Words to the Yellow Rose of Texas

A book of Emily Dickens poetry came in last week. Have you ever read any of her work? Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was a most prolific poet. She was somewhat of a recluse. After returning home from college she rarely left the home of her well-to-do parents. At home she mostly stayed in her room. He social life was by correspondence.

Her 1,800 or so poems can be sung to the tune of Yellow Rose of Texas. Below is "Because I Could Not Stop for Death." Small children love to hear the tune and the words of her poetry even though they do not yet have the words in their vocabulary. The sounds are soothing. Sing away!

David Sneed

Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality.

We slowly drove—He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility—

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess—in the Ring—
We passed the fields of Gazing Grain—
We passed the Setting Sun—

Or rather—He passed Us—
The Dews drew quivering and chill—
For only Gossamer, my Gown—
My Tippet—only Tulle—

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground—
The Roof was scarcely visible—
The Cornice—in the Ground—

Since then—'tis Centuries—and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity—

Month End at Meals on Wheels Book Room

At month end we do the usual paperwork things of taking inventory, totaling hours worked, rearranging or whatever.

The mix of books keeps changing depending on who is donating what. Right now we have a noticeable quantity of business books, humor and classics.

One interesting book is the autobiography of Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935.) Gilman was a writer and lecturer. She was the great-niece of Henry Ward Beecher and his sister Harriett Beecher Stowe. As a writer she was perhaps best known as the the author of the Yellow Wallpaper. In that book, she mostly describes the bedroom. What is  most unique about the book is the viewpoint that she gives. It is as if she can see everything in the bedroom but the occupant cannot see her. The rest of the house almost becomes an attachment to the bedroom. She wrote the book in an objective way as if no one would be reading it. In fact she is bringing all of the readers into the bedroom.

There is a connection between Charlotte Perkins Gilman and a new way that the non-fiction books in your book room are arranged. There are the usual categories of subject such as business, self-help, crafts, health, cooking, animals and nature, sports, or whatever. You may notice some books in the subject area that, by the Dewey and other systems, would not be there. By looking ahead at what the readers of that category may be thinking we are adding books that will fit that type of thinking. It is as if an observer is in the book room that cannot be seen by the book buyer. Like in the bedroom of Gilman's book. The observer is saying "Oh you like x. You might like to read this book."

If you like what we are trying to do please say something. Likewise if you do not like it. I think people may actually do this with their own books.

David Sneed

Is Cheyenne's Hipster Bookstore at Meals on Wheels?

The term hipster has had a revival. It refers to people, generally in their 20s and 30s, who have adopted an independent free-thinking lifestyle. In Wyoming we might call them "New Cowboys." Hipsters are being sighted at Cheyenne Meals on Wheels Mart. The store is a good find for them. They like thrift store clothing. They like tight jeans and printed t-shirts. They like old style glasses of all kinds. They like art prints. They like books that can show them new ideas and irony. Hipsters love irony. They also love Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Meals on Wheels does not sell beer yet it is close to the place that does.

Watch this video that can give you some more information about hipsters. Maybe you are one. Maybe I am one. Maybe we were hipsters before being a hipster become "cool" or "deck."

David Sneed

Comment from a reader. 


"I wish you well as an independent book seller.  I am a strong supporter of independent dealers and am committed to read books I can hold. "


When you buy a book from Meals on Wheels you are supporting real books. You are saying that you want books in print to be available.


David Sneed

10th President John Tyler Has Two Living Grandchildren

Here is something that could be found in a book at Meals on Wheels. A President who was born in 1790 has two living grandchildren. 

Thanks to one of our readers who pointed out the following. 

John Tyler, our 10th President, was born in 1790. He became the 10th president of the United States in 1841 after William Henry Harrison died in office. Tyler fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler in 1853, at age 63.  Then, at the age of 71, Lyon Gardiner Tyler fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. in 1924 and four years later at age 75, Harrison Ruffin Tyler. Both men are still alive today.

That means just three generations of the Tyler family are spread out over more than 200 years. President Tyler was also a prolific father, having 15 children (8 boys and 7 girls) with two wives.

The next president who has a still living grandchild is James Garfield the 20th president, who took office forty years after Tyler.   

David Sneed

End of Clive Cussler Festival

The Clive Cussler Festival has ended. All of his books that we had put out are sold.

Of course more could come in this week.

At the entry of Jan 20 you can still see the Cussler videos.

David Sneed

How Frequently Do Books Sell at Meals on Wheels?

Based on numbers from 2011, a book sells every two minutes that the Cheyenne Meals on Wheels store in Cheyenne is open.
David Sneed

Types of Books and the Connection to Furniture

Every week is different at the Meals on Wheels Book Room in Cheyenne. Right now there are quite a few humor books as well as Smithsonian Magazines and Clive Cussler novels. Many magazines are not of any value to collectors. The internet has replaced them. For some reason Smithsonian is different.

Book stores and old furniture go together. I would much rather go to the Tattered Cover in Denver than to Barnes and Noble. Tattered Cover, like many similar book stores every where, has an old lived in experience. There are dark corners, old furniture and worn carpets. Barnes and Noble is like an airport newsstand with the high-priced coffee right inside. Book stores need a cat in the window. Can you imagine a cat in Barnes and Noble?

At Meals on Wheels there is always neat old furniture. If Wyoming gets a lottery and I win big, I will build a really big house and furnish it with old stuff from Meals on Wheels.

