Jennifer Bray-Weber's Blog, page 59
December 16, 2014
Link of the Week – Creative Commons
Find content for your blogs a challenge? Need help with research? How about finding and using music? Here is a site that helps you find just what you need. Creative Commons offers content you can use freely and legally.
Let people share and use your photographs, but not allow companies to sell them.
Access to course materials from the world’s top universities.
Encourage readers to re-publish your blog posts, as long as they give you credit.
Look for songs that you can use and remix, royalty-free.
http://search.creativecommons.org/
http://mirrors.creativecommons.org/movingimages/webm/WannaWorkTogether_480p.webm
December 12, 2014
Friday Fun Facts- Uhmm Not So Fun Today
Have you ever heard of Willard Asylum? Believe it or not, this place was a major improvement for the mentally ill. Take a look at some of the facts:
- The average stay was…30 years.
- 400 suitcases were found in the attic after it shut down. They dated from 1910 to 1960 and weren’t found until 1995. All were still full of the owners belongings.
- When patients died, they were buried. No names were on the tombstones- only numbers.
- The only one with names are those that participated in the Civil War and were furnished by the government.
- There are almost 6,000 people buried there.
- The New York Office of Mental Health has classified the cemetery records as medical records and have sealed them.
- Willard opened in the 1800s.
- It was a 900 bed boot camp or shock camp…the only problem was that it lasted for up to 30 years for many of the patients.
- When it opened, it was not uncommon to keep people deemed insane naked, in chains and locked up 24/7. Willard did try to be different by giving them some freedom and jobs to have a sense of purpose.
- One of the doctors who treated patients there, became a patient!
- Even though this institution tried to improve the conditions of the mental patients, there was much to be desired. Many records remain closed.
December 10, 2014
Hump Day Kick Start – Shirtless and Smoldering Edition
Song of the day: Down in a Hole by Alice in Chains
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a v isual treat.
Should you wish to thank me for this fine, um, prompt, I accept cash, sparkly jewelry, and gift cards to swanky places.
Damn…I can’t stop staring long enough to string sentences together. Okay, okay… who is our fella today? He appears tapped out. Fight club? Bronc riding? Maybe he’s calculating his next move with the sexy poker player he’s losing his shirt to, literally. What about those dog tags? What’s the story there? Does he have a burden he keeps stowed deep? Is he sitting at some forgotten train station after the pretty hitchhiker stole his truck and wallet? Don’t worry, darlin’. I’ll get you where you need to go. And it won’t cost you a thing. Well, not monetarily, anyway.
Speak up! Love to hear your comments!
December 9, 2014
Link Of The Week- Cool Gifts For Writers!
Just because I’m a writer does NOT mean I need 100 notebooks or journals. Sigh. It gets hard looking excited when you’ve opened the fourth one on your birthday. There ARE cool things out there for us. Check it out!
http://thewritelife.com/22-gifts-for-writers-that-are-way-better-than-a-boring-old-notebook/
December 5, 2014
Friday Fun Facts- The Melungeons
There’s something mysterious about the people found living throughout the Appalachians. Who are they? Where did they come from? No one knows for sure and theories are a dime-a-dozen. Meet the Melungeons.
-In 1690 French traders stumbled upon an unknown settlement deep in the heart of the mountains. They had dark olive skin but had European features and lived in log cabins. They believed they found a colony of Moors.
-No other mention has been found of this group until 1784. John Sevier came across this group and when asked, they told him they were of Portuguese descent. Due to their dark skin, he didn’t believe them and concluded they were Moors also.
-By the 1800s, this group had spread out through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. They were greatly shunned due to their strange appearance and customs. Mothers would actually scare their children by telling them tales about the “dark people” from the mountain.
-The origins of this group are still disputed. Some say they came from pirates moving up and down the east coast, others say they’re Native American, descendants of The Lost Colony of Roanoke, shipwrecked Portuguese sailors, lost Phoenician sailors, and some even claim they are one of the tribes of Israel.
-In 1999, Dr. Brent Kennedy found evidence that suggested they are, in fact, some of the earliest settlers here in The Old World. He believes them to be Ottoman Turks left here by Sir Francis Drake after he captured them from the Spanish.
-Their name could come from the word Melunn-Jinn which means “cursed soul abandoned by God” in Arabic.
December 3, 2014
Hump Day Kick Start – The Camera is Rolling Edition
Song of the day: Tears Don’t Fall by Bullet For My Valentine
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a v isual treat.
This should get your attention.
