Fallingwater: A Journey Through Time and History

Fallingwater was my next trip. Wearing my black leather jacket and black leather gloves to keep me warm in this freezing weather that was below 20 degrees, I stepped in my car and drove the hour and ten minutes it takes me to reach Fallingwater from my house.

Later on, I would discover that people from all over the world came to see this magnificent place. When I looked in the guestbook that people are allowed to write in (yes, I wrote my name in there as well), I saw a few names with other countries listed next to them. I honestly couldn't believe that people would travel such a great distance to see this "house in the woods." But it's all beautifully built in a natural setting.

The tour guide would say that Fallingwater was nominated to be the eighth wonder of the world in 2013. It lost, but he said it was an honor that it was nominated. Many famous people have visited, such as the Heinz family. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were here as well (as found out from a quick Google search). The tour guide said that Albert Einstein visited, although it isn't documented.

When I saw the architectural wonder, I almost felt like I traveled into the past to the 1930's when Frank Lloyd Wright built the home for the Kaufmann family. It would eventually become a famous National Landmark.

The base labor would be .25 cents an hour, and about .65 or .75 cents an hour for laborers with more advanced skillsets, like plumbers or electricians. Our tour guide said, "Remember, this was the Great Depression. If you quit your job, there was always someone waiting on it."

Based on DollarTimes.com, one dollar "in 1930 had the same buying power as $13.55 in 2014. Annual inflation over this period was 3.15%." Moreover, .25 cents was equal to $3.39 in 2014, 65 cents was equal to $8.81 in 2014, and 75 cents was equal to $10.16 in 2014. Seeing this, it's much easier to see the wage differences, and what buying power they had with the kind of money.

The Kaufmann's planned to spend about $20,000 to $30,000 on building the home. But they would spend $155,000 dollars, which would be worth about 2.4 million dollars as of today. 

And look how COLD it was here. Much of the water (apart from the river, which also had snow and frozen water accumulating around the edges near the rocks), was completely frozen.

Just LOOK at that icicle hanging off that pipe. The water was all like, "I stopped running. What happened? I got all frozen and stuff."

I met my tour guide on the bridge, a short, stout old man. He had a thick white beard, and his two hands rested on a long, elegant walking stick.

If you'd look to the right on this short bridge before entering the home, you'd find this beautiful view of the river. 

The tour guide said that horizontal lines were important in the architectural design. Even when I merely glanced at the building, it was obvious how important the horizontal line was, even in the bricks themselves. 

Escaping the cold and entering the first room, the living room, I felt my body grow warm from head to toe. There was a fireplace crackling with a bright, red fire in a stone hearth near a kitchen and a table. "The Hearth was a focal point," said the tour guide. It brought light, heat, and fellowship. There were two carvings in the stone of what appears to be dragons above the fireplace.

Near the fireplace is an opening that leads to the kitchen--it's small and has colors of white and yellow. 

Standing near a long couch and table, I observed a glass casing that was over stairs that led further below. The tour guide called this "The Hatch," which allowed access to the stream below. When opened, a few things happen: The sound of the water and the cool breeze comes up. There's a boiler down there that heats the water.

Fallingwater faces toward the South to take advantage of the light. And the interior floors have wax to give the illusion of wet stone! I thought that was pretty cool. He said that, "Forty-five percent of the home is a terrace."

Wright wanted the family to live with the waterfall, which is why he built the house partly on one, and so it was built around the large rocks. Two columns of chimney help form the vertical floor.

In the 1930's, this heavily wide open space for a living room was unique. It also had a state of the art record player. The freestanding chairs came from the Kaufmann's, from Florence, Italy, and the rest was built by the designer. The foam rubber (used on chairs and furniture) was used for commercial applications, and this is one example of it being used privately.

In the portrait near the table before heading up the stairs is Kaufmann Sr., aged 49, and was created in 1929. Since it is forbidden to take photos in the interior of the home, I cannot provide this picture personally, but I have provided it through a Google search.