David Sneed

21st Century Illiterate

The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn." Alvin Toffler

Brattle Book Shop

The Brattle Book Shop in Boston is said to be the nation's oldest book store. It carries thousands of used books. Outside the shop in a vacant lot is where books are placed on tables for $5 each. This lot is the last stop before the land fill. The books did not sell in the store at higher prices and so, in unsorted fashion, are placed outside. 

The books are just like what is found on the shelves at Meal on Wheels in Cheyenne for 50 cents. Many are worn and ragged. Many are like new and maybe never read.

David Sneed

Clive Cussler Festival

How about a Clive Cussler Festival right here on the blog and at the store with available books. I have never read his books but am now inspired to do so.

What has happened is that today at Meals on Wheels Cheyenne quite a few Clive Cussler books came in, both hard-back and paper-back. So we took those and whatever others we already had and put them on a separate shelf all by themselves.

Cussler is a best-selling adventure novelist. When his books come in they always resell quickly. Here is a website for Clive Cussler books.
http://www.clive-cussler-books.com/

Here is a mock trailer for his book Inca Gold.



Got 72 minutes? Here is Clive Cussler speaking at the University of Oregon about writing adventure fiction.




Here is a short interview with Clive Cussler. 1:44.



There are so many good authors. And you can get the books for just 50 cents right in Cheyenne at the Meals on Wheels store.

David Sneed

Small Issues Yet Important

Crockett heard our wishes and was able to put carpet in the entire book display area. While looking at books customers can now have a quiet area to peruse the shelves. The chairs are there for those who would like to sit and look through shelves.

I have brought in more books from my library. donations have been a little,slow this month.

Have you got some books you can donate? We will come and get them.

David Sneed

Dictionaries

I got a request from one of the long time volunteers at Meals on Wheels Cheyenne for a dictionary. This lady is a retired school teacher and has been a volunteer for over 30 years.  

Some days the Meals on Wheels Book Room has dictionaries. Other days we do not. I went and found one paperback. I took it to her and asked if it would do temporarily. She said it would. I bought it for her.

To help fill the need I went back to my library at home and got her a thumb-tabbed, leather bound,Webster's New World Dictionary, College Edition.

If someone has a use for a certain book, it is my job to try and find them one.

David Sneed

What You Get When You Buy A Book

Lord! when you sell a man a book you don't sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life.  Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.  ~Christopher Morley

Try Doing This With a Digital Book

A book reads the better which is our own, and has been so long known to us, that we know the topography of its blots, and dog's ears, and can trace the dirt in it to having read it at tea with buttered muffins.  ~Charles Lamb, Last Essays of Elia, 1833

Are Books Going Away?

There are many articles about how books are on their way out. There is an interesting article in the Atlantic by Peter Osnos that shows that there are changes in how books are read, written, produced and promoted. Nothing about books going away.

Good books in print form will always be around. They have flexibility that digital books do not have.

1. They do not require power.
2. They are ready right now to use.
3. They can be moved and rearranged. Everyone with a library at home or office knows that they can readily find a book they need.
4. Real bookmarks can be used. Note that the digital folks use the same term "bookmark."
5. They can sit on your desktop and easily accessed.
6. It is easy with a book to go back or forward.
7. Books are easily transferable in ways that cannot be done easily with digital formats. They can be put on a shelf in a book store or distributed on-line. There are no special media and no special process to make them readable.

To help preserve the concepts of books, those of us in the book business, and that includes  Meals on Wheels Cheyenne like to make books available at a low price. We try to keep a fresh selection of books in good condition. We also ask folks who have books they no longer need to bring them in so we can make them available to others.

David Sneed

First Week of 2012

We got some nice donations this week with a variety of subjects. It was a nice start for the year.

Sometimes we have a period of mostly one type or another.

We would like to have a carpet for the book display area. If you have one you don't need please bring it by or we will come and get it. I haven't measured but  the area is about 24x12. We can piece together whatever we get.

David Sneed

First sale day of 2012

Today was the first sale day of 2012. A number of books were sold including some large art books in the boutique section.

There was a request from a dealer who wanted to pay double and be able to scan bar codes before the books were put out. There are thrift stores that allow that. We did not agree to that request. It would delay getting books out on the shelves as the dealer could not come in every day several times a day.

We do need book donations. December was slow because there were a number of days when donations could not be made. So inventory is lower than we might like.

David Sneed

Who Makes Books?

Many people, other than the authors, contribute to the making of a book, from the first person who had the bright idea of alphabetic writing through the inventor of movable type to the lumberjacks who felled the trees that were pulped for its printing.  It is not customary to acknowledge the trees themselves, though their commitment is total.  ~Forsyth and Rada, Machine Learning


I think that for a book to be complete there must be those who distribute the books and those who read them and apply the thoughts and facts. Otherwise the books are just another form of tree pulp. A book is a type of seed. The readers are a type of farmer. 


David Sneed

The Smallest Bookstore

"The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television."  ~Andrew Ross


As a few examples from what is currently available just at Meals on Wheels:

• Someone who is unemployed can find ideas for starting a needed business. There are many books giving how-to information. 
• There are several shelves of classics. These books can inspire new thoughts. 
• There are biographies and autobiographies to see how others have lived. 
• There are many entertaining novels of all types. 
• There are language and travel books. 

David Sneed