Cincinnati - Part II

We drove into Cincinnati from the north after 7pm, going right downtown and driving around the block a few times, trying to find The Cincinnatian at 601 Vine.  Downtown Cincinnati is truly on the grid system, but we were thrown off by the address.  The hotel's main entrance is on Sixth.  This used to be The Palace Hotel. It has been modernized to the point of no recognition to its 1882 French Second Empire roots, at least in the interior.

We took a walk to the Fountain Square, just a block away, drawn by the outdoor stage upon which a local group was playing jazz and jazzy pop (for example, the keyboardist introduced a "Beatles medley" which was mainly improvisational riffs on "Yesterday," because the sax player likes The Beatles). There is live music almost nightly during the summer right downtown. There are beer and Skyline chili for sale. It was fun to see people from all walks of life sitting and enjoying the music while the children enjoyed the fountain --the Tyler Davidson Fountain, a truly magnificent yet accessible public work.  In Chicago, Buckingham Fountain may be more magnificent, but this would be slightly more akin to the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park, which is the most accessible I've ever seen, and enjoyed by so many children of all ages.  And, there is a giant screen on the building across the street which streamed camera shots of the stage live (as if the audience stretched hundreds of yards away).  Speaking of "yards," at the time we were there, the live camera action ended and the projections changed to showing a Bengal-Jets game (pre-season, maybe?) which the soundman seemed to enjoy, pulling his chair out from under the tent covering all his equipment to get a better view.  We left at 9pm to get a bite to eat, deciding to try the hotel's own restaurant.

The main restaurant at The Cincinnatian is still called The Palace Restaurant.  It is a fine-dining establishment, which the receptionist had called a "four-star," but I find no press to support that.  There is a three-course prix fixe offered for "two savouries and one sweet."  Pricewise, that usually worked out to saving $1 on an appetizer and entree (there were some supplemental charges for the lamb, steak and seafood) while getting a dessert for free.  I wonder though whether I could have argued "two savouries" could have been two entrees.  I wasn't that hungry.  I had lamb done medium rare to perfection and Larry had a pork entree, both wonderful.  The moment that stood out most during this evening's meal was a negative one:  in a place with white tablecloths where they changed your silverware with each course, when Larry asked for the local beer (Christian Moerlein Over-The-Rhine Ale),a waiter came bearing bottle in hand and asked if Larry wanted a glass. Jeez!

The paintings on the wall were vaguely familiar.  The waiter told us they were done by Impressionist Camille Pissarro's grandson.  While they were all signed with a "Pissarro," I couldn't figure out the first name and can't find a grandson who painted, although Pissarro's entry in wikipedia says all of his children and most of his grandchildren were/are artists or somehow related to the arts.  I also discovered on wikipedia that, while he is known as being French, Camille Pissarro was born in the US Virgin Islands and returned there from boarding school in Paris.  (I am really enjoying wikipedia, even as I remain skeptical of the reliability of an encyclopedia that invites interactive contributions to entries.  If one definition of a book is "passive involvement" vs active participation, wikipedia would not be defined as a book, while a plain old electronic encyclopedia (like Encarta -- remember that?) might be.


The artwork throughout the public areas of The Cincinnatian is most impressive.  I wonder that the management does not somehow promote it.  Perhaps there is a security issue involved.  Larry and I walked up and down the stairs when we were not too tired or laden with luggage, and freely stopped to view paintings, prints, multi-media pieces and photographs displayed on each floor.  They were fantastic.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, It's a Book!

Hardly a day goes by that we don't hear or read of the imminent demise of "the book."  This comes from the interpretation of various tea leaves:

• people don't read anymore
• printed bound books kill trees and are too expensive to produce and keep in inventory, not to mention so heavy to carry
• if a child in a developing country had a e-reader of one sort or another, he could read something he's interested in, not just what happened to be donated
• passive learning or entertainment is out, interactive learning or entertainment is in -- books are passive

This book actually forces us to think about what is the definition of a book. To me, even a downloaded book is a book, so perhaps the definition of a book is similar to the definition of Art -- you'll know it when you see it, or like poetry -- it depends on your taste.

