Friday's Forgotten Books: THE HARD WAY by Carol Lea Benjamin

If it's Friday it's you know what day - so all together now: FRIDAY'S FORGOTTEN BOOKS!!! Yup.Usually hosted by Patti Abbott at her blog, PATTINASE, today FFB Central has temporarily moved over to Todd Mason's blog SWEET FREEDOM. So for a list and the requisite links to other bloggers posting their favorite Forgotten Books today, check in with Todd.My contribution to the FFB mix is a review of a book I did a few years ago for the old but definitely...

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My Favorite Keep Calm Sentiments...

Makes sense to me.  SourceA sensible tea towel. SourceAnd an equally sensible book bag. Sou...

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Summer Reading by the pool....10 Choices

Artwork by Beth Krommes.If you don't have access to a pool, get in the tub, light a sea-breeze scented candle and pretend. That's what I do.For me, summer reading = 'light' reading, books that don't require heavy duty lifting in the brain-power department. But by 'light' I don't mean junk, I mean well-written 'light'. I love a good romance in the summer, reading-wise. I love a good historical or modern adventure. Most of all I love a good mystery....

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Overlooked (or Forgotten) Film Tuesday: LADY ON A TRAIN starring Deanna Durbin and David Bruce

This is my Tuesday entry in the weekly meme hosted by Todd Mason at his blog, SWEET FREEDOM. Don't forget to check in and see what other overlooked (or forgotten) films and/or audio visuals other bloggers are talking about today. Todd has all the pertinent links (and even some impertinent ones).I read about LADY ON A TRAIN on a couple of other blogs, one of which I remember and one of which I do not. The one I remember is Dorian's post on TALES OF...

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Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge: THE HOLLOW NEEDLE (1909) by Maurice LeBlanc

THE HOLLOW NEEDLE (1909) is the first novel I've read by Maurice LeBlanc, a Victorian era French writer who was a very early practitioner of the mystery/detective story. He created Arsene Lupin a conniving thief and clever gentleman turned detective who went on to star in 21 books and collections of short stories, though admittedly, with a broken heart. The broken heart part we learn about near the end of THE HOLLOW NEEDLE. In this book, the second...

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My Summer Guest Post On WORDSMITHONIA

Apparently, I've suddenly been hit with a burst of energy so there will be lots happening this week. To start things off: I have a Guest Post up on Ryan's WORDSMITHONIA blog. It's a reminder of that great summer-time blockbuster which indelibly etched the wonderful Will Smith into our movie-watching consciousness: INDEPENDENCE DAY. (Was it really 1996? It seems like yesterday. Wait, it was. Ha!)Go take a look, if you have a moment....

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Queer Film Blogathon: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005) Starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal

It's been a long time since I've allowed myself to watch BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005), one of the most moving and beautifully told stories ever brought to the screen. The initial shock of sadness I felt at the end of the film never quite leaves me and I suppose I'm not anxious to live through it again. Added to it, of course, is the very untimely death of one of the young stars, Heath Ledger, a relatively short while later. Somehow the real-life tragedy...

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Well, I'm now able to fashion legible blog posts - thanks to my daughter who quickly assessed what was wrong and fixed it in a few minutes.I'm still forced to take twice as long to post anything with pictures, so I'm going to try and cut back on posting as many pix as I usually do. I now have to reformat and clear the post in preview stage before posting, that takes a while. So I hope you'll bear with me over the next few weeks as I hope and pray Google fixes whatever was causing this jiggery-pokery in the first place.At least I can now blog.******************************Apologies...

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Google Blogger Is At It Again...

Krazy Kat by George HerrimanThere's something wrong with my posting apparatus - yet again. What the heck is it with google blogger? There's always something. Anyway, I'm doing my best, but I'm sure you've noticed the klutzy spacing of my recent posts. Can't be helped. I keep reminding myself that this is all free so what did I expect? But it's still annoying. Hopefully whatever is going on will fix itself sooner rather than lat...

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Battle of Waterloo Anniversary

'Battle of Waterloo' by William Holmes Sullivan - Source197 years ago today, one of the most famous (and important) battles in history was fought in an area a few miles south of Brussels. The country now known as Belgium had temporarily become part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands following the Congress of Vienna.Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington. SourceSunday, June 18th, 1815 was the day fate had chosen for the defeat of Napoleon...

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Saturday Salon: A Favorite Painting or Two.....or Three! Fathers in Paint.

By the wonderful Tibor GergelyBy Heidi Malott'The Waiting Room' by William E. Rochfort'Father and Son' by Brian HibleBy Marjorie Torrey'Father and Son' by James Ormsbee Chapin'Learning the Ropes' by Julie HillBy Julie HillIllustration for Saturday Evening Post 1918 Cover by K.R. Wireman'Traveling with Dad' by Steven Hanks'Place de la Concorde' by Edgar DegasBy Amos SewellBy Helen Oxenbury for 'We're Going On A Bear Hunt"By William O'Connor' Aeneas...

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