Haiku Wednesday: Dream Parlors

You southern charmer! Like Sooki’s home from TrueBlood. Multi-textured warmth. … My medieval lust flares hot at this chamber’s sight; a fortress-sized “want”. …… I dream of woodwork: of ornate oak filigree… and Persian rug fields. … A room with a Clue. I’d study you all day long, Nirvana of tomes. … Frosted angel cake – the Marie Antoinette [...]

My Big Fat Greek Revival

The Biography show Haunted History, a Saturday afternoon delight, has introduced manse after decadent southern manse of delicious Plantation, Classical, and Greek Revival architecture styles which cause my pulse to quicken. Seeing these Plantation-type homes has ignited something O.C.D. and primal in me, as I would imagine a past-life suddenly recognizing something familiar (if I believed [...]

You Lighthouse My Life

When I was very young, whenever we would pass a particular cemetery in Joliet, Illinois, without fail I would point to the limestone entrance which was a single castle-esque cylindrical cupola with a door, and say “That’s my house. I’m going to live there.” For years this went on. And when I pass it to this [...]

Craving St. Basil’s Onion Domes

America isn’t known for its breathtaking architecture. There, I said it. I live in a Daniel Burnham-designed loft building that used to be a paper binding factory. It is as close to era-inspired as I could get (or afford) in Chicago. Seems that ours is a young nation hell-bent on beauty-free, modern efficiency. There are few [...]