CommonplaceBook.com a portal of humor, inspiration, fiction, art, features & more
Title
A Commonplace Book
Description
A Commonplace Book is the personal website of Stephanie Mineart. It includes a blog about current events, photography including Roadside Attractions and scenes of Indianapolis, Indiana, and lots and lots of jokes. The site has been in existence since 1994, but the domain name was purchased in 1996. Most of what is here was written by me, Steph Mineart, with contributions from some other people, who are credited unless unknown. There are over 4000 pages of material on the site, so have fun looking around.
Way back when I bought the domain name, the idea of a "commonplace book" was lost in the mists of time -- it's a concept from the 1800's that fell by the wayside long ago. I picked the term out of Benet's Readers Encyclopedia. Due to the recent backlash against the terms "blog" and "blogging" people have started cribbing my ideas and calling their blogs "commonplace books."
Commonplace book (n.): an edited collection of striking passages noted in a single place for future reference. There was a time when commonplace books were a popular way for civilized men and women to record striking passages they found in their reading. Who can forget the electrifying effect that some thoughts have on us when we encounter them for the first time? The commonplace book is a way of memorializing those striking passages so that one can return to them for renewed inspiration.
