Tag: books

Crankypantsing

The Point

Shelly

The point of my “busy weekend” story was that I have not yet read, or even purchased, the new Harry Potter book. I won’t be able to get to it until this weekend, at the earliest. I expect the big surprise will be ruined for me, by then, but I’m trying to stay away from spoilers1. And, to be honest, I’d like to finish re-reading the other books before I start the final one. I’m about half-way through The Order of the Phoenix, so I’ve got a ways to go, yet.

And, no, I still haven’t managed to see the movie. Hrmf!

In other news, Tammy Faye passed away over the weekend. I had a huge soft spot for her. She always struck me as a genuinely good sort of person. So, goodbye, Tammy Faye. I hope you finally get to have your hamburger.

_____________________________________
1 Which may not be as easy as one might think. While I was quietly working on the computer yesterday, Mr. Upstairs turned on the news. They were discussing the new Harry Potter book2, so I quickly put on some music to block out any possible spoilers. This is going to be a long, long week.

2Well of course the volume was so loud I could hear every word. DUH.

Altered Books, Art, Collage

The Terrible Hours

Shelly

I started working on a new altered book today: The Terrible Hours. It’s about a submarine rescue, I believe. I’m not a big fan of disaster stories, so I haven’t actually read it. I picked it up at the Mission thrift store because it was a nice size for altering, in good shape, and I liked the title.

The Terrible Hours: Sealed Against the Sea
The Terrible Hours: Sealed Against the Sea
collage (map, glass, and anatomical illustration) with Neocolors II and gesso
9 1/4 x 5 7/8 inches

My scanner doesn’t handle depth very well, and because there are shallow niches cut out of the pages, the furthest layer is out of focus. I’ll try to get a photo of it tomorrow, when there’s decent light.

Now, to go watch SiCKO, now that I have finally managed to get a clean copy of it.

Uncategorized

Welcome to My Brain

Shelly

I’ve been working on a bunch of books from Ethiopia. As I was tooling around Classification Web, looking for an appropriate subject and call number for one of them, I had a weird disconnect. I’d settled on Occupations–Ethiopia, which was fine. Only, when I went to find a call number to go with my nice, shiny, new subject, my brain suddenly decided that occupations–something that two seconds before it had understood perfectly well to mean jobs–were something of the military invasion variety. For a moment, I was confused to find myself in the HBs (economic theory and demography). That’s not the funny part, though. When I went back to the book, I had a “What the hell does this have to do with military invasions?!” moment.

Need more sleep and caffeine!

Also, this is Milton’s fault, oh yes, it is.

Uncategorized

Farewell to Lloyd Alexander

Shelly

Lloyd Alexander died last week. He was one of my favorite childhood writers, one of the very few who did fantasy well. I first read the Chronicles of Prydain at about the same time as I discovered the books of CS Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle, and Lucy Boston.

His final book should be coming out this summer. It won’t get the press that the new Harry Potter book will receive, but it will, I’m sure, be the better of the two. And I say that as a huge Harry Potter fan.

Uncategorized

Marginalia

Shelly

Marginalia

Mrs. Taylor, one of my high school English teachers, insisted that a book had not been read unless it contained marginalia. Her point was that books are tools, not sacred things, and that it’s important to use them to their fullest potential. That requires making margin notes and underlining or highlighting passages.

I guess I tend to agree with Mrs. Taylor. The Morford and Lenardon text was a staple of the classics department. Even if it was not required for a class, chances were, you’d end up needing to refer to it at some point. Likewise, the Lattimore translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey. All three books are crammed with notes I took for various classes.

I think the interesting thing about marginalia is not so much the intrinsic information it contains, but the window it opens onto the moment in time when the notes were made.

Marginalia

Art, Artist Books, Bookarts, Journals

Endings and Beginnings

Shelly

Hemp Bound Journal, finished (finally!). I started it in July of 2005 and quickly got sidetracked. I picked it up a couple of times, but didn’t get serious about finishing it until a couple of weeks ago. I still have to do a table of contents, and will post that when I’ve completed it, but for all intents and purposes, it’s done, done, done.

100_2945

100_3930

This, of course, means I am in need of a new journal. I’ve been trying to decide what paper I want to use. I’ve got some really nice 140lb Cartiera Magnani hot press left (God, I love that stuff!), but I decided to go with the black 90lb Stonehenge for now. I may regret that decision, though. It doesn’t take kindly to water. Not at all. But it’ll be fun to play with gel pens again. (Oooh! Shiny!)

100_2942

100_2936
Stonehenge Journal
7 1/2 x 5 5/8 inches, 11 signatures of 4 pages each (44 pages total)
Coptic stitch with linen thread, 90lb black Stonehenge paper

If you aren’t familiar with exposed spine bindings, and would like to try making your own books for writing or art, there’s an illustrated tutorial for how to do this binding on my website. It’s really not complicated. Tearing down and folding the paper to the size I wanted took about 30 minutes. The binding itself, including setting grommets into the holes on the front and back covers, took about an hour. I did the entire thing while watching television.

Speaking of television, I’m in the middle of watching the first season of Rome. Oh my. If you enjoyed I, Claudius (or I, CLAVDIVS, as I like to call it), then you’ll like Rome. It’s set during Julius Caesar’s reign, so it directly precedes I, Claudius. In fact, I’m going to rewatch I, Claudius as soon as I’m finished with Rome. I could use a good dose of Derek Jacobi.

Side note: While Googling for links for the above shows, I came across the Wikipedia entry for the Robert Graves book that I, Claudius was based on. And it contained a spoiler warning. Honestly, does a book about Roman history–even if it’s heavily novelized–really need a spoiler warning? The mind wobbles!

Art

My Favorite Birthday Book

Shelly

My Favorite Birthday Book
My Favorite Birthday Book. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1945. Illustrated with Persian Miniatures by Mahmoud Sayah, 7 1/8 x 7 1/8 inches.

I found this little book at a yard sale several years ago. I bought it for the illustrations, thinking I’d use them for collage. I don’t think I will, though, because I can’t imagine destroying the information inside.

January
January