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Looking for holiday gifts for the readers and writers in your life? Here are a few ideas:

• “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night” Board game www.goodreadgames.com
• “Storymatic” Game (also a great prompt for ideas!) - www.uncommongoods.com/product/storymatic-game
• Literary Linocuts – www.etsy.com/shop/thediggingestgirl
• Personalized Ideal Bookshelf paintings – shop.idealbookshelf.com
• Typewriter key necklace, bracelet or watch - www.uncommongoods.com/product/typewriter-key-necklace
• Scrabble necklace - www.uncommongoods.com/product/scrabble-jewelry
• Library Smell in a Bottle – www.cbihateperfume.com/in-the-library.html
• “Fairytales” leather iPad/Kindle cover - www.uncommongoods.com/product/ipad-kindle-book-case-fairy-tales
• Personalized Fairytale, Pirate or Animal storybook - gifts.redenvelope.com/gifts/personalized-fairy-tale-storybook

and check out these stores…

• The Literary Gift Company  www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/
• The Bon Mot, Gifts for Book and Quotation Lovers www.organicpixels.com/thebonmot/authors.htm
• Levengers - www.levengers.com

Or, how about a year’s membership in The Childrens Book Hub (www.childrensbookhub.com), or a gift certificate for the Just Write for Kids children’s book writing course (www.justwriteforkids.com)?

And for those of you who are already Hub members, don’t forget the Hub store! http://www.cafepress.com/beechtreebooks

Happy holidays!

You're giving books for the holidays, right? 

Annotation Bookmarks

Clip to a page, horizontally or vertically. 

Talk back to the author.

File the 3x5 card later. 

A necklace to wear while reading...

or writing.

A mini-poster. Consult daily.

Invisible Ink. I'm sure you'll find a use for it. 

And then, of course, wrap your books and everything else in gorgeous paper.

Wrapped in Type

Part IV in my (sometimes silly) series of gift ideas for readers and writers.



Limited edition Rat Fink pen (Aren't all writers ratting out something or someone---if only ourselves---when we put pen to page?)





8 days a week planners (Now that's handy. Why didn't I think of just adding an extra "someday" to my work week?)











Melting Snowmen cannister set. (Show, don't tell? Okay, I'm pushing it with this idea, but I wanted to show you these!)







Hyperbole is the BEST thing ever! T-shirt (Isn't it, though?)








Thanks to Velocity for the first three items, the Mental Floss store for the last one.

Santeria Garments and Altars is a literate, accessible, beautifully photographed book by a man who is a member/initiate in a house of Oshun. Its subtitle is, ‘Speaking Without A Voice.’ How appropriate! The emphasis is the striking photographs of the variety of altars to the different deities, members of a variety of houses preparing for, or engaged in aspects of worship.

By way of background information -- A ‘house’ is a group of devotees of a particular god or goddess under the leadership of a ‘babalawo’, or priest/priestess. Oshun is another one of the Seven African Powers who represents the archetypical female principle and the power of eros. Interestingly enough, abstinence or asexuality, and a virginal principle of female sexuality has no icon, nor any particular social importance.

Another interesting feature is that the author is a male practitioner, much in the tradition that the gods choose individuals to serve them regardless of gender. My own Catholic upbringing was full of gender separation, nuns as brides of Christ, servants of the male hierarchy, etc. While there are some tasks separated by sex, it does not appear to be as rigid, as attenuated as in a Christian/Catholic context.

One off the major tenets of this religious practice is the construction of altars, which every believer is required to do. There’s a synthesis between aesthetic and spiritual significance. It is considered one’s duty to create, as service to the deity to whom one has pledged oneself. A further illustration of the nexus between creativity and belief is the Santeria/Yoruba belief in ‘ache’, the universal life force present in all things. Each devotee is assumed to have within them the power to create a beautiful altar, one infused with ‘ache.’

In my performance pieces, there are ‘anchor ‘ points--static elements that have life infused into them. (In REM/Memory, there is a central, supine figure, hidden in a mass of blankets, who comes alive as the piece starts, and the nightmare begins. In Resurgam, a chaos of white fabric is stripped away to reveal a captive figure who finds release as the piece begins.) I see a similarity between a finished altar containing ‘ache,’ and a performance’s ‘anchor’pieces being the place where it all comes alive, more specifically, where it reflects at least the possibility of sacred ritual.

There are several points of connection for me here. When the author created an altar to Oshun, it was clear that it could also be seen as a ‘site-specific installation.’ Size of the space, mood of the space, prominent observation points are all taken into consideration. These are the same consideration I make with each piece, the same considerations any installation artist might make.

In the design of an altar dedicated to Oshun, ‘found’ elements are brought into the piece that symbolize her attributes. Since Oshun represents eros, obvious choices illustrate sensuality. Honey, honeycombs, silks and laces are standard items in such an altar. I constantly bring found items from daily life into my performances, hoping to create common imagery for myself and the audience as it unfolds as a shared experience. In Resurgam, during the 'communion’ section, I offer a papaya sliced in half to the audience, sharing its womb shape with them as the symbol of The Living Body--juicy, ripe, the source of all things, ever replenishing.

Lastly, I want to comment on the Santeria idea of ‘coolness.’ Essentially, it is the principle of balance, harmony, a reflection of the connectedness of all things. An altar, no matter how ornate, is not considered ‘cool’ if it does not have these attributes.

Even though my approach is spare, I try to layer things enough to suggest complicated ideas and experiences. It's work with a a consistent point of view, root motifs that I communicate to the audience, an arc of interconnectedness between myself, how I tell the story, the audience, and a unifying force that exists in the moment of performance, a force that I call Spirit.