Secret forest: August 2010

Pencils (Feat. The Perfect Pencil)

>> Monday, 30 August 2010

I can't help searching the net for things like these:

Some of my relatives should be worried by my net findings because it's likely they will get some pencils on their next birthdays, or at Christmas. I will definitely purchase the above case, but I'm not sure about the following one, a bit more expensive:

What is sure is that I won't spend a minimum of $240 for a pencil, not even one that is called the Perfect Pencil, aka the Culmination Of The History Of Pencil!:

It's a nice job, but some of my relatives will get just pencils from me this time. Sorry for them! These are well made pencils by Graf von Faber-Castell, and, of course, if they don't like them, they can return them... to me?

Irati Trees

>> Saturday, 28 August 2010

This week my three mates and I took a jurney to Navarre and Southern France and we already miss the green landscapes we saw there.

This was the starting point of a 10 km hike trail around the Irabia reservoir within the Selva de Irati, Northern Navarre, a nature reserve of beechs, oaks and firs, a true enchanted forest.

These trees were surrounded by ferns and for me it was amazing to see large areas covered by this plant in the Western Pyrenees, where the lower altitude — compared to the Eastern Pyrenees, in my homeland — favors a greater diversity of plants and trees (at least, this was our amateurish opinion). We used to hike every day and I have a lot of nature photos from this lovely trip. I'll post them during the next weeks... probably months!

Vacations!

>> Sunday, 22 August 2010

During this week I'll take a four days break and I won't be able to drop and visit your blogs. I'll try to get lost in a real secret forest in the Pyrenees, but I'll come back really soon! I leave you with this WordPress image. Kisses!

Ex libris

>> Saturday, 21 August 2010

Ex-libris, a Latin expression literally meaning "out of the books", is also the Catalan — and the English! — word for labels stuck on books, bearing the name of the book's owner, also known as bookplates (a "little" dictionary told me so). At the Biblioteca de Catalunya (Library of Catalonia) there's an exhibit of Modernist bookplates that we can also view at their website, it's the Exposició virtual d'ex-libris de la Biblioteca de Catalunya. Most of them were made using the photoetching technique, and at the beginning of the twentieth century were designed in a creative way, unlike traditional bookplates.

Here you can see some custom bookplates from the exhibition, designed in those years by the artist Josep Triadó for private clients: Joseph Casas (1905), A. M. Ciervo, Anton de l'Holm (1918), Josep Montsalvatge (1906), and for one institution promoting the decorative arts, the Foment de les Arts Decoratives de Barcelona (1916).

I'd like to have one for myself, but I wouldn't know which to choose!

Have a nice weekend.

Nameless Faces By Joanne Olivieri

>> Monday, 16 August 2010

I've waited several months before writing about Joanne Olivieri's book because I was hoping to become a great literary critic but for some reason it has not happened. Ouch! It is likely I will fail to raise to the occasion. Still, I have passion for books and the desire to share that passion, so I'll just tell you that I had a great time reading Nameless Faces.

... And I'll tell you why. I once had a literature teacher who used to say that the first time we read a poetry book we don't have to worry about the meaning of the poems but enjoy the music of the words. If we like the music, we will enjoy the book in subsequent readings. Young as we were, my classmates and I were only concerned about the meaning, and her advice sounded to us a little less than revolutionary. That teacher didn't say this sort of things at class, but later, taking a drink at a bar with us.

Nameless Faces reminded me of our teacher. This book attracts you with its music and fills you with meaning. In this regard, nothing better than reading the poem "Bolivian Rythms", one of my favourites (click on the link to read it in Joanne's blog).

This book makes you want to read more poetry, and at the very first page I found a sentence that would have helped our teacher to express herself better in front of her "pragmatic" students: "poetry is the song your spirit writes."

Above, the photo that Joanne sent me along with a postcard. Fortunately, I could find the image on her blog, Poetic Shutterbug, in this post: A Cornucopia of Flowers and you can see it at its best (below, the photo of the photo taken by me does not look good at all!). I'll visit Joanne's blog right now, see you there!

...Where I Will Spend My Holidays

>> Wednesday, 11 August 2010

It's not a cave, but a camping near there, in the Pyrenees. Hopefully I will be there in two weeks.

Visit more Wordless Wednesdays participants.

Not So Recognized

>> Friday, 6 August 2010

It appears that the so-called International Blogging Recognition Council is a scam, at least this is what people are saying in BlogCatalog. Some of these bloggers say that the IBRC might be using BlogCatalog email addresses, but it is only a rumor right now. They were able to find a lot of info about the IBRC, and the emails that bloggers have sent to them are yet to be responded. To ignore them seems to be the best thing to do, and I hope my last post served as warning. Gaining some extra chash online from home is not a bad alternative — one can choose among different advertisements, such as links from Article Alley, Twitter or Facebook, or sponsored reviews, which I find not so easy to write —, but this was ridiculous. I would strongly recommend those scammers to create a blog and have fun with their own writings, or their hobbies, if they have any. They are missing something really amazing, and after this "anecdote" it is clear to me that bloggers are a strong community and we know how to help each other. Thanks so much for your kind support, you are the best award. Have a nice start to the weekend!

"Recognized Blog" Award

>> Thursday, 5 August 2010

Yesterday I received this e-mail:

During the month of July, the International Blogging Recognition Council (IBRC) had the pleasure of reviewing your blog Secret Forest. Your blog was referred to IBRC through our Refer-A-Blog program. "Soothing Summer Music" was the topic that the Council reviewed. Based on the review, the Council has recommended that your blog receive IBRC’s designation of “Recognized Blog”. IBRC reserves this honor to those blogs that effectively connects with the audience and promotes the sharing of ideas and experiences. (...)

Sarah L. Tolten
Review Committee Chair

Review Committee Chair? I must admit that I was impressed, because I didn't even know what it meant. Isn't a chair something that English-speakers use to sit on it? I never thought to name a chair Sarah, that's for sure. And, as regards the whole e-mail, was it a good kind of spam or what? Since I was born in a village and therefore I am kind of suspicious I wondered if it's usual to receive this award. So, firstly, I visited the IBRC website and I read there that I had to pay if I wanted the award. He, he! (And secondly I opened my Oxford American Dictionaries.)

As far as I know, someone referred my post, for which I am most grateful. So, thanks so much, whoever you are!