The album cover of 'Death of a Bachelor' is me on my roof of my backyard, so that's my place where I spend most of my time writing.
I would love this place to be my garden. (on Arsenal's old stadium)
My favorite place to read is next to the pond in my backyard.
In the photographs themselves there's a definite contrast between the figures and the location - I like that kind of California backyard look; clapboard houses, staircases outdoors.
A pool is, for many of us in the West, a symbol not of affluence but of order, of control over the uncontrollable. A pool is water, made available and useful, and is, as such, infinitely soothing to the western eye.
I grew up in northern California, where it was consistently in the hundreds in the summertime. My dad didn't think he should have to turn on the air conditioning when we had a swimming pool in our backyard; it was our built-in air conditioner.
I built with my own hands ... a large swimming-pool which was filtered to limpidity and could be heated to supplement our fickle sunshine.
I love my little overgrown yard. And my house is wonderful. It's everything that I need.
