A growing number, no longer.

In my previous post I mentioned the possibility of a new job. Now, I can officially say that I've been hired by wHY Architects. My first day is this Tuesday. Their website >>

http://www.why-architecture.com/

This has been a long year. The subject titles since last January been a running count of the number of days since January 16th, when I was cut loose from ZGF. The content of each post over this year has been decidedly blunt, and without much detail. While I was basically just posting links to songs of bands that were shoring up my sanity, I suppose this also reflected a change in personal demeanor. Experiencing the fragility of architecture first hand was a necessary lesson to learn. I concluded a long time ago that something good was going to result from this, and that those subjected to the hardships of a weak economy were going to be judged by their response.

I still vividly remember day four, sitting at home in my sweatpants, coffee in hand, the weather being reliably cold, wet, and dark, feeling tremendously conflicted. It was January 20th, Obama's inauguration. Regardless of your political beliefs, that moment was so thoroughly symbolic; a new direction was on the horizon, and change was imminent. I couldn't have been happier that he had won the election, but obviously would have preferred to have been listening to the event streaming on my headphones, sharing the moment with my similarly enthusiastic friends at work. Somehow, this experience left me feeling far from defeated. Instead, the possibility of change was quite comforting. This was a truly encouraging moment, my mind completely devoid of all cynicism and negativity. The feeling was not doubt, shame or self-loathing. It was liberation.

So 386 days later, I find myself living in Los Angeles. The past year has been a whirlwind of traveling, new projects, studying, and exams. This city is physically larger and more culturally diverse but by no means any more intimidating than anything previously encountered. The future is still uncertain, but when has it not?

Integral to the western spirit is a willingness to be transformed, and since its inception California has remained the primary facilitator of this collective American effort. In short, blind ambition is an assumption. Here, opportunity was literally buried in the ground in flowing in the rivers. Every day people choose to recklessly throw away their past with the hope that something better might lie ahead. Modernity has changed how this pursuit is manifest but it is fundamentally the same. This frontier spirit, as well as a pervasive sense of ethnic and social acceptance is as American as they come. While Oregon helped to initiate this transformation, California will likely propel it forward.