Just because it's Saturday ...

I guess there are no 'days off' here. 365 means three hundred sixty five days, almost consecutive, of continuous blogging. Actually, I expect that it will be 366 for most of us in blog365 - why take the chance that February 29th will throw you off your stride.

Today is Saturday and usually there are a myriad of things to do, errands to run, grass to cut, yada, yada,yada. But - this is the dead of winter. And it's c o l d out there. And nice and warm in here. So I think I'll stay in here, rather than go out there, and do some 'inside stuff'. Like work on my painting. An idea, mind you, actually blessed by She Who Must Be Obeyed. So, there will be an update picture later today, on NewAtArt, and maybe even another one, tomorrow. It all depends on how far I get - how much work I actually get done.

The story that accompanies the label 'She Who Must Be Obeyed'.

There is a series from the BBC that is shown on our PBS station in Chicago called 'Rumpole of the Bailey' in which Leo McKern (now deceased) portrays a disheveled, cantankerous London barrister married to a woman named Hilda. Hilda is a frustrated social climber, bossy and demanding as hell, whom Horace Rumpole refers to (never to her face, mind you) as "She Who Must Be Obeyed".

I always found that reference to be rather humorous. So, naturally, 'SWMBO' crept into my vocabulary. Much to Annie's chagrin.

Anyway, one day I was at my favorite retail store (Barnes & Noble, Bookseller) and I spied this strange looking bookcover - green with a dim image of a vieled woman. The name of the book was 'SHE', written in the late 1800's by H. Rider Haggard. Now I knew the author from having read 'King Solomon's Mines' and 'Alan D. Quartermain', two really good adventure stories set in Africa. In reading the back cover of the book, I found that this particular book was the third book of this genre written by him. It has not been out of print since it was first published in 1879. I thought to my self, "Cool, this must be worth reading." So I bought it and took it home to read.

A couple of chapters into the book, one is introduced to the title character, 'SHE'. SHE is the mysterious ruler of a lost civilization that lives within the confines of an extinct volcano. SHE rules absolutely, and with an iron hand. SHE can kill with a glance. SHE is immortal. SHE is incredibly beautiful. And SHE is referred to by her willing subjects as 'She Who Must Be Obeyed'.

And I always thought I was being funny.