Yeah, I know about the Word problem - but I noticed that Word has several Web page save options. So I saved the file under various options and checked what they looked like in Preview mode. I took the one with the least nonsense and fixed the nonsense in the GW text box. But all that other nonsense appear when it got posted! So clearly the Word Web options are not a solution!! To make it easier to read, I'll copy it here and edit it in the box - hopefully that will work... ------- I have finished reading - and re-reading (!)- Greater Perfections The Practice of Garden Theory: by John Dixon Hunt. I was rather baffled by it after the first reading - it’s one of those books where the sense of it is heavily obscured by the dense academic prose! But you get the feeling that there is something there you should better understand... So I read it again, making notes of the statements that felt particularly significant. To a large extent, that still leaves me scratching my head because I get conflicting messages about what he says is trying to do vs. what was understandable to me as to the points he is making. So, I'll review here what I gathered from reading the book, and Ink, you can tell me how far off-base I am and what it really all means! I like the quote that generated the title of the book: When Ages grow to Civility and Elegancie, Men come to Build Stately, sooner than to Garden Finely: As if Gardening were the Greater Perfection. (Francis Bacon 'Of Gardens, 1625) The same quote was the source of the title for Frank Cabot's book about his Les Quatre Vents garden, which I read just before the book by Hunt. The term 'garden theory' in the title is the first mystery - clearly he's not talking about design principles in the sense most commonly referred to in this forum and other usual garden/landscape design sources. Early on he says he's using 'theory' in the sense of 'theory as contemplation, the deep scrutiny and understanding of praxis from within'. And he also says 'The paradox is that gardens are hugely important, as places and as an idea, to thousands of people; yet we know next to nothing about why and how that is so.' So that led me to assume that what he intended to do from the extensive review of gardens from historical records, paintings, and writings was to extract a common essence, so to speak, that would answer - or contribute to answering - the questions of how and why gardens are hugely important to people. And I'm not at all sure that those questions are answered. Interestingly, the opening paragraphs of the book includes the statements: 'the millions who garden, on the one hand, and the members of the profession of landscape architects, on the other hand, are not likely to be interested or impressed by conceptual essays on the making of gardens... Among gardeners, there is enough to learn and do around the private yard or community garden that little time is left for reading outside of how-to books... Among professionals, contrariwise, garden-making enjoys a fairly low profile and certainly low esteem.' Having said effectively that nobody wants to read this stuff, he then goes on to say that landscape architects particularly need it because the profession has 'fractured'as it divides its energies among 'a daunting variety of projects'. At the end of the book he says 'My aim throughout...has been... to return to rescue the idea of the garden as the distinguishing feature of all fine landscape architecture irrespective of whether garden per se are what is actually established.' And I'm not at all sure that he makes the case for that either - mostly because his writing style is 'as clear as mud' and he doesn't seem to draw all the threads together sufficiently well to make his points clear. (He needed a MUCH tougher editor I think!) He defines architecture as exterior place-making and that landscape comes into being as 'the creative coupling of a perceiving subject and an object perceived'. He repeatedly through the book stresses the importance of mediation of the physical environment as a reflection of how an individual or society conceives of its environment - 'Not simply a place made but a place that we register as having been made'. In that context, a garden then is a landscape's most sophisticated, concentrated version. But concentrated does not mean just multiplying or adding things to a site; subtracting things can result in concentration by leaving the site carefully focused by removing extraneous and distracting elements. Moving on to gardens more specifically, he starts by commenting on the fact that the root of the word for garden in many languages means enclosure of some sort, and that enclosure - whether a real physical enclosure or an implied one - seems to be a consistent element of gardens across cultures and times. The boundary seems to have importance both at separating the garden from the world and also internal boundaries and transitions within the garden - he later refers to 'adventures of edges and transitions'. Then he places garden in the landscape as 'third nature', with first nature being unmediated territory - 'wilderness'; second nature being 'cultural landscape: agriculture, urban developments, roads, bridges, ports, and other infrastructures'. Both second and third natures are nature that has been deliberately/purposefully altered by humans but the alterations in the third nature of the garden are more sophisticated, more deliberate, and more complex. From his review of historical gardens, he concludes the presence of the three natures that is more importance than the sequence of them - i.e. that it’s not necessary that they be arranged as 1,2,3 or 3,2,1 (depending on your view point) relative to the house. He feels 'Modern writings... have generally neglected this view of gardens as part of a larger landscape'. He sees the three natures concept as important in moving away from seeing nature as an ideal, standard or model, giving greater importance to topography of the site, and by recognizing the gradations in the mediation in the landscape urges a more subtle adjudication of landscape architecture than the habitual 'formal' vs. 