Black Tea Collection
Up to Snuff #50: Winter Reading List 2018 with emphasis on African Writers
Up to Snuff #50: Winter Reading List 2018 with emphasis on African Writers
By, Afua Serwah Osei-Bonsu
Put together a box of books, cover your coffee table with books, light a fire or head to a cottage or good “reading city” and read, read, read and maybe practice piano, throw in a few page turners, some classics and what I call “kb” or knowledge based books, stash articles, research a nice PHD read, check for Nobel Laureates in Literature and don’t forget to take your child to the library once a week to satisfy a young readers consumption, maybe 2 books a night, maybe even take a book run vacation and collect foreign language books to build a linguistics profile, buy or build some book shelves and build your families library, read, read, read. A good hobby to have is researching books or getting good classes with good book lists or go to a school with a good library or asking colleagues for a book list, read, read, read.
Sommerset Maugham –all books
Tolstoy
Nikolai Gogol
D.H. Lawrence
Daphne Du Maurier
Jane Eyre
Nathanial Hawthorne
Alice Walker
Euripides
Bulwark
Falun Gong
Find some good Latin books
Spanish novels or newspapers or little pamphlets
Try to read/earn a few skills
Read across an area all you can get your hands on or a writers complete collection
Carlos Casteneda
T.S. Elliot
Aga Kahn
Prentice Hall books (Publisher)
Gandhi
James Baldwin
Jose Saramago
Breton
Satre
E.O. Wilson
Oscar Wilde
Read Recipes
Fareed Zakaria
Pablo Neruda
Octavio Paz
Rosario Castellanos
Paul Ricoeur
Confucius
Aleksandr Dugin
Jurgen Habermas
Nick Land Alt Right
Bill Gates
Complete Guide to Sewing, Readers Digest 1995
Designing Apparel Through Flat Pattern Fifth Edition, Fairchild Publications
How to Draft Basic Flat Patterns, Fairchild Publications
Ross, B.H., This is Like That: The Use of Earlier Problems and the Separation of Similarity Effects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition
Schank, R.C., Tell Me a Story: Narrative and Intelligence, Evanston, Ill, Northwestern University Press
Schank, R.C., & Abelson R., Scripts, Plans, Goals and Understanding: An Inquiry into Human Knowledge Structures, Hillsdale, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Spiro, R.J., Coulson, R.L., Feltvich, P.J., & Anderson, D.K (1988) Cognitive Flexibility Theory: Advanced Knowledge Acquisition in Ill Structured Domains, Tech Report No 441, Champaign, Ill: University of Illinois
Center for the Study of Reading, Sternberg, R. J., & French, P.A. (Eds.) (1991) Complex Problem Solving: Principles and Mechanisms, Hillsdale, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Voss, J.F & Post, T. A. (1988), On solving of Ill Structured Problems, IN M. T.. H Chi, R, Glaser, & M.J. Farr (Eds.), The Nature of Expertise (PP. 261-185), Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
The Complete Greek Tragedies
MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing
Writing Your Dissertation In Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, revising and finishing your doctoral thesis/Joan Bolker
Sicily by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi
The Italian Baker by Melissa Forti and Danny Bernardini
Mozza at Home by Nancy Silverton and Carolyn CArreno
Henry and June
Tropic of Cancer
Cities of The Interior, Anais Nin
Balzac
The Rhinoceros by, Ionesco
A good almanac
Collect Maps and study them
Some African Writers
Afua Serwah Osei-Bonsu
Peter Abrahams, Mine boy, This Island Now, A Wreath for Udomo ( South Africa)
Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Jose Eduardo Agualusa
Mohamed Naseehu Ali (Ghana)
Germano Almeida
Elechi Amadi
Ayi Kwei Armah (Ghana)
Sefi Atta
Ayesha Harruna Attah
Mariama BA
Nadifa Mohamed
Chris Barnard
Mongo Beti
Andre Brink
J.M Coetzee
Mia Couto
Tsitsi Dangarembga
Mohammed Dib
E.K.M. dido
Assia Djebar
- Sello Duiker
Daphne Williams
Buchi Emecheta
Daniel Olorunfemi Fagunwa
Nuruddin Farah
Athol Fugard
Nadine Gordimer
Alex La Guma
Bessie Head
Moses Isegawa
Rayda Jacobs
Tahar Ben Jellouon
Cheikh Hamidou Kane
Yasmina Khadra
Camara Laye
Naguib Mahfouz
Charles Mangua
Sarah Ladipo Manyika
Dambudzo Marechera
Darlene mattee
Zakes Mda
Thomas Mofolo
Bai Tamia Moore
Meja Mwangi
Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Lewis Nkosi
Flora Nwapa
Nnedi Okorafor
Ben Okri
Deon Opperman
Yambo Ouologuem
Alan Paton
Pepetela
Sol Plaatje
Nawal El Saadawi
Tayeb Salih
Wilton Sankawulo
Karel Schoeman
Olive Schreiner
Benjamin Sehene
Ousmane Sembene
Wole, Soyinka
Amos Tutuola
Marlene van Niekirk
Yvonnne Vera
Jose Luandino Vieira
Joseph Jeffrey Walters
Birhanu Zerihun
Ama Ata Aidoo
Georges Andriamanantena
Jared Angira
Kofi Anyidoho
Kofi Awooner
Sahesillasse Birhanemariam
Breyten Breytenbach
Dennis Brutus
Glynn Burridge
Abena Busia
John Pepper Clark
Jose Craveirinha
Viriato Clemenete da Cruz
Getinet Eniyew
Tsegaye Gebremedhin
Abbe Gubenga
Hadraawi
Ingrid Jonker
Jonathan Kariara
Joseph Kariuki
Susan Kiguli
Ahmadou Kourouma
Antjie Krog
Jack Mapanje
Eugene Mapanje
Eugene Marais
Don Mattera
Bai Tamia Moore
Togara Muzanenhamo
- Moses Nagbe
Arthur Nortje
Gabriel Okara
Nii Parkes
Chrisotpher Okigbo
Okot P’Bitek
Lenrie Peters
Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo
Jacques Rabemananjara
Elie Rajaonarison
Ny Avana Ramanantoanina
Pierre Randrianarisoa
Jean Verdi Saloman Razakandraina
David Rubadiri
Tijan Sallah
Leopold Sedar Senghor
Debede Seyfu
Bewketu Seyoum
Warsan Shire
Adam Small
Veronique Tadjo
Dagnachew WERku
Armenio Vieira
Patricia Jabbeh Wesley
Credit: Wikipedia African Writers List (see for more detailed list)
Art and Design
Art & Design
By Afua Serwah Osei-Bonsu
Scenario 1
Traveling with a sewing machine and a tool box of art supplies and paints. Extension cord from the house to sew outside. Planning a “taller” pronounced “tie-yare,” or independent enterprise in an undeveloped pueblo. Climbing in the mountains, getting floral dressed, walking in a dry river bed.
Dying cloth with coffees and teas and traveling one hour by bus to get dyes and bolts of fabric. Getting a large car size amount of fabric delivered from a distributor in the city to make a large amount clothes.
Having dying parties with made up garments then hand painting them. Memorizing songs, dancing with bells around the ankles (a musician).
Scenario 2
The “art house.” Dying textiles on the balcony, making up braided hats, making up hand dyed clothes with a seamstress, then photographing people dressed in the clothing, and reserving sets around town. Making drawings, large photo prints, postcards, which culminate in the full moon bazaar or events in tune with the full moon. Printing on the postcards the upcoming dates of the full moon. Collecting instruments, hiring models, drawing mostly self-portraits, a dress rack of clothes, shopping for fabrics in old jobbers, back drops and an obsession for color photography, making homemade lip balms while maintaining a corporate job in the stock market. Walking to work to stay in shape and playing castanet rhythms on the way. Studying flamenco.
