J's stacked Janet - Meryl Gordon Books

 

This is another idea I had for my Jan exchange envelopes. This was the first attempt. I didn't even do it on an envelope because I had her monster envelope ready to go. I was hoping I could make a gorgeous alternative that would fit inside. Sadly, the gold did not work the way I wanted it to work and I had to accept that the T at the end was probably never going to work. I could have used the uncial T that looks more like a C with a crossbar on top. But that shape would have been too similar to the E. Other names that I tried worked better than this one because some letters stack better than others.  I don't often like to say that there are any rules. But, I do think we come close to rules - when we stack letters. The rule is that -- you have to be very very clever to balance 4 chunks on top of a skinny pole. IMHO - it might not be worth the time to figure it out - unless you thrive on really difficult problems.

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Long and off-topic add-on.

I'm running out of books to listen to at my library website so, I am downloading books about people who are of little interest to me. The most recent one was Bunny Mellon by Mary Gordon. My first response to books about people who are in the .01% is usually - not interested. But, I noticed that the author had written another book that I really enjoyed. I had a vague notion of who Bunny Mellon was and doubted  that the book would hold my interest - but, I ended up feeling a lot of compassion for a person who was born into a privileged life and then married into the upper echelons of the most privileged of all. 

Bunny lived to be 103 and had met with the author before she died. They hit it off and Bunny's family welcomed the author and trusted her to tell the story. She had access to everything (diaries and letters) and introductions to everyone still living who had crossed paths with Bunny. The quantity of information is remarkable and some of the details helped me to see a bigger picture. I would not recommend spending money to read the book, but if you can get it from the library and you have any interest in how people who have unlimited funds choose to spend their money - it has some entertaining stories. The Mellons were very generous with both artists and art institutions -- while maintaining a lot of drama on the home front.

On the bright side, while Bunny's dad saw college as a waste of time for women, Bunny forged ahead and  became a life-long learner on her own. Her love of gardening and all things *nature* is endearing. One *more-money-than-brains* anecdote: she would have her staff collect all the leaves in the fall and then scatter them about *aesthetically.* That's nutty. However, my impression was that she treated her staff better than some of her relatives. All of the staff who gave interviews had very kind words about her. It took 200 people to maintain their 7 homes and estates. Maybe there were people who actually enjoyed collecting leaves and then arranging them aesthetically. I go a little nutty every fall when I see so many pretty leaves. But, they get messy. Maybe people really enjoyed their jobs. 

The stories about Bunny's family relationships are rather sad. Stories about her design projects were fascinating. She was a gifted designer and had the resources to do whatever she wanted. If she couldn't source the perfect fabric, she would have it custom woven. She never settled for something that was a little *off* and would continue to revise, until she got things just the way she wanted them. 

The other Meryl Gordon book that I enjoyed was The Phantom of Fifth Avenue. Another very wealthy woman who was way more eccentric than Bunny.