Next I was led into the guestroom. It was small, to make the guests feel sheltered, but still connected to the outdoors through the glass. There's a fold on the ceiling to increase the strength of its support of the roof. And the ceiling was designed low to guide the eyes to look outside. The stone floor doesn't have that wax, and the shelves are designed to look like they are floating. The closet is horizontal to match the design and give it extra strength. And the headboard of the bed is fixed to the wall so the location of the bed cannot be changed.

When a member of the tour asked a question about the electric in the house, the tour guide responded that the electric is conduit, and has been rewired.

In the hallways, I noticed a tiny red vent fixed in the stone for ventilation. When I peeked in a bathroom, I noticed that it had a tiny bath.

The tour guide said that the narrow hallways are meant to give the feeling of compression, then when the person entered a wide room, it was meant to give the feeling of release. There was a design theme of compression and release throughout the building.

The tour guide said that bowling alley wax sealed with cork was the bathroom floor, because ceramic tile would be too cold.

Each room had a button on a dresser, so that the housemaid could come and fulfill requests.

The master bedroom housed a Picasso painting and a fireplace, and its bathroom was HUGE. When I walked on the stone patio, my feat slid at the edges of the terrace and I almost slipped forward. I was extra careful to not fall over and into the river below.

Returning inside and back into the warmth, I was led to the auxiliary bedroom, which was also Kaufmann's study and bedroom. He had asked Mr. Wright to design the desk to make it bigger, and so the desk had a curve so that a window would open. Sounds of the river rushes in as soon as the window opens. There are screens on the windows as well, to keep out birds, baths, bugs, and whatever else.

A guest asked why the bed was so small, and the tour guide joked that we guess we know who the boss of the house really is. But the size of the furniture depends on the size of the room.

Mr. Kaufmann and Mr. Wright remained friends their entire lives. Mr. Wright also had built a chapel down the road.

The third level room was the most private room. Kaufmann jr. (he liked to have it spelled lowercase instead of Jr.) didn't have to go through his father's room to get there. This room takes the center of the vertical core of the building. This was his study and he enjoyed the morning light here. He worked at a department store for 7 years, and was an adjunct professor at Columbia. He read many books (as did the entire Kaufmann family).

The redstone was quarried from the site, and is almost a perfect color of red wood.

The sky lights take advantage of the natural light, and the lights are turned on only if it's dark.

There is a semi-circle outside going up the stairs. It's the largest one and is supposed to create the feeling of a gentle walk, and is a 3-step landing. Before being led back inside, I noticed a pool on the patio. The pool has no filter or heater. It's an early use of submerged lighting. And it has no chemicals in it because it drains into Beer Run. People need to drain it, scrub it, refill it, and when it turns green (as shown in the picture), do it all over again to make it clean. Mrs. Kaufmann always swam before breakfast.



The guest house was a comfortable space and was usually called the largest room of the home. Outside, the leaves overhead protects the rain from coming in these small, narrow windows when they are open. In this room was an American Chestnut tree trunk root as a table, upside down, which "goes against nature," as the tour guide said. I was confused by this going against nature since this entire home was about becoming one with nature, it seemed.

The books are all originals in the home. The Kaufmann's loved to read. There were also books in German and French, as they knew three languages. The artwork was Kaufmann jr's responsibility. And Frank Lloyd Wright gave some art as gifts. Mr. Kaufmann also mortgaged his art collections; he was a terrible manager of money.

In Mrs. Kaufmann's room, the tour guide said she loved Chester filled cigarettes (I believe) and margaritas. There were chrome and black water pictures; they are by a thermal company and probably from the store.

Kaufmann Sr's brothers and sisters are still in Pittsburgh, the tour guide explained. Robert Morris University purchased one of (Oliver) Kaufmann's estates to build a campus.

There are about 165,000 visitors each year.

