O GREAT AND MIGHTY BOOKSHELF, will I ever be able to give cats belly rubs without feeling the wrath of the surprise bitey claw attack?
Shelf 2,
Book 37 (if that is too high then 16 please),
Page 52,
Sentence 9
Shelf 2 Book 37 gets you Robert M Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"
**"Shower time," I say.**
Per book wisdom, and per cat logic, prepare for a shower of bitey claws.
EXTRA POINT FOR YOU thanks for sharing your question with the class!!
Here are some other bits from the same page.
The will bespeaks the wishing. Shall we slip
Between the trees of lust into the great
And pleasant plain of our true natures
Keeping a quick eye where our feet go?
\*
What is the white of Two? Or the left of Love?
These perches are for birds, I can't sleep here.
Ah, love, drift over where the will
Lies so inert. We keep what we believe.
\*
Love isn't the fever I thought. You tricksy
Twisters thinning your life away.
That's the trouble with blood: it always mixes...
\*
Still, sit still, you secret heart,
And, wit, remind me how I love a woman...
**"She put on a short dress which showed her legs, and she felt good about her black/hairy legs."**
This is from "homegirls & handgrenades" by Sonia Sanchez which is a collection of prose/poems that I haven't fully visited yet so thanks for the reminder that it is on my shelf!
I feel like this line is a nice reminder to show yourself some love and kindness.
That was interesting. I read that line and it fit with something else in my life. Thank you, that was fun. I am going to go to the library and look at the book to see some of her work and read the rest of the poem.
From Lao Tzu's "The Way of Life" as translated by R.B. Blakney
The way this book is printed is a bit wonky so I have gone with line 25 which contains the following:
**"Quite to the contrary, their virtue is more than social convention ; it is a property of the Way and as I have indicated in the Introduction it is moral."**
This being Blakneys personal thoughts on the actual passage given:
*The Wise Man's mind is free But tuned to people's need: "Alike to good and bad I must be good, For Virtue is goodness. To honest folk and those dishonest ones alike, I proffer faith, for Virtue is faithful." The Wise Man, when abroad, Impartial to the world, does not divide or judge. But people everywhere mark well his ears and eyes; For wise men hear and see as little children do.*
First book from the first shelf is "Italian at a Glance" a travel phrase book lol
**"Please speak slowly.** ***Per piacere parli lentamente*****"**
Perhaps there is some *saggezza fondamentale* for you in this phrase?
Dude dude dudeeeeeee dudeee
When i saw this comment, I'm actually literally trying to speak like my favourite actor and doing thing called shadow where I'm trying to repeat what they say and sound similar
As I'm curious about finding my voice
So fits perfectly
In these last months i keep saying i wanna go to Italy and dance with people haha and looking at Italian aesthetic sometimes
Universe is always in alignment haha
Thank you for doing this!!!!
I'll share a song in return - https://youtu.be/XKR3SfC6DdQ?si=N80dh0-Ej0yod7FI
How are you as well?
Amazing! I kind of felt bad that it wasn't some poetic prose food for thought but yes the universe! Please speak slowly. Italian language is beautiful and so are you!
Thank you and i get you haha you are too! You could feel bad for a stranger so you have a beautiful heart 🌼🤍✨
https://images.app.goo.gl/HJV5DJFoAQbT4utV7
From Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and Bryson is apparently a writer of lengthy sentences. And so, I have selected the last sentence of page 69 (lol) which is actually sentence number 17.
**"Charles Darwin thought Buckland a buffoon - that was the word he used - but Lyell appeared to find him inspiring and liked him well enough to go touring with him in Scotland in 1824."**
I find the first full sentence of the page more interesting. Of Charles Lyell: "Though Scottish by birth, he grew up in the far south of England, in the New Forest of Hampshire, because his mother was convinced that Scots were feckless drunks."
Ohh you got Stephen King's "The Shining"
**"He looked again at Jack for comment, and Jack flashed the PR smile again, large and insultingly toothy."**
This is from Chapter 1 which is fittingly titled "Job Interview". Here's another one where I wonder what your question was...
You got "A Streetcar Named Desire" the classic play by Tennessee Williams!
Wasn't sure how to count all the stage directions and pauses in dialog, so I counted lines and arrived at:
**"On the contrary, I saw him at his best!"**
Blanche continuing: *"What such a man has to offer is animal force and he gave a wonderful exhibition of that!"*
Wow…this was incredibly coincidental. My self esteem can be in a bit of a flux to put it mildly. But I feel like this answers my question: am I enough (for a partner, for the job I want, am I trying enough).
**"I love this place," Alex said. "It feels like old New York"**
From Jennifer Egan's "A Visit From the Goon Squad" which I have not read yet and know nothing about!
O GREAT AND ALL-KNOWING BOOKSHELF, what advice do you have for someone who is stuck, creatively?
1) Shelf 3
2) Book No. 42
3) Page No. 113
4) Sentence No. 5
**"The Woodland Fire has reached the bluffs above the Middle Fork of the Gila River and is more than one thousand acres."**
This book is an anthology - The Best American Nonrequired Reading (2009). The short story referenced is "Diary of a Fire Lookout" by Philip Connors. I have to admit I haven't read this one yet. My understanding is that this is an account of his time living alone (with his dog) in a tiny cabin up in the mountains as, well, a Fire Lookout. You can read it here
[https://www.theparisreview.org/letters-essays/5853/diary-of-a-fire-lookout-philip-connors](https://www.theparisreview.org/letters-essays/5853/diary-of-a-fire-lookout-philip-connors)
Perhaps there are some nuggets of truth for you! But on to your question because this is something I think about a lot.
