Raleighwood

We had a super time in Raleigh this past weekend! Tammy had a big party to celebrate a biiig birthday (her 40th), and some of us from Atlanta and elsewhere converged for the weekend. JP roasted oysters, made frogmore stew and boiled crabs, rolled up the carpets, and doled out the boas, tiaras and fab glasses. We had such a great time with old friends, and made a few new too. We miss you guys so much!


I wore that thing round my neck to work today, it can be loosely construed as a scarf doncha think?

Tea, Anyone?

Steven got me this gorgeous little hand-painted tea table and 4 stools, with birds and cherry blossom branches. The table top is a quite thick tree section, minimally milled, and the legs of all the pieces are stout with fat stretchers and bridle joints i think, each with a little hardwood peg or stay where the tenon passes completely through the tenon (wish i really knew the lingo for what those kinds of joints are... can anybody help me with that?). Each is a beautiful work of art:







Just like our current Dining Room table, which we bought 5 or 6 years ago to use outside, we are both worried about this thing decaying on the front porch and are already talking about where to put it inside. We don't really need it inside, the front porch is the perfect place for it. It has a thick layer of something or other (Steven told me the Chinese word, but we don't know the English word). Looks something like a thick gauche topped with lacquer, then the hand-painted details, and then layers of clear lacquer. A lot of it is cracked and peeling, through all the layers, and all of the legs are peeling at their bottoms. That's all part of the charm, but we want to stabilize the charm where it is now. Does anybody know what to do for a piece like this? We are loathe to use one of those super-duper self-levelling polyeurethane sealers... as we have no idea how it would react with the lacquer or the painted detail.

We also had a great time with our new friend Jamey who went with us to Yellow Springs, and then to Springfield to pick this up. It was quite a production getting it; thanks for helping Jamey!

Cheers thanks alot!

*We've whiled away quite a bit of time doing our Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, and Joanna Lumley impersonations... while watching a Jamey's stellar array of EVERYTHING they've ever made*

Health Insurance Fatcats Must Be Stopped.

Did anyone see part I of Ken Burn's documentary on the founding of our National Parks? It was done by a fit of imminent domain... the lands were set aside, and declared worthless. To shut the fatcats of the day to hell up.

Aside from what's going on in Maine

Anybody going to this?

Everyone Help out in MAINE!

Thanks MEL for letting us know what to do. Go HERE to make a donation, or do more if you live nearby. Mel is generously doing a raffle for all kinds of excellent stuff!

It's important folks. Donate as much as you can. I'm doing so now.

Newsclipping of the Day :: Reckoning for Democrats

Robert Borosage has written one of the most succinct and compelling analyses of what the Democrats are faced with this summer and fall that i've read lately. Posting a link HERE, but the contents are below for ease and posterity. I hope we'll look back at this time with appreciation that some of our Democratic statesmen and women led the rest of the party out of the ditch and back toward the people's business. Now is the time for all of us to write our letters and speak up!

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"President Obama traveled to Wall Street on the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers that triggered the worst financial debacle since the Great Depression. His purpose was to challenge Wall Street's barons, telling them:

"We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess..where too many were motivated only by the appetite for quick kills and bloated bonuses"

Those days are over, the president said. It's time for comprehensive legislation. Taxpayers won't cover your bets or your bonuses. And we know once more the threat that financial holdings can pose to the nation.

The president invoked country and the common good. "Instead of learning the lessons...of the crisis, [some in the financial industry] are choosing to ignore them. They do so not just at their own peril, but our nation's." Obama called on Wall Street to act on its own, to overhaul pay systems, to level with consumers, to join with him in defining reform, but his tone was almost wistful. As he knows all too well, for much of Wall Street, patriotism is for suckers. And in Washington, private interests are rolling over the common good.

In the wake of the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, the president has called for fundamental reforms vital to the country's future. Put aside whether he's been too bold or too timid, whether he has pushed hard enough or too hard; there isn't any question he is calling the nation to its senses.