After the tour, I viewed the outside around the building.  I saw this weird statue, holding its arms up in the air as if chanting for rain or something. It also had big boobies. Weird. 

I believe when this water leak was found, Mr. Kaufmann wanted it to be part of the architecture, and so it was. 

The trash is placed in this square-looking containment in a corner outside. 

The forest itself is beautiful outside as well. 

Walking a long, cold road to get to my car for warmth. 

As I drove home, I took a picture of the stone outside that reads "Fallingwater." It turned out artistic, taking a picture behind the passenger window, which was smothered in wet and bits of ice, which gave an interesting effect of it being behind and preserved by a glass portrait.

As I left, I returned to the natural time period. Quite a journey! I actually visited this place as a kid with my father and his family. All I remembered were trees and interesting parts of the house, and taking a bunch of pictures afterward; oh, it was also very cold then, too. And now, being older, I was able to fully digest the experience as an adult.

Interesting journey through time indeed.

(If you want to learn more about Fallingwater, check out their website at http://www.fallingwater.org)

Figurative Language: Alluding to Allusions

In this post, I am going to be talking about allusions!

Why? Well, it's one of my class assignments, to either write about an element of travel writing I enjoy or something about figurative language, and so, I went to sporcle ( http://www.sporcle.com/games/kmiz22/lit_terms) to see what other literary terms I have yet to cover, and allusion caught my eye. Plus, it's interesting!

When I first started off as a writer, I was really into adding allusions into my stories. In fact, I added so many, that I made a list of what allusions I integrated into the story, so that I would remember later on, in case I'd forget. I also had a list of other elements from my stories, like symbolism and themes, and etc.

And while looking for that, I found writings from like four plus years ago, and it was ... nostalgic. Weird. It's a marker on how far I've come as a person and a writer. I was a sad kid and in a sad position back then.

Very sad.

Anyway, I found this, about giving God glory through allusions from the bible: "I’ve been praying that He help me with this from the start, and thanking Him, and giving glory through allusions." At the time, I was very religious because of a girl, but that died out throughout the years. I was basically saying that i'd put tons of bible allusions in the story if God would help me get published. But, the allusions I picked are ones i really liked, and really did add value to the story.

One allusion was to Shakespeare: "Do not be afraid of greatness: Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them" (Shakespeare, Twelfth Night). What I had written for an allusion, was a different version of it (I was thinking of two different versions, it seems): "Do not be afraid of loneliness. Some are born sick, some achieve sickness, and some have sickness thrust upon them." The other version was: "Do not be afraid of loneliness: Some are are born lonely, some achieve loneliness, or some have loneliness thrust upon them." Morbid, yes. It's insightful though, and it sounded cool, I thought.

Another thing I had written in the outline: "The things he carried, references the story, 'The Things They Carried', to show the seriousness and importance and meaning of the situation." This was for the scene where Connor is running away from home, because he's misunderstood and they don't understand his magical situation, and he knows he needs to be alone to figure out what's going on. And he packs a bunch of things to take with him. Once he gathers everything up, I wrote, "These are the things he carried to be alone," or something of that nature. But the things he carried were the basics. He really didn't need much, apart from his self.

In another scene where the alien king (these are called the Axiomnivol race) fights the "bad" king and loses, he says, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This is an obvious reference to Jesus toward the end of his life when he's on the cross.

I described the bad king's eyes as a "black circular pit,” referring to "Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allen Poe, apparently. I think I was pushing that allusion a little too much, and it wasn't exactly an allusion.

Stars were symbols in the story, and one chapter was titled, "How I Wonder What You Are," which refers to the song, Twinkle Little Star. I wrote: "This allusion increases the value of the story by wondering what the star is. In my opinion, I hear a sinister tune when reading the chapter name. The star turns into a black hole. I really wonder what a star is if it can do that (it is like all of us, really)." It also referenced guidance, a hero leading the other, because of the lyrics, "Then the traveler in the dark, thanks you for your tiny spark; He could not see which way to go, if you did not twinkle so." The protagonist is able to help others "see which way to go" because of his twinkle. Also, they all have magical colored auras in the story, so they actually can shine like stars.                        

