About

I am a research librarian and poet, with wide ranging interests, and am interested in sharing my writing, thoughts and research with you. I started this blog after my fathers death, so as to come to terms with his death, and to shear with as wide a range of fellow bloggers as possible. The journey has been really enjoyable, and now have been honored with a Treasure trove award by one of my wonderful fellow bloggers, who blog is called DanicaPiche.

 

Treasure Trove Award

118 thoughts on “About”

    • Hi Angie, met you through your wonderful story of how you came to be a writer. I was trained as a cultural historian, and librarian, and have practiced both for years. I enjoy reading and writing poetry, short stories, plays, novels and some nonfiction. I also read opera libretto’s, and have indeed written 3 which are still all looking for a composer to set to music. I am trying to get more blogging done, but my work for the Help the Rural Child charity stores takes up a huge amount of my time, but hope you will enjoy what I do get time to put up on the blog. Thanks

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    • Hi Jalal, thanks for the comment, music has always been a huge interest to me, but I can’t read music well, and am not really good at playing any instrument. I have played music with friends, and for story time at the libraries, and have even helped compose music. I have also written some opera libretto’s. Thanks for following my blog and am following yours, blessings and best wishes Charles.

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  7. Thanks for the “like” on my blog… before I got caught up in active addiction, I was one quarter short of a BS in Information Science, so I hope you will continue to post the interesting things you find at work!

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    • Thanks, I now run a charity book shop, so am still using my training, and am going to try and provide information services over the internet, and am training my wife who is unemployed to do the searches, so that she will have interesting things to do while I am working. I hope o broaden my blog over the next few weeks. Charles

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    • Hi Olga, thanks for following and liking my poetry. You certainly have done a lot of studying, and hope your books are selling well, I have only published a few poems in the poetry magazines in Edinburgh, but am a bookseller running a charity shop, for Help the Rural Child. Best wishes Charles.

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  9. Nice to read your bio-blog, Charles!, thank you very much to be my follower. I love poetry and quote from Whilliam Shakespeare and another famous writers. See your next post! Regards-@Della 🙂

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    • Thanks Della, enjoyed your blog, but could not seem to find any way to like on it. I am new to computers and blogging so am a bit backwards at all these things. I love plants and flowers, and used to design and build gardens. Best wishes Charles

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    • Thanks, yes and to help others by doing it, tops all. It is fast and back breaking work though. Thanks for following and liking my blog and writing. I went onto your blog and just love it, well done. Best wishes and blessings, Charles.

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  12. Hi there just wanted to call m and say thanks for the recent “likes” on my blog. It’s kind of you to take an interest. Call again soon.

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  14. Nice to meet you Charles and thank you very much for following my blog! Warm greetings from Finland, Maarit

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    • Thanks Maarit,enjoyed your blog a lot, for my BA degree, I did History, Cultural history of Western Europe and Ancient history, so really enjoyed the photos and information. A bit cooler down south, but not raining at the moment, so nice sunny day. Best wishes and blessings Charles.

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  17. Reading your words feels like coming home. Like a fundamental, formless kind of home. Thank you for following me, too; had to laugh, your likes come in so fast that you must be a speed-reader of some sort :-)! Much love from this end of the world! Manja

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    • There so much to read, feel and see in this strange internet world, that even if you are not such a good reader like me you learn to take it all in really fast. I liked it all a lot, thanks and blessings Charles.

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  18. Hello Charles! Thank you so much for visiting my blog and following. I am now following you as get better acquainted with your work. So far, the view from here looks great! 🙂

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  19. Hey Charles, thanks for reading and deciding to follow my blog-stop in any time. I’ve enjoyed the posts I’ve read here so far, and will try to read some more soon. From what I’ve gathered, it appears that you live in South Africa? I tried to organize a gap year for myself in South Africa before I went off to college, but those plans fell through. You might also be interested to know that I am currently working part time as a library assistant at my local public library.

    Greetings from New England, Jack.

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    • Hi Jack thanks for the comment, I do indeed live in Cape Town South Africa, I also worked as a library assistant while studying, and then went on to work in libraries for 22 years, and now run a charity bookshop for help the rural child. In my youth, there was no gap year, we had to to the army for two years, and then several months each year after that, so one study as soon as one could. I was fortunate enough to engineer my be discharged from the army after 4 months. Blessings Charles.

