Anglophilia

I have recently discovered a few blogs that warm my heart and cheer my soul. I think the appeal of these blogs stems from my intense penchant for all things Anglo. Yes, I should have been born in England. I love Jane Austin, I love fox-hunting scenes with hound dogs and red jackets, I love croquet, I love tea and crumpets, I love reading studies with deep mahogany bookshelves and chocolate brown leather chairs, I am becoming more theologically Anglican everyday, and the list continues. Thus my newfound love of the following blogs:

http://socialprimer.com/

A blog written by a man committed to excellent manners and all things gentlemanly...and certainly many good tidbits for the woman folk to pick up as well. Yes, manners DO MATTER and this blog reminds me why. Propriety is for the good of society.

http://stylecourt.blogspot.com/

This woman lives in the south and has excellent taste in interior aesthetics - the interiors that she features usually have some hint of Anglo influences. And she also has unique commentary on a wide array of art.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Those of you who know me well know that I have always had a side interest in architecture. And those of you who know me very well also know that I do not normally take a strong liking to modern architecture. I much prefer the grandeur and beauty of classical architecture to the haphazard and willy-nilly designs of much modern architecture. But one of the modern buildings I have always found enthralling is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, was designed by architect Frank Gehry and built in 1997. It is a very well-know building by now, and certainly is unique in its curvaceous lines and whimsical stature. Its close proximity to the water also makes it seem to flow along with the ebb and tide of the sea. So yes, this is a modern building that I can stomach and even appreciate. And Gehry has other buildings that I find very attractive – the Disney Opera House in L.A., for example, is quite wonderful. But Gehry also has some (what I find to be) atrocious buildings – namely, the Experienced Music Project (EMP) building in my home city of Seattle. Why did Seattle have to get such a jumbled mess of a building? I would have much preferred something like that of the Guggenheim Bilbao for my beloved hometown. Oh well – nobody asked for my advice when the time came to commission a building from Gehry.