Books as Conduits of Thought

It has been a awhile since my last post. I might get kicked out the the blogging union if there was such as thing. Wait, I think somebody tried to start one years ago but I haven't heard anything about it so maybe it isn't a thing.

I type at people I know that are on FB but I miss this. There doesn't seem to be time for thought or reflection. It is all "tell me now, feel it now, now, now, now"

Sometimes you need to shut up.

Shut up. Not in the pejorative meaning.

Shut your soul up and contemplate the universe.
Shut up with a book and be transported to another place.
Shut up and establish yourself within yourself so you don't have to run to someone else for affirmation.

Books and old, smelly wonderful books stores can help you do that; if you let them. We might have run out of time. Old smelly bookstores are going away or have gone.

This is a closing book store in New York. It is a video from the New Yorker Magazine.






Places like this nurtured me. Raised me up and helped me to survive.

What do we have now but sound bite literacy. And now we get sound bite hatred as political actions and racism, sexism and all kinds of phobias as a violent reaction to change.

Change is coming; for good or for evil. Evil is doing well and it is profitable. Good might have to stop wondering how evil is making bank and work on actually doing something away from the keyboard.

Ha, ha, ha....ha.

Maybe I should go find a book and cry on the pages.

Not Gone But Distracted

I meant to go back to The Last Bookstore in downtown L.A. I didn't make it. I was seduced by the 99 Cents Only store. And Samy's Camera. More about that later.

There was a moment when I looked at the woman in the chair and I felt, something. Well, it was more than that; like time traveling to a bookstore off of Market Street, past the hot pretzel store.

More like a window. But there was a place where broke folks could do serious reading. You could find books for 25 cents or four for a dollar.

Magazines for a dime or high toned ones for fifty cents. A place where you buy underground comix like Dirty Duck and Mickey Rat. Or Pudge, Girl Blimp.

Have I written about this before? Hold on...

Dang it. I think I have a cootie in my browser.

So I'll have to stop being an old fuddy duddy and deal with something trying to report back to home base. 

But there is something about her looking for a resting place. A place where solid words are still honored and not used as a weapon or talking points. Which I'm not going to be able to contemplate because something is messing with my system.

Because you have to invade to sell. Sell, sell and keep selling no matter what.

Whoopie, assault capitalism.

(Not against capitalism. Not necessarily for it either. I am against malware.)

Somedays I Only Want to Hug My Blanket

Status Report: School is going well except when I have to write a paper. I normally can crank out a report without busting a sweat. Not in the Digital Archiving class. I'm learning multiple new skills at the same time that I have to practice them.

The class is doing wonders for my brain cells stimulation but I have to squeeze out time from the early morning or late evening hours. Time I use to allocate to blogging. You might not be aware of this but there really are only 24 hours in a day.

Some of that time is designated for sleeping. It seems that I have been shaving more of my sleep time than my body is willing to accept. There are protest and on certain occasions shutdown actions.

I had a shutdown action last week. I wanted to finish reading a book. The body stated that this was not acceptable and you will enter shutdown mode in 5...4...3...2......zzzzzz.

At which time I fell asleep. Then I woke up ten minutes later with the book still in my hands.

Only to get the shutdown notice again.

Yes, once again I'll dredged up the fact that I could go to school, watch the Late, Late, Late Show on television take a half hour nap and then head back to school.

I need that kind of energy and it is long gone. I just gotta make it over the hump. December is coming. Normally I hate that month but now it has a certain appeal in that when I finish this semester I'll get some sleep time before the next semester kicks into gear.

In the meantime, I have my old school Kindle read me stories in an automated, non-emotional voice. I usually drop off to sleep as it drones on but I get a taste of the book.

There are days when you only have time for a taste. Savor what you can.

Waiting for Harlan at the Barbershop

It has been a few weeks since this happened. Maybe I have a better perspective from a distance. I don’t know. To recap, I had an opportunity to see Harlan Ellison in Los Angeles and I took it. This involved trains, Hollywood Boulevard and buses. And my ability to get lost when I think a place is other than where I think it should be.

After the tour barker incident and waiting 20+ minutes for the right bus I arrived at the 4300 block of Hollywood Boulevard. To say that this block has memories for me is an understatement. The last time I was in this area was the afternoon of the Rodney King verdict. There was a bookstore that I checked out from time to time. It is gone now.

So is the Circuit City and other businesses. There weren’t that many of them. It was the kind of street you walked fast to get to your bus connections.  It was a miracle that I made it home that night.

Now there are upscale boutiques. hipster hamburger joints and spray art on the sidewalk. I don’t see any winos or junkies. I don’t smell anything but air.

It is discombobulating. Not bad, but I occupy two different places at the same time.

This is not how it use to be.  I am adjusting.

There are a few fans lined up between the Sweeny Todd Barber Shop and the Luz de Jesus Gallery. We are older. Hair is grey in patches. Everybody has their phone ready to take a photo. Denim, spandex and tattoos are plentiful.

This is the cover of his new book of long out of print lad stories. Seeing as how I bough his  books at a stripped book store in the past (I had no way of knowing it was un-ethical at the time) this is my way of making amends. Should you be so inclined to read his early gang and men magazine stories of the 1950s and 60s you could visit Kick Books to find out how to obtain a copy.

(In the interest of honesty, I didn't care for the JD line of books so I can't speak to the quality of them. I was not in the demographic at the time of publication and nothing has changed since then.)

The game plan was that Ellison was supposed to get a haircut and then walk over to the gallery. I would have liked to gone into the gallery but it was a small place with too many people inside. There was plenty of action on the sidewalk.

The barber and Harlan come out of the barber shop. Harlan told the crowd don’t stand in the sun too long. Had on a nice lavender shirt, by the way. He looked good.

