Oh…and by the way, we returned home with lots of household drama:

• Broken cell phone
• Broken pool pump
• Dying fridge
• Leaking A/C that warped my family room floor.

This isn’t what I wanted to come home to. But I’ve been trying to keep it all in perspective and not get too worked up. Unfortunately, fixing all these problems costs lots of money. Money that I’d rather be spending on cool stuff like monster trucks and Van Halen memorabilia.

I’m just going to write. Let’s see what happens.

• I have a hard time stomaching hipster music. For ten years I’ve read a gazillion music reviews of indie bands and I’ve tracked down the most promising bands. After a few listens online, I can’t find the fortitude to keep listening. It seems to me that the gushing fans that surround a lot of these hipster bands are often so in love with the image of the band that they somehow overlook the fact that their songs kinda suck. What good is a song if it’s not catchy?  But what they play here at Starbucks is different enough to be unfit for popular radio, but it’s still pleasant to my ears.
• Trucker Hats. They’ve lasted a lot longer than I would’ve imagined. When I filmed the Road Rules Challenge in 2003, I wasn’t sure if I should wear one because I might look behind the times. Here we are seven years later, and people still like them and they look cool wearing them. The guy sitting on the other side of the window on the patio is perfectly confident rocking his trucker hat. By my rough estimation, they’ve been cool now longer than they used to be uncool/whitetrash.
• Cargo Shorts. I’ve read no less than a dozen fashion experts proclaim that cargo shorts are out dated. Unfortunately, those declarations were all made over a course of the last 15 years. So apparently they were all wrong. Have you ever actually gone to a store and try to buy regular khaki shorts? It’s harder than you think. Me? I don’t like cargos because they’re too hot and floppy. Yet I still wear them.
• Flip Flops. There are a lot of pretentious fashion editors that despise casual footwear. I share their concern that people wear flip flops to way too many places–weddings, funerals, baptisms—but you will lose credibility if you wholly dismiss flip flops all together. Why? Because they’re casual, affordable, and freeing. That’s why bazillions of people wear them around the world. I’m one of them and I like it.
• Classic Cars: My father-in-law asked me what I imagine car collectors will look like in another 20 years. Who will they be and what will they be collecting? This paragraph could turn into a book, so I’ll keep this quick. There will never again be a car culture that we saw between 1944 and 1972. That was a rare time in America with a “youth culture” was formed and shared amongst Baby Boomers through some very good years for cars: hot rods, 1950s Mercys and Chevys, and of course the late 1960s Pony Cars & Muscle Cars. I know this because I’ve been to many car auctions, and all I see is a bunch of aging Baby Boomers trying to recapture their youth. By the time any of my generation gets super-loaded with cash, I doubt we’ll be fighting over a Hemi Cuda that was first enjoyed before our birth. Dudes will always like cars and try to collect them, but it’s not going to be as focused on a handful of American cars. It’s going to be more niche: Classic VWs, Kustoms / Sleds, Rat Rods, New Muscle Cars, Donks, Trucks, Vintage Luxury German, Supercars, etc.
• In two months I will be holding a newborn girl. Becoming a dad has been the most defining experience of my life. Although it’s hard being a parent, I’ve yet to find a life experience that’s as rewarding and affirming as parenthood. I’m eager to see Norah interact with a little sister. Norah has a lot of love. She takes care of her baby dolls like you would not believe. Whenever she can’t find one of them, she’s an absolute mess. Every Sunday at Mass, Norah looks up a the crucifix and opens her arms wide and says, “hug me.”  There’s just so much love beaming out of that 2-year old.
• There are many adults who work at this Starbucks. Seriously, I’ve seen several well put together people in their 30s serve coffee here this afternoon.
• Mom blogs. Candyce is addicted to blogs run by hip housewives and mothers.  Every time I get on the computer, I see a dozen open tabs in the browser, each featuring a different beautiful mom writing about her life experiences. After a year of this, it’s become easy for me to believe that moms rule the Internet.
• Twilight. I don’t care about these movies at all. Perhaps I’ve reached that point of adulthood where I am not expected to understand why these movies are popular. I suppose I could watch them and see what the fuss is all about, but again, I don’t care about these movies at all.
• Amusement. Last weekend I rode roller coasters in San Antonio and then played in a water park in Phoenix. Lots of fun. I will say that 1 out of every 5 adults at the resort’s water park had a tattoo. The wave pool looked like a flooded biker rally.

Alright, my coffee is all sipped-up. Time to pick up my phone and ride my bike home.

Here are quotes from the interview, highlighted with my favorite lines and my thoughts:

s: Your mission statement declares we’ve “demonized dirt” and made “work” a dirty word. How do we make up for it?

mr: I’m no expert, but my theory is that these changes happened very, very slowly and on a lot of different fronts. How we got to the point where the idea of getting dirty and working hard felt like a sucker’s bet, that’s part Madison Avenue, part Silicon Valley, part pop culture, part American Idol —an amalgam of reward mechanisms that celebrate the exact opposite thing of actual hard work.

My Thoughts: In a blog I wrote a couple years ago called Desiring Money vs. Making Money, I explained that more is required to becoming “rich” than to desire a lot of money. Specifically, you must WORK HARD. If you do not have the fortitude and endurance to work hard, you’re just lost in your delusion of grandeur.

s: Is it as simple as putting away our hand sanitizer and getting dirty?
mr: You can follow your bliss however you want in your life, but maybe that’s not the best way to choose a job or a career. Nobody follows their passion into waste water treatment or window washing. You do it because you’re hungry and you’ve found a job nobody else wants to do, and then you do it well, with a good attitude, with an entrepreneurial spirit. People are going to need to be willing to do work for work’s sake and find their happiness in learning to enjoy a job that they might not have dreamed about their entire lives. And that’s OK. There’s nothing wrong with hard work or a dirty job. I can’t tell you how many millionaires I’ve met who are covered in crap.

My Thoughts: The problem with many “dream jobs” is they are often just fantasies. I know this my sound very un-American, but it’s true. Example: last week I overheard a college student explain that all he wanted to do was play his guitar and hang out at the beach. And that the most he’d be willing to work was 15 hours each week. Every young person has a fantasy lifestyle+job like this, but all the dreaming in the world won’t make these jobs come true for millions of people just because they want them.

s: So it’s only blue collar jobs that are underappreciated?
mr: I think the big lie is accepting the notion that there are blue and white collar jobs. What I’ve learned from Dirty Jobs and talking with the people I’ve worked with, all of whom seem to line up in that blue collar category, is that this is a false distinction. What’s going on is not really between blue and white collar; it’s actually between an employee mentality and an entrepreneurial mentality. Many of the people on Dirty Jobs seem, at first blush, to fit the employee model, except they just drew a really short straw so they’re on some factory line covered in somebody else’s crap.

s: And a lot of those people on the factory line aren’t exactly smiling.
mr: Yeah, I’ll grant you that there are plenty of people out there covered in crap who are miserable if you’ll give me that there are plenty of people wearing a suit and tie who are drones. Let’s take the drudgery and the drones and push them to the side and admit that these are the people who, basically, fit the employee model. The more interesting model is the entrepreneur. The blind spot that we have right now, socially, is that we don’t look at entrepreneurs and associate them with dirt. We associate them with private jets, and that’s dangerous fiction.

