I Come Home

 

Le Montagne St.Victoire, by Paul Cézanne

I come home from the soaring
in which I lost myself.
I was song, and the refrain which is God
is still roaring in my ears.

Now I am still
and plain:
no more words.

From The Book of Hours I, 50

Daily Thoughts 7/31/2011

Jim Collins (James C. Collins), an American business consultant, author of "Built to Last" and "Good to Great". By Mangoed on Wikmedia, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0


Daily Thoughts 7/31/2011


I have been reading more of The Successful Business Plan this morning and doing the exercises.  Two of the exercises are very interesting; they are creating an ideal customer first as a consumer customer, then as a business customer.  It is interesting because it helps give you a sense of what people actually do in the publishing and book business.


Some of the publications they might read are: Publishers Weekly, LIbrary Journal, School Library Journal, The Bookseller, Slate, The New Yorker, The Huffington Post (They have written a number of articles in support of libraries), The New York Times, Slate, Editor and Publisher, and the New York Review of Books for consumers.  For companies, I would add Fast Company, Inc., Crain's New York Business, Forbes, and Teleread.


Part of the profile includes websites that they might visit:   Mashable, Locusmag, Romantic Times, Library Journal Online, LIS News, Mediabistro, Galleycat, O'Relly, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Strand Books, Tools of Change For Publishing, Book Expo America, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Meetup.  I would furthers add subsections of Linked In like (Ebooks, Ebook Readers,Digial Books, and Digital Content Publishing), Ebooks In Libraries, and Tools of Change for Publishing.  For Meetups, I might add Content Strategy New York City,  Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art,  Digital Book World New York City, and others.


This is not the first time that I have done this kind of exercise.  For a while, I sold some books on Ebay and ABE (Advanced Book Exchange) to see what it was like, I also used to pick books and comics from flea markets and garages sales when I had more time to trade a long time ago.   I still get the family discount from Rogers Time Machine in Manhattan. This is too time intensive now.  Also, I used to price sometimes for a small bookstore that no longer exists.  Several months ago, I was also working on the beginnings of an idea for a startup for about three months, but it did not work out.


I put the book Nonprofit Management 101 by Darien Rodriguez Hayman on hold.  Darien Rodriguez Hayman was the director for the Craigslist Foundation.  I saw the book listed on the Social Media For Nonprofits Conference New York which is on August 4, 2011.http://socialmedia4nonprofits.org/nyc/

I spent some time talking to a close friend today, David Grayson.  He is writing a column on The Haiku Foundation called Religio about religion and haiku which is rather interesting.  http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/forum_sm/religio/

Summer Fruit

Still Life with apples, grapes, pears and peaches

by Paul Cézanne

Full round apple, peach, pear, blackberry.
Each speaks life and death
into the mouth. Look
at the face of a child eating them.

The tastes come from afar
and slowly grow nameless on the tongue.
Where there were words, discoveries flow,
released from within the fruit.

What we call apple—dare to say what it is,
this sweetness which first condensed itself
so that, in the tasting, it may burst forth

and be known in all its meanings
of sun and earth and here.
How immense, the act and the pleasure of it.

Sonnets to Orpheus I, 13

DÉJAME ABRAZARTE

foto: mariposa

"No te preocupes, no tienes que decirme nada

vine porque te escuché llamándome,

te escuche mientras tus lágrimas caían por ese hermoso rostro que diseñé desde antes que existieras.

Vengo hoy ante ti porque nunca he podido ver que alguien que amo sufra y piense que estás sol@, que no hay salida, o que la vida es un suspiro  perdido en el deseo de ser feliz. 

Vengo porque he estado observándote día y noche mientras caminas, corres, sales, entras, y tratas de ocultar lo que tu corazón hoy siente.

Sé exactamente lo que te pasa, sé exactamente lo que te hace falta, lo sé desde antes que me lo pidieras, por eso estoy aquí"

Autor :desconocido

Daily Thoughts 7/30/2011

Portrait of Leo Tolstoy

Daily Thoughts 7/30/2011

I spent some more time reading The Successful Business Plan this morning.  I also took some notes and added to a document I have started writing which is slowly taking form.  I am not in an incredible hurry.  I might have something ready by the beginning of September. I also put the books Six Weeks Start Up and Successful Business Research by Rhonda Abrams on hold.  The writing is very easy to follow.