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  20. I guess I haven’t gotten the hang of this yet as I got a different page that has 7128788elf and then ended up on charles1958. I hope these are one and the same! Thank you for the follow! I did comment on your spirituality page! God bless!

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    • the first is my email, which is linked to my blog which is Charles1958, which is my Christian name followed by my birth year, so yes this is my blog, thanks for following, and the comments. Blessings Charles.

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    • Allah’u’abha John, yes it is one of the areas of music that I know and love, after the mid seventies music became to much like a product for my liking, so turned to Classical music in which I have also build up a great knowledge. I particularly follow contemporary composers, and have written 3 libretto’s, which I am looking for a composer to set them, as I can’t read and write music. Best wishes Charles.

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    • Hi Brad, thanks for the comment, and yes I will be following your interesting blog as well. Thanks for liking, following and commenting, best wishes and blessings Charles.

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  25. Hello – thanks very much for visiting and following my blog. I look forward to reading more of your writings, especially poetry!

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    • pleasure, I have read bits on your site of much interest. My wife and I do not drink alcohol for both health and spiritual reasons, as I am a Baha’i and am allergic to alcohol, and my wife Genevieve is on a medical drug with which you can’t take alcohol, but have seen the terrible affects of addiction.

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  31. Pingback: One Lovely Blog Award — Thank You! | Living a Beautiful Life

    • Thanks, did not know how to go about receiving such a reward, so went onto your blog and read it from there. Wonderful that you have also been nominated for this award. Will look for the logo, but have no idea where to start! Stay well, all the best and many blessings Charles.

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      • Have found the logo, and isolated it, but have no idea how to move it, will try copy paste, but it is nearly one in the morning, so will try tomorrow, otherwise will not be able to get up in time for work tomorrow! Have a great day Charles 🙂

    • Thanks, enjoyed the posts on your sight, watched the sea horse video with my wife, we both enjoyed it. I used to help train underwater tour guides with a friend, we were called Ocean world university. Enjoy my blog, as am yours, best wishes and blessings, Charles.

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      • That’s wonderful! What you may not know is the woman that is blogging has cancer and has been given less than a year to live. She dives as much as she can as that’s where she feels alive the most! She is in Australia and she is such a beautiful soul and I pray that she proves all the doctors wrong! She’s now in palliative care as they cannot do much more for her. But her dives are magnificent and I will be reblogging more of the as many as I can. I just thought I would give you a little insight into the wonderful lady, PT (Pink Tank), and some of her story. Those sea dragons are magnificent! You can also go to her site from clicking on her link on my site!

        Did you have videos of Ocean World University? Or photos? Would LOVE to see what you saw under the water. I am a land-lubber for sure! But I live vicariously through people like PT who video tape their dives.

        Many blessings,
        Rhonda aka nanarhonda
        Founder LIKE PRECIOUS FAITH Ministries
        likepreciousfaith.info

      • Thanks Rhonda, I too hope that the doctors are wrong about PT. I am in a similar situation to you, I am a landlubber, who did research and lectured on the sea, its life and the seaside and all to do with it, and ecology in general, as well as local history. When they dived I would look after equipment, and book the next dives and the refilling of the bottles. I did see quite a lot skin diving, which I did after the others had finished their dives, but did not have a camera or video machine. My colleague Tammy has an pictures taken. Best wishes and blessings, Charles.

  34. Good day to you Charles and many many thanks for finding and following my humble blog. I hope you stay with me on my journey. I just adore some of the spirituality quotes an love the eclectic mix on your blog. xxx

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    • Thanks for the comment, I am about the same age, but though married have no children, so am not a grandfather. I live in another sun and beach destination: Cape Town. My wife’s sister live further up the cost at Castel de feil (spelling?) just north of Barcelona. Liked the Fairy tale, and good luck with the writing, stay happy, thanks for following and liking, and hope you will continue to enjoy my blog, best wishes and blessings, Charles.

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      • Ohhh one of my favourite places Cape Town, so many happy memories! NO sorry two of my favourite places Barcelona as well!! Again fond memories. I think we are blessed Charles to have seen these places and of course to live in the sun!! Happy blogging my friend.

