Revisiting the Hatted Cat

I see that there is a new version out of The Cat in the Hat , the children's classic by Springfield's Dr. Seuss. This new version is very scholarly, with a page by page analysis of all the historical and literary significance of each line. Gee, the teachers we had at The World Famous Thomas M. Balliet Elementary School never taught us the book from a scholarly perspective. But did you realize that critics have complained that there are two important unanswered questions in the book?

1. The name of the boy character is never revealed.

2. It is never explained what was going on that was so pressing that the mother had to leave two small children "alone for the day."

Are those really flaws in Seuss' masterpiece, or do some literary scholars have too much time on their hands?

Here's a picture of the UMass Minuteman statue this morning surveying an icy pond and snowy campus.



It has been so friggin cold out the past week that I yearn for summer when I can groove to nature at Puffers Pond with my friends.



The arctic air does nothing however to discourage the members of the UMass Bike Co-op from riding to school, as seen by all their bikes parked outside their club headquarters. I've noticed that bike people are often a little obsessive about their hobby.