The barber was a right nice looking beefy guy with a traditional barber jacket that showed his tats very nicely. Poor fellow made a mistake; he asked Harlan how he was doing.

“I’m 79 years old. I feel lousy.” It is a known fact that Mr. Ellison can be terse. Caustic. They turned the corner and no one seemed to notice.

I’m still looking around clicking atmospherically evidence that as we go to hell in a hand basket a good time will be had if you know where to go.

Time marches on and I’m thinking it is mighty hot outside. Still, nothing can induce me to go inside the gallery and I sure wasn’t going into a $10 to $20 hamburger joint. I’m loyal but passing out on the boulevard is not a test I’m willing to take.

I snap up other items of interest and slowly move my body away from the festivities. Then I hear a horn, A old school horn and peep into the car. There he was in the back seat. I had this quizzical look on my face. I looked at him. He looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and I nodded back.

I understood. I think.

Harlan got out of the car. Two motorcycle people in black leather braced him as folks took photos. Then he entered the barbershop. And people proceeded to take photos of him getting a hair cut.

I’m looking at them. At the Lone Ranger billboard. At the neighborhood that sprung up from the old.

The colors of the buildings and the sky.

I couldn’t ask for anything more. Or so I thought. The driver of the car got out. He was a little tense. His only words were a frantic “I gonna have my beer.”

Back on Hollywood Boulevard proper, I came across another person who was throwing up because he was drinking fortified malt liquor in the 3 p.m. sun and that wasn’t a smart thing to do.

My center had been restored.

I went home.

The Book Wall at The L.A. Times Festival of Books

A moment away from the sensual pleasure of life to one less tactile. It has been a while since I've posted a video. Lot's of crap going on behind the screen I can't get into.

I still record and take photos but seems like I never have time to work on posting any more. Trying to change that by making this effort.

This is a video impression of the book wall at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. All kinds of authors and name of books were scribbled, slagged and over powered those that needed to write in tiny print.

Lots of Hungry Games. Ayn Rand supporters. Bible thumpers with specific chapter and verse.  Have to say there were also a lot of Diary of a Wimpy Kid supporters as well.

Live like there is no tomorrow but stock up just in case.

Libraries and Occupations - Then and Now

The library nerd in me loves that this video even exists. Matthew Battles is an author and librarian. His book, "Library: An Unquiet History" talks about how libraries constantly are re-invented for the needs of the time.



In this video, Battles talks about the 19th century Chartist movement paved the path toward the public library system we have today. Toward the end of the video Battles makes the point about how the camp libraries of the Occupy movement will also shape how we share information in the days to come.

For more info on the book:

• WorldCat Book Information Page
• WW Norton's book page with the opportunity to read an excerpt.
• Review of the book by John Kennerly
• Google Books information page with links of other folks talking about the book.

I'm Still Here Thinking That You're Not Gone

Yep. I didn't make the cut. Apparently nobody else did either so I'm kinda sad about that. Really.

There was a whole bunch of people I had hoped that would be removed from the planet in a holding place until it could be explained to them that the concept of Agape or universal love was the goal and not the ranking of "I'm more holy than you."

Come to think of it, if members of that noxious Westboro Baptist Church gets to go to heaven then I don't think I want to go.

Speaking of not going, this is a video I recorded with Rick Hodge who has a book called 2011 Our Destiny Has Arrived.



Folks, no worries until December 12, 2012. That is 12/12/12 aka the Age of the Fifth Sun.

Part 2

I heard a son call his father to check in on him.

"You still here Pop?, yeah, me too."

I think the rest of us want to say that you can't escape life through false prophets who profit on fear. Spirit doesn't operate that way.

Even if you are an Atheist one thing is clear, either you live your life or your don't. It is a choice and praying for your spiritual removal en mass I think violates that freedom of spiritual choice thing.

In other words, I don't think you can make Spirit/God/Jesus do anything. And if we could why would we so willing to commission other people's souls to damnation? Why would you follow a being that tells you to do that?

Last word on the (non) rapture. A special shout out has got to the RaptureHelpDesk. Best dang use of Twitter for humor that I have ever seen. I look forward to October 21, 2011 cuz it is going to be hard to top these tweets. Cracked me up.

Part 3

Yesterday I paid $4.50 for maybe a scoop and a half of Gelato. It was Stratachoco... something but it was good. Dark chocolate laced into vanilla ice cream. This is counter to my normally frugal ways but I had seen the store for years and never went inside.

I liked it.

I am going to try to make it another eight years before I go back to that place. I will not pay $5 for a gallon of ice cream but I have to admit this stuff was tasty.

I should get around to making my bucket list so I can put luxury ice cream on it and then cross it off.

Well, this is just to check in. I'm trying to write another post, edit video, do laundry and possibly dye my hair. I guess this is justifiable procrastination. So much to do and see.

Not enough time.

Never enough time.

Javon Johnson at the USC Stage L.A. Times Festival of Books 2011

I'm walking around the festival doing some people watching when I hear a voice. I follow my instincts and discover Javon Johnson.



This is a tribute poem Javon spoke about his grandmother and needing her strength to guide him in these most interesting times.

Doing a bit of quick searching about Javon I learn that he is a Postdoctoral Fellow teaching classes at the University of Southern California. I can't find a blog or web site for him as yet.

He has appeared on Def Poetry Jam and other media projects. You can watch an interview of him at the USC Trojan Vision channel.

Grace Krilanovich at the Skylight Books Booth

Grace Krilanovich is one of the people I pointed a lens at during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. What happened was that I just got on the USC campus and I was overwhelmed by the number of people.

