Garden & Art Books

Borders w/garden & art books
Originally uploaded by daveterry

Ruth loves garden books and I love art books so we decided to go to the bookstore last night.

We usually go late at night, about an hour or so before they close. It's usually quiet then and we can often find a chair to read in. I wish they were open 24 hours a day. We could sit in a Borders bookstore forever, without food and water. Well, maybe not without coffee. But I digress.

Ruth's flowers by daveterry

We started in the art section. I had found a very good watercolor book earlier that I wanted to show her. I was looking to "inspire" her so that she'd join me in this illustrated journal sketch activity of mine. She said she needs a "spark" to get started. But soon after I showed her the book, she disappeared around the corner.

Where'd she go?

I found her in a dark leather chair reading a huge garden book.

Ruuuuth! You're not focusing here. I thought you said you needed a spark to get started!? Whatdaya gunna to do when we go on the sketch date? You are NOT taking this seriously!

I think I'll be sketching alone while she goes out into the garden to pet the bees drunk with nectar. (I kid you not. She can actually pet the bees!)

...dave
Art is like a border of flowers along the course of civilization. – Lincoln Steffens

Theoretically Related Posts

• Artists Essential Guide to Watercolor - Gerald Green
  

Sketch blogs

towel rack
Originally uploaded by daveterry.

I've been on a sketch blog search and dug up some great links for all you sketch wannabes out there.

I warn you that there are some great ones. And before I show you some of the links, I want you to know these are meant to inspire you to start. These may look fantastic now, but remember they started somewhere.

And before you link out to them I wanted to tell you about the latest book I received entitled: Taking a Line for a Walk: 1100 Miles on Foot, Le Havre to Rome. Wow! What a great little find. The book is an illustrated journal by a 68 year old man who walked 1100 miles. Very cool book. Very inspiring.

And so here are some of those links:
RozWorks Journals
Andrea Joseph
Terry Banderas
Inviaggiocoltaccuino
Suzanne Buchanan
Gas Water Nothing
Sketchpot
How to keep a travel journal
Blados Illusrated Journal

And so there you have it. Inspiration at it's finest.

...dave
A drawing is taking a line for a walk. -Paul Klee

Drawing with Imagination

This has got to be my all time favorite book on drawing. It's approachable. It's easy to get started. He explains doodling and noodling. He starts simple and builds the exercises from there. It's just fun to look at but it much more fun to try the little exercises.

You can flip through the book and really start anywhere the examples appeal to you. Or you can start at the front and build from there.

Some of my latest sketches have been drawn from this book.

crocs on porch
Originally uploaded by daveterry.

I've been sketching on watercolor paper 90 lb or 140 lb cold press. I buy the big pads then cut them to 4x6 cards. Next I binder clip them in small packets I can carry in my bag. As I have time I'll pull out the packet and sketch, sometimes while standing up. I put that card in the back to save as a postcard I can send to someone. Now I have my own stash of custom, hand drawn postcards. Since I sketch whatever catches my eye, I have a wide selection of subjects I can choose from. When I'm moved to send a card, I sort through my stash, jot a note, add a postcard stamp (they are cheaper) and drop it in the mail to a friend.


Sometimes the postcard sketch has nothing to do with the note I jotted and that causes my friends to question my sanity. But if they ask, I just tell them I really had no control, my other personality sent it.

I've bought a new sketch book for the upcoming China trip. I've already got a small Handbook (5.5 x 8) that I use for stoplight sketching. But for the trip I decided to buy the bigger one (I think it's 8 x 12 Landscape). I'll start sketching in it early, maybe while I pack. That way it's not completely blank when I board the plane.

The Handbooks are a lot cheaper than the watercolor Moleskines and there are more pages (120) in them. They come in a limited selection of colors so that at a glance you can tell what sketchbook you are reaching for. They hold up under abuse and have a clear pocket in the back cover similar to the Moleskine. The only thing I don't like about them is the canvas cover. I really like the shiny black cover of the Moleskine.

Those are just my choices. Your mileage may vary.

...dave
Life is the art of drawing without an eraser. - John W. Gardner

Richard Feynman

Richard Feynman (pronounced fine-man) is the most approachable scientist of our century. He makes science approachable by using common terms that the layman can understand. No doubt he obtained this gift from his father. I found this interview on line: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out. He had a very intelligent but practical father.

You may remember that he was the one who solved the problem with the Space Shuttle Challenger. He was sitting around a huge table with a bunch of stuffed shirts (as he tells it) and asked for a cup of cold water. Then he dropped an o-ring similar to the ones used in the Challenger into the glass of ice water. When he fished it out, it crumbled in his hand. The Columbia's o-rings failed because of very low temperatures that weakened them.

