Rose Anderson's Blog, page 11

Hello my baby, hello my honey… #mondayblogs

The City Mouse moves to the country.

Many years ago, my young family moved from the 24/7 bustle of Chicago to a rural life in the country. The first thing that hit me was the quiet. I was born and raised in the city. Then as now, Chicago never sleeps. Background noise from traffic and people is everywhere in the city.  You just tune it out.

The second stark contrast was the rural night. It was dark! In this very dark environment I learned something about myself that had been hidden in the glow of the city lights. I was night blind like my mother was—unable to see when I go from a lighted situation to a dark one. Gradual dimming is much better for me than going from bright lights to total darkness. My eyes adjust to the change more slowly than most people’s eyes. Thankfully, I have family and friends to lead me from here to there while my eyes adjust so I don’t stumble over things. lol

Solitude was the next stark discovery in my urban to rural transition. The initial solitude was difficult at first, but one of my husband’s elderly teachers took it upon himself to introduce us to our new county. It was very sweet of them to take us under their wings. He and his wife included our family in community luncheons, college lectures, and music events such as bell choirs and barbershop quartet concerts. With their help, we happily sunk our roots here. They have both since passed on, but whenever they come up in our fond memories, we always remember the Barbershop concerts.  And that’s my segue.

Barbershop Quartets

Barbershop singing is typically performed by a quartet of men with tenor, tenor, baritone, and bass voices. These voices sing together in harmony and new chords get created in the process.

At one time, the barbershop was more than a place to get a haircut, it was a men’s social hub too. As the story goes,  barbershop singing begins here — the barber or a patron would sing a melody and before long, the waiting customers would harmonize in the background. I don’t know if that’s actually the way it came about, but it sounds good. :)

Barbershop singing is an American form of a cappella singing. A cappella means sung in a chapel and refers to devotional songs originally sung by monks (like Gregorian chants). I’ve encountered date discrepancies in this little bit of research and some sources say it  started in the 1930s. But barbershop singing is actually older than that. It appears sometime in the 1860s and became a thing of its own by the 1920s. Minstrel stage shows of this time featured men’s quartets as olio acts. Because I’m a wordie, I’ll add here that the word olio originates with the Spanish olla for stew. So… olio acts could be any act drawn from the creative hodgepodge lingering in the wings. These acts were performed before the curtain  while stage hands worked behind the curtain to prepare for the next real act. It was both convenient and inexpensive to use a quartet to kill time because it was only voice –no props or instruments were required.

More~

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRbIKMyRCDT-J47uJ26ehqw

http://www.sweetadelineintl.org/index.cfm?id=26

Remember this? LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkjsN-J27aU

And today is Barbershop Appreciation Day.
:D

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My 100 things will focus on malapropisms and I’ll stick with it until I can’t find any more. From the French mal a propos (meaning inappropriate). Dictionary.com defines malapropisms as an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.

Here’s one for today:

The officer comprehended the suspect.

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Today is Author Cindy Spencer Pape‘s blog day

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Romance Books ‘4’ Us

The Christmas in July contest is on! We have $100 in gift cards for Amazon/B&N. Other prizes can include ebooks, print books, audiobooks, more gift cards and non-book items.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Attention Authors~ My Exquisite Quills blog hosts six fun and free promo opportunities a week. I’m delighted to say it’s a hot spot with great exposure. Come join in!

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Love Waits in Unexpected Places –

Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories by Rose Anderson

Download your free chapter sampler today!

Find my novels in ebook and paperback on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

and wherever romance books are sold.

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

#SundayFunday! & Weekend Happenings #SundayBlogShare

Sundays on my blog are all about wonder and smiles. In honor of mentally kicking back once in a while, Sundays are Fun Days! Each Sunday, visitors will find a fun, interesting, or unusual something here. I’m a nerd with a complex sense of humor and absurd wit. It could literally be anything.

If you’re on Facebook or any other social media hub, you’ll know a good deal of what gets posted are cute or funny animal videos, memes, and pictures.  Many of the dog videos brought smiles to my heart after my old pup died.  Pets have their personalities. The critters in our small menagerie certainly do. 

I would fill my life and home with pets if I could. My penchant is limited by my husband’s terrible allergy to cats. That said, I don’t know what I’m about to say first hand, I’m simply sharing what I’ve seen. Here goes~ Apparently cats knock things over on purpose. lol Cat owners say it’s true. Both Facebook and Youtube are filled with videos showing cats deliberately knocking tings off counters, shelves, and tables. I’ve seen more than one where the cat looked right at the person and knocked something over as if to say, yeah, so what if I did?

When I saw this next clip of a pet velociraptor acting like a cat, it made me laugh out loud. I really hope this guy continues on with his house velociraptor and makes more videos. It’s adorable. Enjoy :D

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My 100 things will focus on malapropisms and I’ll stick with it until I can’t find any more. From the French mal a propos (meaning inappropriate). Dictionary.com defines malapropisms as an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.

Here’s one for today:

They were putrefied with fear.

۞>>>> More Weekend Happenings on my other blogs >>>>۞

My Sexy Saturday & Scintillating Sunday Showcase

http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Weekend Writing Warriors

http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

Have too many weeds? We sure do. I’ve left my wild foods recipes up.

Just scroll back and enjoy. Yum!

http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Sunday 7

**A promo op for you too!**

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Today is Author Gemma Juliana’s blog day

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Romance Books ‘4’ Us

The Christmas in July contest is on! We have $100 in gift cards for Amazon/B&N. Other prizes can include ebooks, print books, audiobooks, more gift cards and non-book items.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Attention Authors~ My Exquisite Quills blog hosts six fun and free promo opportunities a week. I’m delighted to say it’s a hot spot with great exposure. Come join in!

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Love Waits in Unexpected Places –

Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories by Rose Anderson

Download your free chapter sampler today!

Find my novels in ebook and paperback on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

and wherever romance books are sold.

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Hey, Sanitation Man #Saturday

Well, the mosquitoes have effectively robbed my summer. Thanks to the weekly heavy rains since mid-May, I can no longer enjoy being outside. Not in a million years would I wish for drought to dry up the swarms, as droughts are terrible things. But I can’t deny I’m longing for a dry August and September. Yard work is off the table with these pests flying in your face and biting every inch of you. That’s not good for us. We have an outdoor wedding in our yard the first weekend of October. Extrapolating generations of mosquitoes ahead from now until frost kills them off, I must borrow another’s words and say — oh, that way madness lies.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of Shakespeare. That final statement comes from the Bard, himself.  The way the man crafted thought was genus. His sentences were often double entendre in the truest sense– lines with more than one applicable meaning.  Some have tried to change William Shakespeare’s wording to suit their own needs over the centuries, and by doing so, stripped away the nuanced double meanings hidden in his words. One man went to far as to clean up William Shakespeare’s entire works. My post is about that guy because today is Bowdler Day.

Thomas Bowdler, (1754 -1825) was an English doctor of medicine and a philanthropist. As far as I know, he was known for two things: his book Family Shakspeare written in 1818, and the fact his name gave us this word:

Bowdlerize

verb~

to expurgate a written work by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

Bowdler completely missed the humor and depth in William Shakespeare’s double entendre. He felt the “vulgar parts” written in the Bard’s 37 works were only there to titillate and appease the vulgar crowds of the day. So Bowdler took it upon himself to censure Shakespeare. The man even changed William Shakespeare’s name for his book Family Shakspeare. How’s that for pomposity?

Here’s a sampling:

Original

Lady Macbeth cries “Out, damned spot!” 

Bowdlerized

Lady Macbeth cries “Out, crimson spot!”

Original

Hamlet’s Ophelia commits suicide

Bowdlerized

Hamlet’s Ophelia dies in an accident

Original

Romeo & Juliet’s Mercutio says “the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon”

Bowdlerized

Romeo & Juliet’s Mercutio says “the hand of the dial is now upon the point of noon”

There are bawdier examples but I won’t use them here. I well remember how another author’s adult fiction caused my blog to be suspended simply because my blog was attached to her blog through a multi-author blog hop one week. The adult content sweep snagged my blog in its net because she used $100 adult-themed tag words. The suspension had nothing to do with my content and was quickly resolved by WordPress. Still…

So needless to say, the passages I’m thinking about are raw and gritty. But part of the beauty and joy of reading Shakespeare is discovering the grittiness. His words encapsulate the times in which he lived — the bawdy London streets, the stink of the Thames, the reek and coarseness from every corner of Elizabethan England. The Bard’s sense of humor and delicious innuendo are hidden between his lines. Take it from me– Shakespeare’s innuendo is worth reading for all of that visual, visceral history. Such a loss to clean it up and supremely arrogant to even try. 

