Reflections on "Lifelike" by Susan Orlean

In her essay "Lifelike" Orlean writes about her experience attending the 2003 taxidermy championships. She enters the subculture as an outsider, observing all of the gadgets and techniques that are the latest and greatest in the world of taxidermy. She refers to taxidermy as "the questionable enterprise of making dead things look like live things." (Pg. 244)

Orlean chronicles the history of taxidermy noting that this particular craft was popularized by the Victorians who seemed to appreciate, "any domestic representation of wilderness." (Pg. 243) She also tracks the history of the subculture of taxidermy evolving from pub meetings in 1882 to a comprehensive convention in 2003. Modern technology allows fellow taxidermists to communicate and exchange information like never before. The blogosphere can be credited with helping with the exchange of information , even allowing for conduction of business and self promotion. "I have a very nice small raccoon that's frozen whole. I forgot he was in the freezer...very cute little one." (Pg. 246) Orlean explains how taxidermists must know quite a bit about zoology, stating that every taxidermist "knows the particular creature literally and figuratively inside and out." (Pg. 245) Orlean notes that taxidermists have a passion for their craft and do love animals, "Taxidermists seem to make little distinction between loving animals that are alive and loving ones that are not." (Pg. 245) As taxidermy techniques have progressed, and become more advanced, the creatures become more lifelike than their earlier lumpy, expressionless counterparts as "the ultimate goal of taxidermists is to make the animal look as if it never had died." (Pg. 247)

There is a camaraderie and competitive nature among the members of the taxidermy convention. They want to hone their craft and put their best work before their peers. It is at this convention that their work will gain the greatest amount of notoriety and appreciation. The taxidermists even goes so far as to recreate an endangered or extinct species such as the panda. It is clear that the taxidermist takes their work very seriously. This is especially evident by the grooming station. Reading about the grooming station reminds me of something one might find at a dog show. Personally I have always been a little creeped out by taxidermy, especially birds. Orlean does not interject her opinion of taxidermy but rather presents the trade show as it comes to her. She takes a subculture that might be considered odd by some and shows the passion behind it. At the conclusion of her essay, Orlean walks through the convention hall taking note of the assorted menagerie before her, now understanding the great deal of skill that it took to instill life in the lifeless, "the stillborn Bengal tiger cub magically revived, its face in an eternal snarl, alive-looking although it never had lived." (Pg. 251)

Inspired Writing - the card catalog part three

Doubting and Defending the card catalog:

     The card catalog as a physical object is outdated and unnecessary. The online catalog is much more efficient and convenient, it does not need constant, laborious update like that of the physical card catalog. The physical card catalog takes up too much space in the library that can be devoted to other things such as books or study space. The physical card catalog is heavy and chunky; its a dust magnet with plenty of drawers to act as convenient gum repositories for teenage patrons. If a card drawer is not completely full, the space behind the cards collects dust bunnies and lint, along with the occasional paper hole punched from a hole punch. Adding new space for new books to be cataloged becomes tedious, especially when a drawer is full and it's at the beginning of the alphabet.

     What can be said in defense of the physical card catalog? The card catalog as a physical object can be quite esthetically pleasing. It is a piece of furniture that can be admired for its simple lines and elegant drawer pulls. The drawers themselves are versatile and can be used for numerous household items for storage or display. For its original purpose, the card catalog kept each bibliographic card in order, where the patron and library staff could find vital information on the library's holdings. It did its job well. The physical card catalog is an important part of the advancement and organization of libraries and it in turn holds partial responsibility for allowing the public availability of literature.

Stereotypes surrounding the library and card catalog:

     The librarian has become stereotyped in popular culture with a bun in her hair and reading glasses hanging from her neck. She wears conservative clothing which reflects her uptight nature. She constantly has her index finger at her pursed lips, expressing her wish for people to "Shush!" The atmosphere in a library is quiet, and collegiate. People are absorbing knowledge, they need to concentrate, no talking please. Most libraries are cold and sterile, no need for the comforts of home because if the patrons get too relaxed, they might fall asleep. Libraries are traditionally conservative. The card catalog is seen as antiquated and outdated.