You can read more about this curious guy. You can find out how he played blood hound to his friends by picking out the book each of them handled in the library. Or you can learn about his safe cracking shenanigans and involvement in the Mahattan Project. All these stories and more are in the book Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman. It's a great read.

[You can find more in a previous post here.]

...dave
Why can't I be as personable as I am in my head? - Paul Madonna

I like red lights

I look forward to red lights. I especially look forward to yellow lights. I stop at all yellow lights. That way I know that I have the longest wait possible. That's what I like, a long wait. I know I'm strange. Most people try to run the yellows. Not me. I've even taken longer ways home so as to get more red and yellow lights. I like waiting.

In fact, to me, slower traffic IS better. Sometimes I don't mind going places when traffic is heavy.

And I'm smarter for it. Just this month I've been able to read three additional books. All because of red lights. Sometimes you just have to leverage your waits.

Now if I could just figure out how to project my books on the windshield (They call this a HUD, Heads Up Display.)

I wonder if I could just mirror copy my book pages and place them up on the dash. That could work. Or maybe I can print-screen and paste web pages into MS Paint and rotate vertical. Then I could read the HUD (reflection) while driving and get twice as much read.

I just don't have enough time to read.

...dave
Real luxury is time and opportunity to read for pleasure. - Jane Brody

My Borders got a new Coffee Bar

Very cool. Borders remodeled their Coffee Bar. Very modern and clean. The counter looks like highly polished brushed metal of 50s era but it's in a cherry color. Dark cherry woods trim the bar. It's a delight just to gaze at.

I guess what's really outstanding is their new coffee barkeeper. He's a very friendly guy. "How's your day going?" he asks me as he warms my coffee cup under the hot water before pouring in the hot liquid I'm paying for.

A man in a wheelchair with a dog came up beside me as I was paying. The dog was a golden retriever with dirty blond hair. The guy in the wheel chair ordered his drink as I left. He had difficulty speaking but the coffee attendant seemed to know what he wanted, in fact, he seemed to know him personally.

As I sipped my hot java and read Mind Performance Hacks I heard him asking several customers "How's it going with you today?" or "Would you like to try a sample coffee?" or "Can I get anything else for you?" I overheard one customer say: "No, I'm a happy guy." (I gota remember that reply.)

I've never been in any Borders with such a helpful drink attendant. It made the place feel like such a happy place to be in.

By contrast I decided to buy some of their coffee. He asked another clerk to get me a 1/2 lb of Italian Roast. First off, she couldn't find the beans. Then she couldn't keep the small bag from closing as she emptied an already opened bag into the new one, one bean at a time. One bean at a time. It was painful to watch. I spent more time waiting for her to fill the bag then I did drinking and reading the book.

Employees really make or break a business.

...dave
I went to the 24-hour grocery store but the clerk was locking it up. "Hey the sign says you're open 24-hours." He said: "Yeah, but not in a row." -Stephen Wright

Mind Performance Hacks

What a great read. This book I'd highly recommend. Wow!

I've been looking for some book that can kick my brain to the next level. I've been at this Chinese language learning thing but it's kicking my butt. I'm at a plateau. I can't get to the next level.

I've listened to the Pimsleur CDs (40 of them so far), read lots of books, and practiced my Chinese characters, but I'm still having a tough time of it. I just can't remember what I forgot!

Which reminds me of the poor guy who went to see his doctor about his memory problem:

"Doctor, doctor, I can't remember from one minute to the next what I was thinking."

"How long has that been going on?"

"How long has what been going on?"

But I digress...

Anyway, while looking online I came across this fascinating book: Mind Performance Hacks by Ron Hale-Evans (what's up with these hyphenated last names?). The book touts itself as "Tips & Tools for Overclocking Your Brain."

The book is divided into several sections: Memory, Creativity, Clarity, Math, Mental Fitness, etc. Thirteen reviewers gave it a five star.

If you want to get a glimpse of a few chapters, check out the five chapters available in PDF online.

...dave
"I may be having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I may have forgotten this before." - Stephen Wright

Sitting by a lake

I didn't even know this was here -- a lake by Smyrna's "Public Library." It's not really a lake, it's more like a pond but want do you want for the middle of town? (I put "Public Library" in quotes. I'll explain later.)

There is a small pond near work where I can go and read, eat, or just rest. This little pond is about 300 feet across with a water feature in it's center. (A water "feature" is just a fountain in common-speak.) It's absolutely beautiful. I don't have wireless Internet but that's just a few hundred feet away in the library itself.

Arranged around the pond are a few picnic tables, benches, and even a love-seat hanging swing. Lots of trees give the area great shade in the hot summers here. They are all marked with those cute little brass tags that tell you that the tree next to you is a "Water Oak." Hmmm, I thought all oaks liked water.

