Blog Master G

“(M)ake clear the pathway for all of those among us who are honestly interested in readjusting life on a plane of greater usefulness and higher beauty.” -Gustav Stickley

Stickley writes the following in the first chapter of his 1909 book Craftsman Homes: Architecture and Furnishings of the American Arts and Crafts Movement:

In remembering those who have dedicated their lives to the benefit of their own lands, we inevitably picture them as men of simple ways, who have asked little and given much, who have freed their shoulders from the burdens of luxury, who have stripped off from their lives the tight inflexible bandages of unnecessary formalities, and who have thus been left free for those great essentials of honest existence, for courage, for unselfishness, for heroic purpose and, honesty of purpose, without which there can be no real meaning in life.

Such right living and clear thinking cannot find abiding place except among those whose lives bring them back close to Nature’s ways, those who are content to be clad simply and comfortably, to accept from life only just compensation for useful toil, who prefer to live much in the open, finding in the opportunity for labor the right to live; those who desire to rest from toil in homes built to meet their individual need of rest and peace and joy, homes which realize a personal standard of comfort and beauty; those who demand honesty in all expression from friends, and who give in return sincerity and unselfishness, those who are fearless of sorrow, yet demand joy; those who rank work and rest as equal means of progress — in such lives only may we find the true regeneration for any nation, for only in such simplicity and sincerity can a nation develop a condition of permanent and properly equalized welfare.

(Page 1)

Stickley’s philosophy and attitude toward life — and the way he designed his Craftsman homes — is simple, brilliant, and very much in line with mine and Jen’s own outlook on life. That’s why it’s no coincidence that from the moment we first set foot inside our 1920s-era Craftsman home, we knew it was The One. Our home’s feng shui is perfect, its character and charm immediately obvious, and its condition incredible, considering its age.

Built in 1925-1926 on land owned at the time by recent immigrants from Edinburgh, the founding of our street was advocated by a woman in the family who owned the farm.

Stickley quotes a chapter from a book called “England’s Ideal” by Edward Carpenter. The chapter is called “The Simplification of Life” and the following is an excerpt:

No doubt immense simplifications of our daily life are possible; but this does not seem to be a matter which has been much studied. Rather hitherto the tendency has been all the other way, and every additional ornament to the mantelpiece has been regarded as an acquisition and not as a nuisance; though one doesn’t see any reason, in the nature of things, why it should be regarded as one more than the other. It cannot be too often remembered that every additional object in a house requires additional dusting, cleaning, repairing; and lucky you are if its requirements stop there.

(Page 3)

We spent most of today in the Saratoga Springs Public Library researching our new property. We perused city directories (the equivalent of phone books today, though before phones were commonplace) from 1920 through today, tracing the history of past residents of our new home. To be buying a place with so much history — to get a small glimpse into the lives of the people who lived there before us (old city directories contain profession and employer details) — is an exciting, rewarding feeling. To research first-hand the history of the property that will soon belong to us is invigorating. We are becoming part of the 80-year story of this beautiful, well cared for home. We even found in the library some documents outlining the ownership history, along with a letter from a relative of the family who originally owned the land.

Stickley writes the following on pages 194-195:

One need only turn to the pages of history to find abundant proof of the unerring action of Nature’s law, for without exception the people whose lives are lived simply and wholesomely, in the open, and who have in a high degree the sense of the sacredness of the home, are the people who have made the greatest strides in the development of the race.
…
To preserve these characteristics and to bring back to individual life and work the vigorous constructive spirit which during the last half-century has spent its activities in commercial and industrial expansion, is, in a nut-shell, the Craftsman idea. We need to straighten out our standards and to get rid of a lot of rubbish that we have accumulated along with our wealth and misused so many of our wonderful natural resources. All we really need is a change in our point of view toward life and a keener perception regarding the things that count and the things which merely burden us. This being the case, it would seem obvious that the place to begin a readjustment is in the home, for it is only natural that the relief from friction which would follow the ordering of our lives along more simple and reasonable lines would not only assure greater comfort, and therefore greater efficiency, to the workers of the nation, but would give the children a chance to grow up under conditions which would be conducive to a higher degree of mental, moral and physical efficiency.

We’re fortunate enough to have found a house built in a style and a time whose sensibilities match our own. To find that our Craftsman home’s design reflects a philosophy like ours is almost unbelievable. Yet somehow it doesn’t surprise me. Perhaps it’s yet another example of the elements coming together in the universe — in so many ways.

As James K. Kettlewell writes in his 1991 book “Saratoga Springs: An Architectural History,” the following is yet another reason why buying a Craftsman home is serendipitous for this Californian and his Californian-at-heart wife:

Stickley’s Craftsman houses and furniture style initially caught on in California during the first decade of the twentieth century. There it became the most popular style of the era, and even today remains a major influence on domestic architectural design. About ten years later when the Bungalow came back East, along with Stickley’s furniture style, now called “mission,” its eastern origins were for the most part forgotten. Instead it was generally perceived as a style that had originated in California. This association with California certainly enhanced the popularity of the style elsewhere in the United States, largely because, in the 1920’s, California had become America’s promised land.

