Illuminated manuscripts - the world’s first picture books!  To see some stunning images (I absolutely LOVE looking at illuminated manuscripts), please click below!

• Collect Britain
• Koninklijke Bibliotheek and Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum
• New York Public Library
• Flickr search results

Another fascinating link is to the St. John’s Bible project.  This is a work in progress to recreate the entire Bible in illuminated manuscripts.  They’re not cheap, but that’s because you’re pretty much investing in a work of art.  My mom actually has all the books that are completed so far, so I’ve seen them in person.  They are breathtaking!  Visit the site to see the pictures, but also to read about the process, because that is equally interesting.

This post is for the Day of Blogs 2008! I am blogging for Children’s Literacy Initiative. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

I thought I’d share some literary words of wisdom:

“The Bible is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. A single line in the Bible has consoled me more than all the books I ever read besides.” – Immanuel Kant

“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.” - Erasmus

“A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” - Theodore Roosevelt

“I feel that a comprehensive study of the Bible is a liberal education for anyone. Nearly all the great men of our country have been well versed in the teachings of the Bible.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Give me a used Bible and I will, I think, be able to tell you about a man by the places that are edged with the dirt of seeking fingers.” – John Steinbeck

“It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.” – Horace Greeley (1811-1872), publisher and journalist

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” – Robert Frost

“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” – Samuel Johnson

“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it.” – William Styron

“I always begin at the left with the opening word of the sentence and read toward the right and I recommend this method.” – James Thurber

“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” – Henry David Thoreau

This post is for the Day of Blogs 2008! I am blogging for Children’s Literacy Initiative. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

I recently read a book that I REALLY enjoyed. It’s about a guy who decides to follow all the rules in the Bible for a year as literally as possible. Not just “love thy neighbor,” but also all the weird rules about facial hair, dietary needs, etc. I thought I’d just be amused by this book, but it’s actually made me think quite a bit! The author is not a Christian, yet he treats the Bible with quite a bit of reverence, and allows himself to be open to new ideas and theology.

I won’t go into too much detail about the book because I really feel like it’s worth the read! But part of what struck me so much about this book was the amount of research that A. J. Jacobs put into the different rules he was reading about (and the reasons behind them). He read hundreds of books during this process, and shared a lot of his findings throughout the book. Here are a few of the books that I’ve added to my wishlist as a result of reading this book:

- Reading the Bible Again For the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously But Not Literally, Marcus J. Borg
- Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture, John Shelby Spong - very divided reader reviews on this one!
- God: A Biography, Jack Miles
- Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible, Robin Lane Fox - more divided reader reviews
- Daily Life in Biblical Times, Oded Borowski

Also, Jacobs uses the website Charity Navigator to help him figure out how to tithe his money. I think this is a really neat site, and I’ve added it to my bookmarks!

There’s also another website that he mentioned called MoveOn.org. I’m still not 100% what this website’s purpose is, but I’m intrigued.

And on the rare off-chance that A. J. Jacobs is “self-Googling” (pg. 151) - I LOVED your book!  I have Post-It notes all over my book and send a copy to my mom.  Thanks for the great read!

I’m Lindsey, and thanks so much for stopping by Suspension of Disbelief. You might want to know a little bit about who is writing all this babble on this blog, so I thought I’d share a little bit about myself!

I love living in the South. Born and raised in Georgia, live in Florida, school in North Carolina – it just doesn’t get better. I went to undergraduate school in Winston-Salem at Wake Forest University, and graduated with my BA in May 2006. I double majored in theatre and English – too much reading for my own good! After briefly dabbling as a business school graduate student, I took a year off from school and just enjoyed life working as a barista at Starbucks and as the assistant project manager for E. Webscapes (I’m still working at both of these places, though I was promoted to Shift Supervisor at Starbucks in November 2007). Now I am in the MFA in Performing Arts Management program at North Carolina School of the Arts, and will be doing that until 2010 - yay grad school! When I get tired from all the school and work, I just go home and cuddle with my ADORABLE kittens, Oscar (Peterson) and Miles (Davis)!

I’ve been blogging since August 2004, and I’ve been on WordPress since February 2005 . . . I consider my blogiversary to be February 24, 2005. I opened my first website, the now defunct site Doodlebug, in July 2004. It had a paid member’s area (Doodlebug Designs) which offered design services for email stationary on several email platforms. Unfortunately, my interests shifted and I no longer had the time and energy it required to maintain Doodlebug Designs along with my other endeavors, so I closed the doors for good in March 2007. I also switched my hosting over to Blogs-About Hosting in December 2006, and have been very happy with the service I receive there!

