cheesesteak (had one for lunch!)

* The mantle of Mrs. Grundy - a figurative name for an extremely conventional person who worries about being different * The Grand Guignol - a Parisian theater that opened in 1897 * The "qui vive" of expectation - Que vive? Is a question: Who goes there? To be on the alert, suspicious. * Carlyle on the Dutch (who was who and who did what?) - Carlyle was Scottish writer/philosopher in nineteenth century who wrote social/political criticism. Not sure about the Dutch reference. Any ideas? * Cassandra could have looked more gloomily prophetic - Cassandra was the royal daughter at the time of the Trojan War. She rejected ApolloâÂÂs advances and in retaliation, he made it so no one would believe what she said. (Perhaps âÂÂgloomily prophecticâ due to this?) * A veritable colossus of negation - âÂÂcolossusâ was a huge ancient statue on the Greek island of Rhodes, so perhaps this refers to how immovable negativity is when people espouse it strongly * Fox (re: pity?) - not sure about this one. * Bib and tucker (clothing) - refers to oneâÂÂs best clothes; first used in 18th century. âÂÂBibsâ were similar to current day baby bibs, except these were worn by adults over their clothes (mostly women). Made of lace and fitted over the bodice; sometimes called âÂÂpinnersâ or âÂÂmodesty piecesâÂÂ. âÂÂTuckerâ were bibs that were tucked in. (Pinners/Bibs were pinned and tuckers were tucked.) Linked with âÂÂpinaforeâÂÂ, âÂÂpin-a-foreâÂÂ: a pin/bib thatâÂÂs pinned on the front of clothing. (Taken from Patricia Brent, Spinster - Herbert Jenkins.)

Talisman is a beautiful rose. It gets too large to be in my garden. Love your photo, Beth. Here's one that usually is darker, so don't let that fool you. The triple digit heat has lightened the blooms, but it is still quite pretty. It can get large too, in California, but I have to make space for it somehow.

I was also thinking about this thread after hearing the the News Quiz on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. One of the items on the News Quiz asked something to the effect of "This influential individual died 50 years ago this week", of course Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the correct answer, but my objection was to the usage of "died". Yes, he died, but more importantly, he was murdered, nay, assassinated, and their use of "died" sounded beyond non-optimal, it sounded WRONG. This thread remains very thought provoking, and I appreciate everyone's musings.