Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

My computer sits in front of the left side of our bookcase which is a built-in, 9 feet wide and about 7 feet high. It's pretty much filled with books along with a smattering of various non-book items. The majority of the books, actually the vast majority, have been on these shelves for years (and more years for many others)... an endless supply of words bound and shelved like a old bookstore in a back alley, in the basement of a four story red brick building built at the turn of the 20th century. Some of these volumes may even have that old, musty smell of a long and dark trunk life like many of my early copies of Rolling Stone magazine when it was a newspaper folded in half and mailed causing the fraying of the edges, like every Rolling Stone magazine from that era has always appeared to anyone who has ever seen one.

Smack in front of me, directly behind the monitor, there are mostly books that are SooZen's... books dealing with nature and animals, one of the oldest in her collection is a book called "Horses" by Paul Hamlyn, first published in 1962 with a second impression in 1963. That's the one she has. Next to that volume is "The Whole Horse Catalog", Steven D. Price, Ed.. SooZen has had 4 horses, her first when she was 8 years old. Texas Dandy was the horse's name, given by the original owner. Her last horse was London, (London Bay), when she was around 16-17 years old. She still loves horses to this day.

SooZen also loves animals, all animals. She loves watching shows about animals and will choose those shows over any other. Other volumes in this section of the shelves are : 'The Year of the Koala", "The Buffalo", "Among the Elephants", "Bears", "Tiger", "A Complete Guide to Monkeys, Apes and other Primates"... as examples of her interests. They vary.

"Yanoama: The Narrative of a White Girl Kidnapped bt Amazonian Indians" as told to Ettore Biocca is within the books. "The New Cat Handbook" is in there along with "Over the Rainbow" - Tales of Fantasy and Imagination. We both have varied interests as shown by perusing our library... different times, different interests.

I had a real passion for cacti and succulents at one point in my life. I have a pretty decent collection of books that reflect that love. It was spurned on by our collective interest in houseplants. Do you remember houseplant wave that swept over the country in the mid-1970's? If you do, you're not so young. I think that was the era where magazines and books dedicated to houseplants were available in all bookstores. Our collection even includes several volumes on that topic.

There was a time back in 1977, '78 maybe, when a friend of ours, a woman, began a little home business putting houseplants in businesses and maintaining them on a regular schedule. It was a decent business that grew a bit to hire one extra person and then one more. Her husband and her decided to push it up.. have a little in-town business that sold houseplants and accessories, etc... general potting supplies and pre-mixed soils along with a nice selection of pots and tools. They called the business "Magic Garden"... nicely done inside with used lumber facing on the walls and a 'polite rustic-ness' that appealed to many.

Their business soon developed into putting in a greenhouse in their spacious backyard... a pretty large operation. I was employed to be the greenhouse manager, my responsibility to maintain the plants. We made regular trips out to San Diego and surrounding areas to purchase houseplants in bulk. Yes, houseplants were a big deal back in those days... much larger an operation than the scant choices one finds today in WalMart or Lowes and other such places. But the time came when it was no longer affordable, and no longer a passion for many. The thrill was gone...

We also have a decent collection of gardening books, mostly using the organic method, which has presently come into it's own and numerous cooks now demand organic produce as does the public. Perhaps you're one. I was plugged into the organic movement back in the late 70's and put it to practice in our own garden... quite successfully for several years. As things eventually turn, time did not allow for the full attention gardening demands for success and the garden lay dormant for several years. I restored it some 3 years ago and keep it simple and manageable.

Books are inspirational. You know that. You all are readers. Books take us on journeys that otherwise we never would have taken, much less even know about in some cases. Books are important... they create a certain amount of trust in their words that we use as quotations to others in conversations. We rarely will completely deny the words within a book, so powerful they are. Undoubtedly, the most powerful book is the Bible with sales ranging from 2.5 billion to more than 6 billion. Surprisingly the second most popular book in sales of single volume sales is Quotations from Chairman Mao (the Little Red Book), ranging from 800 million to 6.5 billion, The Qu'ran comes in #3 with 800 million sales. (Thx to Wikipedia).

These hugely popular books have been the main reason for the influence of these three subjects... so great as to cause wars between readers and splits within their own readerships. Words are the fuel which drives thought which brings more words into being. A constant recycling of words that basically reach for either fact or Truth, with pauses of pleasure and humor in between. Books inspire we hu'mans to do... do this and do that and do some more. We do and we do and even join in matrimony with ' i do' because we are doers and we do because of words. If we didn't have so many words, quite probably we wouldn't have so much to do. But that is not the case. Talk is the primary 'do' we do. Talk (or writings) inspire us to do.

