Why we are here (By Rob)

I am , even as I write, in a large reading hall in this very building pictured below, a former palace that is now the Austrian national library. I order books, copy them, run through microfiches, order more books, eat vegitarian fare in the ultra-hip cantina, order more books, and the cycle starts again. My Kids are off today learning about computers and microbes from happening young Austrian academics, and I don't have to see them until 5pm, when I will take them to an amusement park for the evening. Ok--check it out. A 20-something priest in a black and white ball gown just pulled down a dusty tome from the library shelf directly to my left. This is living. While I am here, Mary Ann is sitting in 95-degree weather in her parents' non-air-conditioned house. She can't sleep, which reduces her milk output, which means the baby can't get much, and so he screams, which means she sleeps even less. Her poor parents spent so much time chasing their demon grandchildren at the reunion that they are suffering from foot and knee ailments. Sebi is so traumatized by the 3-week interruption of family life that he has reverted to a baby voice and begun terrorizing other children. Anybody notice a disconnect here?

Maddie and Will and I are in Europe in a huge apartment (pictured at the left) eating celestial yoghurt and riding Alpine-themed roller coasters while Mary Ann, Joss and Sebi (not to mention MA's generous parents) are barely holding it together so that we can be here. MA would never blame me, and she never for a second has floundered in her support for us, even as things fall apart around her. She does give me...let's call them "honest assessments" of her state of mind, but she graciously listens to my daily reports. For this, she deserves Forty Nights of Uninterrupted Sleep, a wet-nurse and a freebie with any smouldering British actor of her choice. Thank you for letting us do this, MA!

So why am I putting everyone through this? I am working on a research project about the Europe's reaction to America in the post-WWI era. This picture on the right shows the problem--in the early 20th century artists, thinkers and architects were rejecting their grand, decadent and stratified culture and embracing a new ideal of a rational, economical and egalitarian existence. The building on the left is typical for turn-of-the-century Vienna, with its ornate decoration, with the privileged classes living in the biggest, most gaudy apartments in the fashionable parts of the building. On the right is a radical building designed by architect Adolf Loos. He famously declared all ornamentation to be a crime, because it furthered the separation of the haves and the have-nots. His stories are all equal, unadorned, and exchangable.

As you can see (through the gate), Loos built his new, modern building right across from the pompous entry to the Hofburg, the Vienna city palace. The Kaiser hated Loos' "Building without Eyebrows" so much that he ordered the curtains to remain closed on that side of the palace. Part of this new way of thinking came from American mass culture and Ford's production practices. My upcoming book follows an intrepid Austrian girl reporter who went to America and wrote articles for Austrian newspapers explaining the things she saw there.

So is my research worth the family upheaval? Absolutely not. This is all a mitzvah to me from by wife who, for some reason, loves me enough to let me do hairbrained things that I like. I will not be able to make it up to her. The kids will still be neurotic, her physical and mental health will be on the brink, and the three of us will be jet-lagged and useless when we return. Please help me figure outwhat I can do to show my appreciation. Suggestions?