Learning Photoshop and Building Design Portfolio

Learning photoshop, little by little.

From Wikipedia:

"John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1783 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden and cemetery designer, author and garden magazine editor.

Loudon was born in Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland to a respectable farmer. Therefore as he was growing up, he developed a practical knowledge of plants and farming. As a young man, Loudon studied chemistry, botany and agriculture at the University of Edinburgh. When working on the layout of farms in South Scotland he described himself as a landscape planner. This was a time when open field land was being converted from run rig with 'ferm touns' to the landscape of enclosure which now dominates British agriculture.

Loudon was instrumental in the adoption of the term landscape architecture by the modern profession. He took up the term from Gilbert Laing Meason and gave it publicity in his Encyclopedias and in his 1840 book on the Landscape Gardening and Landscape Architecture of the Late Humphry Repton."

This Giraffe has absolutely nothing to do with John Claudius Loudon.


...or does it?

GRE Vocab Study

Book Review - Holy Shit by Gene Logsdon

Today I finished Gene Logsdon's Holy Shit (2010) as part of an ongoing effort to education myself on sustainable farming, which I intend on incorporating into my designs as a landscape architect. The book was entertaining, and provided both philosophical and practical advice on the handling of manure from various sources (cow, pig, man, etc.) I appreciated the author's tongue-in-cheek humor throughout the book, which helped make it an easy read. I also appreciated the short but concise chapters, which suggested to me that Holy Shit was formatted to be read in short sessions in which the reader had some, ahem, quality time on his hands.

The book was especially interesting to me in that Gene seems to be someone who has 'been there' in a way that I have not, though I wish I had. He provides real-life examples of how manure was used and managed during his childhood years as a farmboy, and the imagery is both pleasantly and inspiringly nostalgic. I would love to implement some of the suggestions from the book on my father's few acres in Montgomery, such as using chickens and goats to rejuvenate the soil and building a part-time use outhouse to produce additional compost.

For me, one of the book's most important contributions is the author's support of my ever-growing belief that Landscape Architecture (which often involves creative solutions to ecological problems) is a profession truly and deeply important to the stability of first world countries like mine. I immediately recall Jared Diamond's Collapse as I read Gene Logdon's comparison between the agricultural management practices of ancient fallen civilizations and those of today's first world countries:

"But why did these civilizations fall? Although much more evidence awaits discovery, from this new knowledge of prehistory emerges an unmistakable pattern. Invariably, at the root of every collapse was an agricultural mistake."

And also:

"Societies, becoming successful - that is, being able to dominate their environments to suit their own comforts - lose sight of the vital connection between their daily lives and farming."

Holy Shit provided me knowledge, ideas, and entertainment regarding organic waste recycling practices, and I recommend it to anyone interested in small-scale organic farming. I see it as an important addition to my small but growing personal agricultural canon, and it inspires me to continue my education on the subjects of permaculture and organic recycling.

Windfalls on the Sea of Change

After speaking with staff and faculty at a few colleges and consulting with one of my most trusted friends, I am now leaning heavily towards pursuing an Associate of Applied Science Degree in GIS at ACC in Austin. It's much cheaper than any MLA program and geared towards providing the skills that employers are looking for. It also saves me from having to exhaust the last of my GI bill, which I plan to use for a Masters of Landscape Architecture.

The more I look into GIS, the more I get the sense that this is an extremely valuable degree to have. The skills can be applied to exactly what I want to do in the future, but also to a myriad of jobs and projects that I may find myself interested in or needing under unforeseen circumstances. I also like the idea of its versatility; such a degree would enable me to live securely pretty much anywhere in the world within just a couple years :)

Window Shopping

I've beed doing a lot of soul searching these past few weeks. My plan to live in Austin and apply to MLA programs has been unfolding essentially as I had conceived, but the realities of job hunting as well as talks with architecture school graduates has placed some doubts in my mind as to the job security of architecture.

Recently, I have been tossing around the idea of pursuing an online masters degree in Geographic Information Systems from USC or Penn State. Jobs in GIS are plentiful and will be so for the foreseeable future. Also, while in the Air Force I used GIS programs and could add that experience to a GIS job resume. An online degree would allow me to continue working at my current job, plus the knowledge and skills learned would apply to Landscape Architecture and look good on college application portfolios.

I still have many questions that need answering before I make commitments. Today I am taking a trip to A&M to find out more about Landscape Architecture and future options. Hopefully I will return to Austin with a greater perspective and more prepared to make my next move.

The Winding Road

I arrived in Austin on Friday, March 4th with no job, no real civilian work experience and no place to live. My plan was - and still is - to eek out an existence in Austin while pursuing the skills and experience needed to enter into a Landscape Architecture firm and/or graduate program. Since that Friday, I have secured a hosting job at a highly-frequented Austin restaurant and found a place to live for the next few months. My hosting job pays very little, but, fortunately, the room I will be renting also costs very little, despite its prime central-Austin location. As an added bonus, my new landlord expressed interest in having me design and work on her property's landscape.

Additional work opportunities have also presented themselves, although they are not yet secured. I have been offered part-time work at a growing landscaping and design company owned by a friend of my cousin, and hopefully I will begin that job in the coming weeks. Most promisingly, I have been asked to interview at the Austin corporate headquarters of a MAJOR computer company as a contractor. This job would be a big pay increase with steady, flexible hours, and provide opportunity to be hired directly into the company.

So, all in all, I would say things are going well here in Austin :)

Job Time

Tomorrow I go to Austin to look for a job. I'd like to find something that will teach me skills related to landscape architecture, although I may end up just having to take whatever is available in order to survive. At any rate, it should be an adventure.