Tag: Just Smile

Today's selection -- from The League by John Eisenberg. In 1930, the New York Giants, part of the new and struggling National Football League, played the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, a far more popular college football team: "In the early 1930s, college football remained significantly more popular than the pro game. And no team […]

Today's encore selection -- from I'm Dying Up Here by William Knoedelseder. Andy Kaufman was one of the strangest and most controversial of American comedians, with routines composed of lip-syncing to the "Mighty Mouse" theme song or posing as a professional wrestler or lounge singer: "Andy Kaufman was twenty-three and living with his parents in […]

We got our code word to conduct our war time assigned mission? We ran lots of training exercises in Special Forces. I don’t believe we were ever alerted at 9:00 AM on a Monday. It was usually odd hours on odds days. Occasionally the alert was real: something that had to be done. But we […]

Many people consider the two the same, but I don’t. One is inward oriented, the other outward. At West Point we had to memorize quite a bit of ‘trivia’ otherwise known as Plebe Poop, which is self-explanatory. One bothered me a lot: In 60 major battles of the Civil War, West Pointers commanded both sides […]

Why you should ensure you never make this mistake when leaving your first comment on a blog post.Continue reading

It took me a longtime to realise that it was me that was dimming the way my blog stood out. This is the action I took to reverse it. Continue reading

Originally posted on BlondeWriteMore: Writing and publishing my debut novel has been an unforgettable experience. As I look back at my four-year book journey I can’t help but notice the reoccuring process of creation, destruction and resurrection. I have spent four years doing just this; creating my draft manuscript, destroying my draft manuscript and resurrecting…

i didn’t even know I was waiting or that it was coming but clearly they did and we are celebrating.   — ‘It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it.” -baltasar gracian

Originally posted on Entertaining Stories: Sometimes in life we do things that defy explanation. Things that go against our natures, because jobs demand it, marriage demands it, stability, parenthood, it makes for a long list. Speaking of lists, I’ll share…

Early reviews are in for Teagan Riordain Geneviene’s and her latest release, A Ghost in the Kitchen – Three Ingredients book 2 About the book A Ghost in the Kitchen, Three Ingredients-2 continues the flapper adventures of Paisley Idelle Peabody, … Continue reading →

True story…Once when my mother was hospitalized, my three sisters and I all showed up at her home to give our help, support, and love. Of course we didn’t mind, but we lived in different states and it had been a while since we had all been together. We took advantage of the situation as […]

Note: A lot of what I learned about Highly Sensitive People (aside from my own personal experience), came from Elaine N. Aron's book, The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You. If you want to learn more about the info that's not personal-experience-based, I highly recommend you check it out or […]

Someone please call me in late spring. Notable Bene – all photographs in this post are from previous winters, we’re … More

Doris? Fetch the binoculars, I do believe that they’re at it again. There are many, many things that no-one warns … More

Hardly any writer is an overnight success. Very few writers sell his or her first manuscript.There's one thing I want to tell you though. You don't have to sell a manuscript to feel like a successful author. Writing is a business involving:1. a learned set of narrative skills - grammar, spelling, plotting, characterization, viewpoint, scene […]

Happy Indie Author Day!Today, all over the world, libraries and literacy organizations are paying tribute to independent authors and their books.Want to know more? Click Indie Author Day to find out about this annual event.In the meantime, I'm celebrating by giving away Kindle copies of LuvU4Ever,  a holiday romance that's free at most Kindle stores.(Some […]

********* The Cape Peninsula and Western Cape region are absolutely breathtaking! I especially love the turquoise waters that are so typical for the Cape scenery. You can instantly recognize this region just by that color – that’s how special it is! A Road Trip Around the Cape Peninsula One of the most fun things to do […]

"Jacqueline Cochran was looking for WASP.  They told me I would have to be interviewed and they would contact me when they came to the Wichita area.  But I didn’t wait for that.  I went down to Houston for my interview, to speed things up.  And I think that’s one of the smartest things I […]

"My first flight was with a barnstormer at the age of five.  I loved it!  I also tried to 'fly' out of the barn loft with an umbrella.  This was less than successful..."  WASP Jean Terrell McCreery, 44-10 The indomitable Marguerite Jean Terrell Moreo McCreery has "...slipped the surly bonds of Earth. And danced the skies on […]

Welcome to the Minstral Show, the podcast that spotlights the very best music from around the world, made exclusively in the 21st century.Three awesome sets of music on Today’s episode of The Minstral Show including new music by Ivan & Alyosha, Mikal Cronin, Christopher Paul Stelling, Glen Hansard, and a collaboration between Markus Reuter & […]

The book I am trying to find is called: “NEW SYSTEM”.  The main character’s name is PAGE (not sure of spelling) It was published in the 1930’s or early 40’s – it’s WWII, or before America enters the war- but nothing … Continue reading →

