Blog Archive

December 2006 Blogs

Monday, December 18, 2006
Party Conversation
by: carolyn.rogers

After leaving a party, if you worry that conversation with friends and family has not touched on any serious or deep subject, keep in mind what Marcel Proust wrote in a letter shortly before he died. He penned, "Cher ami, We talk too much about serious things. Serious conversation is intended for people who have no intellectual life. People like the three of us, on the contrary, who have an intellectual life need frivolity when they escape from themselves and from hard inner labor. We should, as you say, talk about all the little things and leave philosophy to solitidue". This excerpt is from a new book available at Austin Public Library titled, The Letters of Marcel Proust, 2006.

Friday, December 01, 2006
Holiday Music
by: carolyn.rogers

Beginning the day after Thanksgiving, we begin to hear holdiay music on the radio, in stores, and in TV commercials. One of the all-time favorites that has been played to death since it first appeared in 1942 is White Christmas, written by Irving Berlin. The song is the lament of a Northerner stuck in California, who is complaining about spending Christmas under palm trees. When the song appeared in 1942, millions of Americans were fighting overseas. So in time it came to represent the longing for an old-fashioned Christmas in a world at peace. You can find many versions of this song and lots of other holiday music on cd at the Austin Public Library. In the catalog's search box, type "christmas music and cd", "carols and cd", "hanukkah and cd", or "kwanzaa and cd".  You can also use the material format drop down list instead of typing "and cd".

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