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I recommend Rebecca Traister, Salon, “Screw Happiness”, and Barbara Ehrenreich, “Smile, you’ve got cancer.” I think our society overrates happiness, the smiley face, as indicated by how you immediately connect unhappiness with depression and bitterness (totally different, not connected necessarily!!!). Are you happy with the Gulf oil spill? Do…[Read more]

There are a lot of professional portfolios on the ASLA resume posting page right now.

From my own observation they always seem to be pretty ‘gridded’ and straight forward–three or four drawings on 8.5×11 with a simple titleblock and project stats on each sheet. I’m curious what others suggest as well. Just my two cents.

If I were to re-do my…[Read more]

I recommend the book A New Earth for anyone unhappy, depressed, bitter…….we are very lucky to be in a profession many regret not going into as they learn who we are and what we do only to realize it is too late for them. I am moving toward selling my house due to lack of funds but still feel glad I do this instead of work as a car salesman or…[Read more]

Adam is right. Hands down, the Villa D’este was awesome and the highlight of my Europen trip. Well worth the time to visit.

It is all relative to the type of projects and the client you are proposing a fee to. Be sure to research the client and their previous work first. If it’s just someone’s backyard, then a $50/hr fee would probably scare the ordinary residential customer off.

Define what youwill do in a proposal and put a flat price on it. It takes away doubt over how long it will take and absorbs any learning curve or lack of speed from being new at it (should you be overcoming that) . It is always easier to sell a flat price than an open ended running meter.

….. the DOT seems to put you about as close as possible to the things that you hate and about as far as possible from the things you like. Why are you not in a part of the profession that matches up better with your likes or at least does not match up so cosely to your dislikes?

WOW!… That is a lot of dislikes and very few upside benifits. Not to be snippy or snarky but you should just teach. What would/do you teach? It seems like you like/love all the whimsy of the profession with none of the tangible aspects of Landscape Architecture. I know you love the history aspect of Landscape Architecture because we have had a…[Read more]

Well, I was going to do a small consulting side job (planting and irrigation design) and when I emailed the client and told them my rate was $50 an hour they never contacted me again…. haha. Maybe they just felt like it was so small they could design it themselves with some help from hgtv.com or something?

It’s well worth the bus ride to go to see Villa D’Este in Tivoli. It was my favorite thing about visting Rome. I actually forget how long the bus ride is. Maybe 30-45 min? Can’t really remember. But it was worth it! Loved the garden and the fountains. I think you kids are going probably going to have a lot a fun here too because of all the water…[Read more]

I’m on the fence about it. There is definitely a difference between international and domestic projects. As Boilerplater kind of got into above. I appreciate that ASLA has reached out internationally and I think it is really important that they do. It just seems like it’s a little bit tougher for the domestic projects to compete. Though this is…[Read more]

hi, I just got in this treath and saw your comment, I am from Mexico, and now i am doing my Tesis, you know, my last work at the university to get the diploma as Architect. and I chose a Cemenetry since my home town is really really out of places for our dead people. I would like to know if you have some info about the ecological burials, and…[Read more]

If you are looking for something off the beaten path then the Las Vegas Wash is a great place to do some outdoor hiking (granted if its not too hot) The Las Vegas Wash has been degrading for over the past 20 years because of the intense amount of development. However, the Las Vegas Wash Coordination Committee has been making amazing efforts to…[Read more]

There does seem to be a fair amount of work coming out of China and many of the larger American architectural firms we work with have set up offices in China to better their chances of being considered for projects, however, just like here, it’s still very competitive. Our landscape firm has been fortunate to pick up a few large scale jobs in…[Read more]

agreed, houzz.com is pretty cool. set up an account for my firm a month or two ago, and we’re happy with the site. it is a nice showcase of some nicely finished projects. hgtv also has a good designer’s portfolio site….http://www.hgtv.com/designers-portfolio/main/index.html

What do your 3 brothers do for a living?

I have been out of school since 82 and have worked many different landscape related jobs. All were enjoyable. Some paid far more than others. I would do it over again since I love the field and what it taught me about life. We are lucky. At times, I thought about going in a completely different direction or letting my registration expire but…[Read more]