(Page 138)

Everything happens for a reason.

Though we haven’t yet been able to confirm this or find our exact design (which we hope to do), it is likely that our house was built from a mail-order kit, popular at the time (1900-1930). Companies such as Sears and Aladdin offered the designs and materials to the middle class, who could not afford to hire architects like Frank Lloyd Wright or Greene and Greene. According to the Craftsman Home ID Guide, “The middle class used Stickley’s Craftsman Home plans, which they modified to suit their tastes and requirements and had built by local builders.”

(Yes, this is the investment in our future to which I alluded a few days ago.)

Related links:
http://www.ragtime.org/arch/Arch_Craft.html
http://www.ragtime.org/arch/rs/RS_Homes.html
http://ah.bfn.org/a/archsty/a&c/bung/
http://www.ambungalow.com/AmBungalow/whatStyle.htm

Listen up, people: If you type with a computer — and something tells me you do if you are reading this — then stop with the space-space habit! It’s not correct and it’s annoying. It has been a long-time pet peeve of mine when reading and editing others’ text.

As I learned from career journalist and publisher Nana many years ago, the habit that most people have of separating sentences with two spaces is left over from the days when everyone used typewriters. The extra space was a visual helper to separate sentences (written in fixed-width fonts like Courier).

Computers are smarter than typewriters and the extra space should never be used. Computers know how to adjust the text accordingly to make your text visually correct. The extra space is distracting. So please, please, stop with the space-spacing.

In HTML and blogs, this is not an issue since HTML is fortunately smart enough to ignore non-specified extra spaces (&nbsp;), line breaks (<br>), and paragraph breaks (<p>).

Here is an example to prove my point.  See how annoying that extra space is?

More on this topic: WebWord.com Report.

It’s good to be King.

WAR ON TERROR REQUIRES LITTLE SACRIFICE FOR MOST AMERICANS: “As violence in Iraq ebbs and flows, American support for the occupation does as well. But the constant is this: The soldiers risking their lives rarely come from affluent families. Median income of a white recruit’s family is $35,000 a year; of a black recruit’s family, $32,000.

“It is a peculiar war on terror that requires so little sacrifice from most Americans. While the president declares this a paramount struggle against ‘the enemies of civilization,’ he knows most of us will cheer from the sidelines. He doesn’t suggest we conserve fuel, reducing our dependence on foreign oil. He doesn’t ask us to come up with the funds to hike military pay. He doesn’t even ask us to pay for the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq; his huge tax cuts have placed that enormous burden on the backs of future generations.”

(Thanks to Jen for the pointer.)

It’s funny to flip through Newsweek and come across a story about your former employer and the CEO who now looks nothing like she did the first time I saw her.

Extreme Makeover: “After 12 years at the helm of Autodesk—the San Rafael, Calif., company that creates the computer-aided design applications that help create ‘everything God doesn’t’—Carol Bartz has spiffed up her company and herself. Autodesk has announced better-than-expected earnings, and for the first time anticipates a billion-dollar-revenue year in 2005. Personally, in what company insiders refer to ‘the Transformation,’ the 55-year-old CEO dramatically slimmed down.”

Of course, I’m still an Autodesk shareholder, so I can’t complain about the “better-than-expected earnings” and the rising stock price (currently at $34).

It always pays to write a letter when you have a bad customer experience. After writing the below letter, I received a prompt response and $50 worth of free car wash coupons. Not bad for 10 minutes of my time.

April 7, 2004

Hoffman Car Wash
ATTN: Manager
5 Lowes Drive
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

To Whom It May Concern:

I brought my car to your wash on Tuesday, April 6 for a full exterior and interior wash. I was really impressed by the excellent wash job, but do have a complaint.

After going through the automatic wash, I wasn’t sure where to take my car for the interior cleaning. One of your employees began to give me instructions to drive my car around to the back entrance, while another one offered to drive my car around for me. I accepted the offer of the second employee and tossed him my key. As he climbed into my car, he said with a laugh, ‘I guess I’ll have to learn to drive a stick.’ Naturally, I thought he was joking. Apparently he wasn’t.

This employee proceeded to stall my car. This is no laughing matter. Although no serious or lasting damage can be caused by stalling a manual transmission car, it is unacceptable and unprofessional for someone employed by Hoffman Car Wash to stall a customer’s car.

I certainly did not pay $25 for that kind of service.

Sincerely,

Gabe

I obviously haven’t posted much lately, but I’m still here, don’t worry. Things are just very busy these days. And finally recovered from that damn cold last week.

Had a super busy and exciting day yesterday. Big life event is on the horizon. Too early to discuss any details publicly, but suffice it to say we may soon be making an investment in our future.

To dispell any rumors: No, we’re not having a baby.