My Thoughts: Amen!

Pharell’s bike, on the other hand, is a fresh take on a vintage bike. Not another tough guy chopper. All executed with thoughtful, subtle details. Well done!

So what you are looking at here is a not just a car. It represents my affection for the Magnum and my wife’s admirable ability to keep our lives tidy.

Highlights from the trip:

1. The Hotel. Our view of the Houston Skyline from the Hilton was gorgeous. Other perks were the top floor pool and complimentary car service. Across the street was a beautiful city park called Discovery Green where Norah could be entertained by the splash pads and the mega-playground. Plus we ate at the park’s two Dwell-like restaurants: The Grove and The Lake House.
2. Downtown Living. It was fun to explore the city to see what it would be like to live there. We did the whole deal: museums, cafes, shops, and parks. You can see from the photos below that it’s a beautiful downtown that feels older than most people would have guessed. Like many Western cities, unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of residents downtown. Lots of buildings, not many people.
3. Norah speaks. Norah’s vocabulary and enunciation seems to have improved in the past couple of weeks. She now calls me Dah-Deee! instead of Dah-Dah. She now refers to herself as Nah-Nah whenever she needs something. Every time the train passed by us in downtown Houston, Norah would tap her chest with her little hand and say Nah-Nah to let us know that she really wanted to ride the train. It’s adorable. Another cute one: hmmm has become shyesh (yes). These little words just fill me with joy like you can’t even imagine.
4. Lovely Woodlands. Seriously, if you have to plan a suburb, do it like The Woodlands. All big retail stores and their parking lots are hidden from the main streets with a 100-foot deep band of forest. Signs are low to the ground and not tacky. Plus they have a newly built downtown that should have been featured in my previous blog series called Suburban Shopping that Doesn’t Suck. (Read it: Part 1, 2, and 3.) I could go on about the details, but the end result is a suburb that doesn’t feel like a generic suburb. It feels like a charming forest.

Right now I am at the courthouse in downtown Phoenix because I’ve been summoned for jury duty. I’ve postponed this whole deal three times now because of big responsibilities with school, family, and work. But now it’s my time to come and do my duty. So far, I’ve just checked in and nobody has spoken to me since. I’m glad I brought my laptop so I can distract myself from the celebrity gossip that’s booming out of the television that’s strapped to the wall.

Here are photos from the trip:

Market Street near my hotel and the Palm Beach Convention Center in Florida. Saturday June 19, 2010

View from my hotel window. Rochester, Minnesota. Saturday, July 17, 2010

]]> http://supafly.com/two-photos-two-steubenville-conferences/feed/ 0 http://supafly.com/july-4th-in-carlsbad-ca/ http://supafly.com/july-4th-in-carlsbad-ca/#comments Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:39:29 +0000 Matt http://supafly.com/?p=2236 It’s been an awesome few weeks: first Palm Beach, then Covecrest, then Hiawassee, then Carlsbad. Now we’re back in Phoenix. Here’s photos from the past week in Carlsbad.

The most obvious is that I chose to enroll in graduate school to earn my MBA. I know it’s cliché, but when the economy takes a plunge, people go back to school because there is not much room for growth in the job market. Or because it’s not clear whether or not their company will be strong enough to endure the recession.  Although both of these fears rattled around in my head, the primary reason I went back to school was because I wanted to get a graduate degree before my family got any larger. I had flirted with the idea two years prior, but it was more important to focus on wedding, a new marriage, a baby…

The Crisis had impact other parts of my life as well. The story isn’t over yet, but one could guess that it’s been difficult for me and everyone else was invested in land, houses, or buildings. I don’t have enough time or humility to write any more about it, but I will say that I had to redirect my creativity and passion for building into new things.

I focused intensely on building Life Teen into a better organization through innovative websites that served as tools for our staff. Plus I tried to improve my level of professionalism, time management, and to improve the projects where I collaborated with other teams. Of course, these were not new priorities to me, but how I did it changed—I invested all of my creativity and passion because it had nowhere else to go.

Finally, I focused more on my relationships, particularly with Candyce and Norah. I know this should be an obvious choice for a husband and father, but it’s easy to be distracted by the “projects of life” and miss those golden moments with my family. A product of this refocusing on the family was Candyce and I starting a small ministry for newlywed couples. We figured that we weren’t the only couple to struggle in our first year of marriage, so we decided to do what we could to help younger couples through the challenges of early marriage. So far we’ve worked with four couples and it’s been terrific. Again, this is a different type of building and investing for me.

In the end, I think the biggest lesson that I’ve learned from the Financial Crisis is that success is not the guaranteed outcome of hardworking people. Plus once you have success, it’s not permanent. I guess the good news is that the inverse is also not guaranteed: that hardworking people can achieve success, and that depression is not permanent. Regardless of how you look at it, I’m not going to reduce life to a series of investments. Life is too good to be wasted obsessing over money.

Here’s what I love about this truck:

• Great paint! Go big or go home
• He kept the Chevrolet name on the hood and the emblems on the front fenders.
• Shaved the sideview mirrors
• Kept the chrome trim that stretches from the front bumper over the wheel wells all the way back to the tailgate. Most custom trucks of this generation will remove this trim and the truck loses it’s form.
• The front grill and bumper were painted white. My guess is that the grill was reshaped and maybe even welded to the bumper.

This past weekend I was in Palm Beach, Florida…then to Atlanta, Georgia…then to Tiger. After our time here at camp, it’s to Hiawassee to see my parents. Then down to Atlanta to catch a flight to Carlsbad to spend time with Candyce’s family. Part of me wonders if I could ever live up here in the mountains of North Georgia again. The weather is nice, the mountains are beautiful, and there are plenty of things to do in the outdoors. I’m not seriously thinking about moving any time soon, but I am beginning to realize that my happiness is found anywhere that I take my little family.

A couple weeks ago, we launched the site live in front of a crowd of 620 at the Life Teen Training Convention at the Double Tree Resort early in June. I did my best to introduce the site with the same time-honored skills as Steve Jobs without looking like I was copying him.

