An Ordinary Tourist

Note: this blog entry is REALLY about book vs online research. I just always make it about England if I can!

High on the list of things that make me happy would be "Planning a trip to England". I am happy!

The first thing I do upon returning from a trip to England is to begin thinking about the next trip, whether I have any hope of ever going again or not. So when I returned from my 2009 trip with a group of friends, I decided I wanted to spend more time in London and explore East Anglia, but I quite frankly did not expect it to happen. Thanks to a little unexpected windfall and the good graces of my daughter and son-in-law (hereafter to be referred to as 'the kids') I am in the midst of planning my seventh visit to England.

My first trip was in 1986 and it was while planning for it that I began what is now a very substantial collection of books about England. When I came home, thoroughly besotted with England, I collected more books and read everything I could get my hands on...I had already begun thinking about another trip with my daughter for 1989 ostensibly a graduation gift, not that I was fooling anyone.

Overflow from my bookshelves

One of the things that upset me as I did my research was how often during the first trip we had been within a few miles or even a few yards of something I later wished I had seen but didn't know about at the time. The compactness of England, coupled with it's incredible wealth of history and great literature makes this inevitable. Determined not to let this happen again, I began accumulating information in any way I could and - no surprise to anyone who knows me - set up several databases on my new computer. I also began collecting postcards, primarily English views, which also went into a database.
After the 1989 trip it was nine long years before I could manage another and my research in 1997 was almost entirely done on the computer. Countless other Anglo-nerds had spent precious hours and resources setting up websites detailing everything from who is buried where, to the best tearooms or the best fish & chip shops. The big cities all had websites. My trip in 2000 was also researched online, as well as the 2007 trip.

When I started planning about two months ago, I went straight to the computer, but surprisingly, before long I found myself back at my books...many of which I had contemplated getting rid of! Many of the wonderful sites I had used earlier had disappeared or hadn't been updated in years. In their place I found websites for every city, town and even most villages. The problem was, these websites were all about where to stay, eat, or shop. The information on local history or attractions was all about the commercial ventures. I began to suspect that the way to be listed on these sites was to pay for advertising.

So I am back to my books for inspiration. Books like:
     One Thousand Buildings of London
     Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide
     Insiders England
     The English Village
Even a travel series that dates from the 1920's has been tremendously helpful, and browsing my picture books equally so.

Then I take my notes from the books to the computer. Online I find out opening times and entrance fees, parking information and train schedules. I pull up maps and plot our roads from village to village. I zero in and walk the Strand in London. But I never forget that without the books I would just be following in the footsteps of every other ordinary tourist. And I don't ever want to be an ordinary tourist.

My LibraryThing book list (not yet complete) Tere's Books

Need some Post-Holiday De-stressing?

I don't know about you, but whenever I can steal some time to just sit and read, it improves my outlook on life. If it's something dark and humorless I feel better about my own life. If it's a bit dry and boring, I am usually being educated along the way. This doesn't count reading in bed, which for one thing, isn't sitting and for another, it just puts me to sleep. But that stolen hour mid-day, ah, that's the luxury. So it comes as no surprise that reasearch shows that reading improves mental wellbeing and reduces stress by 67%.

Acknowledging this fact, the Reading Agency in England has come up with a list of 'mood enhancing' books which will be promoted in libraries all over England in 2012. I assume that anyone with time to check out my blog, also must have time to read – or at the least should be making time – so as a public service here is the list...with my comments in parentheses.

The Beach Cafe by Lucy Diamond (chick-lit)
Being Human by Neil Astley (poetry)
The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde (detective humor – one of my very favorite authors, although I prefer his Thursday Next series)
Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani (part of a relationship series)
Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee (memoir)
Couch Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy by Philippa Perry (graphic novel)
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (children's)
Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois Lelord (novel)
Life According to Lubka by Laurie Graham (humorous fiction)
Life with the Lid Off by Nicola Hodgkinson (memoir)
A Little History of the World by EH Gombrich (children's – but a good place for those of us without degrees in history to start)
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson (fiction)
Men at Work by Mike Gayle (chick-lit)
Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson (travel – ANYTHING by this man will make you smile out loud)
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (fiction)
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford (classic fiction – if you like this, go right straight to Love in a Cold Climate)
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (children's)
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman (fantasy)
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon (humor)
Stop What You're Doing and Read This! By Charlie Oatway (essays)
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (fiction)
That Awkward Age by Roger McGouch (poetry)
To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell (chick-lit)
Trouble on the Heath by Terry Jones (Humor)
Waterlog by Roger Deakin (nature – just went to the top of my must read list)
A Winter Book by Tove Jansson (autobiographical stories)

You will note that this is not just a list of funny books, books that will make you laugh out loud or giggle, but books that will make you feel better about yourself, or the world. It's a wonderful genre-bending list and I particularly appreciate the inclusion of poetry and children's fiction. Some of my favorite books (such as Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series) are considered children's or young adult. I like to think that I am a young adult, it's all a matter of perspective. Somewhere there must be a list of “Children's Books for Adults”, and when I find it, I will pass it on.

