Tuesday, February 24, 2009

President George Washington and Washington, D.C.


Teaser Tuesdays


TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
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"The invention of Washington, D.C., is in part a soaring story of national aspiration, in part a cautionary tale of the first great landgrabbing boondoggle in American history, and in part a grim record of slavery's buried history."
The above is only one sentence from Fergus M. Bordewich's novel Washington The Making of the American Capital. [page 19]
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Sometimes I consider it . . .











Flowing Toward


Of all that God has shown me

I can speak but the smallest word,

Not more than a honeybee

Takes on her foot

From an overspilling jar....


(Mechtild of Magdeburg, 13th Century)

architecture in Seguin - all types










Random snapshots - and then there are the beautiful renovated old homes in Seguin - and the newer houses in some of the subdivisions. So many varieties of architecture and styles (I'm not an architect so can't explain the period or the style - but find it very interesting nevertheless).
I love finding something new each day in Seguin!

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The Props assist the House (729)
by Emily Dickinson

The Props assist the House
Until the House is built
And then the Props withdraw
And adequate, erect,
The House support itself
And cease to recollect
The Augur and the Carpenter –
Just such a retrospect
Hath the perfected Life –
A Past of Plank and Nail
And slowness – then the scaffolds drop
Affirming it a Soul


Allison Arieff wrote an interesting article, "Shelf Life" about William Stout's architecture and design bookstore in San Francisco. [New York Times, February 24, 2009]


An excerpt: Stores like Stout’s (not to mention people like Stout!) are a rare breed these days: there are two floors bursting with over 200,000 books on everything from the sustainable houses of Australian architect Glenn Murcutt to Czech graphic designer Vitezslav Nezval’s “Alphabet” from 1926 to the last sketchbook of Jackson Pollock to William Wegman’s whimsical “Dogs on Rocks.” Some books are shelved in an orderly fashion, others are piled high, begging for the serendipity of accidental discovery.