hey bloggermeister bill,

any idea on how we could have a link from the blog to a list of friends of chris's, aka the maxin and relaxin crew, aka the wallmart warriors...and their email addresses...?

this would be an awesome resource if someone could vist the list and add their own name and address...

just wonderin....
thanks.....

party at hacienda

so there's a party at hacienda del lago in incline village, lake tahoe on wed., june 27 , 6-9 pm ! Live band (courtesy of Ben Martin and the "After 8's")....Food....Drink....!!!....

We have Eric Park and Dave Zachary to thank for puttin' this together....more info soon, but be sure to mark it on your calendars!!

Tacos, beer, and stories about chris behind his back.........

To Chris:

Dear Chris

Lately you have been on my mind every day as you were in my life every day at Sci-Arc.
Were to begin, after getting the news about your accident, I felt terrified about how you must have felt in the impact of pain and insecurity of you own future in a split of a second.

My thoughts of you have been on all the things that we did together and all your great stories about you and your belief in life. The incredible openness you has show towards a complete stranger from another country. Me being in your country to study observe learn and understand the American way of life.

I have been thinking especially about one road trip that to me describes you so well.
Remember we were sitting on a café, you me and a friend visiting me from daneland as you call it. Just talking and drinking coffee. We decided to make a trip to death valley a bit crazy considering my buddy from daneland had just landed, but as you said I wasn’t that long a drive a you could show me the way, so we took of in my red Mustang (off cause I needed to get one, I miss it.) in to the valley of death we got there and as always it was amazing. Then you came up with a crazy brilliant plan.. Sins we were in Death Valley we might as well go to Lake Tahoe if we wanted to se some more of California. My buddy from DK was only visiting shortly and needed to leave two days after. You convinced him to be a explorer just like the stupid Vikings…and yes that worked.

There were just a couple of things that could be of a problem on the way to the way to paradise, and off cause why should that be an easy place to get to. First the old mustang needed to step up and start believing that it was actually a four wheels drive truck so that we could get though the mountains you convincing me that a Mustang from 69´ with regular tires actually is a great mountain climber. Because that many parts from the care was used in tractors….thanks I thought it was a lean mean racing machine

But anyway on the way though the mountain I gave up as driver, sins you knew the roads the snow and apparently you knew that a sign saying close road means that the road is open. The only thing that you didn’t know was the stick shift, dame Chris you didn’t change gears you changed the whole gearbox. The fuel was low I mean really low and everything was up-hill, seriously, the car was cold, and we only wearing LA cloth.

As we pass the mountain top, you change gears perfectly and some light appears though the dark tree siluets, a gas station. And in the same second the car starts to drive strangely as if the was no more juice in the car. You were off cause just playing with the two Danish amigos. Had our nerves been more out side our thin summer jackets they would have come of totally.

Around tree in the morning we reached Lake Tahoe, you organise a welcome comitie in one of you friends cabins…what a place… the committee was one girl, one dog, and one bear. The biggest dog I have ever seen. So this became the first time I spend a night Chewbacca as my pillow. Next day we went hiking with snow feat, and eight dogs but no sled.
We had Sushi and went drinking in a strange bar a lot of fun. Next day we saw Yosemite park, and took the gold Road back amazing trip. We just got back so we could drop my friend of in the airport and send him back were he came from…Canada I think.

I have many more memories like this about you and me. My point with the story is that you showed humour, impulsiveness, courage, openness, hospitality, and strength all the thing an man need to be a man and to be able to do the things that no one thought was possible. I know that this time is difficult, but I also believe in you like I believe in few others in this world, keep your humour, be impulsive, be open, be strong and be Chris Oberly and you will do miracles.

Remember I called you from the airport, and all the things I said back then I still remember. Now be strong and believe my friend.

Some practical stuff
I have I thing that I want you to choose from. I know that this must be really expensive to go to the hospitals, and I what to help. I have the equivalent to an airplane ticket to offer you. You can choose the money or me coming over to visit you as soon as you like. I is as much as I can give and I really want to help. Don’t be humble I owe you…Were can I send the money.

"Life I understood backwards but must to be lived forwards”. Soren Kirkegaard

Much Love from me to you, Anna and Rita.

Take care be strong

Anders Lendager
www.mapt.dk

visit?

Hey Chris,
I'm sure the Haudenschild girls are going to be keeping you busy, but I'll be coming through Denver on my cross-country trip around June 13th (bigggggg question mark on that). Can I visit? If so, I don't just want to stop in unannounced. Any way we could arrange it, Chris? Anna?
Shoot me an email if that's cool....uskowronski@gmail.com
Rock on, Chris. Great to see pictures. Lookin sharp.
-Uri

Pictures!

