Allison Bruning's Blog, page 63

#PhotoADayAug: Smile, Happy Coins

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Photo A Day Challenge August 3, 2012
"Coins"I took this photograph after my husband and I went on a picnic at Clifty Falls State Park in Madison, Indiana. I call it, "Smile, Happy Coins." [image error]
If you like my photographs, please do not reuse them unless you give me credit for them where ever you are posting them. Let me know where you are using them as well. I just love to see where my pictures end up.  Thanks, Allison

#PhotoADayAug Vrrooom Vrrrooom

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Photo A Day Challenge August 2, 2012
Here's my picture for August 2nd. If you like my photographs, please do not reuse them unless you give me credit for them where ever you are posting them. Let me know where you are using them as well. I just love to see where my pictures end up.  Thanks, Allison
"One"



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One of the Nascar cars that was at NascarFest in Carrollton, Kentucky the week of the Sprint Cup at the Kentucky Speedway. My husband is a Nascar fan. It was three days of fun filled festivities. We can't wait until next year's festival. This was the second year Carrollton had a festival. It was bigger and better than last year.

#PhotoADayAugust Good Morning, Morning Glories

[image error] Photo A Day Challenge  August 1, 2012 This month I am trying something new with my blog. I've joined two blog challenges. One is a visual prompt and the other is a photography challenge. The Photo A Day Challenge ask a blogger is given a prompt then asked to go outside and take a picture based on the prompt. You can find more information here: http://fatmumslim.com.au/here-it-is-photo-a-day-august-challenge-list/
 I love it when I'm challenged with both my passions. So stop by each day and visit. You never know what you may find. Here's my picture for August 1st. If you like my photographs, please do not reuse them unless you give me credit for them where ever you are posting them. Let me know where you are using them as well. I just love to see where my pictures end up.  Thanks, Allison
"Outside"
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These beautiful Morning Glories, are outside in my garden. We have a bunch of them hanging over the fence. I just love being able to wake up each morning and seeing them welcome the new day.

BlogFlash2012/2: The Ever Elusive, Socks

August 2, 2012The Ever Elusive, Socks!









Socks.I should have named her Bandit.For that is what she is.She steals my pens and ponytail holders,And sneaks into rooms like a spy.Clank, I close the door.Moments later everything in the closet hits the floor. As slick as she may think she is. I have trapped her.Panic stricken and angry,She leaps out of the closet when I open the door. She is the queen of the castle, Or so she believes. Ask the dog or the other cat, They may disagree. Visitors? Forget it. She doesn’t play. Hiding until they go away.
My beautiful and elusive cat, Socks. 

What in the world is Foxglove?

Allison Bruning's Book Club Get your copy of Calico here: http://amzn.to/JSNRpm
"Have you any foxglove?" she (Anna) asked, changing the subject."Foxglove? Whatever for? You have no heart condition."(Alexander answered)"Alexander, please do me this service and make my passing easier."He looked at her in horror. "No! I will not aid in the murder of my own sister! You can overcome this.""I saw the pain my husband endured and I will not experience it.""Then let the smallpox overtake you. I won't kill you. I'd rather tend to your illness."What in the world is Foxglove?
Alexander Turner is a physician during the middle 18th century. Unlike physicians of today, many people did not trust doctors nor were there many doctors around. When reading Calico,  you should remember this is the time in our history when ailments were still being treated with leeches and bloodlettings. Doctors trained in European medicals schools were hard to come by. Most people relied on folk remedies than to ever see a doctor. Doctors and scientists are still studying the human body. As a European trained physician, Alexander has an arsenal of medical knowledge at his disposal, including ancient remedies that have proven to work time and time again. One of these remedies is Foxglove. Foxglove had been used to treat heart conditions since ancient Greece. We still use it today to help those who have heart problems.

We know it as......................Digitalis




QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Do you think it was cowardly of Anna to ask her brother to give her something that will kill her?

Anna had planned for her twin daughters' future by asking her brother to take them to the Shawnee. Do you think it was hard for Anna to plan this while she knew she was dying?
What kind of mother do you think she is?

If you were in Anna's place what would you have done?

How are you enjoying the book so far?

What kind of mother do you think she is?
If you were in Anna's place what would you have done?
How are you enjoying the book so far?

The Course of the Corset: Edwardian

The Course of the Corset.....Edwardian Style
This week marks the end of our study on the corset. It's been an amazing journey from the ancient Minoans to the Edwardian Period. During the Progressive Era (aka: Edwardian Period), the desired shape of a female's body was largely influenced by the Gibson Girl. For more information on the Gibson Girl see my post at http://allisonbruning.blogspot.com/2012/06/oh-to-be-like-her-gibson-girl.html#.UBkpmUJgNFI

A Healthy Corset
During the later half of the Victorian Era, the general public began to demand a change of fashion. This was largely due to the speculations that the practice of tight lacing lead to major injuries in females, especially when pregnant. Diseases caused by corseting, according to medical opinion at that time, included tuberculosis, constipation, corset liver and skeletal deformities. Of course these are only a sampling of some of the ailments that were attributed to corseting. As the general public became more aware of the dangers of tight-lacing they began to demand for a change. Women who asserted the practice of tight-lacing was not dangers were often scrutinized as being vain or slaves to fashion.

