Been a long time since I listened to any Kate Bush. Have the iPod on shuffle this afternoon and a lot of Kate has been coming up. Do you know she was 17 or something insane when she wrote Wuthering Heights? Brilliance.
I've really tried to get into the Rilo Kiley's latest. Can't seem to do it. Nothing beats "The Execution of All Things" in my book.
Bought the hub a WII for his birthday back in November. It's a total blast. We bought the Revolution Dance Party game. It's a lot of fun. I have to wait until C is in bed, however, because we once accidentally bonked him in the head with a numchuk. I played that cow riding game with him sitting in my lap and he make a "ccpow" sound every time we hit a cow. Fun!
Went with A and a client to see Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Oak Park last weekend. I didn't think I was a huge fan, but ended up being totally knocked on my ass by how amazing it was. I knew he was an architectural innovator, but it went beyond what I thought. His house was designed and built about five years before our house was built. That blows my mind as our house is pretty standard middle-class house of the period. His house seemed like it was from a completely different era as ours. I guess I associated his prairie design with the 20s and on. I was so wrong.
It was apparent from both the house and studio that he required beautiful and functional surroundings. The lovely guide who gave our tour pointed out time and time again that he took inspiration from his environment. These lovely carved cranes all around the studio caught my eye. He loved them as they symbolized birth. He built places to hang or study the Japanese prints that he collected throughout the studio and his home. He believed in built in furniture. And had his artist friends paint murals in both his bedroom and the kids play room.
The biggest take away, however, was the strength of his belief in himself. He knew that he was on to something and he was going to do everything his own way. He blocked out the windows of an entire side of his house because he didn't want to see the house that had been built next door. He thought it was a monstrosity. The man was known to design dresses for specific rooms of a clients home and require the lady of the house to wear it when she entertained.He obviously went overboard, but it's still inspiring to see an artist who felt that strongly about his ideas.
Also makes me think I need to watch the Ken Burns Frank Lloyd Wright documentary again. Gets into the more scandalous areas of this life that the ladies of Oak Park didn't touch. (Also, later work.)
Going to be freezing this weekend. It will be a good time to catch up on movies. I've got Running with Scissors, Marie Antoinette and Curb Your Enthusiasm Season One ready to go.
OMG, Miguel and I just watched Marie Antionette last weekend! Sophia Coppola is always good for an interesting movie. Watch it tonight and we can discuss tomorrow!
Love the new photo on the masthead. What is it from?
Posted by: Tina | January 18, 2008 at 09:37 AM