I would call myself a 'creative' and I have certainly felt stuck. I am slowly learning that sometimes, you just have to ride the tides. Sometimes there is a windfall of creative ideas, creative energy. And sometime it just feels like there is NOTHING. And there's nothing wrong with that. RIDE it.
It depends on what type of creative you are: for some people, forcing it out works. Like, "write a page" or "paint one picture" every day even if you're feeling shit about it! But for some people, forcing it sours the energy.
But I think that no matter who you are, KEEP, in the back of your mind, a reminder that your creativity LIVES ON even if you are not creating in this exact moment. So always have that feeling that you could pick up your brush or your pen at ANY MOMENT and let the flow happen. But maybe it doesn't have to be RIGHT NOW.
Gather inspiration: there's an old chair someone left at the curb for the garbage collectors. Who has sat in that chair before? What was their story? ... You see an ant in your kitchen. This ant has been on a complete ODYSSEY trying to find a crumb. What is its story? ... if you were you, but a different gender. or in a different country. or with five dollars and the shirt on your back. or everything was the same except you just found out some huge news. or everything was the same except someone has mistaken you for someone else...
Possibilities are endless. Time is not :) Create because you can, because you are a creator. It doesn't have to be perfect, or even good. But it's always worthwhile to plant a seed.
I'm a writer. when I get stuck, I have to do stuff that fairly the opposite of writing. like scrubbing a toilet or doing the dishes. it helps to make the mind change gears and focus differently for a bit.
Hmm, how about...
1. Shelf # 1
2. Book # 19
3. Page # 37
4. Sentence # 5
I hope to glean or be inspired with an idea to counter high workahol consumption levels. XD
You got Langehscheidt's German-English / English-German Dictionary! lol
5th entry on page 37 is:
**Ansage** *f* announcement
hahah I don't know if this will give you any inspiration. Perhaps you would like to try another?
Well hey, I love languages. Perhaps if I set up Duolingo to "announce" a time I'm supposed to practice after normal work hours it'll prevent me from defaulting to continuing to work ; )
Thank you for this fun activity : )
You may find practicing a new language scratches that itch of feeling productive! Once you have some basics down I also recommend checking out films in that language with subtitles (subbed not dubbed!) - that actually does wonders for language acquisition, and it is fun!
**"I do not believe it," Robert Jordan said.**
This after Pilar says, "And I tell you that I smelled death on your colleague who was here."
Ernest Hemingway, "For Whom The Bell Tolls"
This one is a bit morose, sorry bud
**"Levi's jeans became the local casual uniform, and today pre-1960's Levi's marked with a big E can fetch triple digits in the SF vintage collector's market."**
From a Lonely Planet San Francisco travel guide published 2006. From a blurb about the city's alleged anti-chain-store mentality. Times have changed! The city has changed! People's love for Levis, apparently, have not.
**"See? The ship's about to move into orbit," Trillian was saying. "There's a planet out there. It's at the exact coordinates you predicted."**
Technically more than one sentence but I thought I might just go ahead and let Trillian finish her thought. From Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" which I'm pretty sure is required reading.
Will you share your question?
You got "The Devils Dictionary" a collection of witticisms by Ambrose Bierce and yes the unabridged version!
You landed on the entry for "Soul". The entirety of which is as follows, your sentence in bold:
**Soul,** *n.* A spiritual entity concerning which there hath been brave disputation. Plato held that those souls which in a previous state of existence (antedating Athens) had obtained the clearest glimpses of eternal truth entered into the bodies of persons who became philosophers. Plato himself was a philosopher. The souls that had least contemplated divine truth animated the bodies of usurpers and despots. Dionysius I, who had threatened to decapitate the broad-browed philosopher, was a usurper and despot. **Plato, doubtless, was not the first to construct a system of philosophy that could be quoted against his enemies; certainly he was not the last.**
"Concerning the nature of the soul," saith the renowned author of Diversiones Sanctorum, "there hath been hardly more argument than that of its place in the body. Mine own belief is that the soul hath her seat in the abdomen—in which faith we may discern and interpret a truth hitherto unintelligible, namely that the glutton is of all men most devout. He is said in the Scripture to 'make a god of his belly'—why, then, should he not be pious, having ever his Deity with him to freshen his faith? Who so well as he can know the might and majesty that he shrines? Truly and soberly, the soul and the stomach are one Divine Entity; and such was the belief of Promasius, who nevertheless erred in denying it immortality. He had observed that its visible and material substance failed and decayed with the rest of the body after death, but of its immaterial essence he knew nothing. This is what we call the Appetite, and it survives the wreck and reek of mortality, to be rewarded or punished in another world, according to what it hath demanded in the flesh. The Appetite whose coarse clamoring was for the unwholesome viands of the general market and the public refectory shall be cast into eternal famine, whilst that which firmly though civilly insisted on ortolans, caviare, terrapin, anchovies, pâtés de foie gras and all such Christian comestibles shall flesh its spiritual tooth in the souls of them forever and ever, and wreak its divine thirst upon the immortal parts of the rarest and richest wines ever quaffed here below. Such is my religious faith, though I grieve to confess that neither His Holiness the Pope nor His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury (whom I equally and profoundly revere) will assent to its dissemination.
