tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post2755349813436422870..comments2024-03-29T07:49:20.875-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/29/24: Break for lunchNeil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-91127580213885416362018-07-29T16:02:18.556-05:002018-07-29T16:02:18.556-05:00No apology necessary. Trust me, I felt slightly di...No apology necessary. Trust me, I felt slightly dickish even mentioning it. But as night gathered, I was thinking, ruefully, "Paul Fedrick will be tapping his watch face at 2 a.m." It's like when your wife points out some traffic hazard while you're driving: annoying except when useful. Then it's appreciated.Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-58071778514460752192018-07-29T05:56:43.891-05:002018-07-29T05:56:43.891-05:00I will definitely remember not to be impatient wit...I will definitely remember not to be impatient with the gift. <br />I apologize. Paul Fedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04384556977324071639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-33378013053525146412018-07-28T21:36:37.715-05:002018-07-28T21:36:37.715-05:00The magazine I worked for ran a few stories on Wri...The magazine I worked for ran a few stories on Wright's architecture in Ohio, so I was all over several of his houses, inside and out. The leaky roofs were not caused by poor drainage, but by a total lack of drainage, which turned them into retention ponds. Why was there a total lack of roof drainage? Because Wright did not want to compromise the appearance of his houses by adding gutters to them. Unbelievable? Yeah...but true. <br /><br />Wright didn't give a damn about whether or not his structures functioned well, or even if they functioned at all. Nor did he care about the comfort and well-being of the occupants. It was all about style over substance. Obviously, Wright was far ahead of his time. Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-73951766364565082232018-07-28T18:57:35.437-05:002018-07-28T18:57:35.437-05:00It was done specifically for you, Paul. Sometimes ...It was done specifically for you, Paul. Sometimes your reminder is ... ah ... unwelcome. I'm dancing as fast as I can, and the days when I just plumb forgot to post the thing are pretty much behind me. Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-21074687664996308772018-07-28T17:21:10.224-05:002018-07-28T17:21:10.224-05:00Worth waiting for. Thanks for the story and for th...Worth waiting for. Thanks for the story and for the heads up that ig would be late. Stopped me from making a fool out of myself and pointing out that my unearned daily free gift is missing at 2 AM. Paul Fedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04384556977324071639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-33233076981060252722018-07-28T16:17:56.665-05:002018-07-28T16:17:56.665-05:00Next time you're in Dwight, stop at the librar...Next time you're in Dwight, stop at the library. It has views of the historic windmill, which is also quite beautiful. The library was the stable for the late 1800's Mansion that later became the Keeley institute. The original owner of the Mansion and stable had a $6,000 dog and the stable included an inside run for the horses in the winter. The building was most recently a restaurant, the Country Mansion, which closed in March and was just put on the market last week. Hoping it becomes a restaurant again - very charming building and a lovely lunch break on the way to Champaign.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17070075922341661842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-58157229354439219292018-07-28T15:43:26.419-05:002018-07-28T15:43:26.419-05:00I took Route 66 back to San Diego in late 71. In a...I took Route 66 back to San Diego in late 71. In a big hurry after maximizing my leave, I missed most of the details. Had car trouble about 30 miles west of Needles, CA and got a lift to a junkyard in Essex, a little further west. Don't remember anything about the clerk who directed me to the pay phone but I've never forgotten the phone. It had a coin slot but no dial. To get an operator you cranked its' number, 2 longs, 4 shorts. Don't know if it was the last crank phone in America but 20 some years later on CBS Sunday Morning they ran a piece about the last city in America to receive broadcast television, Essex California. didn't doubt for a minute.JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08613528527379198505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-46011555751713337452018-07-28T13:31:34.495-05:002018-07-28T13:31:34.495-05:00To be honest, I'm not sure if I'd give it ...<i>To be honest, I'm not sure if I'd give it more than an admiring glance at its clean lines, if I didn't know about the Wright connection.</i><br /><br />And that, right there, is why I dislike Wright's architecture. Sorry to spot dark clouds, but I have never understood why anyone thinks his boxy obviousness, rendered into unlivably low ceilings with leaky roofs, is in any way noteworthy. When there is an Academy of the Overrated, it will have a Wright-like design.Bitter Scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04645909858616987997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-75059331422273871902018-07-28T10:49:30.146-05:002018-07-28T10:49:30.146-05:00Three things struck a cord with me.
