For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to live in California. Specifically, Southern California. Not the Southern California with overcrowded freeways, high unemployment, sky-high housing costs and a state government on the brink of financial collapse. I want to live in the Southern California of "Fun, Fun, Fun", "I Get Around", "California Girls" and "Do It Again". Yes, the Southern California that Brain Wilson and the Beach Boys sang about. That's where I've wanted to live since I was 12.

My childhood best friend was Scott Watson. Scott and I were inseparable. In 4th grade, when school music lessons started, I tried the saxophone and Scott took up the trumpet. I lasted for the 3 month trial period. I didn't have the desire or the discipline to continue. Scott continued. And continued some more. He majored in music education in college and became a music teacher and high school band leader. While working, he took classes and ultimately completed a doctorate in music composition. I don't know where or how but during middle school, in the early 70s, Scott encountered the music of the Beach Boys. On the school bus during field trips he would teach a small group of us to sing the harmonies.
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Everyone is familiar with the magazines that occupy the racks at grocery store checkout lanes. The busy, brightly colored covers typically include a female celebrity in a photo that has been so heavily processed that her skin looks only slightly less lifelike than a Barbie doll. The headlines advertise articles about how to achieve the perfect bikini body, how to achieve marital harmony, how to find the right hairstyle, how to make the perfect meal and, of course, how to have mind-blowing sex. Seriously, apart from the meal, and maybe the hairstyle, can a 600 word magazine article really shed light on any of those topics?
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Ask a Greene & Greene fan to name their favorite furniture design by the brothers and more than a few will name a chair. This is not surprising given the large number of chairs the Greenes designed. Dining room chairs, living room chairs -- often multiple styles -- and bedroom chairs. Among them are some of the firm's best work: the dining room chair for the William Thorsen house, the living room chair for the Robert Blacker house, the living room chair for the David Gamble house. For pure, simple elegance, however, it is difficult to beat the dining room armchair designed for the Laurabelle Robinson house. (Good God, how many times can he write "chair" in one paragraph?)
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One of my favorite blogs is "the place of dreams" by Ana Manzo. Ana is an architect in Venezuela who writes quite beautifully about topics related to her profession. Her command of the emotional aspects of architecture, and writing, fascinates me. As a scientist, I tend toward the analytical, only wishing that I could be more poetic. I have never seen Ana's designs but I imagine them to be very sensitive and wonderful.

In her latest blog entry, Ana writes, "...not only do we have to get into the minds of our clients, we must also be able to get into our own mind; to discover what we love and devote ourselves in an endless search of the object of our passion..." I've been thinking about this idea of the architect melding the client's passion with their own. The architect should neither subjugate himself to the client, nor overpower the client with the architect's own point of view. This isn't a novel idea, nor is it unique to architecture, but I think it might be a part of what sets some of the greats apart from mere mortals.
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Over the past month I've written a handful of guest entries for other blogs. Though I've advertised them on Facebook and Twitter, many of you have probably not read them. Therefore, I'm gathering links to them here to make them easily accessible. Each of the blogs contains a great deal more of interest beyond my entry, so take some time to look around.

Greene & Greene and Modernism: Complete Perfection. For the Life of an Architect blog by Dallas architect and great guy Bob Borson. Bob's blog is very entertaining and he has friends in high places in the fashion world.

gesamtkunstwerk. For the place of dreams blog by Venezuelan architect Ana Manzo. Ana writes beautifully and thought provokingly about architecture and other topics. In two languages. In fact, she translated my entry into Spanish.

A New and Native Architecture: Charles and Henry Greene and their Years in Boston. For The Evolving Critic blog by Boston architectural historian and preservationist Anulfo Baez. Anulfo's blog is always interesting and worth reading.

The Perfected Synthesis of Greene & Greene. For the Building Moxie blog. Building Moxie is a wide ranging blog with a focus on home improvement and architecture with many contributors.

When I was twelve, my parents, brother and I went to California for vacation. We had been there before, to visit Disneyland, but this trip was different. Our destination wasn't Los Angeles or San Francisco or San Diego, we were headed to the middle of nowhere. First to see family in Independence - a tiny town in the desert - and then into the mountains.

The highest point in the state of Delaware, my childhood home, is 448 feet (136 meters). That's roughly the same height as half of the buildings in Manhattan. It's 8 feet lower than the world's tallest roller coaster (Kingda Ka at Six Flags in New Jersey. It's no accident, eclipsing the highest point in Delaware was their goal. No one knows why.) Among U.S. states, only Florida has a lower highest point, though they have alligators. And jai alai.
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Influences can manifest themselves in various ways. In some cases, the result is a very direct and literal application of source material. This could take the form of creating a near reproduction, or perhaps simply borrowing substantially from a piece. In other instances, the effect is more subtle. One may pay homage to a source, or make allusion to it, without explicitly making use of the original. Another category exhibits influence in a still less direct way. This could take the form of significant abstraction or use of some element in a context very different from the original. This latter case applies to the incorporation of the tsuba form into the Greene & Greene vocabulary.
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I have published a number of photo outtakes, today I'm changing things up a bit by publishing a photo intake (excuse me while I create a new meaning for that word). That is, today's post is about a photo that is in Poems of Wood & Light. The reason is that this photo was almost an outtake but I opted to include it. I'm glad I did -- I've received several compliments.

In the 1970s, photographer William Current set about documenting Greene & Greene houses. In 1974, he and his wife Karen published a book, Greene & Greene: Architects in the Residential Style built around William's photographs with text by Karen. A photo in that book inspired my photo above.
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I have said and written this before and have no doubt that I will say and write it again: the internet is truly amazing. As is the case for many endeavors, writing a book requires attention to many details, some expected and some not. For example, shipping. How does one properly package a hardcover book, with dust jacket, so that it arrives in pristine condition? I've been an Amazon customer long enough to know that their answer to that question is to throw it in a box and hope for the best. I wanted a more reliable method. So off to the internet I went.

Google and a few well-chosen keywords gave me access to hundreds of businesses willing to sell me shipping materials. The search also returned a link to a blog by a man who runs an online book shop. He has shipped thousands of books. His packaging method is simple, secure and cost-effective. Best of all, it is fully documented, complete with photos, on his blog. Where else could one find this information now that Book Shipper's Monthly is no longer published?
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I apologize for the lack of content over the last several days. I am currently in the US at Wood & Light central (my parents’ house) to sign and ship books. In fact, I’m about done with that process -- there are a few more to put in the mail Tuesday morning and then I’m off to the airport to return home. It was very satisfying to be able to finally begin sending books to those of you who have been so supportive. I hope that everyone enjoys them.

While at the Post Office to mail a large batch of books on Saturday, my brother and I were standing at the counter next to a stack of packaged copies. The mailing labels depict a portion of the cover of the book, including the title. After some time, we heard a voice behind us say, “Is that the new Greene & Greene book I’ve heard about?” Somewhat stunned, I turned to speak with the obviously enlightened individual. I told him that it was the new Greene & Greene book and that I am the author. We had a very pleasant conversation and for a few minutes I felt the way that Robert Ludlum must feel whenever he’s at the Post Office to mail copies of his latest book (but without the bother of considerable wealth).

Regular entries resume on Wednesday.

Once upon a time, I was a respectable, productive member of society. I had a job and a house and 2.4 children and a station wagon with wood paneling on the side. (Okay, maybe I had 2.0 children and a Volkswagen -- I’m trying to get the hang of this poetic license thing.) I’d go to work in the morning and return home in the evening, talk with the neighbors, watch college football. I was living the American Dream before the editors got their hands on me. Here’s the story of my downfall.
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