Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Monday, August 27, 2018
Text of Dave Eggers' "Her Right Foot" 3
Please remember, all you who never read my blog posts: Get the book. It has wonderful illustrations by Shawn Harris.
There are no page numbers, but I'm typing up all the text of the book. This is the third and final part of my "sharing."
The Statue of Liberty was not built to welcome just 1,886 immigrants from Italy on one certain Sunday in, say, 1886. No! She was built to welcome 3,000 immigrants from Poland the next day. The next day, 5,000 Norwegians. After that, 10,000 Glaswegians.
Then Cambodians. Then Estonians. Somalis. Nepalis. Syrians. Liberians.
It never ends. It cannot end.
After all, the Statue of Liberty is an immigrant, too. And this is why she's moving. This is why she's striding.
In welcoming the poor, the tired, the struggling to breathe free.
She is not content to wait.
She must meet them in the sea.
There are no page numbers, but I'm typing up all the text of the book. This is the third and final part of my "sharing."
The Statue of Liberty was not built to welcome just 1,886 immigrants from Italy on one certain Sunday in, say, 1886. No! She was built to welcome 3,000 immigrants from Poland the next day. The next day, 5,000 Norwegians. After that, 10,000 Glaswegians.
Then Cambodians. Then Estonians. Somalis. Nepalis. Syrians. Liberians.
It never ends. It cannot end.
After all, the Statue of Liberty is an immigrant, too. And this is why she's moving. This is why she's striding.
In welcoming the poor, the tired, the struggling to breathe free.
She is not content to wait.
She must meet them in the sea.
Text of Dave Eggers' "Her Right Foot" 2
I love the words, but be sure to get the book because it has wonderful illustrations by Shawn Harris.
I'm continuing to type this up. I stopped after "Bedloe's Island. (There are no page numbers!)
Bartholdi liked to see the sculpture rise above the harbor. Sometimes he watched the construction from the water. Sometimes he watched it from the land. Usually he was wearing a sturdy black hat, for he, like most European men of the time, favored sturdy black hats.
You may have noticed by now that the pictures of the Statue of Liberty in this book have her colored brown. you may have thought the illustrator of this book was not so good at his job, because we all know the Statue of Liberty to be a certain greenish-blue. But the Statue of Liberty was made of copper, and copper starts out brown.
Then, very slowly, when left outside for long periods of time, copper will eventually oxidize, and when it does, it turns this blue-green color.
So the Statue of Liberty that everyone in New York saw being constructed was actually brown. The Statue of Liberty, in fact, was brown for about thirty-five years.
The statue turned green around 1920, and has been this color ever since. Perhaps you already knew this.
And you may have known that the book the statue is carrying, the one in her left hand, features the date, July 4, 1776, on which the Declaration of Independence was signed.
And you may know that the seven spikes on her crown represent the seven seas on Earth, and the seven continents, and the sun's rays, too.
And you probably know that the torch she carries is a symbol of enlightenment, lighting the path to liberty and freedom.
And you might have known that at one point, Thomas Edison, inventor of the lightbulb and the record player, once proposed to have a giant record player inside the Statue of Liberty. He did! He wanted the statue to be able to speak. In the end, though, this idea was considered a bit strange and was no pursued.
And did you know that the interior of the statue was designed by another Frenchman by the name of Eiffel? That's riht--the same Eiffel who, a few years later, would design the Eiffel Tower.
And did you know that while the statue was first being constructed in Paris, a bunch of Parisians, mostly writers--they like to eat--actually dined in the area just below the statues knee?
This, too, is true. While the statue was rising, Bartholdi set up a lunch, four stories up, to impress and enthrall these French writers, who, being difficult to impress and enthrall, were at least mildly amused.
But there is one thing that you might not know, and this is the central point to this book--a point the author apologizes for taking so long to get to.
The point is that even if you have seen a picture of the Statue of Liberty, or many pictures of the Statue of Liberty, or even hundreds of pictures of the Statue of Liberty, you probably have not seen pictures of her feet.
