Saturday, March 24, 2012

How I Almost Lost My nook: A Twitter Play in One Act

On Wednesday March 21st me and a few of my library pals drove up to Kent State University to present at the Ohio Library Council's Northeast Chapter Conference. It was a mostly uneventful trip, except that upon disembarking in Worthington for the final leg of my journey home I misplaced my nook.

Here's how the story played out on Twitter:




As I was juggling my jacket and bag in the library's parking lot, it seems I set my nook down on top of Julie's car. Fortunately she didn't go far with it; only a few miles. During the trek it managed to maintain its perch atop the car. I picked it up later that evening, and needless to say I thankful and relieved to have retrieved it. If you own a nook, you know why!

For what it's worth I'm informed by the folks at Barnes & Noble that 1-800-thebook is the customer service number to call if you ever lose your nook.

Happy Reading!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Fitting Wright In: New Builds at Rush Creek Village.

Rush Creek Village is one of those hidden gems that most people seem to know about. It gets pretty regular press on the blog circuit, and once every ten years or so The New York Times sends someone out to do a feature on it. Located on the southeast side of Worthington, OH, Rush Creek Village is a unique community of like-minded homes that remains a prime example of Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian style.

Welcome to Rush Creek Village

The community was founded (if that's the right word) by Wright admirer Martha Wakefield and her husband Richard. Construction began on the first Rush Creek house in 1956. The principal designer was Theodore van Fossen, a young man whose prior work consisted of working on a couple of Frank Lloyd Wright's projects. (It should also be noted that Van Fossen, who passed away December 20, 2010, was also the designer of the Robert and Mary Gunning House near Blacklick.) When all was said and done Van Fossen had coordinated the design and construction of 48 homes in Rush Creek; each one site specific, and each one unique. It's a charming community; well maintained and designed to stay pretty much the way it is in perpetuity.

All of this is more or less old news. What's new news is the two new Rush Creek homes sprouting up at the eastern most boundary of the subdivision. According to Van Fossen's obituary in the Columbus Dispatch the architect weighed in on the design of these as well. By my count that's an even 50 for the architect and Rush Creek.

"The Round House"; probably Rush Creek's most famous home.

I'm pretty familiar with Worthington, and Rush Creek Village has always been one of my favorite places to walk. Today as I was out I snapped a few pictures of the newest additions to this unique enclave. Not surprisingly they fit right in.

New Build - the horizontalish one

New Build - verticalish one

New Builds, both together