Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) wrote and illustrated some two dozen children's books that are now considered classics, including "The Tale of Peter Rabbit".  Although Beatrix Potter's name may not be a household word, that of her first artistic creation, Peter Rabbit, certainly is.  An entire industry has sprung up around this beloved character; one can find his image on everything from tea towels to toys.  Even though Potter's parents left her mostly in the care of governesses and servants, they nevertheless exerted tight control over her life.  She was educated at home and had virtually no contact with other children until her brother, Bertram, was born when she about five.  But even he was soon sent to boarding school, which meant that their time together was limited mostly to the summer holidays, which the family typically spent in Scotland or the English Lake District.  Other than her brother, Potter's only friends were her animals. She had a deep interest in and love for all creatures and kept several as pets, including mice, frogs, bats, rabbits, and even a hedgehog.  Her strong affinity for animals was not merely sentimental, however; she was a naturalist at heart, with a sharp eye for scientific detail.  Potter also displayed an early talent for drawing.  Her own pets as well as the animals she discovered while on vacation were often the subjects of her illustrations.  Another interest of Potter's was science, especially mycology, the study of fungi.  When she was in her late twenties, Potter decided to illustrate a book on fungi and made hundreds of precise drawings based on her observations.  Her uncle presented them to the director of the Royal Botanical Gardens on her behalf, but no one took them seriously.  Potter even made an actual scientific discovery and wrote a paper about it entitled "The Germination of the Spores of Agaricineae" for the Linnaean Society of London.  Since women were not allowed to attend the society's meetings, her uncle appeared before the members and read her paper.  The fact that she was a woman and a novice in the field put her at a distinct disadvantage, however, and eventually she gave up any serious attempts to draw or write about fungi.  From the time she was 14 until she was 31, Potter kept a journal that she wrote in secret code.  (It was finally decoded by Leslie Linder and published for the first time in 1966 and again in 1989.)  The year 1890 marked Potter's debut as a published illustrator.  Her animal drawings accompanied verses written by Frederic Weatherley in a book entitled A Happy Pair.  Potter remained virtually anonymous, however, by virtue of the fact that she signed her name simply as "H.B.P."

Three years later Potter wrote a letter to five-year-old Noël Moore, the seriously ill son of one of her former governesses.  To help cheer him up, Potter included in her letter the story of Peter Rabbit in words and pictures.  Friends who saw what she had done encouraged her to turn her ideas into a book.  Unable to find a publisher who would accept her work, Potter had the first version of The Tale of Peter Rabbit privately printed in 1900.  She had it reprinted in 1902, the same year she arranged for the first private printing of her second book, The Tailor of Gloucester.  By this time, Potter had begun to attract some attention in publishing circles.  Frederick Warne & Co. offered to publish The Tale of Peter Rabbit on the condition that she supply color illustrations.  Potter complied, and the book proved to be very successful.  Gale Encyclopedia of Biography  http://www.answers.com/topic/beatrix-potter

Sulzer Regional Library 4455 North Lincoln Avenue Chicago, is named after the first Caucasian settler to the area, Conrad Sulzer.  Sulzer was a Swiss immigrant who first made a living as an apothecary owner and later as a gentleman farmer.  He bought land in Lincoln Square in the late 1830s with a total of 100 acres.  This 5.1 million dollar library just doesn’t have books, but delightful whimsical chairs and tables as well!  The 115 plank chairs, winged chairs, trestle tables, and bigger rectangular tables were commissioned by Tannys Langdon of Hammond, Beeby & Babka architects, built by the Woodworking Corporation of New Paris Indiana, and painted by artist, Lori Coy.  The furniture was done in the Eastern European tradition using plywood with painted surface ornamentation instead of carving.  The themes include stylized folk art of Mid-Western flora and fauna, mythological creatures of European folk tales, and the four seasons.  Only 75 pieces remain within the library.  Some of the best reside in the mezzanine level of the library.  This area is only accessible during certain times of week or by appointment only.  If you reach the mezzanine level, just ask for Julie Lynch, she is the Librarian of the Historical Room and is very enthusiastic and helpful!  If you are not able to see the chairs do not despair there are many more on the main floor definitely worth checking out.  If you can, don’t forget to check the children’s reading area; some chairs are there too!  Heather Kendall   See stories and pictures for 12 different attractions in Lincoln Park including Architectural Artifacts  and The Old Town School of Folk Music at http://chicagomuseumblog.com/2012/08/03/a-peaceful-walk-in-lincoln-square-sites-and-pics-included/

