Dr. Seuss's hundredth anniversary was this week.

Big Q, little q, what begins with q?
The quick queen of Quincy, and her quacking quackaroo!

I remember, even after so many years. Of course, I don't remember the rhymes for any of the other letters. I was particularly attached to the letter Q, though. I still look fondly on it, even though now when I see the letter in isolation it immediately conjures thoughts of system energy or quality of resonance.

When I woke this morning, I had the theme song to Monsterpiece Theater stuck in my head. This spoof from Sesame Street of Masterpiece Theatre was hosted by Alistair Cookie (the Cookie Monster dressed in a bathrobe), and always began with a shot of the cookie monster chewing meditatively on a pipe, listening to the alphabet being sung to a sort of chamber music tune. Ah, Mr. Henson! I come from a generation whose culture is part Sesame Street and part The Simpsons -- both shows which allude to an amazing number of other bits of cultural trivia, so that they can act almost like a filter for the world. I've heard of seeing the world through rose-colored glasses; if I had to make glasses out of Sesame Street and The Simpsons, what color would they be?

Winnie asked me today why the Cookie Monster is blue. I had no immediate answer, but later I decided that it must be because of his diet. If the Cookie Monster ate more vegetables, perhaps he would be green. After all, pink flamingos are pigmented because of their diet. Why not blue Muppets?