Ego Uber Alles

Yes, I am architect. Licensed and everything. Own my own firm. Have clients who pay. I bill for billable hours. Sometimes bill for unbillable hours (just kidding). Design pretty things. Am hugely underappreciated (aren't we all?) Occasionally get yelled at. Occasionally design things that get built and make it all worth it.

But I'm not going to tell you who I am.

Why? Because professional ethics prevent me from talking about my clients and their projects in any specificity without their expressed consent. So... I'm doing the next best thing -- I'm going undercover.

Why? Because there's just too much to tell. Not metaphorical or unethical dirt, mind you, since I and my clients (for the most part) are deeply ethical and respectable people. Well, there is that one client...

No, for me, an architect, to open up and feel unbound by proprieties and politesse, I crave and require anonimity.

Okay, now that I've finished struttin' and flourishin' for y'all, I would like to tell you a bit about myself... without revealing so many specific details that friends and associates might figure out it's me.

Unlike nearly every other architect I know, I am a pretty good writer. Most people who know me well have suggested at one time or another that I audition as an architectural critic for one of the local or regional newspapers. I haven't done it, however, because I've been committed to doing architecture rather than writing architecture. (And never you mind that I'm writing architecture with this blog, and also never mind that doing both may in fact be possible.)

I graduated nearly two decades ago from one of the finer architecture schools in the western U.S., and have been practicing my craft ever since.

I've owned and managed my own firm now for over three years, and I just might actually make some money this year. At least that's the theory and prayer (truer than I want to admit).

I've designed churches and houses, huge sports arenas and school gymnasium additions, hospitals and outpatient clinics, sprawling office buildings and $10,000 kitchen remodels, greenhouse complexes and toxic waste disposal facilities.

My favorite projects? Churches and houses. My favorite clients? Those who pay on time... and don't yell at me if I screw up.

Finally, I'm married with three sons and I live in a western state (of mind). That's it. Everything else will have to be inferred from future posts. (Inferred? Did I use that word correctly? Who cares? I'm an architect. It's a wonder that I can even spell!)

I hope that I make this interesting for my readers. I think I mentioned earlier that I have a lot of stories to tell. Let's remain hopeful that I succeed. If not, then it should still be good therapy.