Did he really say that?

The kind of humor I like is the thing that makes me laugh for five seconds and think for ten minutes = GEORGE CARLIN...Stained glass, engraved glass, frosted glass–give me plain glass = JOHN FOWLES...Music is the mathematics of the gods = PYTHAGORAS...Nothing is more fluid than language = R.L.SWIHART

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Lewis Carroll Works in Long Beach

Subtitle: LC in LB



This garden topper has been mistaken for a popcorn container. The whereabouts of the book cover's original contents will be explained below.



Lewis Carroll works on a one-way street in Belmont Shore.



The author of "Alice in Wonderland" was no one-trick pony. In the 2-DIE-4 PHOTO GALLERY, this listing of his vast body of literature appears in enlarged–and more readable form. Ditto for his bio.




A vertical–but incomplete–view of the unfolded book cover.



"Feeding the Mind" ????? From his "Original Games and Puzzles," I learned about the most magnificent six-digit number ever created: 142857
According to the King James Brown Bible, 14-28-57 is the bicycle lock combination of Mr. J. Christ.

You might be inclined to say "The book cover is interesting but where is the book?"
I might be inclined to reply "Thank you for opening up a can of words."

Originally, The Works of Lewis Carroll was a required text. It morphed into a family heirloom after travelling with me from Long Island to Florida to California (in 1981). Sometime after 1987, I shipped it to Virginia when my nieces and nephews were old enough to read the book. In 2006, I reclaimed the family heirloom and together–with all my life's possessions–we drove from Virginia to Long Beach, California. By then, multiple copies of Alice in Wonderland, and a handful of other LC books were either sold, traded or disappeared. At that point in my life, I got religion in the form of daily attendance at the Church of Jack Daniels Nightmare, a/k/a "Bye Bye Budweiser."
The church had no altar but the congregants strongly believed in sharing stories. After a meeting church service, I befriended a very charming and intelligent woman who charmed me into sharing my copy of The Works of Lewis Carroll. Due to the geometric wonder of her physical architecture, I trusted her when she promised to return the book.
I never saw the woman again.
I no longer go to that church in Marina Pacifica. Other people need it much more than me and the only books they should ever lend out need to involve a form of twelve-step choreography, spiritually speaking.
Had I not retained the book cover, I probably would not have written this post.

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