Orphan Boy Sees His Chance
A very Merry Christmas to all my friends and followers!
Happy Holidays to those of every faith tradition, and goodwill to all!
Thanks for all your kindness and support this past year. It means a lot to me.
I’m behind on visits to so many blogs– do forgive me. I shall try to make amends.
I wish you all success and happiness in 2016.
Even more, I wish you faith, peace, hope, wisdom, and serenity.
And now… here’s the Orphan Boy! What a kidder!! 😊
The truth is often spoken in jest, and Oliver does teach us an important lesson: It never hurts to ask.
Do kings really sell their wares at craft fairs and farmers markets?? Incredible– who knew?? 😊
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Are you a Charles Dickens fan?
Have you read Oliver Twist, with its famous line, “Please, sir, I want some more?”
Can you name the Magi? (They’re anonymous in the Bible, but they’ve acquired names via legend and tradition.)
Ever asked somebody for something extraordinary, and been surprised to get it, just because you asked?
Hope you’ll leave a comment.
If you enjoyed this post, please click the Like button below.
If you’d like to share this post with others, please click Tweet or Facebook or StumbleUpon or one of the other Share buttons.
I also invite you to get updates. Just click the Get Updates button in the sidebar below the Portfolio Thumbnails, or click + Follow in the blog menu bar.
If you’d like to buy prints or greeting cards, click on any of the large preview images in the sidebar below the Get Updates button.
Other Posts You Might Enjoy:
Do You Hear Somebody Singing Alleluia, Or Is It Just Me??
Jolly Old Saint Christmas Mailer– What Was I Thinking??
No Partridge, No Pear Tree, But We Do Have Birds, Trees, And A Famous Saint
Mark Armstrong Illustration Specializing In Content Marketing Advertising Editorial Infographics Animation Videos and Social Media 
Reblogged this on O LADO ESCURO DA LUA.
LikeLike
Many thanks for your kind support, sir! : )
LikeLiked by 1 person
tks u … happy new year…
LikeLike
Merry Christmas Mark!😀 Wishing you lots of love and happiness in the coming year! I once asked hubby for my favourite, very expensive perfume that costs a leg, was pleased and surprised when he got it!
Love the cartoon, always will!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, dear Seyi! There’s no one I’d rather see knocking on my blog door at Christmas! Your hubby sounds like a very enlightened gentleman. Tell him he and I obviously have a lot in common… : )
A very Merry Christmas to you and hubby, and thanks so much for all your kindness and support!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Merry Christmas! I enjoyed your mash-up cartoon. Those gifts have got to be better than gruel.
I have indeed read ‘Oliver Twist’. I’m a literature graduate and former High School English teacher so I’ve read lots of Dickens. ‘Great Expectations’ is my favourite but I’ve probably read ‘Oliver Twist’ the most. I also watch ‘Oliver!’ with my kids roughly once a year.
Now to your other question: it’s Balthazar, Melchior and …. the other one. Somewhere in the recesses of my brain it’s there. My excuse is that I’m not Christian and, therefore, while I’ve read the Bible a few times, I’m not well versed in the associated traditions or apocrypha. Also my brain is mush so I forget stuff.
LikeLike
Your brain is mush?? Hm. There aren’t too many mushy-brained people who know the word apocrypha, and can use it in a sentence. I’m hereby upgrading your brain from mush to oatmeal. Oatmeal with a very firm crust… : )
Two outta three Wise Men?? That’s excellent! The other one’s Caspar (or Gaspar). The only reason I can remember that, is because I have a friend named Casper, with an ‘e.’ And no, he’s not a ghost, friendly or otherwise… : )
You’re a Literature grad, and a former English teacher?? Well, that explains the lyrical quality of your prose… : )
Hope you and your family had a great Christmas, Laura, and I wish you all a very Happy New Year!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Mark! Your reply is very complimentary about my grey matter. I appreciate that.
LikeLike
Wish you a merry christmas :d 😀
LikeLike
Thank you, my dear Vandy! I wish you lots of good books, laughter, and much happiness in the coming year! And I know your good influence will continue to be felt, even way over here in New Hampshire!! 😊
LikeLike
Mt. Olympus is very pleased with you this year and I hear you are being promoted, so get ready to jump on a higher cloud ☁️!!!! 🙂 😇
Happy Holidays, my dear Mark. 🙂 👽👽👽👽👽👽👽🍨🍨🍨🍨🍨🍨🍨🍨
LikeLike
My dear Marina! When I read your wonderful comments, I soar up past ☁️#9 and proceed directly to The ☁️#99 Figgy Pudding Parlor, where I have a few 🍨🍨🍨 to fortify myself, before soaring even higher… 😊
Thank you for making my days merry and bright, and I wish you a new year filled with 😊(happiness), 😄(laughter), 🎨(art), 🎶(music),💰 (sales), and of course 👽🍨!! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
All these for you: 🌷🌸🌹🌺🌻🌼💐⭐️🍇🍉🍒🍑🍏🍎🍍🍓🍨🍨🍨🍰🍧🍦🍭🍬🍸🍸🍸🍸🎁🎂🎁✨🎉🏆🏆🎶🎩🎨💰💤 and …to be on the safe side, sending some 👽👽👽👽👽👽👽, to watch over! 😉
All this and much much more for 2016!
