The KellyGram

The soul that perpetually overflows with kindness and sympathy will always be cheerful.

Parke Godwin

Cheerfulness is the sunny ray of life.

Baron Humboldt

Let us be of good cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never come.

James Russell Lowell

The most certain sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness. Her state is like that of things in the regions above the moon, always clear and serene.

Michel de Montaigne

Laughing cheerfulness throws the light of day on all the paths of life.

Jean Paul Richter

Put the golden sunshine in each day;

Others need the cheer that comes through you

Need it most when outer skys dull gray

Leaves the sunshine-making yours to do.

Juniata Stafford

Cheerfulness means a contented spirit; a pure heart, a kind and loving disposition; it means humility and charity, a generous appreciation of others, and a modest opinion of self.

William Makepeace Thackeray

Assume a cheerfulness you do not feel and shortly you will feel the cheerfulness you assumed.

Chinese Proverb

Cheerful people, the doctors say, resist disease better than the glum ones. In other words, the surly bird catches the germ.

Anonymous

Cheerfulness is the window-cleaner of the mind.

Anonymous

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THE JOY OF LEX

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Just recently, I came across an old friend I havent had much to do with in recent years. On second thought, Im not sure I can call someone Ive never met a friend, even though the addiction or obsession we share makes him seem like one.

His name, which may be familiar to some readers, is Gyles Brandreth. Born in England, he was educated at Oxford University, served as a Member of Parliament, and as an official in the government of former Prime Minister John Major.

To me, however, his most significant accomplishments have been as an author. For the past 20-plus years, hes been right here, sitting on the shelves of my library, between the covers of two volumes that should be part of every word lovers book collection: The Joy of Lex, published in 1980, and More Joy of Lex, which followed two years later.

In the Introduction to the first book, Brandreth describes himself as a word freak. "Im fascinated by language," he writes, "the way we use it and abuse it, the way we can manipulate it and be manipulated by it, the tricks we can play with it, the marvels we can create with it, the sheer fun we can have with it."

At that time, Brandreth estimated that he had spoken 354,781,000 words or so, and that a typical American in the course of a lifetime will have uttered at least 860,341,500 of them. Having grown up in New York City, Id be inclined to double that estimate for a lot of the folks I knew back then. Some of us spoke at about 180 words a minute, with gusts up to 225 or more. Had I stayed, Id have probably topped the one billion mark by the time I turned 40.

In his Introduction to More Joy of Lex, Brandreth calls it "a lighthearted celebration of our languagein my view, the richest, most diverse, most exciting and most entertaining language in the world."

In this and coming issues of The KellyGram, well present some excerpts from Brandreths books. This months topic is oronyms, which are defined as series of words or phrases that sound the same as another series of words or a phrase, but with different spellings. For example:

The stuffy nose can lead to problems.

The stuff he knows can lead to problems.

White shoes: the trademark of Pat Boone.

Why choose the trademark of Pat Boone?

A politicians fate often hangs in a delicate balance.

A politicians fate often hangs in a delegate balance.

In future issues, well take a look at, among other things, lipograms, neologisms and portmanteaus (sometimes called telescopes or jumbles). We think youll agree that we do have a language thats enormously exciting and entertaining. Stay tuned!

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OUR NEW WEB HOST

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Although our quote collection is certainly among the largest in the English-speaking world, we periodically check out several of the websites that feature quotations. Thats how we came across an excellent quotation service called Quotes of the Day, operated by G. Armour Van Horn. Each day, Van publishes about a half-dozen timely quotes, either on a particular topic or by a particular individual. The quotes are always prefaced by some insightful information, either on the person quoted or on how he chose that particular topic.

Ive been subscribing for several months now and, along the way, discovered that Van also provides web hosting services. The contract with my former host expired last month and, while I was very pleased with the service I received, the addiction or obsession Van and I share for quotes suggested that joining forces could be serendipitous.

For a free subscription to Quotes of the Day, visit http://www.qotd.org/subscribe.html, or for more information, email Van at vanhorn@whidbey.com.

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A KIND WORD

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Mixed in with the brickbats hurled in our direction recently (see lead item) were a few kind words. We especially appreciated the following note we received from a client after we provided some appropriate quotes for use in his new book.

Hi Bob!

Thank you for the extra effort! There are definitely are some good quotes in the group that you just sent us that we will use in the book. I believe that a life well lived is much more about playing like a champion, taking the risks, challenging ourselves and going the extra mile or yard than whether we won or lost.

Youre a Champion! Thanks for that extra effort! We appreciate it!
Ed

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If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, we can help. After all, weve been doing it for 25 years for dozens of satisfied clients. We guarantee our work, and we never charge a fee for an initial review or consultation. Call us at (480) 895-7617 and let us show you how we can make you look good on paper.

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SMILE AWHILE

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A recent magazine item mentioned that the second week in October was National Metric Week. Why? We dont seem much closer to switching to the metric system than when Thomas Jefferson first proposed it to Congress a couple of hundred years ago, despite the fact that the worlds only other non-metric countries are a couple of real biggies: Myanmar and Liberia.

Back in the 70s, when it seemed we might be on the verge of switching, I composed the following bit of verse, which I called Metric Rhetric: