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Thanks Eureka for keeping abra alive in our memories. She is missed.
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"We can forgive a man for making a useful thing, as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely. All art is quite useless." — Oscar Wilde
Barnabas
May 2, 2012, 2:49 pm
I once saw an original work of Andy Warhol's. Useless for the most part, but certainly not valueless.
Barnabas
May 16, 2013, 9:40 pm
Oh... and I did admire it greatly!
skoogie2
July 18, 2013, 12:44 pm
Depends on your definition of useful. Art brings joy in many cases, so that makes it useful.
Annamariah
September 18, 2014, 4:41 am
This is from the preface of The Picture of Dorian Gray.
abra
August 14, 2015, 3:41 pm
Thanks, Annamaria. I've never read it, but I saw the movie when I was a kid. It wasn't until I came to this site, that I even knew that it was written by Oscar Wilde.
Annamariah
September 11, 2015, 12:18 pm
I first heard of it when my school class made an excursion to a museum where there was a series of photographs inspired by the story. The museum guide summarised the story for us, and I found it fascinating. The Picture of Dorian Gray was one of the first classics that I read in English, and I enjoyed Wilde's language a lot.
LLapp
October 17, 2016, 9:48 am
Annamariah, I enjoy your perspective! And Barnabas, if you come back, can you say what it was in Warhol's work that you admired? I have trouble appreciating his art.
letfreedomring
April 30, 2018, 5:50 am
This quote just after one by Renoir, whose art is anything but useless. Is this Oscar having a hissy fit?
Earthwalker
March 24, 2019, 8:30 pm
Had an art teacher who said that the difference between art and craft was that crafts, however beautiful, could be used for something. Art, he insisted, must be entirely useless.
abra
August 10, 2021, 9:25 pm
I disagree with your teacher Earthwalker. If art makes you gasp and stare, if it touches your heart or your mind. I don't think that's useless. If you hang it over that dent in the wall, that's not useless.
abra
September 19, 2022, 1:48 am
^ I am a crafter. I would have loved to be an artist.Comment
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This Abra's son.
Life has gone forward, as we have no other choice. But I've been thinking about Mom a lot the last couple of weeks. Honestly, I don't think it's because of mother's day, but maybe some other things in life. I can't be much younger than Mom was when she started playing the quote game, that's probably part of it - it doesn't matter why.
It is so touching to see that people have still posted here so recently.
There's a story here about us getting lost walking home when we lived in California, that was buried deep in my psyche, that I couldn't believe was here. I had to he 3 or 4.Comment
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Nitefly5150 It is SOOO very nice to hear from you. Thank you. Although abra and I were not close, I had a very healthy respect for her and miss her wise commentary on the Cryptograms she solved. I had a tree planted in her honor in the Bladen Lakes State forest as a token of our respect for her and I hoped her family would visit her tree sometime in remembrance of her. I had it planted for all of us who so very much valued, and I can say, many of us loved her. (Tree Planted in: Bladen Lakes State Forest Project, State: North Carolina, Latitude: 34.702873230, Longitude: -78.465927120) She will live forever in the beauty of this tree. And I hope we continue to enjoy her comments for many years to come on this site. Thank you again. Synonymous.
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Nitefly5150, I think of Abra whenever I play here because her comments are almost always present. I only began playing in recent years, so I was just beginning to know her, but I feel her loss keenly. I felt she was a kindred spirit in many important ways. She left many other warm and funny family references and stories. Missing her, it must be both painful and comforting to see what she wrote here. I hope you'll be back often!Comment
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Nitefly5150, it's so good to see you here! Your mom was such a big part of this game that it is impossible to play it without thinking of her. There was something so warm and sincere about her comments and she shared about her life and family in such an unassuming way that we all felt we knew her. Because of the large number of puzzles on here and the randomness of landing on them, I always look forward to seeing comments from her that I've never read before. In that way, she lives on for me. Thanks Synonymous for letting us know about the tree. That is a lovely gesture.Comment
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Nitefly5150, I'm so glad to know that you know this forum thread is here to read whenever you want. I think of this thread as a way for your mom's distinctive wit, kindness and memories to live on for everyone who misses her, but especially for you and your family. I hope your dad's doing okay, and I hope your sons have had a chance to read some of these posts and see themselves through their grandmother's eyes.Comment
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"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive - it's such an interesting world." — Lucy Montgomery
LiveLoveLaugh
July 14, 2011, 12:30 am
Lucy Maud Montgomery???
abra
October 25, 2011, 4:21 am
It must be.
Annamariah
July 9, 2014, 2:18 am
Yes, it's Lucy Maud Montgomery, one of my favourite authors. This is from Anne of Green Gables.
debzhaus
November 10, 2014, 3:09 pm
I love Anne.
abra
April 28, 2015, 9:42 am
I didn't find Anne, until I was an adult. I wish, that I had found her when I was a child.
debzhaus
October 16, 2016, 5:16 am
I didn't find her until I was an adult either.
abra
March 5, 2017, 12:05 pm
I was watching the PBS series, and I found out both of my sisters had read the books. One of them gave me the set for Christmas that year.
KMMRN
June 11, 2017, 1:14 am
I live in Summerside, one of the places LMM taught. My grandmother was one of her students! Many of the families and locations mentioned in her book "Anne of Windy Poplars" are still easily identifiable.
abra
October 1, 2017, 6:36 pm
KMMRN, wow!! That makes me happy just to hear it.
didit
January 26, 2019, 9:13 am
KMMRN, that is really special. Did your grandmother have any stories to tell about it? How meaningful it must have been for you to read the books and how fun to identify with the places and people. She's a wonderful author.
