Happy Birthday, Miss (Emily) Brontë!

The creator of Wuthering Heights, and some truly fabulous poetry, was born on 30 July 1818. She was the weird sister, and for that I love her even more.

Emily Brontë by Branwell Brontë

Emily Brontë by Branwell Brontë

A QUOTE: “If he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn’t love as much in eighty years as I could in a day.”-Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

SOME WORKS: Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell; Wuthering Heights

A KEEPSAKE:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë at Cynthia’s Attic. $24.00

[Alternative Muses] Birthday Mashup: Beatrix Potter/Marcel Duchamp

“Thank God I have the seeing eye, that is to say, as I lie in bed I can walk step by step on the fells and rough land seeing every stone and flower and patch of bog and cotton pass where my old legs will never take me again.”-Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter, 1912, by Rupert Potter

Beatrix Potter, 1912, by Rupert Potter. Born on 28 July 1866.

Rrose Selavy (Marcel Duchamp) by Man Ray, 1921

Rrose Selavy (Marcel Duchamp) by Man Ray, 1921. Born on 28 July 1887.

“I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste.”-Marcel Duchamp

It’s His Birthday, but Hilaire Belloc is Not Amused

Hilaire Belloc was born on July 27, 1870.

Hilaire Belloc

Hilaire Belloc

QUOTE: “We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.”

SOME WORKS: The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts; Sussex; The Historic Thames; Marie Antoinette; The Servile State; Mr. Belloc Still Objects

A KEEPSAKE:

Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Verses at Vintage in Michigan

Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Verses at Vintage in Michigan. $15.00

Please Save the Waltz for Zelda on Her Birthday

Repeat after me: Zelda Fitzgerald was a writer. Zelda Fitzgerald was a writer. Zelda Fitzgerald was a writer. What is more, she was good. Not just every day good, either, but envy-inducing good. The real deal.

She was born 113 years ago today. Help celebrate her legacy by getting your hands on a copy of her 1932 novel, Save Me the Waltz.

Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, 1922.

Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, 1922.

 

[Alternative Muses] Birthday Mashup: Gustav Klimt/Woody Guthrie

Nixen (Silberfische) by Gustav Klimt, c. 1899

Nixen (Silberfische), c. 1899,  by Gustav Klimt (born 14 July 1862)

“I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are too old or too young or too fat or too slim or too ugly or too this or too that.”-Woody Guthrie (born 14 July 1912)

Ten Quotes and a Photograph in Honor of Henry David Thoreau’s Birthday

Happy 196th Birthday, Mr. Thoreau!

  • “It is what a man thinks of himself that really determines his fate.”
  • “Simplify, simplify.”
  • “The world is wider than our views of it.”
  • “How vain it is to sit down and write when you have not stood up to live.”
  • “Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.”
Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

  • “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.”
  • “Things do not change; we change.”
  • “One is not born into the world to do everything but to do something.”
  • “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.”
  • “It’s not worth our while to let our imperfections disturb us always.”

It’s My Birthday!

I’m spending today gallivanting around town with the husband, doing birthday things. I will see all of you dear readers tomorrow. Have a lovely day!

 

Birthday pedicure

Birthday pedicure

“There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents, and only one for birthday presents, you know.”-Lewis Carroll

Happy 130th Birthday, Franz Kafka!

Happy Birthday to Franz Kafka! Here he is, looking suitably, well, Kafkaesque.

Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka

QUOTE: “Books are a narcotic.”

SOME WORKS: Amerika; The Trial; The Castle; A Country Doctor; The Metamorphosis; The Village Schoolmaster; Letters to Felice

A KEEPSAKE:

Franz Kafka Tote Bag by Little Shop of Joy

Franz Kafka Tote Bag by Little Shop of Joy. $5.00

Happy Birthday Allen Ginsberg, You Fresh-Faced Cutie

Allen Ginsberg was born 87 years ago today. Here he is, looking all fresh-faced yet intense.

Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg

QUOTE: “Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.”

SOME WORKS: Howl and Other Poems; Kaddish and Other Poems; Reality Sandwiches; The Yage Letters; Mind Breaths; Deliberate Prose

A KEEPSAKE:

Allen Ginsberg Pencils by the big harumph

Allen Ginsberg Quote Pencils by the big harumph. $10.00

Hey There, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, You Natty Gent! It’s Your Birthday!

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born on this day in 1859. In addition to being a physician and wildly famous author, he was quite the fashion plate.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1890

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1890.

QUOTE: “I have frequently gained my first real insight into the character of parents by studying their children.”

SOME WORKS: The Sherlock Holmes books; The Stark Munro Letters; The Maracot Deep; The Lost World; dozens of short stories.

A KEEPSAKE:

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle print by Pemberley Pond

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle print by Pemberley Pond. $19.92