Monday, August 22, 2011

Releven* (for Relevan*)

I know a kid who's turning eleven this week, which makes it a relevant typo of the day for me, and a typically red letter day for him. It marks the end of an era, the demise of a decade, the beginning of a respite before being thrust into the hurly-burly of impending puberty. He's a very sweet and beamish boy. I was recently reciting the poem "Kubla Khan" and when I got to the verse that goes: It was a miracle of rare device, a sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice, his eyes opened wide and he murmured, "That sounds nice." Later we were enjoying "ice cubes" made out of fruit juice; mine was orange and I observed, "This is like a little burst of frozen sunshine." He immediately stuck out his hand for me to shake, saying: "That's the best description I've ever heard!" This is the best description, or at least my current favorite, for a wonderful young man who deserves a great many happy returns of the day. We got 34 returns today on Releven* in OhioLINK, and "too many records found for your search" in WorldCat.

("Eleven" graffiti in Oakland, California, 2006, from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid

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