"There are many men in London, you know, who, some from shyness, some from misanthropy, have no wish for the company of their fellows.  Yet they are not averse to comfortable chairs and the latest periodicals.  It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubable men in town.  No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one.  Save in the Stranger’s Room, no talking is, under any circumstances, allowed, and three offences, if brought to the notice of the committee, render the talker liable to expulsion.  My brother was one of the founders, and I have myself found it a very soothing atmosphere."  ―Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter.  http://bakerstreet.wikia.com/wiki/Diogenes_Club

Extrasensory perception or ESP involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind.  The term was adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, and clairvoyance, and their trans-temporal operation as precognition or retrocognition.  ESP is also sometimes referred to as a sixth sense.  The term implies acquisition of information by means external to the basic limiting assumptions of science, such as that organisms can only receive information from the past to the present. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasensory_perception

The "Great Game" (Rudyard Kipling made the phrase famous in the book Kim) arose from a complex of disagreements between Britain and Russia, and the weight to be assigned to each of the causes of the rivalry between them is still a subject of dispute among historians.  In the beginning, in 1791, when the British Prime Minister, William Pitt, opposed czarist annexation of Ochakov, a strategic port town belonging to the Ottoman Empire, it was for fear that Russia might become too powerful and might upset the existing balance of power.  But for a long time thereafter, that fear was forgotten as Britain and Russia both fought for their lives against Napoleon.  It was not until 1815, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars, that British fears of Russia began to revive  Read extensive article by David Fromkin from the Spring 1980 issue of Foreign Affairs at http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/33619/david-fromkin/the-great-game-in-asia

The Great Game:  Afghanistan is a British series of short plays on the history of Afghanistan and foreign intervention there, from the First Anglo-Afghan War to the present day.  It is organised into three sets of four plays and draws its name from the 19th and 20th century Great Game, a geopolitical struggle for dominance between The British and Russian Empires.  The main plays are linked by monologues and duologues giving historical background and verbatim theatre edited by Richard Norton-Taylor from modern figures linked with western involvement in Afghanistan, such as William Dalrymple, Hillary Clinton, Stanley McChrystal and David Richards.  Premiering at the Tricycle Theatre in London in 2009, it had another 6 week run there before a tour of the USA.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game:_Afghanistan

Kim is a picaresque novel by Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling.  It was first published serially in McClure's Magazine from December 1900 to October 1901 as well as in Cassell's Magazine from January to November 1901, and first published in book form by Macmillan & Co. Ltd in October 1901.  The story unfolds against the backdrop of The Great Game, the political conflict between Russia and Britain in Central Asia.  It is set after the Second Afghan War which ended in 1881, but before the Third, probably in the period 1893–98.  The novel is notable for its detailed portrait of the people, culture, and varied religions of India.  In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Kim No. 78 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.  In 2003 the book was listed on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novel."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_(novel)

In general, when something is Procrustean, different lengths or sizes or properties are fitted to an arbitrary standard.  In a Procrustean solution in statistics, instead of finding the best fit line to a scatter plot of data, one first chooses the line one wants, then selects only the data that fits it, disregarding data that does not, so to "prove" some idea.  It is a form of rhetorical deception made to forward one set of interests at the expense of others.  The unique goal of the Procrustean solution is not win-win, but rather that Procrustes wins and the other loses.  In this case, the defeat of the opponent justifies the deceptive means.  Read about Procrustes (also known as Prokoptas or Damastes) of Greek mythology, Procrustean bed and Procrustean string at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procrustes

Issue 1114  February 24, 2014  On this date in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII announced the Gregorian calendar.  On this date in 1917, the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom was given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledged to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declared war on the United States.