Nik Nicholson's Blog, page 28
February 4, 2014
Anchoring Myself
To finish a book, I have to actually focus on that project and write… There are poems weaving themselves around my pen and plots unravelling in other stories I will one day tell. Today, I have to be here, with these characters discussing their destiny.
February 3, 2014
A Few Card Facts
Each of the suits on a deck of cards represents the four major pillars of the economy in the middle ages: heart represented the Church, spades represented the military, clubs represented agriculture, and diamonds represented the merchant class.
The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.
Random Facts About Condoms
3000 B.C.
The condom was invented in Egypt. Ancient drawings clearly depict men wearing condoms – sometimes made of material that may have been animal hide. It’s not clear what they were made of — or whether they were used for sex or ceremonial dress.
1640 A.D.
The oldest known condoms — dated to about 1640 — are found in Dudley Castle near Birmingham, England. They were made of fish and animal intestines. Condoms in those days were used to prevent sexually transmitted diseases rather than for contraception.
1734
Young Giacomo Girolamo Casanova begins his amorous career. He is among the first to use condoms to prevent pregnancy. Said to prefer condoms made from lamb intestine — still the preferred material for natural gut condoms — he also used linen condoms tied off with a ribbon.
1844
Charles Goodyear patents vulcanization of rubber. Soon, rubber condoms are mass produced. Unlike modern condoms — made to be used once and thrown away — early condoms were washed, anointed with petroleum jelly, and put away in special wooden boxes for later reuse. British playwright and essayist George Bernard Shaw called the rubber condom the “greatest invention of the nineteenth century.”
1844-1873
The U.S. contraceptive industry flourishes. In addition to condoms (immediately known as “rubbers”), there’s widespread sale and use of intrauterine devices or IUDs, douching syringes, vaginal sponges, diaphragms and cervical caps (then called “womb veils”), and “male caps” that covered only the tip of the penis.
1873
The U.S. Congress passes the Comstock laws. Written by dry goods merchant and anti-obscenity crusader Anthony Comstock, the law makes all forms of contraception illegal. The contraceptive industry continues to flourish — but the devices are now sold to promote “feminine hygiene.”
1880s
Penniless New York City immigrant Julius Schmid gets extra sausage casings from butcher shops and makes them into skin condoms. It becomes a big business by 1890. By the 1930s, his condom empire is making millions. His Ramses and Sheik brands are still popular.
Writing Prompt #2
Finish this line. Your main character is speaking. “I’ve told you everything about me except ____________. I felt this was the best time because ___________________.”
Writing Prompt #1
If your main character could do one thing different from their past, what would that be and why?
Salvation?
What we don’t know doesn’t always hurt us.
Minimum Wage Barbie
This made me laugh out loud. I love where it says, “Deadbeat Ken sold separately.”
On the Tip of My Tongue
I hate when a song or name of something is on the tip of my tongue.
