Shopping for the Bookworm: Patti Smith Edition

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I love Patti Smith. My fingers are itching to get carried away in rhapsodies about her, but my head insists that I maintain restraint. At least for today. The need for a long essay has been forcing its way into my brain, so you’ll likely see something on here soon. Until then, enjoy these Patti-themed goods from Etsy!

Nautical poster print with Patti Smith quote by Grainyman

Nautical poster print with Patti Smith quote by Grainyman. $34.90

The combination of image and quote is just plain lovely.

Patti Smith Easter on vinyl by Drop The Needle

Patti Smith Group  Easter on vinyl from Drop The Needle. $20.00

A classic on vinyl.

Patti Smith key chain by Ultravioletglam Designs

Patti Smith key chain by Ultravioletglam Designs. $10.00

This is probably my favourite photo of Patti Smith. A key chain equals portable inspiration.

Patti Smith pocket planner, 2012-2013 by Rock 'n Roll Rebellion

Patti Smith pocket planner, 2012-2013 by Rock ‘n Roll Rebellion. $7.95

A practical application using a wonderful image from a 1978 cover of Rolling Stone.

I know it’s a close-up of the key chain image, but I love the impact of the heart surrounding the expression on her face.

BONUS #1:

It is well-known how close Patti was to Robert Mapplethorpe, so I had to include a piece in honor of him. This is a vintage ad.

BONUS #2:

Arthur Rimbaud stencil print by Chiaroscuro

Arthur Rimbaud stencil print by Chiaroscuro. $12.00

Arthur Rimbaud has been a deep influence on Patti’s life and work. The delicacy of this stencil is present in all Chiaroscuro‘s art.

The Dead Writers Round-Up: 1st-3rd August

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  • Herman Melville was born on 8/1/1819. “A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things.”
  • James Baldwin was born on 8/2/1924. “Every legend, moreover, contains its residuum of truth, and the root function of language is to control the universe by describing it.”
  • Wallace Stevens died on 8/2/1955. “As life grows more terrible, its literature grows more terrible.”
  • Donald Ogden Stewart died on 8/2/1980. Stewart was a playwright-turned-screenwriter. He won an Academy Award for his adaptation of Philip Barry’s play, The Philadelphia Story.
  • William S. Burroughs died on 8/2/1997. “Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact.”
  • Ernie Pyle was born on 8/3/1900. “War makes strange giant creatures out of us little routine men who inhabit the earth.”
  • Joseph Conrad died on 8/3/1924. “An artist is a man of action, whether he creates a personality, invents an expedient, or finds the issue of a complicated situation.”
  • Colette died on 8/3/1954. “A happy childhood is poor preparation for human contacts.”
  • Flannery O’Connor died on 8/3/1964. “I am not afraid that the book will be controversial, I am afraid it will not be controversial.”

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[All images are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and are in the public domain.]

 

A Year in Books/Day 184: QB VII (or, A Book in My Collection I Do Not Like)

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  • Title: QB VII
  • Author: Leon Uris
  • Year Published: 1970 (Doubleday & Company, Inc.)
  • Year Purchased: 1990s
  • Source: Book Harbor, Westerville, Ohio
  • About: QB VII is proof that I do not love (or even like) everything in my collection. There are a few odd volumes I’ve kept on after discovering I really do not like their contents. This is one of those rarities. I don’t object to the flashbacks, legal proceedings or courtroom setting; if I did, I never would have selected this for my initiation into the writings of Leon Uris. That bitch known as hindsight thinks I should probably have started with Exodus or Topaz, but it is far too late now. Continue reading →

[News] Gore Vidal is Dead

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“Many writers who choose to be active in the world lose not virtue but time, and that stillness without which literature cannot be made.”-Gore Vidal (1925-2012)

 
One day, I hope that the deaths of famous authors is considered new worthy in this country. Oh, who am I kidding? Suri Cruise visiting Disney World is, and will remain, way more important. Carry on.

Daily Diversion #30: My Immobile Friend

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Doughboy

Doughboy

Our neighborhood doughboy has been in residence,  across the street from our flat, since 1920. My husband and I salute him on our evening walks. In 2010, we posed for engagement photos standing on his base. He moves me to recite the poetry of his contemporaries, allies and enemies alike. He’s a wonderful audience of one. I haven’t been so smitten with a statue since Montreal, circa 2004. That’s another story, and one you shan’t be told.

