I am in

Three little words, that’s all you get. Another #ArchiTalks blog is upon us and this time the challenge Bob has put forth is to come up with your three favorite words. There has already been a debate as to whether or not that meant your favorite three word phrase or three individual words. Since no one is going to write this for me, I guess I have to figure that out.  I think I’ll cheat.

Let’s start with “cantilever“.  Not a word that you would expect, well maybe from an architect you would. This one is two fold for me.  Talk to me about a cantilevered bridge, building, umbrella, or anything else and you have peaked my interest.  There is just something that always intrigues me about a portion of an object just floating out there, sometimes with no visible means of support. The other part is a little bit of a background story.

During architecture school everyone likes to talk the talk and convince everyone that they are totally immersed in that world.  We had a term for it, Talkitecture. You hear all sorts of terms that never make their way out of architecture circles. These work really great in studio and in firms, but they don’t quite have the same effect at a BBQ with the in-laws. During one of my stories (at the BBQ) I started using a bit too much Talkitecture  at some point during the story I must have used the term cantilever, and my mother in law said “Hey, I know that word!”  That was the bridge that ended up connecting a portion of my family (none of which are in any way connected to the AEC industry) to the world of architecture.

The next word for me is “yes“.  This one might seem a little generic, but here lately it has been a pretty good friend of mine. It started about 9 months ago. No it’s not that kind of story. I ended up getting an offer at a firm where the work they do was a bit out of my comfort zone. I ended up saying yes, and I am really glad I did.  I now work in an area that is great, I work with some really great people, and I am working on some projects that I would have never had a chance to do before.  Even further into that, at work I have been getting asked if I want to attend more marketing type events to help promote the firm, you better believe I have been saying yes. To round it all off, at work we were asked to help design a playhouse for Dallas CASA. You may have heard of it before, if not I’ll get to that in a future post. We said yes, and now we are working with a contractor to build the playhouse that I helped design. Did I mention we’re gonna win!

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My last word is one that really surprised me, “daddy“. If you had told me that was going to be one of my favorite words 10 years ago, I would have started laughing hysterically at you. I am one of the proudest dads of two amazing girls, the oldest of which wants to be like daddy and become an architect.  No, I wouldn’t dare try to convince her otherwise. I just hope that they realize one of these days that all the late nights, early mornings, and convention trips are truly just for them.

Ok, as for how I cheated…  Well, if you didn’t catch it yet, go back to the beginning. You’ll get it.

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Check out everyone else’s Three Favorite Words below.

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“Enoch Sears – Business of Architecture
@businessofarch
3 Words To Get Started”
“Bob Borson – Life of An Architect
@bobborson
3 Words: Are. Blogs. Important.”
“Matthew Stanfield – FiELD9: architecture
@FiELD9arch
3 Words”
“Marica McKeel – Studio MM
@ArchitectMM
Never Give Up”
“Jeff Echols – Architect Of The Internet
@Jeff_Echols
What’s Your Story – My Three (or Four) Favorite Words”
“Lee Calisti, AIA – Think Architect
@LeeCalisti
i make art”
“Lora Teagarden – L² Design, LLC
@L2DesignLLC
#ArchiTalks: I love it!”
“Andrew Hawkins, AIA – Hawkins Architecture, Inc.
@hawkinsarch
Three Favorite Architectural Words”
“Jes Stafford – Modus Operandi Design
@modarchitect
I Am Listening”
“Cindy Black – Rick & Cindy Black Architects
*
Spirit of Optimism (my three favorite words)”
“Michele Grace Hottel – Michele Grace Hottel, Architect
@mghottel
architalk#9: my three favorite words”
“Meghana Joshi – IRA Consultants, LLC
@MeghanaIRA
My Three Favorite Words”
“Amy Kalar – ArchiMom
@AmyKalar
My Three Favorite Words (Architalks #9)”
“Michael Riscica – Young Architect
@YoungArchitxPDX
How’s it going… Finishing The Architect Exam?!??”
“Stephen Ramos – BUILDINGS ARE COOL
@sramos_BAC
My Three Favorite Words”
“Eric Wittman – intern[life]
@rico_w
my three favorite [hardest] words“