Happy New Year everyone! Let's all resolve to post more often in 2011!

Fitzgerald Collection

Here's an article which may be of interest:

"A priceless library of 400 books once owned by a friend of Charles Dickens opens to the public for the first time."

Of particular interest to me is the info on the infamous Jarndyce vs Jarndyce case in my favorite Dickens' novel, Bleak House.

http://cdnedge.bbc.co.uk/local/kent/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9250000/9250769.stm

Christmas and Holiday Gifts

This season is the best for books and booklovers. I always love to give and get books for presents. I really can't think of ever being excited about getting a new download to a kindle, Ipad, or notebook- can you? Do you have a favorite holiday book or book present that you received. Do you have a favorite book story or quote from someone who got a great book for Christmas.

One of my favorite Christmas books is the 1947 Golden Christmas book. It was actually given to my oldest sister as a gift - but my Dad had a family tradition that on Thanksgiving night he would get the book out and he would read a story every night up to Christmas Eve. When I had my daughter Angelina in 1982 I wanted to get a copy of this book and continue the tradition. I think this was my first book that I sought out as a book collector- I got an excellent copy. There is a tissue paper pop-up Christmas tree in the front and as you can imagine this get worn very easily. I have since found other copies of this book for my brothers and sisters. The original family copy is still with my oldest sister, Carolyn. I wanted to share this story and post because I am curious of your stories and also if there are any other lovers of this book in the docent group. Happy Holidays Chris

Recommending two local area exhibits

I did check out the Wharton Esherick and the birth of the American Modern at University of Pennsylvania. The exhibit at the Van Pelt Library is fascinating and really shows his various art interests and exposure and interests in new ideas in politics, philosophy and literature. The gallery space in the Kroiz Gallery of the Architectural Archives-( entrance is on 34th Street) has some beautiful pieces of furniture and photos of Bok house. Highly recommend that you check out both. Both are open until February 13th but you will want to be sure exhibits are opened during winter break /holiday times. www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/esherick.html

I also went to Bryn Mawr College's 125 Years of Collections. The exhibit is in the Rare Book room of Canaday Library. This exhibit is great also and a docent trip could be organized and we could get a group tour. I picked up a catalog and will leave in the docent library the next time I'm in the Delancey Street area. This exhibit will be on display until May 28, 2011. They will turnover/replace some items too- so if you go now- you will see a new exhibit in spring 2011

New Robert Burns House Museum Opens

The Scottish poet Robert Burns, a favorite among the collections and personalities associated with the Rosenbach has a new house museum at his birthplace in Ayrshire.

Opened by the National Trust, the new museum has a host of attractions you can read about here.

For a state-side Burns fix, the Rosenbach has a wonderful collection, including hand-written manuscripts-drafts of poems, a powder horn that belonged to the poet from 1796 (which is quite often on display in the library), and at least two miniature portraits of the poet exist among the miniature collection.
My favorite Burns item at the Rosenbach is the engraving of Burns that belonged to Marianne Moore!

Rebecca's patent leather bracelet

On friday Shawn, Barbara and I were discussing the new portrait of Rebecca and in particular her unusual patent leather bracelet. It has such a prominent spot in the portrait and it looks so very modern!

Well I was looking up some information about patent leather and found out it was invented in Newark New Jersey by a man Thomas Edison titled the second greatest inventor (after himself), Seth Boyden. Mr. Boyden invented a "fancier" looking leather which was conditioned with a layer of linseed oil and was stiff and shiny. He created patent leather in 1818 and by 1819 it was a commercial success. Unfortunately he never patented his patent leather and did not receive monetary success. He later would invent malleable iron.

I am most familiar with patent leather footwear an have never seen it in a cuff form.

Was this a manufactured bracelet from New Jersey's booming Newark?

Is it possible that the bracelet is a piece of mourning jewelry? Or was she proudly displaying a something completely unique?

What do you all think?

Here is a link to the November issue 1831 of The Royal Lady's magazine, with great descriptions of Fall fashions: http://www.koshka-the-cat.com/royal_magazine11.html

The Rosenbach Acquires Sully Portrait of Rebecca Gratz

Don't miss Susan's blog about the new acquisitions!

http://rebeccagratz.blogspot.com/

R.D. Laing Quotes

Thanks to a FB query by Noble, and a timely answer by Virginia Conover, I looked up R.D. Laing and decided to post 20 of his more notable quotations here for your reading pleasure and psychological exploration.