Eureka
May 20, 2019, 11:47 am
Anyone who has read the books should visit Prince Edward Island. It is a magical place. You are lucky to live there, KMMRN!
abra
August 28, 2019, 1:27 am
I just read a comment from you tonight, KMMRN, where you said you had returned to PEI, and felt so content there.Comment
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Nitefly5150, if my notes are correct, your parents would be celebrating another anniversary this month, May. I hope you and your family have a wonderful remembrance of your mother and the children of their grandmother, to know how much she was loved and cared for in the Cryptogram community and I'll bet in her own community as well; and how much she is missed. Be well and all the best to you, your family and especially your grandfather.Comment
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Correction to the last post...the last line should be "...especially your father" not your grandfather. Sorry for the error.Comment
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Abra and I disagreed strongly on every political topic, but, outside of party platforms, we were of the same mind about a lot of important stuff, from childrearing philosophy to fear of spiders and benign acceptance of too many guitars in the house, to our shared take on certain literary figures.
"The beginning of atonement is the sense of its necessity." — Lord Byron
LLapp
November 18, 2014, 10:37 am
Something tells me that Lord "Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know" Byron may have said this only for public relations reasons.
wordfairy
February 22, 2015, 11:45 pm
xD (Or he was fishing for an apology...)
abra
March 4, 2019, 2:59 am
LLapp, we don't seem to agree about much, but we'll always have Lord Byron.
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"Pearls around the neck - stones upon the heart." — Hanan J. Ayalti
Queethebean
June 24, 2012, 10:28 pm
What does this mean?
SKEHR98
July 29, 2012, 3:14 pm
?????
universalmom
January 17, 2013, 11:22 am
Wealth = unhappiness maybe?
WRQ9
August 11, 2013, 7:08 pm
No, it means money makes cruelty easy, for everyone, even the classy lady.
sarah.doe.111
July 27, 2015, 6:22 pm
It means that appearances are deceiving.
RS2
August 26, 2015, 11:23 am
A beautiful woman with a heart of stone
louploup
October 8, 2015, 11:07 am
High maintenance.....beautiful on the outside not so great inside!
abra
January 16, 2016, 2:24 pm
It means that June Cleaver was a bitch.
universalmom
September 1, 2016, 2:19 pm
Haha abra! Nice one! And wrq9 got it right, I think
badbob
June 6, 2017, 8:23 pm
it ain't the wrapping, it's what's inside
LLapp
February 23, 2018, 1:44 pm
OMG abra, I almost woke the neighbors!
kahvecowgirl
September 10, 2018, 6:02 am
I was thinking Cruella Deville, but abra nailed it.
mohamm1
July 26, 2020, 2:17 pm
Showing off great wealth in a land with rampant poverty probably does indicate a lack of concern for the well-being of others. Stone-hearted. Selfish. -------------------- I solved this more by intuition than by thinking. 45 seconds.
318WOZ
June 13, 2021, 10:37 pm
Funny, abra.
Elephino
July 25, 2021, 9:06 pm
If you had do vacuum in high heels all day...
gracefulghost
September 15, 2022, 11:33 am
I don't think I can walk in high heels anymore, much less vacuum. I might suck up some pearls from my broken necklace, or,trip on them and not be able to get up.
kb83
July 6, 2023, 12:09 pm
abra wins this one!Comment
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"Education begins at home. You can't blame the school for not putting into your child what you don't put into him." — Geoffrey Holder
abra
March 3, 2016, 1:18 pm
When we're talking about small children, it's so important. I loved those preschool years and the primary grades, when I was teaching my son colors, and numbers, the alphabet, phonics, and best of all reading. I think the percentage of families, where the parents can't teach these things must be very small. I wonder why we need Headstart. Those moms and dads are missing out on so much, if they aren't doing this, with their toddlers. Unfortunately, by the eighth grade, I was no help in math.
abra
July 1, 2016, 1:56 pm
No help with punctuation and grammer either.
LLapp
September 5, 2016, 11:19 pm
I loved helping my children learn and being there to see all those big moments of early discovery. They are still learning, and I still love when they tell me about it.
marnita
November 11, 2016, 7:42 am
I fear many parents have to work very long hours just to provide food, shelter and clothing. I think most parents do what they can for their kids, although of course there are always exceptions.
abra
January 14, 2017, 12:46 pm
That's true, Marnita, my own son and daughter-in-law, both work and have a long commute. They weren't able to teach the boys to read, but they were able to work with them on letters and numbers. They read to them. For some not all people, these things don't take too much more time than teaching the kids to do household chores. I agree that most parent try to do what's best for their children. I'm just thinking that it's a shame if they think it's best to leave it up to Head Start, or even a fancy pre-school.
SippyGurl
February 9, 2017, 9:39 am
i thought he meant things like character, diligence, curiosity, dignity, etc... as opposed to the 3 r kind of stuff
puzzleme
March 1, 2017, 4:58 pm
I'm with SippyGurl on this, however, I do think most parents, even those who work long hourse, can find some time to encourage their children's natural curiosity and love of learning simply by reading to them. A friend who works in the field of adult literacy once told me that the most important variable affecting a child's ability to read is whether or not the child's mother can read.
abra
September 17, 2020, 9:49 pm
Sippy, I definitely think you're right. It just got me off on a tangent. People shouldn't leave it to schools to teach their kids ethics.Comment
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