A Tribute to abra a collection of her comments

[LLapp]

"Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children." — William M. Thackeray

abra
December 19, 2015, 3:02 pm
Honestly, my son still thinks I'm a tiny bit god-like. He's a wonderful son.

[LLapp]

"A man doesn't plant a tree for himself. He plants it for posterity." — Alexander Smith

abra
January 15, 2020, 7:48 pm
My daughter-in-law gave me a magnolia tree for Mothers' Day a long time ago. For years it looked like it was planted for posterity, but then it took off. I think it's probably 25 or 30 feet high now.

[hrossa]

"Character is another thing that is formed in youth and reformed in marriage. " — Unattributed

seastar228
January 6, 2018, 9:18 pm
I was informed by my ex that after getting married it is not necessary to say, "Thank you" anymore. I guess that his first 2 wives didn't agree with that either.

abra
November 10, 2022, 2:23 am
Ah, didn't Ryan O' Neal say that in Love Story? "Love means never having to say ''thank you''?

[LLapp]

"Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way."
— Edward De Bono (born 19 May 1933, in Malta)

universalmom
September 30, 2014, 11:35 am
Malta... Not that many people are from there!

Fudi
August 2, 2019, 5:14 pm
I went to Malta on my honeymoon. I highly recommend going to Malta - completely beautiful ... like a fairytale. (Though I'm very sad that the azure window is no longer there .... )

LLapp
May 11, 2020, 2:44 am
MALTA? You went to Malta on your honeymoon?! I went to Sea Isle City.

Fudi
February 10, 2021, 5:31 pm
Sea Isle City is nice too.

abra
August 4, 2022, 2:29 am
When I got married, I refused to get on an airplane. I was determined that I would never go on a bridge over the Mississippi. We went to a resort that was a couple of hours from home. It was a great place. It burned down a long time ago. It was nice too. LOL.

[Synonymous]

I just had to print this one, it’s classic abra:

"The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience."
— Emily Dickinson

Comments on this Puzzle:

Barnabas
May 28, 2012, 3:10 pm
I think the 7% success rate is probably due to solvers trying to figure out where their mistake is when they have filled in "afar" and not being able to come up with "ajar"
lolpoop
July 21, 2012, 6:04 pm
true dat, i almost made that mistake myself.
abra
July 25, 2012, 3:51 am
I tried afar first.
wvwoman
October 16, 2012, 4:57 am
i also had 'afar'--luckily there were only a few letters only used once, making it easy to find and correct the error.
abra
September 29, 2013, 10:43 am
I didn't remember this one and I tried AFAR first again, but knew immediately that it must be AJAR. Which seems like kind of a weird thing to say.
kb83
April 3, 2014, 7:56 am
in the context of the whole saying, it has to be "ajar".
MrsLew
December 13, 2014, 5:44 am
count me in with the 'afar' folks
abra
December 29, 2014, 7:44 am
Again, I tried AFAR. Ugh!
abra
February 13, 2015, 2:38 pm
I should have it tattooed on my eylids. AJAR!
abra
May 31, 2015, 10:07 am
Apparently, I'm never going to remember AJAR.
LLapp
July 1, 2015, 10:09 am
Me too. And I think "ajar" is a beautiful word here.
wolf
August 27, 2015, 1:46 pm
When is a bottle NOT a bottle? When it's a jar!
marnita
January 3, 2016, 7:54 am
I tried afar too, even though it makes no sense.
marnita
May 12, 2016, 4:19 pm
And here I am again, same problem. I wonder what it will take to get me to remember this.
SippyGurl
November 22, 2016, 10:00 pm
yah, afar
abra
July 21, 2017, 12:13 pm
I've been here SO many times and each time I've tried AFAR first. I think I'm beyond hope. At least it's easy to figure out the mistake.
abra
August 24, 2017, 5:46 pm
OMgosh, I remembered AJAR. When is a door not a door? When it's ajar.
746tiger
January 5, 2018, 3:39 am
At least her soul was ajar, if not her door. She stood rather afar, didn't she?
fishbum
March 30, 2018, 9:05 am
I don't hold much trust in the stats. From the comments above it would seem with only a little perseverance this was solvable.
marnita
May 17, 2018, 1:31 pm
I STILL didn't remember it!
MadDoctor
June 2, 2018, 2:40 pm
Congratulations Abra. It only took you 7 attempts to get 'AJAR". I've only made the same mistake once, I think. I would remember the comments if I'd read them. The same puzzle, seven times in five years. Does that mean you spend too much time doing Cryptograms?
LLapp
July 9, 2019, 4:51 am
Too much time doing cryptograms??? Well I never. Where's the bouncer?
mohamm1
August 20, 2019, 12:41 am
I feel a draft...
letfreedomring
August 24, 2019, 6:47 pm
@MadDoctor, Abra has had this quote seven times and seven times she solved it and commented. What is your point?
mmfs83
October 2, 2019, 5:43 pm
Afar, I thought only doors were ajar.
Disturbed1
July 10, 2020, 12:31 pm
I, for one, am glad abra "spends too much time" doing cryptos. I don't always agree with her views, but I find her comments insightful and respectful.
DrCryptell
October 22, 2021, 3:04 am
I stood ajar and then afar. It was bizarre to stand ajar. A door's ajar, a person - nar. I'd sooner go into a bar Or even alight upon a star, But stand ajar? I say har har! NEVER NEVER
LLapp
March 7, 2022, 4:40 pm
For those confused by Emily's word choice: She's likening a person's soul (or spirit, or mental attitude; any of these would work) to a house with a door. She's implying that the door of that house may be open or shut to the possibility of uplifting joy, and she's suggesting that you take an in-between, moderate approach -- that you leave your door neither wide open nor tight shut, but just ajar, so that you can remain soundly in this everyday world but always with an opening to welcome the sunshine of joy. (But she said ALL of that just 12 words! That's poetry, man.)
kb83
April 10, 2022, 12:04 am
When is a door not a door?
DrCryptell
May 16, 2022, 4:18 am
kb83 asks: When is a door not a door? Answer: When it's afar.



