Your Smile for Today ~

"You have to run as fast as you can just to stay where you are. If you want to get anywhere, you'll have to run much faster."

Lewis Carroll, (1832 - 1898) English author, mathematician, Anglican Clergyman

Treasury of Wit & Wisdom, 4,000 of the funniest, cleverest, most insightful things ever said,
2006, The Readers' Digest Association, Inc.

Literary Nonsense

Lewis Carroll's Adventures of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass are good examples of what is known as literary nonsense.

Thursday's literary hour at The Neat Little Bookshop could sometimes be labelled literary nonsense ~ the discussions are always insightful, thought-provoking and entertaining.

With Valentine's Day approaching, today's debate will be whether or not there are universal personality traits desirable in a friend -- or a mate -- or do different cultures and individuals look for different qualities?

Do you ever feel like Alice, landing in strange and sometimes not so wonderful places that you could never have imagined? See you at 1:30 P.M. The Neat Little Bookshop.

Author Jill Marshall

To The Arctic and Home Again is a collection of light and humourous stories as well as meaningful articles on serious issues. Author Jill Marshall has provided a personal insight into her life both in Haldimand County and in Yellowknife, North West Territories.

Justice Dr. David Marshall presided in the Supreme Court of the North West Territories for six years. During this time Mrs. Marshall's

adventures ranged from sewing five parkas ~ one with an exterior of moose hide ~ to volunteering for meals on wheels and acquiring her motorcycle licence.

A musician, teacher, radio and newspaper journalist, mother and wife, Marshall wrote at different times for the Yellowknifer and for the Hamilton Spectator. Her first book is a treasure ~ a 162 page gem ~ complete with photographs.

Home with a Hearth

"I dream of a home with a hearth-fire in it, a cat and a dog, the footsteps of friends ~ and you!"

In her journal on Sept. 25, 1910, L.M. Montgomery wrote, "How I do love an open fireplace. I love it so much that I feel sure I shall never have one of my own. No, I shall be doomed to stuffy stoves or -- worse still! -- a radiator all my live."

Lucy Ward Montgomery, Canadian author (1874 - 1942) The Selected Journals of L.M.M. Vol.II, Oxford University Press, 1987

(Journals, letters, scrapbooks, photographs, personal papers and library are the property of the University of Guelph, Ontario.)

Click on photo to view larger image. Scroll right to find the snowblower and shovel. Photo: Michaye Walker

Mark Twain's Fireside

"I know the look of an apple that is roasting and sizzling on the hearth on a winter's evening, and I know the comfort that comes of eating it hot, along with some sugar and a drench of cream...I know how the nuts taken in conjunction with winter apples, cider, and doughnuts, make old people's tales and old jokes sound fresh and crisp and enchanting."
Mark Twain, American author and humourist (1835-1910) Extract from his autobiography.

And from a letter written by Mr. R.J.Burdette after a visit to Twain's home:

"I am not a man addicted to cold weather. I am not sufficiently 'British' to wander through December and January in short checked coat and no ulster. I am given to much wrapping up when I do go out in the snow, and to very little going out in the snow at all. I begin to shiver with the first frost, and I keep it up until the following April. And so when I can sit down before a bright wood fire and burn up cigars while somebody entertains me. I love the icy winter."

Janice Anderson, Fireside, A Family Companion, MQ Publications Ltd.,2004

Six Nations 'Ready to Negotiate' for 'Perpetual Care'

In a press release to The Hamilton Spectator, Six Nations Elected Council Chief, William Montour states that "The only land settlement that the Six Nations Elected Council will support is a global settlement that, by modern treaty, secures our perpetual care and maintenance for basic services such as education, health, social and public infrastructure."
"Further, any lands that become available," Montour goes on to say, "must revert to Six Nations title.....In addition the Six Nations Elected Council will not settle any land right for money and then sign a paper that absolves Canada of any future obligation to negotiate further grievances."

Chief Montour makes it clear to the community precisely what the Minister of Indian Affairs and the people of Canada are being asked to deliver ~ "perpetual care."

Source: The Hamilton Spectator, Jan. 28, 2010.
http://www.thespec.com/ Quick Search: Chief William Montour

Decisions

Your Smile for Today ~

"In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."

Theodore Roosevelt, Amer. President, 1858 - 1919