I was reminiscing the other day about a plan I had in college, just in case the math thing looked like it wasn’t going to work out. Say, for example, I would take an absolutely must-not-fail course in hyper geometric uptight algebras, and I hit the famous “brick wall” and realized a degree would be forever out of reach. Then, I would switch majors. I liked art, and I would still like geometry, so maybe I’d go into architecture.
My favorite idea in connection with this was to try to get into garden designing. But I also thought subterranean architecture — cave structures — would be a rocking area in which to specialize. There’s a niche, I thought.
I’ve always liked sconce lighting, because I like to say the word “sconce.”
I never turned to architecture in college, and I would say it’s a tad bit late to try and make the switch. I’d be better off trying to learn Mandarin or taking up crochet, two other old, bypassed fantasies.
But the morning of March 25, a CNN news story rekindled that old interest in architecture.
It turns out global warming has architects looking at new opportunities. They can design for the new water world that’s coming as sea levels rise. They can design buildings on barges; on stilts; on artificial islands; on artificial hills overlooking flooded bays; on raised, walled fortresses. The walls keep out the riffraff and double as dikes.
Hey, for that matter, if you build a dike wide enough, it can become a causeway when the dry side is inevitably flooded. You can then put a road down the middle with houses on either side.
Now’s the time for great minds to think about designing the next Venice. Disney should be working on a Disney Water World. They can put it right where the current Walt Disney World Resort is, outside of Orlando. They should start building it soon on top of the existing park, before the flooding starts.
In designing the next Venice, sewage should not be an afterthought, OK?
Coincidentally, while architects are thinking of how to meet the challenges of rising oceans, our U.S. House Rep. Pramila Jayapal is sponsoring something called the “Climate Resilience Workforce Act.” The idea of the act is to set up a White House office to map out and organize efforts to meet all sorts of challenges of global warming, not just rising oceans, in ways that will contribute to employment and the overall economy.
I like it when people think in terms of economic opportunities rather than opportunities to despair. You get a silver lining, and you get a silver lining! Everyone gets a silver lining!
In the interest of keeping everything here personal, I would like to mention that Real Change is only around 10 meters above sea level, and I live up the hill at around 30 meters above sea level. So when all the Antarctic ice melts I’m going to be very wet, both at work and at home. I will need to live up a bigger hill.
Also personal: Bruce Harrell, SPD and Metro have decided together to close the bus stop on Third Ave between Pike and Pine streets, because Seattle shoppers are scaredy cats.
Seriously. Somebody walks up to you at Third and Pine and asks if you want to buy a pair of probably shoplifted white socks, and your reaction, instead of saying “no, I’m good as far as socks are concerned” is to call emergency on your cell phone and ask for a SWAT team response?
I said I would write about Ukraine this week, then started thinking I would put it off one more week. But our managing editor forwarded an AP style guide regarding all matters Ukrainian to the newsroom, proofreaders, and to me, so I feel the need to look like I’m paying attention to my email.
I already knew most of the items in the style guide. The main thing that was new is I’m now supposed to call the city Odesa, not Odessa. How am I supposed to adjust? It’s been Odessa all my life. I’m an old dog. This is so hard.
Now that I look at the news coming out of Ukraine I realize the AP Style Guide is all the news, actually. Everything else is Biden is meeting with someone, the Russian Army is mired down, and Zelensky looks cool unshaved in a T-shirt, again.
Dr. Wes is the Real Change Circulation Specialist, but, in addition to his skills with a spreadsheet, he writes this weekly column about whatever recent going-ons caught his attention. Dr. Wes has contributed to the paper since 1994. Curious about his process or have a response to one of his columns? Connect with him at [email protected].
Read more of the Mar. 30-Apr. 5, 2022 issue.