Category Archives: Writing

Hey, It’s National Poetry Month

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Just Beyond Yourself David Whyte Just beyond yourself. It’s where you need to be. Half a step into self-forgetting and the rest restored by what you’ll meet. There is a road always beckoning. When you see the two sides of … Continue reading →

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21st Century Libraries

Posted on April 13, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Librarians from the historic California State Library in Sacramento created the cartoon-style infographic below to celebrate National Library week and to explore the many roles that libraries can play in the 21st century. Established in 1850, the California State Library … Continue reading →

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A Very Timely Reminder

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

The American Library Association recently released its annual Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books, included in the ALA’s State of America’s Libraries Report 2019, an annual summary of library trends “that outlines statistics and issues affecting all types of libraries. Never … Continue reading →

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American Weirdo

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

This weekend I stumbled upon this terrific retrospective on the way under-appreciated alternative comics series created by R. Crumb in the 1980s. Weirdo bridged the cultural and generational gap between the “underground comix” of the 1960s and the later so-called “alternative comics”. … Continue reading →

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Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower Rainer Maria Rilke Quiet friend who has come so far, feel how your breathing makes more space around you. Let this darkness be a bell tower and you the bell. As you ring, … Continue reading →

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Wordless Novel (no fooling)

Posted on April 1, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

To follow-up on my recent post about Lynd Ward’s wordless novels, I would like to introduce the German wordless novel, Die Sonne (the Sun), created by Franz Masereel (1889-1972), and published originally in 1919. This copy was re-issued in 1926 by Kurt … Continue reading →

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Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first publication of Kurt Vonnegut’s masterwork Slaughterhouse-Five. Part autobiographical, part science fiction, part satire, Slaughterhouse-Five was Vonnegut’s first bestseller and remains a revered literary classic of the 20th century. After the real-life Vonnegut … Continue reading →

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Literary Infographics

Posted on March 30, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Back in the olden days when I was a student some of my peers would avoid assignments by reading Cliff Notes rather than full books. If you’re not familiar, Cliff Notes were commercially produced summaries of full length books that … Continue reading →

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Perpetually Awaiting A Rebirth of Wonder

Posted on March 24, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Today is the 100th birthday of America’s most loved living poet. If you spend any time at TBTP, you have by now likely noticed my fondness for Lawrence Ferlinghetti. In fact, the first poetry books that I bought were his A … Continue reading →

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Nothing Happens

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

 

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