      • Yes, though I have not been to Barcelona, my wife Genevieve has and enjoyed it a lot. Maybe we will visit next year, to see her sister. Enjoy the sun, and being creative, best wishes and blessings, Charles.

  35. Thanks for following my blog Inklings, however, I no longer post to it. I am reposting from it and have consolidated all my activity on oldmainer.wordpress.com. Would love to have you join me there.

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  36. my dream job 🙂 I always wanted to be a librarian….I worked in our school library all through high school….
    Thank you for stopping by, I am slowly wandering back within the realm of blogging…. I will enjoy take a slow wander through yours 🙂
    Take Care…You Matter…
    )0(
    maryrose

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    • Hi MaryRose, it was a wonderful career choice, and I helped many in so many ways. Now sell second hand books, for Help the Rural Child, charity bookshops, I suppose once a book man, always a book man, best wishes and blessings, Charles.

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      • I often wished to have my own bookstore, but I probably wouldn’t sell any 🙂
        so I support all book stores …
        when I was in England my favorite past-time was wandering through charity shops for books and nic-nacs to use in my Faerie Gardens …
        I like the thought of selling books to help children….
        yes I agree, once a bookman, always one 🙂
        Have a wonderful evening or morning?
        Take Care…You Matter…
        )0(
        maryrose

      • Thanks for liking commenting and following. I am interested to see that you have and are building a faerie garden, one of the many people that I helped, and is now a good friend of mine, is Karen Van Kalmthoud who runs a shop called Fortune Faeries, and makes wonderful ceramic faeries, and things to go with faeries, which she puts up in her shop, which is set up as a faerie garden, and I’m sure you would love it, so I am giving you a link to see her web page. The shop is in a small town near Bristol in the UK, here is the link http://www.fortunefaeries.co.uk/ Be well, best wishes and blessings, Charles.

    • Hi thanks for comment, liking and following. I am a bit challenged when it comes all this new technology, so as yet, I am not on twitter, but am on Facebook and LinkedIn, and am trying Pinterest at the moment. I was a librarian for 21 years, but come from a book family, having also worked at our family press, as a compositor, layout designer, and now run a charity book shop for Help the Rural Child, and do my blog, am trying to write a poem per night. Librarianship is very rewarding I helped people learn to read and write, I helped children with projects, and to work with their creativity, did story time (sometimes before so many that I had to take them out onto the soccer fields next door!) I help people draw up their companies article of business, and register their companies, designed logos, and help people with all sorts of needs. Librarians are not people who know everything, but are people train to know how to find the correct information quickly and efficiently. Enjoyed being a librarian. Feel free to ask any questions, I will try and answer them. In the meantime, enjoy the weekend, keep well, best wishes and blessings, Charles.

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  39. Hello Charles,
    It is nice to meet you. Thank you for following my blog! I hope you keep a tight grip on my musings, they have a tendency to fly all over the place! 🙂

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  44. Thanks for following The Immortal Jukebox. I hope you are finding lots to entertain you and maybe make some discoveries. If you haven’t visited for a while check it out again. Please feel free to add comments. Good luck with your blog. Regards Thom.

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    • Hi Thom, thanks for the comment, I love your blog, but some how had lost track of it. I have just read the last 3 blogs and loved them, never really been A Roxy Music fan, but loved these recordings and your description of them, Have always been a Cook fan, and love your blog on tie up between Manfred Mann, and The Boss. Here we know Manfred Mann, as he started out his career here, and then went over to Britain. Best wishes Charles.

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    • Yes, but out here in South Africa librarians are unfortunately not revered in this way, so actually I last worked in a library about ten years ago. I now run a charity bookshop, for the Help the Rural Child organisation, which does wonderful work in this country. I still work as a research librarian from home, doing that and this blog in the evenings, and over weekends. Thanks for following my blog and commenting, best wishes and blessings to you and your husband, Charles. 🙂

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  46. Thank you, Charles, for giving me the opportunity to visit your site by visiting mine and following it.
    It is my fortune to meet many likeminded people like you through WordPress community. 😃 Wishing you a great week ahead! 😃

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    • Hi am not sure how I missed your comment, and thanks for, and yes I too have met many talented, interesting and wonderful people through my blog, hope all goes well withb you, best wishes and blessings, Charles.

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