Red Wolf's Room

Today, as you may know, is the last day the Canadian penny, (or as it is technically called "the cent"), will be made.  Today's post will therefore be to its dedication.     Are there any coin collectors out there?  Are you sad about the penny's demise? Lastly, a poem by William Butler Yeats titled "Brown Penny". I whispered, "I am too young", And then, "I am old enough"; Wherefore i threw a penny To find out if I might love. "Go and love, go and love, young man, If the lady be fair." Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny, I am looped in the loops of her hair. O love is the crooked thing, There is nobody wise enough To find out all that is in it, For he would be thinking of love Till the stars had run away And the shadows eaten the moon. Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny, One cannot begin it too soon.

 Remembering a Woman and Her Bookstore   In Paris, there is currently a bookstore named "Shakespeare and Company", but it is only a copy of the original store that was located at 12 Rue de L'Odéon and ran by a woman named Sylvia Beach in the 20s.   Ernest Hemingway described Miss Beach in his book A Moveable Feast and wrote "She had a lively, sharply sculptured face, brown eyes that were as alive as a small animal's and as gay as a young girl's, and wavy brown hair that was brushed back from her fine forehead and cut thick below her ears..."  Hemingway also wrote that Miss Beach "was kind, cheerful and interested, and loved to make jokes and gossip.  No one that I ever knew was nicer to me."   In the year 1917, Sylvia Beach was a student in Paris studying contemporary French literature.  One day, she read an advertisement for work in a bookshop called "La Maison des Amis des Livres" and soon became friends, (and eventually ...

A Night In The Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny is a good enthralling read.  It's a book that groups together Jack the Ripper, Dracula, Frankenstein and others into a ritual that dictates the opening and closing of a Hellish place.  These characters each have a pet, find ingredients for their success in the ritual and are at odds with each other because each one is either a 'Closer' or 'Opener'.  The book is narrated by Jack's pet, Snuff, who is not all that he seems either.  Sherlock Holmes is ever present, though, his role is not clear until the end.  I enjoyed the book especially because it gathers the famous myths and legends together in a different environment.  It must be quite a challenge for the author to try to faithfully design the known characters to common knowledge.  The plot is also a creative way to depict why Jack was on the killing spree; in this case, it was for the collecting of ingredients for the ritual.  I recommend this bo...

I finished the book Ophelia by Lisa Klein.  The story takes us through Shakespeare's Hamlet , but readers see Ophelia's side of the story.  She is portrayed as an intelligent, witty woman who questions the authority of men.  Klein adds extra twists in the plot and detailed backgrounds, one example being that Ophelia only pretends to drown at the end of the play.   Ophelia's story continues after Hamlet has ended.  Having read Hamlet , I find Klein didn't miss a beat.  She captured the era perfectly and the language was poetic, yet simple.  It is a book that Hamlet lovers should read and those unfamiliar with the play should read it as an introduction to the world of Hamlet .  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Image Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ynfrQrkP7ztYkJyE6NVDJC2_XSEFK8KjvvWJ-nJghTRk7JGHPBcWLgDcN5vI2FHpYaHbx0RqbWM3hBGtk55p-0gsIBwov4Zil25U4DeX3UuOrmzNQGBvLNHLl8BU6SyLw4_eR1pTX3Q/s160...

I read a truly enchanting book over the holidays.  It's called The Legend of Holly Clause by Brittney Ryan.  The story tells about Santa Claus who lives in a place similar to heaven and one Christmas, a boy writes to Santa asking him what he wants for Christmas.  Because of this letter, Holly Claus, the daughter of Santa Claus is brought into existence, but there is an evil sorcerer named Herrikhan who is imprisoned in a Hellish place and needs a pure heart to be released.  Holly possesses such a heart and Herrikhan is able to curse her and all of the land.  Holly, burdened by the curse, seeks a way to become Immortal like her father and lift the curse.  She journeys to the mortal world in order to spread joy, hope and somehow earn her title.  She learns about our mortal ways and finds romance.  Meanwhile, Herrikhan finds a way of deceiving Holly into giving her heart to him.  Will he succeed???  To find out...read the book!  I...

Last year, I took some snaps for a project.  The restrictions were: we had to take pictures in only one park right across from the school and with each picture, we had to write a Haiku poem.  That was a little tough.   My partner and I choose to show chaos in nature.  It worked really well.  Here are some of my pictures:  Mr. Squirrelly here was not part of 'Chaos in nature".  But I kept him for my personal images.  He's so chubby, isn't he?  So fuzzy!   We chose this one (above) as our cover page.  We felt it captured the spirit of chaos in nature.