Distance lends enchantment to the view proverbial saying, late 18th century; originally a quotation from the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell (1777–1844):  ‘'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view, And robes the mountain in its azure hue.’  Compare blue are the hills that are far away.  Go the distance.  Complete a difficult task or endure an ordeal.  A metaphor from boxing, meaning when used of a boxer, ‘complete a match without being knocked out’, and of a boxing match, ‘last the scheduled length’.  In the US there is an additional baseball-related sense, ‘pitch for the entire length of an inning’.  https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095722302 The first time Theodore Geisel used the pen name “Seuss,” it was 1925, and he was a senior at Dartmouth College.  Ted, as his friends called him, was an editor at the campus humor rag, the Jack-O-Lantern, where he also published his cartoons.  Until, that is, he and his friends were caught drinking bootleg gin in his room—this was 1925, remember, the middle of Prohibition—and as a punishment, Ted was forced to resign from his position at the paper.  Literary Hub  July 14, 2024

“Nonsense wakes up the brain cells.  And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age.  Humor has a tremendous place in this sordid world.  It’s more than just a matter of laughing.  If you can see things out of whack, then you can see how things can be in whack.”  Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904–1991) was an American children's author and cartoonist.  He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than 60 books under the pen name, Dr. Seuss.  His work includes many of the most popular children's books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss   Marie Paradis from Chamonix (then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia) became the first woman to climb Mont Blanc, Western Europe’s highest mountain, on 14 July 1808.  Chekhov’s gun   (chek-ofs GUHN)  noun  1. The literary principle that if an element is introduced in a story, it must be shown to have a purpose.  2.  An element introduced in a story that is revealed to have a purpose later on.  After the playwright and doctor Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) who espoused this principle. Earliest documented use:  1951.    NOTES:  Chekhov said, “One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn’t going to go off.”  Not trying to be a smart alec, but one must never place a loaded firearm on a stage or set, going off or not.  At any rate, we understand his point and it wasn’t about the rifle gathering rust.  Also see:  red herring, McGuffin, prolepsis, Ockham’s razor.  A Word A Day with Anu Garg  July 15, 2024  The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man.  Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish.  Only the bicycle remains pure in heart. - Iris Murdoch, writer (15 Jul 1919-1999)

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2838  July 15, 2024