A Year in Books/Day 183: Tinisima

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  • Title: Tinisima A Novel
  • Author: Elena Poniatowska
  • Year Published: 1992/This Edition: 1998 (Penguin Books)
  • Year Purchased: 2004
  • Source: Barnes & Noble clearance rack
  • About: Although she is now one of my favourite photographers, the image that introduced me to Tina Modotti was not by, but rather of, this magnetic and enigmatic woman. It was, of course, an Edward Weston.
    Tina Modotti with her arms raised by Edward Weston (Source: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

    Tina Modotti with her arms raised by Edward Weston (Source: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

    I enjoy his work, but feel a resolute kinship with the art of the woman whose talent he encouraged. Tinisima, in translation from the original Spanish, is a fictionalized account of her turbulent, sacrificial, frustrating, many-faceted life. In a way, it is a more fitting tribute to its mysterious subject than any well-researched biography.

  • Motivation: Having read Patricia Albers’ excellent biography Shadows, Fire, Snow a couple of years earlier, I was interested to see how a fictional account of Modotti’s life would play out.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page 171: “Eight picture in one day! She always mulled over each shot, even visited the scene and studied the light at different times of day before shooting; she waited for the exact moment, the click ringing out in the sacred silence. Now he is telling her to press the shutter without thinking about the results, like the unconscious blink of an eye. That is journalism.”
  • Happiness Scale: 8 1/2

A Year in Books/Day 182: Paddington Marches On

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  • Title: Paddington Marches On
  • Author: Michael Bond, with drawings by Peggy Fortnum
  • Year Published: 1964 (Houghton Mifflin)
  • Year Purchased: 1978
  • Source: According to the inscription in my mother’s hand, this entered my collection on Christmas Day (courtesy of Mommy + Daddy).
  • About: I’m sure you know all about Paddington Bear. If you don’t, I have no idea what is wrong with you. He is one of the most visible children’s fictional characters of the last 50+ years. I loved his fetching coat and hat ensemble, and related to his greedy love of marmalade sandwiches. My favourite part from this book was always Paddington and the Cold Snap. I read it so many times that I knew it by heart. (If pressed, I could probably recite a line or two even now.) I still think he’s a pretty charming fellow. I hope my hypothetical future kids do, too.
  • Motivation: Judging by the surviving books from my early childhood, I really loved bears. Or my family thought I did, which as a tiny tot amounted to the same thing. I still own volumes of Little Bear, Pooh Bear, and, of course, Paddington Bear.
  • Times Read: Likely hundreds of times in the first year alone. This was one of the first ‘real’ (i.e. chapter) books I was given, and I couldn’t get enough of the fact that it contains far more text than illustrations.
  • Random Excerpt/Page 9: “All the same, Paddington wasn’t the sort of bear to waste a good opportunity and a moment or so later he closed the door behind him and made his way down the side of the house as quickly as he could in order to investigate the matter. Apart from the prospect of playing snowballs he was particularly anxious to test his new Wellingtons which had been standing in his bedroom waiting for just such a moment ever since Mrs. Brown had given them to him at Christmas.”
  • Happiness Scale: 9

Daily Diversion #29: A Riverside Perambulation

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My mom was in town this weekend. I didn’t write anything, but I exchanged ideas with the clouds hanging over the river.

Riverfront view across to Kentucky.

Riverfront view across to Kentucky.

Hardier souls in running shoes were doing drills up and down the stairs. We sat, staring off into the distance or talking. The clouds were almost close enough to pluck from the sky.

Riverfront Steps, Clouds Through the Bridge

Riverfront Steps, Clouds Through the Bridge

We walked for miles, and met some very strange creatures…

A Pig Statue (it's a Cincinnati thing)

A Pig Statue (it’s a Cincinnati thing)

Clouds hovering over the Princess Diana Tiara on Queen City Tower.

Archway, with a Sliver of Skyline in the Distance

Archway, with a Sliver of Skyline in the Distance

One sunburn and several lovely memories later, I’m ready to hit the keyboard again.