Hello,
I Hope this finds all of you well. This being my first posting I am going to assume that some may be curious about the name I have chosen. You might wonder for instance if there is a connection between the character known as NO.44 and myself. Though it might be argued that its author is kindred to the author of the chapter that inspired my name, beyond that, there is none. There is an important reason, to me at least--and I realize that these things are subjective--for choosing that name. I challenge any who are interested to determine its source and I assure you that the challenge is a fair one. To a number of you it may be obvious--but won't it be fun to realize that to you it is obvious. To others, I hope that the investigation will prove enriching. And to any others who just don't care, I say, "Good for you. I'm not that important and you may have better things to do."

Finally, understanding that all of you are friends of Ray Bradbury--if not intimately then in spirit--I would like you to know that any friend of his is a friend of mine and I hope that you will consider me

Yours,
Chapter 31

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"Nothing much else happened, all the rest of that night."

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Chapter 31

The Lake, that's good! Congratulations. And of course, this has to be the correct answer.

WELCOME NEW MEMBER!

Thank you, dandelion. You're very kind. To biblane1 and The Lake, your conclusions are correct. The name Chapter 31 is from "Something Wicked This Way Comes". Now for the reason I chose it:

In SWTWC, Ray chose to put vertualy nothing in Chapter 31. I don't pretend to know what was in his mind when he did that but I like to think that he was saying that he just wasn't going to take himself that seriously. To me anyway, that is a very important life perseption. Though containing almost nothing, that chapter is one of the most profound I have ever read.

Further, on the subject of Ray inspiring us. The New Yorker started out in the twenties I think, about five years after Ray was born, with an attitude about the snobbishness and seriousness of New York society. Eustace Tilly, The New Yorker's icon, was meant to saterize that. But notice what he is observing over the end of his upturned nose. A butterfly. I'll bet he's wondering, "Just how impotant can such a thing as this be?" And I wonder, was Ray ever infuenced by that image? "A Sound of Thunder", "Fahrenheit 451" and "The Martian Chronicles" especially, point out to me the importance of custodial responsibility. "Fahrenheit" cautioning protection of the written word and "Thunder" and "Chronicles" cautioning against rampaging around in other cultures.

Sound of Wonder - RB toned.
"Whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else, if even in the tiniest way. Why, when a housefly flaps his wings, a breeze goes round the world; when a speck of dust falls to the ground, the entire planet weighs a little more; and when you stamp your foot, the earth moves slightly off its course. Whenever you laugh, gladness spreads like the ripples in a pond; and whenever you're sad, no one anywhere can be really happy. And it's much the same thing with knowledge, for whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer."

- Norton Juster, "The Phantom Tollbooth"

Wow. I haven't thought of that book in years! I love the Jules Feiffer illustrations too.

Ray Bradbury's good friend Chuck Jones did a wonderful, but sadly seldom-seen, movie adaptation.