Oh, Pakistan, We Hardly Know Ye

Somewhere, I read that due to the recent floods, one-fifth of Pakistan is under water.  And, the response to the call for aid has been a trickle.  There have been many theories voiced (these are ably summarized in a commentary piece by Mosharraf Zaidi on NPR) on why this is so, for a disaster that has affected more people than the Haitian earthquake in January, the tsunami of 2004 and many other natural disasters combined, all which might be true, and may not even be all inclusive of true reasons why and reasons given.  Let me elaborate on one.

We have no good idea who or what Pakistan is, who or what Pakistani are.  And, as Zaidi concludes, at the very least, that reason is a falsehood and to put it more squarely, it is an excuse, not a reason.  Americans, Indians, Brits and others around the world may know nothing else about Pakistan or Pakistani, except that these are fellow humans suffering from a natural disaster.  But, while compassion is a part of much of what distinguishes humans from other species, so is the ability to rationalize action and non-action.  In the Haitian situation, we can rationalize that this country had not been able to pull itself out of poverty in the best of times (with so much aid!), so we must do what we can to help them out, because what else is new?  I have always suspected that the tsunami-affected areas of Thailand, Indonesia, etc, were seen as these charming, sun-soaked, picturesque locales with rice paddies and bamboo-thatched roofs and wooden fishing boats pulled up alongside resort beaches where hardworking people work and with a little help, would be back on their feet in no time.  Pakistan, however, is neither.  It is betwixt and between, neither mineral nor vegetable nor animal.  We cannot understand them while they persist in needing to be understood.

Writing and reading has always been a good way to transfer knowledge of different cultures, whether that be gaining understanding of Pakistan by the United States or between New York and the rest of the world.

After the Girl Who Enthralled Us

Just like when we were all awaited reading about Harry Potter's next year at Hogwarts and independent booksellers with BookSense as well as a heck of a lot of others began compiling lists of titles to read "While Waiting for the Next Harry Potter Book...," booksellers and readers have begun giving suggestions for alternative Scandinavian authors to read, as we finish the late Stieg Larsson's "Millenium Trilogy," on "the girl who" was named Lisbeth and totally enthralled readers. I was skeptical, but shouldn't have been, if I had reasoned it out.  Swedish and Norwegian crime writers apparently have more in common to offer to fans of Lisbeth and Mikael than Dodie Smith, Eva Ibbotson and Narnia could for young fans of JK Rohlwing's alternative world of wizards and Muggles. Well, I learned something new: Iceland is part of Scandinavia but Denmark is not.

Of course, we have the internationally renowned Mankell Henning, who is indeed also Swedish. His detective character is Kurt Wallander, but his latest book, The Man from Beijing is not of that series. Called a "stand-alone" work, this title begins in a Swedish village, but takes the reader across the globe and over 140 years back and forth in time.

My new find is Karin Fossum who writes of small-village Norway with a stark clarity which I associate with the crisp air of autumn here and what I imagine of the atmosphere of Norway year 'round.

Cincinnati, Here We Come! - Part I

Actually, we have gone and returned, but we just want those burglars using social media to case joints to say, "Rats!  Foiled again!".

Cincinnati is a really happening place. However, let us not get ahead of ourselves. First, we start by taking 2-lane roads through Sublette, Joliet, Bourbonnais in Illinois, Lafayette, Green Castle and Bloomington to arrive at Columbus, Indiana, considered the sixth most architecturally interesting town in the nation, and probably the smallest in that group which include New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston.  Its strength is Modern architecture (just in case you were coming into town to see Gothic or Federalist or even Frank Lloyd Wright).  It is also home of Cummins Engine Company headquarters, and Viewpoint Books. The owners, like us, were on vacation (another thing in common is that wife has weekday gig, although closer to store -- manager of the Visitors' Center Gift Shop just a few blocks away).  It's a lovely, quiet downtown, coming in around 3pm on a Monday, through typical developed sprawl, including shopping centers and motels.  We crossed a striking bridge -- gateway to the "Modernist Mecca."