There were parents and babes in strollers. There young women welded to communication devices looking for other friends whose faces were stuck in communication devices. The map challenged and impaired were trying to figure where they were and where they wanted to go.

Then there was the Ben and Jerry Ice Creme Truck. Couldn't get near it. Well, I could but choice not to do so. I was trying to show some kind of restraint.

Grace was kind enough to speak to me about her book The Orange Eats Creeps. I'm a plucky duck but I have no technique for interviewing folks. I'm learning as I go.



Other Thoughts

I kind feel sorry for authors that aren't famous. They need to promote their book. Some writers, not all, want to communicate with other people.

I know this for a fact because some of the authors that I approached (without showing my camcorder) looked at me with a tinge of hostility or disappointment that I was not the kind of reader they envisioned.

I pivot and walk away.

It is hard. I know. Many authors spend time writing, dealing with publication issues and survival. You want the book to be published, talked about and generate compensation for your hard work.

Many writers and authors ain't gronking this social media connection aspect. I am talking about the other authors who's tables I avoided, not about Grace. She was very kind.

If you are finishing writing a book and you intended to sell that book you might want to practice your people and conversation skills. If you are going to spend good money for a booth at this kind of event and you have no flyers, bookmarks or other promotions items to share with potential readers you are in trouble.

If you haven't promoted your book via Twitter or made connections to like minded blogs and web sites why are you at a book festival? You book cannot exist in isolation. It needs to find the communities that want to embrace what you have to say.

Somebody has to say this. If folks look at your booth and there is nothing there but you looking sour and your book we are going to turn elsewhere.

Real people and our wallets will go where we are wanted.

Videoblogging Addendum

Yes. I'm a little late for Videoblogging 2011. I was over-booked. Plus I was truly bummed out about the spamination of the term videoblogging in Twitter. The few of us that tried found out that affiliate marketers, content farmers and diversion maggots poisoned communication by lacing the joint with get rich quick offers. One day there was a bunch of it and the next day gone. Or another content farm gets its minions to pollute the other side of the lake.

I've said what I've needed at my other blog but I hate this part of humanity that sees something good and has to sh*t on it in order to make a profit.

Moving on.

Day Late and A Dollar Short - Videoblogging Week Day 2

Yep. I scrabbled something up. I have stuff but stuff takes time and I don't have it. I have to be okay with that concept. I can't have and don't want the 27 hour day. I'm sleep deprived as it is.

But I do want to put in my two cents about libraries and not just because I invested educational time and effort. We are still humans. We do need contact with other humans that doesn't require an electronic interface.



Don't get me wrong, I have truly benefited from technology. I have been able to prove many a gatekeeper that they were wrong, I can do it.

We still need the verbal in-person communications. We need to see other people that are different from ourselves. We...

Dang. I just heard in my head the voice of Captain Kirk. I don't know why; I'm a Spock girl.

Actually I do respect actor William Shatner because that man is a case study in survival. However life comes to him that is how he takes it. Typecast, breaks the casts, re-invents himself time and again. His career is like the symbol for infinity. I like Kirk but I respect the endurance and talent of William Shatner.

Where was I? Oh, heck. I forgot. I need my nappy time. Well, the video will explain all or not a lick. I gotta wake up early so dig y'all later.

The Stripper Bookstores and the License to Read

I don't want to misled anyone. This is not about strippers running bookstores. This is memory about an old bookstore and news vendor practice. On my other blog, Create Video Notebook, I was explaining about being willing to learn when you know nothing about a topic.

As a teen I really wanted to know about photography but outside of looking at Life Magazine there wasn't the information explosion that is occurring now. There were photography books at the library.

Most of those books talked about chemicals, processing charts or lighting concepts. I didn't understand a word or the multiple charts that were in those books. There were art books about photographers. Karsh, Diane Arbus, the photographers on the WPA project. It did not matter I went through those books like a house on fire.

I wanted to do what they did but I couldn't make the connection between their work and the technical photography guides. It was a secret closed language.

I don't know about the rest of the country but on the east coast there were bookstores and magazine stands. A lot of them. They did good business but not everything sold.

What the newspaper and bookstore vendors were supposed to do with unsold items was to strip off the top portion of the cover of a magazine or the full cover of a book and send it back to the distributor or publisher. This would indicate that this item was unsold and disposed of.

I guess there was some kind of credit in place, I don't know.

The reality was that instead of throwing perfectly ok materials in the trash there was usually a back room or pile where you could pick up said items for 25 cents to $1. Being a broke person who generally only had 50 cents to a $1 at a time this was a win-win situation for me.

I could buy the photography magazines. I could buy Harlan Ellison and fall in love with his rants and some of his fiction. I picked up cooking magazines art and design books, Philip K. Dick and whatever else I could put my hot little hands on.

I had to decide between Dirty Duck and Pudge, Girl Blimp. It was stressful because if you didn't pick it up on Friday afternoon it might not be there when you got back to the store on Monday. I had to go with Pudge, that girl was whacked.

Now as long as one or two of them where doing it on the down low there wasn't much of a fuss. When people were opening full scale stripped bookstores is when it got out of hand.

It was understandably from an author and publisher point of view a nightmare. The publisher sells 10 magazines to the bookstore, sells six and loses money on four of them only to have the bookstore make hand over fist money at 25 cents per book or magazine.

I'm not condoning theft. Nope. It was hurtful in the short term view of things.

Except I and many other people were able to sample a variety of content that we might not have risked money on. Because in time I did pay full price for Harlan Ellison's books, photography magazines and other types of reading materials.

This goes back to the HarperCollins 26 e-book lock down being proposed. A library has the ability to expose readers to new content. Placing a license lock on that content restricts access to those who might want to read it.

