aspiration

Design or Art?
I spent a couple strange hours the other day, surfing through Internet references to what I have discovered is a fairly lively Art-versus-Design debate.  What I found was oddly interesting at first, but after a while, I began feeling underwhelmed by the whole discussion, which seemed mostly to be about trying to
Quality Don’t Come Easy
'During the past few years,' wrote Brian Van Bower to open his Aqua Culture column in March 2001, 'I've come to the stark realization that there are too few quality craftspeople in most geographical areas of our country.  And it's not just the watershaping trades:  The same holds true for most areas of the greater construction industry as well.'   'The hard reality is that, for many people in the trades, it's easier to do three ordinary jobs in a week than it is to do one challenging project over a month.  I'm starting to think that
Knowing the Risks
These days, it seems natural for people to be reluctant to take risks.  We are, after all, still feeling the effects of a severe recession, and lots of folks are hunkered down, saving their pennies and waiting for something good to happen. I completely understand this conservative impulse, especially on the business front, but it’s also obvious to me that if we’re going to take the necessary steps to return to more prosperous times, then we as individuals, as an industry and even as a society will at some point need to start
Reharvesting Joy
It’s amazing for me to learn that this 100th issue of WaterShapes is carrying my 80th “Book Notes” column.  It’s been a wonderful and fascinating experience – and as my wife puts it, has provided a great way to rationalize my literary addiction.   I remember when Eric Herman and I first discussed the idea for this column:  At the time, we both wondered how long it could be sustained.  After the best part of seven years, I think we’re both comfortable with the thought that it’s basically a journey without end. To mark this special occasion, I want to look back at one of the most significant of all the books I’ve ever reviewed – one that isn’t about watershaping, construction, landscape architecture or anything in any way related to our industry.  That book, which I wrote about way back in February 2003, is Harvests of Joy:  How the Good Life Became Great Business by Robert Mondavi (with Paul Chutkow; Harcourt Brace, 1998).   I’d read it based on
True Vision
We may be well into our ninth year of publication, but I'm still amazed and often amused by the ways that some people choose to describe WaterShapes.  I've heard some armchair critics, for instance, dismiss us "a pool magazine that covers ponds," "a pond magazine that covers pools" or "a fountain magazine with
True Vision
We may be well into our ninth year of publication, but I'm still amazed and often amused by the ways that some people choose to describe WaterShapes.  I've heard some armchair critics, for instance, dismiss us "a pool magazine that covers ponds," "a pond magazine that covers pools" or "a fountain magazine with
Roaring Up the High Road
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with hot rods. I suspect this resulted from my dad's subscriptions to magazines such as Road & Track and Street Rod:  I was mesmerized by