The most famous “kettle hole” in America is the setting for “The Elements of Style Birthday Party.” It was formed by retreating glaciers 10,000-12,000 years ago near present-day Concord, Massachusetts. This “kettle hole” is Walden Pond where Henry David Thoreau lived in an intentionally simple style for two years in a small cabin on the shore.
The stylish group of joy-givers agreed to come wearing a style for which they are well-known. The parade to the picnic by the pond includes: Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones mufti, Will Ferrell in a Ron Burgundy leisure suit, Sofia Vergara in a festive, Columbian “wiggle dress,” Mr. Thoreau in a simple suit, Clement Moore dressed as St. Nicholas in a jolly red suit with white fur trim, William Hanna in a Fred Flintstone orange loincloth topped with a blue necktie and E.B. White wearing something unaffected and reminding us of a thought he shared in “The Elements of Style”—“To achieve style, begin by affecting none.”
JOIN US…
You feel the joy as we settle on picnic blankets beneath the dappled shade of the Red Maples, Acer rubrum, that surround Walden Pond. HOORAY FOR THE JOY-GIVERS! (Note: The comments attributed to these famous joy-givers come from words they have written or said.)
PLEASE GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THESE JOY-GIVERS CELEBRATING A BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK:
June 10—SOFIA VERGARA (Sofia Margarita Vergara Hyson) is a Columbian American actress, television producer, presenter and fashion model. She has been the highest-paid actress on American television for the last seven years. In this, her adopted country, she is best-known for playing the character Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in the ABC comedy series, “Modern Family,” and as a judge on “America’s Got Talent.”
June 11—E.B. WHITE (Elwyn Brooks White) was a writer, the author of several, classic children’s books including “Charlotte’s Web,” Stuart Little” and “The Trumpet of the Swan.” White won a Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also edited and updated William Strunk, Jr.’s English language grammatical and stylistic guide—”The Elements of Style.”
June 12—HENRY DAVID THOREAU was a naturalist, essayist, poet, philosopher and major Transcendentalist. He is best known for his book “Walden,” which is a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and for his essay “Civil Disobedience,” which argues for controlled but persistent resistance to an unjust government.
June 13—HARRISON FORD is an actor, airplane pilot and environmentalist. He became an international film star as Hans Solo in the original “Star Wars” movie and in four, feature film sequels. He is also widely known for originating the role of Indiana Jones in the titular film franchise. He is a recipient of numerous awards including the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award.
June 14—WILLIAM HANNA was an animation artist, voice actor, cartoonist and saxophonist. While working at MGM Studios, he med another skillful animator, Joseph Barbera, and their first collaboration was in creating the “Tom and Jerry” cartoon series. The two formed Hanna-Barbera, which became the most successful television animation studio, responsible for such classics as “The Flintstones,” “The Huckleberry Hound Show,” “The Jetsons,” “Scooby-Doo,” “The Smurfs” and “Yogi Bear.” During their 1960s heyday, the Hanna-Barbera audience was over 300 million television viewers, and their works were translated into more than 28 languages worldwide.
June 15—CLEMENT MOORE was the joy-giving poet who wrote the Yuletide classic, “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” He was a professor of Oriental and Greek Literature, as well as Divinity and Biblical Learning at the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church in New York City. Moore gained considerable wealth by subdividing and developing parts of his large, inherited estate on the island of Manhattan. For 10 years, Moore also served as a board member of the New York Institution for the Blind.
For a bit of Christmas joy in July, here are lines from Clement Moore’s holiday classic:
“Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”
“The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.”
“The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.”
“The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.”
“His eyes—how they twinkled! His dimples so merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry.”
“But, I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, ‘Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”
June 16—WILL FERRELL is an actor, comedian, producer and comedy writer. He first rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show, “Saturday Night Live.” He was named “Best Comedian of 2015” at the GQ Magazine Awards. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ferrell’s comic characters include Lord Business in “The Lego Movie,” Chazz Reinhold in “Wedding Crashers,” Mustafa in “Austin Powers,” Mugatu in “Zoolander,” Frank the Tank in “Old School,” Brennan Huff in “Step Brothers,” Ricky Bobby in “Talladega Nights,” Buddy the Elf in “Elf” and Ron Burgundy in “Anchorman.”
