Saturday Snapshot

by Carol12 Comments
Last weekend we went to Applefest in Franklin, PA. It was nice time, and the rain even held off. We ate, looked at crafts, and stopped in a couple of shops. I took the horse photo, Amber took the apple one, and my brother-in-law took the one of me. Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads....
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Thursday’s Tale: The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

by Carol3 Comments
In his introduction to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which was first published in 1900, Baum wrote that the story "aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out.” It has been considered the first American fairy tale because of its references to clear American locations like Kansas and Omaha. While agreeing with authors like Carroll about fantasy literature and its importance for children along with numerous illustrations, Baum also wanted to create a story that had recognizable American elements in it like farming and industrialization. It's a mix of fantasy: witches and wizards, and the everyday: scarecrows, puppy dogs. I have watched three movie versions of the Wizard of Oz over the years - the classic from 1939, the Muppet version, and last year's Oz the Great and Powerful. Each has aspects of the original story, but none capture the whole adventure. We all know Dorothy is...
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The Story Behind Miracle Man: Guest Post by William R. Leibowitz

by Carol2 Comments
Today I'm happy to welcome the author of Miracle Man, William R. Leibowitz, to my blog. You may have read the excerpt from his book I posted last month. The Story Behind Miracle Man by William R. Liebowitz What inspired me to write Miracle Man? Three things, really. Firstly, I wanted to tell a story about a real hero—not a celebrity, but a person who treasures and acts on important human values. A person who, in fact, is an anti-celebrity, in the sense that he pursues his selfless goals in virtual isolation. I think such a person would be inspirational in the times we live in –where baseless fame has seemingly become the chief goal of so many. The protagonist in Miracle Man, Robert James Austin, uses his extraordinary gifts selflessly to cure diseases. He doesn’t want adulation. He doesn’t want his picture to be on magazine covers and T-Shirts. In my opinion, too much time and attention is heaped upon meritless celebrities who contribute...
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Grim Shadows by Jenn Bennet

by Carol4 Comments
I have to admit that at first I was a bit annoyed with the male lead, Lowe Magnusson. When he first meets Hadley Bacall, he just keeps going on and on about her rear-end. Thankfully he eventually moved on to noticing her as a person. And they are a good match. Lowe is a con-artist, liar and a thief, but he has a truly good heart. Who doesn't love that type of bad boy, the kind that's just bad enough to be interesting but isn't going to intentionally hurt the people he cares about? Hadley has spent her life proving she's worthy and trying to keep her spirits at bay. Because they do want to kill someone, they're just waiting for her to get angry enough to let them. And she comes close - Lowe is quite good at pushing people's buttons. While this is a romance, Lowe and Hadley are also on a mission. They need to collect the pieces of an artifact, but...
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Fitness Tuesday #12

by Carol2 Comments
Here's my plan, more or less. (SS stands for strength training/stretching; CT stands for cross-training) Since last check-in, I've been a bit of a failure, but I'm going to move on to Week 11 anyway. Tuesday I took the dog for a mile walk in the afternoon and in the evening I ran four miles at a pace of 10:46 min/mile. I was going to do a little stretching and dumbbells in bed - not a good idea. When my husband came in I was asleep with the dumbbells lying on my stomach. Oh well. Wednesday I ran out of time, but I did do 30-min of the machines at the gym on Thursday, all arms. I was going to back in the evening to do 60 mins of CT, but I ended up walking with my friend in the evening instead. We were out of town over the weekend and I just totally skipped my Friday and Sunday runs. Monday I took the dog for a...
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