I want to share some notable upgrades to the new site:

1. WordPress. It’s a solid foundation for any dynamic website. WordPress makes it easy to publish and organize content so that users can find what they’re looking for; it’s a simple expectation of a website, but it’s difficult to accomplish. I’m told that other stuff is just is good if not better, but I’m having too much fun succeeding with WordPress to bother looking into the other guy’s stuff.
2. Simple Graphics. On the previous version of the site, I over-designed the header, navigation, footer, and background because most of our original content was dull text. The site needed punchy graphics or it would not have been worth visiting a second time. After several years of expanding into new types of content, the site’s graphics began to compete with the content. Too much was going on. I believe that the new look gives just enough punch to make the site interesting to look at but it still doesn’t distract you from the content of the site: blogs, videos, podcasts, and photos.
3. Primary Navigation with Megapanels. Through the design and development of the site, we found that several big-time websites had simplified their navigation by creating “drop down” menus that were huge: Lowes, HGTV, Food Network, Ikea. The best navigation that really drew my curiosity went beyond classic drop down menus to design “mini-sites” on each panel with cool graphics and catchy copy. I think we did this and more with our megapanels.
4. Seasonal Navigation. This is a big deal. We’ve always had seasonal content that meets users where they’re at during the year, but we’ve never had seasonal navigation. For instance, nobody is thinking about registering for summer camp in the fall and winter, so why did are we crowding the website links to those sections? I couldn’t tell you. But we’ve learned from our mistakes and now the site is simple and useful year-round.
5. Innovative Navigation. We decided to take all of the “sections for grownups” and eliminate them from the site altogether: Contact Us, Summer Camps, Edge, Donate, and Conferences. Now they’re found through a single link at the top of the page: “Grown-ups: find what you’re looking for here.”
6. Many Many Faces. There are 1000s of faces of teens, dozens of faces of contributing writers, and no author has their own button. This means that the site represents more the larger movement of Life Teen and not the “columns” of a small group of writers.

There’s a lot more I could write, but Norah is tossing around on the couch which means I don’t have much more time to write. So I’ll finish with this…

I designed the last version of LifeTeen.com in 2002 and early 2003 and, after much trepidation, it finally launched in early 2005. Over the last five years, we launched other websites that strengthened the organization. All the while good old LifeTeen.com was always fresh with content, but the site as a whole was losing its cool points.

Looking back, a big reason the site was losing it’s coolness was because I did the very thing I swore I’d never do—creating buttons on the homepage to please everyone. It was good to keep people happy within our organization, but it came at a cost. The site became cluttered with things teens didn’t care about and eventually many of them just stopped coming back.

My hope with the new site is that more people will come back because they feel like the site adds richness to their lives. I am enjoying being away from the office, but I know that when I get back into town it will be fun to meet with my team and start dreaming about the content for the rest of the year.

Our case discussion that followed Game 2 was lively and packed with emotion. The professor’s confidence grew because she believed she was leading a particularly stimulating discussion, when in reality she was feeling the spill over of emotion from sports fans that were stuck in a class room during the playoffs.

This blog is over…time to get back to preparing for tonight’s Finance final.

• Grad school: 3 midterms, 3 group projects. 4 weeks left until I’m done with the first year
• Easter!
• Picnic lunches at the playground
• We heard the new baby’s heartbeat. Beautiful.
• Third anniversary: a weekend escape in Scottsdale
• Lawn: Seriously, my lawn looks awesome. It’s actually better than the doctor who lives next door.
• Launched a new web project: lifeteen.com/mystory
• Running with Candyce and Norah as often as possible. Enjoying the mild spring weather before summer hits.
• Dinner party at the Berghoffs
• Hosted a massive meeting at work.
• Organized and hosted a team-building activity at work.
• Watched the Suns lose to the Blazers in the first game of the playoffs. I am sad but not discouraged.
• Obsessing over the 2011 Chrysler 300. What will it look like? I think about this way too much.

…and now, back to work…

Here’s a cool Chrysler 300 that’s for sale here locally in Phoenix. I love the big rims and ride height.

How can you not love what Chrysler/Dodge has done in the past several years? The Dodge Magnum, Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Dodge Challenger are all cool cars that ordinary guys can afford. It’s a shame that the company’s ownership has changed so many times in the past decade. It makes it harder to embrace their cars when don’t know who’s in charge. To use a sports analogy, it’s hard to cheer for a team if they change coaches every other season.

A cool custom Dodge Challenger…

The photos you are looking at below are of that old home became. It has some styling inspired by the mid-century modern homes, but doesn’t stay confined by the original home’s lines. It’s better looking and more livable than ever. (And now it’s definitely out of my price range.) I’m sharing the photos here on my blog mostly because I like looking at ‘em.

It’s become a tradition for our friends and family to make the 45 minute drive across town to enjoy an afternoon in Verrado.  (To my knowledge, we are the only group people I know who makes this trip. My guess is that more people would do it if they knew about this place.) Our most recent trip a few weeks ago happened to be Founder’s Day, a annual celebration where residents flood the streets and gather at the central park for a locals-only talent show and a free concert. Last year it was the Beach Boys, this year it was the Big Bad Voo Doo Daddies–the swing band that did well in the 1990s.

So in one day we toured model homes, ate at at a wine bar, and picnicked in the park while watching a concert. It was quite a day! I snapped some photos along the way of my favorite architectural details within the neighborhoods. Click on the thumbnails below for bigger photos with captions…

1. Vespa Rocking Horse

Make no mistake: children love rocking horses. It’s about as much on-demand fun and adventure as a year-and-half-year-old can have imagine. It seams to me that rocking horses seem to come in two varieties. 1) The traditional wood “old timey” horse that is often uncomfortable and easy to break 2) The cheap plastic horse that’s is surprisingly durable and comfortable but still remarkably tacky. <– We have that one. My hope is that later in life I’ll be able to build a beautiful Vespa rocking horse like this one:

2. The LCD TV Easel from Restoration Hardware

Televisions may forever be a source of pride and insecurity for Americans. I recently read an article in an interior design magazine that asked ten hardworking designers how they address the sensitive issue of putting a massive blabber-box in a well-appointed living space. They only had two solutions: hide it or put it on display for all to see. What is interesting is that when they presented their solution, every designer—every designer—began their answer with a disclaimer.

1. “Since we’ll use it all the time, why hide it?”  -or-
2. “Since it’s a hideous black hole hung on the wall, we had not option but to hide it.”

There just didn’t seem to be a solution that was free of insecurity. Or maybe there is a solution. Check out Restoration Hardware’s TV stand that’s inspired by an artists easel.

