Library Book Look of the Week: Picture Gallery Pioneers

   

Picture Gallery Pioneers; 1850 to 1875 By Ralph W Andrews

Copyright 1964. First Edition.

This book is full of pictures and stories about the first people that started photography studios. Studio, being a very loose term back then, considering lots of these dudes were out slinging heavy equipment in gold prospecting camps. I can barely stand to look at it too log without passing out because it combines all of my great loves: travel, the wild west, photograph, prospectin’, early city living, mountain climbing in suits and bussels, and the giant forest.

(checked out from the Memphis Public Library)

A Leisurely Death

I’m a fan of the site 750Words. If you already write every day or want to combine a private online journal (or public journal if you want the world to know that you are “in a good place” or “not in a good place” – the things I imagine other people journaling about) with the Jerry Seinfeld X-marks-the-day-don’t-break-the-chain type writing motivation tool, you should check it out.

What I like most is how it gives you an analysis of how fast you wrote and what you wrote about and you can compare yourself with the rest of the “world” (world meaning the other people who like to type into websites).

I wasn’t too surprised to see this breakdown of me vs the world average:

While the world worries about their death, I worry about my free time, because, well, I’ve already had a couple near-death experiences and I know that the only thing worth worrying about is whether or not I am going to be trapped in some kind of staff meeting or whether or not I am going to miss a great local festival (like the possum festival next weekend) or the chance to watch 12 hours of post-debate MSNBC. Obviously these results are scientific.

Won’t you join me?

The Season

 

I don’t like pumpkin spice lattes but I like pumpkin-faced stone animals and pumpkin muffins dripping with cream cheese frosting.

I was in the middle of teaching class on Wednesday when the corrections officer walks in and says “Everyone has to leave now. Inclement weather.” And I said “Great. Y’all go back to your bunkers and I will get in my small compact car and drive through Arkansas’ Tornado Alley.

When I stepped outside I saw a pinkish grey sky to the east and a black death cloud to the west. I checked my weather app and made a very uneducated and uninformed decision that as long as I drove 65 miles and hour, I could beat the storm. So I hopped in my car and got on the freeway. That storm, with the big, black billowing clouds and sky-spanning lightening, was to my back and side the whole forty-five mile ride home. I was absolutely convinced that the storm and my car would meet right in the middle of the Mississippi River Bridge and I would be blow off into Ol Muddy oblivian.

It didn’t happen. I made it back despite the huge wind gusts that were bending over street signs and sending armadillos flying through the air. About ten minutes after I was back inside, safe, and sound in my apartment, the storm came.

The next day I took a walk through the old-growth forest in Overton Park and look what the storm blew in:

December 2012. Were the Mayans right?

What Happens Back There?

Help make this movie!

Watch this extended preview of our latest film project and then go here to read more, donate one or one million dollars, and most of all share, share, and share the link.

What do ya think?

I’ve had some friends watch and comment on how they can’t stand to see animals behind bars. This film isn’t going to explore the rightness or wrongness of animals in captivity, but the complexity of that reality (because it is a reality).  It’s got all that and more. I hope you can help make it happen.

Mississippi I Adore Thee

J and I drove down to Clarksdale to check out the Tennessee Williams Festival on Saturday.

A sneak around the upstairs of the Belle Reve – I mean, Cutrer house.

Refreshments at the Clarksdale Women’s Club Open House. Super friendly hosts and a menu that included the most refreshing punch and chex mix, sausage balls, chips, crackers, and brownies.

Porch plays 1, 2, and 3. There were more but we had to leave. I am coming back next year and bringing my own porch and long lace Blanche dress.

First and Last

 

 

Stills from first and last frame of a roll of super8 film I got developed and transfered last month.

Downtown Collierville

Downtown Collierville
Originally uploaded by kayekilla.

My fisheye camera interpretation.

Closing the Loop

Defacing

I finally got a Tennessee drivers license.  I did this for many reasons;  one being that I have finally, after exactly four years, accepted I no longer live in California and besides, I was coming dangerously close to becoming a jury-duty fugitive (which is very unlike me because I happen to love jury duty). Another reason is that I figure I should probably vote this year, if only to stay in fashion. I took a free bumper sticker from the Obama campaign so it is the only right thing to do.  (Tennessee happens to be one of the states that adopted one of those totally wack voter ID laws). The other big reason is that I had to re-up my Memphis Library Card and those folks there are real sticklers about residency.