     The stereotype of the librarian can not be applied to every female librarian. Libraries are becoming more interactive and family oriented institutions. As funding for libraries becomes more popular through tax dollars, the public has more influence on the programming delivered at the local library. The stereotype of the card catalog is for the most part accurate as it has been replaced by the online catalog. Though the stereotype is accurate is harshly unsentimental.

This photo is a flicker find that was posted on the blog called "desire to inspire." This photo caught my eye because it is very unique and artistic. In this photo, the card catalog is being re purposed as an art installation from the strategically placed objects on top of the catalog to the giant wooden arm protruding from one of the drawers and grabbing onto a browsing shelf. If I were the person who put this together, I would call it "Revenge of the Barbie Doll." Because the background is so plain in this photo, the card catalog pops and the intrigue is enhanced by the outreaching arm. One can imagine the rest of the body being chopped up in little pieces and stuffed into the remaining drawers!

Concrete features of the card catalog:

     The card catalog has rounded edges. Card catalogs are heavy and hold an unthinkable number of cards or other objects like slides. It's empty drawers are dark and cavernous. Most card catalogs are honey coloured, yet take on a patina over the years of use. The catalog collects history by recording the occasional nick or ding to it's drawers or browsing shelf. Sometimes the laminate layer of wood on the cabinet becomes separated from the underlying layer revealing another surface. The drawer pulls are hard metal, usually brass or nickel and shaped like elephant noses.

Reflections on "The Stunt Pilot" by Annie Dillard

     Annie Dillard's essay "The Stunt Pilot" chronicles the reputation of Dave Rahm as a stunt pilot and as an intelligent geologist. Rahm was world renowned for his flying skills. It is clear in Dillard's essay that it takes a certain kind of person to be a stunt pilot, enduring negative G's and feeling as though you are being turned inside out. Dillard has a respect for Rahm's ability as a stunt pilot and deems it as an art form within itself, comparing his flights to the art of writing and painting. Dillard recalls her experience flying with Rahm in part as being quite magical, "Through the layer of air between the curving planet and its held, thick clouds." (Pg. 159) At the same time, doing a barrel roll in a single engine Cessna is a very jarring experience and de-romanticizes the role of a stunt pilot to a certain degree for Dillard. Inherent in this line of work is the knowledge of mortal danger every time a pilot enters a plane to perform art in the sky. "'You know your going to die at this some day'...privately he counted on skewing the curve." (Pg. 161) It seems that Rahm knew with a certain degree of acceptance that he would inevitably die by his art. After his death, Dillard recalls Rahm's flying over her house, describing it as:

He unrolled the scroll of air, extended it, bent it into mobius strips: he furled the line a thousand new ways, as if he were inventing a script and writing it in one infinitely recurving utterance until I thought the bounds of beauty must break. (Pg. 163)

     Dillard marveled at the impermanence of Rahm's work as if this fleeting element made his art an even greater treasure, just as Rahm's life itself was fleeting an impermanent. Dillard concludes her essay pondering, "What are we here for?" (Pg. 164) Ending the essay, Dillard quotes Teilhard de Chardin, "The world is filled, and filled with the Absolute. To see this is to be made free." (Pg. 165) By viewing both Rahm's life and profession as a stunt pilot through this lens, it is evident that because he pushed his body and mind to the very edge of their limits, that he was fee. Death in itself is also absolute.

Inspired Writing - the card catalog part two

Literary review - Amazon search results for a library card catalog in books:

1. Simplified Library School Rules; Card Catalog, Accession, Book Numbers, Shelf List, Capitals by Melvil Dewey. Observation: The author seems to be quite the Dewey Decimal nerd based on his other publications listed on Amazon. He is the creator of the Dewey Decimal system which is the system used in libraries to catalog and retrieve books.

2. Access Points to the Law Library Card Catalog Interpretation by Elzabeth Matthews

3. The card catalogs of the Library of Congress: A brief description by Barbara Marietta Westby

Observation: These books in general seem to be pretty obscure, further proving that my subject is a dying breed.

