Dear Sarah Palin and Harper Collins.....

Dear Sarah Palin and Harper Collins Publishing,

I just wanted to make sure that you are aware that "Going Rogue" has many many meanings according to Urban Dictionary.

1. The feminine version of "going commando"
2. A male that allows a transgendered man to penetrate his anus, yet still claims to be straight.
3. A euphemism for unprotected anal sex.
4. "Going Rogue" is slang for not wearing a tampon or pad during menstruation.
5. Refusing to use toilet paper


Now that you are both aware of the connection between Going Rogue and these risky behaviors, I am sure that you will pull all the copies of the book off the shelves because you have no concern for the $12 million dollars that you are expected to make off this "autobiographical memoir".

Thank you,

Joshua Taylor

"Less is more"...

A Design Legend:

Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe was born in Aachen, Germany in

1886. He developed a design approach based on advanced structural techniques and Prussian Classicism. He made

major contributions to the architectural philosophies of the late 1920s and 1930s as the artistic director of the Werkbund-sponsored Weissenhof project and as the Director of the infamous Bauhaus. Famous for his dictum "Less is more" Van der Rohe attempted to create contemplative, neutral spaces through an architecture based on material honesty and structural integrity.

Most famous for his Barcelona Chair which he created for the German Pavilion at the 1929 Barcelona Exposition. The chair represents a clear expression of Van der Rohe's work to create a universal, simplified architecture. In 1962, his career came full-circle when he was invited to design the New National Gallery in Berlin. His design for this building achieved his long-held vision of an ex

posed steel structure that directly connected interior space to the landscape. He returned to Berlin several times while the gallery was under construction, but was unable to attend the opening in 1968. He died in Chicago on August 17, 1969.

Above: The Barcelona Chair at the Barcelona Pavilion

"A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier.

That is why Chippendale is famous." - Van der Rohe

Above: A rendering of the Barcelona Chairs that I did as an undergraduate.

The Farnsworth is another of Van der Rohe’s major works. It is significant for two primary reasons. 1) It embodies a certain aesthetic culmination in Van der Rohe’s experiment with this type of building and 2) the house is the fullest expression of modernist ideas that took seed at the Bauhaus but were culminated in the United States. This house is located in Plano, Illinois and was severely damaged by flood in September 2008. Estimates indicate that the damage to the house was in the neighborhood of $500,000. Donations can be made at http://www.farnsworthhouse.org/ .

Above: The Farnsworth House

Below: The Farnsworth House under water

Van der Rohe is a personal inspiration. I am extremely inspired by the entire Bauhaus movement and his work is a fantastic example of everything the school represents in Design History. Van der Rohe is widely considered one of the most inspiring designers/architects of the 20th Century and his work has inspired many, many other designers. To me, the simplistic beauty of his work represents the ability of clean modernity to feel comfortable. His work is timeless and all designers hope they can achieve a certain level of timelessness in their work.

Fall has finally arrived....

I have been waiting forever to see some sign that there might be any other season than summer here in Vegas and this week Mother Nature gave notice that fall has arrived. The high temps dropped about 20 degrees this week. On Monday when I got in my car to leave work, my car said it was 103 outside. (My car is still pissed that we moved here and she has to sit in the hot sun most of the time.) Wednesday was a completely different story. When I got in my car, my black leather seats seemed to wrap themselves around me as to say, "did we move again? its so much nicer here." Alas, we didn't move but the temp that glorious day was only 79 according to my car. Windows are open, winds are blowing, and this desert might not be so bad after all.

A crafty obsession...

So, I have long been obsessed with the Random Light by Dutch Designer Bertjan Pot. I want one for my dining room really badly. My dining room currently has this very tacky circa 1995 gold fixture that looks like it should be in either a) a tacky model home in the mid nineties or b) the garbage.

So I obsess over this light. I look at it and know that it started out as little more than a craft project and has become an obsession of many modern enthusiasts. I know that this fixture is likely something I could make myself; however, I can't seem to make myself attempt to create one. I take random things from West Elm and put them together thinking this could work as a much less expensive almost as dramatic statement as the Random light, but perhaps there is no substitute. I guess I either have to create it or save. Neither of which sounds all that appealing today!

I can't remove myself from this sofa.....

I have more than just a small obsession with MidCentury furniture. Unfortunately, I don't have the budget that would allow me to shop at Design Within Reach and must look elsewhere for similar furniture that makes me smile. Back in May shortly before our decision to move to Las Vegas, we stumbled upon the Corona Sofa Series at Macy's. Now, I am not a fan of Macy's. Well to be honest, I am not a fan of "department stores" at all. This is likely linked to my loathing of malls, but I digress.

After much thought and consideration, I purchased the Corona Sofa (in Chocolate) and the matching Side Chair (in Pear). The fabric on the sofa is a very cool

textured cotton that is meant to look like tweed and it really does. This is a great midcentury inspired sofa and has a very vintage look and feel. No I don't want to go so far as to say it is a rip off, but its close to reproduction without the reproduction price. Needless to say, I love this sofa. Its comfortable but sleek and beautiful without being over done. Basically, its everything I love about midcentury design.

But there is one problem, It doesn't seem to matter what I have going on. I am naturally drawn to sitting on this sofa for hours not necessarily doing anything but sitting. I thought I could blame this on facebook/twitter/the entire internet but I have drastically been reducing my time online. So then I decided it was the TV's fault; however, I could watch the TV in the bed which would likely be more comfortable.