Our health care system is broken and unsustainable. Comprehensive reform is unavoidable. We can't continue to rely on fossil fuels; sustainable energy is a security imperative, not a choice. We need to shackle Wall Street, to shrink the size and excess profits of finance, and force it away from its addiction to gambling and back to the essential business of investing in the real economy. We have to reduce the crony capitalist subsidies that get squandered on agribusiness and Cold War weapons systems and top-end tax cuts, and use that money to invest in education, in a modern infrastructure, in research and development vital to a vibrant, high-road economy.

This really shouldn't be controversial. Yes, disagreements about how to get this done are to be expected, but the status quo is simply indefensible. Despite all the fantasies of the rabid right, Obama is moderate by temperament, creative at compromise. He is, as one of his White House staff members described him, a "raging minimalist." He really does believe you put everyone around a table, have a "civil conversation," find areas of agreement and move forward. He does believe that everyone—from billionaire hedge-fund operators to insurance company CEOS to conservative legislators—will in a crisis put the country first.

But he and his reform program are getting mugged. He's taken on the most powerful private interests in America—Big Oil, Wall Street, the insurance and drug lobbies—and they are winning. Republicans, despite the shattering of their conservative shibboleths, have chosen, with lockstep unity, obstruction over compromise. And too many Democrats have shown themselves more beholden to the private interests that pay for their campaigns than the public interest the president of their own party invokes.

We are witnessing a harrowing test of our democracy. America is a big, bustling and entrepreneurial country. We pursue our own passions and pursuits, are jealous of our freedoms, and begrudge governmental intrusions. But in a crisis—faced with depression or war, our history tells us many become one. We join together for the common good.

Well, it is hard to imagine a greater crisis than the one this country has faced over the last years. A middle class that has suffered a lost decade. Two wars. The Great Recession. Gilded Age inequality. Catastrophic climate change accelerating faster than most predictions.

Yet, we haven't come together. Wall Street lobbies against reform. Derivative traders will ante up hundreds of millions to block regulation of credit default swaps. Goldman Sachs is back to computerized gambling and billions in bonuses. The insurance companies are spending over a million-and-a-half dollars a day against comprehensive health-care reform.

The president's preemptive compromises only feed their appetites. He offers polluters a good portion of the revenue generated by "cap and trade." They lobby to weaken the cap.

He bails out banks rather than taking them over and reorganizing them. They lobby against his financial reforms. He doesn't try to push for Medicare for All, accepting the role of employment-based private insurance, and he's accused of a government takeover of health care.

The teabaggers were in Washington this past weekend. Despite their racial furies and right-wing fantasies, they shouldn't be dismissed. Many are working people, losing ground in an economy that isn't working for them. They are angry at a government that seems to take their taxes to bail out billionaire bankers, while they are left to swim or sink. They have every good reason to believe Washington caters to the wealthy and the connected, and not to them. And it is all too easy to deflect that anger to "them" —illegal immigrants, poor minorities, foreign aid recipients.

This is the test for Democrats. With the White House and majorities in both houses of Congress, Democrats have to produce. If they are too cautious or too compromised, they will feed what could be an ugly populist backlash.

Take health care reform. Sen. Max Baucus has produced a draft for the Finance Committee, making concessions as far anyone can see not for Republican votes, but for insurance lobby approval. He's produced that lobby's dream bill, mandating coverage for everyone without subsidies to make it affordable. His bill would drive people to take the high-deductible, low-coverage plans that are the industry's cash cows. It is hard to imagine a greater disservice to the country or to the party. Take young Americans who vote Democratic in large numbers, force them to buy health insurance that they don't want and can't afford, make them pay for policies that don't cover their health-care costs—and reap the whirlwind that you deserve.

These next months are the reckoning. The president and the Congress will step up to the reforms the country needs—or they will fail the nation in a time of peril. For citizens, now is the time to get engaged. The only way legislators in both parties will rise above partisan politics and private interests is if their constituents allow them no choice.

