Sena Jeter Naslund and the Fountain

Sena Jeter Naslund and the St. James Court fountain

In my soggy post of yesterday, I failed to mention the fact that author Sena Jeter Naslund lives in the historic neighborhood that hosts the St. James Court Art Fair. Her newest book takes the fountain at the heart of the court (that depicts "Venus Rising from the Sea") for her title: The Fountain of St. James Court; or Portrait of an Artist as an Old Woman. It is a novel within a novel and looks at the lives of both a fictional contemporary writer, who happens to live on SJC, and the real French artist Élisabeth Vigée-LeBrun.

Ms. Naslund, a former poet laureate of Kentucky, is the author of Ahab's Wife, Four Spirits, and Abundance, a novel of Marie Antoinette.

Although I have yet to read any of Ms. Naslund's books (they tend to be very long), I have met her several times. Once was at a private evening reception held in the home of a mutual friend who lives on St. James Court. This was for the publication in 2010 of Adam and Eve.  There was a meet-and-greet portion to the evening and then Ms. Naslund was to read from her book. I was sitting in the dining room and she was in the living room reading aloud. I couldn't see her so there was just this disembodied voice filling the air. A memorable experience and just a tad weird 

But I  can tell you for sure that the fountain at night is a wonder to behold!

St. James Court Art Fair - Cancelled Due to Rain

The fountain at the heart of St. James Court Art Fair

It is to be a day filled with thunderstorms. That is why I am planning on doing some reading, some research, some writing, some napping, and if there comes a clear spot, I may even hit the Dairy Queen for a Blizzard. Mint chocolate chip is my favorite and will most likely complement any of the aforementioned rainy-day activities. 

It's too bad about the bad weather. This weekend hosts a huge juried art show and fair here that is held on the lovely St. James Court. This graceful court, located in a historic neighborhood of the city, is lined with Victorian homes and features a spectacular fountain. According to the show's website, there are 750 or so artists who come to exhibit and sell from all over America and the fair boasts 300,000 attendees. (Who actually counts the people at these events??) The show has been held the first weekend in October since 1957.

This event is a very big deal here. The schools close on Friday, the first day of the fair, and people look forward to attending all year long. It is part festival, part party. There are tents and booths full of paintings, sculptures, jewelry, stained glass, photography, ceramics, and hand-blown glass pieces. It is a weekend filled with music, food, and lots and lots of people. 

Unfortunately because of the rain, the art fair closed early yesterday and was cancelled for today. Unheard of in the history of the event.

There are many disappointed folks this day. Perhaps a tasty Blizzard would help assuage their sorrows.

Stash from the Stacks

Vintage postcard featuring my lovely library in 1919

Here are the books I scored in today's trip to the library:

School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari - In an effort to overcome their fears, four children enroll in the creepy school run by a slightly crazy ex-beauty queen, Mrs. Wellington. Madeline's fear of bugs has her wearing a beekeeper's netted hat and carrying cans of insect spray on her belt. Lulu has a fear of enclosed spaces and avoids elevators. Then there are the two boys: Theo is afraid of death (his own and any family member's), and Garrison fears large bodies of water. 

Each chapter opens with the definition of a different phobia. For example, did you know that logizomechaniophobia is the fear of computers?

The story was recommended to me by a fifth-grader and has adorable illustrations by Carrie Gifford.

Sleeping at the Starlite Motel and Other Adventures on the Way Back Home by Bailey White - More Southern delights from my new BFF and a perfect way to get in the mood for my upcoming Grand Southern Literary Tour 2013.

The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester - I mistook this book as a re-titling of Winchester's The Professor and the Madman which I read a couple of years ago and enjoyed. A commenter, Tullik, set me straight on this misconception, and in light of the recent explorations of my own stash of dictionaries (here and here),  I am really looking forward to digging in to this book about the famed OED. 

The Portuguese Escape by Ann Bridge

Having just finished Ann Bridge's The Portuguese Escape (1958), I am ready to plan a visit to this country that she describes most lovingly. 

Ms. Bridge's books featuring Julia Probyn are a wonder. They are part suspense, part travelogue, part a picture of current events at the time, and in this one, part primer in the Portuguese language. 

Here we have diplomats, royalty, country ways, fashion, Big Bad Communists, romance, a wedding, churches and windmills, fast cars, picnics, ocean swims, intrigue, priests, narrow escapes, and kidnapping.

The plot revolves around young Countess Hetta who has just escaped from Communist-run Hungary and has arrived in Lisbon to be reunited with her mother. Hetta is drawn into a scheme by British Intelligence to help identify a Hungarian priest who has also escaped the country and is headed to America. 

There are all sorts of spy-type goings on with telephone conversations in code and car chases on winding roads which kept me reading, but mostly I was enjoying learning a bit about the country and its ways. 

As for Julia, she appears always at the right time. She is in Lisbon as a freelance journalist to cover a royal wedding.  She is confident, smart, fashionable, down-to-earth, and people like her. She knows everyone, thinks quickly on her feet, and doesn't put up with any nonsense. The perfect heroine!

She is in a somewhat on/off relationship with the British Intelligence agent who is in charge of getting this Hungarian priest moved on to America, so there is that bit of romance going on as well. 

This is the second in a series of eight books that Ms. Bridge wrote featuring the intrepid journalist and they all take place in different countries. I enjoy the pacing of the novels. The writing moves smoothly between action and information about the locale. It is certainly fun to be a part of Julia Probyn's world. 

A Dictionary for Constant Use

This is the dictionary with a 1906 copyright that my maternal grandfather carried with him in his coat pocket. It is very fragile - the front cover has separated from the pages.  It sits on top of a stack of antique books that belonged to various family members including a small copy of the New Testament that was my father's and a daily prayer book that belonged to my maternal grandmother.