As with most people, everything hasn’t been rosy in my life. In May 2000, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has been in remission since August 2000, and she is an incredible woman! In February 2003, my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer (he has been in remission since March 2003), and in March 2006 he was diagnosed with Autoimmune Hepatitis. However, throughout all of this, our family has only grown closer to each other, and to God.

I am a strong Christian, and am committed to my faith. I was always raised in a Christian home, but didn’t realize just what it meant to be a Christian until I gave my life to Christ in July 1998, when I was newly 14. In high school I was a co-president of Brothers And Sisters In Christ (BASIC) and for all four years of undergrad I was a devoted member and leader in Living Parables Christian Drama Troupe. I also have a faith blog called Reading Red Letters. My favorite Bible verse is Jeremiah 29:11.

My whole life I have loved reading. When I was a little kid, a lot of kids’ parents would punish them by taking away television, not allowing them to go play with friend . . . nope, not mine. My punishment was that they would take away my books. It was the ONLY way they could get me to mind, LOL! Since graduating I have found that I am reading a lot of frivolous books (read: chick lit), which I can only attribute to exclusively reading real literature and theatrical works for the past eight years of my life. Chick lit authors I like include Sophie Kinsella, Sue Margolis, Jennifer O’Connell, and Carole Matthews. I am an active participant on Bookcrossing, and I HIGHLY recommend all readers check it out!

I have loved music since I was a small child – really, as long as I can remember. My dad has loved music his whole life and he just kind of passed it down to me I guess. My favorite music is old rock’n’roll and R&B from the 1960’s and 70’s (thanks Daddy), but I also listen to current popular music, hip-hop and rap particularly. I’m game for pretty much any music, as long as it’s not country. My all time favorite band is The Beatles, but I also love the Temptations, Chicago, Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, and Ludacris (yes, random). A more extensive list includes:

Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Black Eyed Peas, Blue Man Group, James Brown, Burlap to Cashmere, Busta Rhymes, Caedmon’s Call, Carole King, Ed Cash, Chicago, Cirque du Soleil, Eric Clapton, Nat King Cole, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dave Brubeck, Dave Matthews Band, Miles Davis, dc Talk, Bob Dylan, The Embers, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Stan Getz, Al Green, Hair, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, Jars of Clay, Jay-Z, Jefferson Airplane, Elton John, King Floyd, The Kinks, Gladys Knight and the Pips, John Lennon, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Ludacris, The Mamas and the Papas, Bob Marley, Maroon 5, Medeski Martin and Wood, Missy Elliot, Lee Morgan, Nappy Roots, Nelly, Nickel Creek, Outkast, P.O.D., Paco de Lucia, Paul McCartney, Art Pepper, Oscar Peterson, Pillar, Pink Floyd, Bud Powell, Queen, Rent, Santana, Will Smith, Snoop Dogg, Star Wars, Steppenwolf, Sweetwater, James Taylor, Tchaikovsky, The Temptations, Thelonious Monk, Chris Thile, Third Day, Three Dog Night, Justin Timberlake, TobyMac, War, Wicked, Stevie Wonder, Victor Wooten

I’m also big into movies, though I don’t know as much about movies as I do about music. I guess I’m a music aficionado, but just hold an appreciation for movies. I am a HUGE fan of Netflix ;-)! My all-time favorites are Star Wars (V, VI, IV, II, III, I) and the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty. More recent favorites include Men in Tights and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. I also love television. My favorite show of all time is Sex and the City, and I also really enjoyed OZ and Friends.  I’m a pretty big Law and Order junkie too, including SVU and CI. My TiVo Stevo records a variety of shows for me every week, including Oprah, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, Heroes, Lost, Medium, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, ER, and Private Practice.

Being from the south, cooking has been a big thing for me. My dad was raised on a farm, and when my parents got married, his mom taught my mother everything she knew. Which was a lot, LOL! I still have a ways to go, but I’d like to think that I’m pretty good at what I do for my age. And my friends are always coming over when I say I’m cooking! My favorite meal is fried chicken, rice and gravy, and zipper peas . . . ooo buddy! And, like the good southern girl I am, I am obsessed with grits and sweet tea. I’m a huge coffee drinker, which has only gotten worse since I started working at Starbucks. Used to be that I had my black coffee every morning and went about my day, but now? If I get something right before or after my shift, it’s free, so of course I have to take advantage of that! I’m also interested in learning more about wine (red wine in particular).

And in case that wasn’t enough info about me, I am ALWAYS open to questions. I love responding to questions that people ask me on my blog! So, wanna know something? Ask!