And even if you have seen pictures of her feet, you probably have not seen pictures of the back of her feet. In particular, her right foot.
What do you notice when you see this picture? (Buy the book!)
That's right! She is going somewhere! She is on the move!
Let's pause here and collect ourselves, and think about this.
Let's discuss this. Let's think about and discuss the fact that this is the largest sculpture in all the land, and the most iconic symbol of the United States of America. Let's talk about the fact that this statue has welcomed millions of visitors and immigrants to the USA.
People talk about her unusual headwear.
They talk about her gown, which seems a very heavy kind of garment, and would likely result in serious lower back issues.
They talk about her beautiful torch, and the severe look on her face.
But no one talks about the fact that she is walking! This 150-foot woman is on the go.
Every time we see the Statue of Liberty in pictures, or any time we imagine the Statue of Liberty, we see her standing still. Very still. Like, well, a statue.
But she is moving. She weighs 450,000 pounds and wears a size 879 shoe, and she is moving. How can we all have missed this? Or even if we saw this, and noticed this, how is it that we have seen and noticed a 450,000-pound human on her way somewhere and said, "Eh, Just another 150-foot woman walking off a 150-foot pedestal?
And most important, where is she going? Is she going to SoHo to get a panini?
Is she going to the West Village to look for vintage Nico records?
No, no. She is facing southwest, so she is facing New Jersey. Could she be going to Trenton?
Wait. No. She is facing southeast. So she is not going to New Jersey. But she is going somewhere. But where? Why is she moving?
There are certain things we know. We know that around her feet are chains. They are broken chains, implying that she has freed herself from bondage. We know that Bartholdi wanted us to know this. He wanted us to see the chains. People have talked about the chains.
But few talk about the foot that is so obviously in mid-stride. About the fact that her entire right leg is in mid-stride.
What does this mean? What does this mean that we often forget about this right foot, this right leg?
Here is an idea.
Here is a theory.
Here is a reminder.
If the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom, if the Statue of Liberty has welcomed millions of immigrants to the United States, then how can she stand still?
Liberty and freedom from oppression are not things you get or grant by standing around like some kind of statue. No! These are things that require action. Courage. An unwillingness to rest.
I'm continuing to type this up. I stopped after "Bedloe's Island. (There are no page numbers!)
Bartholdi liked to see the sculpture rise above the harbor. Sometimes he watched the construction from the water. Sometimes he watched it from the land. Usually he was wearing a sturdy black hat, for he, like most European men of the time, favored sturdy black hats.
You may have noticed by now that the pictures of the Statue of Liberty in this book have her colored brown. you may have thought the illustrator of this book was not so good at his job, because we all know the Statue of Liberty to be a certain greenish-blue. But the Statue of Liberty was made of copper, and copper starts out brown.
Then, very slowly, when left outside for long periods of time, copper will eventually oxidize, and when it does, it turns this blue-green color.
So the Statue of Liberty that everyone in New York saw being constructed was actually brown. The Statue of Liberty, in fact, was brown for about thirty-five years.
The statue turned green around 1920, and has been this color ever since. Perhaps you already knew this.
And you may have known that the book the statue is carrying, the one in her left hand, features the date, July 4, 1776, on which the Declaration of Independence was signed.
And you may know that the seven spikes on her crown represent the seven seas on Earth, and the seven continents, and the sun's rays, too.
And you probably know that the torch she carries is a symbol of enlightenment, lighting the path to liberty and freedom.
And you might have known that at one point, Thomas Edison, inventor of the lightbulb and the record player, once proposed to have a giant record player inside the Statue of Liberty. He did! He wanted the statue to be able to speak. In the end, though, this idea was considered a bit strange and was no pursued.
And did you know that the interior of the statue was designed by another Frenchman by the name of Eiffel? That's riht--the same Eiffel who, a few years later, would design the Eiffel Tower.
And did you know that while the statue was first being constructed in Paris, a bunch of Parisians, mostly writers--they like to eat--actually dined in the area just below the statues knee?