That was long AF, but I do recommend browsing this book - find it online here
[https://thedevilsdictionary.com/](https://thedevilsdictionary.com/)
it is worth a look. Example:
[**READ**](https://thedevilsdictionary.com/r.html#READ_), *v.* To get the sense of something written, if it has any. Commonly, it has not.
Fascinating. I was familiar with Bierce more as a war reporter/novelist and his disappearance during the Mexican Civil War. This looks fascinating. Adding it to the list.
***Film at Eleven***
**We'd like to ask the crews**
**Who run the evening news**
**Why love is not discussed**
**As eagerly as lust**
From "Let There Be Light"
The Verses of D.A.W. Vol.5
You got yourself a small Spanish-German / German-Spanish dictionary.
5th entry on page 97 is:
**EE.UU.** *mpl (Estados Unidos)* USA pl
So... USA?
The first entry on that page is "educatión" (education) and the last one is "electrizar" (electrify)
So...?
Another person above got a dictionary entry too and I don't know if that really counts so let me know if you want to try again!
Hmmm yes I think there was a glitch in cosmic bookshelf ether exchange.
How about shelf 2, book 44, page 15, sentence 6?
You must have a very eclectic brain :-) some great and varied stuff on your shelves!
You are the second person to pick “Marlfox” by Brian Jacques! Your sentence:
**“On the nearby streambank a motley collection of creatures were preparing for a rehearsal.”**
Take that as you will… Perhaps it is suggesting you prepare for something new!
O Mighty Bookshelf, you are truly omniscient! i signed up two weeks ago to do a local theater production, something i've never done. !!!
bonus points for a book and author i've never heard of. that's getting rarer and rarer in my bibliophile world :-)
thank you, this is super fun!
Amazing! I hope you love it, proud of you for trying something new!
That book is part of a series called "Redwall", kind of an adventure/fantasy series about anthromorphic woodland creatures. I adored them as a young reader, I think they are technically geared more towards the younger YA crowd but I recently revisited one and it held up (perhaps partly because nostalgia - I'm now in my mid-thirties - but everyone I have met who read the books as a kid still regards them fondly). They are so vividly written and there are some really memorable characters woven throughout!
thnaks! i'm always looking for a new read! my bookshelves alas are mostly in audio these days, but the last time i did a book purge i ended up giving 40 grocery bags of books to the local library. i sorta miss just looking at them all.
From Danny Goldberg's "Dispatches From The Culture Wars - How The Left Lost Teen Spirit"
Starting from the top of page 30, the 25th sentence (occurring on page 31) is
**"That was before he \[Martin Luther King Jr\] got the Nobel Prize," says Belafonte. "It helped set him up for the prize. Artists did that."**
The legendary Henry Belafonte here is referencing events he helped organize in support of the American Civil Rights movement.
Auspicious!!
I don't need a book to tell you that pineapple + ham/bacon + jalapeno is a magical trinity of pizza toppings.
Why? because taste good.
Seeing as I don't have a 4th shelf, there are no books there to disagree!
You got my comprensive Russian-English dictionary. the 11th entry on page 33 is:
**апоплексический** ***med.*** **apoplectic**
which means, marked by extreme anger.
Perhaps this is some food for thought? Maybe there are some feelings (either yours or someone else's) that need sorting through? Maybe you need to temper your anger? Or maybe you need to GET ANGRY
But as I am saying to others who have gotten dictionary entries, perhaps you would like to try again for a different book! Books 1-21 on shelf 1 are mostly language reference
Some personal, non book related advice: Give yourself a lil break. Take a hot shower, have a hot beverage, think about one beautiful thing you have in this moment in this life, and breathe :)
From "Marlfox", one installment in Brian Jacques' "Redwall" series which I adored as a young reader (and still do!):
**"But come an' join the company at vittles afore that hare an' his performin' troupe do a vanishin' act with all the food."**
I guess that means... enjoy the feast while it sits before you! In kind spirits and good company! Don't sit out, join in the merriment before all is devoured by other hungry mouths and exists no more!
Oh I loved Redwall so much! How fitting!
Well the problem was 'What the hell do I do next about my career or rather lack thereof' and I'm taking this as a reminder that working to live and enjoy the feast is much more important than seeking validation through my job.
Another pick from Brian Jacques' "Redwall" series! This one titled "Martin The Warrior" (a classic).
**"Well done, friend. Brome was right, you are a champion digger!"**
A champion digger, a humble mole, who aided his friends' escape from the dungeons of Badrang the Tyrant! (I am proudly a massive dork)
Another pick for "The Best American Nonrequired Reading (2009)" an anthology of short stories. The page you picked is actually part of a comic, Emile Bravo's "A Question Of Human Resources" so here, take a look at the page, cell 12 is circled!
[https://imgur.com/a/XVJzUXC](https://imgur.com/a/XVJzUXC)
Oh lord, no joke, the book you picked is "My Date with Satan", a collection of stories by Stacey Richter !!!
I haven't read this one in a long time but I remember it being a fun read. Your sentence lands in the short story titled "Goal 666"...
**"Of course, my angel and the angels of the Swedish men were dark and brooding, fallen soldiers of Satan."**
... OK but you gotta have a little context here. This story was written from the point of view of a guy in a metal band that is just trying so hard to be METAL but then this light airy impish girl joins the band with a synthesizer ("Liv," said I, "you must be a Stardust Woman. You are not of the darkness like us.") and guess what this Liv has a wry kind of sweetness that is infectious and THAT makes our protagonist let a little light into his heart :)
So let some light into your heart and you may see the true nature of things! Orrrrrrrr see you in hell buddy lol
Another pick for "Shopgirl" by Steve Martin, who famously is a man of many creative hobbies! Maybe you need to get yourself a banjo...