The nodding, t...Three things struck a cord with me.<br />The nodding, the smiling. Im from a small town. This was what we did. Imagine my shock when I arrived in Chicago, nodded and smiled, said good mmorning to a fellow window shopped only to recieve a questioning, suspicious look followed by a hasty retreat.<br />The general friendliness friendlines. The corner gas station owner once insisted on driving me to the emergency room. I was sixteen,parents out of town, driving myself. I wasnt upset, my stomach really hurt butbbeing military, the emergency room was equivelent to a doctors office visit. He wouldn't have it, drive me in my car, walked me in, then disappeared.<br />Third, The Basset Waddle. Actually, the whole parade with Basset Waddle as a highlight. Now, there is a story as delightful as the Japan mascots stories. If you do go,please take pictures!Diane Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06509402029731074394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-66026032655003055512018-07-28T10:06:53.167-05:002018-07-28T10:06:53.167-05:00Diana Oughton (1942-1970) was born and raised in D...Diana Oughton (1942-1970) was born and raised in Dwight, and her prominent family was also connected to the founding of the Keeley Institute. She and two other members of the infamous Weather Underground were blown to bits in an explosion in a Greenwich Village townhouse, which was being used as a bomb factory, and which was also next-door to the home of actor Dustin Hoffman. Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-37638092832250249232018-07-28T09:29:09.970-05:002018-07-28T09:29:09.970-05:00The last time I was in Dwight was almost 20 years ...The last time I was in Dwight was almost 20 years ago, when my wife and I were cruising down Route 66, in a 1963 Buick LeSabre that I used to own, on our way to Normal to visit a friend. We were trying to tear through the fabric of time, and experience a bit of the past. Towns like Dwight almost made that possible. Tony Galatihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11944671504245191140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-39704799442904658742018-07-28T08:02:52.390-05:002018-07-28T08:02:52.390-05:00Living not far from Dwight I am aware of some of i...Living not far from Dwight I am aware of some of it's history beyond the beautiful FL Wright building. In the early 1800's the Prince of Wales visited Dwight on what amounted to a safari. A huge prairie was outside of town and wealthy travelers would visit to experience the prairie, which at the time was an exotic phenomena to Europeans. He wrote of hunting on the prairie and seeing a prairie fire in the distance.<br /><br />More recent and perhaps of more interest to you is that the original Keely Institute was in Dwight and at it's peak was a huge complex of buildings where people came to take the cure for alcoholism. Dr Leslie Keely came up with what he called a foolproof, guaranteed cure for alcoholism - injecting patients with biochoride of gold. The Gold Cure. The institute operated from 1879 to 1965 and had 200 branches around the country at one point. People came to Dwight from all over the world and made Dr. Keely a very wealthy man. The structure of the cure involved a configuration not unlike a pyramid scheme.<br /><br />Have you noticed people's tendency to believe confident know it alls?<br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keeley_InstituteDennis Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03936110563379328219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-13172258973072875442018-07-28T08:01:08.294-05:002018-07-28T08:01:08.294-05:00Marvelous. Reminds me of Travels with Charley, bu...Marvelous. Reminds me of Travels with Charley, but better because of the spontaneity: the wonderful characters, the lovely buildings, the cultural events just popped up and were noticed, admired and passed on to us readers.<br /><br />john tatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088632798195131329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-24957785601066208632018-07-28T07:32:28.557-05:002018-07-28T07:32:28.557-05:00Nice story and similar to some small Iowa towns vi...Nice story and similar to some small Iowa towns visited for fishing. Good point about the dairy batlle...some of that gets tiring.Privatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10757585399827295128noreply@blogger.com