tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79058705603943004372024-03-05T12:18:51.950-08:00Brooke Erin Librarian & BookbinderUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-88698412324966727272015-02-14T01:15:00.000-08:002015-02-14T01:15:45.549-08:00From The Journal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="text-align: left;">I finished a new journal last week - here are a few of my more successful pages. </span><br style="text-align: left;" /><br style="text-align: left;" /><span style="text-align: left;">It's funny though, many of them are not my "best" drawing or the "best" use of technique, but pages that I made in unique circumstances or that were inspired by something particularly meaningful. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNp6HrhbvB9Y8ws68lvpHodSVaBY_bNzvyEDDr6le2fsqO4463LNn-uiymW2Wf6WIDTB-jkZnNBTvQykQzdRQLTLYy7ahugix3dyKjM7kYpm784AXvmlNLpZpNkGKo1371nr9XQjSljZk/s1600/journal_marbled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNp6HrhbvB9Y8ws68lvpHodSVaBY_bNzvyEDDr6le2fsqO4463LNn-uiymW2Wf6WIDTB-jkZnNBTvQykQzdRQLTLYy7ahugix3dyKjM7kYpm784AXvmlNLpZpNkGKo1371nr9XQjSljZk/s1600/journal_marbled.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paper that I marbled my very own self in my kitchen</td></tr>
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On my trip to Brussels I took the SLOW train to Gent (I mean, really slow) and satisfied myself with recording all of the stops we made along the way from "Bruxelles-Midi" to "St. Pier - Gent". Later that night I treated myself at a lovely neighborhood market with local sausages and cheese, fresh fruits and nuts. These were my first pages of the trip and though they are a little sparse, they got me started for the rest of the visit.<br />
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Christmas Eve 2014. I'd been drawing all break and just generally enjoying the beautiful Muscat weather. After some last minute Christmas shopping we saw a tiny sliver of a moon hanging above some buildings. The horizon was just starting to turn orange and I made Max wait in the car for a few minutes while I sketched an outline to watercolor later. <br />
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<br />Our sweet housekeeper's mother passed away last week and she left me a perfectly simple and expressive note. "I am so sad" it read.<br /><br />Regardless of nationality or language, loss is something that translates.<br /><br />The text behind the Sri Lankan woman is Sinhala, one of the national languages of Sri Lanka. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-23989947744167972712014-11-25T23:25:00.002-08:002014-11-25T23:25:43.449-08:00Books I've Been Working On<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The problem with making your own books to use as journals is that when you need a portfolio, everything you've made has been tossed around in your purse for a year and looks terrible. A few <strike>weeks ago</strike> months ago (this post has been sitting in draft for a while) I needed to work up a small portfolio ......<br />
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leather, headband, marbled paper from Istanbul <br />
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flat back casing </div>
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regular old coptic<br />
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paper case binding with spine stitching, paper from Bangladesh<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-6645478429094090532014-05-27T02:25:00.000-07:002014-05-27T02:25:31.952-07:00More Visual Journaling of Turkey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remnants From The Orient Express</td></tr>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Above is the ramshackle neighborhood where I later wrote: <br /><br /><i>Do I regret
walking the winding road from the Chora church, along the Thessodosius walls,
past a hundreds of years old syanagoge, past the old women leaving chicken
necks for local cats and to the Egripike gate alone because some 10 year old,
after being dared by his friends, raced around the corner and slapped my
backside before disappearing into his house?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish I
had paid more attention to his quickening footsteps or walked faster when the
group of boys crashed their kite, weighed down by a water bottle of sand, at my
feet instead of looking up to see where it had come from but these are all
choices we make as explorers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /><br />Yeah, it happens. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-45352454569533454382014-05-07T22:29:00.002-07:002014-05-07T22:29:38.587-07:00Paper Marbling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A little history and demonstration of the art. My paints, gall and water thickening solution just arrived in the mail yesterday. Next item of busineess: get a rad red bandana.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-45006110482849031482014-04-27T23:39:00.002-07:002014-04-27T23:48:14.017-07:00Visual Journal: Istanbul<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Before we left for Istanbul a few weeks ago I made a small journal with Arches water color paper. I used coptic style binding to allow any page to lay flat for drawing or painting. It was my first attempt at visual journaling a trip along the way and all and all it went pretty well. I certainly did not fill up the whole thing in a week - it has been a work in progress since I got home which has actually added to the enjoyment for me. I get to relive moments of my trip and use processes I couldn't manage with the small art kit I packed.<br />
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<b>Istanbul Traveling Art Kit: </b><br />
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5 Sepia toned Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens<br />
4 Black Micron Sakura pens in varying sizes<br />
4 Watercolor paintbrushes: 2 round, 1 rigger, 1 flat<br />
Handful of graphitint watercolor pencils <br />
Needle and thread for sewing in extra pages, maps, receipts + sharpener and eraser in an Altoids box<br />
Very small 12 color Lukas watercolor tin<br />
2 tubes of gauche: copper & gold <br />
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I found that when I drew from real life I didn't use pencils - I used my smallest ink pens and made lots of lines until I came upon the right one. I also found that staying put in one place long enough to sketch something has imprinted those places much stronger in my memory. I remember what the foaming yogurt drink tastes like or how cold it was outside the house with a tree growing through the front porch roof. I usually sketched on site and painted in the evening while I listened to a fantastic book about Istanbul. I know, heaven. <br />