Hey Chris,
I love all the pictures that are posted of your place at Craig, your family, and Denver. It's so nice to get a visual on your living situation. By the way, your living room looks huge! Thanks for posting the pictures, Anna, and keep them coming!
Abrazos,
Jasmine

6.9.07 H ladies visit!!

chris oberle, so the haudenschild ladies (rita, eloisa + anna-who will be staying 'til tues.) are all set to visit you at craig's the weekend of june 9th!!! be prepared for the power 3 to be arriving, as you might imagine, we're planning on a walmart trip + getting you in trouble by going out to get ice cream, that's right, we're crazzzzzzzeeeeee.....we are so super excited to see you soon, especially me my friend!!!

love,
rita

HUGS TO DENVER

NiCE!!!!!
Really sweet images of the pavillion. And you look awesome on the photos!
Congratulations to third place that is very impressive. Looks like a lot of hours went into those renderings. I keep thinking of you all the time. You amaze me, all of you! SO STRONG!!!! So positive and so TOGETHER!!! KEEP ON ROCKING!!!
Much love from Stockholm
S

Visit Chris!

Chris just moved into his own apartment at Craig! He has a small kitchen area and a living room with a pull out couch. He is ready for you to visit!! You can stay with him or in the building next door that has huge really nice apartments (cheap! ~$38/night).

Chris is doing so well and recovering faster than anyone ever has at Craig that they are ready to get him out of there. They have planned for him to be discharged on the 28^th of June already! Last I spoke with Chris he was thinking of moving into the apartments across the way from Craig for a bit after he leaves the hospital so he can still take advantage of the great rehab that Craig offers.

Here we are hanging out in Chris' living room with his family.

I am trying to send him stuff for his room to spice up the décor... Thank you all so much for all that you have sent, every gesture, card, cookie is so appreciated and enjoyed!! Chris owes so many huge thank you’s to so many great friends, he doesn’t know where to begin. I would like to say thank you myself because everywhere Chris is faced with an abundance of love you have all sent to him

He looks forward to being with all of you, so come on over! Anna

Sleep well!

Memorial Weekend FUN!

This Memorial Day weekend with Chris in CO was so fun! Chris had many awesome visitors including eight family members, half a dozen great friends from Tahoe and me too! We were all content to hang out next to him and eat yummy Craig hospital food, but no, party man Chris insisted on taking us out. As always, the Walmartss was on the top of the list.

We also ventured on the light rail to downtown Denver, what a beautiful fun city!

Checking out maps, yes!















We cruised down the streets, Chris has got skills!















In front of the Denver Art museum..




















On Sunday we had such a fun BBQ at Craig! Great food and music with family and friends new and old. Chris is really popular and already has a bunch of new friends.














































Sarah and super cute dirty baby Anna




















Monty and the best homemade sausage (from Kansas) ever!!















Aaww...

What a beautiful design!

chris the design in the images are amazing!! thank you stephan + cara for sharing them with all of us. i wish i could be in that space right now.....genius!

with love,
rita

Chris's competition images

The following images are part of the submittal boards Chris worked so hard on in our team.
It was for the Swiss Pavillon at the Word Expo in Shanghai China 2010.
Thanks to Chris's input the project was awarded 3rd prize. Please see our earlier post.
I will link to future publications in this matter.

Chris's competition images

next week

Hi Chris,

Just wanted to let ya know we're planning on coming to Denver next week. Looking forward to seeing you and I promise I will try not to get you in any trouble this time! Rocky will be there too, so possibly double trouble? Will call soon to confirm. Love, Kim and Rocky

Prognosis

Tuesdays meeting went as expected, but the prognosis is now more clear. The testing done at Craig was consistent with the findings at UCLA. The doctors are saying that his spinal cord in the area of T10-T11, has been functionally transected and as a result he has no sensory or motor function below this area. Though this confirms that he is a complete paraplegic, we have about a year and a half for the swelling to go down, and if his body is going to recuperate at all this is an important time.

As Chris says, we cannot stop hoping and believing that he will be better. Just because they might say its impossible it doesn't mean that Chris wont be able to do something that has never been done before. I believe that he will amaze us all, and prove people wrong like he has already done.

Research in the field is going to play a very important role for Chris' recovery. Work involving stem cells is promising and we need to keep current on what is happening so Chris can benefit from advances made. Indeed, the future holds that Chris' condition will be a thing of the past.