I also spent some time looking at social networks for books, specifically, Bookmesh http://www.bookmesh.com and Red Lemonade which is a publishing network http://www.redlemona.de 

This afternoon, I looked through Publishers Weekly, Teleread, and Mashable for articles.  I also logged into our library network and took some time to look at EBSCO.

The Shelter of Your Heart

 

The House with the Green Eye

by Marc Chagall

Who knows: eyes may be watching us
from all sides. Ah, only stumbling toward you
am I no longer on display. Growing into you,
I am forever set invisibly
in the darkening shelter of your heart.

Uncollected Poems

Daily Thoughts 7/29/2011

Riley, James Whitcomb: “An Old Sweetheart of Mine” (1902) Study, Chair, and Bookcase

Daily Thoughts 7/29/2011

Today, I checked the Twitter account, checked the book sale, and checked the displays.  I spent some time talking to our new sales representative from Better World Books.  I like to think of Better World Books as a more acceptable way of letting our discards go.  They take old library discards and sell them.  I also like to think of the book sale next to the circulation desk as a way to generate good will.

I read two copies of the New York Times Book Review today and checked the purchase alerts to see what people are placing on hold.  I also placed the book The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan on hold.  It was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review.

We also got some more donations today.  There were a few young adult books worth adding.  I also compiled the monthly statistics today.

On the way home, I read some more of The Successful Business Plan and did some basic exercises to outline questions about the type of business I would be interested in doing.

Mostrando defeitos

E então chegou a sexta-feira e é hora de falar mal da decoração alheia.
Falar mal não, é hora de implicar mesmo!
Então, vamos direto ao que não interessa:

Quem quer reproduzir uma foto dessas na decoração da própria casa?

Beijos e bom fim de semana!

The Gazelle (Gazella Dorcas)

Turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle

or like a young stag on the rugged hills

- painting of the Song of Songs

by Marc Chagall

Enchanted one: how can the harmony of two
Latin words ever attain the rhythm
that ripples through you like a promise.
From your brow rise leaf and lyre.

And all that is you turns to metaphor
in love poems whose phrases light
as rose petals remain in the expression
of one who, after reading, closes her eyes

to see you: almost in flight,
borne away in leaps that cease their springing
only when you stand stock still to listen;

as when a woman bathing in a woodland stream
pauses suddenly, and the water
mirrors her quick-turned face.

New Poems

Cada coisa em seu lugar

Olha que jeito mais fofo de organizar as coisas:

Acho que dá pra fazer com feltro, lã e cola quente. Alguém se arrisca?

Foto daqui.

Beijos

Daily Thoughts 7/28/2011

Claude Raguet Hirst, The Bookworm's Table, circa 1890

Daily Thoughts 7/28/2011

I am reading The Successful Business Plan by Rhonda Abrams, 4th Edition.  I usually read books on business in general, not specifics for plans.  The book is quite detailed with lots of exercises.

This morning, I checked the displays and updated the Twitter account.  There is going to be a reading from 1:30-4:30 p.m. in the community room for Kabiru Mohammed who has two books which he self-published Life's Passion, a book of poetry, and The Tragedy of Ethelia, a play.  Some libraries don't encourage self-published books.  We actually have some staff members who have self-published books. Also a number of the members of the Writers Networking Workshop have self-published their poetry books.  James Fair the host for the Writers Networking Workshop at the library edited an anthology of local poets called Blood Beats In Four Square Miles of Mount Vernon, New York poets. 

I am going to the Association of Community Based Artists of Westchester http://www.acbaw.org/  tonight on 128 South Fourth Avenue tonight representing the library.  They are holding a Writers Networking Workshop there tonight from 6:00-8:00 p.m.  I will be bringing over some flyers and other material from the library to the workshop to discuss.  We had a Writers Networking Workshop at the library on July 21, 2011 from 6:00-8:00 p.m.  It is important to reach out to local arts organizations.

I spent some time in the computer lab today helping patrons do very basic things.