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Here's what I will say about drawing: for me it's a constant issue of confidence. I have wanted to draw for years but never thought I was a "drawer". I have several reference books and all the materials, but I didn't get serious about it until moving to Oman. Every time I drew I became so embarrassed about my inability to make something look like I wanted it to or about what I now realized is just my personal style that I threw it away and didn't draw for weeks. When I moved here I said "enough!" and just started keeping a visual journal, the only rule being that I couldn't throw anything out and I had to draw something every week and then every day for a while.<br />
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I finally got comfortable drawing inside my house where no one could see and slowly started showing them to my husband. But the idea of drawing in public where someone could look over my shoulder and see immediately what kind of an amateur I am gave me night sweats. Enter vacation where no one knows you and will never see you again. One of the many reasons I like to travel is that you become completely free from whatever idea of yourself you have or (and usually more trapping) the idea of you that the people around you have. I didn't grow up making art and when I think about making art at home I feel a bit like a fraud. So in Istanbul I threw the old non-drawing Brooke out the window and became Brooke who draws. It was a really great experience and has increased my confidence for studio work at home. I have been working from photographs of our trip now and I hope to have a completed book in a few weeks. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0kzeaaMu86JhgmrSj9jjlHo_QFnBd_Y9oZpvrPFJcOS_JwL40CPvPk-fvuPDylUUuXWeB3aZYJFlH2OKOq7PBw8HACg1_tYjK3mmVzLRPk-2QmSTmhYItCaREnKK_dvT-bvxyrB7HRD4/s1600/food+tour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0kzeaaMu86JhgmrSj9jjlHo_QFnBd_Y9oZpvrPFJcOS_JwL40CPvPk-fvuPDylUUuXWeB3aZYJFlH2OKOq7PBw8HACg1_tYjK3mmVzLRPk-2QmSTmhYItCaREnKK_dvT-bvxyrB7HRD4/s1600/food+tour.jpg" height="261" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notes from our food tour</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rSwjuyH7l3Av1fcMG27514vMNTX8Ry5b7N4jd91CaA_yVo1216ts7GESKKbVi05A7eO0VE_xLApeplhfgzQwcZfWnMCGRhf5fy604WRdUV_vuK0w6Qr2SYNxmQwqEZjJM8MCpDM3cR0/s1600/hagia+Sophia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rSwjuyH7l3Av1fcMG27514vMNTX8Ry5b7N4jd91CaA_yVo1216ts7GESKKbVi05A7eO0VE_xLApeplhfgzQwcZfWnMCGRhf5fy604WRdUV_vuK0w6Qr2SYNxmQwqEZjJM8MCpDM3cR0/s1600/hagia+Sophia.jpg" height="320" width="242" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of Hagia Sophia</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqjecWT-u1qm2pgfjLuOm_jfcBJ5-n8whqW9uw_Ov_ZPlCy7J2oK7E8gAhqRaLVTLO0vd2HiaHijI5Ic3c-bAOzVfYOPTZQ1g32-7RGB7gfEfX6mZ_KuibGPUTKumhqG26oXfl2hP0m_E/s1600/Yeni_Mosque_Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqjecWT-u1qm2pgfjLuOm_jfcBJ5-n8whqW9uw_Ov_ZPlCy7J2oK7E8gAhqRaLVTLO0vd2HiaHijI5Ic3c-bAOzVfYOPTZQ1g32-7RGB7gfEfX6mZ_KuibGPUTKumhqG26oXfl2hP0m_E/s1600/Yeni_Mosque_Book.jpg" height="260" width="400" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-17334437002840935432014-04-25T23:29:00.000-07:002014-04-27T23:23:30.601-07:00Marbling in Istanbul<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I showed up to the five story studio and sometimes home of
Ali and Betul at 10:30 for a lesson in Turkish marbling<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(5 stories of about 10 square feet each
floor, think wide ladder instead of palace).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paper marbling is a process by which multiple colors of
paint are dropped onto the surface of treated water, mixed around to create a
pattern (though not mixed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">together</i>)
and then transferred onto thin paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You see paper marbling at the beginning and ending of old books and it
looks like, well, multi-colored marble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My bookbinding teacher in Jerusalem was a paper
marbler and I’ve been fascinated by it for years though too intimidated to try
it myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turkey has a long history
of paper marbling with a unique brand of embellishment including flowers and
leaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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"It's sometimes called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">painting
with water” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Betul says to me
from her top floor studio where I am torn between jaw dropping views of
Istanbul and what’s happening in the seaweed thickened water on the table in front
of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Betul makes it look easy
and while there is a kind of natural flow to raking and fanning the colors, my
lines are no where near as uniform as hers and my peacock pattern is laughable
– squished flat like a heavy sandwich instead of full like a balloon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I thoroughly enjoy the afternoon
selecting colors, dropping them onto the sludgy water to see them expand and
moving them with metal awls and rakes of various sizes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m only kind of embarrassed when she
selects a generic artsy English language playlist on spotify that starts with
Simon and Garfunkel and includes many songs I already know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Is
my “type” so knowable? </i>I think, being sure not to drip ox gall infused paint
onto my black jeans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
then I don’t care and I discover what ultramarine looks like with powder blue
and crimson red.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
(Ignore the "musical credits" in the end - observing copyright<br />law won out in the end. I am a librarian afterall. Just pretend you <br />are listening to The Flaming Lips..)</div>
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After our session Ali invites me to stay for lunch that Betul’s
