- Name: Walter Bagehot
- D/O/B: 3 February 1826
- Member Since: 1866
- Status: Charter Member
- Important Role: Economics Adviser
- Hobbies: Philosophy; Mathematics; staring wistfully into space

Walter Bagehot
Walter Bagehot
Theodor Storm
Courtesy of Grammarly
Portrait of Jules Vallès by Gustave Courbet (19th century)
Bookmark? Courtesy of Grammarly.
Sensibly Scented
Jane Austen Air Freshener
Henry Taylor by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1864
His beard is so awe-inspiring as to deserve a second look:
Sir Henry Taylor by W.J. Hawker, 1885
Van Gogh Painting Sunflowers by Paul Gauguin, 1888. His beard is splendiferous by virtue of its vibrant hue.
*Vincent van Gogh was an exceptionally talented letter writer, at a time when correspondence was an art form. His letters are vivid, intelligent, and beautiful word paintings.
Today’s Daily Prompt-Good Tidings:
Present-day you meets 10-years-ago you for coffee. Share with your younger self the most challenging thing, the most rewarding thing, and the most fun thing they have to look forward to.
This is my contribution!
Positively Dickensian
Two women sit across from each other at a table in a coffee shop. They take their tea the same way: Earl Grey, strong, two sugars. Turbinado, please, stirred clock-wise.
Their conversation goes like this:
2004 Mae: Hey, why are we blonde? We haven’t been blonde since we were seven, and we both know that was way more than ten years ago–yours or mine.
2014 Mae: We’ve met before, right? We’ve been radically altering our hair every few months since we were twelve. Some things don’t change. Wait until you get to 2012. That was a great hair year for us, even if we got sick of the Miley comparisons.
2004: Who is Miley?
2014: Never mind. We’ll know soon enough, and we’ll wish we didn’t.
2004: Oh, okay. Anyhoo, this is kind of weird. Why are we here, again? Do you have big news for me? Because I’m not sure that I want to know. Even if it doesn’t suck.
2014: Good, because I didn’t plan on giving you specifics, anyway.
2004: Well, what if I changed my mind? What if I want to know now?
2014: Too fucking bad. It doesn’t work that way.
2004: Did you bend time and space just to have tea with me? Honestly, that is kind of creepy. Is this some next-level Miss Havisham shit? Future me is so bereft that she finds a way to come back to a point when life was better? Oh, my god. Do I really turn into Miss Havisham? Seriously, is my future that pitiful?
2014: I’m not wearing a tattered wedding dress, am I? So, no. I forgot how kooky we can be.
2004: Wait. Wait! Do I-do we-become…normal? I’d rather be Miss Havisham.
2014: Haha, no! We’re amusing, too!
2004: Hey, don’t take credit for that line! I said it, so I am the amusing one. Continue reading
Alfred, Lord Tennyson by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1869