The ". . . If I don't know I know I know . . ." quote gives me a headach. The one about failing to notice seems to have been borrowed from Sir Author Conan Doyle, don't you think? That's Sherlock's classic line. And I'd bet the bank Laing would never mistake a "psychopath" from a "high functioning sociopath." (See, e.g., SH on PBS two weeks ago (the first episode in a three part series)(If you missed it, you can still watch in online I think.).)


Alienation as our present destiny is achieved only by outrageous violence perpetrated by human beings on human beings.

Children do not give up their innate imagination, curiosity, dreaminess easily. You have to love them to get them to do that.

Creative people who can't help but explore other mental territories are at greater risk, just as someone who climbs a mountain is more at risk than someone who just walks along a village lane.

Freud was a hero. He descended to the Underworld and met there stark terrors. He carried with him his theory as a Medusa's head which turned these terrors to stone.

If I don't know I don't know, I think I know. If I don't know I know I know, I think I don't know.

Insanity - a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world.

Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent.

Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be break-through. It is potential liberation and renewal as well as enslavement and existential death.

Rule A: Don't. Rule A1: Rule A doesn't exist. Rule A2: Do not discuss the existence or non-existence of Rules A, A1 or A2.

Schizophrenia cannot be understood without understanding despair.

The experience and behavior that gets labeled schizophrenic is a special strategy that a person invents in order to live in an unlivable situation.

The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change; until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds.

There is a great deal of pain in life and perhaps the only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from trying to avoid pain.

There is no such condition as 'schizophrenia,' but the label is a social fact and the social fact a political event.

True guilt is guilt at the obligation one owes to oneself to be oneself. False guilt is guilt felt at not being what other people feel one ought to be or assume that one is.

We are all in a post-hypnotic trance induced in early infancy.

We are all murderers and prostitutes - no matter to what culture, society, class, nation one belongs, no matter how normal, moral, or mature, one takes oneself to be.

We are effectively destroying ourselves by violence masquerading as love.

We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing.

Whether life is worth living depends on whether there is love in life.


R. D. Laing

Help With My Yiddish Americanisms, Please?

Does anyone know how we got from tchotchke meaning "an inexpensive souvenir, trinket or ornament" to tchotchkeleh meaning "an attractive, unconventional woman?"

Is this right? Am I understanding these words correctly?

The Civil War Exhibit

At the last continuing education, I mentioned that for older men who are bored by the house tour I bring up something that has to do with the Civil War and often (but not always) elicit some interest from them. With the Civil War exhibit coming in December, we will definitely be getting in people who have that interest.

Here are some things on the tour which have a tie-in to the Civil War:

portrait of Benjamin Gratz: his stepson fought for the South, his youngest son for the North; they were both at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, where his son died. Ben took care of his stepson's family during the war. This stepson was Jo Shelby, who is known as one of the South's greatest cavalry officers. (There's more -- but this story is the most representative one.) Benjamin was, by the way, a Unionist slaveholder.

portrait of Rebecca Gratz: Eighty at the beginning of the War, she wished for the days of her strength when she could still have nursed the wounded. She lost her nephew, Cary Gratz (see above) at the beginning of the war and three weeks before it ended, her great-nephew Gratz Cohen who fought for the South.

Fanny Kemble portrait -- which you probably already talk about.

Marianne Moore's grandparents (pictures on either side of the mantel in her livingroom): her grandfather was a Presbyterian minister in Gettysburg in 1863. His young wife died a couple of months after the Battle of typhoid fever. The epidemic was due to the 50,000 bodies from the Battle which could not be buried quickly enough to avoid the contamination of the water supply.

Does anyone else know of a Civil War tie-in?

Drac Fest at the Rosenbach

I have been so busy I have neglected to report the DIY crafts at the Rosenbach on Oct. 23rd. Babs and Jesse were my coworkers and since good company breeds good spirits, I had a fine time.

It was good to see, along with the families, a lot of young people (teens, 20 & 30-somethings).

My job ( three hours of giving out free cupcakes) was not arduous. Everyone was already acquainted with the concept of cupcake decoration, and people just sat down and created. What was surprising to me is that so many didn't want to eat their creations, but left them to be exhibited on our table.

Recommendations for next year: a larger supply of gummy worms and tombstone cookies so Farrah doesn't have to run out for more. In the presence of the nice bakery cupcakes, some people still chose Tastykakes, but maybe we should decrease slightly the number of T's and add to the bakery cakes. Perhaps we should consider a competition for best decorated cupcake.

