An interesting read, but clearly written by someone who is writing to an academic audience, and leaves me with the feeling that words were chosen to impress rather than illuminate. I also found myself reacting to some statements presented as absolute fact, that clearly are not so. I.e., Los Angeles as the only city in the world divided by a major mountain range? I can think of another right off the bat, Rio de Janeiro... Also, the rectangular grid is not necessarily the only model of urbanization and garden orientation, although it is the predominat model that we of the west have taken as our cultural heritage. There are certainly indigenous urbanizations in Africa, Indonesia and Australia that reflect a less western/ gridded approach. Also, not all deserts are wide open expanses similar to arctic tundras, and have their intimate geographic formations as well. The urbanizations of Petra in Jordan and nearby Madein Selah in Saudi Arabia are examples of intimate urban design that seems intimate and even cosy within a very harsh desert environment. I also question whether a gridded development pattern necessarily leads to a disregard for local watersheds and importation of water. More likely it was a result of trying to partition large difficult to access western USA topography into divisible units quickly, as a means of allowing homesteading, mining claims and expansion of civilization into the wilds of the southwest. I ultimately felt like the writer did have alot to say, but did not present any cogent or coherent explanation for the thesis he is proposing. Alot of random thoughts juxtaposed with interesting but nonsequitor examples to make an entertaining read. Maybe the language chosen set off my bull_ _ _ t meter, but I found no "aha" moments that made me really appreciate the points he was trying to make. Yes, we in the western world have inherited a grid as the prevailing urban organizing scheme, and our animal nature combined with human thought processes to keep us alive have helped us develop a cognitive system that visualizes space in a sort of 2d map as a common means of understanding our built environments. This is not a very useful skill set where cities are nongrid in orientation, and is not a universal skill in cultures that are not as linked to reading skills. Visual clues of geographic features, or ability to remember and recall subtle variations is a more useful skill when trapped in an urban maze of winding streets or boxed canyons in a mountainous desert. I also found it interesting that there was no mention of how physical security and need to keep out thieves also necessitates walls and boundaries in most cultures. All well and good for the rich to live in mountain hide-aways above Palm Springs and live with the boulders and no boundary walls. A perfectly good model for living in tropical paradises such as Resort Hotels in Bali, as long as the poor masses can be kept at bay through religious beliefs and/or mostly unseen constant security guards/cameras. Not an example that will work for most people world-wide, where the need to lock up valuables and keep others out is an imperative. Until such as time as private property is an old-fashioned cultural relic, and we can all enjoy living in an open air lifestyle that resembles an untamed paradise setting, I will save this lifestyle for vacations in Ubud, or exploring the maze of non linear Kuala Lumpur jalans or twisting Riyadh streets, and expect that I will simply continue to be disoriented even when living there for long periods of time. At least in our times, being disoriented is not necessarily a fear inducing experience, but often serendipitous. Finally, back to gardens, grids and voids. Modernism in garden designs as explored by Church, Eckbo, Burle Marx and others give plenty of examples of non-grid design that has more in common with modern abstract and indigenous African art than the western Persian/Egyptian/Greek/Roman geometries. Lastly, interesting that no mentions was made of the oceans as a void that is the ultimate experience in feeling lost within nature, or how development of ancient navigation so drastically changed our perception of our physical world, and expanded our horizons both culturally and physically.

New home not moved into yet. We are in south with huge rains. Walkout basement with french drains that worked until the got clogged as we did not extend them long enough to clear construction dirt buildup. Result is water seeping through basement walls. We built usingcinder blocks, filled with rebar steel and filled with concrete. we put moisture proof sealer on walls interior and had painted 2 coates of ames saterproof sealer on exterior plus a foam board to keep rock from damaging wall sealant before we backfilled with rocks then sand. We sustained 20 inches of rain in 24 hours. Basement loked great until 6 hours later, water built up and could not get out. We dug up and found drains, cleaned and water gushed out. Guess the trouble of backfilling with rock and sand was good idea as it is getting to french drain, just blocked. So I know it will work but problem is much greater. We built 8' x 60' concrete porch on back side of house above basement that is underground theinking that water will never get in there...wrong. We have exposed soil which is sandy-clay, mostly clay. They graded and were ready to put grass down. Well, we left a 2' x 2' hole in two areas inf ront of porch for plumber to put cut-off valves for us where water lines enter home. Rain came first. It filled holes with water then pushed through under concrete porches and left huge voids under. Rain came again and now continued to make void under attached garage that attaches to one corner of basement. Now water is running around corner and lying in large hole against house. How do you fill these voids, we cannot reach them. Will anything last or will it continue to happen? Will that bentonite stuff work? Any ideas would be very much appreciated. No one has basements in the south, guess we know why now. mac

That is exactly why I have done nothing yet Amy. I love the Parrish prints and they are smaller in size and I don't want to overpower them. I should have mentioned that was my second choice. Putting the larger daybreak centered over the bed and then splitting the two from my side of the bed on either side. The prints are the old ones from the 20's and the frames and glass are pretty heavy. DH wasn't very happy with that option either. While they didnt have the points of the iron piece, They still could do a number on you if they fell. He suggested a poster. I wasnt thrilled with that either. I found some canvas "prints" but they are about $120 each. For about $80 more I could get more original prints in frames from the 20's (of course if they came up at our local auction house) and I can't see spending that much money on a canvas print. That pillow idea is very pretty. I hadn't thought of curtain like fabric hung either. That might work. I think Fabric barn is having another holiday sale. I do have larger lamps I could use but put the smaller ones here so they didnt block the prints. It's just not working. I have been looking on CL for a king bed frame and no such luck so far. Msrose they are from ebay. I will try to post a link to the seller. They have good feedback and the groupings range in price from $50-$150 Here is a link that might be useful: ebay seller

Ductwork all runs through the ceiling. Or rather, along the tops of the ceiling, UNDER the ceiling and inside the room (rather than up in the attic, though there must be a place in the attic where the furnace connects to the heating ducts) In fact I'm pretty sure that's why they put that stupid "bookshelf" there (with the shelves too close together and NOT MOVABLE eg too short, and too deep for actual books and also not suitable for decorative items either, LOL!). Basically it fills in the space under the ductwork, where in the kitchen (on the other side of the living room wall past the bathroom) the ductwork runs over where the wall cabinets are. The story of these houses is a little weird, they were supposed to use plans that included WOOD STOVES (wonderful way to heat in the desert where trees don't grow) but instead used plans intended for a different Air Force base in another state that included oil furnaces. Thankfully. But the oil furnace was replaced in the 70s or 80s with a forced air gas heater and that was pretty nonfunctional (wasn't even correctly connected to the ductwork). So we had that replaced and the existing ductwork at that time was all up through the attic and running along the top of the ceiling in every room. Anyway so originally they intended to build houses that would have included a connection for a wood stove but since they didn't actually USE those plans I'm pretty sure it was purpose-built for the oil furnace originally, since those were the plans they actually (accidentally) used. Maybe there was/is some stuff involving the old oil furnace in there ... That room is WAY too big for a "coat closet", plus the actual coat closet (also somewhat oversize but still obviously closet-ey) is just around the corner there. The "weird" room is 4 x 6.25 and would be 5x7 ish if it weren't for the weird bookcase and offset back wall with apparently blank space behind it. The coat closet around the corner is extra-deep and larger than any other hall closet I've ever seen @ 38.5" deep - more than 3' deep - and 41" wide. It's HUGE for a closet but at least it actually looks like one. As for that odd space seemingly blocked off there between the bathroom and the weird room, I guess I'll need to take out a bit of wallboard and look. Just seems so odd ...