Here’s why this works. You look artsy without having to commit to purchasing a piece of art. (I know that my art school friends hate what I just wrote, but I am of the sophisticated crowd composed of art patrons who believe that modern art is garbage. Garbauge.) Plus you can hook up an Apple TV and you have yourself a dynamic family photo album. What could be better?

3. Salt, Pepper, Sweets

Have you ever seen a fancy marker rendering of a new restaurant concept? You’ll never see salt and peppers shakers on the tabletops. Why? Because these tacky necessities interrupt the visual cleanliness of a restaurant’s dining area. It’s for the same reason that you will never see a rendering of a concept car that includes door handles, antennas, or windshield wipers. In other words, they just don’t look cool. I snapped this photo at Postino Wine Bar in Arcadia (Phoenix).

The slip of paper that reads “Gum Here” is a brilliant idea. For one, it’s punchy and clever… it adds an emotional lift in an unexpected place. Two, it’s a clean piece of paper for writing down phone numbers of new friends. Three, it helps the restaurant save money—little by little—by discouraging patrons from wrapping their A.B.C.* gum with a perfectly good packet of sugar.

4. McDonalds, Detroit Airport

McD’s is not a popular destination for hip people and they know that. It seems like McDonalds is trying to fix that. One example is an atrocious McDonalds near my home that was given a “spa-treatment” with acres of natural stone and earth-toned paint. They even had a “water feature” that tried hard to convince patrons that they’re eating cheese burgers by a babbling brook. You might actually think after reading those words that this could in fact be an improvement on the colorful plasticy interiors of most McD’s. But it was certainly not an improvement. One word: ridiculous.

However, the McDonalds in the Detroit Airport actually got a visual upgrade and looks better than most.

5. Water Closet

Okay, let’s get this out there: photographs snapped in bathrooms are of any worth to our civilization. There are few exceptions to this rule, and you are looking at one of them. Why did I take this photo? It’s a simple yet clever reinvention of the least-glamorous corner of our lives.

(Have you ever dropped your phone in the toilet? Don’t laugh—because it could happen to you. This doesn’t just happen to those who choose to multi-task by chattering with unsuspecting friends. No, if your phone has ever fallen out of your pocket while sitting on the couch, know that the same thing can happen on a porcelain throne. This is an issue of gravity. With gravity always comes drama.)

Here you have a discreet tray for you phone, keys, whatever. It’s there if you need it. It can be ignored if you don’t.

6. This Shed

This is a small but cool picnic area in the charming Agritopia community outside of Phoenix. What I love about this structure is the attention to detail. Take a closer look…

7. This Truck

This is the most interesting truck at the car show in midtown Phoenix last fall. A four-door (stock, I presume) Chevy C-10 from the late 1950s with a drastically altered suspension. It’s amazing to see that airbag suspension and big rims can make a previously unexciting pickup into something unique and cool.

On my dining room table I have a ten-inch stack of black binders filled with documents, notes, and assignments. Depending on which of my three classes I’m preparing for, I’ll start my day by fishing out two binders and begin working. I’m expected to master all of the knowledge about accounting, global marketing, and economics. It’s exhausting. Within two days I’ll be finished with these three subjects and I’ll have four days off until we start a new trimester.

Yesterday my sister Katie and her husband Brian have a new little baby named Jack David back in Georgia. I know that those two names will be with me for the rest of my life. Also yesterday others in my family attended a funeral in Arizona for my unborn nephew named Kolbe Michael. How do you write about these two experiences? There is such joy and pain in the hearts of people who are so close to me. I have not reconciled the juxtaposition of these two events. I’m lost in the emotions of both.

(Out the window to my right is the coast of Southern California with a few islands scattered in the distance.)

My father is now home safe after a two-week trip with Eric Martin to Haiti to help with the earthquake recovery efforts. He was deeply moved by his experience. We’ve spoken on the phone a few time since he’s returned home, but I believe the complexity of his experience cannot be communicated over the phone. I’ll be seeing him in a couple of weeks and I’m anxious to spend time with him and hear his stories.

I can’t wait to get home and be with Candyce and Norah again. It’s only been 36 hours but I miss them so much.

But before I move on, let’s talk about the privilege of having a job. I think it’s only fair that if you are employed right now, you should stop and be thankful for what you have. Be positive in your workplace and do good work. There are many people who would love to have your “worries” in exchange for a paycheck. As my barber told me yesterday: “I complained that I had no shoes until I met a man with no feet.”

I am NOT excited to restart classes in the MBA program. I’ve needed this winter break like Wall Street needed a bailout. The high expectations of both school and work totally wore me out in the last months of 2009, and I cannot say that I’ve regained my strength. But like it or not, I have an accounting class on Wednesday.

Sometimes I get confused about how to make priorities in this messy world. I mean, right now there are countless people buried alive in the rubble in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The earthquake has left people with so much suffering…I cannot even imagine. I got home from work yesterday and turned on the news to get a more up close look at what people were going through. The news reporter told the story of a man who lost is wife beneath a collapsed building. The husband pressed his hand against a the rubble and held his ear to a concrete slab hoping to hear her tapping below. The tapping came and went. The husband and the rescue workers prayed and dug. The segment ended with the sad reality that they had not found his wife.

The thought of losing Candyce or Norah shreds my heart. I cannot imagine the pain this guy is experiencing. At this very moment, I am sure he is still digging for his wife. Me? I am at here at Starbucks at the airport typing on my laptop. What’s my biggest problem right now? I don’t want to go to class. What’s your problem?

How am I supposed to reconcile my life of privilege with the misfortune of others?

I don’t know if there is a clear way to keep my own life moving forward while still caring for the rest of the planet. I do what I can, even if it’s not enough. …I pray for those in need. I donate money to worthy causes…I volunteer my time…I try to be a caring friend and neighbor.

I try not to get enthralled in the dazzle of the material world. Because it’s hard to be a genuine person if you are easily impressed by fortune and fame. I do try to be successful in what I do–career, education, investments–but I constantly remind myself that this too shall pass.

Ultimately, I try to be the best husband and father that I can be. If every man made their family their top priority, much of our society’s ills would wash away.

::::

Honestly, I am still unsettled about this. About how to make daily priorities in such a messy world. I need to pray more about this. And right now I need to finish this so I can get on my plane. Boston here I come.

Unfortunately, the recess just does not function well with a modern-day flat panel television. Most homeowners in the neighborhood choose to hang their TVs above their fireplace because there it is centered in the room and has ample width for wide screens.

My goal was to build a cabinet within the recess that would hide the family’s TV junk like the DVD player, Blu Ray Player, X-Box, Wii, and Tivo. Plus, there needed to be plenty of room for the gaming accessories including the DJ Hero turntable, Rock Band instruments, and the numerous game controllers. I felt like that corner of the home had way too much packed into it and it always stressed me out. Plus everyone tripped over the stuff on their way out the back door. It was a hot mess.

