The Sheila Variations

That is so amazing. It reminds me of the wonderful black and white photographs in Time and Again by Jack Finney. It gives such an interesting sense of the passage of time, seeing these buildings that still exist that are now surrounded by huge skyscrapers.

I know! The fact that there's space around it at all in the photo ... it's so crammed in now.

Wild, isn't it? It is the same way with the pics in the Finney book, especially The Dakota. You look at it and are tempted to think it is somehow doctored up as it seems unimaginable that there was ever a time when some of those buildings existed without the towering ones that surround them now.

I was stopping by to thank you for complimenting my witticism on Bad News Hughes, then I read on your About Me page you have a L.M. Montgomery collection, and here I find someone mentioning Time and Again...goodness. I think I have a case of the vapors. Smelling salts, please.

Rebecca - is it a "kindred spirit" kind of vapors?? :)

Seriously, your comment was hysterical!

You're the only other person I've "met" (if one can call it that on the Internets) who knows Betsy, Tacy and Tib. And then there's Carl, gushing over the Finney. Seriously, I might have to move in with you guys.

I love those books.

Betsy, Tacy and Tib!! Come ON! Great books!

If you are also a fan of the All of a Kind Family series, I might spontaneously combust.

And yes - Time and Again - I just love that book too.

Thanks for the "hysterical". I was going to go with Persia, but Wikipedia showed me the error of my ways. The humor, she is a delicate creature.

hahaha You researched the historical accuracy for your comment! I love it.

Ah, the good old 198s. I yearn for those more innocent times.

(I should probably write "TEH" good old 198s.)

Sadly, you'll have to put that fire extinguisher down. I haven't read that particular series.

Phew!

Tell me the truth: didn't you just covet everything in those little line drawings in the Betsy, Tacy & Tib series? I can still see the picture of Betsy adding the all-important bay leaf to the "stew" the girls were cooking on the stove while the adults were away.

The houses in those books led to my adolescent obsession with PBS' This Old House and a continuing near-pornographic fantasy of buying a Victorian/Craftsman cottage and perfectly restoring it to period condition--well, with modern plumbing and wiring, of course.

Oh, those drawings, yes!!!

The whole thing ... I wanted to live in Deep Valley (wasn't that the name of the town?) I loved when they got to high school too - the 4 years of Betsy's high school experience. The drawings in those books were scrumpdiddlyumptious, too. I wanted to wear shirtwaists and T-strap shoes!!

Me Too! I also wanted hair in ringlets like Tib, and to have picnics on the Big Hill.

It's a triumvirate! Caesar, Pompey, on to Deep Valley!