This, too, is true. While the statue was rising, Bartholdi set up a lunch, four stories up, to impress and enthrall these French writers, who, being difficult to impress and enthrall, were at least mildly amused.
But there is one thing that you might not know, and this is the central point to this book--a point the author apologizes for taking so long to get to.
The point is that even if you have seen a picture of the Statue of Liberty, or many pictures of the Statue of Liberty, or even hundreds of pictures of the Statue of Liberty, you probably have not seen pictures of her feet.
And even if you have seen pictures of her feet, you probably have not seen pictures of the back of her feet. In particular, her right foot.
What do you notice when you see this picture? (Buy the book!)
That's right! She is going somewhere! She is on the move!
Let's pause here and collect ourselves, and think about this.
Let's discuss this. Let's think about and discuss the fact that this is the largest sculpture in all the land, and the most iconic symbol of the United States of America. Let's talk about the fact that this statue has welcomed millions of visitors and immigrants to the USA.
People talk about her unusual headwear.
They talk about her gown, which seems a very heavy kind of garment, and would likely result in serious lower back issues.
They talk about her beautiful torch, and the severe look on her face.
But no one talks about the fact that she is walking! This 150-foot woman is on the go.
Every time we see the Statue of Liberty in pictures, or any time we imagine the Statue of Liberty, we see her standing still. Very still. Like, well, a statue.
But she is moving. She weighs 450,000 pounds and wears a size 879 shoe, and she is moving. How can we all have missed this? Or even if we saw this, and noticed this, how is it that we have seen and noticed a 450,000-pound human on her way somewhere and said, "Eh, Just another 150-foot woman walking off a 150-foot pedestal?
And most important, where is she going? Is she going to SoHo to get a panini?
Is she going to the West Village to look for vintage Nico records?
No, no. She is facing southwest, so she is facing New Jersey. Could she be going to Trenton?
Wait. No. She is facing southeast. So she is not going to New Jersey. But she is going somewhere. But where? Why is she moving?
There are certain things we know. We know that around her feet are chains. They are broken chains, implying that she has freed herself from bondage. We know that Bartholdi wanted us to know this. He wanted us to see the chains. People have talked about the chains.
But few talk about the foot that is so obviously in mid-stride. About the fact that her entire right leg is in mid-stride.
What does this mean? What does this mean that we often forget about this right foot, this right leg?
Here is an idea.
Here is a theory.
Here is a reminder.
If the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom, if the Statue of Liberty has welcomed millions of immigrants to the United States, then how can she stand still?
Liberty and freedom from oppression are not things you get or grant by standing around like some kind of statue. No! These are things that require action. Courage. An unwillingness to rest.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Text of Dave Eggers' "Her Right Foot"
Be sure to buy the book, which has great drawings by Shawn Harris.
You have likely heard of a place called France.
If you have heard of France, you may have heard of the French.
They are the people who live in France.
You may have also heard of something called the Statue of Liberty.
Did you know that the Statue of Liberty comes from France?
This is true. This is a factual book.
One day a Frenchman named Edouard de Laoulaye had an idea. The idea was to celebrate the 100 years the United States of America had been around by giving them a giant sculpture.
So he convinced another Frenchman, a Frenchman wiht an Italian last name, to design the sculpture . This artist's name was Frederic August Bartholdi. Bartholdi designed the statue.
He first made very small models of the sculpture, then larger ones, and finally one that is the one we know, which stands 305 feet above the water.
This final, full-size version was covered with a thin copper skin. The skin is about as thick as two pennies. That is not very thick!
Here (Buy book to see pictures) is a rendering of Bartholdi and his team--he had a team; h did not work alone; he did not like working alone--constructing the statue's hand.
Notice that the hand is bigger than these man. Thus they made the statue in many parts.
These parts were assembled in New York City.
No, wait. First they were assembled in Paris. Did you know this? Ask your friends and even your teachers if they knew that before the Statue of Liberty was assembled in New York, she was first constructed in Paris. Your friends and teachers will be astounded. They will be impressed. They might think you are fibbing.
