Walking Around Paris

 I just finished putting my Paris/Central France 2016 Shutterfly books together.

Yes, I super procrastinated.  The sale was too good to pass up.  Free pages+40% off.

But my France pictures are finally organized.  I'll do France post mixed in with other posts as I work on blogging consistently again.  Working on the Shutterfly book helped me relive all of it again, which was so nice.  Sometimes I question why I like to take pictures.  It seems to distract from the moment, but I'm also a visual thinking and relive memories visually, and photos help take me back.  Take photos!  But don't forget to print them out.

April 2016: Walking around Paris.

 An indoor mall close to the Apartment I stayed in with Mom and Patou.

My favorite Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin.

It was so cool seeing a monument of him in the center of Paris.

 George Washington.

And a random statue I liked.

(Photos by Sarah and Robin Stufflebeam)

Catching Sunlight

“Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.”

~Benjamin Franklin

(I've been working on Shutterfly books these last couple weeks, trying to complete three books! Ah man.  Shutterfly has this way of overtaking my life and then turning my brain into mush.  Anywho, I've recently been working on a book for last years trip to Walt Disney World, which is where I found this fun picture of a giraffe chilling out.  My Mom took it.  It was a bright and beautiful morning, until a storm attacked in the afternoon.  Animal Kingdom isn't the best place to hang out during a lightning storm, rain punching the Earth, ourselves running for cover.  It was actually pretty fun, and though I love a good storm, the sunshine is always better.)

P.S. Good ol' Ben Franklin is such a rock star.

Who is Wise?

(Picture my Mom took at the Ventura beach)

"Who is wise? He that learns from everyone. Who is powerful? He that governs his passions. Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody."

 

~ Benjamin Franklin 

 

(In other news . . . I'm listening to One Direction on Spotify!  Someone save me!!!!) 

Utah's Odyssey of the Mind Creativity Festival

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure!!

No, that's not the theme for the Creativity Festival which takes place this Saturday during the Utah State Odyssey of the Mind Competition. The competition is at the Park City High School, and is open to the public.

Becoming Renaissance Men and Women is the theme for the festival.  There are several activities that focus on different Renaissance men and women in history.

And at the end of the Park City High School hallway in which the festival is taking place, The Leonardo, the amazing museum in Salt Lake City, is going to have activities as well.

Some of the individuals we're highlighting: 

Benjamin Franklin, Hildegard, and Leonardo da Vinci.

Never underestimate the power of egg cartons!!

Sorting everything into piles.

 

Ready for fun :0)

Some Wisdom About Christ from Benjamin Franklin

(Photo by Alvesgaspar. Source Info)

"We stand at the crossroads, each minute, each hour, each day, making choices.  We choose the thoughts we allow ourselves to think, the passions we allow ourselves to feel, and the actions we allow ourselves to perform.  Each choice is made in the context of whatever value system we have selected to govern our lives.  In selecting that value system, we are, in a very real way, making the most important choice we will ever make.  

"Those who believe there is one God who made all things and who governs the world by this providence will make choices different from those who do not.  Those who hold in reverence that being who gave them life and worship Him though adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving will make choices different from those who do not.  Those who believe that mankind are all of a family and that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man will make many choices different from those who do not.  Those who believe in a future state in which all that is wrong here will be made right will make many choices different from those who do not.  Those who subscribe to the morals of Jesus will make many choices different from those who do not.  

"Since the foundation of all happiness is thinking rightly, and since correct action is dependent on correct opinion, we cannot be too careful in choosing the value system we allow to govern our thoughts and actions.  And to know that God governs in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayers, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, is, indeed, a powerful regulator of the human conduct."

~ Benjamin Franklin (The Art of Virtue, 88-90)  

Bauman Rare Books in Las Vegas

So I totally geeked out when I discovered the Bauman Rare Books store at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.  I'm the kind of girl who really isn't into jewelry (I honestly don't understand the appeal of Diamonds), and I'm annoyed with shoe stores (whenever I walk into a shoe store and find cute shoes, I kinda freak out.)  But there is something I do drool over: antique books.  I have a nice, small collection including an 8 volume 1882 set of Charles Dickens books, and a 1904 Edger Allen Poe book of tales. 

Benjamin Franklin is my most favorite American Founding Father.  He's brilliant, smart, witty, and invented a musical instrument.  The store had a first edition Poor Richard's Almanack, and I was allowed to hold it!  I was so afraid to touch the book, the binding and pages are delicate, but it was amazing.  It's cool to think that it was likely Franklin who printed the book in his shop.  At least that's what I imagined when I held the book in my hands.  It was so cool. 

A 1632 edition of William Shakespeare's plays.  I turned to Macbeth, because apparently there's a chance I'm descended from King Duncan, one of the main characters in Macbeth, through his third son. Apparently if you have some clan Robertson in you, that line possibly leads to Duncan, or so I've read, but I'm highly skeptical when it comes to all things genealogical.  Regardless, it's one of my favorite plays.  

And I found writing in the margin!  The worker in the shop didn't know there was writing, so it's cool knowing I discovered it.  Honestly when I collect books, finding writing leads me to generally purchase the book.  It humanizes it; gives the book character and history.  You know someone loved the book before you did.   

A first edition of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn.  A book of controversy!  I personally think it's better then Tom Sawyer.

Seeing this first edition of The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White made me smile.  If the title sounds like a Disney movie, it is.  The Disney Film, about Merlin and King Arthur, where Arther turns into animals and so forth, is based on this book.  And it's the first book in the epic, giant The Once and Future King.  If you haven't read this book, you're missing out.

And finally a typewriter Earnest Hemingway used to write portions of The Dangerous Summer, and the typewriter is still functional.  Really cool.

Oh man, I felt like a kid in a candy store.  It felt like a museum!  I was afraid to breath, but boy was I happy being surrounded by history.

Wit

 (A waterfall near Sundance UT after a nice hike)

"At 20 years of age the will reigns,

at 30 the wit,

at 40 the judgment." 

~ Benjamin Franklin

I guess I'm in the wit stage of my life :0)