Everyones courage. loving support, and belief in Chris has and will always be our greatest joy and blessing.

Sincerely, Anna

stinkin' ceiling

hey chris,
so i just read your blog about the ceiling (yeah i am slow on the tech end and not blog savvy) and noticed that some wise person pointed you to the sky factory. you know what? they just happen to be located in my very own hometown of fairfield, ia and my sister works there. so, if you are interested, i have a hook up for you. she has only worked there a few months but i can see what she can do. sending lots of positive vibes and best wishes from venice, celesta

Hi, Chris, I wanna say congratulation to you. Though I haven't seen your presentation boards and have no idea of the coming World Expo in Shanghai yet, I don't need to hesitate to send my compliment to you since the prize you have won has already proved that you deserve my compliment. In fact, it is not easy to win a prize or a position in a competition since you need to be good enough to fight the others. That is, you need to be truly talented. So, I wanna say it's my honor to have a friend like you- a friend who have great talent.

In fact, I know you are good in architecture since I've been your classmate, you worked hard in studio, and you have ideas that I have never thought about before. Do you still remember the phrase you created- 'Increasing, decreasing'. I still remember it! I still remember how the assignment looks like as it came out. Do you still remember Lawman Millar? Ha ha ha, we've worked like Brunal- a dog- in his studio! :-( :-) Those were the days my friend, we thought the assignment will never end...suddenly these lyric come to my mind!

Alright, Chris, keep your spirit up, there will be many more good days and success waiting ahead for you to enjoy! BTW, I'm expecting to see the boards!

Homion(Damien)

CHRIS SOS EL TOP!!

CHRIS YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!
congratulations on placing third out of tons + tons of applicants, what an extreme honor to know your design got such praise. having seen the presentation boards with the beautiful drawings you did, it deserves it!! hopefully it'll be on the blog soon so that everyone else can see just how spectacular the project is + what a genius you are!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!
with love,
rita

Congrats!

Hey Chris,

Congrats on the competition! One of the coolest parts of this blog has been getting a glimpse into your little known (to me at least) side as an architect! Anna always raves about your designs and now I know she's not just being starry eyed, it's clear from all these posts you have the right stuff... hmm maybe I'll commision a house from you someday... Anyhow thinking about you and Anna tons and wishing you the speediest recovery possible!

all best
Jen

congrats and more

Chris,
Congratulations on you guy's award for the Swiss pavilion. We were just talking about your entry yesterday with Sameena, and were betting that you guys will either win, or win a placement at least, the boards looked so awsome.
"additionally" :)
I wanted to leave you with a laundry list of treatments and research that I found on SCI since your accident. You probably already know of all these, but what the hell:
1. Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden: has been experimenting with grafting nerve axons taken out from other muscles in the body onto the spinal cord, because these nerves have the ability to regenerate, unlike the Spinal cord nerves...experiments successful in rats. This procedure is also called the Schwann cell transplant.
2. Functional Electrical Stimulation (this is probably what you are doing already). This method basically awakens dormant nerve paths.
3. Clinical trial at William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00378664;jsessionid=FC0C09A4E3458BBEA655CE0F82188F7B?order=35
The website does not explain how this procedure works, but they describe it as lumbar to sacral ventral nerve re-routing procedure, and it is supposed to improve performance in all the areas affected by SCI in these regions. I know your injury is at somehwere in the lower T-s, but maybe it is close enough. Worth finding out. I also included a link to North American clinical trials, if you want to sift through these. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/search/term=Spinal+Cord+Injury
4. Treatment with ProCrod. This is a drug idea developed by a company called Proneuron Biotechnologies, and in 2004, it was in phase II FDA Clinical Trials. I am not sure if it is still in clinical trials or not. Basically the concept for this drug is that a type of blood cell called macrophage is isolated from the patient’s own blood, activated through a proprietary process and then injected directly into the patient’s injured spinal cord at the site of the lesion. These cells somehow promote healing and growth in spinal cord cells, which is important in them regaining functionality.
5. There is some stem cell research as well, but I actually have not read about this.
OK, that is all for today, I am taking off for the long weekend, and you should enjoy is, too in beautiful Colorado. Yeah, that's right.
Boja

SUPER SUCCESS FOR CHRIS'S COMPETITION !!

Dear Chris and all,`

We are so happy that you found your way to this great facility in Colorado. We will visit you for sure up there..

For all who read this blog, Chris was the leading force in our small Team of Architects here in Santa Monica working extensively on the architectural competition for the design of the Swiss Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai, China in 2010.