Scenario 3
Off to school of Art and Design. A collection of research photos. A taste for photos with white borders. Sketch books. Silk screen fabric prints for garments, silk screen paper prints for art. Silk screen fabric prints for art too. Embellishment. Fashion illustrations. Making up garments, taking pictures. Small mini drawings, making printed boxes to put things in, making shoes, making boots, printing techniques, visiting silks in the fabric district. Collecting sole prints and deconstructing them into new combined textile patterns.
Scenario 4
A pedestal to draw still life’s or a variety of daily objects. A stage to draw costumed models. A stage for prosperous zeros. Collecting and sampling the entire environment in drawings. Nibs for the garden paintings. A drawing board and horse in the house for portraiture. The home office with 5 stations.
Book List: Art & Fiber
The Painters Handbook: A Complete Reference By, Mark David Gottsegen
Water, Paper, Paint By Heather Smith Jones
Tie-Dye The How to Book Virginia Gleser
Book Publishing Company
P.O. Box 99
Summertown, TN 38483
1-888-260-8458
http:/bpc.thefarm.org
Dharma Trading Co. Fiber Arts Supplies Catalog
Dharma Trading Co., 1994
P.O. Box 150916
San Rafael, CA 94915
1-800-542-5227
Goodwin, Jill A Dyers Manual. London: Palham Books, 1982
Museum of Contemporary Crafts of the American Crafts Council. Fabric Vibrations: Tie and Fold Dye Wall Hangings and Environments. New York: Museum of Contemporary Crafts of The American Crafts Council, 1972
Shaw, Robin and Jennifer. Batik: New Look at an Ancient Art, New York, Doubleday and Co., 1974
Toshiko Ito, Tsujigahana. The Flower of Japanese Textile Art, Tokyo: Kodansha International 1981
Yamanobe, Tomoyuki, ed. Opulence: The Kimonos and Robes of Itchiku Kubota. New York: Kodansha International USA Ltd., 1984
Harmony Enterprises
512 14h Street
Modesto, CA 95354
1-209-571-2767
(to order tie dyes, dye kit and book)
Pro Chemical and Dye Co.
P.O. Box 14
Somerset, MA 02726
1-800-2BUYDYE
www.prochemical.com (more dying instructions)
Rupert, Gibbon and Spider, Inc.
P.O. Box 425
Healdsburg, CA 95440
1-800-442-0455
Batik
The Art and Craft
By ILA Keller
Suppliers
Craftools Inc.
1 Industrial Road
Wood-Ridge, New Jersey 07075
Aljo Manufacturing Co.
116 Prince Street
New York, New York 10012
Geigy Chemical Co.
Box 430
Yonkers, New York
Ciba Chemical & Dye Co.
Fairlawn, New Jersey
E.I. Dupont de Nemours, Co.
Wilmington, Delaware
Beckers
Sveavagen 42
Stockholm, Sweden
Boil Proof Color for Cotton and Cellulose Fabrics
Levafix Dying
Veronal Dyestuff
Box 385
Union, New Jersey 07083
Wax, dyes, tjantings, stretchers, dyes,
Tjap
Block Prints
Tjanting Pengado
The Art of Batik By R. Soeprapto
Art and Crafts in Indonesia (Ministry of Information, Djakarta)