So take a look at the photos…after the click, be sure to read the notes on the lower left.

I chose to use Pine for the shelves and Oak stained gray and then weathered for the exterior. I felt that the room had too many competing warm wood tone and I didn’t want to add yet another. The weathered gray also looks like driftwood that gathers on the shore. It’s casual and beachy.

Some details I added:

• Full-extension drawers
• Drilled holes with routed edges at the back center of each shelf. This makes it easy to feed wires up and down the cabinet
• The top half houses the media units that generate a lot of heat. The doors for this area will have stamped aluminum faces that will allow for plenty of air circulation.
• I plan on building custom bins made of Poplar to store DVDs, games, and controllers. Two bins will fit side-by-side on two shelves.

I believe that I would’ve gotten the project finished had it not been for the rain that slowed the drying of the stain on the wood. I look forward to finishing it in the future.

Before I move forward, I feel like I need to give some context here. I was raised on a farm and I know what it means to work hard. Those formative years set a high standard for myself that has never wavered; I have always worked hard at home, school, or at work. For me, working hard and with passion brings elevated meaning to even the most ordinary tasks. Anyone who knows me will be quick to tell you that I work with purpose and fervor. This will never change.

But what set 2009 apart from each previous year of hard work was that I was more deliberate with managing the twelve months of the year and the five days in a workweek. In short, I always began with the end in mind. I was focused on short- and long-term goals through each day of the past 364 days of this year. It was my most masterfully executed calendar year since graduating college. This allowed me to accomplish each of my New Year’s resolutions plus my massive professional workload.

So was all that work worth it? I guess that’s the big question that deep down I want to find an answer for and why I’m writing about the subject. If all I wanted to do was to publish my accomplishments this year, it would be simple enough to copy and paste all of my completed to-do lists from the year. But at the moment I am heavy with exhaustion that’s entirely unpleasant. I’m burned out. It is hard to know if it was worth it.

Here are my thoughts:

1. I doubt that everyone on my team at work appreciates what I’ve given to our organization over the past twelve months. That’s okay, because everyone was busy with their own work and they didn’t have the time to stop and appreciate my effort. As with most things in life, I will just have to be patient to see the impact of my labor. The reward won’t come with a bonus (we don’t have bonuses) or a promotion (we don’t have promotions), but with seeing our ministry grow and excel.
2. Part of the reason I worked so hard this year was because I wanted to see if I could do it. I know that the professional athletes that I most admire succeed because of their legendary effort, and I wanted to see if I could apply the same drive to my own life. I can say without a doubt that I gave legendary effort in 2009. Unlike professional athletes—however–I have no post-season where my team enters the playoffs and primed to dominate other teams. There is no deciding game where the victors hold the championship trophy high above their heads. Nobody gets the MVP trophy in my world. This kinda sucks.
3. Working so hard can make you self-absorbed. I started to think that the only thing that mattered on this planet is the stuff that I had to get done. It was hard to spontaneously make time to help friends when my schedule was packed so tightly. Plus when you’re consumed with ambition for twelve straight months, you don’t have much to talk about other than the stuff you’re doing. I wonder if I was a bore to listen to for a whole year.
4. It’s hard to live in the moment. One example that comes to mind was when Candyce drove me to the airport. I had just finished my midterm at school the night before and was soon going out of town for a long weekend. I knew that as soon as I returned, I would be preparing for class assignments for another five days straight. So that 20-minute drive to the airport should’ve been spent just enjoying the company of my kind and beautiful wife. But instead I was completely consumed with the next seven days. I got on the airplane feeling lonely and unfulfilled.
5. Let there be no confusion here: getting a master’s degree while still working full time is difficult for anyone, but especially for a married man with a family. I know that many people have done it before me, so I try not to get too intimidated by the insane amount of work I have to do each day. But I’ve learned that an overbooked lifestyle starts to make you feel like someone else is running your life. It’s ironic, isn’t it? I started this whole thing so that I could get my control over my future.

So there you have it—a blog update from an exhausted man after a long year of hard work. I would like to come up with a clever way to pull this whole thing together, but I’m out of energy. The end.

::::

I was happy to Dad’s campaign manager. I handled his media strategy including web and print campaign materials.

Here are a couple items I designed:

Campaign Flier, photograph by Laura Womack

Campaign Yard Sign

I am vaguely aware that the World Series will be soon. I just went downstairs to get some water and saw that the Yankees might knock out the Angels tonight and progress to the World Series. I haven’t watched baseball in sometime. Actually, I haven’t watched much of anything. I am excited to not have class later this week. I’ll take off a few days from work and get out of town and try to find my equilibrium again.

You like the idea of a challenge because it tugs on your ego’s desire to accomplish something you didn’t know you could. That’s why it is easy to get drawn into tales of others overcoming challenges. But make no mistake, when you are in the middle of a challenge, it sucks. I do keep an attitude of gratitude, but the reality is there is no romance in being pulled in three directions all day. I don’t feel like a hero or a champion. I feel tired.

My ride from Essex to Detroit was pleasant because of the company of my driver, a man named Rene who drove a brand new Chrysler 300—a retirement gift that Chrysler gave him. We talked about the complexity of Labor Unions, and the inability of American automakers to stay competitive with foreign carmakers.

One of the unexpected subplots of my life as an adult is recognizing trends that I willfully ignore. Maybe it’s that adulthood frees me from blindly following the crowd, that is, I am too busy to care. My list includes, but is not limited to, the following: American Idol, skinny jeans, Survivor + 95% of all other reality shows—including my own show—the Real World, and American Idol. The newest addition to this list is the book/movie Twilight. These are facets of modern day pop culture that I am completely comfortable knowing nothing about. I don’t beat people over the head with my gleeful ignorance. Again, who has the time?

The reason why I bring this up is because I’m sitting at the Detroit airport waiting for my connection to Chicago before I’m back in Phoenix. I spent 10 minutes at the magazine stand amusing my mind with words and pictures of pop culture. Twilight is the new thing and I expect that I’ll eventually have to figure why these teenage vampire movies have the attention of every high school girl so I won’t be considered out of touch. But I’m in no hurry.

I moved to the “grown up” magazine section. I read in Time Magazine that Detroit has a 29% unemployment rate. That is one out of every three people who want a job do not have a job. It makes the national unemployment rate of 9.5-10% look like good times. Part of our drive on the outskirts of Detroit was particularly dismal. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to live here. I don’t want pick on the city anymore, but it’s clear that the decay of Detroit is real and shows no sign of stopping.

