Keeping Books I (Probably) Have No Use For, Just Because...

I'm not a total book hoarder. I mean, I do cull my shelves now and then. But because I have (occasionally) donated a book and then later regretted it (where are you now, A Field Guide to America Houses?) I tend to think twice (or three times or four times or...) before I remove a book from the shelf.

For that reason, right now I have a whole bunch of books on the French language. Yes, I took four years of French in high school and a semester in college, but I really don't speak the language, I haven't visited France, and during my few trips to Quebec, my high school French proved to be horribly inadequate and I had to revert to English (much to the relief of the people I was speaking to). A need to know French is probably not in my immediate future. And yet...I have those books. (Note: knowing a smattering of French does come in handy when doing crossword puzzles. Thank goodness I devoted four and a half years of my life to delving into the language. Smile). (Also Note: I have no regrets about those four and a half years. It's a beautiful language, I was--weirdly enough, given my present inability to speak it or understand it other than in written form)--good at it, I learned a few things about French history and culture, and I enjoyed it.

And then--getting back to my eclectic bookshelves--there are the books on gardening (I have more than what's pictured below) even though I'm a horrid gardener and always have been (clearly the books aren't paying off).

Of course, there are other books I have just because I like having them there (lots of history books) and I always hope that maybe someday I'll use them for writing a historical, even though it's been years since I stopped fiddling with writing historical romance and moved to contemporary romance. Speaking of which, why did I give away my copy of Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey? I loved that book!

In short, I hope that you too have books on your shelf that you love even if you never put them to use in your day-to-day life!

Best Wishes and Happy Reading,

Myrna

The Wife in History

I have a thing for quirky reference books, so I was excited to come across this little gem today titled A History of the Wife.. I wasn't actually looking for a new book, and finding it was one of those weird woo-woo moments. Less than a week ago,I was reading a novel that took place in England in 1814, and a character in the book (a solicitor) mentioned that the laws of the time stipulated that if a woman gave birth within a year after her husband's death, the child would be considered the legitimate offspring of the deceased husband!Whoa! You do the math.

Anyway, that little tidbit already had me digging around on the internet for more information on how this part of the law could have come about, so this book came along just at the right time. I'm looking forward to delving into it.

Myrna

Pinball Obsession

In my house, we're pinball fans. We're from Chicago, once the pinball manufacturing capital of the world, both of us grew up when pinball was in its glory days (and inexpensive), and we've had a few awesome pinball experiences, like the time we went camping in Smoky Mountain National Park during the gas shortage of the 1970's. After a few days of hiking and camping without access to showers, we decided to pay a visit to Gatlinburg to find a hotel room.

We were in luck. The gas shortage meant that many people weren't traveling, hotels were bargain basement cheap and...at the time, Gatlinburg, a tourist town, had tons of establishments with old pinball machines (and like the hotels, they were uber cheap). We had a good time. Of late, however, pinball machines are scarce. They've been replaced by other types of games. 

But there are still some great places to play. Here's a map of the U.S. with a pinball roadtrip in mind (at the bottom, there is an interactive map).

Source

And here's a worldwide pinball map where pinball users keep track of the locations of various pinball machines.

But even if you're not a pinball fan, you might find this video interesting. Apparently, there was a time when pinball was illegal in New York.

If you're not into pinball, what types of games (or sports) do you like to play? Cards? Board games? Athletics? It's all good.

Have a great day!

Myrna

100 Years of Beauty (in About One Minute)

I've always loved costume books and things of that ilk. When I first began writing, I was penning a historical romance and had all kinds of books on the topic. These days not so much, but I still enjoyed this one-minute video of hair and makeup from every decade 1910 to 2010. Take a look.

Enjoy your day!

Myrna

Yarn Bombing in Riverside, Illinois

The Village of Riverside, Illinois is best known for the fact that it was the first planned model community in the United States and that the architect of those plans was Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park, the campus of Stanford University, the gardens of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina and the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, among other places. The village has curving streets, green parkways and antique-style gas lit street lanterns as well as many beautiful and unique homes. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 when the city was in ruins, Riverside was the last stop on the Burlington Northern Railroad line, and many people moved there.