Maybe that is the point. I don't know. But books and information can't really be sold like a pack of Ding Dongs.

I think the old newspaper and bookstore folks were on to something. It wasn't just the old discounted stuff that sold. Some people bought new books and magazines as well as the discounted items.

Unrestricted access does produce paying readers.

Another View About HarperCollins e-Book License

I'm not sure we are gonna make it to 2012. This year is frisky enough as it is. Mercy! The latest thing to get me all twisty is the HarperCollins e-book flap. In a nutshell, HarperCollins wants to change the buying terms for e-books for libraries. Instead of one book, one reader one purchase they want to change to a license model.

For example, if a library has an e-book that they lend to library users they can only do that 26 times per book. After that time the library would have to pony up for another license for the next 26 readers.

So let's say the e-book in question is To Kill A Mockingbird. The first 26 people get to read the book. The library looks at the purchasing budget already slashed to hell by city and local governments. They don't have the money to get another license. To Kill A Mockingbird is no longer available at that library.

No sweat you say, what about e-book inter-library loan?

You don't think for a moment that the publisher is going to stand for any form of inter-library loan of an e-book, do you? I doubt if they would even consider inter-branch acceptable. Let's not forget about the license fee, the library would pay one way or the other.

The choice is to either not purchase the e-book or repeatedly pay for the right to distribute the e-book to library users.

Wait a minute you say. There is another choice, just plunk down $7.99 for a paperback copy. And you would be right. The library could do that, so long as there is a physical copy to be obtained.

But time changes things. Mimeo paper use to be common. It isn't any more. There may be a time when a physical book is no longer published.

What if the publisher only had e-book copies of certain books? What if the library e-book is in low but steady demand? Does the library still buy the book at $26 a pop when you might loan only three copies a year for five years?

This is getting messy. Would a library invest in one poet e-book or an anthology? Would the library even buy poetry books, essays, philosophy books or political analysis of historical events?

Does the library stock historical cookbooks, wood crafting books or automotive manuals? Does a non-music contain practice books and musical scores? Will the decision be made to have only one physical or electronic copy of a book?

Do you really want to put commercial book publishers in a position of deciding the amount of times a library book can be read? Because that can become content control. That control could be taken away from librarians and libraries.

I'm asking folks to really think about the implications of that question.

Being 52 - Bookaholic

Some women do shoes. I have books. Lots and lots of books. Mysteries, computer, history, dictionaries all over the joint. I have hardback, paperback, pdf, cassette, CD and mp3 books.



I do not as yet have a book reader. The desire is there but I'm waiting for the perfect one. I'll probably will be sleeping with it.

This is my Day 8 video for #Vlomo10 - National Videoblogging Posting Month.

Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. The music in the video is from Danosongs.com

The World Change A Little Bit But I'm Not Buying An iPad

I don't have much time. I was not supposed to see this video because it would make me crazy. I don't want an iPad. I don't need an iPad. And yet like a fool I watched it before going to work.

I think the iPad is a limited function device for me. I know it is. But the applications; God help me the applications are getting better all of the time. There are a whole bunch of them that will change how video is going to be produced and editing.

Publishing will change as well. This is a commercial from Wired magazine that I viewed on eBookNewser/MediaBistro. I'm not endorsing Wired or the application - I'm looking at the concepts presented.



Anyway, the real potential that I glimmered watching the commercial was the ability to tell multi-level stories. You can go down the rabbit hole and come up in an entirely new place.

Brain cells are popping about the new fiction forms that will be created.

Let me riff on a non-fiction use; lets say that you wrote a book about the movie Casablanca.

• The entire book would be available hyperlinked to the other content.
• You could embed the movie and historic interviews with the cast.
• You could also have information about World War II and the events of the time.
• You could have text and photos of what Paris was like under occupation.
• You could show the script, show the models of the plane used in the final shot.
• Ditto on the costumes.
• Ditto on the lighting decisions and the techniques used.

Ah man, you could frigging re-design the concept of a documentary! I'm still not buying an iPad. It has got to grow up a little more. And I can't imagine that others vendors are just going to sit on the sidelines and get trounced and not respond.

Y'all keep telling me that free competition is good for the country. What are you waiting for?

Your Book Memory Can Help 1000 Kids - Fess Up!

Ok, here is the deal. You know there is one book that stoked your furnace. The one that just thinking about it gets you emotional. I'm not asking for money, time or a commitment. If you could just swing over to BlogHer and share the one or five books that made you the divine person you are today it would really be appreciated.

That is it. Just leave a comment. Have no fear or shame. I know for a fact that Go Dog Go! has a loyal fan club. Steinbeck is in the house. Heck yeah to Road Less Traveled.

But that is the thing isn't it? We need 800 more people to pony up the book that needs to be heard and shared. I've already put in my two cents but somebody needs to speak up for Pudge, Girl Blimp or other obscure titles lost in the mist.

Undercover Nerds - you know you gotta do this right?

Seeking Biblical Scholarship over Biblical Hubris

On Halloween, 2009 Pastor Grizzard of Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, North Carolina planed to burn versions of the bible, music and other objects that are not in alignment with his church’s belief system. One of the definitions of hubris is pride of presumption. Here are the exact words copied from a cached version of the website:

Come to our Halloween book burning. We are burning Satan's bibles like the NIV, RSV, NKJV, TLB, NASB, NEV, NRSV, ASV, NWT, Good News for Modern Man, The Evidence Bible, The Message Bible, The Green Bible, ect. These are perversions of God's Word the King James Bible.

We will also be burning Satan's music such as country , rap , rock , pop, heavy metal, western, soft and easy, southern gospel , contemporary Christian , jazz, soul, oldies but goldies, etc…

…There will be BBQ Chicken, fried chicken and other fixings.