The fountain provides that constant white noise. It's thrusting 30 foot bursts rain down against the water's surface making that slapping sound. It is calming. Why is running water so relaxing?

There are fish in the pond. Occasionally I see carp jump above the water's surface and snatch a quick bug snack.

Last week I was in the library itself. Just outside it's doors is a sign that reads: Smyrna's Public Library. I didn't have my Cobb Library card but asked the guy re-loading the shelves if I could check out some books if I provided a drivers license. "Sure, no problem, but you'll pay a 25 cent penalty for not having your card." I've never been in trouble for so little a cost.

So I picked out the books I wanted, brought them to the counter, and flashed my driver's license with photo ID. I was reaching into my pocket, ready to produce the penalty, when she asked me if this was my current address. "Yeah, it is." I told her.

"Well, I'm sorry, you can't checkout books with a Cobb Country library card."

Huh? So it turns out that Smyrna's tax paying community who put the library in place, does not honor another county's library system! Who thought up this? So I said to the nice lady:

"Ah, so this is really not a Public Library then?"

Nah, I didn't dare. She didn't make up the policy. It's not her fault. She didn't make the rules. But this just smacks of backwardness. Who thinks up such silliness? One county doesn't recognize another's library card?

I did tell her that I worked just down the street and spent lots of time at my desk, almost as much time as home so it's as good a living there. But none of that logic worked.

"But you can buy a Smyrna Library card for the whole year for just $30."

No thanks, I'll just enjoy the free park.

Nothing is free anymore.

...dave
"Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion" -Jim Gaston

A Free Polish

There's always a Borders near me. Sometimes I go there to sketch.

I like going to the one near my work place. That Borders is located on the second floor. I have to take an escalator to get to the main floor. There are two double wide doors at the bottom with racks of inexpensive blank sketch journals just inside. But that's not why I like going there.

I like the escalator. I like riding the escalator. I like riding the escalator because there are brushes just above the treads of the moving metal stairway. The brushes keep junk from falling into the edges of the moving stairs. I guess that's what they're for. But I don't care. I just use them to polish my penny loafers.

I don't think people realize that one trip to Borders will give you a free shine. It's great. I try to do it nonchalant so people don't think I'm some homeless freeloader looking for a free shine. I don't even have to look down. I can feel the brushes against my right shoe on the way up. I do the left one on the way down when I leave.

Borders has everything: books, magazines, music, coffee, and a free polish.

Well not everything. They still charge for the Internet. But I'm working on them. Someday they'll offer wireless for free too. That would be the ultimate.

Then I'll never have to go home.

...dave
Draft beer; not people. ~Author Unknown

Borders Guy

I know of a guy who lives at Borders.

I really think he lives inside the bookstore. Seriously.

Because, he's always there no matter what time I go. If I go at lunchtime, he's there. If I go after lunch, he's still there. One time I stayed for two hours. He stayed too. What does this guy do for a living?

He's always talking to himself too. Sometimes he talks on the phone. I don't know what's he's saying. I don't listen.

He doesn't really bother anyone. He stays mostly to himself. I think he asked me for a pencil once. But other than that, he's never bothered me.

One time I was reading next to the window. Suddenly I heard this thunderous crack. The huge plastic coated poster fell from it's suction cups. The top buckled over me and wrapped me in it's fold. The bookstore bum told the manager. I kept reading. I didn't want to cause a stir.

I'd really like to ask this guy why he hangs out at the store. Maybe that'll be the subject of a future post. Maybe he kind of works there? Sort of like a mascot or something. You think?

I wonder where he sleeps? There are some exercise mats at Borders. Maybe he rolls one out at night.

It's all so puzzling.

...dave
Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore? -Henry Ward Beecher (1813 - 1887)

Stuff I'm Reading

I decided to put together a list of books I've read and enjoyed in the event you might enjoy them. Here they are by category:

Sketching/Journaling:
The Creative License
Everyday Matters
How to Make A Journal Of Your Life

Journaling:
The New Diary
A Book Of One's Own
Writing Your Life
Writing Alone
Leaving a Trace

Writing:
The Forest for the Trees

Other Non-Fiction:
Hitler's Lost Sub

Fiction:
Me Write Book: It Bigfoot Memoir
Pest Control

More to come...

...dave
If you study to remember, you will forget, but, If you study to understand, you will remember.

Books I'm Reading

My English reading has slowed some since trying to focus on Chinese but I still like a good book. Here are a few books that are pretty good reads:

The 2005 Best American Travel Writing
(Trying to understand what great travel writing really is.)