LikeLike
🎉🎊🎈✨❤️🚀…🌕⭐️…⭐️⭐️🌞…☁️#9…☁️#99…☁️#999……☁️#9999999💥…👽👽👽🚑… 😴😊😴😊♻️
LikeLiked by 1 person
♚ _/\_
LikeLike
Joyeaux Noel, Mark! No I never knew the names of 3 Magi. Religion’s famous “triplet”.
May gifts of love from family and friends be always with you year round.
LikeLike
The names of the Magi? Handlebars, Brake Lever, and Rear Derailleur. At least that’s what they told me down at the bike shop… : )
Thank you for your very kind wishes, Jean, and I certainly wish you the same. And I hope you’ve made a full recovery from your accident, or are en route to same. Happy Trails in 2016!! : )
LikeLike
Clever JMark, for cycling enthusiasts. Our gems for travel. 🙂
Am well since early summer 2015: I returned to working full-time. Safe and happy explorations in 2016 for you and family!
LikeLike
Intriguing – I have no idea what myrrh is but it must be something special if little Oliver has chosen it over gold!!
Warm wishes to you this coming New Year, Mark! 🙂
LikeLike
Myrrh:
Myrrh /ˈmɜr/ from the Hebrew ‘”מור”‘ (“mor”) and Arabic مر (mur) is the aromatic resin of a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus Commiphora, which is an essential oil termed an oleoresin. Myrrh resin is a natural gum. It has been used throughout history as a perfume, incense and medicine.
You know, Lily, I’ve looked that up a dozen times over the years, and I still say the same thing: “Huh??” : )
But I think it’s safe to say that poor little Oliver had rocks in his head. He shoulda asked for the gold, or at least inquired as to whether anyone had some corn flakes… : )
Yours is always a joyful presence, dear Lily. Hope you had a lovely Christmas, and I wish you a wonderfully Happy New Year!! : )
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bwahahah!!!!!!! “Please sir, can I have some myrrh?” — !!!!! Best holiday pun ever! Oh, Mark, your Kings are wonderful. Each has a different facial expression, body language, etc. And Oliver looks terrific, very enthusiastic to get “myrrh” of whatever he can.
BRAVO! You and your work are the best — I’m happy to know you. Sorry I missed this when you posted it. I hope your Christmas was warm and wonderful and that your New Year is going to be absolutely maaaahhhh-verlous!
Yes, it pays to ask. Well, usually (sometimes not). But most often, yesyesyes!
I used to know a kid who thought that Peter, Paul, and Mary were the Magi because Puff the Magic Dragon was actually Puff the Magi Dragon.
🙂
LikeLike
Ha! Usually when people hear my puns, they say: “Stop! I can’t take no myrrh!!”
Thank you, dear RK! Leave it to you to notice the different facial expressions. Glad it gave you a Yuletide Guffaw. Yes, I had a very nice Christmas, thanks, and hope you did, too. December was so warm here in New Hampshire, Christmas kinda snuck in under the radar. It was here and gone before I knew it!
That is a very funny story about Puff The Magi Dragon–! Little Jackie Paper was considerate enough to bring him strings and sealing wax– no myrrh!
I saw a woman sing Puff at a fundraiser once. At the end, when Puff is abandoned by Jackie, and his scales are falling like rain, she stopped playing and asked the audience: “You want to help Puff, right? Come on– we can save Puff if you’ll all clap your hands!!” The audience was completely taken aback by this unexpected request for audience participation. They just sat there, stunned. There was this long pause, and then the singer said indignantly: “What??– you want Puff to die??”
I still laugh whenever that memory comes back to me!! (Yes, the audience rallied and clapped, and Ol’ Puffer was saved.) 😄
LikeLiked by 1 person
“…Ol’ Puffer was saved.” ::whew:: Big relief!
🙂
LikeLike
Mark … I have said “If you don’t ask for what you want, you’ll never get it.” My Mom laughed once when I told her about some work-related thing that I wanted and I told her: “All they can do is say ‘no.’
But, I prefer how you phrase the first line: “It never hurts to ask.”
