Author: harold

Okay, great book. The living room on the left was cold and stayed too cold for most of the family. So here’s the fixes I think would allow a big, 15 foot ceiling, glass wall-having living room to be warm even in the dead of winter like on this picture.

Triple pane glass seems obvious. It is still simple pane I believe, which is ludicrous in Iowa. The thing is it’s probably super expensive considering the surface to cover. And a lot of details to solve (door hinges?) That would do a whole lot in terms of insulation though.

Green roof! Green roofs are fantastic at insulating and are very resilient to snow so heat would stay inside a lot better (heat goes up, don’t forget) rather than hit the cold concrete ceiling and die. The major problem here, is the structure: to have an efficient 127 foot/40 meters green roof in that weather, you would need a thick one, which means a thicker concrete slab, which means considerable weight added thus, structural questions. I don’t think the current structure would allow it and a thin green roof would probably not be enough change and too much work for it. Still, if the possibility to adjust the structure for it—without changing anything aesthetically— existed, a green roof would be a wonderful addition, allowing residents to sit on top of their house, watching the sun set.

Radiant heat and hardwood floors in the living room. There’s already radiant heat but I’m thinking making it up to date and probably electric instead of water pipes (maintenance gains). I would also make it independent from the other floors so not to make the other rooms extra crispy! Hardwood floors because they are definitely easier to keep at a warm temperature than stones. Also aesthetically I believe they would make the entrance in the living room from the very cave-y stairs going down, even more dramatic. They’re also quite easy to “separate” from the structure so that thermal bridges on the floor would be limited.

Anyway, this unique house will probably deteriorate until someone up the family tree sells the property, fed up by the questions about the Frank Lloyd Wright creation. I hope not.

I’m reading this book (free here), which is the journal of a child witnessing her parents building a house. A Frank Lloyd Wright one.

The Grant House is striking and there’s not a lot of information about it online. Now I’m in the middle of the book which is full of details about how the house was made. How the couple worked. How many years it took. How much hard work it was, and how much they loved doing their own thing. Their relationship with FLW. The letters asking for more information because the blueprints are confusing etc. It’s lovely.

My brain is slurping that shit like a kid eating his ice cream cone on the Venice pier.

So we’re averaging the highest daily cases rate worldwide right now at around 850K new covid-19 patients per day.

We shut down most of the world at around 5K a day.

We just don’t give a damn anymore I guess? The CDC is basically dead to me now.

“Nothing lasts forever”

Oh really? Who said that, Pinocchio? Things can last forever if you let them.

The Eiffel tower. You think it was supposed to last? It was not. Gustave Eiffel initially wanted to destroy it after 20 years. THIS SHIT IS 132 YEARS OLD. Sounds like forever to me.

There’s this house in Japan, made of hemp. It was built in 1698, 323 years ago. Sounds like fucking forever to me.

The oak tree at my parents’ house is 300+ years old. That’s basically being immortal. It’s just a tree telling you that “nothing lasts forever, huh? Watch MAY”. And it is right. That tree is SO right.

Do you know for how long billionaires have money for? Forever. Their entire lifetime times 3, 4, 5. That’s forever money, honey (and that’s fucking stupid, share it you raggedy bitch).

Do you know for how long that ultra popular song is going to be so dope for? That is correct. Forevah.

People who say nothing lasts forever as an end to everything, don’t want to put some mfing work or are basking in entitlement, that’s all.

Making things last forever is dedication and work. And then things quite literally last forever. And it is the most beautiful thing in the world (the Eiffel tower wouldn’t be as iconic if it was just pictures and films today, would it?).

I attended the first day of this brand new festival in town. It was fantastically organized.

Scheduling an appointment was a breeze, just an online form to fill out. 5 minutes. Text message the day before as a reminder.

I was in line for about an hour. I got my drive through shot 30mn after my appointment. Impeccable.

SHOUT OUT TO THE SISTERS AT THE FORUM WHO WORKED THE VACCINATION SITE YALL ARE THE SHIT AND I HOPE YOU GET PAID WELL FOR YOUR OUTSTANDING SERVICE.

(it’s hard to realize when you haven’t lived in multiple countries but America, when it’s time to get shit done at massive scale—vaccination or taking over a country—, is rather good at it; my parents in France are trying to get an appointment and it’s phone-only and they still haven’t been able to get someone on the line lmao)

That’s five year old me on a wall in France. This portrait is still there.

