Sure it’s not really time to buy Christmas gifts. But if you can purchase a few good book sets now, why not do it? Here’s what I found.
Working
25 JunI start working part-time today at our local newspaper. I’m pretty excited. It doesn’t pay much, but it is another style of writing for me to master and the people I met were laid back and willing to teach me. It’s not unheard of for women at new jobs to gift the newbie with the cold shoulder and I’m glad this job doesn’t seem like that. I’m still trying to do work from home; it’s just that now I’ll have some income entering my home. I’m loving the review work at Romance Designs. It’s amazing how doing something that you enjoy positively impacts your life. I feel like I’ve been infused with positive energy.
Old Bones
7 JunThis is a paid post.
Can you imagine a story based upon the image above? What would you write? It’s hard to believe that the image is real. It’s not made for a movie. It is a travel destination.
I just finished reading a post written by Lucy Atkinson at http://www.architecturalclassics.com/blog/human-bones-chandelier/ about the world’s most macabre chandelier. The chandelier is in an ossuary (place holding bones of the dead) located in Sedlec, Czech Republic. The post gives the historical significance of the site, includes a clip from youtube on the site, and gives directions on getting to the site.
The ossuary is a chapel. It is smack dab in the middle of a cemetery and overflowing with bones. Soil from Jesus Christ’s crucifixion is said to have been sprinkled on top of the bones creating fervor in the people of the Middle Ages. It encouraged their demands of being placed on sacred ground upon their deaths. During the Black plague the cemetery outgrew its original capacity.
Taking care of the bones then fell upon a vision impaired monk who decided to stack the bone into giant pyramids. Three hundred years later the chapel was bought by the Schwarzenberg family who employed a woodworker to spruce up the place. He added a chandelier made from the bones and four piles of bones shaped to mimic the giant pyramids. Wreaths of intertwined bones are draped around the chapel as well.
The curators push the chapel as showing “the shortness of life”. The ossuary is mentioned in John Connolly’s book The Black Angel. You can find directions to the ossuary at the bottom of this page.
Doorknobs
3 JunThis is a paid review.
Do you remember how it felt when you got your first loose tooth? I don’t but I do remember when my daughter got hers. She was so excited and had many different ideas on how to get the tooth out of her mouth. This memory came to me when I went to http://www.architecturalclassics.com/blog/tooth-string-doorknob/ and read/watched a young girl’s brilliant idea of using floss to remove her loose tooth.
With the help of her parents, a piece of string was tied to her tooth and the other end tied to a crystal doorknob. The little girl was very excited until she learned that the door had to be slammed closed for the tooth to be yanked out. Her father handled it nicely by distracting her and slamming the door at the same time. The child didn’t even realize that the tooth was leaving her mouth.
The webpage went on to give advice for parents wanting to test the tooth…string…doorknob method for tooth removal. It recommended making sure that the tooth was very loose, using a round doorknob, and floss for string. It stresses these things for safety. If the tooth isn’t loose enough it could break or pull hard at the gums. If you use a lever handle instead of a round knob the string could possibly slide off the handle. Finally by using floss instead of string you’re using something sterile and right at hand in the bathroom.
The article concludes on the merits of doorknobs. They are useful and under appreciated, but a cheap way to make home improvements.
13 Places to Find Treasure
24 May
I’m listing 13 places to find treasure taken from Travel Channel
1. Gold- Pine Grove, California (Mine for gold)
2. Diamonds- Murfreesboro, Arkansas (Sift for diamonds)
3. Sunken Treasure- Key West, Florida (Look for treasure)
4. Aquamarines- Spruce Pines, North Carolina (Break rocks & find aquamarines)
5. Sapphires- Philipsburg, Montana (Dig for sapphires)
6. Truffles- Cottage Grove, Oregon (Hunt for truffles)
7. Amethysts- Cleveland, Georgia (Search for amethysts)
8. Thunder eggs- Deming, New Mexico (Pound for geodes)
9. Opals- Lakeview, Oregon and Virgin Valley, Nevada (Hunt for opals)
10. Megaloden Teeth- near Arcadia, Florida (Screen or snorkel for teeth)
11. Meteorites- Glorietta Mountain in New Mexico or Brenham Township, Kansas (Search for meteorites)
12. Civil War artifacts- outside Fredericksville, Pennsylvania (Find artifacts)
13. Fluorescent minerals- Ogdensburg, New Jersey (Pound rocks for minerals)
Other 13’ers
1. Lesley
2. Milady
3. Kids, Cats & Books
4. Susan
Bake for a Kid
20 MayHow would you feel if I told you that by holding a bake sale you can help a hungry child in the United States? According to Share our Strength 1 in 6 U.S. children are in danger going hungry. Lack of nutrition can lead to neurological problems, growth delays, and lower academic grades.
To combat hunger, Share our Strength has joined with the Food Network to promote the Great American Bake Sale. They are asking for groups and people to hold bake sales from May 19 – August 31, 2007. It’s quite simple. Go to the gabs site or call (800) 761-4227 and register. Host a bake sale and turn in the proceeds. The money goes to help out hungry kids in your community.
If you don’t want to hold a traditional bake sale, they offer a virtual bake sale site that I haven’t investigated yet. Another way to help, without holding a sale is to buy from one. To encourage people to participate they are holding a contest. The group/person/organization that earns the most money will win a trip for 2 to the Food Network in NYC, hotel and airfare, tickets to the Emmeril show, $250, and a gift basket.
Mins. = Money?
7 MayI’ve decided to test inboxdollarsdotcom. This is supposed to be a quick way to make money. Sounds unbelievable, huh? Well, I signed up two weeks ago and began receiving two to three emails a day. All you do is open the email and follow a link to get credit for reading the mail. They don’t quiz you or expect you to fill out a survey. Just for opening the account they credit you $5. If you do internet searches from their search engine they give you 2 cents for each search (limited to two per day).
After two weeks of participation, I’m up to $10.63. My plan for this account is to run two searches a day, open the email sent, and make a little extra money. I’m going to leave the money in the account for one year and see how much money it makes. I’m not going to invest more than a few mins. a day and am interested to see how much money I earn just by opening a couple extra e-mails a day. (If nothing else, next year I’ll have bonus book money!)