Oriental Brushwork Wang Chi-Yuan
How to Paint the Chinese Way jean Long
Sashiko Mary Parker
Lessons in Bobbin Lace Making Doris Southard
Lacemaking Channerr CC
Practical Skills in Bobbin Lace Bridget Cook
Pillow Lace Mincoff and Marriage
The Technique of Torchon Lace Pam Nottingham
Technique of Design Chuny Lace , L Paulis
Milanese Lace Read and Kincaid
Introduction to Honiton Lace Susanne Thompson
A Dictionary of Lace Pat Earnshaw
Lace and Lace Making Marian Powys
Beggars Lace
P.O Box 17263
Denver, CO 80217
Cindys Stitches
588-A Roger Williams
Highland Park, IL 60035
The Lacemaker
7721 230th Ave SW
Edmonds, WA 98020
Lacis
2982 Adeline St.
Berkley, CA 94703
Robin and Russ Handweavers
533 North Adams ST.
McMinnville, OR 97128
Robbins Bobbins
Rte 1 Box 1736
Mineral Bluff, Georgia 30559
Van Sciver Bobbin Lace
130 Cascadilla Park
Ithaca, NY 14850
The Great Lakes Groups
Mrs. Robert A. Campbell
207 Wilson Ave.
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
International Old Lacers INC
124 W. Irvington Place
Denver, CO 80223-1539
The Silk Painting Workshop
Painting, Marbling and Batik
Jane Venables
Decoration on Fabric
Pauline Brown
Silk Painting
Vibeke Born
Authentic American Indian Beadwork
Pamela Stanley-Millner
Diane Fitzgeralds Favorite Beading Projects
Designer Bead Embroidery
Kenneth King
The Kashmir Shawl
Frank Ames
Soft Furnishings By Hamlyn
Complete Guide to Quilting Better Homes and Gardens
Formulas, Methods, Tips and Data
Swezey and Scharff
Geometry for Dummies
Reference
Ypsilanti District Library Collection
The Big Designers 2
The Big Designers 2
By, Afua Serwah Osei-Bonsu
Necessity is perhaps the ruler of all design. One example that stands out is a department store concept called “Destinations.” Destinations represents a formula where designs correspond to events and locations or destinations. Perhaps Destinations falls under a necessity button and becomes the kind of richness of a necessity met, when you have exactly what you need for a specific purpose. Destinations because of the level of achievement of necessity, becomes a number one best seller. What destinations could suggest is something like playing the child’s card game “Go Fish,” does your card match my card, “No, go fish.”
The methods one uses to achieve advanced necessity satisfaction can be lucrative and rewarding.
At this juncture in history, what becomes really evident is how the objects in for example a department store, eventually exit the department store and become the “culture.” A designer’s task is to become a cultural builder, or perform cultural branding. One needs to be cognizant of “building techniques,” building people, cultures, respect and great nations. Great designers or the big designers are “great builders.” One good example is a newspaper that desires to achieve something within their community and become a “community builder.”
Early design paid close attention to era and a lot was hinged on how to brand the time period or decade which had wonderful results. Teapots are a nice case study. Many teapots appear to fall under “era and charm.” If one sat down to design a teapot they may study many, many teapots and wonder about the je ne sais quoi of teapots. Teapots may charm one because the design informs the taste of the tea, they have phallic imagery and divine qualities.
Perhaps one creates an “ideal” and matches their designs to the ideal to achieve a result within their community. For example, if your community has Paradisian ideals, one may endeavor to make their appropriate Paradisian clothes underneath a Paradisian helm-how the Paradisians became the Paradisians. Even the school for the Paradisians could become a school for the design of Paradise and the protection of Paradisians. Designs are buried even there in how the school is designed which will reflect what is contained within the nation or on the planet etc.
So how does one design the clothes for the Paradisians? There is what they are, what you want them to be, how you want to develop them and how to meet their necessities; or perhaps it’s how you love them, showcase them, satisfy them, beautify them, brand them, even teach them. A Paradisian may be a values based choice and the corresponding Paradisian clothes may be values based. A Paradisian may have cultures and subcultures that also informs design choices. Within a Paradisian concept there is probably always nature or natural elements including florals.
