A Great Book

The great book for you is the book that has the most to say to you at the moment when you are reading. I do not mean the book that is most instructive, but the book that feeds your spirit.

~ Robertson Davies ~





Image courtesy Library of Congress.

Which Will Never Happen, People!

What is human warfare but just this; an effort to make the laws of God and nature take sides with one party.

~ Henry David Thoreau ~

Sunday's Kat Kwote

Pussycat Sits on a Chair

Pussycat sits on a chair
Implacably with acid stare.

Those who early loved in vain
Use the cat to try again,

And test their bruised omnipotence
Against the cat's austere defense.

~ Edward Newman Horn ~

Photo by jabberwik.

A Lovely Image

Ever drifting down the stream--
Lingering in the golden gleam--
Life, what is it but a dream?

~ Lewis Carroll from Through the Looking-Glass ~



Photo by taratp

Poetry Friday

We all write poems; it is simply that poets are the ones who write in words.

~ John Fowles ~

Patience and Fortitude

Patience and fortitude conquer all things.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

Photo by Carol M. Highsmith courtesy Library of Congress.

A Lucky Fool

A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom.

~ Roald Dahl ~

70 Years Old Today

This land is your land and this land is my land, sure, but the world is run by those that never listen to music anyway.

~ Bob Dylan ~

Practical Advice

I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.

~ Harry S. Truman ~

Sunday's Kat Kwote

Now and then I may possess
Hours of perfect gladsomeness.
--Pleased by any random toy;
By a kitten's busy joy,

~ William Wordsworth from "The Kitten and Falling Leaves" ~

Photo by notti cabirian.

Not Happy!

The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?

~ David Attenborough ~

Poetry Friday

Write what moves you. Write what interests you. Write what frightens you. Write what thrills you. Take a cue from the poets, bless their underfunded little hearts.

~ Monica Wood ~





Photo by Infrogmation.

He's Right!

I cringe when I hear a teacher talk about a poetry unit. That means they’re going to spend two or three days on poetry and then be done with it. But children will not gravitate to poetry; you have to bring it to them. I think poetry needs to be an everyday affair.

~ J. Patrick Lewis ~

E-Waste

Main Entry: e-waste
Part of Speech: n
Definition: any discarded electronic or electrical devices or their parts; also called electronic waste
Example: E-waste has raised concern considering that many components of such equipment are considered toxic and are not biodegradable.
Etymology: by 1980
Usage: computing

Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Copyright © 2003-2011 Dictionary.com, LLC

WEEE Man photo by polymer808

Teach Your Children Well

It's never too early to start teaching children about places that matter. From art to social studies, lessons that incorporate historic preservation topics go beyond typical textbook activities by teaching your students to recognize and appreciate the rich heritage that surrounds them.

~ from the National Trust for Historic Preservation website ~



Photo by drtana.

Something We Should All Consider

The most common trait of all primitive peoples is a reverence for the life-giving earth, and the Native American shared this elemental ethic: The land was alive to his loving touch, and he, its son, was brother to all creatures.

~ Stewart Udall ~

Sunday's Kat Kwote

What mystery is it that lies,
    Behind those slits that glare and gleam,

~ Lytton Strachey from "Cat" ~


There have been some MAJOR Blogger problems over the past few days. I hope they are now over and that posting will return to normal! --KK

Poetry Friday

The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot.

~ Salvador Dali ~

Photo by Carl Van Vechten courtesy the Library of Congress.

Clouds of Darkness

To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be strengthened by education.

~ Thomas Jefferson ~

Photo by Niklas Barsk.

Age Isn't Just a Number

The fake ID has gone digital, and spread to elementary school.

~ Matt Richtel and Miguel Helft from "Facebook Users Who Are Under Age Raise Concerns" ~


Image courtesy Open Clip Art Library

Better Talking Dogs Than Talking Cats!

If dogs could talk it would take a lot of the fun out of owning one.

~ Andy Rooney ~


Photo by gryhrt

Sunday's Kat Kwote

~ Eliza Lee Follen ~

The Best Company!

Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people---people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.

~ E.B. White ~

Poetry Friday

Once a poet launches a poem like an arrow into the world, it belongs to the reader.

~ Sage Cohen ~



Image courtesy Open Clip Art Library

Let's Hope This Is True

The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size.

~ Oliver Wendell Holmes ~

Painting

Painting from nature is not copying the object; it is realizing one's sensations.

