These were the words used in a search query by someone (likely a high school freshman) who found StoryRhyme.com. To the seeker: I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you didn't read the story, did you? Because if you did, you'd know that O. Henry's use of irony is not exactly subtle. In fact, if at first you didn't know what irony meant, you would after reading "The Gift of the Magi..."

Update: Jim And Della's Gifts; Irony... Okay, since it's the season of giving and since I don't want to feel like I've got spiders in my soul like The Grinch, I'm directing this post to the many of you who are seeking the answer to the question: What is ironic about the gifts Jim and Della gave to each other. Also, what were they really giving...

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Laura finds herself in a classroom full of enthusiastic, well-groomed and always polite high school freshman eagerly waiting for her to teach them the proper way to diagram a sentence... Read More...

The spirit of the holidays, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, is really about giving to others. The saying "'Tis better to give than to receive" is true. As we get older, for most of us, there's not much that we need. Read More...

Scanning, building, linkiing, coding pages for Mason and Andrew's guide is a bit of an undertaking (Husband has the dark circles under his eyes to prove it). So much so that if it weren't for the persistence on the part of one of our young friends (frequent phone calls to the house), this undertaking may not have taken place so, um, quickly (11-year-olds are not known for their patience and forbearance)...
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I made a dogfood cake and gave the dogs individual treats. We attempted to put party hats on them (except for K.C. who was a nasty little thing), and took pictures. What good are dogs if you can't put hats on them once in a while for your own enjoyment..?

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By comparison to Eli, Chance is a complete slacker. While Eli would patrol the yard constantly, Chance merely pokes his head out the dog door to see if it's worth his trouble to go out (and for Chance, it's usually not). We discovered that dogs, like children, are their own unique individuals. Eli lived to please us and couldn't bear to be scolded. Reprimands roll off Chance's back like water... Read More...

I know, we're wimps. Husband insists he's had enough from his scouting days to last him a lifetime... Read More...

He walks up to us as if he's about to deliver some important pronouncement and -- burps... Read More...

He was a little nervous about going to school the next day and wondered about the reaction he'd get from his schoolmates... Read More...

There he was inside his homemade cardboard spaceship with his astronaut helmet on. In another picture he wore his pith helmet with vest full of tools -- insect net, magnifying glass, and compass... Read More...