Dig Dug

Remember that game? I love those old Atari games...
I have a million side projects always percolating in my head, but it's hard to motivate to do it all. I have no idea how that is actually accomplished by people who work full time, take care of kids, elderly parents, walk dogs, volunteer, and bake all in a day- meanwhile writing a great bestseller. Sometimes it's easy to figure out- they have daycare/nanny, a very good assisted living facility for the parents, a professional dog walker, extended family pitching in, or a ghost office sidekick who actually does all the work. Sometimes I'm convinced they are really just robots.

I would love to accomplish at least one thing for a broader group of people...even though I work on buildings all day and make small adjustments like making it easier to open doors all the day, making a hall feel less claustrophobic, finding a way to save you money on repairs if an earthquake really cracks that seismic joint...they are rather invisible accomplishments since people generally notice only BIG architectural moves, or architecture gone horribly wrong. Not that I expect a 'f*&kin' hero biscuit' as one classmate of mine's favorite term went, but it is much more rewarding to do the "less profitable" residential projects where you know your client and actually see the joy (and relief) on their face when they see their finished house/bathroom/etc, that the doorknobs actually coordinate with the kitchen hardware and the faucets and so on. People who LIVE in a designed space notice the little moves. So I think I'm going to start slowly sending out feelers to freelance on small residential projects in the Bay Area. Dearies if you need/know anyone in need of a freelance architect please forward them along...this would be for small projects now, like home addition/renovation, pool houses etc. My disclaimer though, is that until I pass all the exams (just starting to study) I am technically a 'designer' not an 'architect'. I should also add that many architects practice for 20+ years without ever getting a license since the exam process is so arduous and a license is not actually required if you work on houses (2 stories max) or work with someone else with a license who signs off on the drawings. Meanwhile, until last year, someone who just graduated with no experience could take the exams, pass them all, and be licensed without having ever worked on a project. The law has recently been changed in CA regarding this, requiring the 3 years training/apprenticeship required in many other states. I've already done this since I started working in NYC, so am now in the exam phase.

In the meantime, my current projects, aside from my aunt's bathrooms, are studying for the architectural registration exams (currently on soil, soon concrete....woohoo!) and laying out the foundation ideas of a website I've had in mind. I recently bought my first URL, DigDuds.com, in preparation for an idea I've been thinking about for a few weeks. Basically I noticed that many clients, particularly residential ones, have a really hard time figuring out how to even start the design process, whether it's building a new house or just buying living room furniture. So I want to come up with an interface to do just that...although limiting it first to helping them decorate/furnish their homes. It's really going to be a labor of love since I don't imagine it could be profitable in its current conception, but that's not the immediate goal. After all most people, myself included, couldn't ever afford an interior designer, decorator, or architect, but I don't think it's less important for them to feel like they've set up their crib nice-nice. Hence the name...duds for your digs. Except Digsduds seemed too hard to say.