mother has made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a simple
meal of fresh green beans with ground beef and the ubiquitous “Shepard’s Salad”
known by a million names throughout the Middle East and North Africa: tomato,
onions, cucumber, parsley, lemon, olive oil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Betul’s mother teaches me the Turkish word for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">thank you </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">delicious </i>and I watch first when a pail of creamy yogurt is placed
on the table and then dip my spoon in after each bite along with everyone
else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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“Why did you choose paper marbling?” Ali asks me, given the
other options of calligraphy, felting, tile painting and sedef – traditional
Turkish wood block carving and printing.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQI3EbEj1h8cF9iKsV5ig7jJLizzajwjvsWQhscSvdmYbOSI1jh_GlgN5JOq36BNZrfrSFrUSbUd0CofCq0mB1ssB7FcQmSX-unjWg5HfdQazEMaIaD65JqcOZHaG_M2tbEFQIZLUsXBU/s1600/me_marble.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQI3EbEj1h8cF9iKsV5ig7jJLizzajwjvsWQhscSvdmYbOSI1jh_GlgN5JOq36BNZrfrSFrUSbUd0CofCq0mB1ssB7FcQmSX-unjWg5HfdQazEMaIaD65JqcOZHaG_M2tbEFQIZLUsXBU/s1600/me_marble.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happiest I've ever been...perhaps</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
“I like the colors and the patterns....and the possibilities” </div>
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“Do they talk to you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The colors, do they talk to you?” </div>
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Unsure of how to answer I cock an eyebrow towards Ali. </div>
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“They will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Send your husband away. They
won’t talk if he’s there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But send
him away and they’ll talk to you.” </div>
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<br /></div>
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Well, you heard the man Max.<br />
<br />
It's not personal. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-25237626393936162562014-02-22T09:33:00.000-08:002014-02-22T09:33:36.495-08:00Birthday Books<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There was a time when I only gave homemade presents. And then I got embarrassed because who wants something with glue stains or crooked pages or made from hemp/fabric/buttons/leather/pipe cleaner? And then I realized that they are actually awesome afterall. Here are a few that I made a few months back for my work colleagues. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtEBSePXfW-Wa1Rt4NyNg_T9mYMvO9wfc2sC0tlq6gqX8V56zDl9wxfCh52CGvHafTZzPCxPHzvAn9q3RWL8g3TUusDqpEGmscEGiEntUz7lIlEftfTtX-ZBEAw7eBiIPFT_xStPleuLo/s1600/IMG_0300_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtEBSePXfW-Wa1Rt4NyNg_T9mYMvO9wfc2sC0tlq6gqX8V56zDl9wxfCh52CGvHafTZzPCxPHzvAn9q3RWL8g3TUusDqpEGmscEGiEntUz7lIlEftfTtX-ZBEAw7eBiIPFT_xStPleuLo/s1600/IMG_0300_0003.JPG" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-59646423545919344782013-12-09T22:13:00.000-08:002013-12-09T22:14:13.860-08:00Sweetness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>I was trying to remember when I started calling you sweetness. I honestly don't know. </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYte3Md1DNxuR4UlQB6vN5W4d6kdf0DMNdMaXyIPyXF76ODkPwAvMf1ffZGbHlp0thgWCd47AHbFthm8FMsirz7QlNmOcYTbSW5DXpFTQWlnguLvfKdMmYonAH0kOb8LGXvl5M-MrvI6k/s1600/Sweetness_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYte3Md1DNxuR4UlQB6vN5W4d6kdf0DMNdMaXyIPyXF76ODkPwAvMf1ffZGbHlp0thgWCd47AHbFthm8FMsirz7QlNmOcYTbSW5DXpFTQWlnguLvfKdMmYonAH0kOb8LGXvl5M-MrvI6k/s1600/Sweetness_0003.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
My most recent book came from a short exchange between me and my husband. At some point in our marriage my husband began calling me sweetness. I'm a serial nicknamer and thus I have allowed him a few of his choosing. </div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">I first designed a print taken from the sucrose molecule and then printed it along with text of our short email chain. I also printed the molecule pattern on the outside flypages. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqFv949jBB5g01j5qFlBjydfw3rivRNzyY_42SXptMu2dNXE-B0Gwty6dAUccuAFgTea1OSu_Pc04g0ZJphVyqC_nWQXLVjEQ2z97hCPZ3-99pcTgXdHUa6mJ65-FEZjRMb5PTWj1c5Po/s1600/Sweetness_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqFv949jBB5g01j5qFlBjydfw3rivRNzyY_42SXptMu2dNXE-B0Gwty6dAUccuAFgTea1OSu_Pc04g0ZJphVyqC_nWQXLVjEQ2z97hCPZ3-99pcTgXdHUa6mJ65-FEZjRMb5PTWj1c5Po/s1600/Sweetness_0004.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Then I bound the two sheets into a single signature using a butterfly stitch. I secured the tale with a small silver bead I found in the Muttrah souk here in Muscat and a small pull tag. I housed the book in a slipcase that has a small paper collage and the full sucrose image lightly transferred onto the front using gel medium. </div>
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I've been trying to devise projects that are more meaningful than the blank journals I've been working on for the past few years. I've found it more successful to start with text - something personal or meaningful to me and work out from there instead of devising the structure and working backwards. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-Opc5r04JuMk8OBRWMDZ_LDBPm45DqLF8Or0pkopu4WC_UuNKo0MuhQScVF9kwaie6CPXtoxjStV-9Fx1X18L20DcLUtFO9XjBOuQQuqAqW_Vlhns-X1EH1v0jaKnG5IO9U1_cBrzYw/s1600/Sweetness_0005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-Opc5r04JuMk8OBRWMDZ_LDBPm45DqLF8Or0pkopu4WC_UuNKo0MuhQScVF9kwaie6CPXtoxjStV-9Fx1X18L20DcLUtFO9XjBOuQQuqAqW_Vlhns-X1EH1v0jaKnG5IO9U1_cBrzYw/s1600/Sweetness_0005.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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I've been more productive in my studio the last few months that the last two years combined - </div>
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pictures forthcoming. </div>
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Here's to a year of fruitful making. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-2447823431526052112013-01-17T02:05:00.000-08:002013-01-17T02:05:31.826-08:00Antelope Lending Library<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Believe in the power of libraries to empower and uplift? Understand their integral role in community building and future shaping?<br />
