Those Health Care Forums have nothing on us...!

Tonight I had my first direct experience with my hyper local government, the Old Town Triangle Association (OTTA). The agenda for the meeting was fairly straightforward, Marge's Still, a Corner restaurant and bar within the neighborhood, had submitted permits with the city for a sidewalk cafe, a designated roadside loading zone for their food and beverage deliveries, and the right to operate a valet parking service. Approximately 60 residents arrived at the meeting, all of them eager to engage in the democratic process, some of them seemingly itching for an argument, and a few of them looking for one chance to desperately cry out "Won't someone please think of the children!?" while nearly fainting.

Back and forth, agitated bickering....ahem...excuse me....I mean debate, ensued. Luckily, several generous neighbors were on hand to see that the "please state your name and address before making your comment" rule was strictly enforced, lest absolute chaos ensue. These malevolent ....ahem.... excuse me again... benevolent souls...coupled with the decision by many of the debaters, to describe in detail, the many years that they had resided in the neighborhood, was sure to provide a warm and welcoming environment to any new, would be voices from the neighborhood.

Whip! Crack! the comments flew:

"This is a quiet neighborhood, which must be preserved"

"where do you live?"

"the bar is loud and raucous at all hours of the night!"

"I walk my dog by the bar every evening, and it is not, in fact, loud, nor is it raucous."

"I'm not a dog person.... or a cat person....but I love animals".

Alas, like so many good things, after a mere two and a half hours, it had to come to a dragged out, somewhat unsatisfying end. Marge's Still would be allowed to have their loading dock and their outdoor cafe, but would not be allowed to operate a valet parking service (out of legitimate fear the bar would attempt to utilize the nearby school playground as their parking lot".

Scorecard for the evening:
Marge's Still - 2 points
Conspiratorial Local Wacko(s) - 1 point
Democracatic Process - 3 points

Paint by Numbers?

This post is inspired by an article I read in Metropolis magazine last night. For anyone unfamiliar, Metropolis is a magazine that focuses on design, architecture, and sometimes engineering.

http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20090722/off-the-shelf-genius

"...users become infatuated with their newfound creative powers. “Designers think, I can make my imagination,” Maeda said. They forget that all the cool things they can do have been enabled by a higher creative power, the software. Or as Maeda put it: “They don’t realize they’re in someone else’s imagination.”

The author describes how modern computer tools have allowed young and inexperienced designers to create fantastic and complex forms without having to do the leg work that would historically have impeded these fanciful designs. In essence the tools allow designers to create beyond their own abilities. Instead of spending years mastering skills and form, they are able to jump immediately to the cutting edge of design using computer assisted methods. I believe this to be both a negative and positive. It is a powerful, democratic thing to bring these tools to the masses, but used irresponsibly, their may be wasteful or even dangerous. Architecturally, the knock off buildings that result, clumsily mimicking the work of genius past, may diminish the works they attempt to glorify.

In engineering, the results can be far more serious. When it comes to computers, there is a classic saying "Garbage In, Garbage Out". The meaning is quite literal, a designer who does not know the details of a software may input garbage data, which the computer will gladly use to spit out garbage results. By hand, it is possible to make a mistake in a calculation, by computer, it is possible to repeat that mistake a thousand times over. To properly check against this tendency, an engineer must often check their results against their own hand calculations, estimates and engineering intuition. Ultimately, computer software is a key to unlocking our greatest design potential, but like so many things, the user will always play a key roll in decision making. There is no substitute for experience and talent.

Ultrasound

Had our 20 week ultrasound today. Everything went really well. I was a little worried before hand, but one by one, the nurse took us through each tiny part of the baby (except...you know...the private parts... Mei Mei and I don't intend to find out the sex). It was really amazing to see the little hands and feet, complete with tiny little fingers and toes. The baby was rolling and moving quite actively, that, coupled with a healthy heart beat, was probably the most assuring. Every time we go through something like this, it makes the baby seem so much more real and present. I've also learned that at this stage the baby will begin to not only hear what we are saying but actually be effected by it. So swearing is out (probably as good of time to get rid of that anyhow). One author I read, described how he could communicate basic counting to exercises to the baby saying clearly into his wife's stomach "one" and giving a gentle tap. Often the baby would respond with a little poke or kick. Afterward he would say "two" and give two taps, which would also often elicit a pair of kicks. Maybe it is too good to be true, but I'm excited to give it a shot :) !! Also, please click on the images to see them larger and in more detail.