'informal'. Closely related to all this is the comment 'A ubiquitous feature of garden-making in all cultures has been the inclusion of references within the site to other places, events, and themes. I shall call this re-presentation.' The representations are both of real, physical things and things that only live in the human imagination. And he seems to be saying that we can learn about nature by looking at how we represent it through the third nature of a garden. This statement seems to sum up that view: 'I see nature in the garden. versus The garden is showing us a nature.' (He's good at catchy statements like that! Another one I liked was landscaping or gardening being a 'metamorphosis of environment into milieu - space into place'.) Further statements regarding the garden art's ability to show or teach something about nature include: - '... garden art represents the proper character of the natural world that will be the better appreciated once a garden's compact version of it has been understood. - ...(from a review of Evelyn's writings)... there was no nature without art, nor art without nature, and the adjudication of those collaborations was always culturally determined, that is to say, they differed according to the time and place of their implementation. - Within the garden we see another world imitated, and when art reorganizes natural (and other) materials to that end we are able to see them freshly and significantly. - The degree of artificial interference in and thus comprehension of the physical world will differ according to society, region, climate, and even individual gardeners. Each garden should be a fresh negotiation between the natural site and the arts of improvement and imitation available to its owner' A significant part of the end of the book reads as a passionate plea to escape the perception that 'natural' is or should be the desired or proper goal of gardening or landscaping, replacing it with a recognition that 'All design is 'with nature'; but all design is also 'with culture'.' He seems to blame Horace Walpole and his much-repeated statement that William Kent 'leaped the fence, and saw that all nature was a garden' as the beginning of the belief that a 'natural' landscape was the goal of gardening. He wants people to 'stop pitting formal against informal, Le Notre against Brown, gardens against landscape architecture, design against ecology, East against West'. ---- So, Ink, how far off base am I? What am I missing? Did he answer the question of how and why gardens are important to so many people? I can see some ways that one can use ideas he presents/raises to incorporate into small scale practical gardening but that’s not really what the book is focused on. One topic that I think is missing (or I have not see a book about…) is how to relate the lessons of historical gardens - which were all huge in size - to modern, mainly relatively tiny, gardens. I think the difference in scale of the average contemporary garden vs. historical ones is one reason why people are not more interested in garden history - the historical garden seems more like a fantasy than something to be easily 'mined' for practical guidance. ---- That should be a bit easier to read I hope (assuming no nonsense appears when I hit Submit!)

Thanks for the book suggestions. I've added them to my list, but I'd like to bring the topic back to Dematerializing. I think most people would say that they are not affected by all the advertising that bombards us on a daily basis. I like to think of myself as being too intelligent to fall for all that nonsense. Then why do I sometimes find an advertising jingle stuck in my head? It's pretty rare, but when it happens, I have to flood it out by listening to music that I get to choose. ;-P I believe that images on TV, in books and mags, etc. will reach the subconscious, and stick there. I try very hard to look away when the TV shows an ad for a horror movie. I certainly don't want that in my nightmares! Some ads on TV and the radio are downright annoying! I try to mentally tune them out, or turn down the volume. I tell myself I will never buy that product, just because of their annoying ad. But by being so annoying, they have broken through to my consciousness. It is like a thorn in my side. Another bit of nonsense that I have to work at forgetting. (Deep breath! Ahhhh! Peace. Calm...) I don't watch TV much, and when I do it is usually PBS, which has only minimal commercials and sponsorships. When I am in the car, I find that CDs are better than the radio, because there are no annoying commercials. But sometimes I want to listen for a traffic report, so I eject the CD. When I am shopping for the things I need, I sometimes find something that wasn't on my list. It seems like the solution to a problem. Perhaps I will get it. But if I really think hard about it, I usually end up putting it back, with a feeling of great relief. I have avoided the temptation to get something new to try to fix that diffuse dissatisfaction with life. I have to admit, some of those unexpected discoveries have been nice additions to my arsenal of tools for living. The more I declutter, set up my home to be more comfortable, and step back to examine how I live, the more satisfied I am with my life just the way it is right now. I can say with confidence that sewing helps me dematerialize. I enjoy making charity quilts to give away, and making primitive / folk art hand applique quilts to keep for myself. Having something to do with one's hands is like a type of meditation.