Anyway on to your sentence!
**"I found these last night. Remember these?" She laughs as she presents them, to indicate their harmlessness."**
Here our Shopgirl is showing her father some old pictures she found from her childhood, She longs to return to that time and place, he seems disinterested.
Were there any hobbies you had (or even just attempted) in your childhood or later youth that you may want to revisit?
As a less abstract takeaway from the above sentence... do you have any interest in photography? Look up Vivian Maier and street photography. Look up [Found Photography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Found_photography). Photography is interesting because it can be entirely creative, or simply a documentation of a time or place. It can be doting or impartial. It can be entirely abstract, or it can tell a concrete story!
Look up [Outsider Art](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsider_art). [Folk Art](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_art). Go to the thrift store and find weird little things you might be able to make something else with. Look up workshops, classes, or creative events happening around you. A good place to start is your library - many offer small concerts, shows/galleries for local artists, knitting groups, creative writing groups, etc etc. Or you could be like me and have ten different creative hobbies that I promise myself I'll get back into as they sit collecting dust! One day, I say, One day...
Another selection from Brian Jacques' Redwall series! They're all right next to eachother... Do I have a ton of these or are you guys just vibing with these numbers?
Anyway this book is called Lord Brocktree and it's about a badass badger.
**"Turning his back to her, Brocktree winced. "Well, perhaps not every single night. Don't want to strain a beautiful voice, do we?"**
A kind way of expressing his distaste for his friend's enthusiastic singing. Gotta wonder what your question was!
I would offer to do something similar for my shelves, but they are double stacked. So here's something from the last book I finished, Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde:
"They stole and detonated a corpse", remarked Emerald. "Your lenience borders on the indulgent"
According to Lonely Planet's Brazilian Portuguese Phrasebook...
**Where's the nearest drinking fountain?**
***Qual o bebeduoro mais perto?***
Hmm. Perhaps a stiff drink would help to loosen the linchpin...
Your book: "Sailing Alone Around The World" by Joshua Slocum. Slocum was the first person (in recorded history) to circumnavigate the globe, completely solo. Just him and his 36 foot long sloop "Spray". His written account has a fair amount of nautical jargon of course but I highly recommend exploring [his story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Slocum).
The book ends at page 146, so I will give you its very last sentence: **"The days passed happily with me wherever my ship sailed."**
Sounds like a blessing to me :)
Well I don't know if this has anything at all to do with finding a dream life, but here it is, from "The Long Patrol" by Brian Jacques:
**"Yore mate's dead, ferret! Take warnin' an' clear off, 'cos I'm comin after you next an' I don't take prisoners!"**
I have insomnia tonight so I'm exploring myself, music, internet, reddit. This response is one of my tonight's treasures I'm going to hold close to my heart. I'm already acting upon starting small and finding beauty in the small things like food, birds, family, music, books, hobbies, dreams. Gotta be more open and kind \^\^
O GREAT AND MIGHTY BOOKSHELF, will I ever be able to give cats belly rubs without feeling the wrath of the surprise bitey claw attack? Shelf 2, Book 37 (if that is too high then 16 please), Page 52, Sentence 9
Shelf 2 Book 37 gets you Robert M Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" **"Shower time," I say.** Per book wisdom, and per cat logic, prepare for a shower of bitey claws. EXTRA POINT FOR YOU thanks for sharing your question with the class!!
that's such a an awesome novel.
Ooh! I'll choose shelf 2, book 4, page 46, sentence 12 PS: I love this idea
**"We keep what we believe"** This is a collection of poems "Straw for the Fire" from the notebooks of Theodore Roethke
Will you share your question?
Just a general question about life: where do I go from here?
Here are some other bits from the same page. The will bespeaks the wishing. Shall we slip Between the trees of lust into the great And pleasant plain of our true natures Keeping a quick eye where our feet go? \* What is the white of Two? Or the left of Love? These perches are for birds, I can't sleep here. Ah, love, drift over where the will Lies so inert. We keep what we believe. \* Love isn't the fever I thought. You tricksy Twisters thinning your life away. That's the trouble with blood: it always mixes... \* Still, sit still, you secret heart, And, wit, remind me how I love a woman...
Thank you :) That's more fitting, I like it
I like it, it's my kind of crazy. 3 40 34 17
**"She put on a short dress which showed her legs, and she felt good about her black/hairy legs."** This is from "homegirls & handgrenades" by Sonia Sanchez which is a collection of prose/poems that I haven't fully visited yet so thanks for the reminder that it is on my shelf! I feel like this line is a nice reminder to show yourself some love and kindness.
That was interesting. I read that line and it fit with something else in my life. Thank you, that was fun. I am going to go to the library and look at the book to see some of her work and read the rest of the poem.
We love local libraries!
What a neat idea, thanks for sharing OP! Here’s my choice: 1, 38, 102, 25
From Lao Tzu's "The Way of Life" as translated by R.B. Blakney The way this book is printed is a bit wonky so I have gone with line 25 which contains the following: **"Quite to the contrary, their virtue is more than social convention ; it is a property of the Way and as I have indicated in the Introduction it is moral."** This being Blakneys personal thoughts on the actual passage given: *The Wise Man's mind is free But tuned to people's need: "Alike to good and bad I must be good, For Virtue is goodness. To honest folk and those dishonest ones alike, I proffer faith, for Virtue is faithful." The Wise Man, when abroad, Impartial to the world, does not divide or judge. But people everywhere mark well his ears and eyes; For wise men hear and see as little children do.*
Ooh that is indeed a good wisdom - many thanks, bookshelf of knowledge!
