ABC Wednesday: "O" is for...

Ocean!

Specifically, here, the Atlantic Ocean. A few shots from our annual trek to Rehoboth Beach, DE. Think I'm ready for another visit!

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

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Happy Easter! Happy Springtime!

Have a lovely day, everyone!

ABC Wednesday: "N" is for...

Nancy Drew!

The teenaged sleuth first appeared in April 1930 with the release of The Secret of the Old Clock, the first book in the long-running series (above, a photo of a recent reproduction of the original cover). Nancy was the creation of Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate publishing organization. The series eventually extended to more than a hundred titles, ghostwritten by a number of authors over the years, and all published under the collective pseudonym of Carolyn Keene.


As a pre- and young teen, I was crazy about Nancy Drew. I'm really not sure how many of the books I've read, but I know it must be dozens. I loved them all, but my favorite was always the second book in the series, The Hidden Staircase. The photo above, is a shot of a reproduction of the original cover from 1930, with artwork by Russell H. Tandy. But the cover I remember is from a slightly later edition (artwork by Bill Gillies):


Secret panels, mysterious disappearances, underground tunnels, and Nancy running around a spooky old mansion armed with flashlight and revolver - how could I not love it?

I haven't read any of the books produced after the early 1960s, but they're still being cranked out. And Nancy is keeping up with the latest trends. One book from 2003 is titled Werewolf in a Winter Wonderland, and 2010 saw the publication of Nancy Drew: Vampire Slayer. That last one is apparently a graphic novel - what did I say about Nancy and the latest trends?

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ABC Wednesday: "M" is for...

Memories

I found this little collage of objects decorating a wall in the retirement home where my mother-in-law is living. A gathering of school-day nostalgia, it struck me as very sweet and poignant. I wonder if any of the residents have ever noticed it, and what their reaction would be.

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Birthday Girl

My mother was born on April 11th in 1921.
She would have been ninety years old, today!

1921-2001

She died on Easter Sunday in 2001. She always said she thought she'd die on her birthday, and she only missed it by a few days. She would have hated being 90 - she didn't really care much for old people.

Spring is always a time of very mixed emotions for me.

ABC Wednesday: "L" is For...

Little Lulu!

Little Lulu, created by Marjorie Henderson Buell (or, as she signed herself, "Marge"), originated as a single-panel cartoon in a 1935 issue of the Saturday Evening Post magazine. The comic continued to run in SEP until 1944, and later was developed into a daily newspaper comic strip and then a long-running comic book series.


I've always loved Little Lulu. She was probably my very first literary heroine, and definitely an early role model. She was bright and inquisitive, ingenious and fearless. An early feminist, she was never one to be intimidated by rules or conventions. And her hair was always perfect!


I was hoping to have some photos of my own Little Lulu doll to display for today's post, but I find that she's packed away in storage. So I'm using a shot I borrowed from the Internet. I have this same doll, but mine is a little more "loved."

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