Peace and Planning

Given it’s the season of giving, I figured I’d post something a bit more lighthearted and share two gifts I made this year. This summer, I teamed up with my sister-in-law to make my partner a transit-themed Risk game (Brisk: May It Go As Fast As BRT) for his birthday. It can go *almost* as fast as BRT, especially if you use the custom mission cards based on his favorite modes and places to visit 🚌🚇🚲⛴️🚀

For Christmas this year, I decided to get my mom in on the urban observation action by making her a “DC neighborhood passport.” The journal features a visual glossary to explain different design elements (now I know what cornices and fanlights are!), overviews of 14 of the most common architectural styles in the District (Queen Anne! Mid-Century Modern!), and descriptions of 28 neighborhoods she could explore to see these styles in action. It also featured a custom map made by my partner, stickers galore, boatloads of washi tape, and a cherry blossom and rowhouse-themed ”date visited” stamp.

So in case any of you have ever wondered, “does she have a life or just blog and dissertate all the time?”…the answer is yes, I do have a life, and no, it’s not any less nerdy 🤓 May your holiday season be filled with the people you love and the things you love to nerd out on.

🙏 If you liked this post or enjoy my blog or want to support my research, please consider donating to fund a project I’m collaborating on with Marco Te Brömmelstroet (University of Amsterdam) and Ian Walker (Swansea University / Prifysgol Abertawe) to measure hashtag#CarSupremacy. It’ll support the last project of my dissertation, and even $5 will go a long way towards helping us reach our crowdfunding goal: https://whydonate.com/fundraising/challenging-car-supremacy-a-global-study-for-just-streets