Well OK I made a few assumptions that were, ah wrong. And mainly I was thinking of Wilhelm the first. From what I've read he had rose breeding in his blood. And some rose people in the world have said about him that he is one of the greatest. So that is why I can't see him putting profit above introducing an innovative rose. Doing so does not regulate that person to poverty! A good rose will on its' own merit bring sufficient rewards. And as far as J&P is concerned, from my biased point of view, they behave just like any other corporation hustling their goods. Further in a country now run by corporations why should a statement such as mine about the "bottom lin" get responders upset? And oh and by the way CRL also lists roses by the companies name for it like JAC for Jackson & Perkins, KOR for Kordes, etc. There are 5 for Kordes, 3 for Meilland and 2 pages for Jackson & Perkins, Harkness, Weeks, Austin and Poulsen. Those are all I checked. This tells us that KOR has been at it for a long time and partly if their roses are still listed they must be doing something right.

History has a way of repeating itself, methinks, Andrew. It's always interesting looking back on a year and seeing the same things done over and over again, but never done in the same way. Not to say that there wasn't a fair share of new ideas, projects, tasks, timelines, and expectations. The gardener vs. designer aspect is a dichotomy highly prevalent in my class with many students thinking in terms of what to put into a space as opposed to what type of space they want to create. However, I've noticed that people are starting to change their approach. Slowly, but it is there. Ink, it all depends on how you read it ; ) Unfortunately, I have to admit that my projects are highly computer-programmed based, especially for the presentation layout and reproduction. I have yet to actually produce a design on AutoCAD; there have only been a handful who actually do so or have done so in the past. The most popular program is SketchUp for rendering perspectives. Definitely not for design. I wonder if that will change over the course of the next two years. Looking at the 4th-year thesis presentations, most [site design] projects were done by hand. I must go for now - I just came back from a trip to Vancouver and my stomach is complaining since I'm 3 hours out of synch. Thank you for all the kind comments; I shall hopefully back with more. - Audric

I don't know, I think people can be into math and numbers and also into words and reading and also into design and art. One can be an athlete as well as any of the above. I guess the questions try to put people in one camp or the other, but most people don't fit fully on either side, unless they have extreme personalities. I'd hate to be so predictable as to stick with one label. I pay attention to a lot of different areas, but also know I have a lot of blind spots. I can't fix a car, never got the complexities of chess and and not good at any games with ball throwing or worse, being thrown at. Ask me about world events and I do pretty well. Ask me about pro basketball/hockey/soccer/tennis and I am lost. Challenge me to a game of cards (canasta, pinochle or spades) and I will kick booty. No once can be great at everything, but one can be interested in a bunch of things. As much as I like numbers and have a talent for doing math in my head, I don't think of myself as a numbers person, per se. I can be analytical and I can also be emotional. Some decisions are driven by one and some the other. Hopefully, most include both areas. In any case, I like quirky and unexpected with design, so you won't see my kitchen in anyone else's house. I may have copied bits and pieces, but the total will be our own design (for better or worse, lol). Most of the design is from my imagination, but dh has had some input too and so it is a collaboration overall. I think our kitchen reflects our sensibilities a bit, so it can be a clue to our personalities in a way. I bet a profiler could deduce a lot from how people design their kitchens. Math has nothing to do with it....

Recent visited New Orleans after not having been there 20 yrs - without getting into a long debate on the pros and cons of gentrification some of the rehabs were just amazingly well done and considering the degree of deterioration Im sure a lot of those budgets were at least that of "this old house" and then some. I feel if rich people want to spend their money on something then let it be a "labor of love" type of old house restoration - something that we all can enjoy even if we cant live there. Architectural design is a business and a commodity.... but its also an art, and preserving our collective cultural heritage is in everyone's interest I think. So Im fine with anything that promotes that idea