It’s remarkable how much cities can change. Downtown Tempe, once a mecca for nightlife and shopping, is no longer a worthwhile option. People would much rather go to Phoenix or Scottsdale to spend money and be seen. I’ve read many articles about the evolution of Downtown Tempe, but it doesn’t seem like anyone knows why the trendy college town just kind of went away.

So I ate at Ruby Tuesday this afternoon here at the Detroit airport. I felt like I owed them a trip because they’ve worked so hard to entice 20 and 30somethings into their establishment with a new menu and a drastically upgrade to their restaurant ‘s image. In short, it seems like they ditched their whole concept and started over. I’m assuming everything is new because I have no personal encounter with the “before” version of Ruby Tuesday, only this afternoon’s “after”.

For my entire life, I’ve never been able to tell the difference between TGIFridays, Ruby Tuesday, and Chili’s, and where applicable, Benegins. My indifference towards these establishments has not always been rooted in snobbery. When I was young, we were too poor to eat there on the rare occasion we traveled out of our small country town. By the time I grew up and had enough of my own money to go out to eat, the last thing I wanted to do in my new big city was to patronize restaurants that became famous for serving predictable food within 100-yards of a suburban shopping mall. So for an entire decade now, I’ve ignored these restaurants.

On the drive from Arcadia to the airport on Friday, Candyce and I passed a new Ruby Tuesday next to an equally new Aloft Hotel (W Hotel’s new line) along Phoenix’s newly Light Rail. It was an impressively urban “Creative Class” snapshot. My vanity was tugged with curiosity. So 24 hours later I ate at Ruby Tuesday here at the Detroit Airport. It was a good meal inside an airport, but I don’t think I’ll make it my Saturday night destination any time soon.

Well, that’s it for me. It’s time to get on the airplane and start studying for my Statistics midterm.

Photos of a random car show we stumbled upon in between Megan and Bradly’s wedding and wedding reception. After clicking on the thumbnails, look for a description on the lower left.

We traveled to Atlanta + Tiger, San Diego, Tucson, and Prescott (and hopefully back to San Diego later this week.) Somewhere in there I went to Ohio for a weekend. I am infinitely thankful that Candyce and I planned out the summer back in early May, otherwise this summer would’ve felt like our lives were spinning out of control. Our planning paid off because our summer was fun and rewarding, even when you throw in the fact that Candyce and Norah have been sick…

…after several days of worsening head and sinus pain, I took Candyce to urgent care last Thursday. The doctor told us she had sinusitis. The prayers and antibiotics have combined to help her get better each day for the past five days. Norah had two bad weeks of teething that coincided with Candyce’s sickness. That meant both of my girls were in pain and sleep deprived, which ultimately meant they had no patience for one another.

I had to stop all of my projects and just try to hold our household together. I had to cook, clean, care, and coordinate. (I don’t think that it’s cute that each of those words started with a C. It just came out that way.) Thankfully they’re both feeling better now, and most of our weekend was spent trying to get our lives back in order.

Last night at Pei Wei Candyce’s aunt Stephanie declared that she could beat Candyce’s dad in an arm wrestling match. It seemed unfair to let a challenge like this go without resolution, so I used my force of personality to get two adults to clear plates off the table to make room for the main event. Big John Stud pinned her to the table in a matter of seconds. Next match up? Big John Stud v. Johnny Jr.–tied. At this point I realized John was tired and therefore easier to conquer. I figured I’d impress Candyce and challenged the Grizzly to go knuckle to knuckle. John pinned me with both his left and right arms. He’s just that strong. We spent the 10 minute ride home challenging John to increase his fame by arm wrestling random people we know. It was an oddly satisfying end to the Sabbath.

Dad removes the tacky tile that will soon be replaced by travertine.

Once the floors were stripped down to the concrete foundation, I laid most of the the tile in a 16-hour marathon that began at 6pm and ended at 10am the following day.  The tile needed to get done ASAP so my brother could install the baseboards in the great room.

The good news is that my hard work paid off–my brother began the baseboards the next morning and the remodel continued on. The bad news is that the grout between the tiles “sunk” as it dried which made the tiles look uneven. I don’t know if the grout sunk because it was too thin and seeped beneath the tile, or maybe the dry Arizona air pulled the moisture out of the grout and caused it to lose volume. Regardless, the end result was a floor that looked good, but it didn’t look great. It wasn’t a priority at the time to apply more grout and make it perfect, so I left it as it was.

Now that the remodeling finished–18 months later–I’ve made my rounds and regrouted and sealed/polished the tile. Here are photos of what I did over the last couple of weekends…click on the small image and look for a detailed description on the bottom…

Now it’s time to clean the other side of the great room. It’s going to be a busy Saturday afternoon.

(I am beginning to see that the inside of my house and my website use the same color palette. That means I’m either consistent or boring.)

Now that we have refrigeration, Candyce and I no longer living out of a picnic cooler. Life is beautiful.

I want to re-state a critical part of this whole ordeal because I do not want anyone to miss it. I called a half-dozen friends to see if they could help me pickup the new fridge. Everyone had something going on and were not able to help. After thirty minutes and no help, I posted the following Facebook status:

Can one of my manly man friends help me move a fridge? It’s big and heavy, but I have a moving truck and a dolly. I can move it as soon as one of you calls me. 2 hrs max. What’s in it for you? Treasure in heaven AND homemade muffins. Text me if you can help.

I got a call 2 minutes later from Joe B. and soon we were off to get the U-haul. How cool is that?

]]> http://supafly.com/manly-men-move-their-own-fridges/feed/ 0 http://supafly.com/my-favorite-power-tools-hand-tools/ http://supafly.com/my-favorite-power-tools-hand-tools/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:40:29 +0000 Matt http://supafly.com/?p=1897 I’m writing this blog because a lot of my friends have begun work on their newly purchased “bottom of the market” homes and are intimidated by the work ahead yet eager to get started. As I write this, my brother-in-law is preparing to make a once-flooded foreclosed house into a livable home for his wife and young son. He’s texted me a couple times this week asking about tools he can borrow from my arsenal and what tools he should buy on his own. This brings up a big question: What tools does a new homeowner need to buy?

I couldn't have made this paneling without the right tools.

My short answer is buy whatever tools you need.  I don’t like the idea that you need a complete and expansive arsenal of tools before you can get started. Every project demands a different set of tools, so prescribing a “must have” list of tools for an unknown project is misguided. Plus let’s not forget: tools can be expensive. Most of us can only afford one tool at a time.

