Journal to the Center of the Earth

Do any of my readers keep a journal or diary? Double points if you keep it between your mattress for safe-keeping.

I sometimes do, but mostly don't. I know that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a vigorous diarist, one whom I aspire to be like, but my journal entries are far and few in between mainly because I infrequently have anything of significance to record. ("Dear Diary, Today I purged my documents folder and sorted my e-mails." or, "Dear Diary, Today I sat on the couch with Hannah and Katie, while we watched Sarah purge her documents folder and sort through her e-mails.")  I'd like to make a nice habit of keeping a journal during the next few, potentially adventurous months ahead. So, I'm going to ask that my readers hold me accountable.

It can't be that difficult because even Michael Scott keeps a journal. Then again, that could actually be strong case as to why someone shouldn't keep a diary...especially one of the incriminating kind.

"Tan all over...Jan all over. Oh, diary, hehe"
But, based on a graph that my dad printed out from Dan Hanger's facebook, it says that Successful people keep a diary and Non-Successful people say they keep a diary, but actually don't.

Dan Hanger's informative formula for success also says that Successful people keep a list of goals, whereas Non-Successful people fly by the seat of their pants.
I assume, most of my readers would like to fall under the Successful side of that graph.

So, let's all journal! Let's all make goals!

Not that I am living the dream and should ever be giving advice on how to live the dream, but I can see some progress from journaling and goal keeping.

For instance, in one of my journals that features F. Scott Fitzgerald's signature gilded in gold on the cover, I discovered that I had made a list of goals about 4 years ago. To my delight, a couple of those daunting goals were actually coming to fruition. It's great because at the time, they were really outlandish, and obviously weren't fulfilled over night, but it cemented the significance of making goals and maintaining a record of our everyday thoughts.

Eventually, there is victory.

So, make some goals today. Pick out a decorative journal that is dying to be written in and get going.

I'd love to hear your success stories!

Conan Doyle Rules!

According to the Baker Street Irregulars, today, January 6th is the birthday of Sherlock Holmes. This is not to be confused with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday which falls on May 22nd, nor Robert Downey, Jr.'s which is April 4th. Sherlockians from around the world gather together at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City to celebrate the day, why they do not converge in London remains a mystery to me.

Though Conan Doyle did not create an actual birthday for his most infamous character, William S. Baring-Gould ("Jan Levinson-Gould, I pressume?") who produced the first annotated version of Sherlock Holmes, claims that the story, "The Valley of Fear" begins on January 7th. In the story Holmes is irritable. Why is he irritable? Perhaps, because he suffered from a hangover. Why did he have a hangover? Well, Baring-Gould believed that Holmes was out celebrating the night before-Why would Holmes do that? Because it must have been his birthday and that's what obsessive, bohemian detectives do. How is that for sound logic? This is unsettling for me. 

Maybe he was irritable, BECAUSE HE IS A COCAINE ADDICT!

Nevertheless, The New York Times published an article in 2009 that proposed an alternative date for the fabulous boy of Baker Street.

Some argue Sherlock Holmes’s birthday really should be pegged to Dec. 2, the real-life birthday of Dr. Joseph Bell, the professor Doyle is said to have used an in inspiration for Mr. Holmes.

I did not make this up. I have no reason to oppose the claim that Sherly's birthday was the 2nd of December. In fact, I rather like that school of thought- mainly for the vanity of it. The alternative date would mean that we share a birthday. Of course, this is all speculation. And, I'm not really going to be the sort of person who brags that their birthday lands on a day that some consider to be Holmes' birthday. Who am I kidding? Of course I am. I'm even blogging about it now. That sure beats sharing a date of birth with Britney Spears!

Well, I plan on spending January 6th, the official birthday (for now) curled up in a corner with a box of truffles and an edition of Sherlock Holmes: Volume 2 ( I'm in the middle of His Last Bow) which I have yet to finish.

Or, maybe I'll catch Guy Ritchie's film for the 4th time... You know it'd be worth it to see the end credits alone.  And to think, people actually get up and leave at that part. It's a tragedy.

Does anyone else enjoy how the credits are likened to Sidney Paget's illustrations in The Strand in the way the text to "The Final Problem" surrounds them?

This entire film was a feast for my eyes.
Just gorgeous! 

Or, I could finally play this Master Detective Game which I bought last July and still have not played.

Until you have played The Miami-Vice Board Game, you simply cannot understand why I have been petrified to play board games ever since, thus neglecting a game that I would thoroughly enjoy.

Pay heed to this warning--If someone ever asks you to play The Miami-Vice Board Game make like a bread truck and haul buns. 

I may even read a couple more chapters of The Sherlockian which has proven to be quite the surprise for this wannabe-Baker-Street-Irregular.  Originally, it was purchased for its innovative cover art, but I have found its contents to be wildly entertaining. 

While reading The Sherlockian, I began to imagine Conan Doyle in the creative process. I'm not sure why I had never done this before, but I think it would have to do with being so engrossed in Conan Doyle's London that I forget that Holmes and Watson imaginary, thus eliminating the creative process altogether.