Today’s writing picture prompt is, um, curious. Who are these people and what’s going on? Take notice of the characters in the background. The man in the jacket seems uneasy. The smoker, passing judgement. And the woman with the bent knee, anxiously waiting. What are they filming? A magazine perfume ad or suggestive pictorial? A documentary on the tragic life of an actress? A sex scene in a movie? Why is the sharply-dressed man adjusting her dress. Is he buttoning or unbuttoning? Is she allowing him? Or is she unable? If so why? Is it because of something nefarious? Maybe she is in more control than she is letting on to be. Perhaps she is the hostess of an elite “training” party.
You tell me. Love to hear your take.
December 2, 2014
Link Of The Week- Self Hatred And What The H… Am I Doing?
Am I a writer? I think I am, but there are moments when my mind tells me I’m just a big dum-dum to even contemplate writing novels. Sheesh. Sigh. Geeeeez.
Today’s L.O.T.W. explores this dark feeling that most every author experiences on a semi regular basis. I know, right now, I’m in the dark tumultuous heart of authorial self hatred so this article was aimed right at Stacey Purcell.
**As always, Chuck doesn’t blush over bad language so read with that in mind.
November 26, 2014
Hump Day Kick Start – Thanksgiving Ax-man Edition
Song of the day: Bleed by The Dreaming
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a v isual treat.
In honor of the American holiday Thanksgiving, I give you a hunk and an ax. You’re welcome.
Today’s prompt could go many different ways. We could stay with a Thanksgiving theme. Mr. Ax-man may be stalking the farm for an unlucky gobbler the lovely cook wants to roast. Or perhaps he’s taking carving the turkey a bit too seriously (to impress her, of course).
We could veer off into another direction. He could be special forces, stranded in the wilderness. Winter’s coming and he needs to build shelter and gather firewood. Protect the beautiful informant. Keep her safe and warm. Maybe give in to carnal instincts. Because the back country will do that to you. Conversely, the mountain man may be alone, all alone out there, until a hiker loses her way.
And, hey, never discount the zombie apocalypse. A good arm and true swing will lop off a drooling, groaning, mindless, flesh-eating zombie’s head.
What’s your take on our tasty prompt? Or tell me what you are thankful for. I’m thankful for delicious, hard, testosterone-filled eye-candy. Love to hear from you!
November 25, 2014
Link of the Week – Calendars and Observances
Three in one, today. There are so many worldwide observances and holidays worldwide. Whether traditional, respected, freaky, nonsensical, fun, or simply excuses to party, you’ll probably find it at one of these links. Maybe you’d like more information on a holiday. Or perhaps you’d like to know how to start your own day of observance. Do you want to know what happened in history on this day? You are sure to find conversation starters or a reason to celebrate.
http://www.brownielocks.com/index.html
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
November 21, 2014
Friday Fun Facts- Gobble Gobble
Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Do you know everything there is to know about this holiday? I think not.
- The author of Mary Had A Little Lamb is responsible for us having a national day of thanks. She lobbied several presidents before finding a sympathetic ear with Abraham Lincoln. Sara Joespha Hale wrote a final letter to him on September 28, 1863 arguing that a day like this would be good for the country after the Civil War. He read her letter on October 3 and the first Thanksgiving happened the following month!
- Franklin D. Roosevelt changed the holiday from the last Thursday of the month to the second to last. He thought this might boost the economy by giving and extra week of holiday shopping. Many states went along with his decision, many didn’t. In 1941 Congress made a ruling (typical) that we would celebrate on the 4th Thursday so sometimes it’s the last and sometimes it’s not.
- Sara Hale’s contributions didn’t stop after she got the holiday. She wrote numerous articles to newspapers providing recipes to prepare for the feast. These items would not have been at the original celebration but they sure tasted good. She’s responsible for yummies such as turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Thank you, Ms. Hale!!
- About 280 million turkeys are sold at Thanksgiving. That’s about $3 billion in sales. Whew!
-There were 102 people on the Mayflower. Only about half of them were what we call Pilgrims. The others were called Strangers and were basically folks that hitched a ride on the ship to the New World.
- The term Turkey Shoot came from a practice in the late 19th century. They would tie a turkey’s leg to a log with only his head showing from behind and then hold competitions for marksmanship. (Ewwwwww- that’s not even sporting!)
- Did you know turkeys have heart attacks? When the Air Force was conducting test runs and breaking the sound barrier, fiels of turkeys would drop dead. (Whoa!)
- There’s fossil evidence that show turkeys roamed the Americas 10 million years ago.
- The Guinness Book of Records records the heaviest turkey weighed in at 86 pounds!
- Thomas Jefferson thought the concept of Thanksgiving was “the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard.