The Professor and the Madman - Simon Winchester
(a little disturbing)

The Meaning of Everything - Simon Winchester
(soon to start)

River Town - Peter Hessler
(Great read about an American who lived in China for two years)

Influence Without Authority - Cohen Bradford
(for work)

I know I'm not averaging two books a month. I'm having a hard time keeping up! There are 150,000 new books printed in the U.S. each year. That's an average of 410 a day. At an average of 350 pages each, that's just 143,835 pages a day and just 6,000 pages an hour. Hmmm...it's not going to happen.

...dave
"To the making of many books there is no end, and much devotion to them is wearisome to the flesh." Ecclesiastes 12:12

Lunchtime sketch

During lunch I try to find someplace I can get away from the phones and desk. If I sit at the desk I get bombarded by people asking me all kinds of technical questions about their projects. Even with a sandwich in my mouth they don't understand I'm having lunch. I still try to help them but I find it difficult to sound and look intelligent with bread in my mouth and mayonnaise on my chin.

So my approach has been to shovel down the lunch and then go out looking for a more private place to read or sketch. We used to have a library but that's been pulled out and populated with cubes. There is nowhere to go to read up on technical subjects since that was eliminated.

I found some chairs around the corner in a closed off lobby. There was even a huge square table where I could put my feet up and balance the iBook on my lap. Those were the days. But that's all gone now. I don't know what the thinking was. But the chairs and table were removed. Now it's just an empty lobby that echos footsteps.

Up the hill there's a restaurant that I sometimes go to but it takes about seven minutes to get there and seven minutes to get back. If I have a meeting at 1:00 sometimes I don't even have time to go up the hill.

I really wanted to sketch and eat this last Friday but it was getting late. It was about 12:15 and I had a meeting at 1:00. So I just decided to sketch my book shelf. This is a collection of books I've purchased over the last couple of years so as to have a technical quick reference library of my own and to loan out to the team.

The sketch I drew doesn't include all the books, only just a few. But it was enough to add sanity to the day.

...dave
Sanity calms, but madness is more interesting. -John Russell

Bigfoot's Biography

I didn't think it's possible but it's been confirmed. Bigfoot had written his own biography.

The title is: Me Write Book: It Bigfoot Memoir. Get your's now before the trail grows cold.

Okay, it's true, it IS rather crude, as you can imagine. After all, he has had no formal education. And he doesn't type, so it's handwritten. But at least it's authentic. You can purchase a copy for yourself at Amazon here.
steganography rules
...dave
Ugliness is, in a way, is superior to beauty because it lasts. -Serge Gainsbourg

Surely You're Joking!

Richard Feynman was a Physics Professor and won a nobel prize in 1965 for his work in quantum electrodynamics QED.

What makes him approachable is his rather irreverent view of anything or anyone that claims to know it all. He has written books on some of his complex theories on QED but what I enjoy most is his two books, "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman" and "What do you care what other people think?"

The first describes his many adventures including a social engagement where he said he could sniff out which book several of the guests handled in the library, sort of like a blood hound. He talks about Project Manhattan (at Los Alamos lab) where the atomic bomb was designed. He also talks about some of the safes he learned to crack while there.

In the second book he describes the presidential commission he was part of to determine the cause of the Challenger space shuttle explosion and of course his break through and discovery of the failure of the o-rings.

None of his words are stuffy or difficult but simple and very easy to understand. He always keeps you laughing about all the people that thought he was so smart but how there was always a logical reason and approach to how he solved puzzles. One of the was when people panicked that one of the safes could not be opened when a manager was away on vacation and could not be reached. He went upstairs and tried the combination that was delivered with the safe, figuring the manager had never bothered to change it. Sure enough he was back down in one minute. The secretary couldn't believe he'd accomplished the safe crack in such a short time. He shrugged and said it was nothing.

Great reads both of them. If you want something deeper but still understandable read his book QED.

...dave
One of the most important tools of physics is the wastebasket. -Richard Feynman

Adventure Capitalist

I've been reading Adventure Capitalist by Jim Rogers. He's a multi-millionaire that traveled through 116 countries with his bride in a custom Mercedes SLK with trailer.

While his objective was in search of international investments there's a lot of great travel information and interesting stories.

Like the time he forgot about some vodka in his medical kit when entering Saudi Arabia. The last tourist found with alcohol was whipped eighty strokes. Jim told him: "Oh, my god. I forgot about that. We don't want that. Get rid of it. Destroy it."

They took him in to see the commander who told him to sign a form authorizing them to destroy the small bottle. He did so quickly before they had a chance to change their mind. They then took him outside where they poured it out and threw the bottle into the sand.

You can read about his complete three-year adventure here.

Another book by Jim Rogers is Investment Biker. This is about his first road trip across the world on a BMW motorcycle.

I really need to get out of this office.

...dave
The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. -Augustine (354-430)