A lot of people enjoyed the crafting of necklaces as well as the cupcakes, but I think that the presence of the photographer added to the general enjoyment -- the hospitality would have seemed a little thin without him. We should definitely try to have photos again, and perhaps look for some other pastime which like getting photographed in funny costumes or decorating cupcakes has a broad appeal.

20 Questions Round 2

There are 6 degrees of separation between Greta Garbo and James Joyce. Can you name them?

PAFA After Dark

Just saw this listed on Philly Funsavers. Looks like fun. Any Rosie folks want to meet-up at this event. Cheap also.

PAFA After Dark: Full Frontal

Presented by Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)

November 4, 2010

Come out for PAFA After Dark on Thursday evenings for a night of fun, flavor and friendship. You can experience the magic of PAFA’s art and atmosphere under the provocative blanket of night. Drink a cocktail, revel in live music, explore new exhibitions and make new art and new friends – all with a different theme each month.

This first event will showcase all of PAFA’s “choicest bits” during its program premier, proving the naked awesomeness of what a museum can be when it reveals itself fully to visitors. Taking place within the galleries of the museum’s recently-opened exhibition Narcissus in the Studio, composed entirely of artist’s self-portraits and portraits of each other, the evening will feature a Naked at Night Scavenger Hunt, signature cocktails sponsored by Capital Wine and Spirits, a Full Frontal Nerdity Gallery Talk, and a one night only art project organized by the artist collective Space 1026. A musical performance by the West Philly Orchestra will strip audiences of their perceptions of what an “orchestra” really is, with a bold, unflinching sound rooted in Eastern European folk music traditions, but dressed in the sounds of twenty-first century Philadelphia, voices nourished by our jazz heritage, tinged with punk rock, soul, and cheesesteaks.

20 Questions Anyone?

I have a riddle challenge for you all. I'll allow you collectively 20 questions to post as comments hereto, to which I will post "yes" or "no" answers. If you can figure out the answer in that time, you win. If not, be prepared to pay up. Here's the riddle:

"What do the American Jewish Historical Society, the Congregation Kaal Kadosh Mikveh Israel of Philadelphia, and John Fleming all have in common."

I await your questions with anticipation.

JRR

Canaletto Exhibition coming to DC

By chance was anyone else up late last night listening to BBC World Service radio? There was a story on about the current Canaletto exhibition at the National Gallery in London (titled "Venice: Canaletto and his Rivals") which also features other interpretations of the famous city by his contemporaries. The exhibition includes many of Canaletto's well-known masterpieces, such as The Stonemason's Yard. The exhibition will run in London until January 2011, at which time it will move to our National Gallery in D.C.

Anyone up for a road trip in, say, February (weather permitting) to view the same?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8161597.stm

Literary Coincidences: Marianne Moore and Buck Mulligan

In 1943 when the quarterly Contemporary Poetry published Marianne Moore's "It Can Wait, It Is Late" (vol 3, no. 2), one of the members of the Advisory Board was none other than Joyce's old friend
Oliver St. John Gogarty.

Canaletto: Propaganda in Painting

Andrew Sullivan, who blogs at The Atlantic, always has something entertaining to say, though not often about Canaletto. Interesting comments here about the current exhibit at London's National Gallery. 

Free Admission to Saturday's Poetry Writing Workshop

I’d like to offer all docents free admission to a what I know will be a fantastically fantastical writing workshop led by Nathalie Anderson this Saturday, Oct 16. The workshop will run from 10 am to 3 pm. I’d be so pleased if some of you could make it. The description of the workshop is below. If you have any questions or would like to register, please just send me an email (eparker@rosenbach.org), give me a call (215-732-1600, ext 120) or post it to the blog. Hope to see you Saturday!

Emilie

Ghastly Pale: Poets Shivering the Page 10:00 am - 3:00 pm

Create your own fantastic, creepy or just plain peculiar poems inspired by the works of Bram Stoker and the brothers Grimm. Nathalie Anderson, the Rosenbach’s Poet-in-Residence whose work has twice been included in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, will guide your own spine-chilling verse using strategies perfected by practitioners of the eerie such as Edgar Allan Poe and Helen Adam.

Photos.....

Photos.....

Sam continued, The Limericks!

There once was a man we called Sam

Who deep down inside was a ham

As he quoted the Bard

We docents tried hard

Not to snicker and get in a jam.

There was an old gent at the desk

Who said, “You Docents are all such a mess!”

“You leave the lights on,

And set off the alarm,

And give to me nothing but stress!”