*lands next to 5 year old me, like a super saiyan*

5 year old me: *screams in high pitch, scared as hell*

me: it’s me, you. Just coming from the future. Listen,

*grabs 5 year old me for a hug and puts him back down*

me: It’s going to be okay. You will be fine, smart, in shape etc. It’s going to be super weird around you though. Like, you’ll be at that place in California eating a burger for the equivalent of 100 French francs, a big three-course meal back in the days. Everyone, even homeless folks will have computers in their hands, only they will be more like super-dedicated TV channels than computers as you will learn them. People will have extremely accurate devices talking to them to tell them where to turn right or left on the road and yet, people will drive in the most random ways you can possibly imagine. You will be skilled and fearless about any task to do to make a living or not. You will suck at selling yourself because you’ll spend most of your time trying to get better at everything. Nonetheless, you will be appreciated, liked, loved even. You’ll be loyal and that will make you suffer. But you’ll know that trust is the most beautiful, precious thing between people.

In 2020 though..

5 year old me: *speechless* *blinks*

me: So uh, where to start. I mean you’ll see that movie Akira in a few years. 2020 will be the same as in the animated masterpiece: religions will still be strong, corruption will be rampant and some weird techno-order will reign while people will be sedated with entertainment and mind-altering substances like alcohol. Meanwhile a pandemic will happen and decimate millions worldwide, it’s still happening. Life will make you go through a lot that year. You will do the work and show up for people and people will show up for you. At least one person will and you’ll be forever thankful for her.

In 2021 though..

5 year old me: *about to say something*

me: Sike! It will be the same mess, with some vaccines around.

5 year old me: *frowns*

me: It’ll be alright but you have to know that bad things will happen to people looking like you. Murders, executions. More often than not, by the very people supposed to protect us. It will be “televised”, on camera for everyone to see. No one will really care. It will impact you and the people around you as well as generations to come. This will be very hard to deal with.

*holds 5 year old me for a long hug*

me: But you’ll be resilient and the people around you too. You’ll enjoy your life even though working on good project in a good environment with a good team will be a hard thing to reach. The rat race will be supercharged and most things will be uncertain, despite the fact that we will be so much wealthier then. I know it’s impossible to parse, but three people will “own” more than half the planet, about 4 billion people. Three dudes.

5 year old me: *stares into the void*

me: Stay good, young man. You’ll get where you want to be. You have plenty to offer. Be patient and agile. I love you. In a way you only got you. I got you. Peace!

*puts 2 fingers on forehead, disappears with a swift sound effect*

It’s a lot of pain. It’s just a lot of it.

This masquerade of accountability. Those public performances. I’m so sorry Ma’Khia Bryant.

There are so many layers and interpolations between the news and my intersectionality right now. Being hit by trucks of emotions left, right front and center. I barely flinch. I keep working. Holding my sides when needed.

I’m writing this to remember, when I’ll randomly visit my archives in five years or twenty. Because we will forget all about that 4/20/2021 by the end of the week.

To past-me well, you wouldn’t—I guess I’ll make another post.

I’ve never used you, but I saw you make a lot of black families happy. $10 summer passes. You looked so good in the sun, with your unique shape. I just found out how magnificent you looked from inside:

I know, it’s a building that didn’t get any attention for decades so it was easier to destroy it than to fix it. As usual.

It’s a detail, but the further right windows slide to the left to open up the swimming pool to the air. That 1960s modern slick shit that makes me smile.

You are now gone. Only vibes, indeed. They don’t plan on building a new indoor pool.

I hate gentrification so much.

Saw that on the Digital Cigarette called Twitter:

Right? But I’d go further actually. The common measure of success is basically, in a chart, this:

You make more money and the more you make, the more “successful” you are. Even though we have countless situations reminding us that while money is important, being successful is something else. The fallacy is that at some point the more money you make, the less you live. The other fallacy is to think that large amounts of money will completely change your life. Beloved, millionaires are like you on a Sunday afternoon: in the kitchen, talking shit, bored and scrolling their phones. Also does anyone REALLY care about their job title like that?

This is roughly how I see it. You want to stay as close as possible to the top of those five corners. Either by pushing (getting more skills/money) or pulling (keeping your health and good habits together). I think they’re all fundamental to a good life. Which I believe is to be successful, whatever scale you’re using.

(yes, the New shit to Learn decreases and then comes back up because there’s always something new to learn in life, always)

For instance having all the money and no skills will make you depressed and vile. Having zero money and all the good habits will not make you feel good. Having nothing to learn while having all the skills? Depressed. Obviously, having everything but good health will not make you happy either.

Success in life is a pie chart or a spider chart, it’s multi-dimensional and that’s not a way of seeing it, it’s the reality. Reducing it to a line chart and a one-dimensional perspective (MONNY) is a big mistake.

Don’t do it.