Gems in the Dust

[jeannineatkins]

This weekend Peter and I drove to Wells, Maine to help celebrate the grand opening of Shellback Artworks, a shop our friend Steve Lavigne, with huge help from his wife, Denise, is opening to sell comics and art supplies and where Steve will teach classes to kids. There was free pizza and lots of good will through the day, but maybe my favorite

Comments

[jeniwrites]

Thank you for sharing your process of finding the finer details that make historical fiction "real."

Sometimes I worry that today's teens don't have the same skills for library research that we did when we were in high school because they have the Internet, and because so many teachers allow them to use solely Internet resources for class papers. Sam is taking an online class this summer that requires him to write a five-page paper with only one Internet source; the other four sources must come from the library. I'm actually relieved that he'll be able to have this experience before he starts his junior year.

[jeannineatkins]

It's kind of ironic that it's an online class that is asking Sam to do this great thing! The internet is great in so many ways -- if I need a battle reference during a dinner table discussion, I can easily put in the date of such conversation and find what was happening with the Civil War. And just as one can find useful things when ending, the internet can produce scaffoldings for beginnings. But there's so much that's new, or looks new, or seems new again, amid what internet writers must have left out. I hope Sam has some fun in the library!

[jbknowles]

Love that image! And the rest, too!

[jeannineatkins]

I think there must be more cool bookshops near where your parents live.

Laura Shovan

[anonymous]

What a beautiful post, Jeannine. I think we're all tempted by the Internet and the promise of having an algorithm screen what we're searching for. You're right, of course. We don't always know what we're looking for. An open approach to research can yield surprises, new directions. Mr. Emerson and the silver cream pitcher have me giggling -- funny to see the great poet attached to material things.

Re: Laura Shovan

[jeannineatkins]

Our daughter recently visited, accompanied by her very smart phone, and it was cool to ask some questions through the day and get answers. But of course that phone doesn't know everything. Sometimes we have to muse or hunt.

I love Emerson -- "life is a train of moods like a string of beads" -- but, yes, the silver cream pitcher. And according to his daughter, he could get quite giddy if someone poured him a third cup of tea "by mistake."

Lovely tidbits

[ext_1259143]

I love hearing your little stories today, Jeannine, your trip with your husband to the friends new shop, with the little boys and their exciting joint purchase and stopping at the bookstore, making a good 'find'. Those little parts you shared surely are worth it, and perhaps there will be more as you look. I guess Alcott's book seemed less exciting to record than we might imagine, especially when there are travel gifts to list. Thank you!

Re: Lovely tidbits

[jeannineatkins]

Those travel gifts moved me, as she seemed truly excited for May and her journey. Ellen was closer in age to May, and just may not even have cared for Louisa's writing. We don't know. I think in our own letters or emails, some big things just never get put down on paper or the screen.

I do love the little things, which seem worth the hours, but am giving myself a break of a few days before I crack volume two!

[jeannineatkins]

It's actually just pretty cool that this collection was published at all, given Ellen's connection to fame as a daughter, though nothing in particular re her own writing or other creative work. Some older work gets painstakingly transcribed to the computer, which is great, but the more obscure, the less likely. And sometimes it's the obscure that holds just the thing.