LikeLike
Hi, Judy! “If you don’t ask for what you want, you’ll never get it.” => truth!! In fact, truth in spades!! Reminds me of ““If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” — which, as I recall, is supposed to be the definition of insanity.
You know, it’s funny: these are a couple of life’s most basic truths– and yet they remain elusive, and hard to learn. Well, they have been for me. Growing up, I think I developed a scarcity mentality– as in, there’s never enough to go around. Or maybe it was a pessimistic streak: the odds are you won’t get it, so why bother to ask? It’s a crippling attitude that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I know better now, but it’s a hard thing to kick out of your psyche– at least completely.
That’s why when I’m walking down the street, I always grab people by their lapels and get in their face and yell: “It never hurts to ask!! Remember that!!” I always wind up in jail, but it’s worth it, ’cause I know it’s for a good cause… 😄
LikeLiked by 1 person
That lesson didn’t come easy for me either, Mark. But once I realized the truth of it, I figure “go for the gusto. All they can do is say ‘no.'” 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you, too, Mark…your sense of whimsy, your warmth, your generosity of spirit, the depth of your talents, and your consistent kindness are year-round gifts that serves to bless the rest of us. As for asking big, I prayed for a house and was blessed with the home of my dreams….modest, depending on context, but absolutely perfect for me and more than I ever could have hoped for 🙂
LikeLike
My dear Truly… I’m doing it: I’m summoning up all my courage! I’m gritting my teeth! Yes! Here I go!– I’m busting outta the closet, racing to my computer, and pecking away furiously at the keyboard!!!
Pant, pant, pant. Gosh, that was tough! I’m so late responding, and so mightily embarrassed about it, I just wanted to stay in the closet!! Oh, not forever, just, maybe, I dunno, another 6 months or so. Then I realized, of course, that I’d only be compounding the problem… : (
I’m so sorry. I had a big assignment just before Christmas, and got sucked into the blinkers-on, work-work-work zone. Nice going, Armstrong!– that’s the Christmas spirit. Not! (blush!)
Thank you for your lovely and delicious and melodious and fantastically lyrical comment. I’m floating on ozone here! Guilt and joy: they can coexist– and I’m here to prove it!!
You have your own house– a new house– a perfect house– and you were tucked up cosily in it for Christmas!– wonderful!! I see you curled up in an armchair by the fire with a cup of tea and a good book. Or possibly reading a trashy thriller and drinking store-bought eggnog outta the carton with your slippered feet propped on a radiator that’s clankin’ away like ol’ Jacob Marley climbin’ the stairs. The crystal grows cloudy, I can’t quite get the true picture… : )
But I’m so happy for you. I like it when good things happen to good people. Yes– I’d like to see more of that!! : )
Thank you so very much for all your kindness and support. I do hope you had a nice Christmas, and I hope your new year is filled with every happiness. When I finally get caught up on comments, I’ll be making some long overdue blog visits– see you then!! : )
LikeLike
What a delightful surprise….and, no need to feel sheepish and no need to apologize, my friend:) I understand how other things can vie for our attention….I was off the social media grid for two months when I first bought my house….I get it…life can really speed up sometimes.
I trust your assignment was really fulfilling and I can only imagine how thrilled the client was. Also, I love you comment….so whimsical and clever and sweet….oh, and charming.
And, you pegged me right…curled up beside the electric fireplace (always wanted a real one, but I am really grateful for the one I have…it came with the house and I’ve really warmed to it.haha)…And, you got everything else right as well…a good book (though nothing trashy…Steven King, in fact) and I’ve been drinking both tea and hot chocolate….while wearing fuzzy slippers or fuzzy socks….I was lucky enough to have ten days off work….today was the first day back and it felt like I’d been gone for a year…by tomorrow, it will feel like I never left 🙂
I hope your holidays were magical…I imagine they’d have to be, because you bring magic with you. Thanks for brightening my day…and, again, it is a privilege to have this connection…please don’t ever feel pressured on my account….this message was all the sweeter because it caught me unawares. Take care…I am sending you a huge hug (I feel bad that you feel bad 🙂 Stop by whenever you get the chance and inclination…you are always welcome 🙂
LikeLike
Ah, what a lovely comment, dear Truly. Like hot cocoa, only better because it doesn’t make my mustache all sticky. Like a cosy fire toasting one’s socks. Oops, hang on, looks like one of the little teddy bears got his ear singed… : )
I was sure about the good book and the tea, just joshing about the trashy thriller, the eggnog, and the radiator! Wonderful that you had some extended time off from work. We all need to recharge our batteries now and then, as the flashlight said to its owner on a dark and stormy night… : )
Thanks again for the warm and fuzzy comment, and for being your sweet self!
LikeLike