Crystal at Slaughter of the Sheep doesn’t much care for non-Christians. She feels that Christians are different people. That is her opinion and she has a right to express it just as I have every right to disagree. Crystal feels that this (bible burning) is going too far:

Hey, I’m all for getting together on Halloween (if your church decides to do that) and give the kids a night of Christian fellowship and good food. No problem. But this is nonsense (which is turning out to be my favorite word in these last days).

Lori Stanley Roeleveld at Deeper in Jesus in Rhode Island is equally concerned. She make it clear that she is absolutely against book burning. My understanding of her reading her full post is that she is looking inward to herself as to not being afraid to take a stand or live in action instead of fear. Her desire is to turn folks away from the dark side to the light. Lori doesn’t approve of this act but doesn’t like what she is seeing in the world:

…however misguided the action at least they church is acting on their convictions. Again, I am opposed to book burning and think these brothers and sisters are misguided at best but every day I sit by and watch people opposed to God make what I believe is true look like a lie and dress up the things God says are detestable to look as beautiful and appealing as a harem of Victoria Secret models.

The Balancing Act

Pastor Grizzard has the freedom to express his thoughts and opinions; like his belief that country, jazz and contemporary Christian music is a “perversion” or “Satan’s” music.

Not sure that in his role as pastor has the freedom to ignore facts. You can’t ignore facts such as the English language did not exist during the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Or that there are other English language bibles that pre-date the King James version by three hundred years.

The man is so certain in his faith that when other people point out to him that there were earlier bibles in other languages like Aramaic, Egyptian, Babylonian, Hebrew and then Greek and Latin it does not phase him one bit. This is the response from the church, again from a cached copy from the website:

One does not need to know Greek or Hebrew to understand God's Word. God has promised to preserve them, not man. If the preservation of God's Word was left up to man than we would mess it up. That's what we have with modern versions. But divine preservation is God's promise to give us his pure words and we have that in the KJV. God's Word is not lost or hidden somewhere. We have them today for the English Speaking people and that is through the KJV.

The balancing act comes in when I need to point out factual errors but not intentionally or unintentionally disrespect another person’s faith. There is a strong part of me that cannot believe faith requires self-induced closed mindedness. It seems like there are stories that are rushing up to meet me every day to try to prove me wrong.

The women that I discovered working in the area of academic biblical scholarship provide interesting entry points to questions that are not always easy to answer. The difference is that they love the questions.

Biblical Scholarship Blogs and Websites

Julia M. O’Brien is a Hebrew/Old Testament scholar who mixes the relation between contemporary life and the many biblical connections. In her post on Growing an Audience she wonders about how to outreach beyond the university and religious institutions. I also learned a new form of illiteracy, bible illiteracy:

Every year in the mainline seminary in which I teach, I encounter more aspiring pastors who have never heard of Daniel or the allegorical reading of Song of Songs. If I want to challenge a traditional interpretation, I have to teach it first. My colleague in New Testament doesn’t face quite the same level of biblical illiteracy: he can still count on most people having strong opinions about Jesus. But even he reports that students’ knowledge derives far more from pop culture and pop religion than from the Gospels.

April DeConick at The Forbidden Gospels is a professor of Biblical Studies at Rice University. Her post, Creating Jesus 24: Transmutative Soteriology had me hunting for the dictionary. Soteriology is the study of salvation. April writes about another perspective of salvation. How God and Jesus met as one as a means of modeling what humans could emulate.

This is my understanding of what I read. It may not be what Professor DeConick intended to convey:

Because we have here a christology in which God and the flesh meet, forming an extraordinary human being, the goal of this paradigm is for all humans to experience this same transmutation, a perfecting that alters their humanity in the same way that it had altered Jesus'. This is a process called theosis and it is captured in the words of many of the church fathers from the east, "God became man so that man can become God."

Suzanne McCarthy has a series on the women who have made contributions to the translating of biblical text such as Francis Siewart and Helen Spurrell. What caught my attention was her posts about gender exclusivity and the use of male pronouns to represent all of humanity. Suzanne is concerned about proper translation from the Greek language and the inclusion of all people found in the original source material.

One more for the road. Over at the Society of Biblical Literature – visit the podcast page where you can hear an interview with biblical scholars like Shawna Dolansky, and other professionals in the field of academic biblical study and research.

Other Resources:

Biola University’s The Unbound Bible – a database collection of various versions of the Christian bible searchable by language, publisher, publishing date and other variables.

Codex Sinaiticus – from the 4th century contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament.

From Papyri to King James: The Transmission of the English Bible a collection of early materials from the University of Michigan Library.

God Didn’t Say That – A forum for discussing translations and mistranslations of the bible.

In conclusion, you can’t always take a negative situation and derive a positive value. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t make the effort. If you know of other academic biblical scholars pop them in the comments or put in your drachma on what I have written.

Gena Haskett is a Contributing Editor at BlogHer and a version of this post originally appeared on that site.

Borders On Being Silly - I Can Read & Count

It has been a long time since I walked into a book store. I love books. I have an addiction to computer magazines, the UK ones but I'll read a US computer magazine in a pinch. I hadn't been in a bookstore in three months. Probably explains why I have more money in my account.

I just happened to walk in today. Got my computer mags that I buy with the CD of free software. Mass quantities of Linux distributions to explore. (When? I'm time challenged as it is?)

Anyway, I walked by this table with a big honking banner that said buy 1 book and get the other for 1/2 price. I look up at the banner and look down on a bunch of neatly stacked books. Julie Cameron's new writing book and a book about clean eating.