I think William Shakespeare wouldn’t have appreciated this bowdlerizing censorship of his works. I think he would have punched ol’ Thomas Bowdler in the nose. In honor of one of the greatest storytellers the world has ever known, I officially change Bowdler Day to Punch Bowdler in the Nose Day. 

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My 100 things will focus on malapropisms and I’ll stick with it until I can’t find any more. From the French mal a propos (meaning inappropriate). Dictionary.com defines malapropisms as an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.

Here’s one for today:

She has extra-century perception.

۞>>>> More Weekend Happenings on my other blogs >>>>۞

My Sexy Saturday & Scintillating Sunday Showcase

http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Weekend Writing Warriors

http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

Have too many weeds? We sure do. I’ve left my wild foods recipes up.

Just scroll back and enjoy. Yum!

http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Sunday 7

**A promo op for you too!**

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Today’s guest: Marianne Rice

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Romance Books ‘4’ Us

The Christmas in July contest is on! We have $100 in gift cards for Amazon/B&N. Other prizes can include ebooks, print books, audiobooks, more gift cards and non-book items.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Attention Authors~ My Exquisite Quills blog hosts six fun and free promo opportunities a week. I’m delighted to say it’s a hot spot with great exposure. Come join in!

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Love Waits in Unexpected Places –

Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories by Rose Anderson

Download your free chapter sampler today!

Find my novels in ebook and paperback on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

and wherever romance books are sold.

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Her Long Blond Hair… #FridayReads #fridayfunday

Did you ever hear the one about the woman who rode naked on horseback to force her husband to lower taxes? My earliest exposure to this story (no pun intended), came through the Three Stooges on after school TV of all places. I’m not quite sure of the exact episode, as the Stooges often played the same gag several different ways, but I do recall a knight in full armor riding away with a naked woman on a white horse. Her hair was long and covered her like a cape. The woman, as you may have guessed, was Lady Godiva.

This story is one of those blended fact and fancy tales that comes off as true because the person involved actually lived. Sort of like George Washington trying out his new hatchet on his father’s favorite cherry tree.

The Fact: Lady Godiva was a real historical figure. Married to Leofric, the Anglo-Saxon earl of Mercia (the whole center of England). Her name appears with her husband’s on documents of that time and her signature appears often on grants so she was considered by many to be an extremely generous woman. Lady G is also mentioned in an 11th c. book as the only major female landowner after the Norman conquest. She was a founder of a Benedictine monastery in Coventry as well. It looks as though she kept her powerful wherewithal after being widowed. A rare thing for the time.

The Fancy: As the story goes, Leofric had levied crippling taxes on the citizens of Coventry. Thinking it terribly unfair, his wife repeatedly asked him to lighten the tax load. Having had enough of her badgering, Leofric told her he would lower his taxes only if she rode her horse through the center of town completely naked. Of course he never thought she would. So…Lady G stripped off her clothes, let down her hair, and galloped through the market square. Afterward she demanded her husband hold up his end of the bargain, and he did.

My guess here is the telling of Lady Godiva’s buck-naked ride is a fanciful hat tip to her generosity.

How’s that exactly?

At the first telling of this tale, more than 1000 years of Christianity had used a woman’s lack of modesty as occasion of sin. So for Lady G to sacrifice her ever-important modesty on behalf of fair taxes for the common folk was generous indeed. It put her in high regard, sinner or no. As if her good woman status needed more proof, she told the townspeople to shutter their doors and windows, and by complying they’d allow her to keep her modesty. A quid pro quo, as it were. I should note that this is where the legend of Peeping Tom comes from. Tom was the guy who peeped and was struck blind for it. His part of the story didn’t come about until the 16th century. A clue: Tom isn’t an Anglo-Saxon name.

In the several hundred years that followed, scholars found nothing tangible to say this famous ride actually occurred. Wanting to hold on to the romance of her bold conviction, some went so far as to suggest she did ride but did so in her undergarments or just draped in her jewelry. Other suggest the ride took place with her dressed in low station clothing as a peasant woman might have dressed. Of the latter, humiliating penance of this sort was a common occurrence.  My background says three disparate original sources do a fact make. None exist for this tale. But you know what? As a symbolical narrative of conviction being greater than the self,  the story is just terrific.

