Carpe Libra

Henry Thoreau spent lots of time wandering in the woods and writing about how totally awesome he was for doing so. Now, some of the woods that Thoreau wandered in the most are close to being developed into 975 homes and two exclusive resorts.
The people of Maine are up in arms over the proposed development [...]

This post is not about a bathroom arsonist named Bob.
Robert Burns is a poet, who happens to be on the Carp 500 by the way, born in Scotland. He wrote a poem called the Selkirk Grace that is traditionally said before eating meals. According to legend, the verse was written in a Scottish hotel, The [...]

The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum has been in an argument with the Feds over the 50 cats that roam the premises. The cats are all descended from Hemingway’s cat, Snowball, and they carry the trait of having six toes. I’m guessing the six toes are on one foot for a total of twelve toes [...]

An Oscar Wilde monument has been put up near Trafalgar Square in London. The monument is a bench that features the head and shoulders of Wilde coming up out of the bench. You’re supposed to sit and talk with him apparently. His face also features a cigarette, which has been stolen several times already.
The monument [...]

It has just been revealed by the family of L. M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables, that the author took her own life by drug overdose. The family has kept the secret for 66 years.
Out of respect for the family and the overall sanctity of human life, I will forgo all urges to [...]

Reading good writing improves your own writing. It’s a fact. You can look it up. Somewhere.
Here is a post on writing tips you can learn from A. A. Milne, author of Winnie the Pooh books.

Penn State University has just acquired one of the last piles of Hemingway communications held in private hands. The documents contain mostly letters, telegrams and notes to his family. The correspondence was collected by his sister who passed it on to her son.
To view a video about the letters click here.
For more on the contents [...]

It is quite possible that Benjamin Franklin rose to positions of power precisely because he read books.
–By the age of 16, and with the aid of only two years of formal education, he had read more widely in the literature of Western culture, including the thinkers of the Enlightenment, than most professors on a university [...]

Letters to an American Lady is a book of letters C. S. Lewis wrote to um, an American lady. It is not a Carp book, nor should it be. It’s not his best known work and is obviously different from his other books. It only has Lewis’ letters so you’re only getting his part of [...]

Awhile back I told you about the plan to write George Orwell’s journals online in blog format.
Well, here’s the blog. Find out the weather conditions he experienced on this day in 1936! How thrilling!