How could you NOT be fearful and call the police when he went ballistic in your home? You did the right thing. How could you possibly know what he had in store for you that day, given his history of violence? You didn't give much info on your husband's role in this, only that he holds it against you that you protected yourself by dialing 911. I'm betting that Steve's behavior is due in part to lack of discipline and not being held accountable for his actions. Someone needs to stand up to him, as you tried to do, and make him realize that he is NOT an adult, NOT in charge and NOT free to call the shots. Bravo to you for dialing 911 instead of cowering in fear and giving him his way. I hope that you do not back down from the charges. He needs to learn a hard lesson and be held accountable for his behavior. As for your husband, if he blames you for this incident, he needs to take a long, critical look at himself. You did nothing wrong. If your husband believes you did do something wrong, that tells me that he minimizes his son's problems and enables him to continue acting this way. Don't you think he'd get it after 45 suspensions from school -- not to mention the other mischief, violence and valdalism? Long before now, he should have severly curtailed this kid's behavior instead of blaming other people. I'd also bet that drugs and alcohol are a BIG part of this kid's life. Oh, and for the holidays -- if I were you, I'd advise my husband that this kid is only welcome if he comes with a totally different attitude. One of respect and non-violence. Otherwise, 911 will be dialed again. And stick to it. And let your husband know that if, for any reason, you feel threatened by this kid, you will find some place else to stay for the duration of his visit.

elizpiz - "John - what did you decide to do???" First I decided on one ending photo, then on another, then I changed my mind back and forth so rapidly that I became disoriented and drove over a pedestrian. A Flying Nun, I believe, and she sure was Blue. No, not really. What I'm doing is this. The book starts with my favorite picture on the cover. Then I found and paired pictures of she and me, which can be placed side-by-side, as if I am looking at her. The chronologically earliest pair was actually taken that way, and the subsequent pairs do fit together. This is the recurring theme in the book. What I saw each time I looked at her, as we traveled through life together. With courtship, wedding, travel, first child, second child, in between each look. The chronological story ends with the most recent pair of pictures, which are respectably recent. Then the book ends - is book-ended, as it were - with the favorite picture. But it doesn't really end. There are several blank pages following, for future pictures, because our story is far from over. I think, hope, that this design will work. I've received so much help from all of you. Thank you. And - this is more cut-paste cross-posting, I'm sorry, and if you frequent the Cooking Forum you may see the same words there - this struggle has made me realize something that I wanted to share. I got myself in this pickle because I haven't taken enough real pictures of her in recent years. Lots of digital snapshots, sure, but not real pictures, shot with real feeling on real film and printed on real paper by my own hands. I shot the kids, friends, still lifes, landscapes, abstracts. But I had already the shot of her that captured her spirit, that entranced me whenever I saw it, that I could be buried with, such that I thought I'd never need another. But I was wrong. And that is the real moral of this story. Never stop taking pictures of the people you love, because you never have enough. So now, I've laid out the book, and I am working on the captions. Which is more difficult yet. I'm listening to music to get the right frame of mind. "Little Wing" by Carlos Vamos, "Loverman" by Charlie Parker, and now "Gravity" by John Mayer. Each very different but all beautiful songs if you're looking for such.