The challenge living together with diverse and interesting peoples is with cultures and subculturalization and what that can include. In an American State such as Michigan where few leaders may have been directed towards cultural development in particular or some may be engaged in cultural branding. What could be included are things like sports arenas, specific department stores, outdoor amenities, recipes, holidays, music, the wealth of the people’s accomplishments and ideas like humility or even seasons.
You build it, you make it
You build it, you make it
By, Afua Osei-Bonsu
The abstract manufacturer that desires for example “peace” and comes to realize that peace has tangibility, you can build it, and you can make it. Other things are tandem with peace like humanity becomes also something tangible that you build and make or a community builder-tangible, you build and make it. Even science often concerned with the search for discovery and the study of the natural world at times could use a build/make formula-if it is necessary one does not need to look for it, but to create it fresh. Caring, you build it, you make it. Values you build them, you make them. Quality, you build it, you make it.
The Big Designers #1
The Big Designers
By, Afua Osei-Bonsu
The big designers in life very well may be three things 1)necessity, 2)war and 3)just because we could.
“Necessity” it has been said was utilized by Chinese manufacturers and marked the focus of early eras in design and engineering. Underneath the helm of “necessity” most of design falls out.
“War” is another design pioneer that inspires a lot of technologies and teachings.
The third big designer is “just because we could,” that has to do with things like dinosaurs that apparently may have been whimsy of early scientists and according to one scientist, dinosaurs may still be existence on some far off planets.
Still other things in life become big designers such as those things that shape us and inspire change. Perhaps big designers 4) are the “shapers,” like policy, taxation systems, popular culture, politics, poverty, education etc.
Moving on to the current century with most of necessity completely in existence, a new big designer may be #5) “Secondary Concept” where you make a dress from for example a sugar bowl, which becomes the secondary design when you look in a former design-in and around it and using deconstruction.
Another big designer is the constant drive to evolve, #6 is evolution. Evolution inspired most of innovation. The notch and notch way that one inches upwards using research and development creates innovation formulas and new propelling designs. With every technology it is as if, we can now achieve this xyz therefore the following must also be possible, and the designer takes a step, then still another step connecting all the dots. If one can fly, they can place the star on top of the giant tree, if one can vapor they may perform a heart transplant without incision.
Of course we design and redesign necessity in a constant.
Zapatos de Hombre
Zapatos de Hombre
By Afua Osei-Bonsu
Zapatos de hombre
Calzoncillos gigantes
Lagrimas de poo poo
Dibujos de suelo
Sabores de exstasis
Sabor de la pee pee
Escondido en su mente
Corriendo en la bosque
Con telefono
Espalda de gazelle
Vagina brillante
Pelo al piso
Boca sangriendo
Fashion and Textiles #2 Opulent Dress
Opulent Dress
By Afua Serwah Osei-Bonsu
- I prefer an opulent dress. I choose an opulent dress. I choose a clean and bright dress. I choose brilliance. I wear an intelligent cloth. I adorn myself as a way of love and celebration. My costume and jewels increase in value in tandem with my character. I have a collar I place on myself to achieve my level of opulence in all dress.
- It was a devastation feeling as though I had lost my mind and an asset the emphasis on the brain. I wonder if my Jewels should place emphasis on a location that could serve as a Divine Action.
- Sole Prints. The Divination of the Foot. The Making of Spiritual Beings, Make shoes with patterned soles or souls. Walk in shoes a pilgrimage. Use sole to make art, use art to make a village. Extract intelligence from products.
- The Making of Divine Beings and Products
- Prosperous Zero
- I wear tatting, embroideries, jewels and beading.
- I wear fine buttons and imaginative fastenings.
- I wear head dress styled, regal, plumed, floral and exponential.
- Original Tastes
- My dress is an arrangement of love and the placement of poetry.
- Body consciousness.
- Living Arts.
- Si Mi Pongo
- Collars and bibs, Serwah related to babies,
- Bows, candy combinations, confection,
- Doll, lockets, light, the first light to reach a baby’s eyes, kaleidoscope
- Vicky Ghindia