Having said that, the tools listed below have come from my own needs as a homeowner. These are essentially wood working tools for finish carpentry, wainscoting, and furniture making. Although I did extensive drywall work and tiling throughout my remodel, the tools for those jobs are specialized, single-purpose tools that I won’t cover here.

So friends, here is a quick introduction to 20 versatile tools that will help you do a job that’s both professional and quick.

Power Tools

	01. Electric Drill This one is pretty obvious. Drilling out holes with a hand tool will make your muscles rock-hard, but you’ll waste your day getting the job done. Screwdrivers? You will certainly use a screwdriver with almost every project, but I’ve never met a man who has enough patience to use a screwdriver for an entire project. Save your sanity: buy an electric hand drill. I own a corded drill and a cordless battery powered drill.
	02. Compound Miter Saw This the ultimate power tool for doing finish carpentry. You can make accurate angled cuts for all moulding: baseboards, chair rails, and crown. This saw also makes light work of quickly cutting two-by-fours for framing. Unfortunately, a compound miter saw is expensive, even if you get a cheaper model. So if you aren’t planning on doing a lot of carpentry around the house, a basic miter saw will do a good job.
	03. Circular Saw A circular saw is a must-have tool for anyone working with wood. It’s small and easy to bring with you to different job sites. Although a table saw can make more consistent cuts, you don’t always have space or time to set it up. An added bonus is that a circular saw is one of the more affordable tools.
	04. Table Saw This is essentially a circular saw turned upside inside useful table. The advantage of a table saw is that you are able to make longer cuts–especially on sheets of plywood–straighter and more consistent, thanks to the table surface and the table fence.
	05. Reciprocating Saw This is not a precision cutting instrument, but a furious deconstruction tool. I’ve seen guys use a circular saw to take down a wall because that’s all they’ve had, but reciprocating saw gives better leverage and is more comfortable in your hands. This makes the job quicker and more safe (as long as you don’t cut through pipes and live electrical wires.) In short, if you need to tear it down, use a reciprocating saw. It’s fun.
	06. Shop Vacuum A shop vac is an important tool for a DIYer because it keeps your work space clean. A broom and a dust pan work fine if all you’re doing is cleaning the sawdust off the floor of your garage, but if you do work inside your home where cleanliness is a higher priority, then know that a shop vac is your best friend. An added bonus is that a shop vac can be fastened to some wood working tools to prevent dust from ever touching the ground. In my opinion, the best feature is that many shop vacs work both wet and dry. It’s works as well sucking up drywall dust as it does sucking up dirty puddles of water.
	07. Router A router is a powerful tool that allows the wood worker to make fancy edges, like a curved perimeter of a table top. This is my favorite power tool to use because when I pull it off the shelf in my garage, it means that I am putting the finishing touches on a project that will give it the “wow factor”. If you are planning on doing a lot of trim work on your home (baseboards, crown, chair rail), you can save a lot of money by purchasing ordinary boards and then giving them a fancy routed edge. I used my router to build up layers of wood to make the crown moulding that wraps the top of my kitchen pantry. Keep in mind that the router isn’t just for show. I’ve found that my router was very helpful when I was trying to make clean and consistent recesses in my wood doors for the hinges.
	08. Finish Nailer + Air compressor A hammer is a useful instrument that shouldn’t be forgotten, but it’s not the best tool for putting in every nail. A finish nailer is a low-impact tool for fastening wood pieces to one another. If you plan on doing framing or a larger construction job, be sure to get the more powerful framing nailer. I know there are some battery-powered nailers out there, but I haven’t had a chance to use them yet. I like my air compressor because it is a low-maintenance power source for many of my tools. A convenient tool for removing finishing nails is pair of end nipper pliers.
	09. Random Orbit Sander Let’s get real here–nobody wants to spend an afternoon sanding their wood project. It’s boring and monotonous and you will eventually lose patience and be tempted to skip to rolling on your finish. So if you are expecting to do a lot of remodeling on your home, it’s wise to purchase an electric sander. Bypass the small and limited hobby sanders and sheet sanders and go right for the electric random orbit sander for clean, consistent, and quick results.  It’s worth knowing that you have to purchase specialized sandpaper made specifically for your sander. Although it’s pricier than ordinary sand paper, you can save money by ordering online ahead of time. If you are doing a lot of sanding, it’s wise to pair this sander with your shop vac.
	10. Jig Saw Jig saw is the “tug boat” of my power tools. It may not be big and brutish, but it can make quick curvy cuts that no other power tool can accomplish. If you have children who want to join you on a carpentry project, the jig saw is one of the least dangerous power tools. (Of course, train your child well and keep a close eye on them as they work.)

Hand Tools

	11. Hammer + Prybar The hammer is an obvious tool for a new homeowner. However, a prybar is a handy addition to a hammer because it helps pull stubborn nails from wood. Also, a prybar is a terrific tool for helping lift heavy objects. I’ve used my prybar to lift a heavy pre-hung patio door off the ground while my brother slid in shims to make the door plumb.
	12. Level A level isn’t just for perfectionists! A good level is a convenient straight edge when you want to mark cut lines on a sheet of wood. Plus, a level can help you save time measuring. Let’s say you want to hang three framed photos on the wall 55 inches off the ground. You can measure once and mark your point. Then hold a level to the point horizontally and trace a line from left to right. That’s a lot more efficient than measuring and marking 55 inches three different times.
	13. Tape measure Because who wants to carry a rigid 10-foot ruler around the job site? Note: buy a bright colored tape measure or you will lose it again and again.
	14. Plane This is a small but powerful tool to have at your disposal for when sandpaper seems too weak to remove excess wood. It can be used to smooth out rough wood or to reduced the thickness of a piece of wood. This is an ideal tool for thinning out a wood door that gets stuck in the door frame.
	15. Clamps Want a third hand? That’s what a clamp is for! There are many different types of clamps out there, but the most effective clamp for the work that I’ve done is the pistol grip clamp (or “bar clamp”) because it only requires one hand to properly set the clamp. Buying a clamp is not as exciting as buying a cool new power tool, but I’ve never met a guy who regretted purchasing clamps. They will without a doubt make your job easier.
	16. Sanding Block It’s tempting to start rubbing a flat surface with sandpaper alone, but you will not get consistent results because your hand is a pliable surface. But an inexpensive rubber sanding block can be quickly  wrapped with sandpaper and will return admirable results. However, if your want to sand a curved surface, say excess dried wood filler from the face of crown moulding, try purchasing inexpensive abrasive sponges. They will adjust to the contours of your moulding more consistently than your hand alone. If you have a variety of surfaces to sand, try adhering sand paper to a variety of wood shapes with spray adhesive.
	17. Nail Set Don’t expect to do professional carpentry work if you do not have a nail set. It’s a pretty straight-forward tool. You fix the tip of the nail set on the head of a nail that has already been hammered into the surface. Strike the nail set with a hammer to drive the nail head beneath the surface of the wood. Next, fill the hole with wood putty, let it dry, and then sand the surface smoothly. A good woodworker makes it nearly impossible to detect where he used nails. Note: get a bright colored nail set so you don’t lose it.
	18. Chalk Line/Chalk Box with a String Level A chalk line a smart tool for marking long and straight lines. It’s most obvious use is for snapping lines on sheets of wood or drywall or for marking roofs for shingles, but it’s also good for finding the center of rooms for laying tile. While you are buying a chalk line, look out for a simple metal level that hooks onto your string. Together the tools will help you snap perfect lines.
	19. Miter Box and Saw It’s not necessary to set up the electric miter saw every time you need to cut a 45 degree angle. A classic handsaw and a miter box gets the job done just fine. What I also like about a miter box and saw is that they’re inexpensive–less than $20–and it’s easy to use. New carpenters build their confidence in making angled cuts. (Your whole family can use this set for school and craft projects.) Purists may not like the bright yellow plastic miter box, but these ubiquitous miter boxes come with handy pegs that brace the wood while you cut. Just be sure to screw the miter box into your worktable to keep it from rocking around as you saw.
	20. Chisels Chisels are capable of removing excess wood in narrow or awkward spaces. With proper care, chisels can last for a life time. For what it’s worth, there’s a timeless satisfaction that comes from sharpening your chisels in between woodworking projects. Chisels have been used by generations of woodworkers.

