This Atlantic item makes me miss the World Book Encyclopedia of my childhood. The World Book was great for school reports, and perfect for the reading room, so-called.
Friday, September 11, 2015
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Michael Leddy“Orange Crate Art” is a song by Van Dyke Parks and the title of a 1995 album by Van Dyke Parks and Brian Wilson. “Orange Crate Art” is for me one of the great American songs: “Orange crate art was a place to start.”
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Nancy, October 19, 1950.
“Who are we as a country?”
Michael Leddy
Don’t look for premiums or
coupons, as the cost of
the thoughts blended in
ORANGE CRATE ART pro-
hibits the use of them.
Comments are welcome, appended to posts or by e-mail. I moderate comments to keep out spam, so please be patient.
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Words to live by
Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in the face of certain defeat.
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
*
Νέος ἐφ’ ἡμέρῃ ἥλιος. [The sun is new every day.]
Heraclitus
*
Every day is a new deal.
Harvey Pekar, “Alice Quinn”
*
Nos plus grandes craintes, comme nos plus grandes espérances, ne sont pas au-dessus de nos forces, et nous pouvons finir par dominer les unes et réaliser les autres. [Our worst fears, like our greatest hopes, are not outside our powers, and we can come in the end to triumph over the former and to achieve the latter.]
Marcel Proust, Finding Time Again
*
Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try.
Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn by Living
*
I don’t really deeply feel that anyone needs an airtight reason for quoting from the works of writers he loves, but it’s always nice, I’ll grant you, if he has one.
J.D. Salinger, Seymour: An Introduction
*
I’m not afraid to get it right
I turn around and I give it
one more try
Sufjan Stevens, “Jacksonville”
*
L’attention est la forme la plus rare et la plus pure de la générosité. [Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.]
Simone Weil, in a letter
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
*
Νέος ἐφ’ ἡμέρῃ ἥλιος. [The sun is new every day.]
Heraclitus
*
Every day is a new deal.
Harvey Pekar, “Alice Quinn”
*
Nos plus grandes craintes, comme nos plus grandes espérances, ne sont pas au-dessus de nos forces, et nous pouvons finir par dominer les unes et réaliser les autres. [Our worst fears, like our greatest hopes, are not outside our powers, and we can come in the end to triumph over the former and to achieve the latter.]
Marcel Proust, Finding Time Again
*
Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try.
Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn by Living
*
I don’t really deeply feel that anyone needs an airtight reason for quoting from the works of writers he loves, but it’s always nice, I’ll grant you, if he has one.
J.D. Salinger, Seymour: An Introduction
*
I’m not afraid to get it right
I turn around and I give it
one more try
Sufjan Stevens, “Jacksonville”
*
L’attention est la forme la plus rare et la plus pure de la générosité. [Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.]
Simone Weil, in a letter
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Nancy, October 19, 1950.
comments: 7
We had a World Book encyclopedia in my 5th grade class, in Frederick, Maryland, and sometimes when a question came up, the teacher would assign someone to look it up. She would always have to come looking for me, because once I cracked the volume, I was always lost reading all the entries around, before and after, and following. (By the way, whenever I spell encyclopedia, in my head I still sing the Jiminy Cricket song "e-n-c-y-c-l-o-p-e-d-i-a")
I had no idea there was such a song, George. Thank you! It’s at YouTube.
P.S.: Cliff Edwards’s pre-Cricket career is worth exploring. For instance, “I’m a Bear in a Lady’s Boudoir.”
My brother got an Encyclopedia Americana and an accompanying science encyclopedia on the cheap during his Army years and had them sent to my mother. I spent happy hours buried in them, and the science volumes had some great photos, e.g., of tiny deer that I couldn't believe existed. For whatever reason, I find it harder to do such browsing online, and the wonders aren't as wondrous.
Browsing in, say Wikipedia, is missing the wonders of alphabet contiguity. (Is that what I mean to say? I think it is.)
Not long ago we donated our set of The World Book Encyclopedia to the local library for its book sale. So often we wd look up a historical figure or battle while watching a movie or PBS presentation.....now a tablet computer serves, but I miss the WB.....
I can’t remember ever using an encyclopedia in that way, which seems odd. With a tablet, it’s automatic.
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