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Showing posts from July, 2025

Happy Thought for 18 July 2025

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Have a Happy Thought:   Fairy tales and ancient myths really come to life through the amazing work of talented illustrators. Here is a selection of such work, all drawn by Virgina Frances Sterrett. She was yet another of the late 19 th /early 20 th  century artists whose life was cut short by  Tuberculosis . But her work lives on, ready to be re-discovered by simply opening a book (even a  virtual book !)   Cover of Old French Fairy Tales by Comtesse De Segur; illustrated by Virginia Frances Sterrett; 1920; The Penn publishing company, Philadelphia. From Old French Fairy Tales. Text: “She threw her arms around the neck of Bonne-Biche.”   From Old French Fairy Tales. Text: “They were three months passing through the forest.”   From Old French Fairy Tales. Text: “They walked side by side during the rest of the evening.”     Cover of Tanglewood Tales, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrations by Virginia Frances Sterrett; 1921; Philadelphia, Penn Pu...

Happy Thought for 11 July 2025

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Have a Happy Thought:   Many of us grew up loving the one-sided confrontations between Roadrunner and Coyote. But did you know there were very specific rules for how these encounters would play out?   Warning : as you read these, you may find cartoon scenes playing in your head.   Rule 1. The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going "beep-beep!"   Rule 2. No outside force can harm the Coyote - only his own ineptitude or the failure of the ACME products.   Rule 3. The Coyote could stop anytime - if he were not a fanatic. (repeat: "a fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim.' -George Santayana)   Rule 4. No dialogue ever, except "beep-beep!"   Rule 5. The Road Runner must stay on the road - otherwise, logically, he would not be called Road Runner.   Rule 6. All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters - the Southwest American desert. ...