Road of the Tinkling Bell : Paintings, Poems and Essays by Tomihiro Hoshino

I enjoy poetry and have a special appreciation for things Japanese so I found reading this little haiku and short poems quite fun.  I enjoyed sharing a couple of them with family members too.  The paintings were delightful, but I was just reading bits and pieces of the pretty poetry book I found at the resale shop.

It actually took me a while to discover Tomihiro's special ability of painting and writing with a tool in his teeth.  As I read more, I discovered he was paralyzed and not only that, he was a Christian.  No wonder that I found him to write with humility and honestly.  I began to reread some of my favorites and even beginin reading the poetry book from the begining of the book.  I enjoyed the personal insights into Tomihiro's personal and thoughtful world. 

Tomihiro was born in Japan in 1946.  He was an avid gymnast there, even a coach until an accident in 1970 left him paralyzed from the neck down.  He spent nine years hospitalized, relearning how to live and how to use the brush in his mouth to write and paint.


THis is a great book.  It sheds heavenly light on a personal journey, one of perseverance in the darkness of a great difficulty and what could possibly even be despair.   It's a peek into the world of flowers and the thoughts they weave into a tiny eye tha dares to contemplate the world, as it spins it;s own tale of a miracle into all of creation....at least this is my explanation of the experience of reading through this book.

The title of the book comes from the gift of a bell that Hoshino was given... and the lessson he learned.

Someone gave him a small bell and he tied this bell onto his wheelchair where he noticed that he didn;t hear it until he traveled the rough surfaced roads and pathways.  He then related this tinkling bell to the idea that in the journey of life, it is when we go down the uneven roads of hardship and difficulty, the more outback terrain, (much like Tomihiro's wheelchair,) that we hear the important things, see the miraculous and even consider who we are and what life is about.  It's the little things that reveal the miraculous.... something that simply makes a noise and gets your attention.


You will not hear the tinkling bell, when things are perfect and the road is smooth.  It cannot jingle, then, except maybe in the wind.   A bump in the road is an opportunity to hear the little bell that rings to get our attention, to comfort us reminding us, we are not alone.

The sound of a bell, a tinkling bell is beautiful indeed.


and so... off we go, down the road of the tinkling bell.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss

Finally!  I finally finished reading the book!  I can't believe it took me so long... glad I finally finished and now I can surely say, it was interesting, and it was funny, but obviously not funny or interesting enough to keep me from sleeping instead of reading. 

I enjoyed it when I did read it, I just kept falling asleep.  The moral of that story is the answer to the question of the ages:  how exciting can punctuation REALLY be?

Well, Lynn Truss knows.  Actually, after reading this book about punctuation, I can honestly say that the world of punctuation is more interesting that I ever dreamed, but to know this one must first be willing to enter into the world of punctuation, which is what this book is about.

The thing that spurred me on to finishing this book was that I ended up listening to the book on tape, which I found for sale as a discarded book at the local library.   I have to say, Eats, Shoots, and Leaves was actually even more interesting this way, as it was colored with segments of audio interviews and reports by various people highlighted in the book.  It was like listening to a radio program rather than reading a book, and all the while one could be getting through the same material; besides, I could drive the car while I listened.  I think this particular book on tape really brought the book to life.

Reading this book... audio or not, is a lot like going on an adventure into the jungle of words and punctuation.... punctuation is thew wild things within the words.  This is because there really is so much more to puctuation than meets the eye, you have to get in and explored the punctuation realm to really understand.  There was so much more to the world of punctuation than I knew before.

When Lynn talks about a ZERO tolerance approach, she is referring to the idea that people really do not understand punctuation... and make mistakes using it all the time, and these mistakes should be corrected.... but on the other hand, one learns reading this book that the punctuation we use is not only wild, (a.k.a... totally arbitrary and roaming free, even though we learn various punctuation rules and use them all the time... if we want to....and if we want to communicate well in the communications we write.  Punctuation is like traffic signals... but then in the world of face paces comunication at the speed of light, no one punctuates any more.... or so  THEY say.

 It seems that perhaps punctuating is becoming more unpopular as we text via cell phone in these more modern times.  This because some people find it unnecessary or time consuming.  But when interviewed many people said they did punctuate in texting... for various reasons... like passing good punctuation skills down to their kids.   And then there is the newest form of puctuation... the emoticons.

: -)

and there was a discussion of orther anatomial-icons being passed around as well....

Anyhow...  Let it suffice now to say thatafrer reading this book, I saw commas, full stops, dashes colons semi colons and exclaimation points in ways that I ever thought about before.  I brushed up a little on this very important part of writing, and learned also not to take it all so seriously.  I do think it is a very important book, that makes a very important point...  On a simple scale, consider the importance of a comma.... Commas change things. 

For example, take a look at the differencee here when commoas are inserted or removed in the title of the book.:

The Panda eats bamboo shoots and leaves.
The Panda eats bamboo shoots, and leaves.
The Panda eats bamboo, shoots, and leaves. 

Or another example:
One can say,
"Let's eat Grandpa."
meaning to say,
"Let's eat, Grandpa."

I loved the special touch Lynn added to the book of sticker apostrophes and  commas so signs can be corrected.  SHe obviously not only takes this stuff seriously... but is seriously funny about it all.


Probably the most important and uselessly useful piece of information I learned was how to use an interbang, or rather, that there was even such a thing.  I had never heard of an Interrobang before so now I am endebted to Lynn Truss for bringing this interesting piece of punctuation to my attention.

Do you know what an interbang is?  (Hint: It conveys in print an attitude of curiosity and wonder.)

I definitely  recommend the information given in this book.  Its good for re caging you mind on the whole punctuation issue....and giving you some insight about whether you know how to punctuate properly or not.  If you are anything like me, you will enjoy the way these punctuation experts see punctuation and find this book an the information within it will make you sharper in your use of it, or at least think more about "why" you use it at all,  or if you want to use it, and when; that is of course, if after reading the book, you decide punctuation is necessary at all.