wo 27 mei - the library

12°
Patrick
I have some
reading, perception
and visual challenges. I am
very far cited and did not get
glasses till I was in high school.
My mom though it bull shit that I
needed glasses. I did great - really great
with all the eye tests. I kicked butt on those
eye wall charts. >>> They tested my reading when
I was a sophomore in high school. I could not read.
What they said was that I was reading at a third
grade level. They had just opened a special reading
class. Special books with tests at the end of each
story. Great stories - by the way. And reading
machines - to teach us "eye scan". It was amazing.
Most of my recreational reading was at my friend
Derry's. His family was from Bornmith. Pat, or
Mr. O'Donovan had his motor sports publications
shipped over several times a year. Motor Sports as
practices in europe and the UK. It was influential... to
say the least. It also effected my spelling... but that took
me years to suss out. >>> I enjoyed reading. But there became
a both volume and time limit on my abilities. After some unknown
amount of time, or some number of pounds of information - I would
just nose over. It is so disrespectful to find one self nosed over, face
down in some book.... drooling. But I kept at it. And always the big
fats ones with lots of content. Big wonderful histories with people
who did real things. The problem was it could take months to
finish. If I finished. It was normal that I'd get so far... and then
just give up. >>> At some point I wondered into a section at
the local library. That was the Redwood city main. There
were shelves of light brown boxes. I asked what they were.
Books for the blind. They required a special machine to listen.
And there was some sort of qualifying process... but said the
lady with twinkle in her eye. We have a section of booked on
cassette. It was as if the walls of my world had their supports
kicked away, they descended to the ground noiselessly
and there were green fields and paths never dreamed
of beyond the dust and mist. I got a cost effective
portable tape player and a battery recharging kit.
I became a heavy consumer, and could and did place
orders for new books. >>> At about his same time I also
discovered the research desk. On desk at work I had an open
pad. As the day and we progressed I'd write down stuff that struck
me curious. It could have been some bit - a pert of a conversation that
did not sit right. I fear either I or the other party had our facts
wrong.
Or just some confusion that struck me. Or I'm reading a history... and
all this exciting stuff is happening... yeah well. It's not like the
rest of
the world was held in stases. What else was going on. And on and on.
I'd attempt to consolidate my questions... and be sent into the stacks
by Mrs. Alidif. It would not be uncommon for me to be sitting on the
floor with two stacks of books next to me... three open in my lap
and a note pad on the floor. Mrs Alidif was also the first to tell.
and show me of internet research. >>> Just because there is
the internet, there is still required a library. One of the best
jobs the library does is teach how to form and sculpt a
question. How a question is formed, determines how
quenching the answer can be. And we always want
the satisfied feeling. It also stimulates the hunger.
So that the next question is formed with yet more
eloquence - to derive yet greater satisfaction.

There are to my mind three basic driving
forces: eating, fucking, and discovering.
It's best if we don't eat our children, or
fuck our institution and kill discovery.

Stephn J. Lewis
Advertising Art & Creative Director