In My Glad Hours

Fountain in the Garden of Saint Paul Hospital

by Vincent van Gogh

In my glad hours, I will make a city of your smile, a distant city that shines and lives. I will take one word of yours to be an island on which birches stand, or fir trees, quite still and ceremonial. I will receive your glance as a fountain in which things can disappear and above which the sky trembles, both eager and afraid to fall in.

I will know that all of this exists, that one can enter this city, that I have glimpsed this island and know exactly when there is no one else beside that fountain. But if I appear to hesitate, it is because I am not sure whether it is the forest through which we are walking or my own mood that is shaded and dark.

Who knows: maybe Venice, too, is just a feeling.

Early Journals

Daily Thoughts 7/27/2011

Emperor Nicholas I's Visit to the Public Library. 1853


Daily Thoughts 7/27/2011

This morning, I read a bit more of Mindwalks by Mary H. Frakes.  It is an interesting and contemplative book.
Today I updated the Twitter account, checked the displays, and printed up some more flyers for programs including the Womens Enterprise Development Center program on August 24 and 25 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Is Entrepreneurship Right For You?  I also printed up some more flyers for the Computer Class on Tuesday nights.

I am going to the Association of Community Based Arts of Westchester Writers Networking Event tomorrow from 6:00-8:00 p.m. as a representative of the library doing outreach.  This should be interesting. http://acbaw.org/main2.html  I will be bringing flyers and discussing the relationship of the library to this particular group.

We are also doing more outreach.  We are going to be at the Farmers Market in Mount Vernon.  We spent some time picking out music to play at the farmers market on Thursday.  This was a little bit different.  We are also going to bring some books on cooking.  It was interesting talking about this. http://cmvny.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/farmers-market-flyer-2-Read-Only1.pdf

Web Bits

Ebooks Accelerate Paperback Publishers Release Dates
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/books/e-books-accelerate-paperback-publishers-release-dates.html

Parece de brinquedo

Juro que nos meus delírios infantis de ter uma casinha (para brincar de ser gente grande) tinha uma cozinha assim:

Tudo bem, a gente cresce e as coisas não mudam tanto assim...

Beijos!

Foto daqui.

To What Can We Turn

The House and the Tree

by Paul Cézanne

Oh, to what, then, can we turn
in our need?
Not to an angel. Not to a person.
Animals, perceptive as they are,
notice that we are not really at home
in this world of ours. Perhaps there is
a particular tree we see every day on the hillside,
or a street we have walked,
or the warped loyalty of habit
that does not abandon us.

Oh, and night, the night, when wind
hurls the universe at our faces.
For whom is night not there?

From the First Duino Elegy

Daily Thoughts 7/26/2011

Cover art by Frank E. Schoonover from The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1919.

Daily Thoughts 7/26/2011 


Last night, I finished reading Germline by T.C. McCarthy.  It is military science fiction with some very interesting twists and turns and a unique setting. 

This morning, I updated the Twitter account, checked the displays, and contacted some people about programs.  I am going to the Association of Community Based Arts of Westchester Writers Networking Workshop on Thursday night.  It should be interesting to see how it is done outside of the library setting.  I have not been to the Association of Community Based Arts of Westchester before.

People seem to be interested in extending the computer class which is tonight.  We are getting good attendance so far.

I also spent some more time thinking about the web site survey and what it means.

Last night, I went to Developing Entrepreneurial Ideas at the the General Assembly http://www.generalassemb.ly/ which is an entrepreneurial training space.  I enjoyed the session very much.  http://entrepreneurialideas.eventbrite.com/   The teacher, William Reinisch was was quite interesting.  It was the first time I have taken this kind of class.  I have visited a number of entrepreneurial spaces like New Work City and gone to various Meetups, but this was quite different.  General Assembly just opened this year in January of 2011.  They had a business card and a website, but no brochures.  The space itself has a very wide open feel to it which is quite comfortable.

On the way home, I read a bit of the book Mindwalks by Mary H. Frakes.  It is a series of short one to two page statements about walking meditation which is a form of active meditation different than sitting meditation.  It is more focused on paying attention to your outward surroundings, breathing while moving, and being aware of your body in motion than sitting meditation.

DIY - Uma flor bem delicada

Essa linda flor é tão simples de fazer que até quem tem duas mãos esquerdas consegue!