I study the other contenders and head for the counter. Young lady rings me up. $65 and some change. The addition in my head is banging the gong. "Excuse me, but aren't these books a part of the promotion?" She said "no, they don't have a sticker on them."

I point to the seven foot banner hanging from the ceiling. " But the banner said that you buy one and get the other for half." She sighs and ask for register back-up.

I can read her face and tell her to please remove the books from my purchase. The young lady ask a co-worker who confirms if they don't have a sticker they are full price.

This is known as the old okie-doke. Customer has books in hand. There is a slight bond or relationship between me and the book. If you are well off you might say ok, ring them up.

I, on the other hand, am a very frugal shopper. My love runs hot and cold.

Every book in my home is invited. With the except of a book by Gore Vidal where I did pay full price cuz he cracks me up, I buy on sale. I would have bought one of the books if I was told the honest price. It is on the back of the book. I know cuz I flipped it over to figure out the discounted amount of two books.

I am telling you true. None of the books on either side of that table had any sticker on them. The table ahead with no banner had a few books with stickers but I only saw them as I was leaving the store.

I do not like being manipulated. I really don't like being told that what I see is not the truth. Yeah, I know times are rough, a merchant got to do what they got to do but running the old flim flam is what is closing Circuit City's stores right now.

How do I get store managers to understand that if I can't trust you to indicate clearly which books are on sale and those that are not then why should I come in your store? Blaming a mythical customer for placing a non-sales book on the table is bull. All of the books were stacked, untouched. There was no stray book.

I do shop Amazon, Powell's and Sounds True. I don't have to put up with limited coupons on receipts that I never can use. Or e-mail promotions I can't see because I've blocked the images in my e-mail program.

I know every used bookstore in a five mile radius so really I don't need the hassle of looking for a red sticker or a green sticker or walking through an obstacle course to get to checkout.

"Please remove the books." I asked. Well she didn't know how to do that so she canceled the purchase and rang me up all over again. I was cool. It wasn't her fault.

It was business. The way business is currently being performed. Newspapers heading south, retailers shutting their doors, like the one across the street and the one in back of your store? Take a hint why don't you? It is not too late.

Well, good luck to you. I'm done. Maybe in six months I will have forgotten. Probably not. I'm kinda steamed and I have a long memory about these things. If you are still operating and a friend wants to go in sure, I'll follow. That is if I can't talk him out of it first.

How Shall I See You Through My Tears: Standing At The Inaugural Crossroads

I'm standing in the crossroads. It is a joyous hurt indeed. This past week I bounced from idea to idea until I landed on a book called The American Women’s Almanac: An Inspiring and Irreverent Women’s History by Louise Berntrow.  Hmm,  what historical women could I invite to watch the ceremony along with a group of history bloggers?

Ann Hutchinson, who in 1634, believed that women could comprehend words of faith as well as men could.  She committed the crime of sharing her faith with other women and dare assert that she could talk to God without the assistance of a man.  The Puritans banished her from the town. Ann might like to converse with Heather of Not A DIY Life to learn how some contemporary women who are free to publically express their faith and demonstrate how women now have multiple ways of expressing faith that is incorporated into everyday life.

Certainly I’d have to invite both Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth but I would expect that Harriet wouldn’t like to be confined in a room when she could roam in a new land but I’d take a chance on it just the same. Viola Liuzzo, was a housewife killed as she was bringing marchers back to Selma, Alabama. I’d have them meet with SO Katie who would get them caught up on progress and how there is still a struggle with civil rights for members of the GLBT community.

I could have Jenny from the American President’s Blog speak with Mary Todd Lincoln, free from her addiction and pain to witness the country united as one of her husband’s Emancipation Proclamation speech. I need to make room for Eleanor Roosevelt for her perspective of being an activist First Lady. Mrs. Lincoln did not believe in women’s suffrage (early feminism) and I’m thinking Mrs. Roosevelt with her actions in and out the White House might give her the vapors. I may need Jenny to sit between them as a buffer.

The crossroad in our lives are not paved only to look at the lessons of the past but to look ahead and nurture our future. Standing in the middle point of the road I can look back and a little bit forward. Part of our job is to inform the children born of this time of our history so that they can visualize what will be possible in their lives.

Chicago Grade School Students From Share My Inauguration Interview Robin Roberts

Thanks to the McCormick Foundation Share My Inauguration project 24 students from Chicago’s Frazier Preparatory Academy have the opportunity to witness the swearing in of the 44th President of the U.S.  From the web site:

During their four-day journey to Washington, D.C., the students will visit landmarks such as the Capitol Building and the Smithsonian and attend the inauguration and an inaugural ball. When they return to Chicago, the DC 24 will publish a newspaper describing their experience and deliver a presentation about their trip to parents, faculty and peers.

There was an unexpected added bonus. The students had an opportunity to interview ABC News reporter Robin Roberts at the Smithsonian Museum. This is a digital age so the kids came ready with Flip camcorders,digital cameras and questions.

In this first segment, Robin Roberts answers questions on why she is visiting the Smithsonian Museum: 

 

In this next clip, Kierra and the DC24 students ask what does she think the President will do? After the interview Kierra explains how she felt about meeting Ms. Roberts.

 

Well, there is much to do. After I finished getting gooey-eyed I have to figure out the direction I want to take. I struggle with it every day but the correct answer is forward.

More Resources:

• You can find out more about Ann Hutchinson by reading  a narrative of her activities in the collection “The Story of New England Pilgrims 1620 and of 1624 via Google Books.
• For more on Sojourner Truth the University of Pennsylvania has and electronic copy of her book “The Narrative of Sojourner Truth”, dictated by the author and edited by Olive Gilbert.
• For more info on Eleanor Roosevelt you can visit her biography page from the FDR Library and Museum site.
• You can view actual FBI documentation on Viola’s case and the people responsible for her death. 