Middle-income Americans lost income over the last decade, for the first time since we began keeping records. Financial speculation drove the economy off the cliff. Catastrophic climate change is already melting the ice caps. We cannot afford another lost decade. If reason cannot prevail, angry people will increasingly look for a strong man to get something done. And that could make the teabaggers look like a tea party."

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Here's one of my letters. I need to work on the ranting a bit:

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We would all be aghast if our system of education happened to be profit-based. Yes, there are many public and private Universities that take in much more capital than they need to meet operating expenses. And yes, private enterprise and the world of business benefit greatly from our system of education. It relies upon it for successes and profits. But the excess direct capital goes into endowments, to improve scholarship, facilities, and programs, and ensure the growth and endurance of the educational institutions. It doesn't go into exorbitant ransoms for a few elite at the top of the system, controlling the levers. We decided long ago that equal access to basic education was a right that belonged to every citizen, and we committed to that.

Why on earth is it acceptable to us that our system of healthcare should be profit based, now identical to the stock market? Who believes it is moral to buy and trade life and death futures? Who believes the masses should have every resource wrung out of them like coal stripped from the earth, while the few suck up all the resources and benefits? Why are huge profits allowable, giving all the resources to those at the very top, controlling the levers of the system, while those in need are allowed to die or are denied care for cost? Or, maybe worse, why are some given care and then forced into bankruptcy?

This is a government of the masses, and we must commit to single-payer healthcare. We are not slaves waiting to have our pockets emptied by a corrupt and bloated healthcare system. I demand that we craft reform legislation that makes access to healthcare equal and equitable for all. No one should ever die because they did not have access to healthcare. No one should ever go bankrupt or lose their house or nest egg because they became ill. The right to healthcare is as basic to our creed of "pursuit of happiness" as the right to education, free speech, or to assemble. You had better support the "public option" like your life depends on. Because all our lives do.

Equality Across America

Equality Across America

Posted using ShareThis

A Great Time in Vegas

In case there was any doubt, there is still lots of bling for sale in Las Vega$. David took this picture at some shop in The Wynn. The bling hasn't really come down in price either. Depression nothwithstanding. Do you recognize that person reflected in the Beyond-the-Sea's-Mirages Mirror? Yes, that's right, it's Jack Lemmon.
























Quiche for breakfast. David and Kevin have a fabu new kitchen, which we happily invaded.



















Steven is not nearly as good at bowling as he is at volleyball. But it sure makes him happy! The Red Rock Casino Lanes were extremely deluxe.



Thanks for the pictures David! Steven will post ours soon..

I Want One of These!

This is priceless! Or should i say Fisher-Priceless!

Ah, but enough with the laughs. I am pissed.

Right wingnuts are all in a tizzy about Obama's speech to America's children... about education. Mind you it hasn't even HAPPENED yet, but they are already condemning this--the speech that hasn't happened yet--because, of course, they know he's an evil recruiter of Hitler youth. It's all over Facebook, the stupid-ass polls.

And they are all freaked about 80% of America believing that no one should die because they can't afford healthcare, nor go bankrupt because they can't pay what the Insurance-Industrial-Complex has determined as a ransom for life. We are all sheep for speaking in one voice about this. Thanks, Tricia. I know you didn't mean to personally attack me, but i do take it personally. And for people like you and I not to be able to find common ground, and respect for one another, well, it pains my heart.

To all of you:
It really depresses me that at the ripe old age of 40, my baby sister is starting her life over, because her husband (who was gainfully employed and had health insurance through the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) had a catastrophic illness. She nearly lost him, and then, ultimately, did lose him when she couldn't fight--Shiavo family-style--with his family any longer about what was best for him. And she lost her house. And she lost her credit. And she lost her marriage. And a great deal of it has to do with the corrupt, backward, inequitable and broken system of "healthcare" and health insurance we have in this country. She is fine now, and she is stronger for it, but it still absolutely kills me the pain, suffering, and just utter bullshit she has been through in the past couple of years over the whole thing.

To all of you:
My cousin actually travels abroad to find his healthcare, rather than risk the statistics here, or become a part of the broken system. He has chosen not to engage our system.