The Swiss Pavillons are always a mayor draw at world exhibitions, as the architects among you probably know (The last one in Hannover 2002 by Peter Zumthor was an architectural marvel that made Architecure history.

In December of 2006, our first round submittal Chris worked on qualified for the finals of 12 projects out of 110 entries. Chris was at it with great enthusiasm and while he had all his other stuff going on as well. Chris was a great Team player, very creative and a master of the detail... at the end of the final project Chris took this very bike ride and had to see the prints at the IR at UCLA hospital.

Chris, you have been such a great help and up beating spirit in our office. I know how much you love architecture as we have been sharing this passion for 10 years now. No matter what the Jury would have decided on May 24th, this project was already a great success and expression of your talent and of our friendship!

But it now got even better as we, currently in Switzerland, received the 3rd Prize (!!!) yesterday at a press conference in the Klee Museum in Bern! The Jury deliberated hard and it was a very tight race until the end. The reason why they choose the first prize winner was basically because ours was more defined and would allow for less input by the organizers (The Swiss Government). So thanks to Chris we got extremely close to winning such a super high profile project. We can still hope that the first and then the second prize winners somehow cannot perform in the coming month, in which case we would get the bid...

In any case we hope we can share this awarding experience with Chris again very soon! We will always keep a table ready at the office for you to step in !

I was trying to upload images of this Competition, but need to wait until we are back in the US next week to achieve this.

All the Best Wishes from the CHina crew

Stephan and Cara

Famliy meeting research help

On Tuesday of next week Chris will have a family meeting with all of his doctors where they will outline Chris' prognosis based on extensive testing they have been conducting at Craig. As for now, the initial prognosis that we received at UCLA Medical center still stands. We are all hoping that something miraculous has occurred since then.

During his meeting Chris is wanting to ask may questions about his condition, the projected rehab, and possible alternative activities and research. It is great that so many of you have come forward with information that you have found and connections you know of. Rita and I will be working on compiling all the information you have given and hope that you will send on any new information you might have. It is a great opportunity to be able to ask the experts at Craig what their views are about the alternatives.

So, anything you think might be a possibility would be great to know about, we are ready to try anything if it could help him out.

Thank you all for your love and warmth that keeps pouring in' it has been keeping all of us afloat.

Much love, Anna

from Patagonia

Chris,

You have been on both Sonja and my mind lately as we both send our best wishes to you. We finally faced the cold hard truth that we can't stay down here in Bariloche forever, especially when both our brothers are getting married (not to each other) in September. We still don't know where we'll end up, but I'm still hoping for Truckee, where if all else fails, my impecable Cappucinno making and/or lift chair bumping skills will come in handy.

That said, you and Anna MUST take a trip down here to explore her roots. I can't say there is anything special about the current architecture (except Daniel's designs of course), but Buenos Aires is now my favorite city in the world with outstanding buildings and neighborhoods. Bariloche is the Lake Tahoe of Patagonia and now stands as my home if I ever need to escape the US again from 5 years of unpaid speeding tickets and a warrent for my arrest about stealing zoo animals, which they know they can't prove.

Un abrazo fuerte,
Steve Saturno

from san francisco

hi Chris,
I really admire your strength and good spirit. we are very happy to
know that you are doing well and would like to send you the most
positive energy!!

Gilberto and I think about you everyday!! Take care.
ines

Hello from Tahoe

Hello Chris...
It's Jeanette here from Tahoe! I've been waiting for Dooley to write with me, but that Rocky guy is keeping him too busy at work...ha ha ha, just kidding!! We've been keeping up on all the blogs, e'mails, etc., and as most everyone says, you just amaze us!! If someday I have to endure anything close to what you have been, I hope and pray that I can do it with even a quarter of the strength and dignity that you have! And yes, like the others, Dooley and I constantly think of your always smiling face!
It was wonderful meeting Boja. Like she said, it was a little rushed because I had to leave, and Maiella (as you well know) wouldn't leave us alone! The plans are coming along fine, and it will be a great house that you've again designed for us...don't you even worry about all that stuff.
Now, there is a small problem with the Keys and Oglala house you did for us...I don't want to leave the house we're in, but I really want to move to the Oglala house!!! Ha Ha Ha, no really we're not moving, but that house is turning out incredible. Even Maiella told Dooley that he needed to move her bed and swingset to the "Oglalalala" house! You can sure tell you put your heart into your work! We'll send more pics, as it finishes up!
All the best Chris...you are in our thoughts and prayers daily!
Jeanette