The Island of Lost Maps by Miles Harvey

Here is another book review from a book I found fascinating.


"What a vapid job title our culture gives to those honorable laborers the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians variously called Learned Man of the Magic Library, Scribes of the Double House of Life, Mistresses of the House of Books, or Ordainers of the Universe. Librarian - that mouth-contorting, graceless grind of a word, that dry gulch in the dictionary between libido and licentious - it practically begs you to envision a stoop-shouldered loser, socks mismatched, eyes locked in a permanent squint from reading too much microfiche. If it were up to me, I would abolish the word entirely and turn back to the lexicological wisdom of the ancients, who saw librarians not as feeble sorters and shelvers but as heroic guardians. In Assyrian, Babylonian, and Egyptian cultures alike, those who toiled at the shelves were often bestowed with a proud, even soldierly, title: Keeper of the Books.

I think most librarians, especially rare book librarians, still secretly view themselves in this way. I met dozens of them as I retraced Bland's footsteps, and in the end I came to the conclusion that most view their work as what the scholar and novelist Umberto Eco, writing about librarians of an earlier age, called a 'war with the forces of oblivion.' I think they wage this war because, like the historian Barbara Tuchman, they believe that 'books are humanity in print' and that, as the Keepers of the Books, they are safeguarding not just pieces of paper but mortal flesh. The stakes are high: if they fail the past dies."

--Pages 113-114



"Yet I came to understand that, at its most fundamental level, a discovery has less to do with revelation than declaration. Just as the word explore comes from the Latin for "to cry out," discovery is the act of making known. Christopher Columbus was not the first to arrive in America: his genius was in introducing the New World to the old one." p 322

"Any attempt, whether in writing or mapping, to fit our three-dimensional world onto the flat page leads to distortions. some elements receive too much space, others too little; still others become warped almost beyond recognition." p 324

"Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" by Susan Cain

I've been going through my old posts, and her is a review on a book I read. Interesting book.

• Culture of Character vs Culture of Personality was changed by 1920. When started following movie stars more. The "economy called for a new kind of man" (p 20), an extroverted one.
• Citizenship, duty, work, golden deeds, honor, reputation, morals, manners, integrity vs magnetic, fascinating, stunning, attractive, glowing, dominant, forceful, energetic. (p 23-24)
• "Though shyness per se was unacceptable, reserve was a mark of good breeding" (25) vs males and females that were too quiet were "homosexual" or "frigid". (25)

• Scientific study says that peer pressure can actually change our perceptions.
• A high-reactive child's ideal parent: someone who "can read your cues and respect your individuality; is warm and firm in placing demands on you without being harsh or hostile; promotes curiosity, academic achievement, delayed gratification, and self-control; and is not harsh, neglectful, or inconsistent". (p 113)  
• Evolutionary theory: Need both introverts and extroverts for a species to survive. (p147-149)
• "According to Free Trait Theory, we are born and culturally endowed with certain personality traits- introversion, for example - but we can and do act out of character in the service of 'core personal projects'." (p 209). "To thine own self be true", as Shakespeare advised. Make sure that carve out "restorative niches", no matter what personality type you are. (p 265)

According to the lists in the book, I am a little more introverted than extroverted, and am equally motivated by rewards and threats .

Jenna Turns Three!

Jenna is now a big girl- three years old! She is quite the talker and though she has her moments, she is a good toddler. Her birthday party was a bear theme. Enjoy!

At three years Jenna will say:
"wink, wink" - oink, oink
"No promise" - No problem (aka, I was glad I could help)
"No, thank you!" - When she didn't want something to happen.

"Ohh, I see!"

"I'm very busy"

"I'm not little, I'm a big sister"

She will talk through her animals if she has a question. She will also have that friend oink, be it a blanket or a piece of cheese.

She loves Winnie the Pooh, Super Why, Dinosaur Train and Daniel Tiger. She also likes "The Fox and the Hound".