"Marriage is what brings us together today"

Marriage season 2k12 is in full effect. Pancho and Nancy's wedding is in the middle of the month and I am totally not prepared for the wedding. Why does some one who is not getting married totally unprepared? Well, two reason for this 1. I'm the Best Man (yes, I say that with pride, the fact that some trusts me enough to be the best man makes me feel honored). 2. It's a wedding.

Item 1: Nancy made it clear that I have certain obligations as the best man. Since this wedding is going to be half Catholic and half traditional Chinese (I've never been to a traditional Catholic wedding nor a Chinese wedding) I'm not entirely sure what my 'obligations' will entail. The mystery enthralls me.

Item 2: This is a slightly (ok, a lot more serious) topic. I'm in no position to get married, I'm flying solo at the moment and I'm surrounded by people in serious relationships (my sister included in that count) I can't help but feel that something, life perhaps, is slipping past me. It's not a good feeling.

I had my buddy Andrew (and his GF) over for dinner two weeks ago, I mentioned how I'm considering throwing a 'Mad Men' themed sushi party to 1. show off the improvements to the pad and 2. have a somewhat official first party. I told me that I would expect people to dress like they did in the 1960's

Classy. Dressing well seems to be a lost art in our society. In it's stead we have Ed fucking Hardy. I think, that as a society, we need to dress better.

Travertine Tile

In my new position with my new company, I have the pleasure of dissecting the lives of the borrowers whose loans cross my desk. I get a daily cross section of people in various stages of their lives; retirees buying their last house, a newly wed couple buying their very first house. A divorced man with two kids striking out on his own. I'm a nosy person by nature so this fits very well into my personalty.

So, what does any of this have to do with Travertine Tile? Well, if you recall back to basic underwriting, this consists of the 3 Cs: Credit (borrower's willingness to pay), Capacity (borrower's ability to pay) and Collateral (the property's ability to hold value). Of the audits I do on a daily basis I get the most enjoyment out of reviewing the appraisals and the properties that cross my desk. Some are nice, I saw a high rise condo in Seattle that had an amazing view. Some are not, I saw a beat down house 55 miles from Denver (I would have my cats live there). But, of all the various properties I've looked at there's one common denominator: Mother Fucking Travertine Tile.

Travertine is a lime stone rock that was once used to build the Colosseum, Basilica Sacre-Coeur and now every middle class boring bath room in America

Every new or redone property I've seen these last couple of weeks have all had at least one bath room in the house/ condo done up in gross travertine tile. I can't stand it. Why make your bathroom in ugly ass flesh tones? I'll tell you why, it's because of travertine's long association with classical architecture that made it so appealing in the first place. Couple that with it's natural beige-neutral coloring and then, BAM! Instant respectability. It's boring, it's bland and the middle class of this country eat it up because it's respectable and predictable. Their friends can come over and admire the owner's "good taste." 

 This is the opening salvo of the Bathroom Wars. I've decided to completely redo my bathroom, I've begun to plan out my financing for this war (after all, you can't fight a war on a budget). My sources of inspiration are

     
Art Deco. I love the use of aquamarine tile. The clean design and regular design appeal to my senses.

I also enjoy Modernism. It's going to be a challenge to synthesize the two design styles. Art Deco was the last major art styles based on ornamental elements, conversely Modernism is, by its very nature, a limited and subdued form.

I've given myself 6 months to complete the overhaul of the bathroom. I'm already excited.