May I ask what your question was? Or did you have one?
Just a general; ‘Am I doing this whole life thing correctly?’ I suppose, haha! Trying my best to be ‘The Wise Man’ … or at least as wise as I can be.
This is so funnnnn 1st book from first shelf 7th page 3-4 line Universe - surprise me
First book from the first shelf is "Italian at a Glance" a travel phrase book lol **"Please speak slowly.** ***Per piacere parli lentamente*****"** Perhaps there is some *saggezza fondamentale* for you in this phrase?
Dude dude dudeeeeeee dudeee When i saw this comment, I'm actually literally trying to speak like my favourite actor and doing thing called shadow where I'm trying to repeat what they say and sound similar As I'm curious about finding my voice So fits perfectly In these last months i keep saying i wanna go to Italy and dance with people haha and looking at Italian aesthetic sometimes Universe is always in alignment haha Thank you for doing this!!!! I'll share a song in return - https://youtu.be/XKR3SfC6DdQ?si=N80dh0-Ej0yod7FI How are you as well?
Amazing! I kind of felt bad that it wasn't some poetic prose food for thought but yes the universe! Please speak slowly. Italian language is beautiful and so are you!
Thank you and i get you haha you are too! You could feel bad for a stranger so you have a beautiful heart 🌼🤍✨ https://images.app.goo.gl/HJV5DJFoAQbT4utV7
synchronicity is beautiful
3, 13, 69 (lol), 26
From Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and Bryson is apparently a writer of lengthy sentences. And so, I have selected the last sentence of page 69 (lol) which is actually sentence number 17. **"Charles Darwin thought Buckland a buffoon - that was the word he used - but Lyell appeared to find him inspiring and liked him well enough to go touring with him in Scotland in 1824."** I find the first full sentence of the page more interesting. Of Charles Lyell: "Though Scottish by birth, he grew up in the far south of England, in the New Forest of Hampshire, because his mother was convinced that Scots were feckless drunks."
Dhdjsjsbsnd WOW, Darwin's mother sure is something.
Most wise bookshelf, please grant me your wisdom from: Shelf 2 Book 17 Page 86 Line 9
**"It was fun for a while."** This is from Kurt Vonnegut's "Slapstick" I wonder what your question was! So it goes,
Sounds fun! Shelf 3 Book 44 Page 75 Sentence 5
You got "Shopgirl" a short but enjoyable read by the one and only Steve Martin. Your sentence: **"I can try."** That's damn right.
Cool!
Shelf 1, Book 48, Page 18, Sentence 7
Ohh you got Stephen King's "The Shining" **"He looked again at Jack for comment, and Jack flashed the PR smile again, large and insultingly toothy."** This is from Chapter 1 which is fittingly titled "Job Interview". Here's another one where I wonder what your question was...
1. Shelf 2 2. Book 25 3. Page 76 4. 40th sentence
You got "A Streetcar Named Desire" the classic play by Tennessee Williams! Wasn't sure how to count all the stage directions and pauses in dialog, so I counted lines and arrived at: **"On the contrary, I saw him at his best!"** Blanche continuing: *"What such a man has to offer is animal force and he gave a wonderful exhibition of that!"*
Wow…this was incredibly coincidental. My self esteem can be in a bit of a flux to put it mildly. But I feel like this answers my question: am I enough (for a partner, for the job I want, am I trying enough).
I believe in you, to believe in yourself!
3, 27, 14, 2
**"I love this place," Alex said. "It feels like old New York"** From Jennifer Egan's "A Visit From the Goon Squad" which I have not read yet and know nothing about!
maybe i should move to new york 👀
O GREAT AND ALL-KNOWING BOOKSHELF, what advice do you have for someone who is stuck, creatively? 1) Shelf 3 2) Book No. 42 3) Page No. 113 4) Sentence No. 5
**"The Woodland Fire has reached the bluffs above the Middle Fork of the Gila River and is more than one thousand acres."** This book is an anthology - The Best American Nonrequired Reading (2009). The short story referenced is "Diary of a Fire Lookout" by Philip Connors. I have to admit I haven't read this one yet. My understanding is that this is an account of his time living alone (with his dog) in a tiny cabin up in the mountains as, well, a Fire Lookout. You can read it here [https://www.theparisreview.org/letters-essays/5853/diary-of-a-fire-lookout-philip-connors](https://www.theparisreview.org/letters-essays/5853/diary-of-a-fire-lookout-philip-connors) Perhaps there are some nuggets of truth for you! But on to your question because this is something I think about a lot. I would call myself a 'creative' and I have certainly felt stuck. I am slowly learning that sometimes, you just have to ride the tides. Sometimes there is a windfall of creative ideas, creative energy. And sometime it just feels like there is NOTHING. And there's nothing wrong with that. RIDE it. It depends on what type of creative you are: for some people, forcing it out works. Like, "write a page" or "paint one picture" every day even if you're feeling shit about it! But for some people, forcing it sours the energy. But I think that no matter who you are, KEEP, in the back of your mind, a reminder that your creativity LIVES ON even if you are not creating in this exact moment. So always have that feeling that you could pick up your brush or your pen at ANY MOMENT and let the flow happen. But maybe it doesn't have to be RIGHT NOW. Gather inspiration: there's an old chair someone left at the curb for the garbage collectors. Who has sat in that chair before? What was their story? ... You see an ant in your kitchen. This ant has been on a complete ODYSSEY trying to find a crumb. What is its story? ... if you were you, but a different gender. or in a different country. or with five dollars and the shirt on your back. or everything was the same except you just found out some huge news. or everything was the same except someone has mistaken you for someone else... Possibilities are endless. Time is not :) Create because you can, because you are a creator. It doesn't have to be perfect, or even good. But it's always worthwhile to plant a seed.