More~

One of the original versions and the famous poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Listening to this and feeling my age. lol

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My 100 things will focus on malapropisms and I’ll stick with it until I can’t find any more. From the French mal a propos (meaning inappropriate). Dictionary.com defines malapropisms as an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.

Here’s one for today:

He’s a wolf in cheap clothing.

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Today is Author R. Ann Siracusa’s blog day

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Romance Books ‘4’ Us

The Christmas in July contest is on! We have $100 in gift cards for Amazon/B&N. Other prizes can include ebooks, print books, audiobooks, more gift cards and non-book items.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Attention Authors~ My Exquisite Quills blog hosts six fun and free promo opportunities a week. I’m delighted to say it’s a hot spot with great exposure. Come join in!

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Love Waits in Unexpected Places –

Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories by Rose Anderson

Download your free chapter sampler today!

Find my novels in ebook and paperback on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

and wherever romance books are sold.

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

 

Mmm Mmm Good #Thursdaytreat

My daughter watches Mad Men, that show about a 1960’s advertising agency on on New York City’s Madison Avenue. I don’t know why, but I just can’t seem to get into it.  I lost my taste for soap operas years ago. There’s only so much pathos one mind can absorb –too much real drama happening in the world to want to be entertained by the fictional drama.

The show describes the lengths advertisers go to brand products in such a way as to make them unforgettable. Important stuff that. Unforgettable products are the ones that jump off the store shelves and into your cart. Several years ago a logos test popped up on the internet (I have links below to try the tests for yourself). The gist was you were given a bunch of logos without names and had to determine what brand/company they belonged to. I did shockingly well. These things are burned into our brains because humans have that gift of sight recognition that’s so important to species bonding. 

It’s funny how we recognize this stuff. To sidebar the topic a little…I’m teaching myself Photoshop. For practice, I try to expand on what was gained via a class I took last summer buy making little pictures out of parts of others. I imagine Victor Frankenstein had a blast stitching his projects together. I sure think it’s fun. I use my little creations for the daily Exquisite Quills memes that I host on my Exquisite Quills blog (see info below). Do stop by and see them.

:)

Anyway…While searching for fonts the other day, I found a site with more than 1000.  In that mix they have a category titled Famous. There you can download the fonts of advertising. Want to write a document in the same font as Marlboro cigarettes or Kentucky Fried Chicken? How about Oreos or Frutopia?  Or perhaps Pizza Hut or Kitt Katt? I didn’t need to see the names of these fonts to tell where they were from. I recognized them all at a glance. I mention Mad Men and the advertising of the 1960s because those ad men did/do their jobs so well. There’s more than a devil in those details. How often do we stop to consider advertisements as art? 

Andy Warhol and his Campbell’s Soup Cans

In the 1950s, a cultural art form arose called Pop Art– literally popular culture art. This modern art movement drew inspiration from the imagery, styles, and themes of popular culture, namely, advertising. One of the most influential characteristics of this art form is it borrowed from any source but mostly from objects of mass culture. By doing so, it proved there was no hierarchy to popular culture. The lines between high art (such as the masterpieces of the ages) and low culture (as seen in the common everyday soup can label) were blurred.

Who Was Andy Warhol?

Andy Warhol began his career as a highly successful illustrator and graphic designer and is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Pop Art movement. Best remembered for his paintings of the Campbell’s soup cans and the color-blast photos of Marilyn Monroe, there are actually hundreds of other works including commercial advertisements and films.

His iconic Campbell’s Soup Cans paintings co-oped a universally recognizable image and delivered it in a fine art context. This was social commentary at its finest. Our society was filled with products identifiable at a glance. We had been effectively branded by our consumerism.  Warhol’s soup cans debuted on this day in 1962, and forever changed the face of modern art. Now doesn’t make you want a bowl of chicken noodle soup?
;)



More~

Andy Warhol -A Documentary in 2 parts

https://youtu.be/UQXpqQO4vaE

https://youtu.be/r47Nk4o08pI

This site has many examples of his little known works

The Warhol Museum

Take the logo test! Here are a few to get you started~

http://quizible.com//quiz/famous-logo-quiz/3748

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=great-logo-test

http://www.guessthelogo.com/logo-quizzes/guess-the-logo-font-quiz/

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My 100 things will focus on malapropisms and I’ll stick with it until I can’t find any more. From the French mal a propos (meaning inappropriate), Dictionary.com defines malapropisms as an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.

