Music You Can Read To
Best Gift Ever
When starting my day, I almost always flick on the switch to the radio and set my mood. There’s cooking breakfast music, dancing music, workout music, sex music… there’s music you write to, music you relax to, music you mow the lawn or party to, there’s I’m working on the car music, there’s its raining outside music… and of course, every book lover has their favorite reading music.
Lately, my favorite reading music has been Andreas Vollenweider
While listening to the calm, but not sleepy, tunes of Vollenweider’s many instruments, his work suits both jazz and classical moods, and I’ve found it to be a perfect companion to Ayla’s school time. School time is quite short, as she’s only a year and a half. But while she masters holding a writing utensil and hanging out at the kitchen table while snacking on cheerios, I’ve been reading segments of Susan Wise Bauer
from Eric Carle’s The Very Quiet Cricket, features great reading noise for baby at the end of the book
After Ayla goes to bed at night, I usually read while my husband watches TedTalks on Netflix. After he falls asleep, though, the music I read to is a little bit different. Its the music of a quiet house. My tea pot steaming on the stove, my beagle jingling around the house as he nestles into a cozy place to sleep for the evening. Through open windows comes the singing of crickets, frogs, and cicadas. Sometimes I can hear Solovino, our stray cat, pad by the front patio windo. You would think cats would be quiet and stealthy, he can be, but mostly he likes to taunt my dogs. Solovino was born under our deck, the other kittens from the litter found homes via neighbor friends and moved away, but Solovino now stalks our street and kills our mice population. There are about four houses that ‘share’ him. My next door neighbor gave him his name, she says it means he is “an univited guest that doesn’t want to leave,” but if we were all true to ourselves we would admit that we would hate to see him go. He is the loudest meower that has ever lived, you can hear that cat all the way across the neighborhood and some days I spend my reading time blocking out his competitive high pitched sing song MEOW while also intermittently egging him on with a cat call of my own. Now, while I type, the gentle hum of a fan is buzzing and I can just barely hear the hubby breathing in his sleep. As soon as this post is done, its back to the books, because the sound right now is in that happy soothing place (teetering on the virge of annoying, but too calming to quite get there).
Do you listen to music while you read? What is your favorite music to read to? If you don’t, what is your reading environment like… indoors, outdoors, do you start the kettle to hear the whistle blow, do you wait until night to hear the cicadas chirp?
When We’re Not Reading…
My Daughter, Ayla, at the Zoo
… We Go On Adventures.
Today we went to the Houston Zoo and Hobbit Hole Cafe.
The Houston Zoo is a great place to take kids. When I was a kid it was free, but it wasn’t nearly as nice as it is now, and frankly, I’d rather pay money to enjoy my experience and see the animals enjoying their environment than go to a free zoo without shade, no amenities, and sad-looking creatures on display. The Houston Zoo of 2012, is beautiful. Paved (but not crappy concrete) walk ways, gorgeous fountains and statues, lots of shady spots and places to buy drinks and snacks (but they still let you bring drinks and snacks into the park, kudos and brownie points for that), and relatively happy looking animals.
The only animals that don’t look happy are the obvious ones… lions and tigers who should probably have more space, even though their habitats are quite large, and the injured animals that are being rehabilitated. The lions and tigers are too cool for school, as most cats are. They look grumpy and bored. Although the male lion did a lot of showing off, he posed for the cameras and even roared for us, he also got pissed off when we wouldn’t go away afterward and peed on the glass. There is no way on God’s green earth you can convince me that the lion did not piss on that glass directly in front of us on purpose to give us a lesson in privacy and manners. It was done in the attitude of ‘You came, You saw, I even showed off for you, NOW GO!’ As for rehabilitated creatures, there’s a bald eagle there named Liberty who has a cast because she was found in 2000 with a bullet through one of her wings. Her habitat is open to the sky, but she has no ability to fly. Beautiful bird with a sad, sad tale. Her cast today was neon green, which I thought was a cute touch.