There once was a man who loved Joyce

He would quote from his works with good voice

And on each June sixteen

He would grow very keen,

To throw up his armss and rejoice!

We all know the gent known as Sam

Who is quite a Renaissance man.

From Shakespeare to Dickens

They make his pulse quicken

He reads them as fast as he can!

There once was a wise man named Sam

Who loved to read books that were banned

From Cervantes to Joyce

They all have a voice

On this he will take a firm stand!

We all know a great guy named SAM,

Who deep down inside is a lamb,

Though he rumbles and roars,

He’s the one we adore,

He’s the Rosenbach’s own, “Sam I Am”!

Barbara Zimmerman, 9/24/2010

Tributes to Sam

Sorry this has taken me so long to post! Better late than never!

A Tribute to Sam on the Occasion of His Birthday

Let’s hear a cheer for our pal Sam

Whose intellect is weighty.

Now would you think to look at him

That he has just turned eighty?

He’s sharp as Occam’s razor,

And his wit’s beyond compare.

His barbs hit like a taser,

And his memory is rare.

All praises to this paragon

Who doesn’t look his age.

He helps us all to carry on,

The Rosenbach’s own sage.

Janet Heller, September 24, 2010

Docents Brush Up Their Guiding Techniques

On Monday afternoon Emilie Parker led a group of docents in a discussion of two new guiding techniques. To help entertain young visitors who are brought along on tours by a parent, Emilie has prepared a visual search game for parents to do with children while others attend to the docent's tour.  This new interactive will be available in the Orientation Gallery.  Emilie also suggested that one way to take the pulse of the group without directly asking what individuals are interested in, might be to pause in the hall for a few minutes and let visitors look around without guidance.  This will give you the opportunity to observe what objects individual visitors are drawn to and approach them individually to help them make a personal connection to the collection.  For instance, if you see a visitor closely examine the carving on one of the gaming tables in the hall, you might mention the decorative work they will find through out the house....You get the point.  The idea is to slow down and give the visitors a chance to reveal their interests to you.

Enrique Chagoya's work attacked in Colorado.

Controversy is not new to artist Enrique Chagoya, whom you may remember from his appearance at the Rosenbach as part of the Philagrafica 2010 festival, but his work is literally under attack in Colorado where they take the culture wars seriously.  A woman armed with a crowbar entered the Loveland Museum/Gallery earlier this week and destroyed a lithograph that some said shows Jesus Christ engaged in a sex act. View Full Story

There's a picture in this newspaper story from New Zealand

Sunnyside in Tarrytown

This time of year, I need to take a trip up the mighty Hudson to view my beloved Palisades. I went with a girlfriend who had never been there before so as a treat, we stopped at Tarrytown so she could visit Washington Irving's home, "Sunnyside". With Halloween on the horizon it was a perfect time to visit. I ended up having a lovely conversation with the site's librarian who has been to the RML and we had a great chat about Irving, Gratz and Scott. If you've never visited there, it is a great place and of course, there are so many, too many great places in that area to begin to choose a favorite...I guess one of mine is Storm King Art Center!

Questions from Chris Gradel regarding the new partner desk installation

Why was this Sacramental banned by the Inquisition

I don’t know. In my research I found very few English-language sources dealing with the substance of the text (as opposed to the fact that it’s the first book by Spanish printers), one of them mentioned that it had been banned, but did not mention why. Presumably something in it was theologically unsound./unpopular, but I don’t know what.

Kathy Haas

The Jane Austen note is interesting. Just curious-- when did this library triple decker publishing of novels stop. Was it mainly British publishers .

A good question, which I had to hunt for an answer too. It does seem to have been a primarily British phenomenon, because it was driven by the power of the circulating libraries, which were more prevalent and powerful there than elsewhere. The short answer is that the form collapsed pretty abruptly in 1894, when the two largest of these businesses announced a new limit on the price they would pay to publishers, who decided they couldn’t afford it and just stopped issuing them. Two reliable web pages that cover this in fairly brief form are

http://www.bl.uk/collections/early/victorian/pu_novel.html (a section of a British Library online exhibition Aspects of the Victorian Book)

http://www.victorianweb.org/economics/mudie.html (from the Victorian Web, a great resource which grew from a project at Brown)

I reached these pages in a roundabout way from things found via the web site of The Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing (SHARP), (http://www.sharpweb.org), which is a good place to start for questions of this sort. If Chris wants to pursue other aspects of this question she’ll find useful leads on all of these sites. I’d also recommend them to other docents who’re interested in pursuing their own researches, and will always be happy to discuss what they find there.