This book has a friendly title: Laird & Lee's Vest Pocket Webster Dictionary for Constant Use. It seems to encourage the user to keep it close. 

The first blank page has my grandfather's name written in his lovely flowing script with the name of the town of Moore's Hill, Indiana noted underneath. I am not sure why he was living there at the time. He must have been attending Moore's Hill College which is now the University of Evansville.

The next page shows a black and white illustration of "Prof. Noah Webster in His Study" with the words "Knowledge is Power" illuminated by a small sunburst design.

The table of contents tells me that this dictionary includes a Key to Pronunciation; Abbreviations Used in Writing and Printing; Synonyms; a Gazetteer of the World; Toasts and Speeches for all Occasions; Rules of Etiquette (things one must avoid saying and doing); Marks of Punctuation; Latin Words Often Met With; Forms of Notes, Bills, etc.; Parliamentary Rules; Value of Foreign Coins; The World's Decisive Battles (there are fifteen listed); and, a Perpetual Calendar.

Good Grief! All this in 200 pages. 

Its one-page Preface assures me that its constant possession is a necessity for every one - man, woman, and child - who cares to speak and write the English language with any degree of correctness.

This is a new edition - the first was published in 1893 - and it contains 30,000 words. It has tiny tabs indicating each letter section. Each page contains two columns of words and a brief definition. Usually the word and the definition take up only one line. 

It is a marvel of compactness and conciseness!

The first word is Aback and the last word is Zumology or Zymology.

In the Gazetteer I learn the land area and population of the world's countries along with its capital cities. And, to my delight, the name of its Ruler. For instance, King Leopold II is the ruler of Belgium, King Edward VII is ruler of Great Britain, Emperor Mutsuhito is ruler of Japan, and Queen Wilhelmina is ruler of The Netherlands.

Here are just a few gems - which really hold true today - from the Etiquette section which lists about 100 rules in four pages:

In Public:
Don't elbow people.
Don't occupy more space in a car than you are entitled to.
Don't take two ladies upon your arm, except for their protection.
(And this one that my grandfather marked) - Don't smoke whenever or wherever it may inconvenience ladies.

In the Parlor:
Don't stare around the room.
Don't ask questions about the price of the furniture.
Don't interrupt; don't contradict; don't be quarrelsome.
Don't stay too long anywhere.

In the Dining-Room:
Don't keep other people waiting; be there on time.
Don't make any noise with your mouth when eating.
Don't come to the table half-dressed, half-washed, or half-combed.

In Your Dress and Habits:
Don't let one day pass without a thorough cleansing of your person.
Don't use hair dye, hair oil or pomade.

In Your Speech:
Don't say feller, winder, tomorrer for fellow, window, tomorrow.
Don't use slangy words; they are vulgar.
Don't use profane words; they are sinful.

On the very last page I just discovered this note written in my grandfather's hand:

Begun board at Mrs. Lyttle's June 18th $2.50

Mrs. Lyttle was my great-grandmother. At this time she was a widow and rented out a few rooms in her house to college students. My grandfather was attending engineering school here and that is how he came to meet my grandmother, Lula.

Wow! There is much information - both practical and personal - to be found in this little book. I am glad I took the time to study it and that I could share my discoveries with you.

Hit Man by Lawrence Block

I really couldn't help but like John Paul Keller who is introduced by Lawrence Block in Hit Man (1998). Known simply as Keller, he lives a bachelor's life in New York City. He eats breakfast at a little diner in his neighborhood. He sometimes visits the zoo. He works the crossword puzzle in The New York Times. 

Keller is such a low-key character it is difficult to remember that he is a professional assassin!  He is not vengeful or hateful, it's just that he has chosen an unusual career path. In each episode or chapter the reader learns a bit more about this somewhat complicated and wistful man. It is never explained in this first book how he came to be an assassin which makes him all the more mysterious.

His contacts for contracts are an unnamed fellow referred to as 'the old man' who lives in White Plains and his assistant Dot. It is Dot who calls Keller to send him on his travels about the country to "take care of things" for the latest client. He likes to picture himself living in some of the towns that he visits. But after the job is finished, he always returns to his apartment in the city to await another phone call.

Lawrence has Keller dispatch his victims in just a sentence or two so for a novel that is made up of episodes about killing there is very little of it that goes on. Mostly we learn how cleverly Keller sets up his victims and how he spends his days in your average motel, eating alone in your average restaurants, and not making himself too visible. 

Sometimes his plans go awry, but he thinks on his feet and somehow the jobs always get done  - just maybe not how he thought they would. 

At one point he begins therapy but that doesn't work out too well for him or the therapist. He and Dot, really his only friend, have pleasant conversations about life over glasses of iced tea or lemonade. At one point she convinces him that he needs to find a hobby and he throws himself into his childhood passion for stamp collecting.  The reader gets quite a lesson in philately pursuits as Keller becomes engrossed in this pastime.

There are three more episodic novels in the series: Hit List, Hit Parade, and Hit Me (that was published this year) and then a full-length novel, Hit and Run. My library has them all in e-book editions which is a hit with me...

I am keeping Keller on my list. I just hope I never end up on his!

Styling Your Bookshelves For Cozy Weather

Here is a link to some helpful suggestions - from a librarian no less - at Design Sponge on how to style your bookshelves. Just in time for getting cozy with the cooler weather.

Styling Your Bookshelves

The photos are lovely and I like how the writer, Amy Azzarito, mixes in objects - jewelry, photos, boxes - with the books. She even gives you permission to arrange your books by color!

The photos are from actual homes with people living and reading in them. You can click through to see more photos of the featured homes which is much fun. I love peeking in to see how people arrange furniture, art work, table tops and, of course, bookshelves.

Enjoy and be inspired!