I was looking forward to the otters because Ayla loved the otters at the Dallas Aquarium last year. They had a female otter that just swam and swam and swam in circles the whole time we watched. She did tricks and Ayla just giggled and laughed and thought it was the most wonderful thing she’d ever seen. The otters today were sleepy and looked oh so cozy snuggled on top of eachother. At that point, Ayla looked pretty sleepy too, so it wasn’t a disappointing moment at all.
But the big deal for us today were the giraffes and elephants. Ayla’s room is mostly decorated with these wonderful beasts and we’ve been spending a lot of time the last few weeks going over their names because without being reminded she calls them dogs. I really wanted her to make the connection between the live animals and their artsy counterparts on her walls and in her books. Lucky me, I got the reaction I wanted once we got home and she recognized the animal above her changing table as a giraffe with the most wonderful level of awe ever.
When she is older, I plan to get a zoo membership. We will be homeschooling and I think weekly outings to the zoo and the museums in the surrounding area will be a great addition to her library visits and lessons. (http://www.houstonzoo.org/membership/) For $94 a year I can get free admission all year for my entire household, plus discounts in the gift shop and special events, and a whole lot more. I’d say its a worthy amount to put towards Ayla’s “tuition.”
After our Zoo adventures, we went to the highly praised Hobbit Hole Cafe. Granted, I know Ayla was tired and pretty much done for the day and this could have affected my experience a great deal, but man that place does NOT live up to its hype. Hobbit Hole, sounds wonderful and bookish, and foodie fabulous, right? Well, the food was good, nothing to get all hot and bothered about, but nothing to complain about either. I had a Gandalf Classic (sandwich with mushrooms, avocado, and swiss cheese, I paid extra for onion rings (which were excellent). Despite the large sandwich, I could have done with more onion rings… $1.99 for 5 rings, I don’t care how delicious, I want a bigger pile of rings… after all, I DO eat like a HOBBIT! Other than the wonderfully named sandwich menu, though, nothing else was hobbit-esque or Lord of the Rings fashioned, other than the movie posters on the wall at the entrance. Most of the people around me (not my table, but in the cafe at large) were eating enchiladas. They’ve also got Jamaican dishes on the menu that, according to the Jamaican who was sitting next to me, don’t taste how they should.
Still, good food, but not worth going back to due to the awful service. Long wait at the door, long wait at the table, long wait for silverware once food started arriving, long wait for straws, long wait for food that wasn’t ordered with the other food, long wait for, well, everything. In addition to the long wait, we were crammed against other tables and lots of traffic. My chair was literally being crushed by the chair next to mine… and they were randomly assorted plastic lawn chairs. We were sitting at a square table slammed next to a circular table and I had the unfortunate luck at sitting in the awkward joint area, while I prayed the chair behind me didn’t slam into my back from people coming up the patio ramp to the front door. On top of all that, those chairs (put there to create an aisle where there wasn’t one and give people waiting at the hostess desk a place to sit) were being used by servers to set plates of food down because the plates were too hot to carry and too heavy to juggle (Anyone hear of tray service? Sorry, too long a server at a tray service only restaurant makes me cranky about people carrying plates diner style with their sleeve dipping into my food. Its gross.) When we were done, the server had us tally up our meals and food on the back of a bill and figure out what we owed ourselves. I’m assuming they don’t have a system in which you can easily split checks, I get that, but don’t ask me to do math on an 8 top, that’s your job. I can say that because I’ve waited tables with the best of them.
Once again, the food was good, but over all I’d only go back if I was in a group and somebody else wanted to go. It’s not on my list of places to return, but I feel like it should have been, because I’ve read so many glowing reviews (one even states that if you don’t like the establishment you’re just a terrible person). I fear they get the vast majority of their business from the false promise of their fabulous name. So people who love it… what did I miss?
“I can always live by my pen.”
The above quote is from the infamous Jane Austen. And although I don’t get paid for my writing (yet!), I’d like to think that I too live by my pen.
Journaling has always been such a huge part of my reading experience. So I don’t know why I haven’t thought of it before, but I was reading through the blogs I follow this morning and discovered a new one: The Journal Keepers. Immediately, I thought that it was about time I had a post about journaling.
Journaling is a crucial part of the learning experience. When you read, listen, or are shown anything its so important to take note of new information. After your notes, discuss how it affects you, and make plans for its use in the future.
