Happy Birthday Ogden Nash!

"I have an idea that the phrase 'weaker sex' was coined by some woman to disarm the man she was preparing to overwhelm."

"The most exciting happiness is the happiness generated by forces beyond your control."

"I believe a little incompatibility is the spice of life, particularly if he has income and she is pattable."
All from Ogden Nash, 1902 - 1971

Frederic Ogden Nash
Born: August 19, 1902
Rye, New York
Died: May 19, 1971
Baltimore, Maryland
American poet and writer

Ogden Nash was one of the most successful English-language poets of the twentieth century.

Nash grew up in various East Coast communities and even lived in Savannah, Georgia, during his youth. He attended St. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island, and he was accepted to Harvard but dropped out after barely completing a year.

Nash held a variety of odd jobs but was unsuccessful at all of them.. He worked on Wall Street as a bond salesman. He sold only one bond—to his godmother—and instead of getting out and trying to sell more he spent his afternoons in movie theaters. He was a schoolteacher for a year at St. George's School, and from there he was hired as an advertising copywriter for streetcar signs. In 1925 he was hired in the marketing department of the Doubleday publishing house and did well enough that he moved on to its editorial department as a manuscript reader.

In 1930 Nash wrote a poem called "Spring Comes to Murray Hill" and submitted it to the New Yorker, one of the most respected, well-read magazines of the day. Nash had thought up the poem while looking out his office window and thinking about his own life. The New Yorker published the poem and invited Nash to submit more; his appearances in the magazine led to a contract for his first work, Hard Lines, published in 1931. It was a success, being printed seven times in its first year alone. Nash quit his Doubleday job.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Nash's poems continued to appear in magazines and published collections. He was considered one of America's greatest humorists . He was very successful at expressing disbelief and dismay at the every day problems of modern American life. He criticized religious preaching and politicians that he considered to be filled with self importance. He referred to himself as a "worsifier" instead of a "versifier." His work was often criticized for taking liberties with spelling and rhyme. One example is the line: "If called by a panther/Don't anther."

In 1931 Nash married Frances Rider Leonard, and had two daughters. His zest for being a Father provided more subject matter for him and in 1936 he published a collection of poems called The Bad Parents' Garden of Verse. Nash also wrote screenplays for three Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films—The Firefly (1937), The Shining Hair (1938), and The Feminine Touch (1941). While in California he met another well-known writer, S. J. Perelman (1904–1979), who had written for the Marx Brothers films. They worked together on a musical, One Touch of Venus. It was a grand success on Broadway in 1943.

Nash was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and National Institute of Arts and Letters. During the 1950s he wrote more often for the children's market. The Boy Who Laughed at Santa Claus (1957), Custard the Dragon (1959), and Girls are Silly (1962) , all of them great sellers. He also wrote for television productions of Peter and the Wolf and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Hewrote about his experiences of babysitting his grandchildren. After suffering various illnesses in his later years, he wrote a number of poems about the medical establishment that were later collected in 1970's Bed Riddance: A Posy for the Indisposed.

Nash died on May 19, 1971 from Crohn's disease . Several collections of his work were published after his death, including I Wouldn't Have Missed It (1975) and A Penny Saved Is Impossible (1981).

The Firefly
by: Ogden Nash

The firefly's flame is something for which science has no name
I can think of nothing eerier
than flying around with an unidentified glow on a
person's posteerier.


The Termite
by:Ogden Nash

Some primal termite knocked on wood
And tasted it, and found it good!
And that is why your cousin May.
Fell through the parlor floor today!

I felt I had to mention the birthday of Ogden Nash today.. He became famous for his quick humor and strange wit.. for his ability to take the facts of real life during hard times and make them funny... I personally liked his saying pertaining to Ice breaking of "Candy is Dandy; But Liquor is quicker!" I guess it's true.. once you are about half drunk~ everyone is your friend..

I was surprised that I managed to sneak another post by my cranky modem.. For some reason it has only blinked it's red eye at me a few times today.. But Thankfully The wonderful Ups Man Just dropped off the new Modem.. Hopefully I will be back to normal soon! Have a great day!
Patsy

Happy Birthday Theodore Geisel!