The only conclusion that I can then draw from all this speculation is that the sofa speaks to me or more importantly wraps its nice cushion around my big ass in a way that I just walk away. oh, Corona Sofa, "I wish I knew how to quit you!"

MIA....

No, not the rapper. Just me. I haven't been keeping up with things like I should. I am behind on just about everything. So, today I vow to get caught up. I came. I blogged. I conquered. Today marks the start of a whole new dedication to getting things done again. I have 2 months to finish my thesis and 7 minutes until another job interview. I am ready. Its time. I have to get going.

Just another manic monday....

I met my daily goal on Sunday. I logged all my food into Daily Plate (www.livestrong.com) and I got some exercise. I watched the inspirational Ruby on Style (love her, wish she was my BFF! Twitter: @rubysjourney) and felt super motivated so I got up and got ready to go to the gym at my apartment. And I found this:

So in all my genius, I decided to go for a walk when it was 105 degrees here in the desert. My body was overall pretty unhappy with me and I can't really blame it. I feel so much better today having actually met my goals for yesterday. 2.8 miles @ 4 mph = 348 calories burned which doesn't sound like much in the scope of things but I sure do feel better today. I slept good last night and woke up at 8:30 this morning. The funniest thing about my walk.... no sunscreen. I was super red when I got home but luckily it went away overnight.

I thought I might find something interesting near the apartment to blog about but there isn't really anything around but houses and chain stores. Maybe, I should jump a fence into one of the fancier subdivisions and see what's going on in there. Maybe, it will be like Wisteria Lane.

I read chapters 2 (Recognizing Emotional Triggers) & 3 (Reconfiguring Your World and Developing Support Systems) of the book yesterday too. These weren't particularly ground breaking for me since the only emotional trigger I have are boredom and stress. I don't currently really have any stress and I am going to try and combat boredom by walking when I feel the desire to eat when I know I am not hungry. My work has been greatly reconfigured already. Justin is very supportive and is working toward becoming a vegan. Maybe, this move to Vegas will be good for my body afterall!

My new plan to get healthy

So I realized that I have spent TONS of money over the last 2 years trying to loose the weight that I gained while I lived in Texas. I have done Weight Watchers, hired a trainer, spent lots of time at they gym, bought equipment, bought a Body Bugg etc and don’t get me wrong, I was pretty successful. I lost about 50 pounds but then this past October, when I went to a conference, I just quit and now I have gained about 30 pounds back. I started trying again a few weeks ago and since I don’t currently have a job, I am doing it by myself. I have a few items that I bought before that I am still using but I am not buying anything new to help with my weightless journey until I think I have actually made a change in my behavior. Before, I did “everything” that I was supposed to do; however, I didn’t actually make a change in my head. I was following the rules but not really making a change. I am hoping I can change that by doing things differently this time.

I am only using the things that are already at my disposal. I have several workout dvds, some tension bands, new running shoes, my ipod, and the nike plus system. I am using the Daily Plate on the Livestrong website to track my calories and am tracking my body fat percentage with a digital body fat monitor. I am using the Jillian Michaels books “Winning by Losing: Dropt the Weight, Change Your Life” and “Making the Cut” as a guide. I am making it my goal to work through each chapter of Wining by Losing over the next few weeks and blog about it.

Chapter 1: Getting Real: Planning for Success

As the title implies, this chapter is about really understanding your body, setting goal, and developing a plan to reach it. The book stresses the need to write down you thoughts and how you are doing so I thought I would just include this in my blog. I look at this weight loss as a part of my journey here in Vegas. The book stresses setting goals and rewards at the beginning of the journey. So here is my plan:

Weight to Lose: 45 lbs

Time to loose it: 5 months aka 21 weeks aka 153 days.

Long-term Goals:

• I will lose 45 lbs
• I will have less than 10% body fat
• I will have a 32” waist
• I will be healthy
• I will do a triathlon

Long Term Reward:

• A week at the beach with friends

Monthly Goals:

• I will lose at least 9lbs
• I will reduce my body fat by at least 1%
• I will run ½ mile without stopping

Monthly Reward:

• I will get one new article of clothing for my goal wardrobe.
• I will get new workout gear.

Weekly Goals:

• I will loose at least 2lbs.
• I will workout for at least 1 hour at least 4 times a week.

Daily Goal:

• I will log all calories online and get some exercise everyday.

I chose not to set weekly and daily goes because I don’t think I need a reward that often. I should also mention that as part of my journey and quest to be healthy. I am slowly weaning myself off of meat and processed foods. I stop drinking all carbonated beverages and caffeine last week. I feel much better. So enough blabbering, I will keep you posted.

Two months in and lots of time to think

I’ve been thinking a lot lately. It has been about two months since I moved to Las Vegas and I have yet to find anything new or exciting. I have heard all these great stories about all this great “non-touristy” stuff to do, but I haven’t taken the time to find any of it. Unfortunately, I haven’t taken the time to really make any friends either. In all this thinking that I have been doing, I have been remember the “fun, outgoing” person that I used to be. I don’t know what happened to that person. I don’t know when I became so antisocial. I do know that I want to bring some of that person back. I can’t get comfortable in Vegas, or make friends here until I push myself out of my current comfort zone (on this couch, in this apartment, on my big ass). I have to get out. I have to make friends. I decided to start this blog in hopes that I will adventure out, see what the real Vegas has to offer, and if it all works out, make a few friends.