Another Year Has Passed and You Still Look Like This

When you died on 11 February 1963, my mom was nine years old. My grandmother was your age: thirty. She’s eighty-one now, but to all of the world you still look like this:

Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath. 

How sad.

“The silence depressed me. It wasn’t the silence of silence. It was my own silence.”-Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

Congratulations, Sir John Suckling, You Have One of the Best Writer Names of All Time. Also, Happy Birthday!

Sir John Suckling, poet and inventor of cribbage, was born on 10 February 1609.

Sir John Suckling by Anthony van Dyck, 17th century

Sir John Suckling by Anthony van Dyck, 17th century.

“I prithee send me back my heart,/Since I cannot have thine;/For if from yours you will not part,/Why, then, shouldst thou have mine?”

[Alternative Muses] A Tip-Top Birthday Trio: Dickens, Ingalls Wilder, Lewis

The literary Gods certainly favoured the 7th of February, at least during the 19th century. Charles Dickens, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Sinclair Lewis were born on that day. Impressive, right?

Charles Dickens and His Characters by William Holbrook Beard

Charles Dickens and His Characters by William Holbrook Beard.  Birth year: 1812.

“A loving heart is the truest wisdom.”

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder. Birth year: 1867.

“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”

Sinclair Lewis, 1914

Sinclair Lewis, 1914. Birth year: 1885.

“Every man is a king so long as he has someone to look down on.”

Off Topic Post: Goodbye, Gustav Klimt!

Austrian artist Gustav Klimt died on 6 February 1918. He was fifty-five.

A few of his paintings:

Der Park by Gustav Klimt, 1909-1910

Der Park by Gustav Klimt, 1909-1910.

Marie Hennenberg by Gustav Klimt

Marie Hennenberg by Gustav Klimt.

Nixen (Silberfische) by Gustav Klimt, circa 1899

Nixen (Silberfische) by Gustav Klimt, circa 1899.

The artist:

Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt.

“True relaxation, which would do me the world of good, does not exist for me.”-Gustav Klimt

The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes

The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes

The Center of Science and Industry [COSI] in my hometown of Columbus is the second stop for this fabulous interactive Holmes experience. It runs 8 February-1 September.

Does this look amazing or does this look amazing? Your call. I am going next month. I’ll be sure to do a follow-up post!

A Study in Scarlet artwork by David Henry Friston, for Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887

A Study in Scarlet by A. Conan Doyle, with  artwork by David Henry Friston.  Beeton’s Christmas Annual, December 1887.