Here’s one for today:

For All Intensive Purposes

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My 4th of the month blog post is still up on Romance Books ‘4’ Us. I’m talking about the mysterious messages that wash up on beaches in bottles. Very interesting, if I do say so myself. Come see!

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/2015/07/message-in-bottle-by-rose-anderson.html

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Today is Author Melissa Keir’s blog day

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Romance Books ‘4’ Us

The Christmas in July contest is on! We have $100 in gift cards for Amazon/B&N. Other prizes can include ebooks, print books, audiobooks, more gift cards and non-book items.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Attention Authors~ My Exquisite Quills blog hosts six fun and free promo opportunities a week. I’m delighted to say it’s a hot spot with great exposure. Come join in!

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Love Waits in Unexpected Places –

Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories by Rose Anderson

Download your free chapter sampler today!

Find my novels in ebook and paperback on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

and wherever romance books are sold.

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

 

To Boldly Go… #HumpDay #Wednesday

On July 8th, 1947, a sheep rancher was making his rounds near Corona, New Mexico. A powerful thunderstorm hit the area the night before, so thinking he’d better look in on the livestock and check the fences for breaks, he took a young neighbor with him in case he needed help. When they came to an open field, they noticed debris– tiny, shiny pieces of some odd metallic material unfamiliar to them, all scattered over an area of about three quarters of a mile long and several hundred feet wide. He brought some pieces to the local sheriff who in turn showed the debris to an officer at the local military base.

From there,  one colonel gave orders to another colonel to inform the media that the Air Force had in its possession a “crashed saucer”. The famous newspaper headlines read:

This statement would be retracted shortly after going to print. Thereafter the flying saucer was simply a weather balloon.

The people who had handled the material first stood firm when new pictures of the debris depicted something completely different.  Why a cover up a common weather balloon? As if that wasn’t strange enough thing to do, there were eyewitness accounts of alien bodies in that wreckage.  Hmm…

So…was this wreckage from Cold War testing of aircraft? Or did a UFO really crash in New Mexico in 1947 and the US government covered it up? Who knows.  I think it the height of human hubris indeed, to believe in all the vastness of the universe we are the only beings capable of space flight. Look how far we have come since the rocket testing of 1950s and the moon walks of the 1960s. At least one of our probes has left our solar system and is now venturing into that vast unknown. We have scientists floating in orbit in a space station as I write this, and our scientists are even talking about a future manned mission to mars.

The whole concept of life beyond our small spec in the cosmos tickles me.  I loved the futuristic imagination of Author Gene Roddenberry who saw mankind boldly going where no man had gone before. And imagination is exactly why I’m an author.

:D

More~

This is rather fun to read.

http://www.crystalinks.com/roswell.html

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My 100 things will focus on malapropisms and I’ll stick with it until I can’t find any more. Dictionary.com defines malapropisms as an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound. Here’s one for today:

A rolling stone gathers no moths.

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

My 4th of the month blog post is still up on Romance Books ‘4’ Us. I’m talking about the mysterious messages that wash up on beaches in bottles. Very interesting, if I do say so myself. Come see!

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/2015/07/message-in-bottle-by-rose-anderson.html

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Today is guest Author Rosemary Morris

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Romance Books ‘4’ Us

The Christmas in July contest is on! We have $100 in gift cards for Amazon/B&N. Other prizes can include ebooks, print books, audiobooks, more gift cards and non-book items.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Attention Authors~ My Exquisite Quills blog hosts six fun and free promo opportunities a week. I’m delighted to say it’s a hot spot with great exposure. Come join in!

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Love Waits in Unexpected Places –

Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories by Rose Anderson

Download your free chapter sampler today!

Find my novels in ebook and paperback on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

and wherever romance books are sold.

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Look at that Cocoa Go! #tuesdaytreat

I read something interesting the other day regarding making fuel from chocolate. I’m sure most people have an idea of what  E. coli bacteria is. Our guts are loaded with it. Well, scientists took waste from the chocolate-making process and fed it to E. coli bacteria.  The bacteria fermented the sugars in the waste and generated organic acids ( formic acid). This acid is so toxic to the bacteria, they quickly converted this bi-product to hydrogen.

To what purpose? 