I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for words. You wouldn't be sitting in front of your monitor reading these words if it weren't for words. Words utter our thoughts, our desires, our wants and our needs... words explain ourselves to others and they convey messages of our feelings, our emotions, our longings and our dreams... words build walls and barriers, words dig tunnels thru mountains and scale the highest peaks and go deeper than the last words did.

How many words have exploded upon hu'manity from the internet... words that may never have taken the time to be written are now written incessantly and delivered digitally thru our digits to anyone that pauses to read the words and maybe... just maybe be inspired enough to write their own words.

Have a word?


cecil
1.31.10

Picture of the Week:

Oh those words like hill of ants scurrying about in a mysterious order............Your library indeed resembles mt own...

damn, Kurt, sorry your own library is a disorganized mess! how do you find anything in that disarray? the only thing i can see in mine is dust.. good old space dust.

Fine ‘words’ MT!
Your pleasant article strings your matted verbiage tightly together, forming them into a strong and buoyant raft for this reader to lie comfortably upon, whilst drifting lazily down your gentle stream of dreams invoked, provoked, and best left unspoken.

I had a philosophy teacher years ago who said, ‘if you can’t find the words for it, then you don’t have the idea.’ I found the words to disagree with him easily enough, but alas, couldn’t find any words to serve up an example of my several wordless ideas. For me, words will always come after the idea. But, I love them no less for their secondary status. I’m with Eddie Cantor when he says:

”Words fascinate me. They always have. For me browsing in a dictionary is like being turned loose in a bank.”

NS (No Signature)

NS: For me, words will always come after the idea.

Indeed, as long as the idea can be put into words. Wordless ideas are mysteries lightly veiled by desire to know lit from behind with candlelight flickering it's summons to understand.

Enjoyed Eddie Cantor's quote. It gave me impetus to share a site I stumbled upon (and can't remember how that happened!) yesterday while wiling away my wit on this infernal machine -

http://phrontistery.info/index.html

Yes, The Phrontistery... what a place for the word lover and wordsmiths everywhere! I've never imagined such a site as this. And to think I've only opened the box and inhaled the fragrances with so much left to discover... ahhh.... i knew i could get lost in there for hours.

Hope you and anyone else reading this will click in.

... and thank you kindly for your well-described reply, mi amgo!

yes, they are fascinating, enigmatic and stale all at the same time. The really good stuff scoffs at mere words... I don't much care for the word 'word,' as I'm sure I mentioned before. should have spiced it up a bit-- like Pa-la-bra... ha.

love this trip through your books and the visual
words kick start the tour
ain't nothing like a bookshelf

Have a word? sure!

I love libraries & books & bookshelves (two bookshelves sectors in my home, one in the living-dining room with the computer at the right side, the other in the bedroom... need more rooms at the moment, I guess..! )

gracias for the stream, Cecil!!

saludos,

Arcadia

howdy, mnaz... your own 'wordsmithing', as noted in your book, i found to be excellent and quite possibly a second read when time permits. and i will agree that the word, 'word' lacks the punch that, say, palabra, has to say for what it implies... sounds with meanings to communicate our world to others... thanks for dropping in, amigo.

and a thank you to you, too, judih. a little diversion from the trodden path of the Stream I find to be necessary for my thought processes... an excercise in, as used above, 'wordsmithing'...

Thanks, friend... always nice seeing you here and there...

Hola, arcadia! two bookcases! congratulations on being such a wonderful caretaker for your books. i'm sure they all appreciate being given a proper home, comfortable and always on guard for your explorations.

gracias, amiga mia!

thx for the words mt.

you are certainly welcome, el mingo! and i hope your health has returned with a bang and a pop! ;:

gracias, amigo.

There have been some changes Cec. My sense of taste is sharper. My sinuses have cleared up some. that's it for the snap part. It seems I can take a deeper breath and I can have a good laugh without breaking into a hacking fit. I've smoked for a long time, I didn't expect overnight improvements. My sense of taste was the first thing I noticed was different almost right away. Thanks for asking.

Indeed, tobacco attacks the taste buds before descending into the lungs which receive this hot and nauseous gas as a foreign invader it is, responding with coughs to expel its presence as quickly as possible, knowing this smoke is not inherently good for those lungs.

keep going, amigo... you've had more than your fair share of cigarettes over that long period of time. I know. I began carrying my own cigarettes since 16, with a 5 year hiatus in the latter years, only to return in full bore to smoking every chance I had.... until my arteries got clogged. I think that adds up to some 41 years or so of smoking... more than my share, the gluttonous smoker I was. Ridiculous habit.