Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.




"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Ok, so who wants to exchange Christmas Cards this year? All you have to do is send me a message with your mailing address in it and I will reply with my mailing address... and BINGO.... Spreading Christmas Cheer!!! :D

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

13:05 Happy October! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

01:11 Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

09:18 Monday.......yay? #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

12:32 Hopes that Amy remembers that Holly and Dan "love" her #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

09:55 In Richmond for yet another training.....yay! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

08:24 'Nother training... Yay for being able to teavel! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

09:12 On the road again... #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

21:49 ZOMG... Old School Oregon Trail online!! www.virtualapple.org/oregontraildisk.html #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

09:20 Week almost over....just keep swimming just keep swimming.... #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

09:26 Long long week part 2... #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

( ) Nacho Libre
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Orange County
(x) The Green Mile
(x) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
( ) Airplane!
(x) Red Eye
( ) Stick It
(x) She's the Man
(x) 8 Mile

Total: 8

(x) The Princess Bride
( ) SNL's The Best of Will Ferrell
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Fun With Dick and Jane
(x) Saw
(x) Saw II
(x) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Managment
(x) 50 First Dates
(x)The Princess Diaries
(x)The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Total: 8

(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
( ) American Band Camp

Total: 6

(x) Harry Potter
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
(x) Resident Evil I
(x) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Cinderella Man
(x) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch

Total: 9

(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
( ) Robots

Total: 8

( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(x) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG

Total: 5

(x) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
(x) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) The Ring
(x) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
(x) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( )I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards

Total: 13

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
(x) Seed of Chucky
(x) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask

total: 9

( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
( ) Identity
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) Superstar
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice age 2 The Meltdown

Total: 5

(x) Independence Day
(x) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
(x) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
( ) My Boss' Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2

Total: 11

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3

Total: 8

(x) X-Men
(x) X-Men 2
(x) X-Men 3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
(x) Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
(x) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
( ) The Others
(x) Freaky Friday
(x) Reign of fire
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2

Total: 14

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle
( ) Old School
( ) K-Pax
(x) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
(x) A Walk to Remember
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old-virgin
(x) The Hills Have Eyes

Total: 5


Reply with your test and say at the top that you have seen ___.. of movies
took this from [info]andthenwe_kiss

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

14:00 Twitter twitter twitter.... Long week :( #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

WOW!!!!!!!   All I can say is that this performance was truly amazing.... I looked it up on yourtube after seeing a blurb about it in Entertainment Weekly.   I am truly amazed and humbled, because all I could think was, "yea right..." just like the rest of the people in the audience.   You should definitely check it out!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

17:02 I love a good "House" marathon! :) #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

I tell you though... I think "Mother Nature" is starting to develop dissassociative identity disorder  (multiple personality disorder)

Report: Antarctic Ice Growing, Not Shrinking

Saturday , April 18, 2009

<lj-cut text="Full Story Behind the Cut">

Ice is expanding in much of Antarctica, contrary to the widespread public belief that global warming is melting the continental ice cap.

The results of ice-core drilling and sea ice monitoring indicate there is no large-scale melting of ice over most of Antarctica, although experts are concerned at ice losses on the continent's western coast.

Antarctica has 90 percent of the Earth's ice and 80 percent of its fresh water, The Australian reports. Extensive melting of Antarctic ice sheets would be required to raise sea levels substantially, and ice is melting in parts of west Antarctica. The destabilization of the Wilkins ice shelf generated international headlines this month.

• Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Natural Science Center.

However, the picture is very different in east Antarctica, which includes the territory claimed by Australia.

East Antarctica is four times the size of west Antarctica and parts of it are cooling. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research report prepared for last week's meeting of Antarctic Treaty nations in Washington noted the South Pole had shown "significant cooling in recent decades."

Australia Antarctic Division glaciology program head Ian Allison said sea ice losses in west Antarctica over the past 30 years had been more than offset by increases in the Ross Sea region, just one sector of east Antarctica.

"Sea ice conditions have remained stable in Antarctica generally," Allison said.

Ice core drilling in the fast ice off Australia's Davis Station in East Antarctica by the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-Operative Research Center shows that last year, the ice had a maximum thickness of 1.89m, its densest in 10 years.

A paper to be published soon by the British Antarctic Survey in the journal Geophysical Research Letters is expected to confirm that over the past 30 years, the area of sea ice around the continent has expanded.

Click here to read the full story from News.com.au.

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

20:56 Just finished reading "Turn Coat" the new Dresden Files book by Jim Butcher.... Good as Always!!! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Thoughts in 140 Characters (or less)...

09:48 I would kill for a Katie Salad from Mac n Bob's for lunch today... #

17:40 Is now at home enjoying a good book and junk food... I need to get my ever-widening ass back into the gym.... #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter