More Inspiration from Mad Scientist Mind

Not long after my post referencing my love of mad scientists, I happened into a shrine to mad scientism, The Huntington in San Marino, CA. OMG! Founded by railroad tycoon and evident honorary mad scientist, Henry E. Huntington, in 1919, his namesake institution fully expresses his "special interest in books, art, and gardens."
"Start with the library," I was advised by the woman at the welcome desk.
"The Huntington Library is one of the largest and most complete research libraries in the United States in its fields of specialization. The Library’s collection of rare books, manuscripts, prints, photographs, maps, and other materials in the fields of British and American history and literature totals more than nine million items."
We're talking manuscripts and first editions from Shakespeare and Chaucer, Thoreau and Audubon. I was blown away. Thankfully, the Huntington Gardens beckoned and I cleared my mind with an eye-boggling meander through the 120 acres of cactus, bonsai courts, rose gardens and lily ponds. I was so glutted on beauty and wonder, I didn't make even it into the galleries to view the extensive collections of British and European art.
"Your first time?" the cashier at the gift store asked after I'd done a quick, slightly dazed holiday shop.
"Yes," I said, explaining that I was from out of town. "I had no idea."
"Yes," he nodded, "We're one of LA's best kept secrets."

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, CA  91108

626.405.2100

Deborah Crooks | A more diverse form of Americana | Latest Cds

Word power

 I didn't always sing, but I always wrote. I had the good fortune to discover books early on, which offered up a fortune of information (and inspiration) about the world out there, and what was possible to do with a pen. Thank god for literacy because it was the tail of the tiger that I had to catch on the road to  liberating my voice. For the quiet girl that I was, solace was found in books and making up stories of my own. For the silent surly teenager that followed, books offered more alternative realities, as adolescence found me getting a lot of props for what I looked like rather than what I said. I had one especially perceptive teacher who ran the drama department in which I didn't dare set foot, who also taught a drama literature class. Ms. Zanjani got right away that the work was easy for me but that I didn't take it seriously, and did me well by guiding me into College English classes.
Writing got me into UCSC, where, fortified by a diverse, dedicated-to-actualizing student-body, I realized that my quiet behavior simply didn't mirror the truth. Still it would take me a very long time to feel anywhere near comfortable talking in groups and to even think about performing, but over many years, writing led to being able to 'say' the truth on the page. Reading that writing stepped up the game, and singing, well that gave me my emotional spectrum back.

This is a CliffNotes version of a bigger story, but I'm remembering it this week, as I caught myself 'being shy' the other day, not speaking up in a mostly-male group when I had something to say.  

Then a friend posted the article What Every Girl Should Learn online and which I found at once encouraging and enraging and all to familiar. That is, I'm so glad Soraya Chemaly wrote this article and so sad getting your voice isn't enough in many cases.

The words:

"Stop interrupting me." 

"I just said that."

"No explanation needed."

The why: Chemaly writes  "As adults, women's speech is granted less authority and credibility. We aren't thought of as able critics or as funny. Men speak more, more often, and longer than women in mixed groups (classrooms, boardrooms, legislative bodies, expert media commentary and, for obvious reasons  religious institutions.) Indeed,  in male-dominated problem solving groups including boards, committees and legislatures, men speak 75% more than women, with negative effects on decisions reached. 
That's why, as researchers summed up, "Having a seat at the table is not the same as having a voice."

Ugh.

As someone who took a long time to find my voice, I've had many rude awakenings when it comes to the latter. The only thing worse than overt sexism is seeing my own internalized sexism -- the part of me that bought the silence and deferral game who still occasionally rears her fearful head.   
I'll have to remember the direction to "stop interrupting" that much more...and stock up on some more good books.

Read.Eat.Listen: Gifts

Did anyone not get a cold or flu this past week? Jeepers. The upside of being under the weather is slowing down, taking care, prioritizing and appreciating how good it is to breathe anew.
Read: "The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World," by Lewis Hyde. Not a new title, but a classic about the value of creativity, art and commerce, and the true nature of a 'gift'. Picked up at Powell's, partly read on the plane. "Not surprisingly, people live differently who treat a portion of their wealth as a gift. To begin with, unlike the sale of a commodity, the giving of a gift tends to establish a relationship between parties involved....
Eat: Rather drink. As colds and flues require copious amounts of liquid. On tap? Ginger/Lemon/Tumeric/Honey Tea. Whir it all up in a blender and stir in hot water. Quaffing the stuff in these parts.
Listen: Speaking of artists with gifts. I noticed Jolie Holland's recent contribution to Portland Cello Project which led me to this semi-recent Tiny Desk Concert.

Read.Eat.Listen: Light

photo by Kevin Collins

OK, so we're officially heading through winter and ...toward the light. Wait, hasn't it been storming most of the week? Well, thankfully there are plenty of over-the-top holiday decorations around town. Santa Fe has luminarias, San Francisco has that lovely light-bedecked big tree in Golden Gate Park... Alameda has...bright blue stars, Santa's workshops, giant snowmen and copious light-covered reindeer plus an inflatable Snoopy or two (or four). My tacky side, loves Christmas lights  and greatly appreciated the often crazy lighting displays that speckled the island.  I kept it simple (and safe) and went with a bunch of white lights around the window frames but I'm emboldened for next year. I'll pass on the inflatable characters...but blue lights, pink lights, white lights,.. the possibilities are endless.. Hopefully my fellow Alameda residents will keep theirs up through the New Year so I can take more notes.

photo by Razzu Engen

Read: Speaking of notes, I've been doing some yoga recon along with my usual practice, checking out different teachers once a week and reading outside my usual Ashtanga lines. I'm not so studied in Iyengar but I do love this book, "Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace and Ultimate Freedom," by BKS himself, that elegantly addresses what yoga is and how it helps our lives. "the infinite variety of natural phenomena gives an appearance of chaos, but they [Indian yogis] asked, is it possible that the laws that govern the unending turbulence of nature are orderly and comprehensible? And if we can grasp how they work, would it not be possible for us to emerge from chaos into order?" — BKS Iyengar
Eat: My inner Pavlovian clock thought, 'it's December, I must be in India.' But I'm not. So I've been making up for it, eating lots of Indian food this season, including, yes, dosas, those lovely lentil-rice crepe-like staples of South Indian cuisine. It's easy to find dosa — and pre-made, quality dosa batter — in Indian specialty markets around the Bay Area, but for those who want to roll up their sleeves and make their own from scratch, check out this "Perfect Dosa Recipe" from Veggie Belly.
Listen: Over the Rhine. Heard this Ohio-based (lots of good stuff catching my ear out of Ohio) duo on satellite radio recently and started digging a bit deeper. Good, literate, heartfelt, real stuff.