I would have added something (anything) by PG Wodehouse to this list. Also, something from Anthony Trollope's Barchester Chronicles, or one of the Miss Read books. All of these have been functional de-stressers for me at some point in my life.

I have only read about a quarter of the books on this list, but I can testify that they were all well chosen, so I tend to trust the rest of it. If I ever finish the stack of books beside my bed, and the stack next to my sofa, and the metaphorical stack on my Kindle, and (I must admit it) the stack in my bathroom...I'll know where to go next.

Libris

My year of the book is now well underway.  The best idea I found for a title was simply to add 'libris' to the title of this blog.  In other words...to turn the mind to books.  My site is up and running, and I have begun posting.  I am now posting photos and information on books I have already made, but my book for January will be along shortly.  There is a reference section and I will be keeping track of my progress.  So please, take a moment to look at http://animumadverterelibris.blogspot.com/ 

This is what you call a teaser.....

?Year of the Book?

New Year’s Resolutions don’t scare me.  I’ve been making them and breaking them for years and I think I am the better for it.  I try to make my resolutions rather open ended with no specific numbers or dates so failure just sort of slips by quite easily.  Mainly, for me, the point of it all is a sort of taking stock.  I think just pondering appropriate resolutions is a helpful process, bringing things to the front of your mind and cutting into our regular denial a bit.

In the last year I have instituted several changes in my way of getting through life, most of which are going quite well.  So it seemed to me I that I had done enough pondering of my failings already.  Besides, by the time one gets to my age, it’s pretty much the same failings year after year.

Last year, my daughter made a general resolution to finish projects – some just ‘on the list’ and others started but languishing.  I thought I needed some sort of general resolution or theme for 2011 that I could work at all year and yet still set goals, preferably something creative.

The answer came quickly and easily:  2011 – The Year of the Book.  I’m still looking for a title that doesn’t sound so corny, but it wasn’t difficult to set a list of goals. The list includes organizing, finishing, learning, using up, and more.  It does not include reading them, reviewing them, or talking about authors – that will just carry on as usual.  Since I am having so much fun with this blog, it seemed appropriate to set up a separate site to publish my goals and also follow my progress.  

Pages from a finished book of leaves



Pages from a 'nearly' finished travel Journal from 2007



Pages from another 'nearly' finished travel journal from 2010

And so, my first goal is to set up the new site.  I’ll let you know as soon as it is ready to go.  If you can think of a cleverer name for this project, please let me know.

A Bookish Idea

Thomas Hardy's Childhood Home, Lower Bockhampton, Dorset



I have a lot more good ideas than I have time or money.  Unfortunately, I usually find enough of both to start something – but often not enough to finish.  Let’s be honest, I’m just not good at finishing things.  So if it’s a good idea that can be worked in stages, there is a chance for some success.

Most of my trips to England have several slots in the itinerary for the homes of my favorite English authors or locations associated with their lives or books.  This is not difficult as England is just crawling with both of these.  If I like an author, I want to read everything he has written and I want the books on my shelves because I am one of those odd ducks who rereads books on a regular basis.  (This is something I will probably discuss at a later date.) I try to buy used books whenever possible – it saves money, it saves books, and I often get a pleasant little surprise that has been inadvertently tucked in the book by the original owner.  I’ve found such things as a French train ticket, a vintage London bookstore receipt, and a ticket stub from an early Star Trek movie – not to mention bookmarks from exotic locations, like Cleveland. 

So here is a lovely idea I had which I would like to recommend to any avid readers out there.  When you are ordering prints from your vacation – get an extra copy of any that are associated with a book on your shelf, write the date and general information on the back, and tuck it in the book.  I can imagine someone, perhaps a grandchild, opening Hardy’s “Mayor of Casterbridge” and finding a photo of  The King's Arms' Hotel in Dorchester High Street - its "spacious bow-window projected into the street over the main portico," through which Mrs. Henchard saw her husband being entertained as Mayor of Casterbridge.  More likely, they’ll open a Harry Potter book and find the Gloucester Cathedral Cloisters, a filming location for several of the movies.

Here is an example: The Book

The photo of an actual Mousehole Cat taken in Mousehole, Cornwall in 2007:

A photo of my miniature Cornish Kitchen with the Mousehole Cat sunning himself:

(more about this kitchen later)

 I’m actually doing this – and someday, someone’s gonna really love it!

A little library, growing every year, is an honorable part of a man's history.  It is a man's duty to have books.   - Henry Ward Beecher