241. "Jenny kissed me when we met, Jumping from the chair she sat in, Time, you thief, who loves to get Sweets in your list, Put that in. Say I'm weary, say I'm sad, say that health and wealth have missed me. Say I'm growing old, but add, Jenny kissed me." (Leigh Hunt)

242. Helene Hanff called herself "one of the 999 out of a 1000 who don't become Noel Coward." That's how I feel today (approximately).

243. One of the reasons I love Helene Hanff is because reading her books is like watching someone you really like get what they want -- her books are so charming and warm.

244. She was played by Anne Bancroft, Anne Jackson, Ellen Burstyn and Elaine Stritch. Not bad!

245. Hanff was literally guided through books by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, known as Q, who also was used as the literary inspiration for Horace Rumpole (Rumpole of the Bailey), written by John Mortimer, QC.

246. Q had a daughter named Foy.

247. His bardic name was Marghak Cough (Red Knight).

248. Rumpole refers to his wife as "She Who Must Be Obeyed." Hmmmmm...

249. Actually, this line comes from the novel "She" by H. Rider Haggard.

250. Best line lately from Grey's Anatomy --

"Who is Santa Claus?"

"An old white man who enters houses inappropriately?"

"No, me."