"Romance at short notice was her speciality"

Letty

That is a lovely line. But also lovely is 'a lie that laughs'. I have always aspired to this calibre of lies, with bill collectors and father's of girl's I was dating, but seldom achieved it.

Hey, Canada. Shall we let "Sleeping Dogs Lie" ? Nah--wake 'em up and tell 'em the check's in the mail. Bill collectors are quite dogged at times. ...and as for fathers, "necessity is the father of invention."

That H.H. Munro line is a good one. The rhythm reminds me of the first line of W.H. Auden's "Epitaph on a Tyrant":
Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after

My favorite exchange in literature is the following from Silver Blaze, by Conan Doyle:

(Inspector Gregory addresses Holmes:)

"Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
"To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time."
"The dog did nothing in the night-time."
"That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes.

D'artagnan, hello. What a wonderful way to say "touche". Yes, perfection of a kind...Auden, as in "Lunch on Omaha Beach". Is anyone listening?

Setanta, I am not familiar with that Doyle observation, but it reinforces the solemnity of silence, just as a cricket box. When the cricket does not chirp, something is lurking about.

Munro had his moments of harsh satire as in "The Story Teller"...The good conduct medals clanking together, alerted the wolf to the good little girl's whereabouts.

Merry Christmas to all here...

For those who wish to read Silver Blaze[/b].

Oh, my Gawd, Setanta..."Is that a scroll in your toga"...laughin' so hard that I can't even respond adequately to your replication of Holmes and his marvelous deductions. Will read the entire thing tomorrow.

Goodnight

Thanks, Letty. The entire "Epitaph" is a miniature gem, and the last line packs a wallop...

the ultimate in existential dispair, Albert Camus "we must imagine Sisyphus happy."

dyslexia--The last frontier--the human imagination.

Miss Letty ~ please forgive me for not paying attention!

Rae, Hoorah! Now that you're paying attention......... Good to see you, gal.

Hmmmmm - a rolling stone gathers no mirth...

Hey,Deb. ...and a diet of romance, gathers no girth.

Lord, I will drink to that!

Good to see you too, Miss Letty! I did get your Christmas message and then.....all went belly up with my computer! But, thank you for thinking of me! Hope you enjoyed the holiday!