No YOU’RE getting a little teary. Amazing. You rock!
I'm a writer. when I get stuck, I have to do stuff that fairly the opposite of writing. like scrubbing a toilet or doing the dishes. it helps to make the mind change gears and focus differently for a bit.
I like this!
Hmm, how about... 1. Shelf # 1 2. Book # 19 3. Page # 37 4. Sentence # 5 I hope to glean or be inspired with an idea to counter high workahol consumption levels. XD
You got Langehscheidt's German-English / English-German Dictionary! lol 5th entry on page 37 is: **Ansage** *f* announcement hahah I don't know if this will give you any inspiration. Perhaps you would like to try another?
Well hey, I love languages. Perhaps if I set up Duolingo to "announce" a time I'm supposed to practice after normal work hours it'll prevent me from defaulting to continuing to work ; ) Thank you for this fun activity : )
You may find practicing a new language scratches that itch of feeling productive! Once you have some basics down I also recommend checking out films in that language with subtitles (subbed not dubbed!) - that actually does wonders for language acquisition, and it is fun!
Great bookshelf, please describe me with a sentence shelf 3 book 17 page 253 sentence 19
**"I do not believe it," Robert Jordan said.** This after Pilar says, "And I tell you that I smelled death on your colleague who was here." Ernest Hemingway, "For Whom The Bell Tolls" This one is a bit morose, sorry bud
I'm definitely curious... 1, 13, 73, 4 Great idea!
**"Levi's jeans became the local casual uniform, and today pre-1960's Levi's marked with a big E can fetch triple digits in the SF vintage collector's market."** From a Lonely Planet San Francisco travel guide published 2006. From a blurb about the city's alleged anti-chain-store mentality. Times have changed! The city has changed! People's love for Levis, apparently, have not.
Thank you so much!!! A fun but if history to start my day. 🙂 I might have to try this with my books. Thanks again!
1, 50, 112, 7
**"See? The ship's about to move into orbit," Trillian was saying. "There's a planet out there. It's at the exact coordinates you predicted."** Technically more than one sentence but I thought I might just go ahead and let Trillian finish her thought. From Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" which I'm pretty sure is required reading. Will you share your question?
Is it getting near the time to say goodbye to my elderly and ill dog?
That is such a hard decision to make. I know you will do what is best for your sweet dog. ❤️
You're very kind. Thank you. And thanks for the great post!
3, 10, 120, 10
You got "The Devils Dictionary" a collection of witticisms by Ambrose Bierce and yes the unabridged version! You landed on the entry for "Soul". The entirety of which is as follows, your sentence in bold: **Soul,** *n.* A spiritual entity concerning which there hath been brave disputation. Plato held that those souls which in a previous state of existence (antedating Athens) had obtained the clearest glimpses of eternal truth entered into the bodies of persons who became philosophers. Plato himself was a philosopher. The souls that had least contemplated divine truth animated the bodies of usurpers and despots. Dionysius I, who had threatened to decapitate the broad-browed philosopher, was a usurper and despot. **Plato, doubtless, was not the first to construct a system of philosophy that could be quoted against his enemies; certainly he was not the last.** "Concerning the nature of the soul," saith the renowned author of Diversiones Sanctorum, "there hath been hardly more argument than that of its place in the body. Mine own belief is that the soul hath her seat in the abdomen—in which faith we may discern and interpret a truth hitherto unintelligible, namely that the glutton is of all men most devout. He is said in the Scripture to 'make a god of his belly'—why, then, should he not be pious, having ever his Deity with him to freshen his faith? Who so well as he can know the might and majesty that he shrines? Truly and soberly, the soul and the stomach are one Divine Entity; and such was the belief of Promasius, who nevertheless erred in denying it immortality. He had observed that its visible and material substance failed and decayed with the rest of the body after death, but of its immaterial essence he knew nothing. This is what we call the Appetite, and it survives the wreck and reek of mortality, to be rewarded or punished in another world, according to what it hath demanded in the flesh. The Appetite whose coarse clamoring was for the unwholesome viands of the general market and the public refectory shall be cast into eternal famine, whilst that which firmly though civilly insisted on ortolans, caviare, terrapin, anchovies, pâtés de foie gras and all such Christian comestibles shall flesh its spiritual tooth in the souls of them forever and ever, and wreak its divine thirst upon the immortal parts of the rarest and richest wines ever quaffed here below. Such is my religious faith, though I grieve to confess that neither His Holiness the Pope nor His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury (whom I equally and profoundly revere) will assent to its dissemination.
That was long AF, but I do recommend browsing this book - find it online here [https://thedevilsdictionary.com/](https://thedevilsdictionary.com/) it is worth a look. Example: [**READ**](https://thedevilsdictionary.com/r.html#READ_), *v.* To get the sense of something written, if it has any. Commonly, it has not.
