Jennifer Bray-Weber's Blog, page 57
February 11, 2015
Hump Day Kick Start – Runway Edition
Hump Day Kick Start ��� for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a v isual treat.
I found this pic intriguing. Maybe you will, too.
Who is our prompt? Is she a high-fashion model? A drug runner? Undercover law enforcement? A travel agent? A crazy loon who lost her way in the airport terminal? Does she know who’s flying the plane? A lover? Her��boss? Both? ��Is she coming? Going? In danger? Running from something or someone? Rendezvousing with someone special?��What if she were playing chicken with the plane?
I noticed she’s walking on a crack. Could that be symbolism?
Give it a whirl. Let me hear your take.
February 10, 2015
Link Of The Week- Game On!
“Writers are expert procrastinators. These online games are excellent procrastination tools, but will also put your language skills to work.”
http://www.hamptonroadswriters.org/games.php
I had the best time exploring this site!
February 6, 2015
Friday Fun Facts- Medical Innovations From The Civil War
When I think of the Civil War, I think of disease, death and filth. The reality is that there were quite a number of medical innovations to improve survival chances made during this terrible time. MacGyver would have been proud at the ingenuity of some of these doctors.
-A typical battlefield treatment for badly wounded limbs was to subject them to wound cleaning rats and maggots. The death rate was staggering. During the war, they discovered that if you quickly changed a complex wound to a simple one, the odds were definitely more in your favor. This typically was done within the first hour after injury and it helped prevent massive infections setting in.
**Side Story- A general who had his leg amputated above the knee sent his leg to the Army Medical Museum and visited it every year on its anniversary of being severed from the rest of the body. This wasn’t the only odd thing he did in his life. While serving in Congress, he shot the son of Francis Scott Key for sleeping with his wife. He was then the first person to be found “not guilty” by reason of temporary insanity.**
-Chloroform was a God-send. Unfortunately it was in short supply, especially for the Confederate army who were often cut off from supplies. The usual dose to put someone out was 2 oz. because the liquid would evaporate quickly on the folded cloth. Many men went through the amputations with nothing more than some whiskey and a branch to bite on. Dr. John Chisolm invented a type of inhaler that used a sponge inside a container to prevent the evaporation. It took the dose from 2 oz. to 1/8 of an ounce!��
-In the beginning, ambulances were run by civilians who had little to no training and were often “drunks and cowards”. Jonathon Letterman, medical director of the Army of the Potomac, devised a brilliant system of getting the wounded off the battlefield and to safety. This is the beginning of our modern day ambulance-to-ER system. He even put in spring suspension and the drivers started carrying locked boxes of bandages, protein, bedsacks, and morphine with them to field dress wounds.
-A soldier who had pneumonia was successfully treated with mercury which led to gangrene.Eventually it took part of his mouth, his eye, and most of his cheek bone too.Dr. Gordon Buck experimented, in a series of operations, to put in facial implants to reconstruct his face. He also pioneered the use of tiny sutures to minimize scarring on this man.
-Benjamin Howard, a surgical assistant, invented a way to close sucking chest wounds without collapsing the lings which caused the patient to suffocate. In the early part of the war, only 8% of these wounds were survived. After his innovation, the rate quadrupled!
February 4, 2015
Hump Day Kick Start – Tats, Camo, and Blades
Hump Day Kick Start ��� for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a v isual treat.
By now, my dear MuseTrackers, you should know I have a thing for tats. If you did not know, well…I have a thing for tats. And in honor of my love for ink, I give you today’s prompt. Bonus points if you know who the name of this hunk of hottness.
So friends, tell me about our boy? Who is he? What’s his story? Is he resting after his morning jog along the beach? What is he looking at? Is he watching someone? What is that expression on his face? Is he angry? Plotting revenge? Picking out his next victim? Brooding? Pensive? Maybe he is patiently waiting for the gorgeous��girl in the��pink��sundress to look his way. The one who walks her little scruffy terrier, looking lonely, every day. The one��from his past. Maybe.
You tell me. Love to hear your take on this beautiful prompt!
February 3, 2015
Link of the Week – Wunderlist
If you are type-A like me, you might be a bit obsessed with lists. You might also be someone who has loads of things and/or projects they do everyday. 
Just like headstrong, zealous me. Conversely, you might just bumble along, not really organized at all. Bless your free spirit. Good news for both the freaky OCDers and the scatterbrained and everyone in between. There is cloud-based task manager��app keep it all together.