To all of you:
My friend David lost his mother this year, who was barely 60, because she fell into the cracks of our Insurance-Industrial-Complex. The system said Fuck You to her, and now she is dead.

To all of you: if you don't already, you WILL have a close family member who will be adversely affected at the least--or dead at the ultimate worst--because our system of caring for one another's health and well-being is so completely ass-backward, profit-driven, and set up to work best for those who have the most. For those with the least, you are on your own. I can't believe what passes for morality in your heads and hearts.

And you right wingnut jobs act like we are all just mindlessly following slogans about healthcare reform, just because you don't want to hear it, or even debate it. Well, you will lose, and you will be defeated. Because you are wrong, and you are on the wrong side of history. The history of this country is built and defined by the defeat of many such awful moments in our collective past, in which we've resteered our course to actually commit to giving a damn about each other. Click away and update your status on Facebook, attack people who've been through the worst in life, that you don't even know... but how about you show some compassion conservatives? Is there any in there?

The Math is Pretty Simple, Really.

Not to mention the simple moral dividends.

*Sigh*

Thanks be to Buddha that Tom Tomorrow can see humor in our world, still.

Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

For Sherry! Thanks for asking...




the crust is a shortbread recipe from Ina Garten:

1/2c sugar
3/4c butter at room temperature

cream

add some vanilla (fresh beans from the pod best, but extract will do)
1-3/4 flour of your choosing (i mix alot together)
big pinch of salt

You can also add the fresh zest of a lemon here too if you like (particularly good if you fill the crust with some custard or whipped cream something or just fresh glazed fruit)

mix well, chill for half an hour or so

press into tart pan and shape with your hands... i use a fork along the sides to make a nice vertical wall, but i'm a bit obsessive I think i might have mentioned before. Not obsessive enough to bother with a crust that needs to be rolled out, however.

Chill again for 30 mins, preheat oven to 350. Blind bake for 18 - 20 mins with some pie weights. I just use some old rice i've saved in the pantry in a ziploc, over a sheet of tin foil.

Halve some fresh strawberries, and chop the rhubarb. I like a 50/50 mix, but really you can do it however you want. Add some sugar and more vanilla, and a few heaping spoonfuls of cornstarch.

turn into the hot crust after removing the pie weights and bake for 25-30 mins, just until the rhubarb is cooked.

Great warm with some vanilla ice cream!

Bon Appetit!

Awesome.

And the Statehouse Again

I feel like Margot Channing this morning, getting up at dawn to go collect the Sunday paper off the sidewalk. I knew a big review would be in today's paper. Joe Blundo, at the Columbus Dispatch, has written a GLOWING REVIEW of my project at the Ohio Statehouse Museum. Well, maybe not totally glowing, but close enough. Super!

Wonder if Blundo has any idea he was playing the role of Addison DeWitt? Hmmm... I guess I'm more Eve Harrington, than Margot.

Here's some pictures Scott took on Wednesday at the opening:

Jennifer, attempting to Balance the Budget, BC and Steven in the background:

Hilferty Babewatch! The lovely gals of Hilferty--Kira, Nicole, Jennifer, and Sara--try giving a State of the State Address:

A group attempts to Balance the Budget, glowing monitors in background clinking coins into place (I love the sound effects):

Opening Day was quite claustrophobic for a while. I guess that is a good thing:

Ribbon-cutters were mostly clients, though Gerry my boss got to fit in one of the 1 foot wide slots that were off-camera (seriously, have you ever seen more ribbon-cutters in your life? they wouldn't even all fit in the photo..) Governor Strickland is in the center, former Governor Taft on his left:

Statehouse Again...

I was on the local news this afternoon, talking about my project that opened this week. Boy is it embarrassing to WATCH YOURSELF. Sheesh. Scroll to 4:39 to see me flutterlip.

Packing Light

Look how light Mom pack for her trips!





We are all excited to go to the grand opening of my project at the Ohio Statehouse tomorrow. We have a full day planned, opening at 10, lunch at THIS marvelous place, afternoon at the Wexner to see the Coop Himmelblau exhibition. Oh la la.