~ Paul Cezanne ~

"Stilleben mit offener Schublade" by Paul Cezanne, courtesy The Yorck Project.

Writing for Children

I always write for the child in me, and she is still in there.

~ Katherine Paterson ~

Amen

I believe in Michelangelo, Velasquez, and Rembrandt; in the might of design, the mystery of color, the redemption of all things by Beauty everlasting, and the message of Art that has made these hands blessed. Amen. Amen.

~ George Bernard Shaw ~
Rembrandt, "Artist in His Studio," courtesy Museum of Fine Arts.

Sunday's Kat Kwote

Perhaps he is a god, or fay.

~ Charles Baudelaire ~

Photo by martisimas

Sardines

Life is like a box of sardines and we are all looking for the key.

~ Alan Bennett ~




Photo by cygnus921.

Poetry Friday

I've decided that it was not wisdom that enabled [poets] to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.

~ Socrates ~

Puns

A pun is the lowest form of humor, unless you thought of it yourself.

~ Doug Larson ~

Photo by PinkMoose.

Pizza Logic

For the first time ever, overweight people outnumber average people in America. Doesn't that make overweight the average then? Last month you were fat, now you're average--hey, let's get a pizza!

~ Jay Leno ~

Photo by squidpants.

Music

Music happens to be an art form that transcends language.

~ Herbie Hancock ~

Photo courtesy the Library of Congress.

Preservation Week

Among collections whose condition is known, 78% of unbound items, 28% of historic objects, and 20% of digital and online files were at risk in 2004.

~ From American Library Association fact sheet, "Why Do We Need a Preservation Week for Collections?" ~

Sunday's Kat Kwote--Happy Easter!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Did You Have a Happy Earth Day Yesterday?

The earth is God's bride--she feeds the living and cherishes the dead.

~ Madagascan proverb ~

Poetry Friday

Peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

~ Derek Walcott from "Love After Love" ~

The Easter Bunny's a Myth?

It seems like a totally gratuitous myth to tell people a giant rabbit comes round at night leaving candy in a haphazard way around the house...

~ Todd Rundgren ~





Photo by cheekycrows3

Not As Often As People Do!

Remember, even monkeys fall out of trees.

~ Korean proverb ~

Photo by judyboo

Humor

The real cause of the Revolutionary War was probably a difference of opinion on the subject of humor. In such a discussion between Ben Franklin and George III, it would require no prophet to see who would win out.

~ Wallace Irwin ~

Go Outside!

A series of psychological studies over the past twenty years has revealed that after spending time in a quiet rural setting, close to nature, people exhibit greater attentiveness, stronger memory, and generally improved cognition. Their brains become calmer and sharper.

~ Nicholas Carr from The Shallows~

Sunday's Kat Kwote

Artists like cats; soldiers like dogs.

~ Desmond Morris ~






Image courtesy Library of Congress.

I'll Have Think This One Over...

I think reincarnation is possible. Hopefully, we all get recycled.

~ Christina Ricci ~

Poetry Friday

The library is a quiet place.
Angels and gods huddled
In dark unopened books.

~ Charles Simic from "In the Library" ~

Snapshots

A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.

~ Eudora Welty ~

Everyone Loves the Prom

One out of forty American men wears women's clothing. We've had more than forty presidents. One of these guys has been dancing around the Oval Office in a prom dress.

~ Allison Janney ~

Conviction

Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct.

~ Thomas Carlyle ~

Interesting thought...

No two persons ever read the same book.

~ Edmund Wilson ~

Sunday's Kat Kwote

Pussycat sits on a chair
Implacably with acid stare.

~ Edward Newman Horn ~

Photo by g0j0

Budget Time

It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it.

~ George W. Bush ~

Poetry Friday

And I shall whisper my thoughts and fancies
As always,
From the pages of my books.

~ Amy Lowell from "Penumbra" ~







Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Does This Apply To Ebooks?

Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital.

~ Thomas Jefferson ~

Unstoppable!

Through literacy you can begin to see the universe. Through music you can reach anybody. Between the two there is you, unstoppable.

~ Grace Slick ~

Bewitching Color

With color one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft.

~ Henri Matisse ~

Doll Power!

Now strikes the midnight hour,
         When dolls and toys
         Taste human joys,
And revel in their power.

~ Florence K. Upton ~