Friday; Places of Learning;

Picture Book Library - Iwaki City, Japan
Built in 2005, the Picture Book Museum gave the preschoolers of Iwaki, Fukushima, a space to call their own. Turned off by the shhh-ing atmosphere of traditional libraries, the Picture Book Library's founder gave architect Tadao Ando free rein to create a space that would be inviting for children. His only order was to make sure the covers of the books were visible. The glass-walled and vibrant end result was celebrated as a new paradigm in educational spaces in Japan, and as an architectural masterpiece.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina - Alexandria, Egypt
Nothing remains of the original Library of Alexandria -- the biggest and most prominent library of the ancient world -- and nobody knows for sure exactly when and how it was destroyed. But nearly 2,000 years later in 2002, the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina opened as an homage to the original.

Royal Grammar School Chained Library - Guildford, England

Established in the early 1500s, the Royal Grammar School contains one of few remaining examples of the practice of chaining books to shelves. This allowed important or particularly useful books to be placed in communal areas for public perusal rather than locked away, paving the way  to the public library system. Now the Headmaster's Study, the Chained Library holds books that date back to the late 1400s, including two early editions of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia.  

St. Catherine's Monastery - South Sinai, Egypt

The oldest continually operated library in the world, St. Catherine's Monastery has been around since it was first built by the order of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, sometime around 564 AD. It currently holds over 3,000 religious and educational manuscripts and approximately 8,000 printed books, including first editions of Homer and Plato. 

Trinity College Long Room - Dublin, Ireland

Ireland's oldest university, Trinity College, is also the location of the largest library in Ireland. The oldest and rarest of its collection is housed in the Long Room, the largest single-chamber library in the world with over 200,000 volumes preserved inside. 

When I travel I always like to visit libraries. When I see the might of books and learning I ask myself why is the world still such a savage place? Spending the people's wealth on wars and destruction, still invading other countries to steal and to plunder. 

To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace. Tacitus

Thursday; unforgettable;

My granddaughter Fabrizia leaves little notes for me. I find them in books, in the cutlery drawers, behind mugs, they are always a little surprise.She is now 10, when she could not read nor write she left me drawings and long epistles with  "Hieroglyphics". When only 2 years old she carried always books around, not with pictures just with writing, she loved dictionaries, she still loves notebooks and carries them anywhere to write and draw. This little note says "Dear Goi, I miss you already I will bring back something and maybe stay at your hotel in Europe. Fab

(Goi is short for Grossmammi a Swiss German word for grandma. She invented it when she was two years old.)

Thursday; I wonder...

...who said:" we can not waltz in the clouds?"

© Photo/text Ts.

Wednesday, 2 cents of wisdom;

Dry, spend leaves have their special beauty. 

Be creative;
Do not buy mass produced goods, go for quality;
Choose handmade goods from small cottage industries;
Buy one good painting you really like instead of buying 50 reproductions.
Even better paint one yourself.
Look and listen;
Enjoy  nature, colours, stillness.
Read one of the Philosophers;
Enjoy cooking a special meal, try to make your own recipes.
Learn a new language, even if only a few sentences.
Don’t accept everything at face value, make up your own mind;
Do not follow trends;
Criticize;
Don’t be to materialistic, it takes the pleasure away from being creative.

Miniature Bougainvillea;

.Creative individuals
 have a great deal of energy, but they are also often quiet and at rest,

tend to be smart,

have a combination of playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility;
alternate between imagination, fantasy, and  their sense of  reality,

seem to harbour opposite tendencies between extroversion and introversion.

Generally, creative people are  rebellious and independent.

©Photos my garden/text Ts

Tuesday; care...

We are lucky to live well, have a  happy life, others don't, children are always the most vulnerable and easily exploited by people who are the most despicable of mankind. They do not care at all how they make money; if possible always on the back of others.

Tell Nintendo Slavery is Not a Game;

Conflict minerals are mined by prisoners of war and child slaves.
 Nintendo doesn't seem to think this matters.
Electronics like laptops, cell phones, and game consoles contain minerals that are often mined by people in the Congo forced to perform this labor under threat of violence or death. This is why they are often called 'conflict minerals.'

Companies like HP, Apple and Microsoft have taken steps to make their products conflict-free, but not Nintendo.

The very first step for Nintendo to rid its products of conflict minerals is to audit its supply chain and make the information public.

The violence and slavery associated with the production of minerals in the Congo is devastating. There is absolutely no excuse for a company with so much money and power to turn a blind eye to this human rights tragedy.

Care2 Action alerts.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/886/663/109/?z00m=20502862

Monday; capricious;

ca·pri·cious

Adjective

Given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior. 

Synonyms

whimsical - wayward - fickle - freakish - crotchety 

Freakish,  flowering now, the Hippeastrum flowers generally in spring, October, November, depending on the weather into December.

Wayward; cherry tree flowering now towards end of summer; it should flower in spring!

Fickle; Lichen are choosy, Lichens and mosses only grow in areas where the air is clean and will not flourish in gardens in polluted inner-city suburbs.

Whimsical; Lovely moth, saw it in the morning on the fence. Moth and Lichens are some of my favourites. 

There is something about them, interesting in all aspects and absolutely beautiful.

©Photos/text Ts

Sepia Saturday 164; Grandfather's Tobacco pipes;

The Appenzeller  tobacco pipe, called a Lindauerli is part the

Alpine  national costume, still worn today for social occasions.

The tobacco pipes  are still produced today  in the same way and style as in earlier times. Generally they are produced from wood of the pear tree  and varnished  very dark brown or black and decorated
with stylized  Edelweiss, Alpen flora and cows from silver or tin.

This one is a tobacco pipe with a swan neck!

This is also a Lindauerli, I should have pointed the head down wards, that's how it is smoked'

A folks song; Myn Vater isch en Appenzeller,

 der isst de' Chäs mitsamt'em Teller.

My father is a born  Appenzeller he eats his cheese and the plate, which means, in earlier time they served the cheese on  a thick piece of bread, so he eats the cheese and the plate!

Still a very traditional  bringing the animals  up to the Alps in early summer and also celebrating when they are returning at the end of summer.

The canton Appenzell, situated in the north-east of Switzerland, was from 1513 to 1597 one single cantons (1597 the canton was divided into the Catholic Innerrhoden and the reformed Ausserrhoden). 

A girl who can Yodel!

www.sepiasaturday.blogspot.com

©Photo/text Ts