At the Library
Vanity presses and publishing: What defines a book?
Published May 12, 2008
Narnia creator C.S. Lewis claimed “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me,” but he never read Phillip Parker’s “The 2007-2012 Outlook for Tufted Washable Scatter Rugs, Bathmats and Sets That Measure 6-Feet by 9-Feet or Smaller in India.”
Ageless columnists continue writing after more than a century of life
Published May 5, 2008
Henry David Thoreau claimed that “None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.” I agree, especially after reading about Frank Pelatowski, who calls himself “the world’s oldest newspaper columnist.”
Even Dame Julie devotees will admit the true sound of music is 'Ut, re, mi'
Published April 28, 2008
"Mary Poppins" and puberty both arrived for me about the same time, and once I would have devotedly followed the Julie Andrews Obsession Page.
Birthday of the Bard turns out to be no commedia of errors
Published April 21, 2008
Our greatest English-language author found this time of year refreshing, writing that "April hath put a spirit of youth in everything."
Foolish questions: The origin of April Fool’s Day
Published April 7, 2008
One origin of April Fool’s Day comes from France, where long ago it was noticed that fish seemed especially frisky that time of year. People frisked then, too, so the day and its accompanying pranks became known there as Poisson d’Avril, or Fish of April.
Explorers of the mind travel via books and information
Published March 31, 2008
Prior to leaving to seek the fabled Northwest Passage in 1845, John Franklin wrote about explorers needing to “go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.”
Knowledge can come in many different forms
Published March 24, 2008
The ancient Greek word “histor” meant “learned man.” While I’m not learned, I do enjoy learning about history.
Finding sanctuary for the mind and body can be difficult
Published March 17, 2008
It’s getting to the point that airline travelers need bethels, like those established in the 19th century as sailors’ refuges in ports around the world.
The first definition of “bethel” in the American Heritage Dictionary is “a hallowed or holy place,” but I’m referring more to the second definition: “a chapel for seafarers.” The name is derived from “bet” and “el,” the Hebrew words for “house” and “God,” and the original Bethel was the place in Israel where Jacob fell asleep on a stone and dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven.
Amazing men make a difference in the world
Published March 10, 2008
“There are three kinds of people,” Mark Twain wrote in Following the Equator, “Commonplace Men, Remarkable Men, and Lunatics.”
I’ve met a bunch of the former in the course of my library career and have often found them the most heartening. The latter faction, while making themselves more known than I prefer, are often entertaining.
Minding the Ps and Ks of American humor
Published March 3, 2008
If we’re going to succeed in life, Ralph Waldo Emerson noted, we must “laugh often and much.” One guy who helps me succeed is Jamie Smith, creator of the cartoon “Nuggets” in the Sunday section of the News-Miner. He’s a humor proselytizer par excellence, and we’ve had some entertaining discussions about what makes something seem funny. For example, Jamie recently shared a website, http://GarfieldMinusGarfield.tumblr.com, that illustrates the intangibility of humor by excising Garfield from his own comic strips. The remaining images of Jon Arbuckle, Garfield’s owner, talking to himself are amusing in a strange and disconcerting way — but is it funny?
A punctuated history of English grammar and style
Published February 25, 2008
George F. Will, the noted political columnist who;s no gridiron fan, wrote "Football incorporates the two worst elements of American Society: violence punctuated by committee meetings."
There's a colonoscopy looming in my near future, so I couldn’t help noting Will punctuated his statement with a colon, especially because the grammatical colon traces its origins back to a librarian: Aristophanes. He was the head librarian at the famous Library of Alexandria around 200 B.C., and he'd built a notable reputation as a literary scholar before then.
Heart to hand: Writing can make an excellent Valentine’s Day gift
Published February 11, 2008
“Love is the marrow of friendship, and letters are the elixir of love,” wrote James Howell, a 17th-century Englishman famed for his letter-writing. I agree, for a lovely letter just arrived from one of my daughters and like all personal letters, it somehow carries more significance and seems less removed than written electronic communications.
Exercise your brain: Read this column right now
Published February 4, 2008
“Mindless Reading” is the ironic title of one of my files of potential column fodder, but instead of escapist fiction titles, it contains articles on the brain’s involvement in reading. So much brain activity is required that even reading a cereal box is mindlessness’ diametric opposite.
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica rings ‘trou’, even 97 years later
Published January 28, 2008
Valentine’s Day is approaching, and this year I may send a mental Valentine to Horace Everett Hooper, the driving force behind the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Reading won’t be ‘at risk’ if we know how to make it enjoyable
Published January 21, 2008
When Albert Einstein said "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts," he could have been talking about the surveys of American reading issued last year.