I'm a stickler for getting things right the first time. Although my website and blog have launched beautifully, the debut of the Book.ed webcasts must be delayed a few weeks so I can tweak a couple of things before presenting them to you. Stay tuned for further updates... your patience will be rewarded.

Although the causes of the delay are of interest only to me and my team, it led me to think of the familiar phrase, “The best-laid plans of mice and men...” when things don't go as we expect. In my case, it's “The best-laid plans of (computer) mouse and (wo)man.” I recalled the title of John Steinbeck's 1937 novel “Of Mice and Men”, knowing it tied the plot and theme to the phrase, although my denouement is bound to be better than that of Steinbeck's George and Lennie. That's as far as I got. Then, I went exploring. Here's the interesting background of this well-known phrase:

The Scots poet Robert Burns wrote a charming piece in 1785, “To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough”. In it are the lines, “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley” – often paraphrased in English as “The best-laid plans of mice and men / Often go awry,” Fifty-two years later, a portion of that phrase was chosen by Steinbeck for his book title. Novelist Sidney Sheldon also borrowed from Burns' poem for the title of his 1997 novel “The Best Laid Plans”. Portions of Burns' poem have been used by musicians, too.

This tells us several things: Every creative endeavor borrows something from somewhere. A good concept, expressed effectively, endures. And we need more poets like Robert Burns.

Whether or not you're a poetry devotee, it's worth finding and reading Burn's “To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough” – although you'll probably want to find the English version!