Architects and designers, wanna go to Spain?

Tile of Spain is running a contest they're calling Passport to Creativity. Four credentialed designers and or architects will be selected to accompany the Tile of Spain team from the US and Spain as well as six journalists on a week-long immersion in all things Spain. The trip will end in Valencia when everyone on the Passport of Creativity tour will attend Cevisama, one of Europe's (and therefor the world's) largest tile and bath trade shows. The four architects and or designers will earn 4 CEUs in addition to winning an all-expense-paid trip to Spain.

Entering takes just a few moments and you can find an entry form here. Hurry though, the deadline's December 3rd, 2012. Be warned, Spain bites deep and you'll come away from a trip like this a different person. I did at any rate.

Nearly two years ago, I boarded a plane in Tampa and I was bound for Madrid. I'd been selected to be a part of the press corps for Tile of Spain's "Reign in Spain" tour. My week in Spain as a guest of the Spanish Ceramics Industry and the Spanish Trade Commission was something I'll never forget. We were treated like royalty and in a country that still has a monarch, that's really saying something.

Though it was a press tour and though I was only there for a week, I came away from that experience with a far deeper understanding of the Spanish people and their culture than I'd had before I arrived. Between factory tours, a massive trade show, and some of the most extravagant meals I've ever eaten, I got to know our hosts from the Spanish embassy. I bonded with my fellow journalists in the press corps and the winners of that year's contest in ways I hadn't expected to. Our shared experiences in Spain more or less cemented us together and I've stayed in touch with most of those folks.

Wandering down the cobblestone streets of Valencia and Zaragoza in the wee hours with new Spanish friends and the conversations we had will stay with me for the rest of my life. The chance to sit and compare notes with people from other countries on their home turf is why I love to travel so much.

Spain's financial woes were just becoming clear while I was there and the truth of the matter was a bit difficult to come by in the US. So I sat in a hotel lobby in Valencia with the Spanish Trade Commissioner and we talked about it until around four in the morning. He explained to me what was really going on and further, he told me the story of modern Spain from the perspective of a man who lived through Spain's transition from Fascism to a Parliamentary Democracy.

Those experiences aren't something you get on a package tour to Barcelona or Málaga.

In that too-short week I saw some incredible sights, gorged myself on Spanish cuisine but more than any of that, I had extended to me Spanish hospitality and kindness.

I hope you enter this contest. Wonders await you on the Iberian Peninsula.

Cool table!

One of my brothers just sent me a link to this table.

My initial reaction was, "Oh man, I hate round dining tables." Then I watched this video.


Holy smokes!

What's featured here is the Capstan Table by DB Fletcher in Dorset, UK. Though it's not cheap by any means, they're produced in a limited quantity and retail for anywhere between $25 and $50,000, it's just fascinating to watch one in action.

Here's a great source for cabinet hardware

A web-based hardware supplier called Bayport House Hardware has been brought to my attention recently, and I have to say I'm impressed.

They offer styles that range from contemporary to traditional and in five different finishes: stainless steel, satin nickel, matte black, oil-rubbed bronze and pewter. As a net-based business, they're able to wholesale to the public essentially.

Hardware can be an unexpected expense that comes toward the end of a renovation project and by the time  most people are ready to select hardware, they're looking for a break. Bayport House Hardware can provide that and more.

As a bonus for people who are doing their own renovations and even some professionals  Bayport House Hardware's offering a free hardware installation template that can take a lot of the guesswork out of hardware placement.

Check out their website if you're in the market for hardware for a renovation or if you're looking for a quickie face lift for your kitchen or bath.

Dirty, dirty bastard

Last Sunday, two people I knew and cared about were murdered.

Their home was robbed, they were shot and killed and then the house was set on fire.

The St. Pete Police did an incredible job of tracking down the animal who did this and by last Thursday had made an arrest.

This is the piece of shit who killed my friends.

He'd escaped from a work release program Sunday morning and stole a gun. Then, he went looking for an open front door. He found one on Fourth Avenue North.

I cannot imagine the hell he put those guys through, I just can't. They must have been in absolute terror as a stranger wielded a gun over their heads. That their bodies were recovered in different parts of the house says that they couldn't even comfort each other when they knew their lives were about to end. They went out in the worst way I can imagine and it was all over a couple of household items and a pick up truck. A pick up truck Norris drove off in and torched on Monday in Tampa. That piece of crap snuffed out two lives prematurely and he tried to undo everything those guys did and represented.

They were kind and generous and funny and talented and deeply, deeply loved. They were good men who deserved so much better than this.

This hurts. Bad.

Crime statistics are one thing but when people you know get murdered there's a whole new dimension to them. This hits so close to home I can barely stand it.

The bastard who did this was in a work-release program after having been in prison since 2004. He escaped from a work-release program that holds the record for the most escapes in the state. That number would be 27.

The facility where he lived was an example of the current move to privatized prison systems. I used to work for a program that moved people from prison to regular life and I understand the need to transition convicts  better than most. The facility where he lived had a healthy contract with Pinellas County yet they have no procedures in place to alert the police immediately when one of their residents goes missing.

Had they tracked this piece of shit my friends might still be alive.

He was a career criminal who had no business being in a release program to begin with. Thank God he's in custody because if I ever ran into him I'd rip him from limb to limb. I guess that's why we have a justice system.

This whole situation just stinks. I'm as enraged as I am saddened and I just don't know what to do with my emotions. This is  tough one.

Flowers and happiness

I used to buy myself flowers all the time and this makes me think I need to start doing so again. Buy some flowers!
 
Via: GlobalRose