“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

“How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”

all By~ Theodor Seuss Geisel

Dr. Seuss!

Today would have been the 105th birthday of one of the most well-known names in children's literature. In honor of his Birthday I will share with you a few facts about the famous Dr.


1:) His name was Theodore Seuss Geisel - Seuss was his mother's maiden name. He started using it as a pseudonym, or alias, while still in college. He added the Dr later, as a joke, because his father, who was a brew master by trade, had always wanted him to get a doctorate and become a professor.

2:) Between 1937 and 1991, when he died aged 87, he published more than 40 books, which have sold half a billion copies between them - that's more than even J K Rowling's Harry Potter books. He nearly burned his first book, "And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street", after it was turned down by 27 publishers. Never give up !
~ I personally would love to get into his files of stuff he didn't ever publish!

3:) In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Dr. Seuss $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham.Oddly Cerf never paid him the $50. I guess with the millions of books sold by the good Doctor, Bennett figured he didn't need the extra fifty bucks.

4:) Having read that educators believed children couldn't learn to read because their books were boring, Seuss's publisher made up a list of 400 words he felt were important.He then asked Dr. Seuss to cut the list to 250 words and write a book using those words. Nine months later, Seuss, using 220 of the words given to him, completed The Cat in the Hat. This book retained the style, verse rhythms, and all the imaginative power of Seuss's earlier works, but because of its simple vocabulary could be read by beginning readers. I myself remember the boring tales of Dick and Jane and how we were lucky enough to Have Mrs.Dumbar in first grade. She had a full shelf of fun books in the back of her room. Even though it wasn't my first choice to take home and read, I did eventually choose "Hop On Pop" to take home for the week-end. I loved it and was after that a fan of the wonderful crazy zany lines of Dr Suess.

5:) Dr Suess did not have children of his own. He liked them well enough it seems since he devoted many years to entertaining them. He wasn't really fond of spending time with them though. His widow, Audrey, said in an interview that she believed him to be slightly afraid of them. She said he was always thinking: "What will they do next? What will they ask next?" She added: "He couldn't just sit down on the floor and play with them."

6:)Dr. Seuss also wrote books for adults that used the same style of verse and pictures: The Seven Lady Godivas, Oh, The Places You'll Go!, and his final book You're Only Old Once. The final book is a satire of hospitals, and the geriatric lifestyle.

7:)At the time of his death on September 24, 1991, some 200 million copies of his books, translated into 15 different languages, had found their way into homes and hearts around the world. Since then, sales continue to climb year after year.

8:) Six books were produced posthumously, all based on Dr. Seuss materials, with one exception: My Many Colored Days was written by Dr Suess himself in 1973, but the text was not discovered until after his death. Many of these posthumous books, such as Daisy-Head Mayzie and My Many Colored Days, were made into animated specials.

9:) On March 2,2004 the Us postal service unveiled a Dr. Suess stampin celebration of what would have been his 100th birthday. The stamp featured Geisel surrounded by six of the charactors from his books including my two favorites , the Cat in the Hat and the Grinch.

10:) To show support for Dr. Seuss - originally known as Theodore Seuss Geisel - on his birthday, the National Education Association (NEA) will hold its annual Read Across America on Monday, March 2, 2009. The NEA hopes that parents and teachers around the nation will spend some time today to read with a child.


How wonderful an outlook one must have on the world to write such stories as the Cat in the Hat and the Grinch. When asked where he got his ideas from Dr. Suess would usually frown and say he hated that question. He learned his way of rhyming from the pie selling chants his Mother used to sing him to sleep as a child but I would imagine his wildly animated charaters came from his own vivid imagination.

If you have children please spend some time reading to them today and every day. Children learn so much from being read to and they love the attention you give to them. Relax and enjoy a funny rhyming book from the long list of Suess books or choose something you like by another Author. Please spend time with your children. If you don't have children you can still read a childrens book and laugh. Even we adults need a chuckle now and then. Have a wonderful day!
Patsy