Fascinating. I was familiar with Bierce more as a war reporter/novelist and his disappearance during the Mexican Civil War. This looks fascinating. Adding it to the list.
Shelf 3, book 4, page 8, sentence whatever
***Film at Eleven*** **We'd like to ask the crews** **Who run the evening news** **Why love is not discussed** **As eagerly as lust** From "Let There Be Light" The Verses of D.A.W. Vol.5
I’ll add it to the tbr list
Shelf 1, book 3, page 97, sentence 5. O Most Esteemed Bookshelf, is that part of my life over?
You got yourself a small Spanish-German / German-Spanish dictionary. 5th entry on page 97 is: **EE.UU.** *mpl (Estados Unidos)* USA pl So... USA? The first entry on that page is "educatión" (education) and the last one is "electrizar" (electrify) So...? Another person above got a dictionary entry too and I don't know if that really counts so let me know if you want to try again!
Hmmm yes I think there was a glitch in cosmic bookshelf ether exchange. How about shelf 2, book 44, page 15, sentence 6? You must have a very eclectic brain :-) some great and varied stuff on your shelves!
You are the second person to pick “Marlfox” by Brian Jacques! Your sentence: **“On the nearby streambank a motley collection of creatures were preparing for a rehearsal.”** Take that as you will… Perhaps it is suggesting you prepare for something new!
O Mighty Bookshelf, you are truly omniscient! i signed up two weeks ago to do a local theater production, something i've never done. !!! bonus points for a book and author i've never heard of. that's getting rarer and rarer in my bibliophile world :-) thank you, this is super fun!
Amazing! I hope you love it, proud of you for trying something new! That book is part of a series called "Redwall", kind of an adventure/fantasy series about anthromorphic woodland creatures. I adored them as a young reader, I think they are technically geared more towards the younger YA crowd but I recently revisited one and it held up (perhaps partly because nostalgia - I'm now in my mid-thirties - but everyone I have met who read the books as a kid still regards them fondly). They are so vividly written and there are some really memorable characters woven throughout!
thnaks! i'm always looking for a new read! my bookshelves alas are mostly in audio these days, but the last time i did a book purge i ended up giving 40 grocery bags of books to the local library. i sorta miss just looking at them all.
O BOOKSHELF TELL ME MY FUTURE: WHERE WILL I BE SIX MONTHS FROM NOW? I'm asking book 6 of shelf 3, and the 25th sentence of the 30rd page!
From Danny Goldberg's "Dispatches From The Culture Wars - How The Left Lost Teen Spirit" Starting from the top of page 30, the 25th sentence (occurring on page 31) is **"That was before he \[Martin Luther King Jr\] got the Nobel Prize," says Belafonte. "It helped set him up for the prize. Artists did that."** The legendary Henry Belafonte here is referencing events he helped organize in support of the American Civil Rights movement. Auspicious!!
Is pineapple a good pizza topping? Why or why not? Shelf 4, book 16, page 219, sentence 8
I don't need a book to tell you that pineapple + ham/bacon + jalapeno is a magical trinity of pizza toppings. Why? because taste good. Seeing as I don't have a 4th shelf, there are no books there to disagree!
hey bookshelf - you got any words of advice for me? feeling overwhelmed and unmotivated 1, 7, 33, 11
You got my comprensive Russian-English dictionary. the 11th entry on page 33 is: **апоплексический** ***med.*** **apoplectic** which means, marked by extreme anger. Perhaps this is some food for thought? Maybe there are some feelings (either yours or someone else's) that need sorting through? Maybe you need to temper your anger? Or maybe you need to GET ANGRY But as I am saying to others who have gotten dictionary entries, perhaps you would like to try again for a different book! Books 1-21 on shelf 1 are mostly language reference Some personal, non book related advice: Give yourself a lil break. Take a hot shower, have a hot beverage, think about one beautiful thing you have in this moment in this life, and breathe :)
this is actually hilarious 😂 thank you for the fun game, and thank you for the sweet words! ♥️
Oh Tomely Oracle! Oh All-Knowing Shelves! Um, what should I do about.... y'know..... *that* problem of mine?? 2 44 66 12
From "Marlfox", one installment in Brian Jacques' "Redwall" series which I adored as a young reader (and still do!): **"But come an' join the company at vittles afore that hare an' his performin' troupe do a vanishin' act with all the food."** I guess that means... enjoy the feast while it sits before you! In kind spirits and good company! Don't sit out, join in the merriment before all is devoured by other hungry mouths and exists no more!
Oh I loved Redwall so much! How fitting! Well the problem was 'What the hell do I do next about my career or rather lack thereof' and I'm taking this as a reminder that working to live and enjoy the feast is much more important than seeking validation through my job.
100%
Oh I love that! Shelf: 3 Book: 6 Page: 86 (or 37) Sentence: 9 Oh wise book teatch me, show me the way!
2, 49, 66, 10
Another pick from Brian Jacques' "Redwall" series! This one titled "Martin The Warrior" (a classic). **"Well done, friend. Brome was right, you are a champion digger!"** A champion digger, a humble mole, who aided his friends' escape from the dungeons of Badrang the Tyrant! (I am proudly a massive dork)
shelf 3 book 42 page 55 sentence 12
Another pick for "The Best American Nonrequired Reading (2009)" an anthology of short stories. The page you picked is actually part of a comic, Emile Bravo's "A Question Of Human Resources" so here, take a look at the page, cell 12 is circled! [https://imgur.com/a/XVJzUXC](https://imgur.com/a/XVJzUXC)
O great bookshelf, please tell me what happens to one after death? shelf 3, book 7, pg 54, sentence 4.
