Charles Dodgson's Art

Maybe you know him only by the name "Lewis Carroll" (his pen name),
and maybe you don't know about him at all...

That's alright! Let me enlighten you about one of my favorite authors, poets, and photographers: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson a.k.a. Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland and the Through the Looking Glass tales & many others.

You may mentally chide me for even referencing it ( I would too!), but Wikipedia really summarizes it best:

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (pronounced /ˈdɒdsən/ dod-sən; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll (/ˈkærəl/ karr-əl), was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all examples of the genre of literary nonsense. He is noted for his facility at word play, logic, and fantasy, and there are societies dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of his works and the investigation of his life in many parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States, and New Zealand.

 He really was an interesting person. I have read several biographies on him and what truly amuses me the most is just how widely all of his biographers differ in opinion on his life & person! You have everything from some claiming he was an insane, drugged-out pedophile all the way to saying that he was a genius and a saint! (Personally I don't believe either of those extremes.)

The fact that he was a mathematician is generally not known as well as his authorship. But he was indeed all those things--a man of many interests, if not many proficient talents. He was smart & witty, if extremely shy/reserved in person. He seemed to prefer the company of children rather than adults (which I can sometimes identify with quite well.) He found his lyrical, comical literary voice first through telling stories that baffled, amused and entertained his little friends...and then later the wider world.

One thing is for sure: if you are going to study literature, and especially English lit, you can't ignore Lewis Carroll. He left a mark on our world.

Now, onto the most interesting pieces of his history that I've been digging up about him...

...his photography.

In addition to being a poet, deacon, mathematician, & all those other things, Charles Dodgson was a photographer. In his time, I suppose he would have been considered just another amateur, but I think his work had a timeless, lasting & highly artistic quality about it. For a while, I couldn't seem to locate any of these photographs of his that were talked about so much, other than the one of Alice Liddell (the girl whose name & person inspired Alice from his books) leaning up against an ivy wall as a ''beggar child''.

But now....I am proud to say, I have scrounged up several more photographs that he took, and now, I present them to you here:

{Click to make some larger.}

Alice Liddell (right) and older sister Lorina (left).

Alice Liddell

young Alice Liddell

"The Beggar Girl" aka Alice Liddell

Alice Liddell as a young woman.

Self portrait of Lewis Carroll/Charles Dodgson.

Edith, Lorina & Alice Liddell (L to R)

Mrs Liddell, her girls, Charles Dodgson & another young friend.

Edith, Lorina & Alice

 

Are they not just beautiful? 

Looking at them makes me wish I had a old tintype camera to play with, and that I still had my film Canon SLR too! Ah, well. I still have my appreciation for the arts, my tiny Canon digital, and my love of photography. :) That's enough for now.

"And the Results are Pouring in now..."

(c) heh

*There is something to be said for spell checking and looking over a post before posting it as final! If you saw this post before 6:00pm today (1/15/11) I deeply apologize for all the spelling errors!

I am really enjoying watching the results coming in on the polls on the side!
It looks like (so far) this is the consensus:

• I should either name my Etsy shop Ruffle Stuff(s) or Wren Row, to match this blog.

These two are good ideas actually! I liked Ruffle Stuffs and Wren Row the best too. Although I did wonder that no one cared for the other sweet name concoctions, i.e. 'Lovetopia' or 'Curioso' ? lol :)
Also, it was neat to finally get feedback on what exactly people would buy from me (or from Etsy sellers in general.) These were tops:

• sewn items (bags, pillows, purses, jackets, clothes, dresses, satchels, knitted/crocheted things, etc.
• paper "stuffs" as they call them: books, journals, organizational stuff, stationary, etc.

Those are my favorite things to make, so that's real handy. :) However, I did actually forget to put my *favorite* thing to make in that poll: miniatures. Yes, I love miniatures! specifically the 1/12 scale. I can't get enough of them, or making them. :)

Also, it looks like the most commonly agreed upon amount of money someone would be willing to spend at my shop/ on Etsy in general is:

• $15-$20

Hm, interesting! That's actually heartening, really. And it's a fair price for most of the wonderful things sold on Etsy, too! So, dear friends & readers, I would like to say thank you for voting! The feedback helps a bunch. :)

Here's to new starts in the new Year!
~Hannah
- - - - - - - - - - - - - *Isn't God great?*

The Etsy Shop.... *dun-dun-dun-dun*

 Hey Ya'll!
[No, I'm not Southern one bit, but I like saying that sometimes!]
I have come to an impasse with my Etsy Shop, this one. I have had it for a while now, with varying levels of sales & success, and I'm just not feeling it the way it is anymore! I don't know what it is. I think it may be a combination of:

• the name ("Titmoss" is a fun name I came up with, but I've run into quite a few folks who aren't as psyched about it as I am...)
• the look & layout currently (I'm using the form header right now for heaven's sakes!)
• the content/items for sale (First I started with just antiques; then I moved to vintage clothing; then I tried artwork, nicknacks, and just little stuff in turn. It's not selling!)

