Deborah Collins

Random Musings from Alaska

Author's posts

FYI December 31, 2024

On This Day

1225 – The Lý dynasty of Vietnam ends after 216 years by the enthronement of the boy emperor Trần Thái Tông, husband of the last Lý monarch, Lý Chiêu Hoàng, starting the Trần dynasty.[citation needed][6]
The Trần dynasty,[a] (Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳), officially Đại Việt ( Chữ Hán: 大越), was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thái Tông ascended to the throne after his uncle Trần Thủ Độ orchestrated the overthrow of the Lý dynasty. The Trần dynasty defeated three Mongol invasions, most notably during the decisive Battle of Bạch Đằng River in 1288.[6] The final emperor of the dynasty was Thiếu Đế, who was forced to abdicate the throne in 1400, at the age of five years old in favor of his maternal grandfather, Hồ Quý Ly.

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Born On This Day

1491 – Jacques Cartier, French navigator and explorer (d. 1557)
Jacques Cartier[a] (Breton: Jakez Karter; 31 December 1491 – 1 September 1557) was a French-Breton maritime explorer for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map[3] the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named “The Country of Canadas”[citation needed] after the Iroquoian names for the two big settlements he saw at Stadacona (Quebec City) and at Hochelaga (Montreal Island).[4][5][6][7]

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FYI

 
 
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
 
 
EarthSky News
 
 
This Day in Tech History
 
 
This Day In History
 
 
Interesting Facts
 
 
Word Genius: Word of the Day
 
 
Wise Trivia
 
 

By Colin Marshall, Open Culture: The Complete History of the Music Video: From the 1890s to Today

 
 
By Colin Marshall, Open Culture: The Longest Construction Projects in History: Why Sagrada Família, the Milan Duomo, Greek Temples & Other Famous Structures Took Generations to Complete
 
 

By Open Culture: Hunter S. Thompson Remembers Jimmy Carter’s Captivating Bob Dylan Speech (1974)
 
 
 
 
The Daily Passport: 2024 Year in Travel: The Places Daily Passport Readers Loved Most
 
 
 
 
By Lesley Evans Ogden, Knowable Magazine: Inside the Brains of Aging Dogs
 
 
 
 

Mike Ritland: Montana Knife Company Master Bladesmith Josh Smith | Mike Drop Episode 220

 
 
 
 

Recipes

Food Network: 26 Homemade Cornbread Recipes for Every Meal
 
 
Food Network: 24 Comfort Food Breakfasts That Are Pure Indulgence
 
 

Taste of Home: 39 Diabetic-Friendly Ground Beef Recipes
 
 
Just the Recipe: Paste the URL to any recipe, click submit, and it’ll return literally JUST the recipe- no ads, no life story of the writer, no nothing EXCEPT the recipe.
 
 
DamnDelicious
 
 


 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 

E-book Deals:

 

BookGorilla

The Book Blogger List

BookBub

The Book Junction: Where Readers Go To Discover Great New Fiction!

Books A Million

Digital Book Spot

eBookSoda

eBooks Habit

FreeBooksy

Indie Bound

Love Swept & The Smitten Word

Mystery & Thriller Most Wanted

Pixel of Ink

The Rock Stars of Romance

Book Blogs & Websites:

Alaskan Book Cafe

Alternative-Read.com

Stacy, Carol RT Book Reviews

Welcome to the Stump the Bookseller blog!

Stump the Bookseller is a service offered by Loganberry Books to reconnect people to the books they love but can’t quite remember. In brief (for more detailed information see our About page), people can post their memories here, and the hivemind goes to work. After all, the collective mind of bibliophiles, readers, parents and librarians around the world is much better than just a few of us thinking. Together with these wonderful Stumper Magicians, we have a nearly 50% success rate in finding these long lost but treasured books. The more concrete the book description, the better the success rate, of course. It is a labor of love to keep it going, and there is a modest fee. Please see the How To page to find price information and details on how to submit your Book Stumper and payment.

Thanks to everyone involved to keep this forum going: our blogging team, the well-read Stumper Magicians, the many referrals, and of course to everyone who fondly remembers the wonder of books from their childhood and wants to share or revisit that wonder. Isn’t it amazing, the magic of a book?

Quotes December 30-31, 2024

And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.
Rainer Maria Rilke
 
 
 
 
The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.
Melody Beattie
 
 
 
 
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
Benjamin Franklin
 
 
 
 
Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.
Oprah Winfrey
 
 
 
 
A year from now, you’re gonna weigh more or less than what you do right now.
Phil McGraw
 
 
 
 
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.
Neil Gaiman
 
 
 
 
Take a leap of faith and begin this wondrous new year by believing. Believe in yourself. And believe that there is a loving Source – a Sower of Dreams – just waiting to be asked to help you make your dreams come true. Sarah Ban Breathnach
 
 
 
 
Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.
Helen Keller
 
 
 
 
Let our New Year’s resolution be this: we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word.
Goran Persson
 
 
 
 

Quotes December 27, 2024

“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin.”
 