I even alluded to The Last Supper, which I completely forgot (It did not make the second draft). I wrote in my outline: "Frustawryvol and Connor and Decidvol and friends eating at the table in the end are a sly allusion to The Last Supper. It also refers to the betrayer, is Euvol or Libensvol the betrayer? 13 are here like at the last supper, including Decidvol, or excluding him and putting Libensvol in place. Though Frustawryvol has The Gift, Libensvol does not care, he does not care how close he is to their god, and orders him to be killed." I believe there were 13 seated at The Last Supper, and oddly enough, I had the same number of characters at the table.

In another instance, I alluded to Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" story, writing, "I refer to the black hole, 'The black hole looks like it is beating, light glistening around it and trying to escape, but its being pulled back in, into a heart of immense and utter darkness.'" And the words used in the actual story being alluded to were "seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness." I wrote: "This allusion increases the value of the story by using the symbol from heart of darkness, saying that blackhole DOES come from the heart, and evil originated from human nature." I thought it was a cool allusion. The evil king in the story created a black hole (made to try to kill everyone). I can't remember if that made the cut for the second draft, and if i was saving it for later in the series.

Again, I referred to The Bible, and more specifically, about light and darkness and how they relate to the eyes and one's body. I wrote, "When Sageuvol goes into flashback he starts off with this: 'Anheloneedvol’s eyes, they were pure black. I still cannot understand why his body still could expel light…'  The reference is this: “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” The evil king Anheloneedvol's eyes are full of darkness, but his body is still able to expel light, a bright suioris (or aura). I also wrote in the outline, "Connor’s eye lights up when seeing Ailey [the girl he likes], this also alludes to his light." The fact this his truly lit up, and no one else's, was meant to show that he's the one with the most pure light.

It seems these allusions actually helped past Kevin write some of the story, as they gave new aspects to it.

In a scene where Connor is in a lush, beautiful forest (not unlike The Garden of Eden), a snake appears and (as I wrote in the outline) leads Connor to an apple tree because Decidvol (the supernatural presence of magic [or arsenergia] inside of him) suggests that they follow the snake. When Connor takes a bite of the apple tree, he finds that it is dry and inedible. It led Connor away from his water source, and he's unable to find it again. Then, it starts to rain, and the whole forest eventually becomes flooded, alluding to the flood in the bible. Instead of two of every animal, it's just Connor and Decidvol trying to escape (though Decidvol is inside Connor as arsenergia, so he counts as only one, technically), by learning to fly. And as they fly over the forest, they see a lone wolf running away (again, one [animal] instead of two).

One more? I rewrote a reference to the line in the bible and a reference to Lincoln's speech, "A body divided cannot stand," into, "a body divided cannot stand, but sometimes a body needs to be divided so that it can stand properly." When the two protagonists, Connor and Decidvol, are divided in what they have to do, they are actually more unified afterward as a result.

Anyway, allusions are pretty cool. And it's even cooler to morph them a bit, edit the lines and make them your own, or edit them so that they mean something else, to fit your purpose. But don't go too crazy with them like past Kevin did. Keep in mind I wrote that outline and story about three years ago, so I know I could write that all better as of today.

And to finish, I think this blog post alludes to the past Kevin and his writings, just to show how far he has come into the present.

Not sure why, but these lyrics have come to mind: (Yes, I'm not alluding to the lyrics' original intent, the civil rights movement, but i'm simply alluding to the song, and reading the lyrics literally in this context.)

"We've come a long long way together,

Through the hard times and the good,

I have to celebrate you baby,

I have to praise you like I should."

