Things That Made My Week

Tony Blair

This is what happens to former Prime Ministers. Cherie can smile because she's never been one. So the lesson is never become Prime Minister or the equivalent thereof in your country. You'll carry the weight of that which you could not do with you forever. Oh, and don't be tempted even when they offer you lots of chocolate.

Harper Lee

At the moment I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Here's the forward that Harper Lee wrote:

" Please spare Mockingbird an Introduction. As a reader I loathe Introductions. To novels, I associate Introductions with long-gone authors and works that are being brought back into print after decades of interment. Although Mockingbird will be 33 this year, it has never been out of print and I am still alive, although very quiet. Introductions inhibit pleasure, they kill the joy of anticipation, they frustrate curiosity. The only good thing about Introductions is that  in some cases they delay the dose to come. Mockingbird still says what it has to say; it has managed to survive the years without preamble.

Harper Lee

12 February 1993"

I had developed a soft spot for her earlier this year when I discovered she fed birds out of a cool whip container. What brought me even greater joy was the seeming disillusionment of a  certain writer, upon this discovery. Along with Lee’s approval of the whip I also agree with what she says about introductions. I’ve always hated them. They are often long. I find many unintelligible. Worst of all they spoil the plot and ending. So many good books were ruined for me because of introductions. I've been disregarding them for years!

Longwood Gardens' Toilets

Yesterday I visited the spectacular Longwood Gardens and had the pleasure of using their award winning toilets. Have you ever used an award winning toilet? 

The person in this picture just did. Just look at that expression of disbelief and utter joy!

The guy who yelled at me

Usually it's not cool for guys to yell at women. EXCEPT when I'm wearing my Phillies beanie and they shout, "Go, Phillies!" He called after me when I had already walked passed him. I just turned around nodded and smiled. It was a very Seinfeld black & white cookie moment.