Nov 8, 2008

Villa - Lake Como, Italy


Villa - Lake Como, Italy


My dream home on Lake Como, Italy.

Oct 27, 2008

Doing a Little Sailing

We had a little wind down at the lake so I decided to take out the little sail boat for a few runs around the lake. Wendy took a few pictures.

View My Sailing Gallery

Oct 7, 2008

My Trip to the Northern part of Italy

Italy is one of the most beautiful places in the world to visit. Trust me, I have been all over the world. It is truly one of those really special places anyone would love. So Wendy and I decided to go visit some friends Paula and Massimo after we heard they were moving to Italy for work reasons. It just seemed like a good time to see Italy. Visit some good friends, eat some good food, and see some great sites.

Our trip started by flying to Newark airport in New Jersey and meet up with Paula who was on a business trip from Houston TX. This was an unexpected meet up. Who would have thought we would be on the exact same flight with her. So it worked out nicely, we flew to Milan with tons of luggage for 3 people. Arriving in Milan we hopped in a cab to Paula and Massimo's really nice apartment.

This was during the week so Paula and Massimo had to go to work. During the day we walked around Milan checking out the 3 things to see there. The Duomo Cathedral, the Milan Castle, and the Duomo Piazza. Piazza is Italian for Central Square. Once Paula and Massimo got off of work they took us to a wonderful restaurant which was very small and quaint with amazing home cooked Italian food.

Next we hopped on a train to Venice and spent 2 days there. We had a great time getting lost in the winding unorganized little streets :) and enjoyed the sites and great food. While in Venice we toured a Glass making factory of Murano, and went to a Concerto of Antonio Vivaldi. He was an Italian composer who is famous for his music.

Instead of making this story a book, I am just going to finish it up by listing the places we visited: Bergamo, Lake Como, and Florence.

View My Italy Photo Gallery

Jun 18, 2008

Guzer - Video Entertainment Site Redesign

Guzer.com received a fresh design. The concept was simple: To keep it simple. Improved comment system using ajax so that when someone makes a post / comment the page does not reload. Also the 5 star rating system was programed using the same concept using ajax. The page does not load when you rate a video or picture. The new site design focuses on getting the user straight to the content without clutter or extra stuff for them to click on. This site is all about the content as well as simple coding for fast loading!

May 18, 2008

Water Wheel Pictures

I have developed a fascination for water wheels and hope to some day build one so I compiled a collection of water wheel pictures. These pictures will be the inspiration, influence, and concepts for my future water wheel project. The project will encompass European old world architecture and generate electricity.

Water wheels have been around since ancient classical times, generating power to drive a millstone or create energy. Water wheels have something special about them. Maybe it is the sound of the water falling, the energy they can produce, or the architecture that makes them so special. What ever it may be, people are drawn to build them.

Water Wheel Pictures

Apr 10, 2008

My 6,000 Square Foot Dream House Comes To Life

Well, thus far only my friends and family know about this project, but I think it's time I wrote a little something about this milestone project for me. I am originally from Alexandria, Louisiana where the climate is hot, humid... The best thing I know there are family and friends.



One day in 2005, I decided to move to an area where the scenery was beautiful and inspiring with the goal of building a dream home. Well... I am quite spontaneous at times, so Wendy and I packed the bags, hopped in our 2 automobiles and off we went to Asheville, North Carolina, which is a hot spot we had visited in the past. It's a nice little city in the blue ridge mountains with great people, fun culture, and amazing mountain views.

December 2005 We moved into a small 2 bedroom apartment and began looking for the perfect land to build on. We soon found a great lot and began construction on this dream house in July of 2005. To make a long story short, there were good times, and there were stressful times. Not because of the simple process of building a house, yet the size and magnitude of this house. This home project is right at 6,000 sq. feet, which to me, this is the size of 3 average homes. So the project felt like I was building 3 houses at once. The project involved many different factors I was not used to when building a house. A steep mountain slope, high labor and material cost, and harsh harsh weather during the winter months. In 2005 this was the real estate boom peak in most of the United States and I think that was one of the factors of costs. So during the next 2 years, we would work day in, day out on this project, making it the most perfect home you could ever imagine.

Read the Full Article Here
My 6,000 Square Foot Dream House Comes To Life

Apr 9, 2008

My First House Construction Project

Building a house can be intimidating, especially when you have never done it before. There is no better way to learn how to build a house, than to just jump right into it and get the ball rolling. I say that lightly, but at least grabbing a book on how to build a house will help, which is what I did. Another very helpful tool I used to build this house was a little advice from friends who had already been through the experience as well as talking to my framing carpenter all the time.



Wendy and I started building this house in 2003, which was in the midst of the real estate boom! Then thing to do during those years was to build a house, live in it for two years, and sell it for a nice little profit, while avoiding the capital gains tax. You can't beat that kind of deal. So many of my friends where all on the band wagon building many houses.

There was a lot to learn building this house and I learned just about everything I would need to know making any other construction project for the future a cake walk. This project went by very fast and ended up being completed in about seven months.

Read the Full Article Here
My First House Construction Project