The Sherlockian author, Graham Moore used Undershaw--Conan Doyle's home as one of his settings. I thought, "Surely, Undershaw must be a tourist attraction to this day!". I was sadly mistaken. On the contrary, it's unfortunately dilapidated.   Here are photographs of Undershaw from an incredible post from Kara of  Teen Sleuth: The Haunted Library.

Isn't it sad to see the windows boarded up. It is now in ruins- Left to criminals. Can you imagine its potential? Kara of Teen Sleuth: The Haunted Library had a scathingly brilliant idea.

Murder mystery dinners, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year (in my calculation: $79.99 a head x 20 x 365 minus the cost of a bloddy slab of prime rib and some pudding = a lot of money). Haunted Halloween House. Holmesian story reenactments. Haunted tours on the moors (moors tours). Anyone? (Stephen Frye if you are reading this please contact me about a potential business opportunity).

  

I'm trying to decided if Conan Doyle was anything like Holmes. I could see Holmes riding this motorized bicycle...But I have a feeling he was more of a Watson.







And, don't you love Watson's description of Holmes' levels of expertise?

1. Knowledge of Literature – nil.
2. Knowledge of Philosophy – nil.
3. Knowledge of Astronomy – nil.
4. Knowledge of Politics – Feeble.
5. Knowledge of Botany – Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening.
6. Knowledge of Geology – Practical, but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks, has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.
7. Knowledge of Chemistry – Profound.
8. Knowledge of Anatomy – Accurate, but unsystematic.
9. Knowledge of Sensational Literature – Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.
10. Plays the violin well.
11. Is an expert singlestick player, boxer and swordsman.
12. Has a good practical knowledge of British law.

--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet

Any excuse to post a photo or two of RDJ as Holmes is fine by me. So, I guess we can celebrate January 6th as Holmes' birthday after all and maybe on December 2nd, I'll have to celebrate again.

Happy Birthday, Sherly!

So I judge books by their cover...

Sue me.

There are few that have pretty, elegant covers, but have been absolutely terrible. CoughSense&Sensibility&SeaMonstersCough.

But for the most part, I like finding old editions of books I love.  Even if I already own a copy. It's nice to have a spare to lend to someone.
I always feel like Mel Gibson in "Conspiracy Theory" when I can't pass a copy of F.Scott Fitzgerald's "This Side of Paradise" or any Sherlock Holmes Collection. Each copy has its own personality for me.

I want these. I don't need them, but I WANT them. I only have one out of this collection designed by Coraline Bickford-Smith and I had to order it online. (The Hound of the Baskervilles By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)There are only two other editions that I have actually held and for some idiotic reason, I did not snatch them up.

Especially when one was Jane Eyre and my only copy is abridged...which I'm not going to bother reading. So as you can tell, I'm still stewing over that.

Ms. Bickford-Smith is pretty amazing in my opinion. . She's also designed a set of F. Scott Fitzgerald covers that I gush over and have been searching for in every bookstore I've stood in since my eyes beheld their art deco design.

Maybe this love of covers, stems from a love of bookshelves. Oh, and I just love when people colour coordinate. Like these:

That's definitely very Type-A of me. But it creates another work of art. Don't you agree?

These three books were recent finds at the Annual Friends of the Library Book Sale. They were quite eye-catching.

The set shelves in my room is quickly overflowing. That always tends to happen after our local library book sale. I need to de-clutter it a bit so the bowing shelves do not break under pressure. Oh, but there are so many things from around the world that friends have given me or I have been fortunate enough to acquire in person that only hold sentimental value to me and would probably be worthless to anyone else. It's difficult for me to see that shelf and not feel bombarded with good memories.

What treasures do you have on your shelves?

(I apologize for the grainy pictures. I definitely do not consider myself a photographer.)

The Case of the Absent Author

I'm sorry I haven’t posted for a while. It's mainly because I haven’t worked on anything creative for the past month.

Instead I have been a silent observer of the methods carried forth by the residents of 221B Baker Street. London, England. To say I am merely mesmerized with these stories would not suffice. I feel that I have an affinity to Holmes. I share his reclusiveness to the severest degree. And like Holmes, I find myself remembering seemingly irrelevant details to the astonishment of others. But thanks to my latest obsession with the works of Conan Doyle, I now catch myself studying the mud on strangers’ shoes when I’m waiting in line or grow frustrated trying to decipher someone’s past and predict their future based solely on their body language and hygiene routine. Of course my bizarre fascination with minutia has not lead to the closure of any reprehensible crime. It only has increased my appreciation for the brilliant character development of the one and only Sherlock Holmes.

I would like to share with you my Top Ten Favourite stories thus far:

1. A Scandal in Bohemia

2. The Adventure of the Silver Blaze

3. The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual

4. A Study in Scarlet

5. The Final Problem

6. The Hound of the Baskervilles

7. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

8. The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb

9. The Adventure of the Crooked Man

10. The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter

Illustration by Sidney Paget

Oh, and it would be safe to say that I am equally obsessed with the latest theatrical installment. Especially the closing credits. I’m sure you’ve seen them by now, but just in case you haven’t, here are a few ;)