Broken Knight by LJ Shen  Narrated by Savannah Peachwood, Jacob Morgan, CJ Bloom, and Christian Rummel 2nd in a Related Series. Can Stand Alone Angsty, Ugly Cry New Adult So many people have written raving reviews for Broken Knight by LJ Shen that despite my misgivings about reading a New Adult book again, I went […]

Recently I finished writing my 48th book and I went back to look at just how many words that I had written. When I counted up the numbers from my first drafts, it was over 3 MILLION words! Oh my! That’s not even counting the words written in edits, marketing, website, emails, and posting on […]

We live in the age of sound bites, short attention spans and remote controls where you can change the channel with the push of a button. It’s just as easy to put down a book as to change a channel. Which means you have to make that first sentence count. That first paragraph. The first […]

Managing money is not a difficult thing to do. You just need to stick to the basics and then work accordingly. Then you will be able to manage all your expenses and overcome financial difficulties that you will come across. That’s where you should refer a reliable guide to money management and overdraft fees management.  […]

Paint Stripper Buying Guide Paint strippers come in a variety of styles and formats.  When you need to get one for your projects it...

The Things I Liked This Week October 13, 2019 I started doing The Things I Liked This Week in June 2015 and it’s definitely become my favorite regular post. I love adding to my list throughout the week. Here are the things I liked this week: 1. Clipart This is impressive   2. This year’s […]

Question from Clara I am currently doing a bakeout in my garage. I have a pleather couch I am trying to off gas and a table and chairs. Will the bake out off gas furniture? if so how long would it take? Lisa’s Answer I am no longer recommending bake outs.  Debra has had success in […]

Question from Nancy Is there a truly “non-stick” safe skillet? Even with Xtrema cookware they suggest using some type of oil and their skillets are on backorder. Lisa’s Answer I use an Xtrema skillet and a cast iron skillet and I rotate them.  I have a small stainless steel skillet that I use occasionally for eggs. […]

In Florida, the fall garden is filled with “cool season” plants. Think brassicas and roots. We’re talking broccoli, Brussels, cabbage, kale, collards, cauliflower, carrots, beets, onions, garlic, to name a few. These plants do not like temperatures in the 80’s and above, so now is the perfect time to get them in the ground. They’ll […]

So I’m officially jealous of the Eustis High School hot pepper plant. I grow lots of peppers–hot, sweet and Hungarian–and my plants have NEVER grown larger than 18″ in height. Ever. Imagine my surprise when I visited the high school this week to discover this enormous pepper plant! I stopped. Blinked. And double-checked the fruit […]

Moisturizing, astringent, and stimulating to circulation, this all-natural undereye serum can be helpful for dark circles and puffy skin. The recipe was discovered within the pages of the Botanical Skin Care Recipe Book. Created as a companion to the Herbal Academy’s lovely Botanical Skin Care Course, the recipe book is also sold separately on their […]

Hi friends! If you’re a longtime reader you might maybe have thought “hey I wonder what’s up with SMSG this year?” Well … it’s like this – if The Ohio State University Buckeyes break 70 points and win their game, I’ll donate $10 to a non-profit charity. (This seemed like something that might happen a […]

Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik (Consortium Rebellion #2) Science Fiction Romance published by Harper Voyager on October 1, 2019 To save her brother and protect her family’s future, a powerful princess must join forces with a dashing man from her past in this thrilling space adventure, the second novel in the Consortium Rebellion trilogy. As […]

We broke camp pretty early at the St. George, NV lotdocking site and after tanking up we drove to Snow Canyon to peruse the sights there.We spent most of the time at Jenny's Canyon, but the light wasn't right for good pics of the slot canyon that is Jenny's Canyon: Martha in the slot canyon that […]

Yesterday, Oct 12, it was my please to have coffee in the town of Henderson, NV with fellow Uralista Val H. and her husband Wayne. Val showed up in her Baikal Limited Edition Patrol and Wayne rode a BMW 1200 GS.We had a good time chatting, getting to know each other and sharing stories.  For instance, […]

Originally posted on Lorie Schaefer: Another in the sometime series from “Annie Cooper’s Recipe Scrapbook.” The foods are all mentioned in my still-in-heavy-rewrite novel. Claire holds a tender spot in her heart for this recipe and for one particular member of the family it came from. Enjoy! Butternut Squash with Apples from the kitchen of Claire Jordan…

A seamstress swims by the pirate ship, her hem undone as her legs drum beneath the water’s otherwise somber surface. The sun’s light stretches longer as it attempts to dip into the ocean for the night, highlighting as it goes … Continue reading →

  * Beyond the darkness Past human hope and vision Stars will always shine *