Journaling keeps your brain active, keeps you on your toes. Its also good for documentation – keeping tabs on all you’ve discovered and how you’ve changed over the years. Its how you avoid repeating history and all the bad things of your past, see your progress, revel in your accomplishments.
There are so many different ways to journal. Some people keep strict notes or outlines. Some people make lists, tell stories, or merely share their day. I’ve seen journals full of poetry, and journals full of nothing but sketches and other art work. I’ve heard of people who only journal using prompts either from websites, magazines, books, or sometimes simply from the journal.
Mine? A combination of all of the above, but the prompts I usually come up with myself or get from close friends.
There are so many different ways to partake in this enriching activity, and it doesn’t really matter how you do it, the important thing is the doing itself. I can’t imagine writing a useful review with out sitting down with my journal at some point while reading the book, or at least immediately after finishing the book. I don’t know how I would effectively sort through my TBR pile without my beloved notebooks. My entire life is chronicled, book after book, with messy, sprawling ink from my pen – years and years of thoughts, events, emotions, lists, notes, quotes, and more.
Do you journal while you read? How do you journal?
Art Tones of Tuesday
Book Love Art
Reading about the French Revolution inspires my Bohemian side. And though my art is a little more old lady and not a lot Bohemian at all, I got to painting this morning.
Of course, no painting experience is complete without literary inspiration, and today it was that of the illustrative genius from the author of Gossie and Friends
Pig Art
Piggie #1
Tardis Adventures in Seuss-Land
It doesn’t get much nerdier than this! Here’s my Book Love Art of the week, this one’s from http://www.collegehumor.com/.
Mid Week Thrifting
I used to haunt thrift stores the way I currently haunt bookstores. In late high school and early college, its where I picked up all my clothes. There was nothing better than a 50 cent blouse and some $2 jeans. Unfortuneately with the recession, thrift store clothing prices have increased to an amount that (unless its the world’s most awesome thrift store find) I can often find similar cheapy items for less at Wally World (sacriledge, I know). In theory I hate WalMart, but sometimes a tight budget makes the decision for me. But when my best friend says she wants to check out the newly reopened Goodwill Select in the Heights, I’m game.
Of course, I found dozens of things I wanted (there were piles of amateur paintings done by the same unknown person), but only came away with a few of the most inexpensive but longest lasting items money can buy: books. I acquired a few nice copies of things off Ayla’s Classical Education list that I didn’t already have… Sophocles and such because I will need them eventually and haven’t seen copies in this nice a condition for this cheap. It looks like someone dropped off an entire school library in mint condition. And two things that aren’t as easy to find (not difficult, just not typically parading themselves around in large quanities):
Profiles in Science
Then, for me, I picked up The New Science of Strong Materials
For more on the exciting world of thrifting, follow Her Library Adventures, she too has a mid-week thrifting notice this week: http://herlibraryadventures.blogspot.com/2012/05/midweek-thrifting.html
Book Love Art – Ophelia’s Quote Mugs
Previously featured as Book Love Art was the fabulous photography of Joel Robison. In that post I mentioned Ophelia’s Quote Mugs, and in this post I’d like to share with you Ophelia’s Literary line. From C.S Lewis to Ray Bradbury, Ophelia’s Quote Mugs combines beautiful art work, meaningful quotes, and the practicality of something in which to drink your coffee or tea. Priced roughly at $14, they are comparable in price to Starbucks merch, but offer so much more.
And an even cooler feature… the art doesn’t stop on the outside of the cup. Take a close look at the insides of these:
Buy one for your cozy reading time from Ophelia’s Gypsy Caravan on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/OpheliasGypsyCaravan.
Even More Earth Day Excitement with Ian Somerhalder
As I’ve previously mentioned, working for Half Price Books over the years has made me very Earth Day conscious. Even more than that, its made me even more Earth Day Every Day aware. In additon to that, its made me pay a little more attention to the world around me, more specifically pop culture. Kids are reading Vampire Diaries? See what they’re filling their minds with and what you can offer them if there aren’t any copies to sell. Oh, the fad is being turned into a show? Check it out and see if its any good. Maintaining a book blog and networking with Twitter? Be sure you’re following people who have the same interests as you.