I feel like I need a new shop Name, a new shop Look, and a new set of Merchandise!
Now, my valued readers & friends, can you help me? :)
Here's how:
Vote in the polls on the side bar & comment below! Let me know what you think would be:
~ a wonderful Etsy shop name 
~ what would love buy there most
~ and for how much (generally)

The fantastic thing is: your votes & comments WILL directly affect what I end up doing in the end! :) Of course I have the final say, and my own ideas still --yes. But I *do* really value feedback. ^_^
So, please vote up & comment up a storm!
Many thanks,
~Hannah <3
- - - - - - - - - - - - - *Isn't God great?*

Thinking...

by HEH

:: Thoughts fly and words go on foot. ::

I read a book last month called Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism, by Temple Grandin. She talks about her life as an autistic person, bits of her childhood and growth as an adult. But, as intersting as I usually find biographies, what really caught me about this book was when she tried to explain how she thinks. Like the title implies, she thinks in pictures, but also--in video representations. In her head! It was amazing reading and trying (oh trying!) to understand how this could be possible, let alone normal cognitive functions for someone! Amazing. When presented with a concept needed for a project, she 'sees' in her mind 'videos' and 'pictures' of the thing (whatever it is) flooding her head. They seem to be automatically sorted, regulated, and---AND-- serviced and updated by her own mind.

For example, Temple is an animal scientist. She works as a designer/planner/engineer for making cattle equipment. (In fact, she has designed over one-third of ALL the cattle equipment facilities in the U.S.) If she ever needs to design a new, say, cattle washer system, she has live images and videos stored in her mind that she can bring upon need of recall for all the other facilities that she has built like it. Amazing, huh? But there's more! She claims she can even 'turn' the objects over in her mind, just like a high-tech computer animations program. I think that's astonishing and very cool, of course. (Does she close her eyes whe she visualizes these things or keep them open, I wonder?)

However, besides just marveling in Temple's pure genius abilities, I was wondering about how I think. How do I think, as a 'normal person'? How do you think? In 'pictures' like Temple does? Or in...
Well, what are the other ways we think?

Now, I have not done any further research (i.e. reading books, blogs, or articles one the subject) but I have been mulling it over. Research notes will have to be for a later date. Right now, I think I'll just bang out what I've been thinking, plus some dictionary definitions (because they always help.) Be sure to go look at each of the linked pages; each have some very interesting information & definitions to be read.

Definitions of:

   thought   thinking   pictures   visualize

I believe that I think in words. It seems like the easiest way for me to remember concepts or ideas are seeing them in word form, especially on paper. Also, when I hear something, like the word 'combination', for example, the first thing that happens in my head is I can see the letters, spelling themselves out: "c-o-m-b-i-" etc... This is almost always the case (i.e. 99.999% of the time.)

If someone mentions a name of someone I know {Annie} ...
Or is explaining something {"This is how you would do it..."} ...
Or if I hear a Scripture or quote...

I immediately think of how it spells out, in letters, in my mind.
So funny, but it makes perfect sense to me. And my Daddy apparently; he thinks this way as well. :) Now, this is not the way everyone thinks (obviously). Two of my other siblings claim that they think in visual 'pictures' and or videos. When they hear 'obviously', they may think of the face someone makes when they are saying that "Well, OBviously" to someone, or they may see the word on paper or screen as they last (or first) saw it. That doesn't happen to me, but it is fascinating nonetheless.

Others, like Temple Grandin, visualize concepts, ideas and words as live videos in their minds. Which seems like the 'coolest' way to think, doesn't it? :) However, it is for this very reason --thinking in only visuals-- that can make spelling, writing and communicating with words very difficult for those who think that way. So, take your pick. There are several ways of thinking. :) Whatever way you think has it's strengths and yet it still requires that you compensate for the lack you have in not thinking another way.

(For example, I have a hard time remembering or visualizing what people are saying to me verbally--unless I take the time as they are talking to try and convert the conversations into words in my head. Sometimes this occurs naturally and effortlessly for me; other times, well...those other times are the time when I just couldn't/didn't remember what you said! lol Send me an email, it'll last longer.)

Here are a few articles I read on the subject that are informative & quite interesting in and of themselves.
- Cognitive Structures
-Definition of Cognition
"Conceptual knowledge is needed to classify objects and events in the world. Some aspects of conceptual knowledge are innate or emerge very early in development, while others are acquired through learning and inference."

Now, enough ratting on the subject, and down to business:
How do you think?

P.S.~ Blogger is being ridiculous and unfortunately, I have not been able to comment on any of my blog posts or others'. So, if you commented: I read it! Thank you for commmenting. :)