<br />
Consider donating to this project a friend of mine is working on. <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7dQyuk_lsFg" width="420"></iframe><br />
No, I don't live in Iowa city and probably never will. Does that matter? Nope. You don't have to either. The collective good of libraries extends far beyond the cities they serve.<br />
<br />
I know - I'm a bit late to the party. Hurry! <br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="439px" scrolling="no" src="http://www.indiegogo.com/project/227080/widget" width="224px"></iframe></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-82836714748677439892012-12-03T04:59:00.002-08:002012-12-03T04:59:27.499-08:00So Stop Complaining<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h1 style="float: none; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; width: auto;">
The Golden Age for Writers</h1>
<div class="teaser" style="float: none; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; width: auto;">
...is right now</div>
<div class="by" style="float: none; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; width: auto;">
By Stephen Marche</div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><br /><br />Read more: <a href="http://www.esquire.com/features/thousand-words-on-culture/writing-careers-1212#ixzz2DzeAZEoW" style="color: #003399; text-decoration: none;">Writing Careers in 2012 - Stephen Marche on the Golden Age of Writers - Esquire</a> <a href="http://www.esquire.com/features/thousand-words-on-culture/writing-careers-1212#ixzz2DzeAZEoW" style="color: #003399; text-decoration: none;">http://www.esquire.com/features/thousand-words-on-culture/writing-careers-1212#ixzz2DzeAZEoW</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-23254483243080571292012-10-12T16:51:00.000-07:002012-10-13T05:03:50.390-07:00Sperm Donor<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">Got your attention, huh?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times;">The past few months I've been working on my<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist's_book"><span style="color: #0000f9;">
artist book</span></a> skills...and they haven't come easily. I've wanted
to make books about a lot of things lately: living in morocco, infertility,
changing family dynamics, good books I've read, pictures I've taken, dogs and
husbands I love, Moroccan rug prints, the list goes on and on. But
whenever I sit down to tell a story that is personal I'm completely bereft of
ideas and enthusiasm. I don't know if I'm afraid my technical skills
won't live up to my emotional attachment to these ideas or what, but It took me
8 months to get halfway through a book about our trip to Portugal last year but
then I hated it and dismantled it for parts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">So, Max and I have been pulling prompts from a
grocery sack the last few weeks. He has to write about them and I have to
create a book around the prompt. The first one we drew said "A Golf
Caddy Learns a Dark Secret". Since my reading and thinking habits
trend non-fiction I immediately hit the google to research golf scandals and
the like - thinking I'd take my inspiration from real life. (Max wrote a
delightful piece of fiction. Our brains work very differently.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">I came across this <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/golf/lpga/2005-04-29-smith-paternity-suit_x.htm"><span style="color: #0000f9;">crazy story</span></a> about a caddy who claimed he was
seduced by his golfer solely for the purpose of getting pregnant. He
later sued her saying he was an "unwitting sperm donor". Close
enough for me. I know it's a super weird thing to make a book about, but
for some reason it worked for me and I was able to try a few new techniques I'd
been wanting to experiment with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">The design and construction are really simple -
mostly I wanted to see if I could finish a task and stick to a theme.
Telling a story I had no personal attachment to was a really great
exercise. It let me step back and see what worked and what didn't and how
to construct an idea using mostly images. I think after a few more goes
I'll be ready to tell my own stories. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Sperm Donor" </span></span></b><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times;"> Accordion Fold <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">Paper: Arches Cold Press, Ingres<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">Matte Medium Image
Transfers <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times;"> Text taken verbatim from
newspaper clippings</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8ktSKDR-ZPljMeTMyX1gFoQmgAN5UHGGnkfaT9eKd6vNb87qzk3zHwkt3HNZUzsQVxwlEIyxRGqwqU3p5-L3k5Rkv2hQGG1rXuKGAgz-KfNvQheKNlAtBRY0ZjoF_j7bDEjyqtsfWl8/s1600/Sperm+Donor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8ktSKDR-ZPljMeTMyX1gFoQmgAN5UHGGnkfaT9eKd6vNb87qzk3zHwkt3HNZUzsQVxwlEIyxRGqwqU3p5-L3k5Rkv2hQGG1rXuKGAgz-KfNvQheKNlAtBRY0ZjoF_j7bDEjyqtsfWl8/s400/Sperm+Donor.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-78637443597804151482012-09-19T13:53:00.000-07:002012-09-19T13:53:49.468-07:00Raven's Foot Binding<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been carving out some great studio time lately and I've even FINISHED some books. Last night I finished my first Raven's Foot Binding.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzBoJVD9XWIRjTceZSCwlDAEXzV1R8J_I1ETjACZ25DrZA6vmRofw7m0eAJn9rxmCkY2bJM6vg5N_MCPjchVRJM8_ai5DZ9ejhFVtvxIcmRm_gGOS_LwIdH3fjfVjo39xC1SaPVKhN9cs/s1600/091612_2049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzBoJVD9XWIRjTceZSCwlDAEXzV1R8J_I1ETjACZ25DrZA6vmRofw7m0eAJn9rxmCkY2bJM6vg5N_MCPjchVRJM8_ai5DZ9ejhFVtvxIcmRm_gGOS_LwIdH3fjfVjo39xC1SaPVKhN9cs/s400/091612_2049.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Raven's Foot, like a Coptic binding, features exposed stitches and hinges on the outside of the book instead of hidden away beneath glue and book cloth and other sundry junk. But instead of knotting the threads together along the spine like a Coptic binding, you wrap them around a core which later becomes the "Raven's Foot" on the outsides of the cover. <br />
<br />