Material:

-tira bordada

- cola quente

-pérolas

- feltro

- grampo de cabelo

- tesoura

Como fazer:

Etapa 1: Corte 9 pedaços ao longo da tira bordada

Etapa 2: Apare as bordas, assim as pétalas gamnham forma

Etapa 3: Com a cola quente, cole cinco pétalas em um círculo do feltro, fazendo a parte de baixo

Etapa 4: Cole as quatro pétalas que sobraram na parte superior

Etapa 5: Cole algumas pérolas sobre as pétalas, fazendo o miolo

Etapa 6: Use uma outra gota da cola quente para unir ao grampo de cabelo

Um acessório bonito novo apenas em poucos minutos.

Essa flor também ficaria linda em um colar, em um broche, em uma almofada, um quadrinho...

Fonte: My Girlish Whims

No Worthless Place

Shoes, by Vincent van Gogh

If your daily life seems of no account, don't blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its treasures. For the creative artist there is no impoverishment and no worthless place.

Paris, February 17, 1903

Letters to a Young Poet

Daily Thoughts 7/25/2011

Charles Antoine Coypel, Portrairt of Moliere, 1730


Daily Thoughts 7/25/2011

Right now, I am reading Germline by T.C.  McCarthy which is military science fiction.

This evening, I am taking a class on Entrepreneurship; specifically on ideas and entrepreneurship.  I am looking forward to it.  I have had some ideas regarding social books, social reading and social publishing for quite a while.

The Blessing of Earth

Vincent Van Gogh — Sketch of man pulling a harrow.
October 28, 1883 letter to Theo

 God, every night is hard.
Always there are some awake,
who turn, turn, and do not find you.
Don't you hear them crying out
as they go farther and farther down?
Surely you hear them weep; for they are weeping.

I seek you, because they are passing
right by my door. Whom should I turn to,
if not the one whose darkness
is darker than night, the only one
who keeps vigil with no candle,
and is not afraid—
the deep one, whose being I trust,
for it breaks through the earth into trees,
and rises,
when I bow my head,
faint as a fragrance
from the soil.

From The Book of Hours II, 3

Curation Nation How To Win In A World Where Consumers Are Creators by Steven Rosenbaum

Curation Nation Why The Future of Content Is Context How To Win In A World Where Consumers Are Creators by Steven Rosenbaum

Steven Rosenabum is describing a major shift in how media is being delivered.  Consumers of media are increasingly becoming prosumers and creators of their own content.  People create a variety of sites based on their interests from cooking to baseball.  Steven Rosenbaum runs Magnify.net which aggregates video content on the web so many of his ideas come from his direct business experience.

A prosumer is a consumer who proactively chooses what and how they will consume.  A good example of a prosumer might be someone who buys green products, or only buys from the Better Business Bureau.  Increasingly prosumers are becoming creators of their own content based on what they are interested in. 

The tools of content creation are becoming cheaper and easier to get access to.  Social tools like Twitter, Youtube, blogs, podcasts, and other social media tools are easy to get access to.  It is not just the software and web which is becoming cheaper, people now can easily afford smart phones, laptops, and inexpensive video recorders.  People can use these tools to spread their ideas and opinions.

The difference between this book and other books is that Steven Rosenbaum takes it one step further.  He describes how to curate content, picking out and organizing materials for blogs and websites.  He even describes content strategy citing Kristina Halvorson's book Content Strategy.

Then Steven Rosenabaum talks about how curation scales with aggregation mixed with selective content on websites like The Huffington Post, Blog Her, and Linked In. This creates a larger picture of curation both on the small individual level and on the larger scale of big commercial websites.

None of the material is particularly new.  However, how it is presented is new. This is a solid overview of how to organize social media tools.  It pulls many disparate threads together to create a picture of a strategy to manage and organize social content. The book can be a bit diffuse at times.  This book would be useful for people interested in new media.

Perdonar, olvidar, aceptar

Mente abierta,

corazón abierto, 

manos abiertas,

no juzgar a nadie, 

busca tu paz, 

perdonar olvidar aceptar, 

vive tu vida lo más llena posible,

sin hacer daño a nadie, 

sintiendote vivo/a intensamente 

y se feliz...

