Time to get out of the HAUS!

Chuey Residence by Julius Shulman

You know how every few years or so your favorite sit-com used to do a "Goes to Europe" episode or two? My personal fave was when Family Ties went to London so Alex P. Keaton could get into Oxford Univeristy, but Mallory found some way to be a stupid girl and ruin things. That Mallory. And Alex fought his corporate Republican tendencies and did the Right Thing. You can see this episode made some impression on my pubescent mind. Anyhow, it's strangely uncomfortable to see them out of their familiar element and the show inevitably sucks, but you feel yourself compelled to watch because it's a T.V. MUST-SEE EVENT (and it's as close as your little untraveled self is getting to Europe)!

Yeah, this is nothing like that.

But, I will be temporarily leaving my natural habitat here at MODERNHAUS to take the show on the road and attend the Palm Springs Modernism weekend with some friends (one is a photog who doesn't know yet that he's documenting it for us, and another is an architect who will help explain to us why "uninsulated glass box in blazing-hot desert" = genius architecture).

Oh, don't worry. I GET IT. The Mid-Century thing is so ubiquitous that instead of playing "slug bug" in the car, my boys play "scream really loud when you spot an Eames lounge through the window" as we drive through our neighborhood. When my dog barks, it sounds like he's saying "Eames! Lounge!" Yes, it is a cross-species affliction.

Actually, I'm really excited to see the homes after watching this movie, which both inspired me and filled me with self-loathing for the absolute lack of history-making accomplishments I've managed thus-far. There's still time-I am currently working on a free-form sculpture of empty coffee cups and wine glasses on my office desk. It's a statement about mankind's endless thirst for more. Precarious but beautiful. The crumbs of food at the bottom represent the earth that must support our selfish desires. Yeah.

So, I'm really excited to cover as much of the event as I can in one day, paying attention not only to what captures my interest, but what may interest you as well. Stay tuned! You never know what's going to happen when six straight people go to the desert in a mini-van.