"I've come a long long way together,

Through the hard times and the good,

I have to celebrate me baby,

I have to praise me like I should."

Check Out My Other Blog!

Just wanted to mention to those  that didn’t know, I do have another blog which can be found at the link here: http://kevinscrima.wordpress.com/

My writings are different for each blog, and the ones there will probably interest you as well :)

Element of Writing: "Foreshadowing" Through Dreams

Foreshadowing is an important element in writing because I think it can make the story more realistic, especially if it's through dreams.



Foreshadowing is even in our every day lives. Sometimes it is obvious, or sometimes it is completely invisible until the event blindsides us. When I wrote my romance memoir, a character says, "She's your problem now." My past self replied, "Problem? What problem?" Later, a bunch of problems ensue.

In that story, I had vivid dreams after the end of my relationship. At one point I date a girl who had a similar name and features as the previous girl. In the dream, their faces flash back and forth, foreshadowing that it's the same girl and that the relationship won't work out.

In fact, in many of my stories, I use dreams to enhance them. In Channels of Arsenergia, the protagonist, Connor, is a lonely, misunderstood teenage boy. He has a dream that he is locked in an enclosed space, crying. He cant stop crying, and he realizes his tears is causing the water to build up in the room. He is alone, and there is no way out. The water reaches the ceiling, submerging him underwater. His vision becomes hazy as he loses consciousness, and the last thing he sees is a bright, blue light.



It's a complex dream in regards to the figurative language it refers to, despite seeming simple at the surface, and packs a ton of meaning into the story in a short time. The dream signifies the suffering to come (his crying and being submerged underwater, which symbolizes suffering--different forms of water [which resembles life in itself] represent different symbols throughout the story) and the blue light represents the magical friend who will save him in many ways (identity-wise for instance). Connor needs outside intervention before he can save himself and his new friend, and eventually save others, too. It also foreshadows him being trapped in a body that he will not be in control of. It illustrates the theme of loneliness vs. connectedness, feeling whole vs. empty. So, theme, symbolism, foreshadowing, and more in one short dream that is maybe a paragraph or two long. And it foreshadows that these themes and symbols are going to happen in the future, too, as they are not limited to the dream itself.

As the dream draws the reader in it and out of it, it makes readers even more inside the story and can make them forget they are in the real world reading a book, if done right. The dream needs to seem realistic, like the weird ones we would have. And they usually mean our brain is trying to deal with unresolved problems or issues, or signify something important. Sometimes, we have no idea what our dreams mean, and that's okay, too.


If you're ever writing a story, don't forget the power of dreams. And if you're reading about characters having dreams or if you yourself are experiencing them, don't forget about their significance.

Poem on What I Think Pittsburgh IS

This is a free verse poem I wrote in class a few weeks ago. It's short, and definitely not the best poem, but it's concise and says a lot about Pittsburgh in a short time!



Enjoy.

My Brief Pittsburgh Poem on What It IS

Pittsburgh is big,

Pittsburgh is a place where I explored less than a few blocks of, it seems,

Pittsburgh is small,

Pittsburgh is a place where I’m one of hundreds of thousands of people, it seems,

Pittsburgh is for you and me and for one and all,

Pittsburgh is too obsessed with sports, I guess it would be cool if I was obsessed with sports too,

Pittsburgh is a place where Yinz live,

Pittsburgh is a big city that is overlooked geographically compared to other cities, because the racing game where you can drive the whole United States didn’t have Pittsburgh in it, and because Red Box brought next-gen games to every city except for Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh is cold right now. I don’t like cold. I want it to be summer.

Pittsburgh is is is is.

Pittsburgh is Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is a place I honestly don’t know too much about (though I do), so Pittsburgh is a place that I researched,

Pittsburgh is a place that has been named the most livable U.S. city by Forbes,

Pittsburgh is ranked as one of the cities that has the highest pollution nation-wide, according to the Post-Gazette,

Pittsburgh is home to UPMC, the best hospital in the state, which is ranked in the top ten nationally for many health-related areas, according to U.S. and News Report,

Pittsburgh is considered one of the smartest cities out of the 100 most populated U.S. cities, according to Movoto.

