Remember Judy Abbott?

Judy Abbott

"The first Wednesday in every month was a Perfectly Awful Day--a day to be awaited with dread, endured with courage and forgotten with haste."
and
"PS. This is the first love-letter I ever wrote. Isn't it funny that I know how?"

-First and last lines in the book Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster.

Of all the cartoons I have watched when I was a kid (Remy, Heidi, Romeo, Charlotte, Marcelino Pan Y Vino, Princess Sarah, Cedie, Ghost Fighter, Flame of Recca and others) and now as an adult (Barbie series: The Nutcracker, Princess and the Pauper, Mermaidia, Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer, Detective Conan, Slamdunk), I loved Judy Abbott (ABS-CBN Channel 2's title) the most. It's different and unpredictable. Yes, it's bad in a way that it encourages (by showing) a May-December love affair between guardian and his ward, Jervis Pendleton and Judy Abbott.

But, why not?

My friend and I were on the phone the other day (night, actually) when we talked about the cartoons (series and otherwise) we have watched growing up. Her brother, Harold, really knows every cartoon by heart. I asked, "Sino nga ulit 'yung naglilinis ng chimeneya? (Who's that guy who cleans chimneys again?)" Without a pause he replied, "Si Romeo." Oh, di ba? (FYI: Harold's twenty-two.)

Anyway. She told me that Judy Abbott, the cartoon series that I really loved (and miss), is actually from a book. The animated series I watched and loved as a kid was an adaptation after all. So I turned to the ever-ready-with-answers Google. There it was. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. I immediately wanted a copy. I wished I can buy from Amazon.com directly. But I cannot. I am regretting my (and my parents') decision to not have a credit card.

From this day on, I promise to find a copy of the book though I have the PDF version already. It's just that... having a copy, as in a book copy, is better. It's easier to read. Basta.

Bookstores here I come!