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thewheelbarrow

From Sonoma, California USA
Age 54
Joined Sunday, July 27, 2003
Recent Book Activity
Statistics
4 weeks all time
books registered 0 1,644
released in the wild 0 1,239
controlled releases 0 0
releases caught 0 42
controlled releases caught 0 0
books found 0 6
tell-a-friend referrals 0 354
new member referrals 0 14
forum posts 0 41
Extended Profile


the wheelbarrow
filled with books that are released into the wild!



My Book Wish List

the wheelbarrow is an entity created by me, Abott, and my friend SGinger. We did a less-than-amateur film project with some people from our town which debuted 13 September 2003. The film ended up being about 25 minutes long and encompassed BookCrossing as well as the wheelbarrow. The idea for the film developed when I came across BookCrossing in a blog I was reading mid-July 2003. The idea tickled my fancy to no end. I had been thinking of doing a film project called Why I Write in which I would interview people I knew who were writers or aspiring writers and ask them why they write. The idea was solid, and inspired almost in whole by Jonathan Franzen's book of essays How To Be Alone. The other inspiration is my grandma, who, at 85, was an unpublished author who bequeathed her book into my care to hopefully one day publish. The book that grandma gave me is especially symbolic because my grandmother's death has made the idea of immortalizing her something akin to a crusade. The intent behind the original film project of Why I Write was an excuse on my part to interview & film grandma before her death, though I did neither.

The evolution of Why I Write into a film project based on BookCrossing came about when I realized that for me, reading has always been a primary function of my life whereas writing has always been secondary. This insight, of writing being a natural continuation of having been a reader my entire life, prompted a shift from the focus of the film being about writing and turned it into a project based first on reading. And what better way to see into the secret life and desires of readers than to hook into something like BookCrossing? Whereby a person would be inclined, whether by curiousity or a foreknowledge of BookCrossing, to pick up a book - off a park bench, in a laundromat, in a movie theater, on a coffee shop countertop? Capturing that moment on film, the release and the subsequent catch, is the idea that fired me into registering on BookCrossing and rallying my friends to get involved.

The wheelbarrow project came about after a lengthy conversation between SGinger, a friend of hers who was visiting for the day, my mother and my sister. We were trying to brainstorm ideas for release locations. I started laughing as a silly idea occurred to me. "Wouldn't it be hilarious to just fill up an old wheelbarrow with books to be released and leave it on some random streetcorner somewhere?" We all ho-ho-hoed for a bit, imagining leaving it in the Financial District in San Francisco where besuited business folk would walk around and ignore it. But then the more we talked about it, the more we realized that this could be a really great idea. A traveling BookCrossing Cross Zone, never the same location twice, but conspicuous by it's very out-of-placeness. A wheelbarrow filled with books where you least expect to find them. Hmmm. And there the idea was born for the wheelbarrow. I've created a blog on which I will track comments, photos, etc. of people who have come across the wheelbarrow or who have been interviewed for the film, or who have been inspired by it in some way. This is an on-going project that I'm sure will get tweaked as we go along.

My grandma is undeniably the most significant person to shape my appreciation & passion for the arts & humanities, reading & writing, quirkiness & outside-the-boxness. Without grandma's influence, my world would have been considerably less colorful, the sharpness of every artistic sensibility dulled by not having had grandma's imprint, the thumbpress of her sensitivity, stamped firmly into my heart and my soul. The film project and the resulting wheelbarrow project are both labors of love influenced by the heartbreaking loss I have felt over the death of a grandmother whose existence I cannot imagine no longer being a part of this world.

::a note to those who would like books on this bookshelf::


I am not opposed to sending people books who message the wheelbarrow and request certain titles. But I do have a request in return. the wheelbarrow is a community project, dependent upon the goodwill of people donating books to be released in our town (you can read more about the project at the wheelbarrow website. I am happy to fulfill requests so long as the wheelbarrow receives something back in return. The kind of books I'm looking for are books that you feel encompass the feel, taste, color or essence of your country, region, or town. I am even accepting journals that are begun by another BookCrossing member and sent to the wheelbarrow to be released and rereleased, and perhaps even travel the world! Wouldn't that be neat? So, if you feel you have a book that fits the above criteria or feel that you could start a journal with an entry by you that you could send to the wheelbarrow, then feel free to make requests from this bookshelf! This project is part of film I'm making (as explained in the profile above) so the more international it can be, the better. I think this is an even trade, and it keeps the spirit of the wheelbarrow alive and well.

the wheelbarrow has no religious, ethnic, political, gender, hair-style, fashion, nail color, city/state/country/area code, weight, eye color, dress size, shoe size, hat size, ring size, penis size, boob size, Mac vs. Windows, thong vs. granny-style, black vs. white, vegan, Atkins, Weight Watchers, tomato vs. tomahto, paper or plastic, fahrenheit, celsius, grams, ounces, or any other of the millions of preferences out there AFFILIATIONS. I accept books from anyone who has books to offer and any kind of books you have. I do reserve the right, however, to change my mind at the drop of a hat, which means I may decide to start saying TOMAHTO one day without any prior notice.

Thank you!

P.S. If you wonder what sorts of books I actually read, checkout my personal bookshelf under the profile for Abott. Muchas Pooches!

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