“To have that radical a mind in that bourgeois-looking body was really hard for a lot of people to take, because, when my mother would want to have people over she'd tell [my father], "Don't start with the gravity stuff." And then he would invariably do this and the guests would look at each other and say, "Well, I think it's time to go now."” PeopleThinkingWantMindWellsLooksHardBodyMotherFatherStuffRadicalGuestsGravityBourgeois Author:Paul Laffoley
“I would have private conversations with [Buckminster Fuller]. I once had an argument, for four hours, about the existence of the Mobius strip. Because he believed in the Klein Bottle, you see. And I said, "How in hell can you claim to believe in the Klein Bottle and think that the Mobius strip is dubious?" He said, "Well, it's a torus." I don't know what he had in his mind as a mathematical background, because I don't think he got topology. Because, in other words, the Mobius strip didn't have angles in it.” ThinkingKnowsMindBelieveWellsSaidHoursExistenceHellFourConversationArgumentClaimsBackgroundsMathematicalBottlesAngleDubiousBuckminster FullerTopology Author:Paul Laffoley
“I said, "Well, why do you believe in the Klein Bottle?" He said, "Because I can imagine it." I said, "You don't have to imagine a Mobius strip. It's right there in front of you!" But [Buckminster Fuller] couldn't see how that could involve a cross cap, meaning something that couldn't be reduced to a two-dimensional surface. Which it does. It's because he was thinking that the matrix was the thing that a fly could walk over the edge of, like a torus.” ThinkingBelieveWellsDoeSaidI CanTwoWalksImagineFrontsCrossesEdgesSurfaceBottlesCapsBecause I CanOver The EdgeBuckminster FullerMeaning Something Author:Paul Laffoley
“I would be constantly brought up on the carpet by these teachers who were brought up with Abstract Expressionism, saying, "You're too uptight, you're not expressing yourself, why don't you feel freer?" I said, "Well, I don't like that stuff. It means nothing to me."” FeelsWellsMeanSaidWould BeStuffTeacherAbstractCarpetExpress YourselfUptightExpressionismAbstract Expressionism Author:Paul Laffoley
“I did do, well before Pop Art, all the cartoon characters as paintings.” WellsArtCharacterPaintingPopsCartoonPop ArtCartoon Character Author:Paul Laffoley
“Both [Nikola] Tesla and [Leon] Theremin were preternaturally young. I mean, for a long time Tesla was a young man well into his 70s. And so was Theremin, even though, at the end, he looked pretty old. But he was still doing things that young guys do, beyond the time you'd normally think people should be doing that stuff.” PeopleThinkingMenShouldWellsMeanLongStillsEndsYoungGuyStuffLong TimeYoung ManTeslaYoung GuysLeon Author:Paul Laffoley
“[Nikola Tesla and Leon Theremin] were European gentlemen, very well-mannered, all of the stuff you associate with living in Europe.” WellsStuffEuropeGentlemanAssociatesTeslaLeonWell Mannered Author:Paul Laffoley
“I mean, these are really dedicated people [in Lovecraft Society] when it comes to [h.P.] Lovecraft. But in the top floor of the John Hay Library, you have all of Lovecraft's archives. And messing around in there, I noticed, I said, what are these paintings? And the librarian told me, "Well, those are Pickman's paintings." I said, "I thought this was like something he made up, like The Necronomicon, that kind of stuff." And he said no, that the guy actually existed.” PeopleWellsKindMeanMadeSaidGuyStuffPaintingLibraryDedicatedLibrarianLike SomethingArchivesHayLovecraft Author:Paul Laffoley
“For years [H.P] Lovecraft was defined as an atheist. Well, he wasn't saying anything about what he really was at all. He wasn't even an agnostic. That's exactly what the situation is, in other words, when you enter an eternal realm. You've got to know there is no religion.” KnowsYearsWellsSituationEternalAtheistDefinedRealmsAgnosticLovecraft Author:Paul Laffoley