ADD YOUR COMMENTS:

[LLapp]

"For the sense of smell, almost more than any other, has the power to recall memories, and it is a pity that you use it so little." — Rachel Carson

abra
July 27, 2019, 3:03 am
When I think about the sixties there is a smell (no not that smell). It took a long time for me to identify it, but it was hair spray. The sixties smelled like hair spray, and Cover-Girl to me. Sorry about that hair spray, Rachel.

[LLapp]

"Grandmother-grandchild relationships are simple. Grandmas are short on criticism and long on love." — Unattributed

abra
December 1, 2013, 11:04 am
I LOVE my guys.

GramBow
July 30, 2014, 10:39 am
Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged Proverbs 17:6

oddcouple
February 24, 2017, 10:36 pm
I loved my Grandma and Grandpa. Here's a poem I recited for their 50th anniversary-"A boy needs a Grandma to spoil him a bit, One with time one her hands who will sit, In an old rocking chair that shivers and squeaks, And listens to words that little boys speak". On request I repeated it for the 60th anniversary, although I was a grown adult by then. Thought maybe some grandmas out there might appreciate it.

NotTooOld
February 23, 2018, 11:36 am
My grandma was my most favorite person in the whole world. What would I have done without her?

abra
June 29, 2018, 5:53 pm
oddcouple, it's quite wonderful. We've just had our 50th anniversary. I love my grandsons so much. Thanks for sharing that.

[LLapp]

"Science has always been too dignified to invent a good backscratcher." — Don Marquis

abra on 2015-03-20 16:11:52
We had one, but we lost it. Where does one go to buy a new backscratcher? Where could ours possibly have disappeared to? I think it must have been in the couch we sent to the Salvation Army. Otherwise, it would have popped up again.

darkyr on 2017-03-24 06:11:58
I went to the Salvation Army to buy a couch, came home with an outstanding backscratcher. Nothing in my science textbooks prepared me for the surprise.

abra on 2017-10-29 18:49:12
darkyr, you're welcome.

[LLapp]

The highest panegyric, therefore, that private virtue can receive, is the praise of servants." — Samuel Johnson

abra on 2015-09-19 09:07:59
I'm not sure if I've done this one before, but I guessed right on panegyric. Yea!

LLapp on 2015-09-26 19:04:25
I'll have to get myself some servants so they can tell me how great I am.

abra on 2015-11-06 11:40:33
If I had servants, I'm sure they would think I was a lovely person, and lavish lots of that panegyricky stuff on me. ) I'd probably do most of their work for them, because I'd want them to like me.

[LLapp]

A few snippets of Abra's wry wit and silliness....


"There is no passion like that of a functionary for his function." — Georges Clemenceau

abra on 2015-05-31 08:28:40
Oh, I do love a functionary, when he's busy functioning.

******************

"Words are always getting conventionalized to some secondary meaning. It is one of the works of poetry to take the truants in custody and bring them back to their right senses." — William Butler Yeats

skoogie2 on 2013-09-22 02:29:14
I love the idea of taking those words and setting them free of conventions! haha Words gone wild!

abra on 2013-12-06 15:26:17
Great idea, until it's YOUR words, up there flashing, on Young Words Gone Wild.

******************

If you burn your neighbor's house down, it doesn't make your house look any better." — Lou Holtz

Kgun5 on 2014-06-11 01:25:32
I wonder if he said this in a post-game press conference after a loss.

abra on 2015-04-28 15:20:23
Nah, it comes from the booklet 10 Easy Steps for Selling Your House. JK

******************


"It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness." — Charles Haddon Spurgeon



SippyGurl on 2014-06-09 03:34:33
oooooo, i like his portrait, wonder who the artist is? great quote, too : )

locodad on 2014-06-15 01:53:19
it couldn't be his driver's license because they look horrible

tgreen517 on 2015-10-18 09:32:02
Maybe before they had cameras they had to use portraits for drivers licenses.

abra on 2016-07-25 09:37:21
They did and if you think you have to wait a long time at the DMV now, you should have seen it back then.

