grandies wake up in the cottage
and run downstairs
to take in all the magic
of the new morning snow
and
perched atop piles of books
eagerly await the arrival
of their cousins
who will soon help them bake
a team of sweet gingerbread reindeer.
—
“always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.”
― e.b. white
The Historic Parisian Bookshop Where Aspiring Writers Can Spend the Night for Free
Shakespeare and Company opened its doors back in 1951, and ever since then, it’s hosted aspiring writers for free. And it’s not always just for a night, sometimes, guests stay for months, and they don’t have to pay a penny. The Parisian literary hub may be the only bookshop in the world of its kind.
More than 30,000 guests have stayed at the bookshop since American expat George Whitman opened it over six decades ago, and many of them have even gone on to become international best sellers.
Molly Dektar, who lived at Shakespeare and Company in January and June 2013, wrote about the experience: “I aimed to read a book a day but it wasn’t entirely possible. Still, the goal is spiritually important and should be taken seriously. One minute I was a visitor just like any other,” she added, “and the next minute I was welcomed in to this huge, historic community of writers and expatriates.”
Now, 65 years after the bookshop opened, the owner, Whitman’s daughter Sylvia, has released a memoir documenting its long history. Whitman was inspired by American expat Sylvia Beach, who owned a bookshop by the same name at another location, which existed between 1919 and 1941.
Beach’s bookshop had been a popular and frequent gathering place for legendary writers like Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald and T S Eliot. She had also been the first to publish James Joyce’s Ulysses in 1922.
Whitman had called his version of the bookshop a “spiritual successor” and it quick became the center of expat life in Paris for the book writing crowd. As he’d been the recipient of the generosity of strangers while traveling the world, he decided that he wanted to do the same for other travelers. Since the start, his store has hosted overnight guests he refers to as “Tumbleweeds.” Instead of paying for their stay, the “Tumbleweeds” are just required to help out in the shop for a few hours, write a one-page autobiography for the archives and “read a book a day.” Quite the deal!
While Whitman passed away five years ago, his daughter Sylvia is continuing to carry on the tradition and runs the bookshop with her partner, David Delannet.
Today, as many as six Tumbleweeds can sleep in the bookshop each night, but it now also hosts an adjoining cafe, a literary festival and a publishing arm of Shakespeare and Company, which just released a book on the history of the company.
Of the book, Delannet said, “This history offers readers a unique perspective on Paris, as well as an insight into the life of the literary traveler in the second half of the 20th century and a feel for a bookshop whose motto is ‘Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise.'”
—
credits: earthables, molly dektar, buzzfeed
—
image credit: purple clover
when the pre-k friends meet up with their second grade friends
there is much to celebrate and talk about.
—
“friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.”
-woodrow t. wilson
headed off to the puzzle house
to try out an ‘escape room adventure’
just going in was a bit scary
and i thought
we might have to escape right away
but
eight of us
ventured in
and
read a story
memorized details
then used
codes that we had to translate and crack
black lights
a laser
a microscope
a tangram puzzle
a piñata head
hidden and found things
boxes
math
logic
wild guesses
opinions
ideas
sweat
spiders
stars
moons
crystals
locks
a lot of darkness
and a little bit of wit
we had one hour and made it through two rooms
never got into the third
but
what an adventure
and
eight of us ventured back out.
—–
“there are always wonderful mysteries to confront.”
-david e.
a couple of enterprising 5-year olds
create the raised walkway
many 3s, 4s and 5s
try it out
for quality control
offering their suggestions
when
they
or
the boards
fall down
rebuilding as they go.
—
“in most vital organizations, there is a common bond of interdependence,
mutual interest, interlocking contributions, and simple joy.”
—max depree
and what exactly does 3am smell like?
i imagine a pungent blend of
stale liquor
smoke
24-hour diner grease
sweat
breath mints
and
marker ink from a phone number hastily scrawled onto a cocktail napkin?
—
“the fabled musk deer searches the world over for the source of the scent which comes from itself.”
-ramakrishna
it’s december 5th
happy national comfort food day
make the most of every minute.
Japan’s Hot Tub Rollercoaster Takes Water Parks to a New Level
A city in Japan is teasing plans of the world’s first spa-themed amusement park.
In a concept video, Beppu City on Japan’s Kyushu island showed off an idea for a new “spamusement park.” The video featured visitors at typical amusement park attractions—a carousel, ferris wheel and roller coaster—but instead of seats for each ride, there were hot tubs.
In the video, visitors entered the rides wearing only a towel—which begs the question: Are visitors to the potential site supposed to walk around in wet towels all day? Also: How does the water stay inside the ride and off electrical equipment? And how are we keeping all these rides clean?
Despite many logistical questions, the spamusement park could become reality.
The mayor of Beppu declared that once the video reached 1 million views (a somewhat low bar in 2016 for a video of people in towels riding roller coasters), the city would begin working on the onsen (hot spring) amusement park. The video has been viewed more than 2 million times since it was uploaded last week and the mayor announced in a statement that work has begun. However, it’s entirely possible that the rides shown in the video will not actually happen.
“We are still discussing safety issues, for example, whether we could actually run hot water inside a roller coaster,” a spokesperson for Beppu’s tourist department told The Japan Times. “But the rides will be something fun.”
Beppu is already an onsen tourist destination—there are more than 2,000 hot springs for visitors to choose from. However the city recently launched an initiative to become the “spa city of the world.” Last year, Beppu welcomed 437,764 foreign tourists.
No completion date for the project has yet been announced.
—
credits: travel and leisure magazine, cailey rizzo, bravo
grandie b
read her book to us
out loud
proud and confident
while
younger grandie j
watched and listened
and
when she was done
he said
he was happy she could read the words
but he seemed
a
little bit
envious
and
sad
because he wasn’t sure how to read yet
until
suddenly
he had an idea
and
i saw
the lightbulb go on
just before
he announced
that he would
‘read his book to us in spanish’.
and
he proceeded to
show us the cover
as he
read us the title
and then
patiently
read
each and every page
in his version of spanish
taking his time
nodding and facing the book towards us
turning the pages
at appropriate times
pointing out the pictures
all while
happily smiling
confidently
chattering away
in a his brand new version of spanish
that was so very, very advanced
that we
the listeners
didn’t even
know the translations
but we understood
that he was proud
and
he was reading
and
when he was finished
he snapped his book shut
and said
in english
“that’s all.”
brilliant.
muy bien, and gagglesmithjong kipisanlomita paskajonti to you!!
—
“if you want to talk about something new,
you have to make up a new kind of language.”
-haruki murakami
I didn't have my glasses on.... 