I grew up in neighboring towns, but as a child Riverside was the place I wanted to live when I grew up and became rich (still waiting). I frequently rode my bicycle down its winding streets and got lost more than a few times (but since it's a relatively small town--population of less than 9,000--I quickly found my way back to the main street, Longcommon). It's a pretty place for a stroll or a ride.

The other day I visited a restaurant there and afterwards went for a walk. The village had just had an art fair and as part of the fair they had asked local knitters to take part in a project to wrap the light poles in the downtown area in art. Here are a few examples, taken during my stroll (there were many more). 

I also happened across this sheltered building by the train station. How awesome that they've repurposed it as a bicycle shelter (at least I assume that it is repurposed. I can't imagine that it was built for this function). 

Have a wonderful day!

Myrna

My First Car Shows Up...Sort Of

I'm not what you would call a car person. As long as it's functional, gets decent mileage and isn't too big, that's all I really care about for the most part. But when I bought my first car, I chose one based on its fun factor (first, being relative--my brother actually gave me my first car, a used '68 Pontiac LeMans--because he was buying a new car, he didn't feel he could get much for the old one, and just because he's a really nice guy and I needed a car. The car in this story is my first only in the sense that it's the first car I actually bought with my own money).

After the LeMans died a lengthy death, I borrowed a car from my mother for awhile, but eventually I bought a 4-year-old '77 Honda Civic back in the days when Hondas were not considered to be exceptionally desirable. They were tiny, they weren't very powerful, and this one had a tendency to rust. A lot.

But it was so much fun to drive, and I don't even like to drive all that much. I could fit it into any parking spot, I could push it out of the snow with just a little help if it got stuck, and I could easily wash it in a few minutes.

How small was it? Well, I'm only 5'4", and as you can see in this photo, I can easily rest my arm on the top of the car.

Alas, by the time this photo was taken 4 years after the Civic came to live outside my house, we had a baby on the way, and the back seat of the Civic was so tiny that you couldn't really fit a baby carrier, so it had to go. I've had several cars since then, but this one remains my favorite. I learned to drive stick shift just so I could buy it. In fact, I asked my brother-in-law to go with me to buy it, because I couldn't drive it home myself. He had to teach me the intricacies of using a stick shift and a clutch.

Some days I think about buying another tiny car, but there are so many behemoths on the road now that I'm afraid I might get squashed if someone in a huge SUV or truck fell asleep at the wheel. I'll probably just be happy that at one time I owned this little guy. And if you're wondering why I'm posting about this now (or what the title of this post means), I thought that I didn't have a single photo of the car, but last weekend we decided to cull a box of old slides and...voila! There it was. No longer just a memory but resurrected in photo form, scanned and now an image file on my computer.

So...what was your first (or favorite) car? Share your stories in the comments section (and if anyone wants to send me images of their cars, I'll include them in a separate post).

Have a great day!

Myrna

History Books That are Difficult to Put Down

In another life (okay, not that long ago, but pretty far back), I thought I was going to write historical romance. That's because I'm rather fascinated with certain periods and events in American history, most notably what happened when Americans began to trek westward across the continent.

Despite all my research, it's still difficult for me to imagine what that must have been like for a woman. In a world where the woman had no choice but to follow her husband, what would it have felt like to leave family and friends behind, knowing you might never meet again and not really knowing what types of hardships you were headed for? It was a major life change and sometimes a very unhappy one (but not always).

With that in mind, I'm recommending two books I've found fascinating. One is a book I read a long time ago, but which was published digitally in 2011. Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel tells the story of women in the wagon trains headed for Oregon and California in the mid-1800's, much of it, as the title indicates, via the diaries of the women themselves. Fascinating stuff.