Summary

If you are interested purchasing any of the tools above, consult the the senior staff members in the tool department at your local home store. They can help you find the right tool for your job that works with your budget. Also, spend some time researching online to find out what companies make the most precise and reliable tools. You want to feel confident that the purchase you are going to make is a wise investment for the long haul.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee and listen to Jack Johnson.

Big Design Inspiration in Humble Buildings

A life guard tower in Carlsbad, CA

Before we get into the houses, let’s first stop to appreciate the icon of the beach: the lifeguard tower.  The three details to notice here are the color, and railing, and roof:

1. Color. Over the decades, the Southern California lifeguard towers have always been aqua in colored: power blue, teal blue, teal green, mint green, etc.
2. Railing. Here the railings are modest bent piping, probably stainless steel. Although pipe railings might have reached peak popularity in the 1980s (think art-deco Miami Beach around the time of Miami Vice), they’re still a stylish and low-maintenance option that let you maximize ocean views.
3. Cantilevered Roof. Notice that the roof extends out far beyond the walls of the tower without any structural support. These cantilevered roofs shade the lifeguard from the sun, but they also point the way to the ocean view, a detail you will see in many beach houses. Although you won’t see it in this tower, early lifeguard towers had simple, low-pitched roofs that accentuated the forward-looking overhand.

Now lets take a look at some beachy details on some modest buildings at my favorite campground overlooking the Pacific Ocean. These buildings and structures are important to a DIYer because they are low-cost and simple to build, yet they still glow with beachy details.  Click on the photos below to get large images with detailed descriptions.

What details did we see?

1. Layers of painted woodwork: white and aqua in color
2. Cantilevered roofs / deep overhangs
3. Exposed rafters / no soffit or fascia boards
4. No elaborate wood cuts
5. Slender support posts
6. Staircase posts (or balusters) that attach the the exterior of the staircase and dip below the structure.

Let’s see some of these details from both the lifeguard tower plus beach side buildings and structures can be applied to a home.

Elements of Beach House Design

I snapped this photo below in Leucadia, a beach side community in North County San Diego. Notice the aqua colors and the low-pitched cantilevered roof, both details taken from traditional lifeguard towers. What is interesting here is that this room above the garage doesn’t even have an view of the ocean. The windows facing left open up to the side of their neighbor’s home; the real ocean view on the far side of the home. But the simple details give this low-cost structure an undeniable beachy feel.

A simple home with big charm.

Although the builder used fascia boards to hide the ends of the rafters, he opted not to use soffit boards so the rafters would be exposed. (Look under the overhang by the white door into the home.)

Below is another small but attractive beach house within walking distance to the beach. The details to appreciate here are the low-pitched roof, exposed rafters, white painted trim work, and clerestory windows on the left structure and above doors to the deck. These windows maximize natural sunlight without sacrificing privacy.

Notice too that the deck railing is constructed of both painted and natural wood.

The two photos below are of one of North County’s more remarkable ocean side homes. Clearly, the homeowner had a larger budget than the homes above. But it’s interesting that they did not deviate from the mystique of the lifeguard tower.

The stunning interpretation of a lifeguard tower gives a commanding view of the ocean in the distance.

Notice the multitude of exposed rafter tails.

The front entry is filled with good design.

The photo above reveals a multitude of architectural details.

• Exposed rafters are exposed beyond the roof, capped with galvanized steel to prevent them from rotting.
• Slender support posts that hang below the cement block stair structure.
• Hand rail the uses taught lines of cable, not unlike the cable found on yachts.

Let’s take a look at another well-thought-out home in quiet neighborhood close to Encinitas’s Moonlight Beach. The details to notice cantilevered roof supported by simple four-by-four post. The railing that wraps the deck is similar to the staircases that lead people from the bluff down to the beach.

A small beach house with contemporary leanings.

Again, a cantilevered roof suggests a beautiful view in the distance. But in the case of the home above, the only view is of street-side parking (notice rear window of the black SUV). The home was built on a peculiar plot of land that dipped a good 15 feet beneath the surface of the street. But clever design with well-placed beachy details allowed a charming home to rise out of made a scrappy lot.

Architectural Details

Now let’s take a look at a dozen beach homes and see how they repeat design details.

Ranch House >> Beach House

So how do you apply these architectural details to a home that wasn’t “built for the beach”? Let’s take a look at a straight-forward ranch style home that was redesigned to look like it belonged by the ocean…

My Favorite Home: Modern & Beachy

I want to close with a gallery of one of my favorite homes in San Diego. The architect successfully combined traditional beachy elements like white-painted trim, exposed rafters, steal cable railings, and sunshine-colored siding. But you’ll also find boxy contemporary details including concrete fencing, tall contemporary windows, and the boxy stuccoed structures that wraps the garage and continues along the side of the home. Although this homes leans towards contemporary, it is without a doubt a beach home.

Over the past four weeks, I’ve been a speaker/presenter at three big events: summer camp for junior high kids at Covecrest, a Steubenville Conference for teenagers in Ohio, and the Life Teen Training Convention for adults in Carefree, Arizona. Each stop was a powerful experience of community–people taking time to care for other people. It is good for the soul.