The Fiber and Rug Merchant in Oregon Wine Country

              Maybe it was in the souks of Marrakessh?  We were there almost 40 years ago.  We walked down the narrow, twisting, intertwined alleyways.  Merchants and craftsman were elbow to elbow in their open shops. Stepping around a tiny donkey loaded with heavy crates of Coke Cola, we headed down an alley with brightly covered wool roving hung like lanterns between the buildings.  The sun came filtered through the shades of red, yellow, gold, green, and browns.  There was the tap, tap, of a floor loom.  Children, no more than 9 or 10 spun thread with ornate drop spindles.  We were in the Rug souk of  Marrakessh..

              Men in striped jalabas smiled at us and patted at a pile of rugs they sat on as we walked by.  Row upon row of shops full of very similar rugs, it is a mystery to me what makes a person stop and look at a particular pile of rugs.  A wrinkled man with a white mustache and a wide smile greeted us in German.  We looked blank.  He tried French.  Americans we said, he nodded, and called back through a curtain at the back of the shop.  A teenage boy in a white jalaba came out to greet us.  He spoke with a slight American southern accent.  They were Berbers, he explained.   This was his uncle’s shop.  The family was from the Atlas Mountains not far from Fez.  They had just delivered some of the most beautiful rugs they had ever made.  We were extremely lucky to happen upon his uncle's shop. 

            The old man began to roll out one beautiful rug after another.  Here, feel the fiber.  Look at the backing.  We knelt down, felt the wool, admired the strong backing and the elegant design.  These rugs are made to last a lifetime, several life times.  And as I type this I look down at one of the rugs, just as beautiful as that day we first saw it.

            During this year's Art Harvest Studio Tour I think Elizabeth was remembering that day in the rug souk of Marrakessh as she rolled out her rugs for a young couple that came by her studio.  They felt the fiber.  They felt the quality of the backing.  They admired the design.  And they took one of her rugs home with them.

            It was a good Tour.

One Poem A Day Won't Kill You

The other day I posted the TV schedule for our project on McMinnville Community Media TV. But for all who do not have cable. I am posting readings on YouTube.

April 1, 2014 our Yamhill County's celebration of National Poetry month is For One Poem A Day Won't Kill.

Many Yamhill County residents read poems for our project.  Local writer Kathleen Blair read an old standard the Highway Man by Alfred Noyes.  As an example of the thought that went into the selection she said the Highway Man is a poem she grew up with and she likes it because it is a short story, a love story, and a morality play.  Go back and read the poem.  She is right, it is all of those.

I will try to get many of the readings posted as I can.

Yamhill County's Celebration of National Poetry Month

This is the second year we have filmed our Yamhill County neighbors reading poetry for One Poem A Day Won't Kill You. 

Here is the schedule for One Poem A Day Won't Kill You beginning Tuesday, April 1.
McMinnvile Community Media TV Comcast cable channel 11 and Frontier 29 at 7 PM each evening.

APRIL 2014 READER NAME
Apr 1 Mike Santone
Apr 2 Alan Goodwin
Apr 3 Jeff D Peterson
Apr 4 Lex Runciman
Apr 5 Ken Dolinger
Apr 6 Barbara Drake
Apr 7 Steve Long
Apr 8 Joe Wilkins
Apr 9 Emily Grosvenor
Apr 10 John Mead
Apr 11 Lisa Wiedman
Apr 12 Tim Timmerman
Apr 13 Frank Messina
Apr 14 Pat Smith
Apr 15 Zackoree Ash
Apr 16 Donna Gillenardo
Apr 17 Mitch Horning
Apr 18 Melissa Terrill
Apr 19 Samantha Jordan
Apr 20 Chris Benham
Apr 21 Dave Borchel
Apr 22 Patricia Britton
Apr 23 Mary Slocum
Apr 24 Susan Currie Sivek
Apr 25 Dave Hansen
Apr 26 Bob Zahniser
Apr 27 Bill Rizer
Apr 28 Allan Garry
Apr 29 Chris Nordquist
Apr 30 Kathleen Blair

If you do not have cable her in Yamhill County, not to worry, I will be posting the readings on our Meadowlake Studios Youtube Channel:

10 Tips for New Years Resolution #7 "To Write Better:

Here it is New Years, time for Resolutions.  For those of you who have made a New Years Resolution to write, and for me it is my Resolution Number 7 “to write better”  Since the advent of Email and all the rest I can't tell you how many times I wished I had listened to David Ogilvy 's advise.  David Ogilvy was one of the most influential advertising executives during the hey day of modern advertising.  His ad agency Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide was one of the largest in the world.  In 1982 Ogilvy sent an internal memo to all his ad agency employees, titled “How To Write”.  The memo is published in the 1986 book “The Unpublished David Ogilvy” which is out of print and hard to find.  The University Of Oregon Knight Library does have a copy. 

Here is the 1982 memo which is relevant in today’s world of emails, tweets, Facebook updates, Comments, and Blog posts.

The better you write, the higher you go ……..   People who think well, write well.

Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches.

David Ogilvy

Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well. Here are 10 hints:

1. Read the Roman-Raphaelson  Writing That Works  Read it three times.
2. Write the way you talk. Naturally.
3. Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
4. Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.
5. Never write more than two pages on any subject.
6. Check your quotations.
7. Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it.
8. If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.
9. Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.
10. If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.

David

I hope for my Resolution #7 "to write better" I can take Ogilvy's advice to heart, today and every day.  For a little more detailed advice look at 20 Secrets of Good Writing that expands on Ogilvy.   Although I try to adhere to Tip #5; Never write more than two pages on any subject, luckily, Blog pages can be very flexible.  I love #10. If you want action don't write...talk in person.  

Credits:   Brain Pickers  and the ever wonderful  Wikipedia