*******************

Where God builds a church the devil builds a chapel." — Martin Luther

haverwench on 2015-06-21 05:49:11
What does God build where the devil builds a toll plaza?

abra on 2016-09-10 13:32:48
A Cinnabon store.

[montyb]

[Edited down to the essential Abra.]

"A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else."
— Len Wein

abra
October 20, 2013, 5:29 pm
Last night I stood in a line for 2 12 hours, so my husband could go see Robert Cray, for free. I would rather have been elsewhere.

toddcmz
October 9, 2015, 5:27 am
The world of Puzzle Baron applauds you, Abra.

abra
November 27, 2015, 4:08 pm
And I accept that applause :0)

figment
October 4, 2016, 4:23 pm
years later, i join the applause

abra
January 4, 2017, 6:23 pm
Still here bowing.

marnita
November 12, 2017, 10:16 am
If you had known how many years of praise you would get for it, abra, you would have been happier to be there.

abra
December 7, 2019, 8:45 pm
I definitely would have, marnita.

LLapp
March 12, 2021, 2:27 am
Robert Cray for free?! Am I too late for the concert?

[hrossa]

Oh, that entire thread is a cooperative effort, wonderful surprise!

[LLapp]

In human life there is constant change of fortune; and it is unreasonable to expect an exemption from the common fate. Life itself decays, and all things are daily changing." — Plutarch

skoogie2
January 24, 2014, 1:56 am
to everything, turn, turn, turn

montyb
February 23, 2014, 2:18 pm
...there is a season, turn, turn, turn...

wordfairy
September 28, 2014, 8:41 pm
...and a time for every purpose under heaven...

abra
August 17, 2015, 10:59 am
A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to reap...

opallady
September 26, 2015, 11:33 am
A time to kill, a time to heal. A time to laugh, a time to weep.

wvwoman
October 31, 2015, 1:53 pm
a time to build up, a time to break down a time to dance, a time to mourn...

LizardLeap
January 23, 2016, 9:52 am
a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together...

emtonsti
August 4, 2016, 10:34 am
to everything turn, turn, turn

wvwoman
October 17, 2016, 10:30 am
a time of love, a time of hate a time of war, a time of peace a time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing...

LLapp
September 21, 2017, 1:44 pm
A time to gain, a time to lose, a time to rend, a time to sow, a time for love, a time for hate...

Jalapenoman
September 26, 2017, 1:37 pm
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late!

Jrdad
October 22, 2020, 10:44 am
That was a real Kumbaya moment. See, we can do it!

[Synonymous]

I used to love the way abra corrected herself, sometimes months even years later…here’s one:

"There can be no friendship where there is no freedom. Friendship loves a free air, and will not be fenced up in straight and narrow enclosures. "
— William Penn


Comments on this Puzzle:

tgreen517
May 24, 2015, 7:02 am
there is always room for friendshiip.
LLapp
January 24, 2016, 11:15 am
I find Penn's writing very sterile. No wonder he's not known for his quotes.
maradnu
December 4, 2017, 10:23 am
Don't fence me in
MissKitty
February 28, 2018, 9:43 am
Friendship also likes to sit at the bar and have you pay for the drinks Kilroy 38
bees
May 27, 2018, 5:31 am
Another real estate entrepreneur who makes word salad out of a passing thought. Who says history does not repeat itself.
abra
June 9, 2018, 11:08 am
I want to ride to the ridge where the West commences To many words, gaze at the moon till I lose my senses And I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences Don't fence me in. LOL, MissKitty.
abra
May 15, 2019, 2:52 am
*too
jbb33054
October 6, 2019, 6:05 pm
35
tclcac
March 20, 2021, 11:15 pm
Give me land, lots of land, 'neath the starry skies above .... let me ride through the wide open country that I love ....



ADD YOUR COMMENTS:

[Eureka]

"Marriage is a meal where the soup is better than the dessert."
— Austin O'Malley

abra
January 25, 2015, 2:01 pm
I'm not really sure what this means, but I guess that it's a good thing?

Jalapenoman
November 12, 2016, 2:07 pm
Abra, I think that the writer is trying to say that the beginning of marriage (the appetizer) is better than the end.

YorkiesRule
February 1, 2017, 2:18 am
I think this quote, like many other quotes about marriage, is missing the word "my" in the beginning. "My marriage is..."

abra
August 30, 2019, 11:12 pm
J-man, that makes sense. I guess everyone else got it. I've enjoyed it all so far. The soup, the salad, the meat and potatoes. I suppose we are at or nearing the dessert course. I agree. Austin should speak for himself.