I had to restart this book a few times to get the tension just right on the wrapping. I'm still not 100% satisfied with the consistency of stitches along the spine, but that's why you practice. Doy. (Have I been watching <i>My So Called Life</i> on Hulu? Maybe...)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELF2LEJmtsNhz3SbVLYimCWHO3faMBmdfwcNMNApQrXVaNlxb91tZ_Zj2R5IQCFCjlG_hL_yz2amLMCfg7Zd3iBSDF2HboIzijY-AY7_MIp34Xg4lyo-p8jbqMHNcnJYbAGko7uAVAP0/s1600/091512_2052-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELF2LEJmtsNhz3SbVLYimCWHO3faMBmdfwcNMNApQrXVaNlxb91tZ_Zj2R5IQCFCjlG_hL_yz2amLMCfg7Zd3iBSDF2HboIzijY-AY7_MIp34Xg4lyo-p8jbqMHNcnJYbAGko7uAVAP0/s320/091512_2052-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">18 cover holes, four signatures, two covers<br />and a wooden drawing mannequin's foot. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdiYORgD5410sY5cYrwl8L4gEV_88goAi0uFft4V7anQ8apAm0rr8UZDbmR832O5hrZ-LuiNspZCvKLGIRaiLRrBiL0g0G6lykHT0Qa2wd3Y8-efHX1doMzeUPiP_L7BK2yA4gulixO1A/s1600/091512_2052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdiYORgD5410sY5cYrwl8L4gEV_88goAi0uFft4V7anQ8apAm0rr8UZDbmR832O5hrZ-LuiNspZCvKLGIRaiLRrBiL0g0G6lykHT0Qa2wd3Y8-efHX1doMzeUPiP_L7BK2yA4gulixO1A/s320/091512_2052.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You have to sew on a little sewing frame which can make<br />things a bit wonky if your text block and the frame aren't properly weighted...as mine were not. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERa3RKCz4vyn157qsxNLYAMqyfhZKUyOQx6tgkxbZrnvCN7vv7TAc0IQNOBn5NKGt_mVPieD9NaxNBB3NNSWyMfsGeyT-3kSsl7wEHW8xLOaad7Jzt_KrBFxlXKOJFOv6H9zo1But1mM/s1600/091512_2053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERa3RKCz4vyn157qsxNLYAMqyfhZKUyOQx6tgkxbZrnvCN7vv7TAc0IQNOBn5NKGt_mVPieD9NaxNBB3NNSWyMfsGeyT-3kSsl7wEHW8xLOaad7Jzt_KrBFxlXKOJFOv6H9zo1But1mM/s320/091512_2053.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And Blamo. Waiting for the fly pages to dry on the inside. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwKZvzYbu3FlLnDM3Xrcn7TSVFyHDpDXZp9BR0JKCm8XlVvH2w5wKDlGXGaiWov2FHlFwnyJe45_LcC_hzeUyK1BnS_WHK0tC54AhS2icCjikKz7Ubg15N-9mIMdH4pnJcRocwLE6-qY/s1600/091612_2050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwKZvzYbu3FlLnDM3Xrcn7TSVFyHDpDXZp9BR0JKCm8XlVvH2w5wKDlGXGaiWov2FHlFwnyJe45_LcC_hzeUyK1BnS_WHK0tC54AhS2icCjikKz7Ubg15N-9mIMdH4pnJcRocwLE6-qY/s320/091612_2050.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And thar she is. The sewing holes got a bit stretched out<br />after sewing and un-sewing a few times, but you sew and you learn. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-34227060756909158822012-04-02T15:26:00.001-07:002012-04-02T15:26:57.491-07:00One Good Shame Deserves Another<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm still here! I'm still a librarian and I still read!<br />
<br />
To pay penance for my blog slacking, here is something shameful I keep on my laptop to remind me not to get too smarmy. I wrote it my first year of library school.<br />
<br />
"My husband is convinced that the e-book will catch on and change the face of books forever, but I just don’t buy it. I am very enthusiastic about using technology in the library, but e-books - I just can't see them re-inventing the library."<br />
<br />
Actually, the best part about this is that before I read this note in my own handwriting, I read a short article written in 2008 wherein the author stated all the reasons why e-readers wouldn't catch on.<br />
<br />
"What an idiot" I say to myself...and then read my own astute agreement with the article.<br />
<br />
Wah wah. (like grown ups in Charlie Brown)</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-26310519443959482142011-07-01T08:08:00.000-07:002011-07-01T08:08:55.762-07:00Book Review: American Pastoral<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdnBlkajShlSYQMzv05bAgmVLvMSOaDds8Az177-7V37X_nb-qNd_z_m0v3kE-kXpwbgNCPKDqq0tw_m4Gy6UwlS9YR7NPISRdtXeD0T0IKbyeLQ-RAgOYUICXWEufFk7ct95-xeJCaw/s1600/06_07_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdnBlkajShlSYQMzv05bAgmVLvMSOaDds8Az177-7V37X_nb-qNd_z_m0v3kE-kXpwbgNCPKDqq0tw_m4Gy6UwlS9YR7NPISRdtXeD0T0IKbyeLQ-RAgOYUICXWEufFk7ct95-xeJCaw/s200/06_07_02.jpg" width="128" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>American Pastoral: Phillip Roth: Vintage: Fiction: 432<br />
<br />
Roth's landmark novel takes on the insurmountable task of capturing what it means to be American through the lens of the turbulent sixties and seventies. What Roth arrives at is not a bulleted list of characteristics and flashpoints (a seemingly American way to understand the world) but the reality that both personal and national identity are products of our perception and personal experience anyway. <br />
<br />
America represents tyrannical fascism and morally bankrupt violence to Seymour Levov's weather-underground-vietnam-war-protesting daughter but for himself, a Jewish business man in search of the American dream, it means freedom, industry, and wealth. <br />
<br />
For me, a good book asks more questions than it answers. Nothing interests me less than a work of fiction that says "here is what the world is and how you should understand it".* ** Roth's book is the anti that book. For some that's frustrating, but to explore the shifting paradigm of American identity during this time and how it caused us to question the construction of identity itself, it's perfect. But make no mistake, this novel isn't about a twenty year period in America's history - it's about narrative and national identity. It's about all the stuff that came before 1968 and what will come after it. <br />
<br />
I have been thinking a lot about what it means to have honest relationships with other people. Trying to really understand them for who they are and not for what you'd like them to be or who you imagine them to be because <i>that's </i>the kind of person you fancy yourself having a relationship with. It's a hard thing to be really know someone and have your interaction be true - have it be about their reality and not your perception of yourself. How much harder, then, is it to understand a national identity, to form a relationship with it, when it is composed of such diverse people and experiences? <br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">*Interesting...that's probably why I don't really like fantasy...hhmm</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">** But I do love non-fiction. That's the kind of "this is the world" I'm into :) </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-22625350889486852922011-05-30T11:50:00.000-07:002011-06-06T09:07:28.849-07:00Book Review: One Hundred Years of Solitude<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.signatureillustration.org/illustration-blog/wp-content/gabriel-garcia-marquez-one-hundred-years-of-solitude-04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.signatureillustration.org/illustration-blog/wp-content/gabriel-garcia-marquez-one-hundred-years-of-solitude-04.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><b>One Hundred Years of Solitude: Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Perennial: Fiction: 464</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