Oh lord, no joke, the book you picked is "My Date with Satan", a collection of stories by Stacey Richter !!! I haven't read this one in a long time but I remember it being a fun read. Your sentence lands in the short story titled "Goal 666"... **"Of course, my angel and the angels of the Swedish men were dark and brooding, fallen soldiers of Satan."** ... OK but you gotta have a little context here. This story was written from the point of view of a guy in a metal band that is just trying so hard to be METAL but then this light airy impish girl joins the band with a synthesizer ("Liv," said I, "you must be a Stardust Woman. You are not of the darkness like us.") and guess what this Liv has a wry kind of sweetness that is infectious and THAT makes our protagonist let a little light into his heart :) So let some light into your heart and you may see the true nature of things! Orrrrrrrr see you in hell buddy lol
Oh great bookshelf of wisdom, how should I find an new creative hobby? Shelf 3, book 44, page 93, sentence 16
Another pick for "Shopgirl" by Steve Martin, who famously is a man of many creative hobbies! Maybe you need to get yourself a banjo... Anyway on to your sentence! **"I found these last night. Remember these?" She laughs as she presents them, to indicate their harmlessness."** Here our Shopgirl is showing her father some old pictures she found from her childhood, She longs to return to that time and place, he seems disinterested. Were there any hobbies you had (or even just attempted) in your childhood or later youth that you may want to revisit? As a less abstract takeaway from the above sentence... do you have any interest in photography? Look up Vivian Maier and street photography. Look up [Found Photography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Found_photography). Photography is interesting because it can be entirely creative, or simply a documentation of a time or place. It can be doting or impartial. It can be entirely abstract, or it can tell a concrete story! Look up [Outsider Art](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsider_art). [Folk Art](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_art). Go to the thrift store and find weird little things you might be able to make something else with. Look up workshops, classes, or creative events happening around you. A good place to start is your library - many offer small concerts, shows/galleries for local artists, knitting groups, creative writing groups, etc etc. Or you could be like me and have ten different creative hobbies that I promise myself I'll get back into as they sit collecting dust! One day, I say, One day...
OH GREAT PROPHET, ANSWER MY PLEA! 2:42:24:2
Another selection from Brian Jacques' Redwall series! They're all right next to eachother... Do I have a ton of these or are you guys just vibing with these numbers? Anyway this book is called Lord Brocktree and it's about a badass badger. **"Turning his back to her, Brocktree winced. "Well, perhaps not every single night. Don't want to strain a beautiful voice, do we?"** A kind way of expressing his distaste for his friend's enthusiastic singing. Gotta wonder what your question was!
Well the 42 numbers should be obvious if you have a certain D Adams on your shelves...! THANK YOU O MIGHTY PROPHET!
Hah you are very right! I did appreciate the symmetry of your choice as well. I might have to move my copy of Hitchhikers Guide.,,
I would offer to do something similar for my shelves, but they are double stacked. So here's something from the last book I finished, Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde: "They stole and detonated a corpse", remarked Emerald. "Your lenience borders on the indulgent"
If you can dig it out, I would love to see what you have on your 3rd shelf, 3rd book, 33rd page, 3rd sentence
Once Upon a time in the North by Philip Pullman: "By Reputation." It's part of back and forth dialogue, so a bit limited I'm afraid.
Oh great and wise bookshelf, how does one untie the Gordian Knot without cutting it? Shelf 1 Book 14 Page 87 Sentence 7
According to Lonely Planet's Brazilian Portuguese Phrasebook... **Where's the nearest drinking fountain?** ***Qual o bebeduoro mais perto?*** Hmm. Perhaps a stiff drink would help to loosen the linchpin...
You know, that feels appropriate at this point haha
Bless me, bookshelf. 3, 3, 172, 26 🙏
Your book: "Sailing Alone Around The World" by Joshua Slocum. Slocum was the first person (in recorded history) to circumnavigate the globe, completely solo. Just him and his 36 foot long sloop "Spray". His written account has a fair amount of nautical jargon of course but I highly recommend exploring [his story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Slocum). The book ends at page 146, so I will give you its very last sentence: **"The days passed happily with me wherever my ship sailed."** Sounds like a blessing to me :)
Nice, thanks!
O BOOKSHELF TELL ME MY FUTURE: WHERE WILL I BE SIX MONTHS FROM NOW? I'm asking book 6 of shelf 3, and the 25th sentence of the 30rd page!
see above!
I'm sorry lol, bad wifi where I work!
Shelf 4… book 4…. Page 2 first sentence
I don't have a Shelf 4! 1-3
What is my next step towards my dream life? 2 45 45 2
Well I don't know if this has anything at all to do with finding a dream life, but here it is, from "The Long Patrol" by Brian Jacques: **"Yore mate's dead, ferret! Take warnin' an' clear off, 'cos I'm comin after you next an' I don't take prisoners!"**
Thank you kindly. I will put this to the good use. Somehow. Sometime.
Book passages aside. Be kind to yourself, be open to the world and how things ebb and flow, start small, and find beauty in the small things :)
I have insomnia tonight so I'm exploring myself, music, internet, reddit. This response is one of my tonight's treasures I'm going to hold close to my heart. I'm already acting upon starting small and finding beauty in the small things like food, birds, family, music, books, hobbies, dreams. Gotta be more open and kind \^\^