Five interesting facts about the Card Catalog:

1. During the French Revolution playing cards were used instead of index cards in the card catalog.
    http://liswiki.org/wiki/History_of_the_card_catalog

2. Library hand is a code of rules for how to create the perfect, uniform card for the card catalog devised by Melvil Dewey and Thomas Edison.
    http://liswiki.org/wiki/History_of_the_card_catalog

3. Danbury Connecticut's public library held a mock funeral for their retired card catalog.
     http://liswiki.org/wiki/History_of_the_card_catalog

4. In 1982, the editors of American Libraries magazine asked its readers to come up with creative uses for decommissioned card catalogs.
     http://www.libraryhistorybuff.org/cardcatalog.htm

5. Melvil Dewey established the Library Bureau which was "one of the most prolific makers of card catalog cabinets."
     http://www.libraryhistorybuff.org/cardcatalog.htm

Reflections on "Yarn" by Kyoko Mori

     The essay "Yarn" by Kyoko Mori expounds upon an everyday hobby that was firs thrust upon her as a home economics project, with plenty of trial and error. Reflecting on the project, she writes, "Yellow was a color I never liked; perhaps I was conceding defeat before I started." (Pg. 219) In part one of her essay, Mori chronicles her own story of knitting beginning with that home economics project.

     In the second part of the essay, Mori tells the history of knitting dating back to Egypt. This part of the essay is peppered with a myriad of facts that are at the same time disconnected and cohesive, as she weaves them together in her writing. She writes, "Mary, Queen of Scotts, wore two pairs of French stockings-one plain white and the other patterned with gold stitches-on the day of her execution; the stockings were held up with green garters." (Pg. 221) Mori takes the reader through the history of knitting from stockings to sweaters, "they did not become popular as "sweaters" until the 1890's when American athletes wore heavy, dark blue pullovers before and after contests to ward off the chills." (Pg. 221) Mori's descriptions of the history of knitting engage the reader with quirky facts and imagery, keeping the mundane far from boring.

     She starts part three of her essay comparing knitting and knitwear to having a resilience similar to that of people, more plastic and forgiving than other crafts, "As with people, so with garments: the strengths and weaknesses are often one and the same." (Pg. 222) She traces the meaning of the words "thread" and "yarn" concluding that to tell a story by way of weaving  yarn is much more engaging than a thread of fact, "It is infinitely more relaxing to listen to a yarn than to lecture whose thread we must follow." (Pg. 223) In this part of the essay, she also weaves in her own personal story of knitting, marking the metamorphosis of her style of knitting from "casual" to "formal."

     In the fourth and final portion of the essay, Mori notes that the craft of knitting was not always relegated to women. However, it did become a field dominated by women as she recounts a story about Latvian girls who lived prior to the 20th century creating a marriage dowry through the many garments they knitted. At the end of the essay, Mori concedes, "i don't know what to do with the history and the way it affects our daily lives." (Pg. 226) Through her years of knitting, she has learned to be creative and independent with her craft, yet when she attempts to make a pair of mittens for a friend thirty years after her home economics project, she has to go back and teach herself how to do it. This shows Mori coming full circle in her craft, being pleased with even the things she cannot perfect.

Frequency North Reading: Meghan Daum's obsession with finding the perfect home

Prior to the reading, I searched Amazon.com for Daum's memoir Life Would be Perfect If I Lived In That House. It seemed that the customers who did not love HGTV disliked the memoir. Going to the reading, I wanted to form my own opinion. I wanted the Amazon reviewers to be wrong.

Meghan Daum in the flesh...

She's a woman who can't seem to stay in one place for too long when it comes to houses. She describes the book as an attempt to "discover the relationship between self and place" and having much less to do with a how-to of real estate stats and mortgages.

During the reading I laughed a little during certain sections but I was not sold on her memoir. A lot of it probably has to do with her delivery and not her writing. I know this to be true, having read potions of her short story collection My Misspent Youth. She is witty and funny, sucking you into the story. However at the reading I thought to myself, "is this the same Meghan Daum that had an e-mail romance, explored the evolution of air travel, and the subculture of polyamory?"