One Hundred Years of Solitude chronicles the multi-generational Buendia family in the fictional town of Macondo. After founding the town, familial patriarch Arcadio Buendia sets the blueprint for an inescapable pattern of obsession, selfishness, and vice that plagues the generations of his family throughout the book. Different familial incarnations temporarily triumph and escape their history, but it is almost always short lived. Told in seamless magical realisim, this novel is at once visceral and dreamlike. <br />
<br />
Sometimes my favorite books are ones I don't quite know what to do with when I'm finished - I don't know what to make of it or how to fully understand its themes. One Hundred Years of Solitude was a bit of that for me. All the same, I enjoyed its fantastical story telling and the way it touched on issues of nostalgia, obsessiveness, family, and the power we have over our own history - or don't as the case may be. After reading more about the history of Columbia, for which Macondo is said to be a substitute, I understood the book a bit better in terms of a critique of Latin American history. <br />
<br />
Not really an upper... and a bit of a "must...slog...through...this... section" at times, but I'm glad I read it. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-1244431627041031762011-05-26T05:42:00.000-07:002011-05-26T05:42:16.452-07:00Open Access Journals<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">A little presentation I made for my reference class last semester. <br />
<br />
Forgive the poor sound quality. <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AK-N-ri36Kg" width="425"></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-56251602602462719572011-04-24T13:18:00.000-07:002011-04-25T05:56:56.718-07:00Technology + Ancient Art = Awesome<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Read the full article<a href="http://mashable.com/2011/04/18/project-jenny-project-jan-video/"> here</a>, but the gist is, a music artist and a Turkish paper marble artist, having never met, put together a music video for the band's new song.<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/21401049?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/21401049">"Lucky Me" by Project Jenny, Project Jan</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user6135942">sammy rubin</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
This is why technology and ancient arts can and should have a long and healthy marriage together. <br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h1> </h1></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-83835969046194134132011-04-22T15:32:00.000-07:002011-04-22T15:33:37.796-07:00Me, a Master?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I submitted my master's thesis project from a hotel room in New York in the week hours of the night a few days ago and I just found out that I passed! Barring any catastrophe with my reference class this semester and its remaining two assignments, I am finished with grad school!!!!<br />
<br />
It has been a wonderful program and a great experience. <br />
<br />
Yahoo. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-90524355577133456482011-03-29T07:02:00.000-07:002011-03-29T07:02:09.360-07:00Best Article EverMy sweet cousin Jentry sent me a link to this NPR article titled "<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/03/in_which_emphatically_and_fore.html">In Which, Emphatically And Forever, I Decline To Care About How Books Smell</a>."<br />
<br />
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It says it much better than I attempted to and it's funny to boot.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-75854803163145952722011-03-28T12:25:00.000-07:002011-03-28T12:25:09.537-07:00SShhh, don't tell him about the Kindleor the host of other very successful e-readers on the market today. In preparation for my thesis project I have been going back over my old notes from my coursework. I read this article entitled "10 reasons why the internet is not a substitute for the library" and this reason got me riled about my favorite soap box topic. <br />
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<i>#6 Hey, Bud, You Forgot about E-book Readers<br />
</i><br />
<i>Try reading an e-book reader for more than a half-hour. Headaches and eyestrain are the best results. Besides, if what you’re reading is more than two pages long, what do you do? Print it. Where’s a tree hugger when you really need one? Moreover, the cost of readers runs from $200 to $2,000, the cheaper ones being harder on the eyes. Will this change? Doubtless, but right now there’s no market forces making it change. Will it change in less than 75 years? Unlikely! A-freakin-men!</i><br />
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How silly must he feel right about now when Kindle sales exceeded 8 million last year? <br />
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I don't disagree that libraries are very important for many reasons, but I reject the idea that libraries are at war with technology. In fact, if you work in a library or have ever been in one, you know that is just plain silly. <br />
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Have you seen those "I pledge to read the written word" icons on blogs? As if to suggest that printed words are better, more enlightened than digital ink and that authors need our tactile observance to survive and write good books. My husband and I have contemplated creating an "I pledge to only read cuneiform on stone tablets" icon for my blog, but that seemed a bit too snarky. <br />
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The point is, reading is reading and one form, as long as it works for you, is not superior to another. <i>But what about potentially loosing your e-books? E-books don't really let you own titles. What about the feel of a book in your hands? </i>I love a real book for those reasons - but they are not about reading; they are about having, owning and touching - not bad things - but not about content consumption. <br />