Free energy for one. Hydrogen is one of the cleanest renewable fuels there is. When used, the only byproduct is water. Compare this to poisonous carbon monoxide from gasoline and other fossil fuels. By converting food waste into clean renewable energy instead of garbage for the landfill, food factories and farms would be able use their own waste products to power their manufacturing operations. This waste can also fuel a fleet of hydrogen-powered vehicles. It’s pretty exciting. 

And guess what today is? It’s Chocolate Day (not to be confuse with National Chocolate Day on October 28th). I think a special day just for chocolate is a perfect reason to have some. You’re welcome.
:D

More~

Facts about Chocolate

A chocolate process from jungle to Hershey Bar

Sadly, chocolate does have a dark side, a very dark side, and I’m not talking about dark chocolate. The industry in Africa has roots deep into child trafficking and modern slavery. Be informed. We have more power to effect change in the world than we realize. Know where your chocolate comes from and exercise your consumer muscle.  Here’s a brands list of fair trade chocolate with no ties to the dark side.

http://www.foodispower.org/chocolate-list/

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I’m starting a new 100 things today.  This time it’s malapropisms. Dictionary.com defines malapropisms as an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.  Here’s one for today:

Michelangelo painted the Sixteenth Chapel.

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

My 4th of the month blog post is still up on Romance Books ‘4’ Us. I’m talking about the mysterious messages that wash up on beaches in bottles. Very interesting, if I do say so myself. Come see!

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/2015/07/message-in-bottle-by-rose-anderson.html

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Today is guest Author Karen McCullough

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Romance Books ‘4’ Us

The Christmas in July contest is on! We have $100 in gift cards for Amazon/B&N. Other prizes can include ebooks, print books, audiobooks, more gift cards and non-book items.

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Attention Authors~ My Exquisite Quills blog hosts six fun and free promo opportunities a week. I’m delighted to say it’s a hot spot with great exposure. Come join in!

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Love Waits in Unexpected Places –

Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories by Rose Anderson

Download your free chapter sampler today!

Find my novels in ebook and paperback on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

and wherever romance books are sold.

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞

Where did the year go? #MondayBlogs

Today I discovered there are only 178 days left in the year.  2015 is just about half over. Good grief, where has the time gone?? I suspect this is the way of it now. I’m over the hill and all things accelerate on the down slope.  lol And my heels are smoking as I apply the break.

All in all 2015 hasn’t been too bad. I had a very hard time being creative with my heavy heart. I’ve force myself to do little things, learn processes, and keep up with everything associated with being an author as best I could through an emotional haze. I concede that we never really stop grieving, but our hearts do become accustomed to the absence eventually despite the holes our loved ones leave behind. I realized recently that while the holes are undeniably there, my sad emotions associated with two years of personal loss are finally easing up.

Like I said,  I did keep up on everything associated with being an author even after my muse skipped town on me. A lot has been going on in that department too. I’ve been involved in a new venture for one of my series, namely be being vetted by Indie Artist Press– a publisher who hand-picks well-written books and represents them. The honor of that had me feeling giddy for a while. Books one and two of my Loving Leonardo series were bound under one cover entitled The Leonardo Chronicles and given new launch. Now I need to get cracking and write the third book. I originally had five books in mind before the aforementioned grief shut creativity down. We’ll see where that goes. My hopes are high with this undertaking.

When I set my mind to learning something, I go as far as this crowded brain will allow. Every one of my novels was created to test some aspect of the publishing world such as reader trends, niches, series viability, popular genres, target audiences, etc. Loving Leonardo was my unanticipated toe into uncharted waters. The story popped in my head and stayed for the full 10 days it took me to write 120,000 words of an award-winning rant piece inspired by one afternoon’s mean-spirited news topics.  I do my best (and fastest!) writing when peeved. I really do. lol

:D

I also have a new novel in queue, freshly edited and possessing a fantastic cover seen here by well-known tarot card artist Claudia McKinney. I’m very pleased with the surreal look. The Changeling is waiting on publishing and may possibly be an October release.  A few months lead time will allow for a grand buzz prior to the debut. I haven’t done that before, but I have seen other authors do it. I’m considering the logistics. Always testing…

This particular story is something different for me. I’ve mentioned here before that I never planned on being a romance writer and certainly never envisioned becoming an erotic romance writer. It was all about getting into the publishing world fast and learning as much as I could, as fast as I could, before moving on. I did, I have, and I’m not quite ready to leave romance just yet. I have four partially done novels and at least two series installations I really want to complete before I head back to my main work — the magnum opus (a long story, 5-books, as yet unnamed, and the reason I jumped into romance to learn what I could.) I tried to get back into my magnum opus two years ago but grief clouded my mind. Until I get my non-romance mojo back 100%, I’ll focus on these other easier writings. The magnum opus is a high-concept piece. I’ll need that mojo sharp to complete it.