The trouble I saw was that downtown was too quiet.  Columbus has some 40,000 people and the downtown appears to be for business only.  There were several restaurants and eateries which closed at 3pm or 3:30, obviously catering to the breakfast and lunch clientele.  Cummins HQ even has its own cafeteria.  So, is there enough business for even these few?  There are a number of shops (including one selling Cummins merchandise).  Viewpoint Books is downtown and does not open on Sunday.  They tried, we were told, but the downtown was "just dead."  There are several of churches downtown, including The First Christian, designed by Eliel Saarinen and designated a National Historic Landmark and St Peter's Lutheran Church with its very interesting spire.  But then, again, bookstore employees told of "customers" coming in, browsing, and writing down titles of books to download onto their e-readers.  I don't call them customers unless they also bought something on-site in addition to waiting to purchase on-line.  Hmm, I wonder if there's wireless internet connection in Downtown Columbus.  Booksellers need proactively to remind the public that amazon.com does not carry all books in the Kindle format.  Maybe we should offer to look up the availability so that potential customers become actual customers when they have a physical book in front of them and know that they wouldn't be able to download it electronically anyway. 

We stopped for ice cream at Zahararkos, which is open daily, but closes at 8pm.  Not bad, although not a leisurely sought destination after a movie or concert, unless concerts start at 8pm. Yes, we did hear the Welty Orchestrion play.  It just sort of started up by itself (like it's supposed to), but I couldn't recall the name of anything I heard.  There was a group of young party-goers sitting right in front of it, so we did not attempt to look at it too closely.  It would be great to have an ice cream parlor in Dixon again.  Carebears, where are you?

The weather was beautiful and we had a lovely time inspecting the Cummins Diesel Engine Museum in the lobby of HQ.  Since it would take a good two hours to drive to Cincinnati via interstate (20 miles to I-74), we did not continue on the two-lane road trip.

After Georgette Heyer

I enjoy reading romance novels.  I especially enjoy reading Regency Romance, that period in British history in, around and following the very significant reign of King George III as his sanity unraveled (with what is now known as a hereditary disease called porphyria), allowing his sons and other political aspirants to wield some havoc until finally, his son King George IV succeeded to reign disastrously as Prince Regent.  That was the time of the Seven Year's War (involving almost as many countries as the later "Great War" in the early 1900s), American Revolution, Napoleon, the French Revolution, and many other "peacetime" events like the near revolution by Jacobites and domestic riots by Luddites and hungry farmers, which made it such an interesting time for storytelling.

We can hide behind the concept that Regency romances are a "guilty pleasure," as featured on NPR, but it has been an important genre, if not begun then furthered and refined by one Georgette Heyer.  The publisher Sourcebooks from right here in Naperville, Illinois, has launched a series of reprints in trade paperback.  Before now, there have been a few reprints in hardcover and in mass market paperback (also known as pocket books), with introductions by popular authors of today like Kay Hooper, telling of their introduction and continued loyalty to Heyer from 'tweenhood.  Just so that I don't keep you on tenterhooks, I am referring specifically to Harlequin's 2003 Special Georgette Heyer's Collector's Editions now out of print in which Hooper's foreword appeared in The Foundling, a fat volume chock full of Heyer's plot turns, devices and endearing characters.

My first read was Frederica.  I absolutely adored her practicality, levelheadedness and generous love of her siblings and totally understood the Marquis of Alverstoke's attraction to her.  I also appreciated Heyer's wonderful way of bringing to life a time so long ago and so different from my own.  Yet, the characters and their responses to situations seem so timeless that I am expecting that soon we will (if we already have not) witness a how-to book entitled What Would Frederica/Gilly/Hugo Darracott/Venetia/Duke of Avon Do?

It was simply a coincidence that Helen Simmons, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand (recommended by both myself and he who shall not be named -- the FACE of Books on First), spoke on NPR"s All Things Considered about Georgette Heyer.  Heyer is mentioned often in British books, representing what sentiment, I'm not sure -- probably the same feeling of "guilty pleasure" as on this side of The Pond.

