barrier between the sidewalk and the cemetery…how far could that slipper have gone? I’m not sure if this sounds relevant at all, but I want to read your future fence entry to see what your thoughts are. What’s a fence to you?
Looks like I’ll be writing something? on fences….
How about “when not to listen to your client”?
We are just entering into an agreement with an architect for our first custom home and we are trying REALLY hard to be good clients. Knowing when we are off in left field would help 🙂
This may sound like sugar water but I always listen to the client; even though that doesn’t mean that I automatically do what they are telling me. This should be a positive experience for the client and along with that comes an education on the process. At the top of the job skills list should be “good listener” for any architect, particularly residential architects. A successful project is born out of dialog, which infers talking and listening. My clients may be a pain sometimes but it’s not their fault that they don’t know what I know.
How about “when not to listen to your client”?
We are just entering into an agreement with an architect for our first custom home and we are trying REALLY hard to be good clients. Knowing when we are off in left field would help 🙂
This may sound like sugar water but I always listen to the client; even though that doesn’t mean that I automatically do what they are telling me. This should be a positive experience for the client and along with that comes an education on the process. At the top of the job skills list should be “good listener” for any architect, particularly residential architects. A successful project is born out of dialog, which infers talking and listening. My clients may be a pain sometimes but it’s not their fault that they don’t know what I know.
I actually like the idea of the fences topic…that could turn into a sociological discussion on whether or not people need defined boundaries! Coming from a city where fences were very rarely above 4 feet, the ubiquitous privacy fences of Texas took a little to get used to!
I actually like the idea of the fences topic…that could turn into a sociological discussion on whether or not people need defined boundaries! Coming from a city where fences were very rarely above 4 feet, the ubiquitous privacy fences of Texas took a little to get used to!
Eh Bob, no chew out today!! It’s amuses me that we really are in same boat paddling furiously. Sometimes you just want to drop the paddles and drift….I have promised to write about my day to day highs and lows running a business and the business of design but yesterday had such a perfectly horrible day, I decided I cannot possibly be such a bummer to my readers! So I am drifting… Just for today. ~~ Cheryl
I like the idea of drifting for a day, let me know how that turns out!
Eh Bob, no chew out today!! It’s amuses me that we really are in same boat paddling furiously. Sometimes you just want to drop the paddles and drift….I have promised to write about my day to day highs and lows running a business and the business of design but yesterday had such a perfectly horrible day, I decided I cannot possibly be such a bummer to my readers! So I am drifting… Just for today. ~~ Cheryl
I like the idea of drifting for a day, let me know how that turns out!