 
 
 
“All warfare is based on deception.”
 
 
 
 
“It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.”
 
 
 
 
“The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice.”
 
 
 
 
“To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”
 
 
 
 
“He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.”
 
 
 
 
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
 
 
 
 
“What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.”
 
 
 
 
“Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.”
 
 
 
 
“Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.”

 
 
 
 

Quotes December 26, 2024

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.
Henry David Thoreau – 1817-1862 – Essayist
 
 
 
 
Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.
Napoleon Hill – 1883-1970 -Author
 
 
 
 
Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.
Abraham Lincoln – 1809-1865 – 16th President of the United States of America
 
 
 
 
If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.
Fred DeVito – Author-Fitness Expert
 
 
 
 
Joy has little to do with the circumstance of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.
Russell M. Nelson – American Religious Leader
 
 
 
 
Turn your obstacles into opportunities and your problems into possibilities.
Roy T. Bennett – 1939-2014 – Author
 
 
 
 
Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.
Conrad Hilton – 1887-1979 – Hotelier
 
 
 
 

Music December 30-31, 2024

Home Free – Auld Lang Syne
 
 
 
 
alexrainbirdMusic: Indie/Pop/Folk Compilation – December 2024 (2½-Hour Playlist)
 
 
 
 

FYI December 26-30, 2024

On This Day

1709 – The opera Agrippina by George Frideric Handel premiered in Venice.[4]
Agrippina (HWV 6) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel with a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. Composed for the 1709–10 Venice Carnevale season, the opera tells the story of Agrippina, the mother of Nero, as she plots the downfall of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the installation of her son as emperor. Grimani’s libretto, considered one of the best that Handel set, is an “anti-heroic satirical comedy”,[1] full of topical political allusions. Some analysts believe that it reflects Grimani’s political and diplomatic rivalry with Pope Clement XI.

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1703 – Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which allows Portugal to export wines to England on favorable trade terms.[6]
The Methuen Treaty was a military and commercial treaty between England and Portugal that was signed in 1703 as part of the War of the Spanish Succession.

The treaty stipulated that no tax higher than the tax charged for an equal amount of French wines could be charged for Portuguese wines (but see below) exported to England, and that English textiles would be admitted to Portugal at all times, regardless of the geopolitical situation in each of the two nations (to ensure England would still accept Portuguese wine in periods when not at war with France).[1][2]

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893 – An earthquake destroys the city of Dvin, Armenia.
The 893 Dvin earthquake occurred on 28 December at around midnight. It had a magnitude of approximately 6 and a maximum intensity of approximately IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. It destroyed the city of Dvin in Armenia, causing approximately 30,000 casualties. The similarity of the Arabic name for Dvin, ‘Dabil’ to Ardabil in northwestern Iran, has caused confusion in written records, such that the 893 Ardabil earthquake appears in several catalogues, although it is generally regarded as a false event. It was also recorded as an event during the classical period of India in several early catalogues at an unspecified capital.

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1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou ends in a Union defeat as forces under General William T. Sherman are repulsed with heavy losses by Confederate troops under General John C. Pemberton.[9]
The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, also called the Battle of Walnut Hills,[3] fought December 26–29, 1862, was the opening engagement of the Vicksburg Campaign during the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton repulsed an advance by Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman that was intended to lead to the capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi.


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1066 – Granada massacre: A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacres most of the Jewish population of the city.
The 1066 Granada massacre took place on 30 December 1066 (9 Tevet 4827; 10 Safar 459 AH) when a Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada, in the Taifa of Granada,[1] killed and crucified[2] the Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela, and massacred much of the Jewish population of the city.[3][4]


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Born On This Day

1532 – Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar and academic (d. 1576)
Wilhelm Xylander (born Wilhelm Holtzman, graecized to Xylander; 26 December 1532 – 10 February 1576) was a German classical scholar and humanist. He served as rector of Heidelberg University in 1564.[1]


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1459 – John I Albert, King of Poland (d. 1501)[19]
John I Albert (Polish: Jan I Olbracht; 27 December 1459 – 17 June 1501) was King of Poland from 1492 to his death and Duke of Głogów from 1491 to 1498. He was the fourth Polish sovereign from the Jagiellonian dynasty and the son of Casimir IV and Elizabeth of Austria.

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1535 – Martin Eisengrein, German theologian (d. 1578)
Martin Eisengrein (28 December 1535 – 4 May 1578) was a German Catholic theologian, university professor, and polemical writer.