Wunderlist is a place to make and manage to-do lists, projects, reminders, notifications, emails, and more. All in real-time. On any device. And even with friends and co-workers. For free (or pay for the upgrade). Mighty cool, eh?
https://www.wunderlist.com/home/
January 28, 2015
Hump Day Kick Start – Skin, Bubbles, Tux Edition
Hump Day Kick Start ��� for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a visual treat.
What a great pic to unleash your imagination upon. Champagne. Sexy guy in a tux. Is she even wearing clothes?
So, what’s going on with today’s prompt? Who are they? ��What are they celebrating? Are they celebrating? Why the dazed look upon his face? Did he just win a prestigious award? Did they just pull off a casino heist? Is she hired help? Or a puppet-master? Hmm… Puppet-master…I like that…
You tell me. Love to hear your take. Bring it!
January 27, 2015
Link of the Week – Reality Dose
I’m guilty. So guilty. Of what, you say? Oh-so many things. Some of which I will keep closely guarded, like skeletons in a closet. Until, that is, you ply me with alcohol. Then I parade those skeletons out like…
I digress. I am guilty of over-committing myself as an author. I am a little lost, walking in circles, overwhelmed by how much I tell myself I must do to keep up with the Joneses. Certainly I’m not doing enough if I’m not making the same or more money than other authors. ��And what about all those authors doing Facebook parties? Joining all those genre and marketing groups? And just why am I lamenting that I can’t spit out a book every 2-3 months? Heck, even 6 months? Of course I commit with all good intentions. A method to the madness with a means to an end. Theoretically, that is. And unfortunately, this extends beyond just my writing career. Yessir, I suffer from committing to too much. Therefore, make slow, slow progress toward my ultimate goals.
You, too?
Well, then this week’s link is just for you.��Author (and funny gal!) Kristen Lamb wrote an enlightening and entertaining blog on what she calls Reality Deficit Disorder. Bless her!
You must read her pearls of wisdom. You must! Go. Now.
January 21, 2015
Hump Day Kick Start – Woodsman Edition
Hump Day Kick Start ��� for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a v isual treat.
For the ladies…
It’s January. Still flippin’ cold. In my neck of the woods, we went for over two weeks without seeing the sun. Being from Southeast Texas, that’s a long time. We’ve been graced with 3 whole days of clear skies, 3 whole days of worshiping the suns rays. But its not to last, so says the weatherman. *sigh* Better gather some tinder. This��prompt might heat things up.
So who is our prompt today? Is he alone in the wilds, trying to forget the city life and woman he left behind? Did he just have the fight of his life with a grizzly bear? Could he be a criminal on the run, hiding out in the mountains until spring when he can make a run for the border? Maybe he just rescued the pretty lady dressed in red from a big bad wolf. Or maybe he is the big bad wolf! My…what big, um, hands, yeah, hands you have there.
What’s your take? Love to hear your comments!
January 20, 2015
Link Of The Week- Write Like Hemingway
He was an amazing writer and if you’d like to try out his style, this is the site for you. Give it a try. What have you got to lose?
January 16, 2015
Friday Fun Facts- Do You Really Know Your Body?
1.) The average person produces enough saliva in their lifetime to fill 2 swimming pools.
2.) Every 60 seconds, your red blood cells do a complete circuit of your body.
3.) Sometimes, when you have to pee, you can visibly see that your bladder is bigger
4.) Most babies are born with blue eyes; exposure to UV light brings out their true color.
5.) Most westerners consume 50 tons of food and 50,000 liters of liquid in their lifetime
6.) It can take your finger and toenails 1/2 a year to grow an entirely new nail (from base to tip).
7.) The muscles that control your eyes contract about 100,000 times a day (that’s the equivalent of giving your legs a workout by walking 50 miles).
8.) Over the course of your lifetime, you’ll shed about 40lbs of skin.
9.) Your brain uses about 20% of your oxygen and caloric intake.
10.) In each kidney, there are 1 million filters that clean around 1.3 liters of blood every minute and push out close to 1.5 liters of urine every day.
11.) Ovaries contain over 500,000 eggs, but only about 400 get the opportunity to create life.
12.) Everyone has a completely unique smell (except for twins).
13.) Why doesn’t your stomach digest itself? That’s because your stomach cells are created faster than they can be destroyed.
14.) You have about half-a-million sweat glands that produce about a pint of sweat daily.
15.) Humans are extremely visual; 90% of the information we gather from our surroundings is from our eyesight.