All of these scenarios led me to following Ian Somerhalder on Twitter. I’m not a huge fan being THAT fan, unless of course its of a writer. I have plenty of author love for people like Tanya Egan Gibson and Jane Austen, but if you haven’t noticed the latter is dead and the former is a bit too sweet and humble to be basking in worldwide limelight any time soon. (That being said, you should totally go buy her book How To Buy a Love of Reading
1. He’s an amazing actor. So amazing that in Rules of Attraction, my husband and I really thought he was gay in real life. And despite his gorgeous face, I completely forgot about him being pretty in Lost.
2. He does cool things with his money. He loves the environment and the world and has set up a foundation called IS Foundation. No naturalist, environmentalist, earth day extraordinaire could deny that this is a pretty cool thing for someone to do: http://www.isfoundation.com/.
3. He’s from the South. Being a Texan, I fully appreciate one’s dedication to his/her roots, even more so if those roots were once part of the Confederacy.
4. He runs a family business with his brother. I love small businesses, and though this business probably wont stay small because Ian Somerhalder is already famous, I love the idea behind it…
And that brings us to what this little article is really about: BOB… Built of Barnwood.
Ian Somerhalder and his brother started a business in Mississippi creating accent pieces, furniture, and all sorts of other artsy crafts out of reclaimed barn wood. It feeds into his desire to help the planet by reusing and recycling as well as (I am assuming) utilizing skills and tapping into other passions he got from his father, Robert, who was a building contractor (information from imdb.com). Go check out the site and see the special Earth Day promotion: http://www.builtofbarnwood.com/
The only thing cooler than finding this site and this business on Earth Day and sharing it with you all, would be getting an interview with Ian Somerhalder himself and finding out the name of his favorite author. After all, this is supposed to be a book blog.
Celebrating Earth Day, April 22nd
While gathering up promotional items for Half Price Books Earth Day Celebration Goodie Bags (Humble Location), one of the participating business owners described me as “earthy” to one of his associates. I’ve worked for a company I hear people refer to as “hippie” in nature for five years now, but I never thought of myself as being a hippie myself… I always just thought of myself as bookish. But I suppose working with people so dedicated to reusing and recycling, some of it had to sink into my being in an observable way.
Since I’m so “earthy,” I thought I’d share a little bit about what I do as part of my daily routine. I’m not out to save the world, just out to minimize my footprint when its convenient to do so.
1. Recycle cans. Its as easy as dropping your can items into a separate trash container. Sometimes loading them up and dropping them off at a recycling center is a hassle, that’s where nieces and nephews come in handy. Most kids will jump at the chance to earn some spare change (I know I LOVED collecting and selling crushed cans as a kid), so even if you don’t haul them off yourself, its probably pretty easy to find someone willing (and eager) to do it for you.
2. Reusable shopping bags. I don’t have a recycle pick up in my neighborhood. So rather than acquire a mountainous number of plastic bags I am too lazy to deliver to a recycling dispenser, I just use reusable ones instead. It saves me a lot of grief and guilt, and is surprisingly simple once you get in the habit of keeping a stash of them in your car. My favorites are Pat’s Bags at Half Price Books. They are $1.98, made of recycled water bottles, and have cute art designed by one of the store’s founders Pat Anderson.
3. Dump coffee grounds and egg shells in the garden. Instead of dumping my coffee grounds and egg shells in the trash, I make sure to mix it into my garden soil. Coffee grounds help keep nutrients in the soil, fight off diseases your plants can get, and keeps the garden soil looking dark and fresh. More specific information about coffee grounds can be found on this blog: http://groundtoground.org/2011/08/28/coffee-grounds-for-your-garden/. Egg shells are more specifically good for your vegetable garden, so I crush those up and put them with my tomatoes. More specific information on eggs shells in your garden can be found here: http://www.allotments.ie/?p=515.