Anyway…The Changeling is a fantasy romance that leans toward the sensual side of literature.  As it isn’t erotic romance like the others, I toyed with the idea of making a new pen name for myself. After much thought and highly respected opinion, it just didn’t make sense career-wise to start up a new name. Rose is a multi-published, award-winning author after all. And, as one of my author friends so perfectly put it, readers who read erotic romance read everything else too. So no loss. Still, people like what they like and avoid what they don’t. To make it easy on readers, I plan to compartmentalize and put the different sub-genres of my writing under their own umbrella. Another test for me.

Following my fancy, I really do write everything.  In fact, I’m just about ready to publish my children’s story that’s been sitting in a file for the last 22 years. Of course that will have a different author name on the cover — no muddying the literary waters there.

And lastly, I’m half-way through my 20k anthology piece through Romance Books ‘4’ Us coming early fall 2015.  My muse was on vacation and she’s back. It took the month-long A to Z Challenge in April to bust through that wall of writer’s block. Thank you organizers of the A to Z!

So enough about writers block and whats been happening. Tomorrow I’m back to blogging as usual. Who knows what this curious mind will find.
:D

My 4th of the month blog post is still up on Romance Books ‘4’ Us. I’m talking about the mystery of messages that wash up on beaches in bottles. Very interesting, if I do say so myself.  Come see!

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/2015/07/message-in-bottle-by-rose-anderson.html

And speaking of RB4U… today is Author Tina Donahue’s blog day.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/And over on the RB4U website, the Christmas in July contest is on! We have $100 in gift cards for Amazon/B&N. Other prizes can include ebooks, print books, audiobooks, more gift cards and non-book items. http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Love Waits in Unexpected Places –

Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories by Rose Anderson

Download your free chapter sampler today!

Find my novels in ebook and paperback on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

and wherever romance books are sold.

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My Blog Day on #RB4U & Happy 4th!

I’m back! Lots of twists and turns in this author’s life of mine and I’ll blog them all in a day or two. To begin…

Today is my blog day at Romance Books ‘4’ Us. I’m talking about the mystery of messages that wash up on beaches in bottles . Very interesting, if I do say so myself.  Come see!

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/2015/07/message-in-bottle-by-rose-anderson.html

Today is the 4th of July, and as I so recently completed edits on my newest– The Changeling— I thought it might be interesting to post a historical tidbit regarding one of the most important editing jobs in history.

After Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, he sent copies to several close friends. One friend, fellow Virginian Richard Henry Lee took issue with the changes Congress had made and told them so.

“I wish sincerely, as well for the honor of Congress, as for that of the States, that the Manuscript had not been mangled as it is. It is wonderful, and passing pitiful, that the rage of change should be so unhappily applied. However the Thing is in its nature so good, that no Cookery can spoil the Dish for the palates of Freemen.”

The idea wasn’t original, people had been trying it for hundreds of years. The concept gained reason and strength during the period of history known as the Enlightenment (a fascinating era to study, by the way).

Cherished American mythology simply paints both the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War that followed as rebellion against a tyrant king. The truth is, there is far more to the document and the war than what the myths tell us. The founders based their bold idea upon the best of concepts of human rights in the free (notice I said free) Ancient world, namely Ancient Greece and Rome. The United States of America was designed from the get go to be a democratic republic based upon ideals of a democratic Greece and the republic of Rome. It was to be the “golden temple on the hill” — In other words, the ideals of the Enlightenment made tangible. But there was more to it than even that. In fact, the golden hill philosophy was the frosting on the cake. The bakers of this cake were the founding fathers of the United States.

These Declaration drafters and signers were the cream of the crop. They were educated, self-made men of standing sent to represent their colony’s interests. At the time, raw materials were being harvested at a tremendous rate and the lands harvested laid waste. The products from these materials were manufactured elsewhere and then sold back to the colonies at high cost rather than the colonies making their own goods with local materials to be sold in local markets. These men saw the benefit of keeping resources to be used here, and profited from, here.

