DA old timers  

trump's home violates
retinas and smells like
Cheesecake Factory
.
the need to show off
reveals deep cavity
where soul should reside
.
wasted election
this misguided erection
with too much gold leaf
.
Yes SDR,
Carefully considered randomness is much easier said than done. Nature almost always does it better, but Wright's masons were obviously top notch. I wonder if he actually drew them a few detailed examples, or even provided templates of some kind? Or just had them cut loose based on stellar past work? I know you already know the answer.

There is an account of the construction of Fallingwater in which that issue is addressed: a chief mason reports that Mr Wright was very pleased with the sample stonework he prepared. I don't yet have anyone who can cite an instance of Wright directing the masons. At many different sites, including at his own Taliesin, versions of this stonework can be seen; they vary considerably in the size and shape (and color) of the units, depending on the kind of stone -- which was typically quarried quite locally, often on site.
Nor have I seen a sketch by the architect of the desired effect -- but I don't possess a couple of weighty volumes which contain only drawings, including many preliminary studies . . .

Thanks SDR,
I imagine that the scale of a particular treatment might also dictate how large the pieces and degree of irregularity needed to be. (To achieve the desired sense of texture and still be unified etc.)
and PS… I find the stonework to be such a large part of Wright's iconic "look", that whoever did all that stonework deserves much more historical recognition! If they can figure out who designed Peter Pepper clocks, they surely can hunt down the gifted stone mason.

Foot in mouth time….
In my last batch of stupid haikus above, I made what I thought was one about the donald's weird need to show off his obscenely gold-plated wealth.
But it came out as just having "a need to show off", and now I am hoping that I did not offend our own much beloved show-off, Mark (because those are not at all my feelings about Mark's unique and playful brand of showing off)
I hope my comment was not taken the wrong way.
I should have been more specific in what I was trying to say, but as you know, trying to fit the words into "standard haiku format" is a pain, and sent everything sideways for lack of context.
I do love your pants pics Mark, and I do NOT think you lack a soul! Far from it. AND I approve this message.
Maybe I am just being too sensitive.
Anyway….

You are just silly, Eameshead! You are my friend.
Fondly,
Aunt Mark
ps. I like my vintage jacket today.
(EDITED TO ADD A SNAPPY) of my sweet jacket that I wore to lunch today. Yup.
pss hi. that's me smiling.
(EDITED AGAIN)! That was post #1400. I blame Lunchbox.

Hee-hee. Aunt Mark smiling reminds me of my beloved Al Gore doing the Makarena -- by standing still. "Want to see it again ?"
I love all you guys so much.
Almost missed this one, a few minutes ago . . .

Whew. Thanks Mark.
I love the vintage jacket, and the orange and yellow combo. Orange and yellow were my mom's favorite you know…. she was born on Halloween. But I digress…. Great shot Mark!
That sky is a whole story in itself SDR. I think it's the best one of yours I've seen. EVER.
Look at those orange tendrils of light on the right… they go off into the world of ultra-violet as they disappear. I can't imagine how great that must have been in real life.
Today is November 15th. This is the day that marks the beginning of damp weather. It's in my personal almanack. (The one in my head I mean) It only works for my own local area, probably. Seems to be when winter vibe kicks in, and it has proven true again this year. Just yesterday it was BALMY. Today it is nippy.
The next big day is December 21st. Darkest/shortest day of the year. And then its Feb 15th, when the buckeyes start to leaf out on the hillside and announce the beginning early spring.
I blame Lunchbox too.

That jacket just flung me back into 1968 for a few seconds.

Another day, another page ? Thank you, Eameshead. Tomorrow I'm 74. Happily, I don't feel a day over 60.
My late mother's b-day was Dec 21. It didn't seem to bother her -- except when she was a child, she said, because of the proximity to Christmas, for obvious reasons !

Well...
Happy Birthday SDR! Kiss a stranger.
And many more,
Aunt Mark

And...
A close up of 1968. Print is of baby chickens and piglets, I think. Lilly Pulitzer.
Best,
Aunt Mark
ps don't forget to feed the birds. hi.

Happy birthday, SDR!
My older kid is a Halloween baby, too! Our family rule was that kids could invite as many friends to their birthday parties as the number of years-old they were to become. This hit its high or low point (depending on perspective) at age 14 as I reluctantly recall. Imagine a houseful of elaborately costumed teenage girls juiced on cake and ice cream crowding bathrooms all armed with garish makeup products and vying for mirror space to put on finishing touches before trick-or-treating. I don't know which was worse, the cacophonous squealing, the indelible purple stuff that somehow got sprayed on the ceiling, or the glitter that I still find in remote reaches of our house. I get the willies just thinking about it.

I second tktoo's HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you SDR!
tktoo, your Halloween memories sent me back to my own childhood. I had two older sisters so I also experienced plenty of the vibe you are talking about, but from the perspective of the little brother. For me, it was Brownies events, Girl Scouts, Beatles etc.
You want screaming teenage girls? I went with my dad and sisters to the first Beatles concert in San Francisco at the Cow Palace in the mid-60s…. 59 minute concert. One solid scream. I didn't see a thing. Nothing but a forrest of girls standing on chairs and crying and screaming.
Where do you get all those awesome vintage coats Mark? Do you bribe your lady friends at your local thrift shop to make sure they funnel all the good coats your way?

My first was born 2 1/2 hours after Halloween ended and I could not have been more relieved at the timing! I think she only had one Halloween-themed party and it was at a way more manageable age than the teens, thank god.

!!!