When I first heard the term “fly ash” in architecture school, I remember thinking that it sounded pretty sick.  I mean, flies are annoying and it’s gross when they buzz over and land first on some unidentified, dog-generated substance on the ground and then, without a single shred of consideration, approach and settle on the rim of your drinking cup or slice of pecan pie.  But it boggles the mind to think about the enormous number of flies you’d have to crisp in order to produce so many metric tons of fly ash that there’d even …

I live in an apartment in the city, and while the demising walls between units are relatively stout, it should be noted that I often hear the shrill bark of my neighbor’s dog and the skittering sound of scampering paws.  On occasion my upstairs neighbor will take to jumping rope, which produces a curious rhythmic click-slap followed by a kind of “bam!” sound as said neighbor’s feet hit the slab above my head.  When I found out about Green Glue Noiseproofing Compound, I wondered what kind of damping effect judicious application throughout my abode might …

Remember when you could invite people to your house to build a fort, and nobody thought it was unusual?  You’d be all, “hey, wanna build a fort?” and Linny and the rest of the gang would be all, “sure, but you should know we’ve already built three sweet fortifications this morning and we’re walking to the candy store for pixi stix first.”  These days if I called up some friends and asked them if they wanted to build a fort in the living room they’d think I was crazy.  Well, my friends would probably …