In the last week my experiences have gone from the sublime beauty of rafting down a Western Pennsylvania to the totally manufactured environment of an indoor water park. Squeezed in between those two extremes we visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water house and the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

I Did a little reading in Pennsylvania but I got distracted by the night sky. It’s hard to concentrate on fiction when real stars keep appearing. The stars felt more real to me than the book in my hand.
I liked the Falling Water house and it made me think of Bridget and Laura (graduated AP students) because they did their research papers on Ayn Rand who used Wright as a model for his architect. I also thought about a book I read during Spring Break. T.C. Boyle wrote The Woman about Wright’s relationships. I didn’t like it much then but I might have to go back to it.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is becoming one of my favorite spots in Cleveland-a great trip to a city that, unlike our beloved Detroit, seems to have found a way to reinvent itself. It’ll never be New York or Paris but it seems like a very livable city. At the museum I saw an exhibit devoted to Bruce Springsteen, one of my favorite musicians. In an interview he describes how it took 50 pages to write the song “Born to Run.” 50 Pages to write a 5 minute song seemed like an exaggeration to me but there on the wall of the museum was the journal. I looked through it an I could see the evolution of the song. I could see how on phrase from page 5 got carried forward to page 8 where it was married to another idea. The whole process is there in the journal and it’s accompanied by music which he also wrote. I like seeing the process. I like that it’s messy and frustrating and alive. It’s evolution but with a purpose in mind. On the walls were posters of all of the different bands that Springsteen started or belonged to and again I can watch the evolution of a great band. I just finished reading Please Step Back which is about the birth of a rock star ad seems to get it right. I don’t actually know of course but it did seem to capture the feel of the time. We should look at music writing. Not writing music, writing about music. I’m a regular reader of Rolling Stone but a lot of the time the writing about music doesn’t ring true to me.That put me in mind of the concert I attended at the Magic Stick. I saw the band X. I know, none of you have heard of them.

Books Read:

The Night of the Gun
Lullabies for Little Criminals-I got this book because I heard the author read a poem on the radio and it was so striking that I wanted to read more. I think she’s a better poet than novelist but she can really turn a phrase.
My Lobotomy-In the past week lobotomies have come up twice. I’m reading a book with Eli where the main character is being threatened with a lobotomy. Her evil guardian says she’ll take out Katrina’s brain and replace it with cake.

A book by Walter Mosley, The Long Fall, this guy wrote the Easy Rawlings mysteries and, while I still think he’s a good writer I don’t think he’s written anyting I’ve enjoyed as much those early books.

That’s where I’ve been.

Peace,

RK