With my new schedule I have had more time, but less money to research so I have been hitting the ol BenjHooks Library like crazy.

Their new books section is fantastic. Really.  I've already read the new Julia Childs bio, a war memoir from a soldier who disarmed bombs, and a couple insane diet books (those are my favorite. I am drinking a beer right now). I'm currently reading a true crime book called "People Who Eat Darkness" and it is giving me terrible panic attacks and nightmares (sign of a great book). But all of those are really time wasters that are distracting me from my astrology and Nancy R research.

What my research is uncovering (in addition to straightforward historical facts) is that people interested in Nancy R and Astrology are hands down, the most vanadolous, criminal-minded bunch of all library goers!  One book about Nancy had pictures carefully exacto-bladed out in sharp squares!  To cut photos out and return them as if nothing happened? Bold!

And nearly every astrology book that features a worksheet or astrology blank has writing in it!  Look at the posted example! Morrie! Pink pen!? Has no one ever heard of a photocopier?

I guess it is hard to have nice things for pblic property. Especially when the library only requires a TN driver license and not a full astrological chart to check out books.  You can trust a gal who takes years to let go of the west coast, but you cannot, ever, trust a gemini with a pink pen!

Cooling Out

It dropped over ten degrees over the weekend! It was actually safe to be outdoors for more than ten minutes so B and I drove down to the Hummingbird Migration Celebration in Holly Springs, MS. 

Hummingbirds are tiny. Real tiny. And fast. Real fast. They have a resting heartbeat similar to that of a grown man on cocaine: 250bpm. Because they are tiny and happen to be on their way to South America, there isn’t a whole lot of actual bird action to see at this celebration without some effort and patience. We waited in line to see them tagging the lil fellers. They do this to collect scientific data on their migration.

They lure them in with sweet bird feed and then plop them in white netted bags. This to me was the most visually disturbing image of the day (so I got a picture – see below) but it is for science so I say bag em up!

After they measure, weigh, and tag the birds, a lucky bystander gets to stet it free back in the wild. I really wanted to to this and feel that at my advanced age, my contributions to society are greater than any small child and I deserve to feel a freshly un-bagged hummingbird in the palm of my hand, but some aggressive mom had been behind us in line for fifteen minutes working on the volunteers with a screechy story how her son “really wanted to let one go back in the wild.” Of course, when the time came, the passionate five-year old birder was off somewhere looking for ice cream. So when they asked the crowd who wanted to let it go, all of the adults were super busy being polite and embarrassed while a young couple stepped up and handled business. Although I think the teenage girl was giggling too much to appreciate the delicacy of the situation, I was happy to see the bird fly off (to Chile, I imagine). 

(measuring a beak – they hold it in a nylon foot sock – the kind you use when trying on pumps at Bakers -  seriously!)

This fatso weighed in at 3.5 grams!

The Strawberry Plains Audubon Center is lovely. I would go back there even if they weren’t selling home-made pickles and hummingbird crafts.

We stopped at Phillips Grocery for burgers on the way back. If you haven’t been to Holly Springs, I think one could safely say that it offers the total southern tourist package: Graceland Too, Strawberry Plains Audubon Center, Phillips Grocery, and lots of kudzo.

According to legend, Phillips Grocery was originally a saloon in the 1800s. It is located near an old railroad depot on the outskirts of town. There are about ten things on the menu including fried pies and tater tots. So you should go there.

Stumped.

That is a giant tree stump I found on a short hike on a recent trip out west. I meant to take a picture of my hand in front of the camera to show scale but then I realized I would have nothing to show for perspective. Trust me. It was a large and dirty stump. Very rooty – quite actually ripped from the earth and toppled over on its side, waiting to be overtaken by rain, moss, and worms. Kind of like this blog.

I am hoping for a rain, moss, and worm revival come fall.

New Jersey My Love

Due to the derecho last week, it took 30 hours to get to Newark, but it was worth it to see my family and to finally check out this place:

 

We also went to the Thomas Edison National Historic Park (aka: Where America Was Invented) in West Orange.

This is a where he took naps and pre-invented stuff like the movie camera and portable batteries:

And here are some snaps of his factory and office:

 

Prototype of a record changer phonograph:

Bonus: On the way out to Newark we flew over a sweet sunset and then a lightening storm that lasted forever.  If you haven’t flown above a super active lightening storm at 30,000 feet then you really haven’t seen anything that spectacular.