I think my issue is that the writer's persona did not seem to match the person. Not that this is anything to fault her with. The persona of the writer should be different from the human being, it's how we protect ourselves. I guess I was surprised by the gap.

The topic of the reading reminded me of our own Megan Fulwiler's essay, A Home of One's Own. In this essay, she explores the adventure that is buying a home as a single woman and learning to become a Ms. fix it. Her writing about this life transition traverses the same topic within a tighter space. This time, I believe the old adage is true, less is more!

My Eulogy for the Library Card Catalog (Part I)

 card catalog: traditionally used to store index cards containing information about the location and other vital information about a book or periodical including title, author, call number, ISBN, etc..

Card catalogs were the primary way of organizing, finding, and keeping track of the contents of a library that were available for patrons to check out.

There was a time when one could not write a research paper without the use of a card catalog.

Card catalogs once filled multiple rooms in university libraries.

It has only been within the past ten years that they have been removed from libraries all together and are now considered entirely obsolete, replaced by the computer which is incidentally, much more likely to breakdown and falter.

Card catalogs come in many sizes but no matter what size, they all seem relatively large to an average human being.

To a bibliophile like myself, they are a beautiful piece of literary history, having held the information of timeless literary works. Some of which, for better or worse, have shaped the literary cannon we know today.

I personally own a card catalog whose original home was in the Yale University Art Library in New Haven. Its original purpose was to hold projector slides.

As you can see, the card catalog had versatile uses in its beginnings beyond that of housing the index card and now that it is being considered "obsolete" by the outside world, there are far more uses for it than ever before.

I have seen card catalogs used as wine storage.

Just as there are different designs in the drawer dimensions of the card catalog, there are different drawer pull styles. My personal preference is called the "elephant nose" however, for better or worse, one of the drawer pulls on my card catalog is called a "stub nose," a little less elegant, yet not lacking in personality.

I have named my card catalog, just as I named my vintage metal clarinet (Waldo-which I made into a lamp). The name of my card catalog is Elihu, named after Elihu Yale who was not the founder of the university, however deemed rich enough to have considerable influence.

Elihu sits proudly in the corner of my living room, an ever-present conversation piece.

There is certainly more to be discovered about the card catalog. I look forward to diving into research.

I would like to know who invented the card catalog and perhaps what people did in libraries before card catalogs.

I am curious as to whether or not there is a small subculture of bibliophiles like myself who find something attractive and alluring about the card catalog, its history, and its future.

Selected Writings of Meghan Daum (Part III)

The following is my reflection on the essay "According to the Women I'm Fairly Pretty" from My Misspent Youth by Meghan Daum.

In this essay, Daum explores the subculture of polyamory as well as the religious connections the Ravenhearts associate with their practice of polyamory. The Ravenhearts belong to the Church of All Worlds. The religion seems to be based partially on polyamory and partially on mythology and gaming, akin to Dungeons and Dragons. Attending conventions revolving around gaming is a regular practice for the Ravenheart family.

The Ravenheart family is accredited with coining the phrase polyamory meaning "many loves." However, it is believed that polyamory has been put into practice long before there was a word to describe it. The Ravenhearts see polyamory as something that "permeates every aspect of our lives." (pg. 110). While Daum was spending time with the Ravenhearts she observed,

"It would seem that to become a Ravenheart you'd also have to meet a need that no one else is meeting. The idea that different people fulfill different needs, sexually and otherwise, is an almost constant refrain in the household...You don't have to be in a poly relationship to understand that people have different needs sexually..." (pg. 117)

This creates a competition of sorts to stay within the polyamorous unit because if you don't fulfill a certain need, you become obsolete. For the majority of Americans who exist outside this subculture, whether they are monogamous or not, sexuality can still be expressed and gratified without the need for polyamory. Daum points out that,

"It's not their polyamory I have a problem with. It's their forced iconoclasm. It's their paraphernalia. it's the fact that they don't seem to sleep with anyone who isn't just like them." (pg. 123)

I agree with Daum's statement about iconoclasm. How many sexual partners a person chooses to have is their business, but when mixed with iconoclasm and mystical religious values, it seems more and more like an occult than a freely chosen lifestyle. The Ravenhearts seemingly practice polyamory to fill certain needs and voids in their life while the mainstream world uses other outlets to fill voids, through not just their sexual partner, but through friends, family, coworkers, therapists, etc..