This post originally appeared on BlogHer where I am a Contributing Editor.

Appalachian History, Donors Choose and Music To Soothe Our Souls

I want to encourage folks to support the Appalachian History project at DonorsChoose.org. To be honest, it was tough to pick just one. This particular project has life changing possibilities. Mrs. L's class needs 15 books on Appalachian history and culture. The transfer of cultural information is a crucial element in visualizing success in your future.

If you know that your ancestors journeyed thousands of miles and established themselves in a new country it does wonders to help young people to take the next invisible step. A well rounded cultural image helps to inoculate your from those that disrespect you and determine your worth just by looking at you.

I want to share two reasons why I think this is a good community investment.

The Foxfire Books

My high school was hooked on the Foxfire Books. You could learn how to skin a squirrel, camp out in the holla or read oral histories of life in Appalachia. The documentation was done by high schools students who went out into their communities and recorded the events, experiences and skills necessary to live in the region. Mind you, we were city kids and not a one of us had any desire to skin anything. But we did connect with the writers of the magazine and the book compilations.

I felt a connection because my grandmothers had to do similar things to feed their families. So when I would read about how much work it took to slaughter a hog and how every part of the animal was used I began to understand about real world reuse and recycle issues. Thirty years later Foxfire is still going strong. You can visit the current Foxfire's educational and cultural history project.

Bloggers Rally Against Media Presentations of Appalachian Life

If you think about it, what do any of us know about "Appalachian Life?" The Clampetts and Mayberry's Ernest T. Bass? How about Hee-Haw and Lil Abner? The Coal Miner's Daughter gave us one view but then you have a movie like Deliverance. That had to put a crimp in tourism for a few years.

Many of the above examples where created or fashioned by people who did not know anything about the area. Worse still, they played up or enhanced stereotypes that we hold to this day. I know that I get steamed when someone creates a TV show, movie or a so-called news story that bears no resemblance to the people that I know.

Fortunately, the Appalachian blogging community has step up to the challenge of presenting the view on their communities. Jessica Edwards had the opportunity to photograph a group of women being honored at the Believing in Ourselves: A Celebration of Appalachian Women.  Marie at Blue Ridge blog has got great photos and her almost daily Annie photos. Rebecca at Carpe You Some Diem displays her art work, her new hair cut and experimenting with Spam Sushi (no really, very popular in Hawaii)

Hillbilly Savants is a team blog that take the time to look at the small and the large picture of life in the area.  Redhen at Brambleberry Blog keeps it almost lyrical. The quality of the light of day, the food she has harvested and what she is doing almost reads like a prose poem. There is Mullet Pride at Mullets of Appalachia.

Not all of the residents are red to the bone; Some are but then you have Left Wing Cracker. Easy Bake Coven is waiting for you with her sense of irony and Raging Red is very blue – politically speaking. RedNecromancer, I don’t know where to start. From cultural attitudes about negativity to the explanation of what the word cracker means and what it really means when you have to deal with one.

I could go on and on. There is some damn fine writing and photography taking place up on and around the ridge. But I want to leave you with a musical balm that I hope will inspire you to drop some cash at DonorsChoose. We only need 11 more people to contribute $20 and one person to contribute $2.17. Do what you can but you have 28 days left to do it. Make that move!

This is a video of musicians Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko combining Appalachian and African styles of music to create a joining place. The song is called Yelemane.

Now after you’ve made your donation go on over to Jayme’s site and soak up more goodness.

CE Gena Haskett is still tapping her toes over on Out On The Stoop and PCCLibTech

Information Freedom for Children – My Testimony for Banned and Challenged Book Week

I use to be a child. Some say a curious child. No, that is understatement. I was a damn Class A question box. Most children pass through that intensive questioning stage of development. I was not one of them. That sucker attached itself to me and will not let me go without “the answer.”  It has been a blessing, a curse and a guaranteed pathway to adventure.

I want you to imagine (even if you are not a parent) what it would be like to live with a person who wanted to know everything. 365 days a year with no time off unless you shipped her off to the grandparents or vacation with other relatives.  Have that yappy image in your mind. and I will tell you my story.

Once upon a time me and my friend Cheryl were hanging out at her house when we notice a magazine on the coffee table. It was Life magazine. On the cover was the first photograph of a child in the womb. We were about seven years of age. We glommed onto that magazine and tried to figure out what the deal was with that picture.  We tried to read the text and got as far as something to do with an egg when Cheryl’s mom saw us and took the magazine away.  I think she said we were too young to understand what we were seeing and reading.

The Chicken and The Egg

I could read the word “egg.” So I asked, “Do babies come from eggs?” Cheryl’s mom was flustered and said something about “We need to go outside and play, it was too nice to be indoors.”  So we went outside and straight to my mom and I posed the question. She said "No."

Okay then why did Life magazine say so?” “What Life magazine?” she asked.  We head back across the street to Cheryl’s house to go get the proof. Her mother then denied any existence of said magazine and we shouldn’t worry about such things. I could see I wasn’t going to get any cooperation and I knew what I saw so I go back home and start in again. 

“Do babies come from eggs?” My mother had decided on the literalist approach.

“No.”

“Then why was that baby shaped like an egg?”

“What baby? No baby is shaped like an egg.”

“This one was it was curled up and everything. Where do they come from? I saw the picture and …

“Babies do not come from eggs and you shouldn't trouble yourself about things that you are too young to understand. That statement was delivered in that maternal tone of voice that says “Enough!” Which lasted a hot 10 minutes and I was at it again.