Elizabeth Fuller

ICA: Conversation: On Conservation

Wednesday, November 3 @ 6:30pm

Ponder the future of contemporary art from the perspective of those who care for and repair it. A panel of fine art conservators will speak about the intriguing problems created over time by un-traditional materials and new technologies.

ICA: Conversation: On Conservation

Let's go!

The Rosen-blog

If you haven't been looking at the RML's Rosen-blog, you are missing an insider view of the collections and exhibits. Head blogger is Kathy Haas who knows where all the objects and books are buried and brings some interesting ones out for our enjoyment. Her posts are always enlightening -- I don't know how she finds time, but I am grateful that she is doing this work.

P.S. I just noticed that Patrick has written the most recent post -- glad Kathy is getting some good assistance.

Docent Socials

A few of us (Jesse, Andrea, Susan, Barbara, Shawn) enjoyed good food and good company last Wednesday night at the Pub & Kitchen.  We try to get together the last Wednesday of every month, but there's no reason why it couldn't be more regular or a different day of the week.  I have just - belatedly - discovered the World Cafe Live. I was there this morning for a classical brunch of cross-genre music that was fantastic.  Apparently they do a Happy Hour there M-F. The drinks are cheap, the food is good and sometimes musicians appear. I'm game to go if anyone else is looking for an early night out. Let me know.

A Museum Day Visitor Blogs about the Rosenbach

Everyone who worked on Saturday at the Museum Day Open House may be interested in the comments of one of the visitors at a blog called Two-Penny Words. She seems to have had a good time and picked up some accurate information about the collection.

Free Books!

Sound interesting? At Sam's luncheon, Rosemarie Retacco had a great idea. Why not have a book box downstairs?

If permission is granted, and space is found, docents could have a "leave a book/take a book" place. We would have a great way to free up shelf space at home and share our good and bad reads. Are you interested?

Some Good Questions

Yesterday I was at the open house and really enjoyed it and loved the questions and found most of the visitors really thrilled and enjoying the house and the collection. It was really good for me to stay in one room for an hour too and had a chance to really look at some of the furniture and art.

One person asked- what kind of air conditioning did the house have in the 1950-s. Central air ? Didn't know the answer to that.

What type of wood is the Gratz desk/bookcase. Maker?- Not in the room book

The room books are helpful in some cases but in others- your best guess is probably just as accurate.

Marianne Moore room book needs to be updated!!.. I was thinking photos of different spots in the room and then identify the different art / nick nacks.

Came away yesterday with a many questions myself and wished I had a more knowledgeable docent or curator with me.

My knowledge of Ezra Pound is very limited and I need to read up on his life. It's really interesting of the opinionated reactions you get when you point out the photo of him and Moore. I've heard things like What a nut. Anti Semite- Traitor etc.

What kind of day did you have?

Sam's Fans Salute The Man

Yesterday the docents surprised Sam Schafer with a birthday luncheon to celebrate his 80th birthday and to express their appreciation for all the knowledge, intelligent conversation and, yes, even the puns and shaggy dog stories he has shared with them over the years.

Getting a chance to honor Sam made it a wonderful occasion for the 22 docents who were able to attend and we were delighted that Sam seemed to enjoy it too. Janet Heller read a clever poetic tribute, and Barbara Zimmerman some Sam-centered limericks which were both funny and true. The group presented Sam with a gift certificate to the Joseph Fox Book Shop and a card which included the names of many of those who couldn't be there but still contributed to the present.

Putting this luncheon together was very much a grass-roots effort which met with enthusiasm from the entire docent community. Thanks to Barbara Zimmerman, Mickey Portnoy and Jesse Ruhl whose initial enthusiasm for the project got it off the ground, and to Katherine Sullivan who visited restaurants in search of a good room and a reasonably priced menu and organized the party -- good intentions are laudable but the person who actually gets the meal on the table is a real hero. And special thanks to Emilie Parker, RML's Director of Education who joined us at the luncheon -- she had the trickiest job: getting Sam to the restaurant.

Sort of an Answer to Barbara's Question

Farrar is on vacation now, so we'll probably have to wait for an answer.
It would be a fairly simple matter to link to something that's online elsewhere, but you would have to check it regularly for updates. What we really need is a docents' portal to the RML website, which is coming eventually....Until then one of us would probably have to maintain such a calendar. And since very few docents are using this site, I'm not sure it would be worth the effort. 

What does everybody else think?

Question

Is there any way we could get a monthly calender here? It would be nice to keep track of inservices, social events - etc.

