up your architecture.

After a great Valentine's Day, Friday was a day to help and hang out with friends. I started the day off with a cup of coffee and a bit of chatting with my dad and then got showered and dressed to head down to the U again and met up with Sam and Della at the College of Architecture to sit down and go over there thesis work to date and see where we might be able to refine a couple things and focus the work for the rest of the semester.

During the conversation, I got a call from Biloxi that said that somehow, despite the fact that I had discussed it many times with my client, the site that we had been working off of for a rather challenging project was in actuality not the site she owns (which happens to be the site directly adjacent to the south as it turns out). Anyhow, the guys were ready to drive the piles so I'm glad they caught it obviously because it could have turned out horribly. We talked through it and a new survey will be done by the time I get down there but I'm going to have to sit down with our client and figure some things out. Regardless, after a couple of calls we got back to Sam's thesis (which is focused on elevated affordable housing in BIloxi) and then ran over to Mesa, a great little pizza place on 4th with Peter and Omar. A couple slices later we headed back and I said my goodbye's for the time being. We're all getting together at Della's for our usual Biloxi reunion dinner and then going to drinks at Nye's tomorrow night which if everyone shows will be the first time all 9 of us have been in the same place since Biloxi in April before I defended my thesis.

With my University visit and work done and afternoon of time left before I met up with Mr. and Mrs. Smith and the rest of the Southwest crew, I figured that no visit to Minneapolis is complete without a stop at Cheapo to check out the new local releases and vinyl. So I packed up, dropped by downtown to see my mom and then proceeded to Uptown. While I didn't pick up any vinyl this stop, I did pick up an Eels live album from 2006 that they recorded with a string ensemble which has a ton of great versions of their last couple of albums of songs as well as some classics. Other purchases included the new limited edition Heiruspecs collection/retrospective called Ten Years Strong that features a bunch of recordings never released of songs they have put out over their decade together.

From there I headed over to Dreamhaven, a great comic and magazine shop that used to have an additional location in Dinkytown when I was doing my undergraduate work. While I was perusing around and picking up the usual titles I read, I happened upon, not one, not two, but all 5 of the back issues of a comic written by Gerald Way (of My Chemical Romance fame) and drawing by Gabriel Ba with covers by James Jean (pictured below).

Needless to say, as my comic book shop status is not exactly ideal now that I have moved to the Bay (where there isn't a shop) I took advantage of the situation and pick them up. I have always really enjoyed Ba's work and Jean's covers were a real selling point as they are also amazing work, but I have heard great things about the story. As only a few people know My Chemical Romance's last record was a dirty pleasure of mine, but could it carry over to the comic medium? Short answer: Yes, indeed. Borrowing from his (admittedly) strong influences of Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, the story is intriguing and starts off with the first (of six) issues in an arch titled "The Apocalypse Suite" with great energy and strong writing. I have already polished off the issues and am looking forward to picking up the sixth the next time I get over to Biloxi as it comes out next Wednesday. Score.

Here Endeth the First Chapter