According to the Huffington post, Pittsburgh  is a place that is “ranked in the top 20 for media outlets, libraries, public schools and museums.”

Pittsburgh is a city that has 14 professional sport championships, based on usnews.com.

Pittsburgh is the fifth best place to retire, based on Livability’s 2013 ranking.

Pittsburgh is a place committed to green space, with the 561-acre Frick park, Highland park, Riverview Park and Schenley Park.

Pittsburgh is the number three spot for “Most secure places to live in the U.S.,” based on a 2013 ranking from Farmers Insurance Group.

Pittsburgh is a place that is ranked in the top ten as most well-read cities, according to Amazon,

Pittsburgh is a place that is ranked among the top five for cities with the happiest workers according to Career Bliss.

Pittsburgh is a nice place to live by, according to me. 

Fresh Figurative Language

      

   When we use figurative language—like simile or metaphor or personification—we are using the English language in a whole new way. Language becomes plain and stale sometimes—that’s where figurative language comes in.

   Instead of saying the snow is in your face, why not say the snow is slapping you in the face? It’s accurate if the wind is actually blowing the snow so hard into your face, that it hurts. Sounds fresh, doesn’t it?

   But figurative language isn’t interesting when it becomes a cliché. A crude example: It’s hot as balls out here. Or, it's cold as ball out here. Also, it’s hot as hell, or it’s hot as fuck (what is even a fuck?). Even in one instance, I heard that it’s cold as hell out. Really? Balls are both hot and cold, and it’s both cold and hot in hell? I didn’t realize this. People who say these things are striving for emphasis, but it’s not as strong as using fresh language.

   Try something that makes people think, and it has to be original, and it could even be funny. If the reader doesn’t have to think about the figurative language, then it’s probably a cliché, and it won’t be fresh in the mind. But if the reader has to think about the figurative language too much, then the reader may not understand it, which may mean that, although it’s original, it doesn’t fully make sense. 

   If it’s hot outside, a guy could say, “Man, it’s hot as that hot girl out here,” or, “Man, it’s hotter out here than all these hot girls out here combined.” The friend, seeing the visual of hotness coupled with feeling hot, may reply, “You’re right, it is hot out here. And damn, they’re hot.” Or the friend might just say, “Dude, she isn’t that hot, which means it’s not that hot out here.” But realize, a phrase like this is original, funny, and makes the person think (are these girls actually hot, and if so, as hot as it is outside?), which is exactly what you want. 

Conversely, one could say the same thing when it’s cold out. When the friend says, “But dude, it’s cold out,” the person will reply, “Exactly,” meaning that the girl isn’t hot at all. If it’s cold out, a guy (albeit possibly bitter) could say, “It’s cold out here as a bitch’s heart.” If the person really is a cold person, and if it is really cold outside, it’s at least accurate, and it’s still fresh and makes the listener think (is that person’s heart cold, and if so, as cold as it is outside?).

   With the clichéd phrase, “It’s cold as hell out” or “It’s hot as hell out,” it doesn’t make the person think because it’s been said already way too much. And with a phrase like, “It’s a sun out here” or “It’s an icicle out here,” may cause the person to think too much and not understand it, consequently asking, “What?”

   Songs use figurative language all the time, but they are usually very clichéd or don’t make sense. One song has the lyric, “Like a drum my heart never stops beating.” But the problem is: Drums stop beating. Who is going to be pounding the same drum for a whole person’s life? Perhaps the writer meant that the heart beats like the sound of a drum. The fact that I’m trying to understand it shows that the analogy doesn’t make sense.

   So, remember, if you are going to use figurative language, make it fresh and possibly funny, and if it makes the person think a bit, all the better.