An Edwardian Period Corset Ad by Cea @http://www.flickr.com/photos/centrala...


A New Corset, A New Image An Edwardian Corset - US Public DomainThe ad above shows the new style of corsets that were created for women after the public's put cry for change. No longer were woman expected to endure the painful practice of tight-lacing. Known as a healthy corset, the S shaped corset worn from 1900 through the 1910's allowed woman to breath and move around easier. In a greater desire to create the Gibson Girl look, the corset allowed a woman to manipulate her body into the sought out S-shaped figure over time. The smaller the waist the best. The style of the corset changed drastically during the Edwardian Period but the desired look was always the same. The corsets remained to be boned but since whales bones were more expensive and rare to use they had fallen out of fashion. The new corsets also had strands on the bottom of them that would attach to the woman's garters. The front laced corset (aka: swan bill corset) designed by Inez Gaches-Sarraute, a corset maker with a medical degree, deformed a woman's body gradually by pulling the bust forward and the hips back. It was suppose to elevate pressure on the woman's abdomen. This type of corset was worn until 1907, when once again the desired silhouette form of a woman changed. The corset continued to manipulate a woman's body into the desired S-shape yet this time the corset was extended to upon the waistline and down the thighs. By 1912, the corset length had reached all the way down to a woman's knees, making it hard for her sit down. 

BlogFlash2012/1: Can You Think Your Way Out Of Writing?

August 1: Can You Think Your Way Out Of Writing?
Writing can be one of the hardest things you can ever do. I don’t care if you are a bestselling author or just starting out in the business, we all have those little voices in our heads saying “Psst- that’s stupid. It’ll never work. Anne Lamont once said in her book, Bird by Bird , there is a radio station inside every writer’s head called KFKD that likes to broadcast the negative thoughts in you head or remind you of things you have to do that day. It’s main purpose – to stop your creativity. The best thing you can do is to change the station. 
What are some ways you stop the KFKD station from ruining you writing?

Flash That Blog, Girlfriend!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, step right up to my blog! I've been asked to join the 2012 Blog Flash! Everyday in August I will post a new blog posting with a picture. The posting will be 50-100 words about the picture. You never know what you may find. So be sure to stop by everyday and spread the word to your friends. 
I will continue with our weekly series, the book club and the Tasha Turner Blog Tour. Ya'll enjoy. 

Where are all the pictures?

You may have noticed there are a lot less pictures on my blog than there use to be. The explanation can be found at this blog. http://www.roniloren.com/blog/2012/7/20/bloggers-beware-you-can-get-sued-for-using-pics-on-your-blog.html

In response to my fellow blogger's ordeal I will no longer be using photographs that are not part of Creative Commons, under public domain or ones that I have not taken myself. If I have used a photograph that I did not take then it will be attributed to that source. Please be patient with me as I shift through the older blogs and try to find or take new photographs for those subjects.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Allison

TTVBT: The Unorthodox Writer

Doug Simpson: The Unorthodox Writer

I write books involving the survival of souls and spirits after the death of a human body, and the reincarnation of souls. I am not a fantasy writer. I believe that my books represent a fairly accurate picture of the world on-the-other-side, a world that most busy humans have no time to speculate anything about so they simply presume it is fantasy. If we want to acquire knowledge on a subject we know little about, we must undertake some serious research. I spent years researching souls and reincarnation, and continue to do so today, but there is no doubt in my mind that both of these exist.If writing about a little-known reality that the majority of people think is fantasy is not unorthodox enough, my writing technique is going to drive the writing instructors right around the bend. The best way I can describe it is off-the-cuff. When I started writing my first novel, Soul Awakening, I had only a general idea of where it was going, and then it turned out that I was even wrong about that. None of my three completed novels were planned out in any detail ahead of time but simply developed as they progressed one chapter after another. Of course, there were times when the events in a chapter led right into the next chapter but when that segment of the story was concluded I often did not know where it was headed next. I know some writers cannot imagine writing without a plan, which, I’m sure is fine for them, but I cannot imagine writing with a plan and this system works just wonderfully for me. I have always enjoyed a good mystery story where the reader does not know how it is going to turn out until the end, but try and imagine the fun involved in writing a mystery story when the author does not know how it is going to turn out until the end. A good mystery story keeps the reader wanting to keep reading to find out what happens next. A good mystery story also keeps this author wanting to keep writing so I can find out what happens next.Is that unorthodox enough for you?© Doug Simpson 2012 Doug Simpson is a retired high school teacher who has turned his talents to writing. His first novel, a spiritual mystery titled Soul Awakening, was published in the United States in October of 2011, by Book Locker. Check it out at http://booklocker.com/books/5754.html. It is available in print and eBook format through most book stores around the world. His magazine and website articles have been published in 2010 to 2012 in Australia, Canada, France, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His articles can be accessed through his website is at http://dousimp.mnsi.net.