Kirsty MacColl. I wrote yesterday about the thrill of discovering a new artist—this past week it was Kirsty MacColl. From her final album Tropical Brainstorm, stuffed with compelling and never cheesy riffs on Cuban, Mexican, and Brazilian music, to her early singles, like her definitive version of Billy Bragg's "A New England," I was delighted, … Continue reading On 7 things from last week (3/27/23)
Author: T Coe
On the thrill of discovering new (old) music
When I was a teenager, I remember feeling that there was so much music out there. I was always in discovery mode—there were entire eras of music I knew nothing about. The older I got, the more defined my musical taste became, and the less I felt that there were whole swaths of music still … Continue reading On the thrill of discovering new (old) music
On the etymology of career
Some etymologies hold a suggestive observation about the word's present-day use, where the word holds meaning under the surface, the shape dimly visible—if at all—from the surface. The etymology of career hit me this way. The Online Etymology Dictionary outlines it this way: 1530s, "a running (usually at full speed), a course" (especially of the … Continue reading On the etymology of career
On frequency illusion
I was in college when I first heard the name: Baader-Meinhof. And then—in totally appropriate fashion—I started seeing the name everywhere. The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, also known as frequency illusion, is when you encounter something for the first time and then proceed to notice it everywhere (where, of course, it already was to begin with). “Baader-Meinhof”—to … Continue reading On frequency illusion
On USPS cities
When my wife and I were looking at houses, there was an odd detail that stuck with me. It had to do with a house we'd seen just north of Denver's Chaffee Park neighborhood. When we met our agent at the house, we expressed surprise that we were able to look at anything in Denver. … Continue reading On USPS cities
On pricing psychology for professional services
I witnessed an interesting disagreement a few weeks ago between my architect colleagues: Round figures or specific figures for our fees? Everyone agreed that roundness or specificity weren't actually important. Fee development for professional services tends towards ballpark numbers. Even when someone develops a fee based on projected hours, someone in the room is likely … Continue reading On pricing psychology for professional services
On what’s left of my CD collection
I recently came across my old CD case—27 CDs inside that past any point of use. I say that because I no longer possess a way to play them. No Walkman, no sound system with CD rack, no CD drive on any of the three computers in the house, no CD slot in either of … Continue reading On what’s left of my CD collection
On 7 things from last week (3/20/23)
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout. I'm on a tour, I've decided, of Strout's published work—this remains achievable—her total output reached only nine books. The latest I read is The Burgess Boys, a story of sibling dysfunction with the state-of-America political asides and fraught family tensions of a Franzen novel. St. Dominic's Preview (Van Morrison). … Continue reading On 7 things from last week (3/20/23)
On words to avoid in architecture writing
Having written over 200 project narratives in the past seven years, I feel in the position to offer some advice on writing them. For this first post on the topic I’ll start simple—a list of words to avoid (or limit your use of). Because I don’t want it to seem that I’m only criticizing the … Continue reading On words to avoid in architecture writing
On the pothole on my commute
I had a small moment of celebration driving home the other day. Driving north on Ward Road in the left lane, I crossed 64th Street and braced myself— Huh. I didn’t feel anything. This was odd because for the past two and a half years, there has been a nasty pothole right there. People who … Continue reading On the pothole on my commute
Taylor Coe 