#daddy-long-legs

[bishiedoll]

Children's literature heroines drawn by Takahashi Macoto: ❀

アルプスの少女ハイジ (Heidi) '97, 赤毛のアン (Anne of Green Gables) '97, アリスと不思議の国 (Alice in Wonderland), 私のあしながおじさん (Daddy-Long-Legs).

[naldibutnice]

Daddy-Long-Legs (1919) Dir. Marshall Neilan

[siena-sevenwits]

Jerusha Abbott is a delightful character, but my word, she had no ethical problems at all with what he did!?!

[daddy-long-legssss]

miles kane for fox magazine 2018

[phantomyre]

[faithreads]

Book Review: Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster

★★★★☆

It isn't the big troubles in life that require character. Anybody can rise to a crisis and face a crushing tragedy with courage, but to meet the petty hazards of the day with a laugh - I really think that requires spirit. It's the kind of character that I am going to develop. I am going to pretend that all life is just a game which I must play as skillfully and fairly as I can. If I lose, I am going to shrug my shoulders and laugh - also if I win.

What fun!

Despite being published in 1912, Daddy-Long-Legs' cheerful narrator Jerusha "Judy" Abbott is a comedic delight! An orphan given the chance to go to university thanks to a wealthy benefactor, Judy tells her story through a series of letters to her mysterious guardian she dubs "Daddy-Long-Legs" since she only knows he is tall.

Letters may seem boring, but Judy writes with such a liveliness and wit that each letter is entertaining from start to finish. While it doesn't have majorly high stakes, it's hard not to be drawn to Judy and her college life. I could almost believe that she was a real person, chronicling everything from her studies to her friends, her attempts to become a writer to her ponderings as to what "Daddy-Long-Legs" might be like.

Some parts are so obvious and predictable, but it's still so fun to see Judy go through life. And though her constant addressing of "Daddy" makes me laugh (it's not aged as well...), overall I was absolutely charmed by this little novel. It's a sweet story and perfect as a mood-lifter - definitely recommend!

[drhoz]

#2289 - Phalangium opilio - European Harvestman

Other photos from elsewhere on the trip.

AKA brown harvestman and daddy longlegs. They've also been called Dentizacheus minor, Phalangium brevicorne, Phalangium cornutum, Phalangium cornutum and Phalangium longipalpis.

Phalangium might refer to fingers, or possibly refers to the military phalanx, often armed with long pikes. Opilio means 'sheep-slave' and is probably a reference to the stilts that shepards used to walk around on to keep track of their herds. Opiliones is now the name for the entire order.

Anyway - this species is common in Eurasia, and has been introduced to New Zealand, North Africa, and North America. It thrives in human-altered areas, such as croplands and gardens, so seeing this one out in the Rangipo Desert may have been a little unusual, but it was near the Desert Road and a siding where gravel was stockpiled, so...

Like most harvestmen, this special is a nocturnal carnivore and scavenger, and a useful predator of insect eggs in croplands. During the day they hide up among vegetation or on vertical surfaces, preferring warm slightly moist areas, and come down to feed. Young instars might not descend to the ground - possibly to avoid larger harvestmen.

There's also been a recent discovery about harvestman eyes - until now it was thought they only had a single pair, on the spiny tubercle in the third photo - but it turns out they also have vestigial median and lateral eyes.

Rangipo Desert, North Island Volcanic Plateau, New Zealand

[drop-the-curtain-123]

No but to be honest, one thing that I'm very happy the daddy long legs musical had the courage to do is just owning how petty Jervis is.

You just see these kind of things all over the script of the musical. Magnificent, delightful characterization.