Will Hathaway offered up the opportunity to go hiking up in the Santa Monica Mountains. I hadn’t gone hiking in a long while, so I decided to take him up on the invite.

Click here for a link to the Facebook photo-gallery as well.

]]> http://www.luishurtado.com/blog/life/hiking-in-santa-monica-mountains/feed/ 0 http://www.luishurtado.com/blog/journal/love/ http://www.luishurtado.com/blog/journal/love/#comments Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:38:48 +0000 Luis Hurtado http://www.luishurtado.com/blog/?p=48
[ Milton Glaser, designer of, "I Heart NY" pictured holding a quote from writer / philosopher, Iris Murdoch. ]

My first instinct on quotes of love are that they’re sappy, mushy and overly-romantic. I felt compelled to chronicle this piece, because it speaks of love so simply and most importantly, realistically.

Clearly, running my own fan club shows I’m no stranger to narcissism. In these contemporary, rush, rush, rush times, we’re constantly looking for that – what can you do for me? type ‘instant fix.’ I do not discount myself from the group. Plastic persona’s are a fact of life, this quote cuts through all of that bullshit.

This quote shows what love truly is all about, the moment you think about that person, they make you take a step back and you’re truly grateful to have met someone who you know for a fact is just as ‘real’ of a human being as you are.

[ Luis on his Motorcycle a day before the accident ]

“No broken bones!” Is the phrase I keep repeating to myself as I pop up from the asphalt as if I’m rooting for “No Wammys!” on that 80s game show, rotating limbs to check for anything broken or hurt.

It may sound cliche, but it definitely holds true, “it all happened so fast.” I was merging around a group of cars when the lead car merges into my lane and hits their brakes.

I’m giving it throttle when I realize I’m not going to be able to get myself out of this situation. I buckle down and grab a fistful of brake, preparing to screech to a panic stop.

Not a moment goes by and I find myself sliding on the pavement at 40 mph. My first thought is, “How the hell did I get here?”

I see my motorcycle bouncing, writhing in pain right in front of me and I’m cursing myself for having dropped my bike. “Damn it! I dropped the bike!” Is all I think to myself while sliding along, as if this happens ALL the time.

That’s when I realized there was an SUV behind me. I look behind me and there’s a gray Jeep Grand Cherokee hurdling towards me. Luckily it’s already slowing down.

As I’m checking for any broken bones, a group of people rush towards me all asking if I’m alright. “I’m O.K! No broken bones!” Is all I can muster at the moment.

“We thought you were surely dead! We weren’t expecting to find anyone inside the helmet when we came running up!” WOW! That’s when I started to panic, I was in such a state of shock I started to think perhaps it had been more serious than I originally made it out to be.

A few of the guys grab my motorcycle and wheel it to the side of the road. I look at my clothes as I’m walking to the sidewalk and realize it looks like I’ve gone through a shredder. My shirt, Chuck’s, and jeans are in complete tatters.

I felt the need to create some normalcy to the situation so I started introducing myself to everyone, “Hi how are you? My name is Luis, what’s your name?” People looked at me like I had had a concussion, but I was trying to keep myself sane by focusing on something other than the fact that I had just almost killed myself.

Everyone really pulled together and looked out for me, completely random people too. I wasn’t even a half a block down the street from where I live. I had just pulled out of my driveway.

This great couple who will remain nameless as I feel they may want to be seen as good samaritans and nothing more, definitely took me under their wing. They insisted on taking me to an urgent care center, taking many hours out of their Saturday afternoon to make sure I was given the A-OK.

In fact, while I was being checked out, the doctor at the urgent care center asked if I wanted him to talk to my family members outside. I just rolled with it and said, “yes, that would be great.” The doctor was surprised to find out they were random people who picked me up on the side of the street.

On the way back from the urgent care center, the woman in the couple asked to have me touch the ‘ten-ner’ she had so she could put it down on 10 california lottery quickpiks.

I’ll have road rash for the next 6-9 months, but hey, I don’t want to die without any scars.