Ulysses Course Starts October 6

Hey Gang!  I have signed up for the Ulysses reading group and want to encourage you to join me.  I did it last year and learned a tremendous amount. Most significantly, I actually read (and enjoyed!) the whole book, something I had avoided for years.  It was a great experience and could only have been improved by the opportunity to discuss the book, over beer, with friends.  C'mon - you know you want to read on Bloomsday!

Docents' Night Out - Wed., Sept. 29

Have we decided where we'll be going on the 29th? I have the 12-4 shift that day, and then I'll probably take a yoga class that ends at 5:45. So I'll be ready to meet up at 6. Any ideas for the venue? So far I have a RSVP from Christina, but I'm assuming Susan, BAZ and Andrea will also be coming. Mickey I know can't make it.

As soon as we decide on the place I'll send out another email to staff and docents.

Season Opening Reception

Susan and I had a nice time last night at the SOR at RML. I met a number of trustees and "friends" of the museum, and, once again, I was impressed by the interesting group of people who were assembled. Sorry more of you couldn't make it! It was really fun. I wish I had some pictures to post. Everyone seems to be very excited about the upcoming season at RML and the events planned.

My only regret was that I did so much talking I didn't have much time to enjoy the food. But I think Susan ate enough for the both of us. (Just kidding, Susan.)

Beyond George or When Was Queen Anne?

Long ago, when I lived in England, I learned this schoolyard mnemonic for reciting the English kings and queens.  It never fails to impress!

Willy, Willy, Harry, Stee

Harry, Dick, John, Harry 3.                    
1, 2, 3 Neds, Richard 2
Harrys 4, 5, 6, then who?
Edward 4-5, Dick the Bad
Henry, Henry, Ned the Lad.
Mary, Bessie, James the Vain
Then Charlie, Charlie, and James again.
William and Mary, Anna Gloria

Four Georges, William,
And Victoria.
Edward 7, Georgie 5,
Edward, George,
and Liz alive.

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus is playing at the Plays & Players Theatre at 1714 Delancey Place, and I'm going to go to one of the upcoming shows. The play is part of the Fringe Festival, but I won't be able to go until after the festival ends. But the show continues to run Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. from Sept. 23 through Oct. 2. There is a Sunday 4:00 performance too, but I cannot make that one. And the company also has an 11:59 p.m. performance on Sept. 17 and Oct. 1, which sounds interesting. Reminds me of The Rocky Horror Picture Show performances. Think we can throw popcorn at the stage if we go then?

If anyone would like to go with me, check you calendar and shoot me a date. You can also check out the theatre and show at www.playsandplayers.org. Jesse

Books we are reading....

I just started a book titled London, the Novel by Edward Rutherford. It spans over 2000 years in the history of one of my favorite cities. It's not a new book - over 10 years old - but I am really enjoying it. Has anyone else read it?

BZ

Good Morning

What a pleasant surprise to wake up to! Thank you, Shawn, for your quick work.

Just yesterday the Rosenbach Docent Council agreed on setting up this blog to give us a forum for discussing any and all things Rosenbachian and to foster more social links among docents.

So feel free to report on or ask questions about anything of interest to docents. The Docent Council exists to advocate for our concerns but it needs to know what they are before it can do so. This blog may give voice to some issues which have been below the radar but need attending.

Just as important for this blog is its social dimension. Rosenbach docents have more in common than their work at the museum, but we do not get very much face-to-face time to get to know those who work different days and shifts. Get to know people better by using the blog to:

find a movie buddy for those genre films that no one else you know likes, discover

someone who wants to read the same new book you are interested in, get some

expert advice from a good cook, gardener, etc.; start a knitting class or a book club

Hope you find the blog useful!

Susan Sklaroff

President, Docent Council

Thank You, Shawn!

Shawn: This is fantastic! Thank you so much for setting this Blog up so fast. But what about Phillip? Shouldn't he get a docent or two too?

Has anyone signed up for the 2010-2011 Ulysses reading course? I had such a great time participating last year that I'm thinking of doing it again.

Welcome to Our Blog

Welcome! This is the initial posting of Rosie's Blog, the online social community of the docents of the Rosenbach Mueum and Library. We hope this will be a forum for RML docents to share questions, insights and musings about the museum collections and related matters. Everyone is welcome to post and comment to posts. This blog was set up by Shawn Maeder, but it is for all of us. If you feel that the settings need to be changed, please email Shawn (shawn.maeder@gmail.com) to let her know.