I actually began this post planning merely to tell you about a simply marvelous heiress to the throne of the "Queen of Regency Romance," Rose Lerner, who brings us In for a Penny, which not only acknowledges the loyalty to and influence by Heyer, but also seeks to move the genre forward into the 21st century. While the Regency period was no doubt full of intimate assignations resulting in hasty marriages or out-of-wedlock births, Heyer wrote in the 1950s of chaste but witty repartee between the hero and heroine from actual but low-keyed descriptions of the sex act (let's call it by it's true name, why don't we? -- breeding) to keeping appearances to dealing with foolish relatives to ultimately falling in love.  Nowadays, it's much more explicit (and somewhat silly).  Lerner overcomes the silliness and explicitness without succumbing to the pale aping of Heyer's mid-20th century ideas of how people spoke and thought in the 18th century, which so many current writers seem to do on an uneven basis (alternated with a lot of 21st century description of sex).  Now, in my humble opinion, this appears to be a worthy successor to the throne of the Queen of Regency.

Found at the Renewable Energy Fair

Previously, I had written tons on what I found at the Renewable Energy Fair at Ogle County Fair Grounds in Oregon, IL, 2010 being its ninth year. This year could be the same, except so many issues are vying for space on the wetware -- my brain, that is, not to mention that scarce American resource called Time.

To mention some fellow exhibitors, which I have not done previously, either because there was too much going on or they were new this year:

• Pam Wheelock, "head honcho" of purrfectplay.com, came again with her offering of organic cotton toys and more.  I recalled that she and her husband live in Indiana and he, like myself, works in Chicago.  Unlike me, he commutes daily from Chesterton!  And, he has told me that the train is packed daily with people even sitting on the steps leading to the exit door, not at all like the picture of a comfortable commuter train with everyone sitting in a seat, reading their news or catching some shut-eye.  Pam remembered me, because of our earlier discussion and how I suggested he find a studio apartment or even a room in someone's house for the weekday gig.  She gave me a gift for our guest cat Sylvie (or Sylvia) who has a great aversion to the outdoors and cat collars.  I had bought her an organic cotton and silk collar last time and she disdained to keep it on, even when I told her she looked like a princess.  The gift was a organic cotton stuffed toy in the shape of a carrot (no dye but with cute yarn leaves).  Thank you, Pam!  Our cat Fanei played with it briefly, but Sylvie couldn't be bothered. I think it's their loss, as the carrot is fun-looking!
• Cool Hats with hand-made fashions by Ann Hansen from St Paul, MN, is a long way from home.  They had classy straw hats that sold well for the sunny Sunday that made its way through the morning rain, as well as African-styled straw carry-alls and BYO Bags -- nylon mesh bags for the produce you buy (that's a great idea, but I forgot to get one).  Larry got a straw hat with a leather band for "only $8 (his words)."  Men should think about having a hat for every occasion, as wsj.com notes, although I believe part of the hat etiquette should be that a man takes off his baseball or seed corn hat when sitting down to eat!  I was looking for a spring hat (and I don't mean a baseball cap!) and found a pretty green canvas one with cool striped piping and lining, as well as a great winter black one.  The brim of the black hat was fashioned from fabric decorated with gold embossed celestials (star, moon,...).  They were both sold to me at half off a reasonable price, so I feel like a thief or at least, a real bargain hunter (which I have never been accused of being). One can never have enough hats.  Ann sells mostly at fairs, and probably won't come back to the Renewable Energy Fair at Ogle County Fairgrounds in Oregon, IL -- way too far away, but please check out where she might be and if you're ever in the Twin Cities, call her homebase and she would be happy to show you what they have. 
• And, last but not least, Russ Rybicki of Progressive Asset Management/Financial West Group in Urbana, IL, who also markets heavily through participation in alternative lifestyle fairs, comes every year to the Renewable Energy Fair, sitting alongside Books on First to hawk socially responsible and "green" investing,.  He presents the case that you can feel good about your drive for return, by investing in companies which make products in an environmentally responsible way and may even be making products for the environmentally responsible, such as Church & Dwight, best known as maker of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda as well as Trojan condoms, but also scrubbers for coal-burning plants.  He attends fairs for gay/lesbian celebration, 4-H, ecology, ... and has created quite a niche for himself, and because attendees come from everywhere -- from Chicago to Cedar Rapids, IA to Milwaukee, WI to Dixon, he now has quite a geographically-spread client base (especially when one is driving around each summer weekend, enjoying traffic on four-lane highways, and then, fielding questions about the "deep recession" as well as hearing comments like, "Don't waste your time with me; I'm out of work.").

