Books to Bytes

The history and future of the book as explored by an English major-Book Arts minor on her last leg of undergrad and the starting line of a life filled with words.

[eveningcolor]

two of them twosday rb for two of them on twosday

[litverve]

Language is, in other words, not necessary, but voluntary. If it were necessary, it would have stayed simple; it would not agitate our hearts with ever-present loveliness and ever-cresting ambiguity; it would not dream, on its long white bones, of turning into song.

Mary Oliver, West Wind: Poems and Prose Poems (with thanks to the wonderful Whiskey River)

[openmarginalis]

“Partial border decoration, including peapods, and large gold initial.”, unknown creator, Netherlands, ca. 1475-1499 via The New York Public Library Digital Collections, No Known Copyright Restrictions (United States)

[sexycodicology]

Illuminated Manuscript, Gloss on The lamentations of Jeremiah, Initial Q with Jeremiah lamenting, Walters Manuscript W.30, fol. 4r by Walters Art Museum Illuminated Manuscripts http://flic.kr/p/bBkhpw

[mouse-y]

[thisisnotharmless]

Speaking of linguistics, there’s one particular linguistic tick that I think clearly separates Baby Boomers from Millennials: how we reply when someone says “thank you.”

You almost never hear a Millennial say “you’re welcome.” At least not when someone thanks them. It just isn’t done. Not because Millenials are ingrates lacking all manners, but because the polite response is “No problem.” Millennials only use “you’re welcome” sarcastically when they haven’t been thanked or when something has been taken from/done to them without their consent. It’s a phrase that’s used to point out someone else’s rudeness. A Millenial would typically be fairly uncomfortable saying “you’re welcome” as an acknowledgement of genuine thanks because the phrase is only ever used disengenuously.

Baby Boomers, however, get really miffed if someone says “no problem” in response to being thanked. From their perspective, saying “no problem” means that whatever they’re thanking someone for was in fact a problem, but the other person did it anyway as a personal favor. To them “You’re welcome” is the standard polite response.

“You’re welcome” means to Millennials what “no problem” means to Baby Boomers, and vice versa.The two phrases have converse meanings to the different age sets. I’m not sure exactly where this line gets drawn, but it’s somewhere in the middle of Gen X. This is a real pain in the ass if you work in customer service because everyone thinks that everyone else is being rude when they’re really being polite in their own language.

[hinallie]

Something interesting to note is also the more literal meaning behind these two phrases and how they themselves differ and oppose each other

‘No problem’, coming from a millenials mouth, within the context of helping someone – whether it be holding a door open/picking up something someone may have dropped/ect. – and, naturally, being thanked for it, implies that the kind gesture was indeed, not a problem, that it was just the thing to do, that they were happy to help and that no thanks was really necessary.

While a Baby Boomer’s ‘You’re welcome’ in contrast, says something miles different, it actually highlights the fact that the person went out of their way to help someone; almost brings attention to it in a way, saying ‘Yeah, I helped you, I did you this favor I accept your thanks.’ which, malicious intent or not, is strikingly different than the millennial downplay of their act of kindness for the sake of helping someone.

[thereelingnightshowhost]

No prob is also pretty informal. I think it highlights how Millennials value formality less but our connections more or less the same. The common ethos seems to be that there needn’t be any pomp and circumstance to doing a friend or stranger a quick solid.

[bookpatrol]

The latest, coolest library is in a concrete building on the beach in China

The latest, coolest, looking library comes to us from the white sandy beach of Nandaihe, China.

Facing the East China Sea the Seaside Library brings all the amenities of a contemporary library right to the waters edge.

Constructed by Vector Architects the library features a tiered reading room that occupies the center of the two-story library while a meditation space, activity room, and bar occupy the perimeter.

That sounds like the perfect trifecta, a beautiful place on the beach to read – meditate – drink

More at dezeen: Vector Architects completes a concrete seaside library

[astreeeaneee]

A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.

–William Styron

[incidentalcomics]

A Reader’s Manifesto

A Spanish translation of this comic appears the Colombian newspaper El Espectador. Thanks to editor Daniel Jimenez Quiroz!

Posters are available at my shop.

[bookpatrol]

Still Harmony: The Work of Jacqueline Rush Lee

Jacqueline Rush Lee has been creating bookworks for over 15 years. Her work has been and remains a staple in most anthologies that deal with contemporary bookworks.

In 1998 Rush devised an experimental process where books and periodicals were fired in controlled kiln environments and transformed into what Rush calls “fossilized” books where “the books were no longer recognizable in their usual context, but transformed into poetic remnants of their former selves–ephemeral and ghost-like forms suggesting internal landscapes and a trajectory of time, transformation and memory…”

These “poetic remnants” emit a still harmony that retains the power of the book while transforming them into spectacular works of art.

Read/see more

[bookporn]

Oh wow, so beautiful!

[quirkbooks]

Lovely!

[books-are-my-life17]

[decuresmacanudo]

[just-shower-thoughts]

“Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” is not the definition of insanity. It’s the definition of practice.

[mellifluousbookshelf]

[spells-and-sorcery]

Simple book binding tutorial, very useful for making your own personalize Book of Shadows

[sadboyfactory]

I should make sketchbooks like this and sell them at conventions

[karamatsuvu]

here’s the actual link because you can’t read the thing on tumblr very well

[kataradora]

WARNING. Books contain words. When words are consumed in sentences and stories, your child’s brain will grow and develop. Reading may result in a larger VOCABULARY, expanding IMAGINATION or good GRADES. Keep in reach of children.

[uispeccoll]

Happy Miniature Monday!

Here are multiple mini’s from Borrower’s Press.  We’ve featured some of their books before, but I couldn’t resist another post—they are so adorable and all so different!  For a list of titles and descriptions of these books and more from Borrower’s, click here.  

Multiple titles and authors. Borrower’s Press.  The Charlotte Smith Miniature Collection

See all Miniature Monday posts here

[muspeccoll]

I love the handful of books!