The Weekend Begins

kent4str, cuyahogarvr and I went to square dance A2 with the Zig Zaggers last night, justetthon calling. It wsa a fun time: I knew about half of the dancers from DC Lambda Squares. A few people were A2 novices so we crashed & burned a few times --hell, I made a total hash of teacup chain when I had to dance the girl's part for one time-- but we laughed the whole evening.

This morning, we're up at this ungodly hour to head to Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water in Pennsylvania, a road trip organized by a friend of ours. One of our carpool stayed chez nous overnight; as soon as kent4str is out of the shower and another of our troup arrives from Virginia, five of us will hop into kent4str's big ol' lesbian soccer mom minivan to head northwest. Photos will follow, presuming I'm awake enough to remember how to use the camera.

The Weekend Begins

kent4str, cuyahogarvr and I went to square dance A2 with the Zig Zaggers last night, justetthon calling. It wsa a fun time: I knew about half of the dancers from DC Lambda Squares. A few people were A2 novices so we crashed & burned a few times --hell, I made a total hash of teacup chain when I had to dance the girl's part for one time-- but we laughed the whole evening.

This morning, we're up at this ungodly hour to head to Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water in Pennsylvania, a road trip organized by a friend of ours. One of our carpool stayed chez nous overnight; as soon as kent4str is out of the shower and another of our troup arrives from Virginia, five of us will hop into kent4str's big ol' lesbian soccer mom minivan to head northwest. Photos will follow, presuming I'm awake enough to remember how to use the camera.

Fallingwater Road Trip

We're back from our day trip to Pennsylvania, visiting Frank Lloyd Wright-designed homes Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob.


It was a fun trip, but exhausting. Nick, David, Flavio and Dick drove up Friday after work, spending the night at a local motel; they went on the 8:30 AM extended tour Saturday morning. By contrast, kent4str, cuyahogarvr, Michael M., Jeff and I carpooled up early Saturday morning (departing 6:20 AM... ugh!) for our 10:30 AM normal tour.

It's an impressive complex and I'm surprised how comparatively undisturbed the rocks, trees and Bear Creek were during its construction.

The kind folks of the Western Pennsylvania Conservatory bumped our 3:30 PM reservations for the Kentuck Knob tour up to to 2:30 PM, saving us having to twiddle our thumbs for an extra hour. We still managed to have a filling lunch at the Firefly Cafe in Ohiopyle, PA, and spend some time walking the waterfront of the Youghiogheny River and Ohiopyle Falls.


Kentuck Knob was only a few miles out of town. Rather than hidden in a gorge and sharing space with a creek, Kentuck Knob was on a hilltop and half-built into the hill itself. As with Fallingwater, the living room is probably the most impressive space, dominating the largest portion of the house. The halls tended to be extremely narrow (21 inches... if it was good enough for Pullman rail cars, FLW reasoned, it was good enough for a person's home) and there are only two right angles in the entire building (bathroom shower & baths). The current owner has created an extensive sculpture garden of modern art, most of which I thought detracted from the house itself. Fortunately, the "art" is far enough away that the visual damage is minimized.


Now that I've seen four different FLW houses in the past three months, I have to say that while I like his building exteriors, I'm not fond of some of his interior spaces. His mode of merging into nature is wonderful; I like the broad eaves and horizontal lines of his prairie style design. His insistence on cramped personal spaces, inflexibility in furniture arrangement, dismissal of kitchens, impracticality of heating & air conditioning and hatred of window screens --did the man never meet a mosquito?-- are sufficient to put me off the beauty of the final work. They're great houses to visit but Kentuck Knob is the only one I could bear to live in, and that's with major reservations.

By 4:15 PM, we were back in our respective vehicles and heading back to DC. We were home again by 7:20 PM, tired but happy to have made the trip.

BTW, huge thanks to Nick M. for coordinating the trip and making the reservations... he made it all possible!

Fallingwater Road Trip

We're back from our day trip to Pennsylvania, visiting Frank Lloyd Wright-designed homes Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob.


It was a fun trip, but exhausting. Nick, David, Flavio and Dick drove up Friday after work, spending the night at a local motel; they went on the 8:30 AM extended tour Saturday morning. By contrast, kent4str, cuyahogarvr, Michael M., Jeff and I carpooled up early Saturday morning (departing 6:20 AM... ugh!) for our 10:30 AM normal tour.

It's an impressive complex and I'm surprised how comparatively undisturbed the rocks, trees and Bear Creek were during its construction.

The kind folks of the Western Pennsylvania Conservatory bumped our 3:30 PM reservations for the Kentuck Knob tour up to to 2:30 PM, saving us having to twiddle our thumbs for an extra hour. We still managed to have a filling lunch at the Firefly Cafe in Ohiopyle, PA, and spend some time walking the waterfront of the Youghiogheny River and Ohiopyle Falls.


Kentuck Knob was only a few miles out of town. Rather than hidden in a gorge and sharing space with a creek, Kentuck Knob was on a hilltop and half-built into the hill itself. As with Fallingwater, the living room is probably the most impressive space, dominating the largest portion of the house. The halls tended to be extremely narrow (21 inches... if it was good enough for Pullman rail cars, FLW reasoned, it was good enough for a person's home) and there are only two right angles in the entire building (bathroom shower & baths). The current owner has created an extensive sculpture garden of modern art, most of which I thought detracted from the house itself. Fortunately, the "art" is far enough away that the visual damage is minimized.


Now that I've seen four different FLW houses in the past three months, I have to say that while I like his building exteriors, I'm not fond of some of his interior spaces. His mode of merging into nature is wonderful; I like the broad eaves and horizontal lines of his prairie style design. His insistence on cramped personal spaces, inflexibility in furniture arrangement, dismissal of kitchens, impracticality of heating & air conditioning and hatred of window screens --did the man never meet a mosquito?-- are sufficient to put me off the beauty of the final work. They're great houses to visit but Kentuck Knob is the only one I could bear to live in, and that's with major reservations.

By 4:15 PM, we were back in our respective vehicles and heading back to DC. We were home again by 7:20 PM, tired but happy to have made the trip.

BTW, huge thanks to Nick M. for coordinating the trip and making the reservations... he made it all possible!

More Photos of Today

While we were heading north-west to Pennsylvania, I saw something which hasn't been on my radar in far too long: snow! Yay to the n^th degree!


The expository sign adjacent to the Ohiopyle Falls described how the river shapes the rock formations. Is it just me, or is this technical description more than a little erotic?


And to prove I actually exist, here's two shots which actually include me!

More Photos of Today

While we were heading north-west to Pennsylvania, I saw something which hasn't been on my radar in far too long: snow! Yay to the n^th degree!


The expository sign adjacent to the Ohiopyle Falls described how the river shapes the rock formations. Is it just me, or is this technical description more than a little erotic?


And to prove I actually exist, here's two shots which actually include me!