4. All natural cleaning products. This habit benefits me two fold: I am allergic to everything, and its better for the environment. I am a huge fan of homemade mixes (using baking soda, vinegar, and essential oils), Seventh Generation, and J.R. Watson. As for my personal hygene, I love soap from Connie’s Bath Shack in Old Town Spring – http://conniesbathshack.com/.
5. Reuseable water bottles. I have reuseable water bottles galore from all the Earth Day Celebrations of Half Price Past. I don’t buy plastic water bottles in packs at the store, I diligently refill my Half Price Books bottles. Water bottles are a simple, yet awesome thing of genius, and you can get them anywhere, I think even Starbucks sells them.
As you can see, that’s not a lot, but I think it makes a big difference.
But, this is a book blog, so I’ll get to the bookish parts.
I love this very green ad from hpb.com!
Half Price Books loves to celebrate Earth Day, and in working there for five years, I can proudly say it was my favorite time of the year in the four and half years I worked in the store. The displays are full of my favorite color (green), the nature and gardening sections become a little more prominent, people seem more interested in buying books to read outside under trees in parks… I love that. Smack dab in the middle of Spring, people just seem cheerier in general, and with Mother’s Day around the corner, and lawn projects in the works, I always felt like I had a better chance to help people out. One year, I even got to participate in a tree planting for Trees for Houston. Half Price Books sent a group of volunteers to the planting, as part of my working hours, to plant trees! That was an all out blast.
Visit your local Half Price Books on Earth Day, they just might be doing something cool that day. But even if there’s not too much out of the ordinary happening, its good to get your books reused! One of my favorite HPB purchases is actually featured in that ad to the left, Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods
A Walk in the Woods makes me desperately want to go hiking. This was my first Bryson, I find the author surprisingly witty and fun, although perhaps a bit truthfully cruel in the beginning. I have to admit, prior to reading this I knew very little about the Appalachian Trail – it was a trail I had heard of but didn’t really have a clue about its length (Georgia to Maine, 2200 miles), its fame, or its history. This is the perfect blend of traveling memoir and a true survival/ adventure story, and I was completely captured by the weather conditions, the terrain, the fellow hikers, and the long nights in cold shelters. Its definitely an adventure I’d like to take, even if it means I only finish 39% of the trail like Bryson himself.
Another little favorite of mine is Don’t Throw It Out
Also, one of my most recent purchases, is Generation T
So whether you pop into a used bookstore and pick up some new resources, ride your bicycle that day, take a gander in the public park or local arboretum, or start a new earth friendly habit… be a good steward of your resources and respect your world, take a moment, sniff the roses, and celebrate Earth Day!
*Disclaimer: Although I am currently an extremely part-time, work from home, employee for Half Price Books (about 20-30 hours a month to organize events like booksignings, raffles, and other fun stuff), this blog is purely my own. What I say here is always of my own volition, and is not backed or on behalf of the company. This is my personal blog of all my personal interests. Those personal interests just often include everything HPB as its a huge part of my world.
Library Living
Beauty and the Beast, Disney
Every book lover has dreamed of one day living in a library.
Here is the story of a man who did.
(Prior to attending Baylor University, Benny was a Dallas Baptist University student with me. He’s a fabulous guy, with some really unique life experiences.)
Library Living: Baylor alumnus ran low on cash, used study carrel for home
Oct. 2, 2009
By Olga Gladtskov Ball Reporter
Not many Baylor students can say that they have lived in the library for six months, spent a night in a Mexican jail or organized a campaign to bring Kinky Friedman onto the Baylor campus. Baylor alumnus Benny Barrett did all of it, and more, during his time at Baylor.
Barrett’s journey to Baylor began when Dr. Gary Cook, the president of Dallas Baptist University, encouraged Barrett to go on a campus visit to Baylor to consider transferring. While on his visit, Barrett ran into Dr. Robert Sloan, then chancellor of Baylor.
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Jed Dean | Photo EditorBenny Barrett, former Baylor student who had to choose between secretly living inside Moody Memorial library or leaving Baylor, rests his head against the very carrel he lived in for almost two semesters. |
“I just walked up to him and ask him if he was Dr. Sloan because he looked like what I imagined he would look like,” Barrett said. Barrett told Sloan that he had just met an old friend of Sloan’s the week before. Sloan and Barrett discussed the friend, and Sloan invited Barrett to meet with him the next week. After the meeting, Barrett decided to attend Baylor.