COMMENTS OVERHEARD AT “THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE BIRTHDAY PARTY:”
“Listen, I’m not afraid of anything. I’m Columbian.”—Sofia Vergara
“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.”—E.B. White
“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”—Henry David Thoreau
“The force is within you. Force yourself.”—Harrison Ford
“Animation will continue to thrive as long as there are children, parents, television and the need to laugh.”—William Hanna
“Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow internet to see who they really are.”—Will Ferrell
“Accents are funny. It sets me apart from the other girls doing comedy. It gives me more—how do you say?—pop-oo-laaarrrity.”—Sofia Vergara
“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”—E.B.White
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”—Henry David Thoreau
“Behind every great man is a woman telling him he’s not that hot.”—Harrison Ford
“Hanna-Barbera stuff is strictly for fun. We’re not out to give a message.”—William Hanna
“Whenever someone calls me ugly, I get super sad and hug them because I know how tough life is for the visually impaired.”—Will Ferrell
“Immature is a word boring people use to describe fun people.”—Will Ferrell
“I’m fearless, I don’t complain. Even when horrible things happen to me, I go on.”—Sofia Vergara
“The world is full of people who have never, since childhood, met an open doorway with an open mind.”—E.B. White
“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.”—Henry David Thoreau
“You have to have the darkness for the dawn to come.”—Harrison Ford
“I just like to smile, smiling is my favorite.”—Will Ferrell
“I didn’t want to be an actress. I wanted to be a dentist, but you never know what life will bring you.”—Sofia Vergara
“All that I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world.”—E.B. White
“This world is but a canvas to our imagination.”—Henry David Thoreau
“If I were a serious person, I’d probably have a real job.”—Harrison Ford
“It’s kind of funny how the colors red, white and blue represent freedom until they are flashing behind you.”—Will Ferrell
“One of the most time-consuming things is to have an enemy.”—E.B. White
“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”—Henry David Thoreau
“What this party needs is more cowbell.”—Will Ferrell
PARTY MENU FOR “THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE BIRTHDAY PARTY:”
APPETIZER—E.B. White SOME PIG Pork Rillettes (foodandwine.com)
SALAD/SOUP—Will Ferrell “Buddy the Elf” Pasta and Candy Salad (maverickbaking.com)
ENTRÉE—William Hanna “Flintstones” Brontosaurus Burgers (allrecipes.com)
SIDE DISH—Harrison Ford Indiana Squash Gratin (tasteofhome.com)
BREAD—Henry David Thoreau Walden Pond Raisin Bread (thespruceeats.com)
BEVERAGE—Sofia Vergara Columbian Sex Coffee (see recipe below)
DESSERT—Clement Moore Sugar Plums (foodnetwork.com)
ONE TO GROW ON—E.B. White narrated the 1973, Oscar-nominated, animated short film, “The Family That Dwelt Apart,” based on his short story of the same name.
As the delightful gathering came to goodbyes, E.B White saluted the joy-givers with words from another of his always-in-print books, “Charlotte’s Web.” “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.” To the celebrants of “The Elements of Style Birthday Party,” he didn’t say “some pig,” though they’d all said that of themselves during the delicious picnic, but he did say as if it were written across Walden Pond—“TERRIFIC…HUMBLE…RADIANT.” As a final toast to the joy-givers, he added, “Friendship is one of the most satisfying things in the world.”
SOFIA VERGARA COLUMBIAN SEX COFFEE
(source: nomadcoffeeclub.com)
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup hot, Columbian coffee
1 tablespoon raw cacao
2 tablespoons of coconut milk
1 tablespoon of honey
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of maca (Aztec root, powdered)
DIRECTIONS
- Pour the coffee in a medium bowl.
- Add cacao, coconut milk, honey and cinnamon.
- Beat with hand blender until frothy.
- Add the maca powder, beat once more and serve immediately.
Copyright 2021 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