Thank You, Citizens of New Hampshire

You are all friends, indeed. New Hampshire is #6 now. Read all about it at Huffington Post.

Thank You, Barack Obama

You are a friend, in words anyway. I'm sure you will be a friend in deed also, sometime very soon. Thanks for forwarding this Debbie!

*********************************

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

___________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 1, 2009

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION


Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic.

Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.

The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.

My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.

These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America , by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States , do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

BARACK OBAMA

Don Quixote, Updated

And other pictures from Saturday, courtesy the brand spanking new Nikon D90.

Don Quixote, lookin all fresh with his Elton John circa '74 glasses and OU girl pink hat. Forget that helmet, dude.

Look at what this fabulous camera will do!! If it could only trim nosehairs...

Laiyee gave us some fresh tarragon and thyme we used with this chicken yesterday. with some black sesame seeds and yum yum

teeny, tiny flowers

lunch leftovers of chicken, avec pasta, cream, butter, wine, and parmesan... and champers. for dinner

Wake up! *i could use a shave*

and so could this

Bob and Laiyee had made $700 by noon yesterday when we stopped by to see their yard sale. It was a scream to watch Bob in action driving hard bargains with the OU kids. Bob told us they'd already cleaned out the cash and stashed it several times as i was taking this photo.

Tin Tin wondering why all these strangers are showing up today?? What's all this fuss?

Washington Street, home of beloved Donkey Coffee

Mysterious Prezzies

appearing now on the dining room table. Somebody gets his birthday prezzies (that word is a quote: can anyone identify which heroine of mine it is attributable to? Here's a hint: HGB) a week early... owing to the fact we'll be whitewater rafting next weekend with the boys, and it's no good to bring such a suite of pink and blue frill along. He is a la cuisine cooking our fried noodle dinner right now and hasn't been to the table yet.

Meanwhile, I discovered i can spin around really fast and photograph myself with my notebook! Whew, me dizzy.

In related news, these may be the last crappy ass photos i take with my Macbook Pro. Heh.

Time to Vote on all Marriages!

Oh I love how this makes such an easy point of this. It really isn't rocket science. But then again, everyone knew the colored schools, waiting rooms, water fountains, and ghettos were wrong too. Thanks KELLY for posting!

An Anniversary

I just realized that exactly one month from today, the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City (June 28 1969) will occur. How should we mark this significant date?

HERE is a primer i just read while fact-checking the date.

Seriously, now, y'all. How should we honor this date and what happened? And where we are now?

The Dallas Principles

No, it's not about Sue Ellen or Bobby. Have a look:

A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

I just went to HRC's website over lunch to see the current picture of legislation up for consideration, and THIS is a huge amount of legislation in the works. 4 bills at the federal level, and a whopping 32 in the states... which must be at best an incomplete view, since it doesn't include HB 176 going through the Ohio Legislature currently. It really does make one wonder if the tide is really changing, and this flurry of legislative activity will actually lead to real, systemic change. We must do more to support one another--no matter who we are--or we will never have lasting success.

Thank You, Dan Stewart and Ross McGregor

You are friends, indeed. Have a look HERE to see what's brewing up in Ohio regarding same-sex rights. The two gentlemen in the title are sponsors of a HB 176, the Equal Employment and Housing Act, which seeks to make it against the law to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

Excerpt from the Do What's Right Ohio website:

From Equality Ohio Director Lynne Bowman:

"It is time for Ohio to remove the barriers at our borders that tells them they are not welcome if they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered," Bowman said. "It's time for our laws to match our values."

Only two Republicans - Ross McGregor of Springfield and Terry Blair of Washington Twp. - have signed on as co-sponsors. McGregor promised that after it passes the House, he will work for its passage in the GOP-controlled Senate.

The bill is supported by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, which would investigate violations and enforce the law. Ohio law already prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, religion, ancestry, national origin or disability.

Twenty states have adopted laws to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and 433 of the Fortune 500 companies, 11 of Ohio's 13 public universities, 16 Ohio cities and the General Assembly have established similar workplace rules.

