shear

i've always been fascinated by houses of cards, the real ones built with playing cards i mean; not the political television drama (though i do love that show).  it boggles my mind how people can build extraordinary towers and elaborate structures simply out of cards.  between my short patience and shaky hands, my attempt at a house of cards resembles a failed lean-to more than anything remotely house-like.

but there's a guy, bryan berg, who has figured it out.  he's mastered the delicate half art/half science pastime and has held the guinness world record for the tallest freestanding house of cards since 1992.  in fact the guinness folks invented a new record category for him to be honored in, in 2004.  lest you think this guy is just some punk with a steady hand, let me correct that misconception.  berg holds a professional degree in architecture and a design achievement award from iowa state university and a masters in design studies from harvard.  berg travels the world and builds elaborate card house displays on commission.  think: art installation.

in my wiki research i read that the general structural guidelines dictate a proper house of cards utilizes only friction and balance to remain upright.  these structures are delicate!  a strong breeze or misplaced card and they topple.

hmm.  that sounds familiar.  my emotional infrastructure somewhat resembles a house of cards these days.  delicate.  subject to sudden climate changes that result in certain disaster.  sometimes too much friction and not enough balance.  at other times, perfect balance toppled by unexpected brushes.  yes, an emotional house of cards indeed.

(i do love a metaphor, after all.)

but then i read this:

Bryan Berg claims..that the more cards placed on a tower the stronger it becomes, because the weight of the cards pushing down on the base (increasing friction) allows occasional cards to stumble without the entire structure collapsing.  He also claims that proper stacking technique allows cards to function as shear walls, giving considerable stability to the structure.  

and strangely enough, that makes sense to me.  i see that.  a layer of laughter, levity and love can remedy many a shaky card.   with enough carefully placed support, even the once weak cards can add stability to a structure.

while i was pondering this topic on my evening commute, pre-writing the blog in my mind, as i often do; a card was placed on my tower.  a surprise placement, quite out of the blue; it could very well have toppled the damn thing right over.

but it didn't.  as luck would have it, it was ever so carefully placed, building a shear wall i didn't expect.

d:  patience with my construction
b:  metaphor win
g:  shear walls