22 February 2015

Buried in snow, so where does it go?

Hello from the land of snow, snow, and more snow that is Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

We've had the snowiest month ever (98.7" and counting), the second snowiest winter ever (see graphic), and more white stuff is on its way as we speak.  Plus some rain and above-freezing temperatures tomorrow to throw some snow melt and ice in the wintry mix.

The stats (updated daily by the city):

285,728 miles plowed
74,862 tons of salt
174,725 hours plowed
98.7 inches (8.225 feet) total snow fall

While this 'winter from hell' (aka Snowmageddon, among other names) is already a cliched subject in the news, as a visual person and student of the built environment, I have still had lingering questions.  For instance, how much snow has there been?  How can I make it personal?  We've seen graphics galore on the amounts and quantities, but I thought it would be fun to visualize myself buried in the heap:


Yes, that is actually a scalie ("silhouette" used in rendered images) of me.  
My entire M.Arch class was converted into scalies, and some of my classmates are featured here as well.
(And no, that dog wasn't part of the class, just there as a height reference and for cuteness factor.)


05 February 2015

Miscellanea, etc. / 05 Feb 2015

Happy new year!

Although we're already a month into 2015, the year still feels fresh and brimming with possibilities.  It's also brimming with snow here in New England.  Some of the snow drifts and shovel-crafted mountains are taller than my head -- which isn't very difficult, given that I am only a smidge over 5 feet (or about 1.5 m for the rest of the world).

One of my new year's resolutions (a post on resolutions to come) is to write and blog more often, perhaps up to once a week if I can get my act together.


A glimpse of campus under cover -- about 2.5-3 feet.


And now, the miscellanea for this week: Five links that have caught my eye in the last few weeks, a mix of serious, random, and fun:


January 12, 2015: Five years since the Haiti earthquake, or is it three centuries?

A wordless comic with splashes of color illuminating a hunter's inadvertent adventure.

While waiting for Season 2 of Serial (my winter podcast discovery), a fun hyperlinked illustration to satiate the appetite.

Does joint pain have anything to do with the gut?  Some say yes.

Keeping your personal information out of the hands of data brokers.


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Don't fall too far down the rabbit hole, though.