Bowman said statewide surveys conducted in 2006 and 2009 show support for anti-discrimination legislation grew from 66 percent to 72 percent among Ohioans.

Thank You, Julian Bond

You are a Friend, indeed. Thank you, Joe Solmonese. You are a Friend also. Oh, and California Supreme Court? Drop dead.

Ohio Statehouse Museum Preview

My project at the Ohio Statehouse Museum opens in a couple weeks, and David at my office has been busy getting all the lighting done. It's only about halfway there, but these photos he took yesterday look great. After the opening i'll have all kinds of good photos to post. Really excited my Mom and BC will be here to attend the opening with me!











By the way, you can go HERE to see a 7 minute flythrough of my design from the design development stages (a little more than halfway through design... much more detailing, graphic design, etc. happened after this flythrough was made).

Seriously Creepy

Well no, actually THIS is way beyond seriously creepy.

Charles Towne Landing

Long ago, I designed a museum on the founding of Charleston (formerly Charles Towne) in 1670. It opened 3 years ago, but i only got there to see it last spring on a trip there with Steven (who kindly provides a scale reference or two). I have just now gotten around to stitching photos together.

The project looks at the context of the city's initial founding as a project of the Lord's Proprietors--a group of 8 London fatcats who were given the New World venture by Charles II after his restoration to the British Crown after Cromwell's death in 1658. Much trial and tribulation visited the planning and preparation of the colony's founding, which finally happened when the first group arrived in 1670. And even more happened in the first 10 years till 1680, when the initial landing site (hence the name) was abandoned for higher ground across the Ashley River, where the city has remained.

My project is in a large park at this original site--surrounded by Charleston suburbia--where much archeology has happened and many amenities exist (such as a full scale replica of one of the 3 original ships to arrive in 1670, and a live animal park stocked with the critters of the day, and many reconstructed dwellings, subsistence gardens, and live-interpreter sites).

Enjoy!



The building that houses the exhibits i designed went through 3 rather torturous and wildly divergent revisionings, the third and final being by far the best, in my opinion. This is a simple, modern building that sits lightly on pilotis. The existing landscape runs right under the building, and some portions project over tidal lagoons.



The "Cabinet of Curiousities" is all about the mindmaps of the Lords: specimens, booty, and mysteries (such as alligators) from the New World surround the visitor in a slightly Lordsy Londonesque setting. I wanted the wood to be much darker.



A London wharf scene explores all the preparations: what was brought along, who, why, and where they went. It wasn't a straight line by any means.



The Ocean Voyage was eventful. Storms, treachery, sickness and death, the loss of one of the ships. Unscheduled stops for long periods of time. And a long layover at Barbados, the model for raping the land that the Lord's Proprietors intended to follow.



First Encounters is all about the first few days after the landing, and the close calls and events with the Natives in the area.



Many agreements were made and broken early on, as the settlers experimented with crops, barely survived, and relied on trade with Natives.



Breaking Ground explores all of the backbreaking labor of the first settlers: what was done, who did it, and what it achieved.



The Physical Setting is the largest gallery, where visitors are able to put together the puzzle pieces of what the place looked like in those first years. Much about archeology (notice the patterns at the floor), birds-eye views and models, and recreations based on written accounts (not the least of whom was a Spanish Spy, sent incognito as an innocent visitor).



Setting Up Society is all about recreating daily life, dwellings, and issues of subsistence from the archeological record, and is a part of the larger Physical Setting gallery.



At the end are Legacies of these first 10 years, within which the seeds were planted for many of Charleston's futures. The "Grand Modell" which established the new, permanent city firmly in a Euro-via-Carribean image is the brightest. A darker legacy is that of slavery, indentured servitude and the people who performed all the labor, and ensured this would be the model in the South for nearly two hundred more years. A perhaps even darker legacy surrounds the decline, defeat, and decimation of initially friendly Natives. Another legacy looks at the huge impact on the natural environment, which, after more than 300 years, is becoming positive.