[Alyson Kuhn] I was recently in Carmel for a couple of glorious days. Not at a B&B, but lots of R&R. Actually, I feel an alliteration coming on, for R&R&R: Regeneration & Reference Librarian & Revisitation. Allow me to show you Italian regenerated leather at Material Goods, an Arabic encyclopedia at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and a French treasure desk at Pine Inn. Ready, set, read.
Diane Buzzini started Material Goods in 2003, unencumbered by any retail experience – except as a shopper with a great eye. Over the years, my delights from her shop have included a pair of earrings, a hand-blown hourglass, and a hand mirror for my mother with built-in tiara. This trip, the San Lorenzo desk accessories won the day. Diane gave me the scoop:
“The Italians, after making shoes and handbags, are now taking their scraps and bits of leather, grinding them up and adding 20% rubber. They’ve rolled this out into a new technology, which they’re calling ‘regenerated leather.’ This material is not currently as supple as true leather – so it’s not being molded yet, only worked in flat sheets.”
Great story, great designs, great colors, great prices. I am the proud owner of an orange business card case and matching covered notebook – which comes with a pad of gray 100% recycled paper and one of those enviro-pens with a little bamboo-dah that hooks onto the portfolio {or your pocket protector}. The business card case is $15; the notebook cover is $34. We say Bravo to the clever designers at San Lorenzo. Ancora un’alliterazione arriva: These are environmentally, economically, and esthetically excellent.
Before leaving Material Goods, I also got my mitts on a pair of beautiful black cashmere gloves, with ruffled wristbands edged in white, and three black buttons. {Not to be confused with three French hens – which Material Goods also sells. They are, in fact, the only goods to have wandered onto the Web site yet.}
My friend Ann Flower is a reference librarian at the Monterey Institute of International Studies {MIIS}. She treated me to a whispered tour of the William Tell Coleman Library. To give you a sense of the depth and breadth of the collection {and the heights of academic pursuit encouraged thereby}, let me quote three succinct sentences from the superb Web site: The Library houses a collection of over 100,000 volumes and 600 print periodical subscriptions. One third of the collection is in languages other than English. Subject strengths of the collection include bilingual and multilingual dictionaries and glossaries, international business, language teaching, international environmental issues, nonproliferation, international development and human rights. If concentration can be palpable, I felt it here!
For my viewing pleasure {and yours!}, Ann rearranged a 20-volume Arabic encyclopedia, published in Beirut in 1994. Arabic reads from right to left, but the Institute normally shelves these volumes from left to right, 1-20; what’s more, their regular spot extends over two shelves, beginning on the right of one shelf and ending on the left of the shelf beneath. When they are shelved as designed, the spines present a continuous gold-stamped pattern.
The encyclopedia is called T¯aj al-‘ar¯us min jaw¯ahir al-Q¯am¯us – and the title is romanized because the MIIS online catalog doesn’t display Arabic letters. Ann asked one of the Arabic instructors if he could shed some light on the contents of the 20 volumes. It’s a dictionary of etymology and morphology, the history of the language and the origin of words. It is not intended for basic language students, but meant for language scholars. Ann asked if it were like our Oxford English Dictionary, and the instructor said, “Exactly.” He translated the title for us as “Jewels of Language.” Call me speechless with delight.
Back on Ocean Avenue in Carmel, I paid my customary visit to the grand lobby of the Pine Inn. If someone {my stationery genie, my guardian stationer, the ghost of Ben Franklin} were to offer me one piece of furniture in which to house my paper treasures and pleasures… this French reproduction of a Chinese secretary would be my pick. I would promptly and ecstatically – maybe even ruthlessly – edit my wrapping papers and ribbons, affixatives, stamps, post cards, note pads, mailing labels, colored pencils, scissors and hole-punches – to fit perfectly into its drawers, compartments, and niches.
No one at the Pine Inn could tell me much about this miracle of gracious organization, except that four of them were made. I am, of course, kuhnsumed with curiosity as to who owned them, what they kept in them, and whether they knew how lucky they were.
Photography credits where due: Arabic encyclopedia, Ann Flower; French secretary, Vinz Koller.
Alyson Kuhn will be practicing pre-emptive Feng Shui over the Holidays, clearing her correspondence decks and dreaming of a French secretary!