Once at Baylor, Barrett ran into financial problems, causing him to research a new place to live: Moody Memorial Library. Barrett began his research in April 2006 and moved all of his belongings to his study carrel in May.
“I would show up to tests an hour late during summer session because the library opened at 9 and had to give some lame excuse about oversleeping,” Barrett said. For Barrett, the most difficult time in the library during the summer was during Fourth of July weekend, where he was not able to leave for days because the library closed for the holiday.
When the fall semester began, Barrett began to work at the library from 4 to 8 a.m. He would then sleep inside his carrel for a few hours before class.
“The libraries are important havens for study and respite, and my faculty, staff and I work hard to make them pleasant and safe student-friendly spaces,” said Pattie Orr, dean of university libraries. “I was not here at Baylor when Benny was in this difficult situation, but if I had been I would have wanted to reach out to him to see how we could help.”
Orr also said that Barrett was the only case of someone living in the library that she has heard.
“I lost weight,” Barrett said. “My eyes were always bloodshot. I would sometimes wear sunglass to class to hide it.”
Barrett hid his food, mostly consisting of Ramen noodles, behind his books. He also had a hot water heater and a sleeping bag hidden in his carrel. Barrett stopped sleeping at the library in December, when Dr. Scott Moore, associate professor in Great Texts, called him into his office.
“I explained my living arrangements to him and he got me placed in a dorm for the rest of the semester,” Barrett said. Prior to the meeting with the professor, Barrett had only told a few friends about his living conditions.
Moore said he was horrified when he found out that Barrett was living in the library. He then contacted others to help Barrett move into a dorm.
“I just got the ball rolling,” Moore said. “I called Frank Shushok (who supervised housing arrangements at the time) and said we’ve got to find this guy a dorm room. Frank called Jackie Diaz in financial aid and the folks in Campus Living and Learning, and they did all the work.”
“Friends invited me to live with them, but I didn’t want to be a leech,” Barrett said. Barrett was given a loan at the end of the semester to pay for the rest of his education.
“I found out about Benny’s secret lair in the library only from my colleague Scott Moore, who also told me that Benny was showering and changing clothes at the Student Life Center, Said Ralph Wood, university professor of theology and literature. “Moore made sure that Benny was able to get a scholarship that paid more than tuition alone.”
During his semester in the library, Barrett spent a night in a Mexican jail with his former roommate Osione Itegboje. Itegboje took Barrett to Mexico with him so that Itegboje, who is from Nigeria, could renew his visa. However, the pair was sent to jail when a guard discovered that Itegboje lacked a Mexican visa.
“It was a crazy experience,” Barrett said. “A whirlwind of a weekend.”
Itegboje and Barrett were released the next day and told that they could not enter Mexico for a year, under the threat of six months in a Mexican prison.
While on campus, Barrett fought another battle — governmental candidate, novelist and country singer Kinky Friedman had asked Barrett if he could arrange for him to speak on campus. Barrett met Friedman at a Willie Nelson concert, and Friedman had expressed interest in speaking at Baylor. Barrett then founded Baylor Independents and began the process to get Friedman to Baylor.
“I have never been called to the principal’s office, Pat Neff, so many times,” Barrett said, “No one wanted him to speak on campus.” Barrett convinced administrators that if Friedman was not allowed to speak, Baylor would be showing favoritism toward Governor Rick Perry, who had already spoken at Chapel.
“They finally let him come on campus but wouldn’t let me have a reception for him so I had it at the Judge Baylor House, which isn’t associated with Baylor, but many people thought it was when they came,” Barrett said. The Noze brothers awarded Friedman with the honor of “Yellow Noze of Texas.”
Barrett, who graduated in 2008, still visits campus often, walking his teacup Chihuahua, Malcolm X, and spending time at his favorite place on campus: the library.
“Would that there were more Benny Barretts,” Wood said.
http://www.baylor.edu/lariat/news.php?action=story&story=62329
Anakalian Whims 