What I'll do for a good rat, I mean read!

I finished a book! Woooow... It took 5 months... Don't misunderstand, I read a lot of stuff, just very rarely do I find/make the time to read a novel for pleasure. However, when I discovered that the movie "Willard" (and its sequel "Ben") were based on a book published in 1969 called Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert I had to hunt down a copy!  This was an excellent read, with almost nothing supernatural and just a very bizarre and believable relationship between a man and his basement-full of rats. 

But what I really wanted to share with you, what I really think is blog-worthy, is how I "saved" this book.  I purchased it online through abebooks and when it arrived I knew there was trouble: opening the packet released a musty, damp basement smell.  Upon inspection, and removing the dust jacket I discovered white "clouds" on the black fabric cover: mold.  No, no, no!!!  I wanted not only to read it, but also add it to my collection of rat books!  What to do?  After asking around and reading online, I devised my "recipe" for book rescue:

First, I threw it into the freezer, for about two weeks while I researched but it probably only needed 48 hours.  Then, I rubbed it down with rubbing alcohol (using a cloth I then discarded), getting the cover saturated but not overly wet.  After thoroughly drying outside in the sun and wind, the book went back into the freezer, 48 hours.  Finally, I wiped it down again with rubbing alcohol and again let it dry in a very well ventilated area.  The end result:  there appears to be no more mold and the book has just that pleasant old book smell.  Now, after 5 months there is still no sign of any growth and I feel that I can safely place the book with the rest of the collection, although I think laying it on top of the shelved items so it's still well ventilated and gets the occasional check to make sure nothing has changed. 

So, there you are, a book rescue remedy!  If you've ever experienced this kind of literary emergency and created your own recipe, I'd love to know about it! 

What is art?

"Passionate debate keeps the question "What is art?" healthily alive, but for our purpose, I offer the following response to it:  art is an embodied form of energy.  Energy fuels the process of art's inspiration and creation, and in turn, art acts as a carrier for an idea, the vehicle for energy from the etheric to the physical realms.  Without energy, we merely have gesture, phrase or line without meaning or resonance.  Art begins and ends with energy -- it's energy that ignites the first small spark of a concept within its maker and energy which resonates with lasting reverberations in those who experience the work.  It's the captured energy in art that can spur an emotional reaction:  our personal vibration aligns with that of the piece and viola!  We have contact.  We are affected, moved.  We have been changed, in some major or small way."  --  p.19  Kick-Ass Creativity by Mary Beth Maziarz

 When I read this, at the beginning of the passage I was skeptical, thinking "where is she going with this"? But the end bit makes complete sense:  why does some art immediately register within you while other pieces simply don't leave an impression?  There's some sort of connectivity, some sort of matching up taking place, whether it's with a good book, an incredible sculpture or an awesome photograph.  There's something uniquely similar, replicated in that art that makes it feel like it's part of you and you want to hang on to it, continue to experience it. 

(As you can see I've made it to page 19... three weeks and that's as far as I got...)