[ WARNING ] Graphic Images on Next Page

Taliesin West – Scottdale, AZ.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Firstly, a little primer on Frank Lloyd Wright. Born in Oak Park, Illinois on June 8th, 1867. A completely self taught architect. Lover of sports cars, fiercely independent, critical thinker, hilariously arrogant and giant ego. Playboy & yo-yo champ. The man was awesome.

Taliesin in Wisconsin

After a few reoccurring bouts with pneumonia in the harsh winters of Wisconsin, his doctor asked him to no longer spend his winters at his studio and home then nicknamed, “Taliesin“. Later to be nicknamed Taliesin East. He decided to look for land in warmer climate.

Having already spent a few weeks in Scottsdale for a commission on a hotel in 1939 when Scottsdale had a mere 250 residents. He bought roughly 120 acres for $4.00 an acre 12 miles north of Scottsdale. When word was heard that he expressed interest in buying land there, prices shot up to $16.00 an acre. He came away with roughly 640 acres.

Ol’ Franky had 3 wives and a mistress or so. Allegedly, the mistress was the wife of a client. His last wife, Olgivanna Milanov was the one who inspired him to invite young people out to his house and watch him work. He said he disliked young people, She responded he could use their young vigor as manpower for his projects around the compound. That decision set the course for what we have today.

His welsh mother is to credit for the “Taliesin” name, literally meaning “Gleaming Brow,” Therefore, Taliesin West was built at the “brow” of the hill, about a 1/3 of the way up the hillside, because Frank Lloyd Wright thought that if a house is built up on the top of the hill, the hill is lost forever, no longer blending into its natural surroundings and sense of organic intermingling with its environment.

Meeting Room for Clients

First thing I noticed when I started taking in the look and feel of the architecture was the feeling of modern Japanese pagoda’s out in the Arizona desert.

Frank Lloyd Wright never being a wealthy man, always spending more than he made, but being a creative genius, used as cheap of materials as he could find. Using the rocks and stones on his own land and eager youngsters to work them.

First thing to take note is the roof. They’re detachable pieces of canvas. In fact, the entire compound, except for a few key buildings (storage and such) can be broken down and “given back to the desert” as it was every spring when Frank Lloyd Wright was in his heyday in the 40s through the 50s. No night watchman was ever hired. It was literally abandoned every spring.

There were no glass in the windows until his wife finally pleaded enough for him to change his mind. He thought glass was expensive, and it removed you from the elements. She didn’t want sand in her sandwich.

Secondly, all the doorways are unnaturally small and awkward. He was using a theory called, “compression / expansion.” According to him, one should not linger in doorways and hallways, so you should be compressed in these spaces and open up to something grandiose. Which he did every time in every building and room.

The Grand Room

Lastly, abstract triangles forms are definitely a reoccurring theme throughout the architecture and interior design. Back in 1939, this was one of the first applications of a contemporary “living room / den” Some people may say this room has a timeless quality to it. I think it looks more like 1970s to me, but it could be the yellow shag carpeting.

Stage View of the Auditorium

Every apprentice studying at the school was expected to be practiced in the arts and be a well-rounded artist. Concerts, plays, and formal dining events occurred often at the compound and encouraged the students to delve into more than just architecture. In keeping with the theme of the buildings being able to be easily broken down, the seats were just cushions laying on a bed of cement.

Theater Seats

Movie Theater

This movie theater was the first documented interpretation of track lighting to show patrons to their seats. It was a hexagonal room in order to not have any right angles which would dampen the acoustics of the room.

His Bedroom

Frank Lloyd Wright was such a consummate designer he even devised a system for his sleeping priority. If he were sleeping on the right hand side of the bed, he would be napping and be able to be disturbed, if he were sleeping on the left, he would wish to remain undisturbed.

His Bathroom

This bathroom is the first documented application of stainless aluminum used in bathrooms. It was selected for its modern aesthetic appeal, and is definitely what is being used nowadays, way back in 1939.

Sculpture Garden

Always being the staunch independent, he decided to not have ugly power lines constructed out to his compound, instead he had generators on site and even struck water at 400 feet deep. He achieved what most creative types would ever want. A self-sustainable art colony. I have been forever changed by the notion that this was once possible, and achieved by one man’s will.