Suzanne Powell

Daily Thoughts 7/24/2011

"Orphans" (oil on canvas - Tate Gallery, London), 1885


Daily Thoughts 7/24/2011


Gail Carriger is coming out with a new book in March of 2012, Timeless which should be interesting.  Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord won the Mythopoeic Award in July of 2011.  It is well worth reading.

I updated my selected links page with a few sites including Fictionaut, Urban Librarians Unite, Ernest Cline, and Feedbooks.

Porque tudo acaba em pizza

E aqui em casa não ia ser diferente...
Só que não é bem pizza não, usei essa massa aqui, que é deliciosa. Por cima, tudo o que tiver na geladeira. Nessa eu coloquei: Presunto picadinho, mussarela, molho de tomates, palmito, cebola, tomate, pimentão, azeitona, salaminho italiano e orégano.

 Fiz um pirex grande, na quarta à noite, que acabou em questão de minutos!
Ah! Quem for fazer a massa, faça a receita dobrada, porque ela rende pouco.
Beijos e bom domingo!

Fear and Fearlessness

The Orchard, by Marc Chagall

Those who sense eternity are beyond all fear. They see in every night the place where day begins, and are consoled.

Fearlessness is necessary for summer to come. Spring can be troubled; to its blossoming, uneasiness is like a home. But fruit needs the strength and calm of the sun. All must be ready to receive, with wide open gateways and substantial bridges.

A race that is born in fear comes as a stranger to the world and never finds its way home.

Early Journals

Daily Thoughts 7/23/2011

Langston Hughes

Daily Thoughts 7/23/2011


Today I watched Def Poetry Season 2.  It was a series of Spoken Word Poets.  Mos Def was the host.  Russell Simmons was the producer.  The show was originally on HBO.  I liked seeing Maggie Estep and Bassey Ikpi.  The other poets were not as interesting.  It was interesting seeing what Spoken Word was about for a popular audience.  I found it a bit politically charged and angry.  It was still fun to watch.

Mostrando defeitos

Olá meninas!
A semana foi uma loucura, muito trabalho, filhos de férias e eu quase não consegui aparecer. Mas não podia deixar de destilar o meu veneno...
Só que hoje eu não dei nota, deixei isso de exercício pra vocês.

E da série "no meio do caminho eiunha um móvel, tinha um móvel no meio do caminho":
(Juro que posso ver uma plaquinha sobre cada um deles.)

E pra provar que chatice é algo que pega, olha o que me aconteceu hoje:
Chamei o filho mais velho e falei: Olha onde eu queria estar hoje:

Resposta: É, se a maré subir acaba tudo...

Viu só como chatice pega?
Beijos e bom fim de semana!

The Lies We Tell

Flowering Garden with Path

by Vincent van Gogh

The lies we tell are like toys,
easy to break. Like gardens
where we play hide and seek,
and, in our excitement, make a sound
so people will know where to look.

You are the wind that catches our voice,
our own shadow grown longer.
You collection of lovely holes
in the sponge that we are.

Collected French Poems

Daily Thoughts 7/22/2011

Daniel Webster, 1782-1852 Full lgth., standing, facing left; left hand on books on table. 

Daily Thoughts 7/22/2011

This morning, I checked the displays and updated the Twitter account.  I also added 18 more ebooks to the Ereaders from Sony.  I rather like the http://www.feedbooks.com site because it has cover illustrations that are decent for free material.

I also signed up for http://www.lucy.com which is a video tutorial company for computer training.  The Westchester Library System is making this available to staff.

On the train home, I worked on two poems focused on a color for August 18, 2011.  It is our writing exercise for the next Writers Networking Event at the library from 6:00-8:00 p.m. It is fairly easy to write on a notepad on the train.  There is another Writers Networking Event at the Association of Community Based Arts of Westchester from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on July 28, 2011.  I am thinking about going.

Evening

Farmhouse Among Trees

by Vincent van Gogh

Slowly evening takes on the garments
held for it by a line of ancient trees.
You look, and the world recedes from you.
Part of it moves heavenward, the rest falls away.

And you are left, belonging to neither fully,
not quite so dark as the silent house,
not quite so sure of eternity
as that shining now in the night sky, a point of light.

You are left, for reasons you can't explain,
with a life that is anxious and huge,
so that, at times confined, at times expanding,
it becomes in you now stone, now star.

Book of Images