What’s the Meaning of This?

When you have an alliterative name, it’s tempting for people to call you by your initials. My grandmother got into the habit of calling me “Bee,” and she even sewed two little bees on a purple dress she made for me when I was small. That’s how the industrious insect became shorthand for me.

Thanks to my library card, I frequently consult the Oxford English Dictionary for refined, interesting definitions of words. When it came to “bee,” it didn’t disappoint.  I’m a busy worker, and hopefully a sweet writer too. Here’s my favorite illustrative example from the OED’s entry: “How doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour!,” from Isaac Watts’ Divine & Moral Songs.

Rare book librarians use the term “First Appearance” to describe the first time an author appears in print, or the first time a specific writing of an author shows up in a magazine or newspaper. This is my “First Appearance” writing online.

As for the illustration in the header, that’s from my Artist Aunt’s depiction of me after school one day in first grade, striking a common pose outside my grandparents’ front door.

Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Bee_A_Librarian.

Betsy Butler
Columbus, Ohio