The other, The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin, is a bit more morbid topic-wise, but the book is also fascinating. It tells the tale of a blizzard that hit the Plains states in 1888, coming out of nowhere, resulting in white out conditions and an extreme temperature drop on what had been such a mild day that children had gone to school without coats. It is the story of specific families, why they left the old country to come here, what happened on that day and why (including discussions of meteorology at that time). It was recommended to me by a fellow writer and I've just started reading it, but it's incredibly interesting.

If you try them, let me know what you think. And if this topic doesn't interest you, stop by and talk about the types of non-fiction you like to read. I'm interested.

What is Labor Day All About?

Today is Labor Day, but...what exactly does that mean? We (here in the United States at least) get so used to the Labor Day sales, picnics and family gatherings that we often forget its significance. We tend to think of this weekend as the official end of summer, even though summer really doesn't officially end then and while we enjoy having the day off, very few people stop to contemplate the reason for the day off.

But it is a significant day. It's a national holiday, and those days are not chosen lightly. So, what's it all about really? Here's a TEDEducation video that explains why Americans and Canadians celebrate this day.

Women Explorers from the Past

This TED Education video shows us that, despite the restrictions of society, women made contributions as explorers. These were amazing women!

Book Talk: Freeman by Leonard Pitts Jr.

Freeman, by Leonard Pitts Jr. (winner of the 2004 Pulitzer for Commentary) is a novel that takes place in America just after the Civil War ended and after President Lincoln was assassinated. It is at its heart a love story, the tale of a former slave separated from his wife for fifteen years who, now that slavery has been abolished, sets out on foot on a thousand-mile, seemingly impossible quest to try to find her. But it's also much more than that. It's the story of a horrendous time during our country's history, and it speaks to the issue of slavery and what happens in the aftermath of slavery being outlawed. What is it like to be a freed slave living among the angry people who formerly owned you and who bitterly resent the outcome of the war? How does a country move beyond something like that? How does a country heal itself? Those are just some of the questions this book presents.

As you can probably guess, it was a book that was at times difficult to read. And  yet it was riveting. I read it very quickly.

I love novels based on history. Do you have any favorites?

What It Was Like To Be a Teenager in Ancient Rome

Another animated lesson from TEDEd. Fascinating stuff.

C.G.P. Grey Talks History

The Secret City of London (Part 2). I know this may bore some people, but I love this stuff! It's a bit of history in a nutshell.

And Now for Something Completely Different - The History of The London Bridge

Minute Physics takes a brief hiatus from physics to discuss a bit of history.

The City of London (Part 1)

Another awesome video by C.G.P. Grey

Avoiding the Uranus Problem

I love language, but as a former teacher, I can tell you that there are subjects a teacher dreads just because she knows how sixth graders will react when having to pronounce the words Uranus or Lake Titicaca. Those are always long lessons to get into until the giggles wear off. Here then, C.G.P. Grey tackles the dilemma of trying to pronounce Uranus while having a serious discussion.

Did You Know That We're All Related?

If you go far enough back in town, we probably have common ancestors. Is that awesome or what?

Pythagoras Brought to Life

Maybe you have to really be into math or science or history (or all three) to enjoy this video. As for me, I got caught up in the drawings and story.

Now Where Did I Put That Twenty Dollars I Hid for a Rainy Day?

I never really think about it, but for people who used to live in areas where there were no banks or places to secret away valuables, they needed great hiding places. Here's a complicated piece of furniture that does the trick.

Who Uses Typewriters Anymore?

C.G.P. Grey, one of my favorite YouTubers, included this video on the typewriter in his list of favorites. I have to agree. A fun look at a machine that revolutionized the world but is now almost gone.

Wow, I Can't Imagine Why This Contraption Didn't Catch On...

And yes, I'm being sarcastic. The Hover Scooter was apparently a 1960's invention, a cross between a hover craft and a motor scooter, but as someone in the comments section said, it was probably fatal to any small creature it managed to roll over (not to mention the noise).