Last night Jen and I joined other local word enthusiasts to hear Gary Moss, Scrabble pro, talk about tournament play. It was really interesting. The talk was a precursor to the tournament being held here this weekend.

I come from a family of writers and word afficionados, so Scrabble is in my blood. I love the game. Jen and I play from time to time, and before we moved to the East Coast, we used to get smoked regularly by my Dad.

What I found most intriguing — and, in a way, disappointing — is that competitive Scrabble play is all about memorization, patterns, and, believe it or not, mathematics. When you think about it, this makes sense.

There are 100 letters in a game of Scrabble and each letter occurs X number of times. If you can calculate the probability that each letter appears — and ultimately, word combinations — then you can begin to combine that with the words you’ve memorized from the 150,000 or so in the Official Scrabble Word List. And that’s exactly what tournament players do: Memorize words.

In fact, we learned, some of the best players in the world are scientists who speak little or no English. We heard one story from Gary about one guy whose living room is filled wall to wall with filing cabinets of words. Playing this guy every Tuesday for seven years, Gary only beat him once.

The high-score record in tournament play is about 770, if I remember correctly. The same guy who set this record broke his own record with 800-something, not in tournament play. Realize, too, that an official tournament game of Scrabble is only 25 minutes.

At the end of the talk, Gary challenged audience members to three simultaneous games. Jen and I teamed up in one of those games. Surprisingly, we were ahead most of the game, but Gary pulled ahead at the end to beat us 320-280.

Finding out that competitive Scrabble is more about memorization than the language and knowing the definitions of words almost takes away from it — or at least offers a different way to look at it. “It’s less romantic,” as Jen put it. I agree.

We’ll stick to challenging each other on word definitions and taking our time when we play. And stick simply to being impressed by those who can memorize words like zaratite and all the other word combinations and point values that those letters will give you.

Please sign this petition.

Dear Friend,
The violence in Iraq is escalating beyond our control. It’s time to recognize that we need the world’s help to reach the hearts and minds of Iraqis. We’ve got to transfer management authority over Iraq to the United Nations, to enable a real transition to peaceful Iraqi self-rule. Please join me in calling for this change, at:

http://www.moveon.org/unauthority/

60 Americans and reportedly hundreds of Iraqis have been killed in just the past week; 677 Americans have died in Iraq since the war began. A religious leader hostile to the United States now controls two cities, and has sparked uprisings in two others. Dozens of foreigners have been taken hostage.

The growing opposition to American rule among the Iraqi population “probably runs in the tens of thousands”, consisting of people who “have jobs in vegetable shops, offices, garages, and schools,” according to the New York Times. These people, who should comprise the civil society we’re hoping to build there, instead are arming themselves and awaiting the call to attack Americans.

Our troops in Iraq are stretched thin — U.S. commanders are asking for more troops, and there’s talk of a draft, perhaps to be announced just after our November elections.

Instead of simply redoubling our commitment, we should support our soldiers by taking the bull’s-eye off their backs.

As Thomas Friedman put it, “If it is America alone against the Iraqi street, we lose. If it is the world against the Iraqi street, we have a chance.”

Join me in calling for a transfer of authority over Iraq to the U.N., at:

http://www.moveon.org/unauthority/

Thanks.

I’ve been fighting a cold — fortunately, successfully — this week. I refuse to get sick. I normally only get sick once per year (in late November), so I refuse to let it get to me this time around. Jen had it pretty bad earlier in the week, but I’m fending it off and feeling much better already.

Regardless, now I must rant about Corporate America.

One thing Autodesk had right was its employee benefits. That company really treats its people well — from employee stock purchase plan to full healthcare benefits to the annual “week of rest,” Autodesk gets it. One significant benefit that distinguishes Autodesk from most of Corporate America is its handling of sick days. As an Autodesk employee, if you’re sick, you stay home. Period. You don’t have a limit on the number of sick days you can take. Nor should you ever.

That most other companies don’t give you all the sick time you need is the most fucked up, backward concept to me — for a company to think it can actually put a limit on the number of days that you’re allowed to be sick in a year is absurd. And what happens if you’re sick more than 4 or 5 or however many days you’re allocated throughout the year? Typically, the company will eat into your vacation days or make you take the days unpaid. Screw that.

Sure, I understand that companies put these regulations in place so that people won’t take advantage of the system. Here’s a suggestion, Corporate America: Hire honest people. But wait, that would require hiring honest executives from the top down, and we all know that normally doesn’t happen.

So alas, who must suffer? The proletariat masses. They who represent the majority of the workforce and also pay the majority of taxes. (How apropos for Tax Day, no?)

Hear ye! Hear ye! Don’t get sick. And if you do, be sure to go back to work to get your coworkers sick so they, too, have to eat into their Sick Day Savings Account that pays no interest and puts money in the wallets of the Fat Cats who make these rules in the first place.

But the Fat Cats have their own executive wash rooms anyway, right? So they don’t have to worry about catching your cold.

(Disclaimer: This post is directed at Corporate America in general — especially big companies — and certainly not toward my current employer.)