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Luddites and techies - we are all in this together. Buy or check out, download or pull back the cover, paper or digital, whatever. Just read. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-6893315692406930512011-02-28T10:37:00.001-08:002011-03-09T09:42:17.578-08:00Book Review: Jerusalem Reading<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I snatched this from something I wrote when we were in Jerusalem but never publicly posted. It's a bit outdated, but useful for readings related to our time there. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>I reread </i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Illuminated-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/0060529709/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257166546&sr=8-1-spell"><i>Everything is Illuminated</i></a><i>. It's one of my favorite books, and this time I got about 2/3rds through it before I lost the thread. It's much further than I got last time, so that's something. It's a beautiful, thought provoking, heart breaking, and life celebrating book...that is difficult to entirely "get". Maybe that's why I like it. If you want to think about something or be completely baffled, you should read it. It's about family, history, religion, identity (specifically Jewish Identity), what it means to "love" someone, and a host of other things.</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>I reviewed Foer's second novel "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" in earnest on the </i><a href="http://provolibrarystaffreviews.blogspot.com/2007/02/extremely-loud-and-incredibly-close.html"><i>Provo City Library Staff Review Blog</i></a><i> (when I was employed there, wipe a tear). </i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Four-Mothers-Novel-Shifra-Horn/dp/0312263236/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257167075&sr=1-1"><i>Four Mothers: Horn, Shifra: Picador: 288</i></a><i> (old habits die hard)</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>I had never heard anything about this author or this book and it was a pleasant surprise. It told the story of four generations of women living in Jerusalem through the war of 1948, the Jordanian Occupation (48-67) and then the 6 day war in 1967. It was epic and sad (two things I love) and did a great job of fleshing in the un-thought-of details of history. Great storytelling.</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rashis-Daughters-Book-Joheved-Medieval/dp/0452288622/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257167409&sr=1-1"><i>Rashi's Daughters</i></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>I actually didn't finish this book. It is a series with several books following that detail the lives of Rashi's daughters. (Rashi is an actual well known Jewish Medieval Rabbi.) At first I loved the slow reveal of what life was like for this Jewish group in Medieval France, but after a while it just didn't hold my attention. It would be great for a YA historical fiction read, but I just wasn't in the mood. I might try it again later. </i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Image-Novel-Dara-Horn/dp/0393325261/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257167642&sr=1-1"><i>In the Image: A Novel: Horn, Dara: W.W. Norton & Co.: 280</i></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Owf. That's how I feel about this book. There were moments of genius, but most of the book was a little pretentious and a little contrived. One moment of genius occurs near the end where the story of Job is retold backwards through the familial history of one of the main characters. As if to say that the parameters of our present are the product of our our ancestor's tragedy. When we choose good and happiness despite every historical reason not to we are confirming God and refusing to deny him. That part stole my heart, but the rest of it just irked me. Horn didn't give reader's the chance to read between the lines before shoving the obvious down our throats. Take it or Leave it.</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jerusalem-One-City-Three-Faiths/dp/0345391683/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257168098&sr=1-1"><i>Jerusalem: One City Three Faiths: Armstrong, Karen: Ballantine Books: 1997</i></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Karen Armstrong is really something. A historian, a religious historian who still thinks that religion is good is hard to come by and she is the perfect balance of skeptical historian and good willed faith affirm-er. This book is a readable history of Jerusalem and the Holy Land in general. Fabulous.</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/History-Love-Novel-Nicole-Krauss/dp/0393328627/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257168810&sr=8-1"><i>The History of Love: Krauss, Nicole</i></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Another repeat. Last night I almost put it away, but then It reminded me of how good it is. Similar themes as "Everything is Illuminated" (the authors are married afterall....) and similarly bizarre and thought provoking. </i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>You might have noticed that every single book I'm reading is about Jews or Jewishness. Well, when in Rome! (er Israel) It's been a good cultural exercise along side living here. I've also read a slew of travel books - I can't get enough of them.</i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-71222679996445000092011-02-25T10:28:00.000-08:002011-03-09T09:42:08.196-08:00Book Review: The Lotus Eaters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://manoflabook.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/LOTUS-EATERS-200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://manoflabook.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/LOTUS-EATERS-200x300.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font: 10.1px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span> </span></div><div style="font: 10.1px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div>The Lotus Eaters: Tatjana Soli: St. Martin's Press: Fiction: 386<br />
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I am often frusterated with fiction because there is so much telling and so little showing, but I have to say, Tatjana Soli's debut novel "The Lotus Eaters" is a triumph of fiction - vividly showing us the lush landscapes of Vietnam and the devastating realities of war. On a micro scale this book is about the relationships a female war photographer creates during Vietnam and the way she is forever changed at its end, but it is also a much larger narrative about the depths of destruction encountered in war and its slow seduction. It's about "going native" and becoming placeless after the intense experiences of life. <br />
