This is a story that I developed from a dream. The story is set in New York City on a cloudy and cold night in December where it just recently stopped raining and in a suburban neighborhood in some nearby mountains that will look like the Pacific Northwest even though that doesn’t make sense. The story isn’t set in a specific year but it is set in a time before everyone had cell phones. I think it has all the elements necessary for a good Christmas story. Rather than present the story in a traditional format, let’s do something a little more creative. Imagine this is a short film that will be aired before a feature-length film that opens on Christmas Day. You and I, dear reader, are sitting at a coffee shop and I am describing my ideas for the film to you. Here is the story.
Continue reading “A Story for Christmas”Category: Thoughts
A Picture, A Postcard, and A Personalized Book: Thoughts on the New Year
Death twitches my ear.
‘Live,’ he says. ‘I am coming”
Roman poet, Virgil
It is the first day of the new year and I am filled with a mixture of inspiration and restlessness. After a few days of cold weather, today was absolutely spring like. Spring is the season of rebirth and growth. How serendipitous that today of all days would feel this way.
Continue reading “A Picture, A Postcard, and A Personalized Book: Thoughts on the New Year”A Stroll Around a College Campus on a Rainy Day
“Other psychologists say, on the other hand, that we have an inborn preference for winding paths, for roads that provide some sense of mystery – what will happen next? Man as an animal is defined by a need for what piques curiosity as well as for survival. We also need, they say, legibility, ‘an environment that looks as if one could explore extensively without getting lost'”
Nathan Glazer, From A Cause to A Style
There is something special about walking around a college campus on a rainy day. Especially when the buildings are made of concrete and brick. The rain soaks through the surface and the earthy tones are brought in in their full splendor. The tree leaves are faded and colorful. It’s as if the campus was designed specifically for a day like this.
Continue reading “A Stroll Around a College Campus on a Rainy Day”Summer Days in the Park
There are some days where words aren’t needed. These are the days of summer, where we pass our time in the park laying under a tree and reading a book. Maybe there is a stream nearby and we can hear the water babbling gently over the rocks. If we look up, we can see the clouds passing by, the kind of clouds that Murakami said “lingered faintly in the sky”. The ones he says watercolor artists like because they are a “test of the artist’s delicate brushstrokes” (Haruki Murakami, 1Q84, page 1021). Summer is where we are encouraged to take a brief pause and appreciate the beauty of the world around us.
Below is a selection of photos and paintings that I think of when I think of summer.
Continue reading “Summer Days in the Park”A Brief Dispatch from California: White Christmas in the Sierra Nevada
This year, I was lucky enough to visit my family in California for Christmas. We took a special trip into the mountains. It was a true winter wonderland.
Continue reading “A Brief Dispatch from California: White Christmas in the Sierra Nevada”But That Was Just A Dream I Had
A piece of fiction that I wrote for someone.
Continue reading “But That Was Just A Dream I Had”A Visual Delight: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth & Kimbell Art Museum
The Cultural District in Fort Worth is home to two of the most beautiful museums in the world: the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Kimbell Art Museum. They are both unique in that they were designed to enhance the experience of viewing artwork and each of them do that in their own special way. The Kimbell was designed by Louis I. Kahn and opened in 1972. The Modern was designed by Tadao Ando and opened in 2002.
Continue reading “A Visual Delight: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth & Kimbell Art Museum”A Few Experiences
I like to travel. It is thrilling experiencing a new city. Hearing the local language, seeing the sights, watching how people live, eating the local cuisine. Each time I have traveled, I have learned something new about myself. Each of those experiences, the lonely ones, the happy ones, and the sad ones, have kept me curious about the world, and have inspired me to continue learning more about it. Here are a few of those experiences.
Continue reading “A Few Experiences”Unraveling the Layers of History: Thoughts on The Architect’s Dream
“And then, dreaming, the clouds methought would open and show riches, ready to drop upon me, that when I waked, I cried to dream again.”
William Shakespeare, The Tempest. Act III. Scene II.
I read two books recently that both mentioned The Architect’s Dream, Thomas Cole’s 1840 painting. The first book, The Secret Lives of Buildings by Edward Hollis, is about the history of famous buildings around the world and how their meaning and usefulness has changed to meet the demands that were required of them at the time. The second book, A History of Architecture by Spiro Kostof, is a general history of architecture. Both authors had similar observations in their introductions. The underlying theme of Edward Hollis’ book is that buildings must adapt, and they must change for them to stay relevant. And on page three, Professor Kostof wrote:
“that is how architecture is meant to be known. As the musical theater of human activity, its truth is in its use.”
I thought it would be a fun exercise to describe what I saw in the painting. With the exception of the Gothic church, the original use of these buildings has long since been abandoned. The Egyptian, Greek and Roman buildings are preserved now as ruins of a bygone era or preserved as museums that celebrate the glory of a bygone era. I wonder how many buildings we will preserve from the last five hundred years and whether they will be immortalized in a painting. One can only dream.
Continue reading “Unraveling the Layers of History: Thoughts on The Architect’s Dream”White Noise: Hotel
Continuing on the topic of liminal spaces, a hotel is a place that provides all the comforts of home without actually being home. For those looking to escape the comforts of home for a few days, a hotel is a wonderful thing. For those who want to be at home, a hotel quickly loses its charm and allure. Sometimes, all I want is to be in my own bed.
A Walk Through The City 