No Way?

I can hardly think of a better gift than an unexpected novel via post.  This weekend I devoted some time to a recent receipt:  The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope.  At 100 chapters, it is a significant carry-on item (versus my Nexus) but worth its weight.  True to my (OCD) form, I'm 100 pages in and yet to break the spine.  The characters each seem to have something slightly amiss so I've not yet selected my favorites.

This work was published in 1875 and I found this trivia via The Guardian:

Trollope, professional to his fingertips, often kept a calendar for the composition of his fiction. Before starting The Way We Live Now he made the following, slightly chilly, calculation: "Carbury novel. 20 numbers. 64 pages each number. 260 words each page. 40 pages a week. To be completed in 32 weeks."

But he was wrong. The "Carbury novel", begun in May 1873, took just 29 weeks, and ran to about 425,000 words.

How's that for six month productivity?

The title also seems to fit recent themes as two of my most recently viewed films have been The Way and They Way Way Back.

Paying the Piper

Somehow I managed to isolate myself from advertising enough to not know that:

1) the Netflix original series Orange is the New Black was set in a women's prison
2) the series is based on a book of the same name by Piper Kerman

GBC P@1ge filled me in 1) last week and NPR's most emailed stories clued in me on 2) this morning.

Sometimes books make my list in the strangest ways.

I Think I Remember the Film and As I Recall..

Because I'm a fan of Breakfast at Tiffany's and because I know several of you love cats, here's a little story about the first world problem of finding the right cat for your Broadway show:  "Like Herding Cats?  Well, Try it on Broadway" by Stephanie Clifford.

The Seen Scene

I've already admitted I'm behind in reading, however it seems I'm not doing too terribly bad with my movie watching (over the course of 2012).  With a bit of a break coming up, I'm certain there is time to view a more.

Here's one of many (many) articles and lists to be published on the Top films of the year, courtesy of the New York Times:  25 Favorites From a Year When 10 Aren’t Enough by A.O. Scott.

How many have you seen?

"The World is Ahead"

I remember the cover of my first The Hobbit book.  I think I purchased it from one of those magazines at school where you could buy three books for a few dollars and everyone's books delivered on the same day like one gigantic bookworm Christmas in the spring.  I'm pretty sure I still have my copy but one of the downsides of sorting your bookcase loosely by genre, book type, and height is that you really can't lay your hands on a book quickly when you want to write about it in the few moments you have before departing for the office.  There is a chance it's with my sister.  She liked The Hobbit too.

Today the Peter Jackson film premieres in New Zealand, and I'm pretty sure this will be on my viewing list.

As You Wish

Last night on the way home from the office, I heard this interview with Mandy Patinkin on NPR's All Things Considered.  Was he tired of uttering his oh so famous line?  No.  It still makes him smile.  Me too.

This week my sister had sent me a link to this Think Geek shirt.  Yesterday morning, I suggested to friend that she use a "to blave" line in a wedding speech.  All roads lead to Wesley?  So last night, I settled in to watch the movie during it's 25th anniversary year and pondered in which box my 25th anniversary book was packed.

Love is Like a Butterfly

Today's discovery:  Eric Joisel.

From just a cursory review of images, I can see that he fully earned title as "The Magician of Origami".  The works are beautiful.  Take time to review the gallery on his site.  "Self Made Man" and "The Hobbit Orchestra" are among my favorites.  Mr. Joisel died in 2010 and as a nod to his life and in his memory Michael G. LaFosse and Richard Alexander created a document so that you could create your own papillon.  It's amazing.

If you find yourself with a spare hour, also check out "Between the Folds."  I cannot do better than Amazon's description:

Between the Folds chronicles the stories of 10 fine artists and intrepid theoretical scientists who have abandoned careers and scoffed at hard-earned graduate degrees--all to forge unconventional lives as modern-day paper-folders.

There is a part of each of us waiting to be made into something new.