The truth behind our beloved myth wasn’t simple, and it wasn’t about tyranny alone. It was reason and finance. And you know what? That doesn’t make it any less potent than the myth of ragtag colonists telling the mean king they weren’t going to pay tax on their tea anymore. I think it makes the idea even bolder because money talks, and armies march on their stomachs. It was a huge risk. King George was loathe to give up the cash cow. Had there been no ocean divide to make the war a drain on English society across the pond, we’d all have free health care and inexpensive education.  :)

American children grew up with this document as mandatory learning in the 8th grade. I recommend reading it with an adult’s eyes. It really is an astounding act of defiance. The unedited version must have been amazing. Read it and follow it up with the Bill of Rights. These fluid documents were made to grow with us. The romantic idea of a self-governing people was a good one. I certainly felt Enlightened after I read them with my adult perspective.

More~

The Declaration document

Jefferson Exhibition at Library of Congress online

Biography of Thomas Jefferson

Vote of the Colonies to Declare Independence

Declaration of Independence, Original Draft – Page 2

Declaration of Independence, Original Draft – Page 3

Jefferson Changes Page 3 – Replaces “Subjects” with “Citizens”

Declaration of Independence, Original Draft – Page 4

Sole Surviving Fragment of Jefferson’s Declaration Notes

Have a happy and safe 4th of July everyone!

۞>>>>More on my other blogs <<<<۞

#FreedomHop, My Sexy Saturday, & Scintillating Sunday Showcase

http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/  

Weekend Writing Warriors

http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/



Have too many weeds? We sure do. I’ve left my wild foods recipes up.

Just scroll back and enjoy. Yum!

http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/



Sunday 7

**A promo op for you too!**

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

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A to Z Road Trip!

I’m still busy as heck but came back to the ol’ blog for the 2015 Post-Challenge Road Trip. I haven’t done this before so I’m not sure if this is an annual ending to the event or new for 2015.

What’s a Post-Challenge Road Trip?

The folks running the annual A to Z Challenge are encouraging people to take a final look at all the blogs participating this year.  The blogs I’ve already visited were fantastic, but with family plans looming I don’t think I’ll have time to stop by all 1509 participant blogs this year. I’ll give it my best as time permits.  If you have yet to see the many marvelous posts put up this year, here’s the A to Z participant link.

To Road Trippers stopping here for the first time, the following was my A to Z line-up. I’ve made links so you won’t have to scroll yourself into a hand cramp. Just right click and open a new tab. The information is unusual and fun and if you like to learn as much as I do, there are links on each post to take the topics further. All have historical perspective and some posts are truly strange.

A for Archaeoastronomy

B for (Linear) B

C for Chladni & Cymatics

D for Dreaded Sweat

E for Echo

F for Frost Fair

G for Ghost Ship

H for Heaven & Hell Clubs

I for Ice Harvesting

J for Jersey Devil

K for Kaleidoscope

L for Legends or Lies

M for Monopoly

N for Necropolis Railway

O for Overtoun “dog suicide” Bridge

P for Prehistoric Pigment

Q for Quills & Pens

R for Rat King

S for Spectacles

T for Tree Circus

U for Ukulele

V for Volkswagen

W for Witching

X for XOXO

Y for Yo-yo

Z for Zildjian cymbals

Thanks for stopping. See you next year Road Trippers!

۞>>>>۞>>>>My Other Blogs & Assorted Happenings<<<<۞<<<<۞

My 4th of the month blog post can still be found at Romance Books ‘4’ Us

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/2015/05/time-for-flowers-by-rose-anderson.html

Weekend Writing Warriors

http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

There’s still time to try my wild foods recipes on my other blog

Scroll back for all ten. Yum!

http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/

My Sexy Saturday

http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Snippet Sunday & more

**A promo op for you too!**

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

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Fantastic authors & industry representatives all month long. http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Romance Books ‘4’ Us

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/



Authors~ check out our promo services.

And…Our May contest is on. We’ll have prizes!

http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Attention Authors~ My Exquisite Quills blog hosts five fun and free promo opportunities a week. I’m delighted to say it’s a hot spot with great exposure. Come join in!

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

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Love Waits in Unexpected Places –

Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

Download your free chapter sampler today!

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