It is an expensive proposition to attend the Renewable Energy Fair, so I am glad to see so many who are serious about the subject, which has expanded to include utilizing principles of permaculture in gardening, canning garden vegetables and raising chickens.  While we do bring in books especially for this fair, we had a host of titles that sold well, which we carry in-store.

News on Paper Books Grows Ever More Dire, But Reaction Is Generally Encouraging

Again, the Wall Street Journal is first to report yet another slice closer towards the death of a thousand paper cuts of traditionally printed bound books.  Dorchester, a venerable publisher since 1971 of mass market paperbacks -- those "pocket books" made of the least expensive paper with the narrowest margins possible in order to be able to sell them at the current pricing of $7.99 (83% of Dorchester's books are at this price point, still lower than a pre-iPad-era download), is abandoning this model and "going digital."

Of the factors to have led to a 25% drop in book sales, one specifically cited in the article is the notion 65% of Dorchester's titles are romances and many readers of romance novels prefer a digital download, because they don't have to hide the cover when reading in public.  I guess there are still a lot of closet romance readers.  Read Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels and Unite!

However, they will still be printing, through wholesaler Ingram Book Company's Lightening Print-on-Demand service -- which Books on First uses, which is a wonderful happy bridge between printing tens of thousand of paper copies to printing none at all.  A printed bound book is only made when ordered.  I wrote about this oh, so long ago.   

What I always find interesting to read are the online comments to such articles.  I find it gratifying that a couple of them (out of only 5 total thus far at the time of this writing) still express a desire to have printed bound books, whether to share with friends and family or for "curling up" and reading a "'real' book" after a long day of staring at a computer screen.  Amen.

Photography and Poetry

One could say, I suppose, that there is a divide between preference for colored photographs versus black and white, the same as there is for rhyming versus non-rhyming poetry. Some say it's not poetry unless it rhymes; a large majority of poets work in both realms and others -- poets and readers of poetry -- even scoff at rhyming poetry as childish, commonplace, and not true art.

Someone shared this with me and I am sharing it with all of you: Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943 – Plog Photo Blog . Quite frankly, I cannot define art, but this is within that definition. I had not previously realized that there was color photography at that time. I am quite ignorant about photography. While I prefer black and white, with the nuances and shades of grey, the tonal quality of these shared photos is exceptional and has those nuances usually associated with black and white photography.

Speaking of black and white photography, we will be visiting Cincinnati, Ohio, in little more than a week from now, primarily to see the Walker Evans exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Need NIA

I know I have mentioned NIA coming to Dixon. Right now, Nichole Miller is on "summer break" which started in early May, and I am hoping ends soon!!  She and all of us lament the fact that there are not more NIA teachers in the Sauk Valley area. I feel the lack acutely and while I'm still not able to commit to something like that, I hope that others might want to take up the cause.

The next week-long White Belt training session in Chicago is coming up soon, 5-11Aug.  As the message says, the training is not just for those who desire to teach NIA, but also for those who seek the intensive exploration of physical and spiritual self.  In plain, familiar fitness language, NIA combines elements of modern and jazz dance, martial arts, especially aikido and tai chi, and yoga.  There are principals of interval strength training and deep breathing as well as opposites: balance/imbalance, flexible/rigid, dynamic/static, strong/fluid.

And, even if you can't commit to a whole week, the location for the training -- Soulistic -- is a wonderful space and part of the training includes (after long hours of instruction and practice) a daily one-hour class for all comers.  So, if you are in Chicago at that time (or Jamie Klausing teaches twice weekly at Soulistic, among other places), please do check it out.  Your body will hug you.  After each class I take, I feel like I've given myself a gift.  People comment all the time that I must have lost weight. I have lost just a few pounds over the years, but I believe the weight has shifted to my muscles which are more toned.  Exercise is about the only way after menopause to increase HDL ("good cholesterol"), and NIA is fun.