Jen FitzGerald's Blog, page 123

A great new discovery!

I love history. Always have. Too bad we don't learn as well from history as we ought, both personally and societally.

Anyway, last week, my dear and lovely friend, Nancy, turned me on to this fantastic series of pod casts called Stuff You Missed in History Class. Produced by the website/show/people of How Stuff Works, the narrators delve a little deeper into the lives of the famous people and events of history. Sort of like the rest of the story, for those of you familiar with Paul Harvey!

So I've learned a little more about the lives of Laura Ingalls Wider and Jane Austen, as well the father of the private investigations Allen Pinkerton. I learned about five of the deadliest storms in history and that the Titanic was probably doomed from the start.

Each pod cast is usually shorter than an episode of TV and works well when I'm walking on the treadmill. They'd probably be great for road trips too.

Another great discovery are TED Talks--thank you to another dear and lovely friend, Regina, for those. TED talks are short talks (ten to twenty minutes usually) given by all kinds of people on all kinds of topics. Their slogan--Ideas Worth Spreading. Absolutely!

From anecdotal to entertaining to educational, this site is a treasure trove of information. For instance, I learned that not only do (obviously) humans have gender, but so do our cells. Certain diseases manifest themselves differently in men and women and the treatment may be different as well. Well worth the fifteen minutes!


Have you heard of either of these? Do you listen?

And if you know of any other cool sites or links to share, please do!

Look what I bought!

So Wednesday, I was met a friend to chat, but I was early, so I wandered into a Container Store. Believe it or not, I've never been in one. If you have, you know they have all kinds of storage containers and organizational paraphernalia. I just needed to kill time.

As I wandered about, I came upon these cool measuring cups and just couldn't resist!



 (Photo courtesy the manufacturer Fred and Friends website.)
Yes, they are Russian nesting doll measuring cups! How fun are they??

Well, it's Friday again and I have big plans for working in my yard. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. Although we do need the rain...

How about you?? Big weekend plans?

Harlequin Sold!

This week it was announced that Torstar sold it's publishing arm, Harlequin, to HarperCollins.

It's about time something happened. Something needed to happen.

Harlequin sales have been in a steady decline for a handful years so it's about time. Harlequin has been quite controversial for several years now for varying reasons. Some of their authors have jumped ship or sued over paltry royalty rates. Of course, some authors understand that Harlequin is also about branding and distribution--something they've done well for a very long time. It's not always about the money, but when an author only makes 5 CENTS a book, there's something rotten in Denmark.

I believe one of Harlequin's major issues is that they didn't embrace the digital as quickly as it evolved. According to a trusted source of mine and a long-time Harlequin author, the top heads in the company are barely removed from the Victorian era and may be having a hard time themselves with the rapid changes in technology. Transitioning a huge company to the digital age? Quite the undertaking. Another friend of mine who writes for Harlequin Intrigue had to complete edits via hard copy (along with paying requisite postage to send it back) for the first two or three of her books before her editor switched to using track changes.

Another issue I think Harlequin failed to address was marketing to the correct demographic. They've continue to do whatever they've done for the last thirty years and the young hip digital/online/E generation -- i.e. their replacement consumers -- have been ignored. The average age of a Harlequin Intrigue reader is in her 60s. They've not tried to pull in new readers with fresh innovative and ONLINE marketing techniques.

You and I both know there's a lot more to it than just these two factors, but they've certainly played a part. It'll be interesting to see the positive changes that come about from the deal, both for Harlequin and its authors.

Fast forward one year...

And I'll have my weekends back. It seems like there's always something going on either Saturdays or Sundays and I haven't had a good solid weekend to work around the yard.

Most of what I'm doing are bite size pieces of larges projects--filling a bag or two or three of yard waste rather than twenty, weed whacking but not mowing, killing weeds here and there. But there's so much more to be done and by the time I have a full weekend, it'll be real summer and real hot.

Of course, despite my watching what I eat, my morning stint on the treadmill, and daily calisthenics, I proved yesterday, I'm still woefully out of shape. Granted it was pretty warm Sunday morning as I was raking and I was up till almost 1am Saturday night, but I ended up taking an hour and half nap yesterday afternoon and I still felt rather draggy.

I pushed through the lethargy to get laundry done as well getting my dinners partially pre-cooked and some minor housework accomplished. I was ready to hit the sack by nine p.m. So I did...

How was your weekend??

Was it just a few months ago...

...that I was lamenting the slow churn of time?

Well, now I'm staring down the barrel at Sonshine's graduation a mere month from now.

Then it'll be fireworks season.

And before I know it, Sonshine will be off to boot camp...

I haven't gotten maudlin about it all.

YET.

I'm still looking forward to a kid-free house. We'll see how that changes the closer we get to these milestones...

Where did the time go?

While I was in Nebraska...

I was able to visit my daddy's grave, too. As I mentioned, it was my first trip back to Nebraska since we actually buried my dad, I haven't ever seen the headstone we picked out. DH, Sonshine and I hit the cemetery after the wedding, but before the reception. I should have planned ahead and taken a small American flag or a pinwheel, but I didn't. I thought about taking some flowers, but flowers don't last very long...

We're going to the chapel...

So my babiest sister got married this weekend. DH, Sonshine and I zoomed up to Omaha, Nebraska to celebrate with my family. My other sister flew in from Michigan too. It was the first time we've all been together since November 2009 when our daddy died.

So some pictures...






Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Wurtz!

We're ging to the chapel...

So my babiest sister got married this weekend. DH, Sonshine and I zoomed up to Omaha, Nebraska to celebrate with my family. My other sister flew in from Michigan too. It was the first time we've all been together since November 2009 when our daddy died.

So some pictures...






Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Wurtz!

My apologies...

My weekend plans started thirteen hours earlier than expected, so no regular post today.

But I do wish a wonderful spring weekend.

May the sun shine, the breeze be temperate, and the rain be minimal.

See you Monday...

I slid past temptation...

Last Saturday was writers group. The official meeting is at one restaurant and our critique group confab takes place at another. The first place jacked up their prices and I refused to order anything. And I resisted the chips and salsa.

By the time, we arrived at the second place, I was very very hungry...

The temptation to order something sweet and delicious and fast was very great...


The Dr. Pepper Cake and ice cream was really calling my name. But I resisted and settled for something not as healthy as I should have had, but certainly not the very worst thing either.

A burger! Granted it came on a bun and with fries, but it also had avocado on it.


Weight-wise I'm doing okay...I'm up a normal and acceptable amount considering I did really bad on Friday and ate fast food for lunch. And drank a very large soda!

With the work week, comes the regular healthy snacks and meals and my regular exercise, so I'm happy with where I'm at right now. Whew!