Mies! Mies!

VA bans (well, almost) cul de sacs!

http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/ssar/default.asp

This is fantastic! You have no idea how much I hate cul de sac neighborhoods and how unfriendly they are!

The Ultimate Rejection Letter

http://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/humor/reject.html

Herbert A. Millington
Chair - Search Committee
412A Clarkson Hall, Whitson University
College Hill, MA 34109

Dear Professor Millington,

Thank you for your letter of March 16. After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me an assistant professor position in your department.

This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of candidates, it is impossible for me to accept all refusals.

Despite Whitson's outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet my needs at this time. Therefore, I will assume the position of assistant professor in your department this August. I look forward to seeing you then.

Best of luck in rejecting future applicants.

Sincerely,
Chris L. Jensen

This may be a bit silly...

...but someone is watching out for me. I don't really like to attribute God to things happening, since I'm not too keen on God as the micromanager. Anyways, I interviewed at a firm and liked them a lot, but they decided not to hire at the time. Turns out, they're turning to federal work. I HATED when I worked on federal projects (even if it was just one). Not fun at all. So I wasn't meant to work there. And that's okay now.

Sightseeing as citizens of the world

I love the application of the vernacular.

They capped it with a glorious glass dome, incorporating modern architectural design into a late-19th-century icon, and opened it up to the people. The dome rises 155 feet above the ground. Inside, a cone of 360 mirrors reflects natural light into the legislative chamber below. Lit from inside at night, it gives Berlin a memorable nightlight.

It's a powerful architectural symbol -- German citizens climb its long spiral ramp to the very top and literally look over the shoulders of their legislators to see what's on their desks. Manipulated far too often by their politicians in the past, Germans are determined to keep a closer eye on them from now on.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/10/17/history.unfolding/index.html