Things I Learned From Books Over The Summer (incl. 40s sexism)

He ‘encouraged’ her by remarking , “This is so good you would not know it was by a woman.”

Kid Things and Adult Reflection

Did you know that Play-Doh was originally an all white moldable wallpaper cleaner? There was a lot of soot on the wallpaper back then. People used to make a cleaning mixture mixing flour, salt, water and some chemicals to roll up and down the wall to take off the soot. Then Kutol, an early Play-Doh […]

Here on Earth 12/18/14, Truth Trumps Fiction

My librarian told me a story recently as I checked out books (two of which I would read all the way through with sustained interest, one that I would happily be engrossed with and the fourth I would end up returning after reading ten pages). One of the books I checked out (the one I […]

Fascinating modern architecture to 1700 manor houses…it’s all good

Recently I’ve been reflecting about architecture. I’m reading a historical book called The Manor: Three centuries at a slave plantation on Long Island by Mac Griswold. This 70 year old woman, Mac, is a cultural landscape historian, a fascinating job. When she was a little girl in the 1950s growing up in New Jersey, […]

Feeling around in a flowery diction

Have you ever felt you resided inside that place in a harmonica where moist breath and music meet? Have you ever felt like one of those perfectly imperfect pine trees that grow sideways on golf courses? Ok well have you ever felt like a collection of soft blue, pink, white grey lint, like the kind […]

LOST ART of Dr. Suess, Books, Mosaics and Pleasure in Broken Pieces

Why mosaics? I like the shiny full color allure of “coffee table” books. The large exotic collection of pictures I never tire of. There are three such books I am finding myself picking up over and over. I’ve owned them for years. I share them with visiting children, I open them for peaceful […]

The Elephant Keeper, a quick overview of a stunning book

I rarely write a book review but The Elephant Keeper screams to be understood, and to be read. If you do read it, you may come away from it stuck in your head but not able to really understand what just happened. Doesn’t that have the makings of a good read? One that makes you […]