Journal to a Muse

Browsing at Borders

DH and I ended up at Borders this afternoon (as we often do!), and the following struck my fancy. But because Santa sometimes likes a little inspiration, I didn't buy any of these. One thing that struck me about this list is that it includes Children's books! And Mysteries. DH didn't think much of it because it didn't have any Robert Heinlein titles. Everybody has their biases. But the editors give a bit about the content as well as why the recommended book is considered important. As another person who often referred to Clifton Fadiman's Lifetime Reading Plan, this seems like a reasonable addendum.

There are similar format titles on places to visit, CD's and Movies.

From the book jacket, this might be a heart wrenching memoire. Turned out by her family at 16, she plugs on, earns a writing stipend and has now published her book (as well as untangling a lot of personal loose ends). I think it could be inspiring.

One of my favorite artists traveled the country, painted and wrote comments about the places, people and paintings. Writing about getting to a Vermont landscape at the wrong time of day (or perhaps allowing the horizon to be too high, he writes

"One should have a good justification for lying, even in painting."

At first this seemed overly directive, but the more I looked at the examples Dodson provided, as well as the ones by other artists, the more it seemed like he could help one kick-start one's enthusiasm! (Chapter contents include Doodling and Noodling, A New Reality, Stretching the Truth, Vizualizing Ideas, Telling Stories, Using Pattern, Mining Culture and Developing Themes. (Maybe I need more sketch pads and pens, too.)

Apparently New Yorkers already know about Maira Kalman. This seems to be a stream of consciousness illustrated journal/memoire. (I found it shelved with art books at Borders.) It is VERY weird. But I'll definitely read more of it next time I get a chance. And perhaps illustrate my own weird illustrated memoire.

It's hard to read a whole book of self-help or motivational quotes at once. And this would probably be something I browse in small bits. But it had a dialogue Byron Kelly had with a friend who was dying. Her caring, and her CALM are something I'd like to learn.