But you are not fibbing. This really happened. The Statues of Liberty stood there, high aabove Paris, for almost a year, in 1884.
After they assembled the statue in Paris, they took it apart.
But we just put it together! the workers said. That is absurd, they said.
They said all this in French, the language of the French, a people who appreciate the absurd.
In 1885, after they took it apart, they put the parts in 214 crates, and put these crates on a boat. The boat was called the Isere. The boat traveled over the Atlantic Ocean and made its way to a city called New York, which is in a state also called New York.
Hundreds of workers (perhaps 214 of them) took the pieces out of the 214 boxes, then began to rivet the pieces together. Assembling the statue took 17 months, and it all happened on what was then called Bedloe's Island. (To be continued)
You have likely heard of a place called France.
If you have heard of France, you may have heard of the French.
They are the people who live in France.
You may have also heard of something called the Statue of Liberty.
Did you know that the Statue of Liberty comes from France?
This is true. This is a factual book.
One day a Frenchman named Edouard de Laoulaye had an idea. The idea was to celebrate the 100 years the United States of America had been around by giving them a giant sculpture.
So he convinced another Frenchman, a Frenchman wiht an Italian last name, to design the sculpture . This artist's name was Frederic August Bartholdi. Bartholdi designed the statue.
He first made very small models of the sculpture, then larger ones, and finally one that is the one we know, which stands 305 feet above the water.
This final, full-size version was covered with a thin copper skin. The skin is about as thick as two pennies. That is not very thick!
Here (Buy book to see pictures) is a rendering of Bartholdi and his team--he had a team; h did not work alone; he did not like working alone--constructing the statue's hand.
Notice that the hand is bigger than these man. Thus they made the statue in many parts.
These parts were assembled in New York City.
No, wait. First they were assembled in Paris. Did you know this? Ask your friends and even your teachers if they knew that before the Statue of Liberty was assembled in New York, she was first constructed in Paris. Your friends and teachers will be astounded. They will be impressed. They might think you are fibbing.
But you are not fibbing. This really happened. The Statues of Liberty stood there, high aabove Paris, for almost a year, in 1884.
After they assembled the statue in Paris, they took it apart.
But we just put it together! the workers said. That is absurd, they said.
They said all this in French, the language of the French, a people who appreciate the absurd.
In 1885, after they took it apart, they put the parts in 214 crates, and put these crates on a boat. The boat was called the Isere. The boat traveled over the Atlantic Ocean and made its way to a city called New York, which is in a state also called New York.
Hundreds of workers (perhaps 214 of them) took the pieces out of the 214 boxes, then began to rivet the pieces together. Assembling the statue took 17 months, and it all happened on what was then called Bedloe's Island. (To be continued)
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Sharing Favorite Readings at the Sunset Branch of the SF Public Library
Realized that this was the day to share readings
and headed out without changing my clothes from the Y--except for the
pants. Really worth it! Robert.crabill@sfpl.org Librarian read Communicating Vessels. A woman read "In Praise of
Incompetence" by Lauren Slater from Sun Magazine. (Think I might submit!) Barbara Stoops read from Elspeth Huxley's On
the Edge. I spoke about the JoMama Book
Club and Less but read from "Her Right Foot," the Dave Eggers story about the Statue of Liberty. I thought it was so touching that I gave it to Barbara to keep reading when I couldn't, and then she gave it to another woman when she (Barbara) was choking up. An Episcopal
minister (retired) read from "The Devil and Daniel Webster." Another man read the Afro-German poet May
Ayim's poem 4 mos. before her death.
Another woman read "Miss Me But Let Me Go, " a poem she thinks of in terms of her husband, who died a year and a half ago. The Episcopal minister also read from the "Shape of the Liturgy." The librarian and leader of our group, Robert Crabill, read from Brewster Adams' Pay Dirt.