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This novel is beautiful, gripping, and utterly transportive. A great adventure and eye opener about war on a personal level.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-90803368840978741732011-02-10T15:16:00.000-08:002011-03-09T09:42:24.041-08:00Book Review: My Life in France<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://literarytransgressions.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/juliachild.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://literarytransgressions.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/juliachild.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><div style="font: 10.1px Geneva; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 10.1px Geneva; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My Life in France: Julia Child, Alex Prud'homme: Kindle Edition: 2006: 336 pages print length.</span></div><div style="font: 10.1px Geneva; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 10.1px Geneva; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I didn't know much about Julia Child before reading this book and I wasn't very interested to know more, but this delightful memoir just stole my heart. The book begins as newlywed Child moves to Paris for her husband's new position in the cultural affairs section of the Paris embassy. What begins as a whim to occupy her time quickly grows into a lifelong obsession as Child cooks her way through classic French dishes. Culminating in the publication of her first cookbook and the subsequent success of her television series, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The French Chef</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, this novel is truly a <i>Tour Du France</i>, culinarily and geographically speaking. </span></div><div style="font: 10.1px Geneva; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 10.1px Geneva; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I really came to admire Child's fearlessness and the way she looked life's dissapointments in the face while embracing its joys. She was certainly uncoventional and describes life long political sparring with her conservative father and being "cold blooded" when one of her cookbook's co-authors wasn't taking on her fair share of the work. But she was also hardworking, intellectually curious, and fully devoted to her husband. In fact, this novel is in part a very sweet love story. At times I wondered if there was more to the events than what she revealed, but her telling of them was marvelous none the less. </span></div><div style="font: 10.1px Geneva; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 10.1px Geneva; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As a traveler, food lover, and wife of a Public Affairs diplomat I was smitten with this book from the first chapter. </span></div><div style="font: 10.1px Geneva; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 10.1px Geneva; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(This was my first completed Kindle book and I can't say how much I love my kindle!) </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-70068660671415672212011-01-25T13:04:00.000-08:002011-03-09T09:37:57.802-08:00Jerusalem GemsI made several books during our days in Jerusalem that I am just now getting around to blogging about.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVR49DHcHuhu9JUEoCwSAtx3xmKAL_o_AlkYAylE9AK_AGYHdPA2EntdpBv3WIZBxgaNluR-AOpWh4w7DeMPK0aNBsgyfsObmL6Y17MFrN_30iBo_P0T6enyunOwgF8JwLE-JdLR0MNrI/s1600/greenbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVR49DHcHuhu9JUEoCwSAtx3xmKAL_o_AlkYAylE9AK_AGYHdPA2EntdpBv3WIZBxgaNluR-AOpWh4w7DeMPK0aNBsgyfsObmL6Y17MFrN_30iBo_P0T6enyunOwgF8JwLE-JdLR0MNrI/s400/greenbook.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rounded spine with hand sewn end bands</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44ohNxV7tk_BX9GQkGlZ8kAPAg0JV4Wyd1HrIte6DfCNDUDUKsBY0awbCC6N-cmnKcstUOys0WgYERlUqv9BXIpRuVnx115wE59Ysqyol6PSCWcTi6GEjePs_0YH9kPVpFjYZ0mUOMI4/s1600/redbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44ohNxV7tk_BX9GQkGlZ8kAPAg0JV4Wyd1HrIte6DfCNDUDUKsBY0awbCC6N-cmnKcstUOys0WgYERlUqv9BXIpRuVnx115wE59Ysqyol6PSCWcTi6GEjePs_0YH9kPVpFjYZ0mUOMI4/s640/redbook.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">three signatures with boards attached directly to the spine cloth</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSD15A-7Cbk1fAq5PNopz7lRGlrBa-cfnNlHmXI0-J1MKTp4rxZLeErF2urSYehvtL3oehZ28VB7jf4kb2zaz1hjmmQ2Sj8O6TVa_kB9Yt2zfuSMIFmtORfOusA5fuZRxJpVrozxEoGE4/s1600/bluebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSD15A-7Cbk1fAq5PNopz7lRGlrBa-cfnNlHmXI0-J1MKTp4rxZLeErF2urSYehvtL3oehZ28VB7jf4kb2zaz1hjmmQ2Sj8O6TVa_kB9Yt2zfuSMIFmtORfOusA5fuZRxJpVrozxEoGE4/s400/bluebook.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rounded spine with Chines rice paper and "Jerusalem" in Hebrew hot foil pressed into cover</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905870560394300437.post-42516727796646859242011-01-17T13:07:00.000-08:002011-03-09T09:37:57.804-08:00Derby Square Bookstore: Salem, MassachusettesOn our itty trip to boston this weekend Max and I took even an ittier trip to Salem. We stumbled upon a delightful little bookstore at the corner of Essex and Derby with a most enigmatic owner. When I asked if I could take a picture of the floor to ceiling stacks of books, a voice coming from a small space between two mighty stacks answered<br />
<br />
"If you buy a book, you can take all the pictures you like." <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf4_gM2179B5zfQqO1-Y6S0HbAqhySiKKaxNb9QqGlwx3ZdYmS6AsjVNDB5kyTMnr_B43SdbBb3wzIbaullFjwG4-Mof0WtXpnhl3e9lsqryu13mUK0YnB4A54YJF-GyCyoZoF6UNq1Tg/s1600/Derby+Corner+Bookstore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf4_gM2179B5zfQqO1-Y6S0HbAqhySiKKaxNb9QqGlwx3ZdYmS6AsjVNDB5kyTMnr_B43SdbBb3wzIbaullFjwG4-Mof0WtXpnhl3e9lsqryu13mUK0YnB4A54YJF-GyCyoZoF6UNq1Tg/s640/Derby+Corner+Bookstore.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>Max ponied up and purchased <i>World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War </i> by Max Brooks. Zombies and Witches and Bookstores - oh my!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1