Selected Writings of Meghan Daum (Part II)

The following is my reflection on the essay "Inside the Tube" from My Misspent Youth by Meghan Daum

Daum approaches this essay in the genre of immersion journalism, entering the world of commercial airline flight attendants. She traces the history of flight attendants of how it was "back in the old days," when all flight attendants were unmarried female nurses of a certain weight, and groomed to look like twins. Back when sex appeal was still a marketing ploy of US Airways. Daum goes on to note that times have changed,

"...because the sex appeal of the flight attendant, like the sex appeal of flying is gone forever." (pg. 73)

Flying once was an altogether luxury experience. However, modern day flight for most of America is more akin to a greyhound bus with wings. The grooming of the fight attendants during training for the job is still very by the book. To do this job, you really have to love the customer service industry as demonstrated by the recent meltdown of a Jet Blue fight attendant covered by the media. It is no surprise that there is a "unofficial passenger shit list compiled on every flight."

You don't have to be an immersion journalist like Daum to know that being a flight attendant is not exactly a walk in the park. One flight attendant expressed to her in an interview, 

"We're doctors, lawyers, travel agents, therapists, waitresses, and cops. No one would demand all of that from a normal person." (pg. 79)

As a result of all the demands that come along with the job description of flight attendant, it is not surprising that they share a camaraderie amongst each other.  In addition to the camaraderie, Daum also notes the presence of a gay subculture. Daum approaches her time spent with the flight attendants in an honest yet humorist manner. Their bond and camaraderie is what helps the flight attendants survive the job and resist the urge to open the emergency hatch and slide down the chute.

Selected Writings of Meghan Daum (Part I)

The following are my reflections on the essay "On the Fringes of the Physical World" from My Misspent Youth by Meghan Daum.
In this essay Daum finds herself unexpectedly immersed in an email relationship with a man she has not met in person. He is a fan of her work and manages through his email correspondence to charm his way into her heart and mind. However, the reality of the situation is that Daum creates the charming character that is the man on the other side of the world wide web. At first she finds her relationship with him to be the kind of relationship she has always wanted,

"Of all the troubling details of this story, the one that bothers me the most is the way I slurped up his attention like some kind of dying animal...but it is also revealed a subtler desire that i didn't fully understand at the time. My need to experience and old-fashioned kind of courtship was stronger than I had ever imagined." (pg. 21)

When she finally meets Pete, her email admirer, reality disappoints her. The mystery is gone from the relationship and he becomes as generic as any other man in New York City.

"...the physical world came barreling in with all the obstreperousness of a major weather system, and I ignored it. As human beings with actual flesh and hand gestures and Gap clothing, Pete and I were utterly incompatible, but I pretended otherwise." (pg. 23)

As she tries to reconcile the reality in her head with the reality of the outside world she comes to realize that in being so wrapped up in her virtual romance, she was neglecting the real people in her life and not automatically forgiving their flaws as she had done with Pete.

"I'd never forgiven their spasms and their speeches, never tied up my phone for hours in order to talk to them. I'd never bestowed such senseless tenderness on anyone." (pg. 24)

In the end, Daum gaines a stronger appreciation for the physical world and her relationships with the people in that world. Though this essay was my favorite out of the three by Daum, I can't help but wonder how she fell into flattery with Pete and did not find him creepy and ignore him after the second email message because that is what I would have done.

Notes on: “Flying Jewels” and lost diagramming skills

 Brian Doyle, author of Joyas Voladoras begins his essay with the wonders of the heart of varying species. His descriptive imagery is packed with information. Doyle's observations are clinically  biological yet simultaneously artful and poetic. The essay undergoes a transition to matters of the human heart where the impossibility of ideal love is realized. The adult speaker is aware that it is impossible to live life without undergoing the hardships of a metaphorical broken heart.

