 Lazy Times I’m having those. And frankly at the moment I agree with Harriet Beecher Stowe that “human nature is above all things lazy.” Especially in the middle of both summer and time off work. While I do things, I do them at a pace that suits a no-alarm schedule, and at times that I feel like doing them rather than quickly. I’ve had ice cream for breakfast, wine for lunch, hours with old magazines, weekday trips through antique shops and swap meets, the occasional luxury of a day without turning on the computer, reading in bed in the morning, and scrubbing the bathtub out of enjoyment rather than necessity. These might not all meet the dictionary definition of lazy, but since I am doing them if I feel like it, whenever I feel like it, well, they then become lazy activities. They certainly are indulgent. What I am saying here is that I feel the need to take a weekend off from my usual letter. If you don’t have time off until Labor Day, maybe now is a good time to think about what you might want to do—or not do. Be lazy as you like. Just make conscious choices when you choose the ways in which to indulge human nature’s urge to be lazy. Upcoming Book Festivals and Fairs: Location: Seattle, Washington The Pub House: You may think that only people with connections to California would find books of interest, but the fact that is that even if you are not living here or a native you will find things of interest. Paris Portraits: Stories of Picasso, Matisse, Gertrude Stein, and Their Circle by Harriet Levy, a long-hidden manuscript tucked away in the archives of UC’s Bancroft Library, is Ms. Levy’s experiences when in 1906 she was talked into moving to Paris by her friend Alice B. Toklas. Her new world was suddenly filled with artists, poets, patrons, and others. Her observations on overheard conversations, relationships, reactions and more opens up that world of early twentieth-century Paris in vivid detail and luscious memories. Beyond Words: 200 Years of Illustrated Diaries takes the reader back to the pre-camera days when illustration and words were the only way to convey images gathered on journeys. This book is a collection of excerpts from fifty different diaries—from writers from luminaries to Beat poets to twelve-year-old girls—that span 200 years of “adventure and contemplation.” Jesse’s Ghost is a novel set in California’s famous Central Valley where “fist fighting was a noble sport and drinking and sex were rites of passage for teenagers.” But when Jesse, toughest of all, is murdered by his best friend that murder becomes a ghost for the ages, haunting Sonny who had committed the crime decades earlier. This new novel has been called by Booklist a “haunting, even archetypal, ballad of betrayal and survival.” Imaging Books & Reading: Of Interest: Until next week, read well, read often and read on!
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