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1633 – Johannes Zollikofer, Swiss vicar (d. 1692)[38]
Johannes Zollikofer (born 29 December 1633 in St. Gallen; died 23 April 1692 in Herisau) was a Swiss reformed vicar.


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1371 – Vasily I of Moscow (d. 1425)
Vasily I Dmitriyevich (Russian: Василий I Дмитриевич; 30 December 1371 – 27 February 1425) was Grand Prince of Vladimir and Moscow from 1389.[1][2] He was the heir of Dmitry Donskoy, who reigned from 1359 to 1389.


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FYI

 
 
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
 
 
EarthSky News
 
 
This Day in Tech History
 
 
This Day In History
 
 
Interesting Facts
 
 
Word Genius: Word of the Day
 
 
Wise Trivia
 
 
Condolences

Olivia Hussey (née Osuna; 17 April 1951 – 27 December 2024) was a British actress. Her awards included a Golden Globe Award and a David di Donatello Award. The daughter of Argentine tango singer Osvaldo Ribó, Hussey was born in Buenos Aires but spent most of her early life in her mother’s native England. She aspired to become an actress at a young age and studied drama for five years at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London.

Learn more ->

 
 
 
 

NPR: Remembering the actors, musicians, writers and artists we lost in 2024
 
 
CBS News: “Hail and Farewell”: A tribute to those we lost in 2024

 
 
 
 

James Clear: 3-2-1: On making a comeback, revising your habits, and how to work smart
 
 
 
 
By Matthew Hutson, The New York Times: The Elephantine Memories of Food-Caching Birds Some animals can remember where they’ve buried hundreds of thousands of seeds. Why can’t we remember where we’ve put our eyeglasses?

 
 
 
 

By Francisco Velasquez, Quartz: Rite Aid ‘zombies’ are pockmarking America As Rite Aid slashes its footprint and shelves go bare, America’s once-reliable drugstore is fading into a shadow of its former self

 
 
 
 

Shawn Ryan Show: Kris Paronto – Inside the 13-Hour Benghazi Gunfight and the Hillary-Obama Cover-Up | SRS #153
 
 
 
 

Cleared Hot Podcast: Episode 367 – Robbie Kröger
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Ideas

Top Instructables of 2024
 
 
 
 

Recipes

Hank Shaw: Tjalknol, Frost Bump Venison
 
 

Food Talk Daily: Oliebollen – Dutch New Year Doughnuts

 
 
Just the Recipe: Paste the URL to any recipe, click submit, and it’ll return literally JUST the recipe- no ads, no life story of the writer, no nothing EXCEPT the recipe.
 
 
DamnDelicious
 
 


 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 

E-book Deals:

 

BookGorilla

The Book Blogger List

BookBub

The Book Junction: Where Readers Go To Discover Great New Fiction!

Books A Million

Digital Book Spot

eBookSoda

eBooks Habit

FreeBooksy

Indie Bound

Love Swept & The Smitten Word

Mystery & Thriller Most Wanted

Pixel of Ink

The Rock Stars of Romance

Book Blogs & Websites:

Alaskan Book Cafe

Alternative-Read.com

Stacy, Carol RT Book Reviews

Welcome to the Stump the Bookseller blog!

Stump the Bookseller is a service offered by Loganberry Books to reconnect people to the books they love but can’t quite remember. In brief (for more detailed information see our About page), people can post their memories here, and the hivemind goes to work. After all, the collective mind of bibliophiles, readers, parents and librarians around the world is much better than just a few of us thinking. Together with these wonderful Stumper Magicians, we have a nearly 50% success rate in finding these long lost but treasured books. The more concrete the book description, the better the success rate, of course. It is a labor of love to keep it going, and there is a modest fee. Please see the How To page to find price information and details on how to submit your Book Stumper and payment.

Thanks to everyone involved to keep this forum going: our blogging team, the well-read Stumper Magicians, the many referrals, and of course to everyone who fondly remembers the wonder of books from their childhood and wants to share or revisit that wonder. Isn’t it amazing, the magic of a book?

Quotes December 28-29, 2024

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
 
 
 
 
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
 
 
 
 
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
 
 
 
 
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
 
 
 
 
“It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.”
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 
 
 
 
“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
 
 
 
 
“The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.”
John Green, Looking for Alaska
 
 
 
 
“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
 
 
 
 
“Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.”
S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders
 
 
 
 
“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes
 
 
 
 
“For you, a thousand times over.”
Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
 
 
 
 
“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”
Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
 
 
 
 
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
 
 
 
 
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
William Shakespeare, As You Like It
 
 
 
 

Music December 26, 2024

Thai Green is an Anchorage musician I know through Nextdoor.
 
 
MUSIC BY THAI GREEN
 
 
 
 

Music December 27, 2024

Pentatonix National Anthem 2024
 
 
 
 
The United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own”: 2024 American Holiday Festival