Monday, August 20, 2018
Sharing Favorite Reading Passages at the Sunset Public Library August 25, 2018
Everyone:I'd like to tell you about an event that might naturally appeal to the Great Books audience -- and your friends in the Bay Area.Cliff, it would be wonderful if you could let the various Great Books Groups in the city and beyond know about this --"Favorite Readings - Sharing What We Like" at Sunset Library (Sat. August 25th) will be the second annual program where readers share some of their favorite written passages with others, and get ideas for books and authors to read from each other.Last year we looked for the shortest, most concise distillations of human thought, proverbs and quotations; this time around, the passages can be longer, up to one page long.This will of course not resemble the kind of close reading plus extended discussion that your Great Books Groups specialize in, but I think it can be a refreshing, inspiring kind of 'flash' variation, for those of us who pause and appreciate the artistry of authors, in the reading we do for pleasure.Think of this event in art terms: it will be more of a series of sketches or a collage, instead of a portrait or a landscape -- emphasizing variety and breadth instead of the sustained, deeper explorations that your groups usually do. We may pause and discuss specific texts, as the group wishes.If:-- You remember, memorize or have saved, written down or photocopied writings that you liked;-- You have inserted a bookmark or a post-it, or written in the margin, to mark a passage you appreciated or wondered at...Then this program is for you, and your bookshelves -- or ours, at the library! -- are the places to head to, so you can find some favorite passages to contribute to this program.If you like the concept of the event but cannot attend on Aug. 25th, please send your contributions to me, Robert Crabill at: rcrabill@sfpl.org, and I will add them in to the occasion.I'm hoping that with three weeks of lead time, we can increase the number of people who get to share in this one-of-a-kind event. Let's really see what we can create from this idea!Hoping to hear from you,Robert Crabill, LibrarianSunset Branch, San Francisco Public Library1305 18th Avenue at Irving StreetSan Francisco, CA 94122(415)355-2808-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Please pass this information along to others who may be interested:Favorite Readings - Sharing What We Like
Sunset Branch Library
Saturday, August 25, 2018
1:00 - 2:30 PM
Last year we looked for proverbs and short quotations, many from long ago. This time all are invited to bring and share longer readings from books, stories, poems, magazines, online or song lyrics -- passages that moved you or made you think, or just show us authors' magical ways with words. Guarantee: you will get ideas of what and whom to read!
If you won't be able to attend, contributions may be dropped off, emailed (to: rcrabill@sfpl.org, with “Favorite Readings” as the subject) or mailed in. If there is interest, we may collect our favorites into a booklet. No signup required.
Join us for readings to shed light in the foggiest month – in the spirit of reading, discovering and sharing.Sunset Branch Library (downstairs)1305 - 18th Avenue at Irving St., San Francisco, CA 94122
Info: (415)355-2808 http://sfpl.org/sunset Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sfplsunsetbranch
Free event - Wheelchair accessible - Public Transit: N-Judah streetcar; 7, 28 & 29 MUNI buses
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Our First Visit to the Transbay Transit Center in SF
A friend and I paid our first visit to the new Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco today, saying that we were going to see how it compared to the High Line in NYC.
It compares quite favorably! You can see Erika walking in in the second photo, and she caught me in the final photo.
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
CARA Santa Rosa Rally for Social Security
Today I rode with CARA members Paul and Nick to Santa Rosa, where we rallied to "protect and improve Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid." We joined the newest California chapter of CARA in this. These pictures were taken by Ian Hoffman, Legislative & Political Organizer for the American Federation of Government Employee, a young man who did a great job in organizing and speaking. He also got us a moment in the middle of the street, as shown in the third photo!
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
CARA and Getting Reform Prop 13 on the Ballot
Today I went to Berkeley to celebrate and hear speeches about the ballot (2020) to Reform Prop 13.
Thursday, August 9, 2018
Word for Word after Gracias Madre and a Ride in a Friend's Bolt
Carol Fregly and I got to ride in Jana's new Bolt car--a gift to the environment--after dinner at Gracias Madre and before and after Word for Word, celebrating its 25th anniversary with short stories by Tobias Wolff and George Saunders--very well-done!
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