Daily Thoughts 7/17/2010

House of the Tragic Poet (Pompeii), Edward Bulwer Lytton's "The Last Days of Pompeii"

Daily Thoughts 7/16/2010

07/13/10 Mt. Vernon, NY Statement from City ComptrollerFunds found to restore lost library positions http://www.mvinquirer.com/ . There was a restoration of $250,000. The debt listed for Mount Vernon Public library was $400,000 in the Westchester Journal News.

This basically says that the Mount Vernon Public library needs to do a better job of raising funds. If any of you are interested, there is a Friends of the Library and a Library Foundation both of which act to help the library raise funds and do publicity. http://www.mvplfoundation.org/ . In addition, people can sign up to be a Friend of the Library. They run the booksale.

This means there is a little bit of shortfall still and the library needs to make a concerted effort to raise funds and cut costs so that this does not happen again. The time period is basically five or six months.

I watched Ivanhoe on dvd today starring Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Taylor. It was a very interesting movie to watch. I have not read Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott which is considered a classic of historical fantasy. Sir Walter Scott is credited with creating the historical fantasy genre with his Waverly novels. We have a lot of Sir Walter Scott's lesser known novels including Rob Roy in our storage area. They are quite interesting to look at. The trailer for the film Scaramouche included in the dvd for Ivanhoe looked quite interesting. Scaramouche is a book by Rafael Sabatini. It is a romantic swashbuckling film set during the French revolution.

I read some more of Booklife by Jeff Vandermeer in the laundromat. Right now, the author is writing about balance in life and how it effects writing. He reminds people to get enough sleep, take time for exercise, and not spend all day in front of a computer. Some writers like Dickens and Thoreau walked a lot to help their thinking process in writing.

I do a half hour of floor exercises every day and try to get enough sleep. I also enjoy walking a lot. I like to take short walks every day as well. It is not always easy. I tend to like food and caffeine a little too much. On average, I drink three cups of coffee a day. I rarely drink alcohol.