Not only could I not let go of the question I refused to eat any eggs until I had an answer. I had no problem with eating Chicken however. I had principles but nothing stood between me and a drumstick.

Well, you get the idea. This went on for weeks. Every variation of the question was posed. I scope out the corner stores for Life; all I could find was comic books, Sepia and Jet magazine. I checked out the school library. Dinosaur books up the wahzoo (with baby dinosaurs hatching out of eggs mind you) which just made me crazy. But the school library didn't have anything on people babies busting out of eggs. Believe you me I checked each and every shelf for that kind of book.

I gave up asking my mom, Cheryl's mom and finding a copy of that magazine. I had one resource left. Not sure how I got the idea, maybe it was a commercial on TV. Go to the public library. I knew where it was but I didn't think kids were allowed inside, to me it was so big it look like it took up half a city block.

I Couldn't Stand It Anymore. I Needed to Know.

I walk the five blocks. Go up those steps. Peep in the door and see nothing but books. Stacks and stacks of them. There was a U shaped desk and a good sized black lady behind the counter. The librarian asked if I needed help. 

"Do you have a book on where babies come from?

The librarian had to looked down at my head because I was kinda short. She thought for a moment and said "Yes, I think we do have some books on the subject."  She explained that she didn't have any children's books that but there a few adult books that had illustrations and color overlays.  She asked a few more questions and I told her about Life magazine and the eggs and everything.

The librarian pulled out the most visual, accessible books on anatomy and reproduction and left me to it.  Did not explain, interpret, influence or swing me one way or the other. The librarian allowed me to discover for myself what I was able to understand.

The Tug of War Between Parental Rights and Informational Freedom for Children

In hindsight and in defense of Cheryl's and my mom they were doing what they believed to be correct. We also have to take into consideration that they didn't necessarily know how to explain topics of sex, gestation or reproduction to a seven year old person. Many of the books and materials we now have in libraries and school libraries did not exist in the 1960's. I totally understand and respect that they wanted to protect us. 

Parents today are no different. Parents want to protect their kids. There are information sources and stimuli that did not exist such as DVDs, computer, video games, the Internet, cell phones, graphic novels, Anime and a shifting moral landscape that scare the hell out of some folks.

Be scared but be prepared. Go to your local library or ask to visit your child's school library. Ask questions as to why a book is present that you might have a concern about. They will tell you why the book is on the shelf. The good libraries and librarians are waiting for parents. They have access to recommendations about books,on difficult topics such as death, disease, bullying and going to the doctor. There are publications that review children's books and media. Some of those sources are secular, some are religious or academic in nature.

The First Amendment does apply to children. Children have the right and the obligation to explore his or her own world. Yes, the parents are the first teachers but children will not wait until you are ready to discuss a topic. Yes, parent have the right to decide if their child is ready to access certain concepts such as sexuality, love, changing bodies, books about other faiths or Atheist issues.

You don't necessarily have that right for another parent's child.  So here is deal. If your child presents you with a legitimate question and, you choose not to answer it, I promise you somebody else will. I was lucky. I had a librarian.

Despite your best intentions there are some questions your child may not be able to ask you. Let them know how to use your local library or how to access the 24/7 Ask A Librarian. It is a easy as going to your local library web site and look for the Ask A Librarian link.

Additional Resources:

For Those of You That Feel There Is Far Too Much Inappropriate Materials in Public and School Libraries

• Annoyed Librarian  There is a conception that most librarians are well, liberal. That is not necessarily true. She does disagree with the American Library Association's promotion of Banned Book Week.  AL does not like some of the books and materials that are accessible to children and the population at large.  She ain't that crazy about the ALA in the first place.
• Parents Against Bad Books In Schools (PABBIS) is a web site to inform parents about what they believe to be a rising tide of immoral, anti-family, sexual, violent and other similar books and materials. I really disagree with their depiction of pornography being placed in pubic school classrooms but that First Amendment thing kicks in and they have the right to present their point of view. They have a .pdf file available on materials some might consider bad, offensive or troublesome.

For Those of You That Feel The First Amendment Trumps Banning or Challenging Certain Books

• The American Library Association has an interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights that applies to children called Free Access to Libraries for Minors. It talks about the balancing of protecting children while at the same time providing access for all patrons to books and materials.
• As I mentioned parents do have the right to challenge materials and expect a response. Librarian James LaRue at Myliblog demonstrated not only the process but his response to the children's book "Uncle Bobby's Wedding" was what we all hope to aspire to as human beings. It is about treating the patron with respect but also making the case that children, GLBT parents and straight parents with GLBT relatives have the right to access books and topics based on their community needs. Mr. LaRue has book on the topics of "The New Inquisition: Understanding and Managing Intellectual Freedom Challenges" that you can read a preview sample at Google Books.
• Janet Yanosko fires up the blood at Forbidden Library where you can get information about the difference between a banned and a challenged book and an extensive list of banned and challenged books. The usual suspects are presents such as Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girls, Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, Ibsen's A Doll House (it propagates feminist views?) and To Kill A Mockingbird.

Blogs That Provide Review, Discuss or Provide Information About Children Books

• DHS Library Latest is Carrie Albert's aka Library Lady blog on Children's literature is new but she packing the good stuff with a synopsis, a review of the book, and how it can be incorporated into various learning situations.
• Need the hook-up to child literature and non-fiction bloggers? ChildrensBookReview wiki has links divided by age or interest. Click on a link and your screen will fill with links to blogs with reviews of books in that topic area. Some are written by parents, teachers, librarians those into graphic novels.
• Kelly at Big A Little keeps an eye out on mainstream media children's books reviews and on-line resources.

Originally posted at BlogHer.