Love and Architecture

I usually get a little sad when I finish a book I like. Sometimes I even stall reading towards the end, just so I can stay with it, it can stay with me, a little longer. Last night I finished reading this one, Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. It's a semi-fictional account of the liaison between Frank Lloyd Wright and one of his client's wife (in actuality his client as well), Mamah Borthwick Cheney. I didn't know anything about Wright's life, so it all took the allure of a novel to me, and I got quite attached to the characters - especially Mamah Borthwick. What they had to go through - what she had to go through - in order to live truthfully... quite a lesson in living. The writing is easy going wihtout being too easy, and I was quite delightfully transported to the 00's and 10's of the 20th century. Their story brought to life a lot of issues about feminism, the human condition, the weight of society and the choices we are to make in the course of a lifetime. Not to mention the role of the woman in the creative life of the 'genius'....I was particularly taken by the vigor and scope of the Woman Movement at the time, and by Mamah's remarkable intelligence and humanity. She feels like a dear companion now, thanks to Nancy Horan.

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Then today I was in Oakland and walking through Old Oakland after brunch, where they have these neat suspended doorways (although not quite as visionary as Frank Lloyd Wright's work, but a little eerie just the same). We ate some delicious grub at a place called B.
Here's a nice map. I also like this place.