Able + Baker Design: Blog Jamb

It's been months since my last entry. You may think it's because I haven't been busy, and therefore have nothing to say. Quite the opposite. In fact, too busy to write.
I started to compose my last entry in December, got hung-up on editing, and dropped the ball. I intended to begin sharing excerpts from my advice book "Always Carry A Sharpie", which I've been picking away at over the last couple of years. Now I'm thinking that it's a work-in-progress, and who cares if it's perfect? So here are a couple of "The Rules", and some completely unrelated photos, just to prove I've been doing something. And by the way, I know the idea of me giving advice to anyone is arrogant and ridiculous, so for now we'll have to assume it's some form of catharsis...

(fixing some less-than satisfactory sheetrock work)

Rule #37 - Who are you to give me advice?  
I used to dismiss just about any advice, because I always felt misunderstood, and didn't trust the people advising me. It seemed like everyone offering me advice had their own agenda. They probably did, but in retrospect, people like my parents and teachers may have had some genuine concern for my well being. But I could never stop asking the question, "How can you tell me how to get there, when you don't know where I'm going?"
 At some point in my life, I began to meet some pretty cool, and successful adults, and somehow, their advice actually meant something. They listened to cool music, understood art. They shared most of the same morals and ethics as the adults I grew up around, but somehow the same things that were important to them were also important to me.
And when they told me "You can have anything you want, if you're willing to work hard for it", I no longer assumed "work hard for it" meant working hard doing something that I didn't want to do. And when that happened, "working hard" meant something new, and my life changed.
 When an accountant stands in front of his BMW and tells you "Someday, you too can have one of these," it might mean something if you're good at math, but not me. No thanks. I'd rather be poor than sit in front of a stack of papers or computer all day. But that's just me. The point is, if you don't like the advice people give you, find somebody you like, and take their advice. But here's the key - Make sure their advice has gotten them somewhere.

(2010 Pergola detail)

  Rule #58 (that's right) - Never make plans or commitments after 11pm or at a bar. If you do, don't be upset if either party fails to commit.  
A shadow can really change how we define things. When you look at the moon do you see a circle or a sphere? When the light goes away we have to fill in the dark space with our own imagination. And some people's imaginations and idea's get pretty grand, especially with a drink or two.  That's all. If it's that important, discuss it again in the morning, when the details are a little more clear and less up to interpretation.  

(Randy Kappen, stone mason extraordanaire, and I discuss flow and shape)

Rule #47 - Turn your fork over when you're done with your plate. 
I don't know where I got this, but I'm pretty sure I didn't make it up. Even if I did, it just seems like one of those things classy people would do. And why should the aristocracy maintain a monopoly on couth?! (You're probably sick of hearing me say that).