Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined themed chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the eighth day of the month is "Art."
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This is a sculpture at our local library. I think it's charming. But I have questions.
1) Have you ever tried to read on grass? You get dirty and it's usually kind of wet and then you get damp and there are ants and other bugs.
2) Maybe it's because I am An Old, but the thought of reading in this position makes my back hurt. Could you really sit like this for an extended period of time?
3) What's with the glass circle things? What do they represent?
4) What book do you think she's reading? (For my part, I think it's clear A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.)
Please discuss amongst yourselves.
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Don't forget that if you want a holiday card from me, you need to fill out this form by December 15. Thanks to all of you who asked for one - I had to open the second package of cards from Minted, so it has not all been in vain!
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To see what Bestest Friend has to say about art, go visit her at Too Legit to Quit.
It is not all that easy to read in any recumbent position although I cn get back a long way in my chair. I do go all of the way back though. I have vague memories of reading on towels on beaches before we understood about skin cancer, and I have had one little bit removed.
ReplyDeleteYes, reading on a towel at a beach makes sense, but not directly on grass. Maybe children do it, though.
DeleteI think as a kid I could have read that way, but now, no, my back vetoes it!
ReplyDeleteYes, this pose does seem like a child thing, doesn't it?
DeleteIt reminds me of The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen Harbour.
ReplyDeleteI cannot read like this; my back would be ruined forever! I also don't like reading outside - at the beach, in a hammock, on the grass. I want a soft, comfortable chair/couch/bed and no shadows from sunlight. This makes me sound like a very un-fun person. But I am picky about reading locations!!!
I think reading should be done in 100% comfort, so I think you're absolutely allowed to be picky about where and how you do it!
DeleteThat's so funny, because the first thing I thought when I looked at that was "ouch." It would definitely hurt my low back to be in that position! I agree the sculpture is charming, but yes, grass is prickly. And I don't get the circles. I think I would like it better without them. I'll go with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn!
ReplyDeleteThe circles look really cool from the outside of the library looking in, so I wouldn't want to get rid of them. I am just wondering what they're supposed to be telling me about this scene.
DeleteYou are so right about the discomfort. Grass is so poke-y and tickle-y and full of insects, and it leaves a pattern on your skin. And that position would make my legs fall asleep in about two minutes. I bet, from the look on her face, she is reading Whitman -- assigned to her by some overzealous teacher who doesn't understand how to make Whitman accessible to young people, but she's trying really hard to get into it (hence the grassy reading spot) but it is so meandering and would he just get to the point already.
ReplyDeleteI'd love more of your brief reviews of great American writers. Suzanne on Thoreau. Suzanne on Twain. Suzanne on Hemingway, Dickinson, and Alcott. I bet it would be brutal!
DeleteWhen I teach "sphinx" posture in my classes, I call it "reading in bed posture" and it looks like this. Then I ask all my ladies if they've read anything good lately!
ReplyDeleteSphinx is hard, though. Not relaxing enough to read for an extended period of time, right? Or am I doing sphinx wrong? I definitely think of it as an active pose and not a resting one.
DeleteOh no, definitely an active pose. In fact, it needs to be active or it can be harmful to the spine. I just like to chat with my ladies while we do it!
DeleteWho would lie down on grass and read in that position? A young child! She's so absorbed in her book that she doesn't notice the discomfort. That's my interpretation FWIW.
ReplyDeleteYes. Of course. Kids' bodies can do anything!
DeleteI thought she was a mermaid at first glance!
ReplyDeleteMy husband reads in bed like this. I could do it for maybe five minutes, but it just isn't the cozy reading posture that I want!
I agree with you - grass seems romantic and all, but really it's just prickly and wet.
Yes! It feels romantic the way going to the beach does. Good in theory, but the actuality is uncomfortable and dirty.
Delete#2 LOL. The first thing I tohught when I sqw that sculpture was how uncomfortable to read like that for any length of time.
ReplyDeleteThe beauty of youth is being able to read like that, I guess!
DeleteAlso...why does it say Sarah? Is this a memorial to someone? I just noticed the inscription and it brings a whole new set of questions!
ReplyDeleteI took a closer look when I sent to the library this morning. It just says it's dedicated to Sarah (so I don't know if it's a memorial or not), a reader of all things. It's for Sarah!
DeleteI think the circles represent all the worlds that open up to readers when they open up books.
ReplyDeleteI used to read outdoors all the time when I was a kid. Actually, I read everywhere--up in the maple tree was one of my favourite places. It was usually the last place anyone would look for me, and it allowed me quiet and privacy.
I could never read in a position like that anymore. Too many neck and shoulder problems, but I read like that all the time in bed, illicitly, as a kid.
(And NO ONE had better diss Walt. Ever.)
I think it's too late. I fear Suzanne has cast the first stone at Walt. Is this the beginning of the Great Blog War?
DeleteI do read like this on my bed SOMETIMES, but yeah, not very comfortable for a longer period of time. And I don't know what the glass circles are supposed to represent... but I do like the exhibition :)
ReplyDeleteFirst, on the position? Oh heck no. I thought recently about how my sleep position has changed over time - from a strict stomach sleeper as a kid, to a side sleeper, to now (I can't believe I am not 1000 years old) sleeping mostly sitting up, on my back, and occasionally somewhat on my side. I. Am. Old. Also, of course it's Walt! Leaves of Grass and all that. ;)
ReplyDelete