Another plug for The Writer's Almanac

Besides interesting poetry, there are fun little snippets from history about those who have contributed to the written word.  I never knew the book below was written by a woman.  To check our or subscribe to The Writer's Almanac, click here.

It was on this day in 1818 that Mary Shelley published her gothic horror novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. In 1816, 19-year-old Mary and her lover Percy Shelley were staying with Lord Byron in Switzerland. It rained a lot, and they were stuck in the house. They read ghost stories, and Lord Byron got the idea that they should each write a ghost story themselves. Byron and Percy Shelley gave up quickly, but Mary spent many days trying to think of a story. One night the two men had a conversation about the spontaneous generation of life and the possibility of re-animating a corpse. Mary went to bed, but she couldn't sleep, and she had a vision: "I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion." And she went to work writing. Two years later, on this day in 1818, Frankenstein was published in London, and it became an instant best-seller. Mary Shelley was 21 years old.

A delightful, laugh-out-loud post

I was reading Margie Haack's post today and was cheered!  Give it a read and be cheered too!

http://toadsdrinkcoffee.blogspot.com/2009/01/buried-not-dead.html

Breast Cancer Awareness Caddie?

I know it's a Mary Kay thing, but couldn't we kill two birds with one stone?

Brrrrrr (I'm feeling poetic)

There's something quiet about the cold, something private.

Perhaps it's the way we hunch over keeping our arms as close to our sides as possible, our hands tucked into pockets.

With our ears to our shoulders, we do not invite the friendly conversations or simple nods hello from passersby.  

As we enter into the warmth of inside, we stand up, we loosen ourselves both physically and relationally.  We say hello.

Happy Columbus Day?

Does anyone else think it's weird that we celebrate Columbus Day, and that the government workers get the day off? I mean come on.

virgin post

Okay, so's here's what is hopefully the first post of many. I often think of things that I want to blog about, and my voice in my head says, "I should blog about that."