 The abstractions of love are part of human nature. When Doyle describes the animals, they have amazing hearts and strong bodies. Though they are capable of affection in some form for the survival of the species, they are free from the human concept of love and aspiration towards such an ideal. “No living being is without interior liquid motion. We all churn inside. So much is held in our heart in a lifetime. So much is held in our heart in a day, an hour, a moment.”(pg. 169).

      ***

             In the essay Sister Bernadette’s  Barking Dog, Kitty Burns Florey chronicles her experiences in school learning to diagram sentences. She uses diagrams to illustrate her point both comically and literally. By recalling a piece of her English education before she began writing professionally the author creates a platform that most can remember from their own past.

             Such a way of teaching sentence structure may be effective to some, but there must be other ways.  The  author herself admits the flaws of the diagram method.

“Diagramming may have taught us to write correctly—and maybe even think logically—but I don’t think anyone would claim that it taught us to write well. And besides, any writer knows that the best way to learn to write good sentences is not to diagram them but to read them.” (pg.176).

             I personally disliked diagramming sentences. I don’t remember understanding nor succeeding at the task. I took to this lesson plan like I took to European geography. I could not, despite great efforts, identify France. Unlike Kitty I did not see the diagramming of sentences as “a picture of language.” (pg.172).  My ineptitude at diagramming is even more ironic because I am an  English major. Maybe it was my exceptional vocabulary that  saved me from failure?



 I found someone on youtube  who is still passionate about diagramming sentences!

Reflections on "This Old House" by David Sedaris

In "This Old House" by David Sedaris, the author "longed for a home where history was respected" (pg. 255). At first he felt comfortable in the boarding house. He felt comfort in the fact that his landlady shared his taste for eccentric antiques. Upon recalling the first winter he lived in the house, he wrote, "my life felt like a beautiful dream" (pg. 258). However, he was not able to hold on to this dream of trying to live in a time long past. "I hoped that our lives would continue this way forever, but inevitably the past came knocking. Not the good kind that was collectible but the bad kind that had arthritis." (pg. 258). As Ava and Chaz are introduced, Rosemary and David are forced to reevaluate reality and stop living in times past.

As more insight is gathered about Chaz and Ava, it is clear that their living in the house has caused a role reversal for Rosemary and David. With the introduction of the characters who have mentally broken away from reality, those who have chosen an alternate reality must face their situations. Rosemary gives up her vintage clothes and her home so that she can take care of her mother and daughter. David is forced to see beyond Chaz's good looks and begins to examine where he is in life. "Every gouge and smudge jumped violently into focus. More depressing still was the thought that I belonged here, that I fit in." (pg. 262). David eventually came to realize that he needed to move on because he realizes that before long, he wouldn't fit in there.

This essay style presents a different voice than that of previous works of David Sedaris that I have read. It has moments of humor, however the tone of the essay seems quite mixed, combined with moments of very serious reality. I am more familiar with Sedaris in his strictly humorous tones like the one in his book entitled "Dress Your Family in Denim and Overalls." In this essay, his humor is more subtle and reserved and the poignant moments seem to stick out more. Being aware of David Sedaris' work before reading this piece seemed to set me up for minor disappointment because of the mixed tone and subtle humor. Yet, if I had not been familiar with Sedaris' work previously and had such expectations, I would have found this essay to be an excellent piece of work.

Inspired Writing: Chapter 5, Exercise 9

Characters as traits

Mr. F, my clarinet teacher

Plays every woodwind instrument
Prefers oboe
Finds clarinet inferior to the oboe
Wears black frame glasses, and tuxedo with black bow tie when performing (I suspect this is his oboe persona)
I find him hard to please
Serious about his career as a musician, seems to prefer that over teaching
Laughs easily
Wears blue button up shirts and Argyle socks

My clarinet teacher Mr. F plays every instrument in the woodwind family. His true passion though is oboe.
He told me this during my first lesson with him, how he thought the clarinet was inferior to the oboe. He is a musician who takes his career very seriously. During two years of lessons with him, he never wore glasses, but when he performed, he wore thick black rimmed glasses, often accompanied by a tuxedo and black bow tie. The glasses held his persona as Nat the oboe player.