Mister Rogers and Back-To-School

Here is a wonderful post on teaching from that excellent teacher, Jennie!

A Teacher's Reflections

It’s back-to-school week for teachers.  We’re moving across the street to a new location for one year while our school building will undergo a long overdue renovation.  Moving is hard.  Starting a new school year is hard.  We’re in our same neighborhood, and we needed Mister Rogers.  Really.  His words were empowering and comforting.

In the words of Mister Rogers…

“Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me.”

“In every neighborhood, all across the country, there are good people insisting on a good start for the young, and doing something about it.”

“Imagining something may be the first step in making it happen, but it takes the real time and real efforts of real people to learn things, make things, turn thoughts into deeds or visions into inventions.”

Thank you, Mister Rogers.  Your words of wisdom are just what teachers need.

Jennie

View original post

Polar Play~

Here is another set of beautiful photographs from Cindy Knoke!

We are seeing polar bear everyday here in The Hudson Bay!

This series of shots are a mama and cub at play.

Polar Bear health is rated on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being too thin and starving, and 5 being overfed and obese.

I am happy to report that all the bears we are seeing are healthy fours!

The population of polar bears at Hudson Bay are thought to number between 900-1000.

Their numbers are estimated to have declined 17% in recent years.

Despite these sobering statistics, all the bears we are seeing look really healthy.

During the end of August, polar bears are in a state of semi-stuporous, walking hibernation, waiting for the waters of the bay to freeze up, so they can head out and hunt seals.

They still do eat and hunt though, and I will show you some photos of this in my next…

View original post 49 more words

Quotations on Book Banning and Burning

(https://commons.wikimedia.org)

(Moritz Daniel Oppenheim)

“Where they burn books, at the end they also burn people”

                                                                              Heinrich Heine

 

(https://en.wikiquote.org)

“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.”

                                                                            Salman Rushdie

 

(https://pixabay.com)

“If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all—except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty.”

                                                                         John F. Kennedy

“Now is the time to speak. Now is the time for your words to be read and to be heard. I say to all writers: do not censor yourselves, and let your voices ring out into the world.”

                                                                      Charles F. French

 

Food in Films – Amélie

Here is another wonderful post from Vanessa at Food In Books!

Food In Books

I decided to do a little something different for this blog post. Many people have suggested different recipes or dishes to me that they saw in a film version of a movie, and I loved the idea but wanted to stick with my original concept of creating food either directly mentioned in a book or inspired by a book. However, my dear friend Jade gave me some delicious fresh plums from her tree, and I happened to reorganize my DVD collection over the weekend and came across one of my most favorite films of all time, Amelie. Or as it is titled in French, “Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain.”

I love love love this movie beyond most any other film I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot because I love films as much as I love books. Set in the beautiful Montmartre area of Paris, Amelie…

View original post 1,003 more words

Quotations on Thinking–Revisited!

(https://commons.wikimedia.org)

 

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

                                                                             Socrates

 

 

(https://pixabay.com)

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

                                                                              Albert Einstein

 

 

(https://en.wikiquote.org)

“Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible; thought is merciless to privilege; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. It sees man, a feeble speck, surrounded by unfathomable depths of silence; yet it bears itself proudly, as unmoved as if it were lord of the universe. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man”

                           (Russell, Bertrand. Why Men Fight 178-9).

 

 

“All good writing is inherently subversive.”

                                                                               Charles French

Writing Update!

(https://pixabay.com)

Hello to all. It has been a while since I have reported on the status of my writing projects, so I thought I would now.

I have finished the first draft of my political thriller, and I emphasize the first draft. As I recommend to other writers, I have not done any revision on it, and it needs much, may I say, much work. I will set it aside for a few weeks before attacking draft 2. In that draft, I will focus on getting the plot correct.

I am also working on the 4th draft of my fantasy novel, and I hope that draft is done in, at most, one month. If my goals are met with this book, I will either self-publish or pitch it early next year.

I am continuing to pitch my YA novel to agents. I am giving it until early next spring, and if I have had no success finding an agent or publisher, I will move forward with self-publishing that book.

My book on writing will be out soon I hope. It is in the process of editing and formatting, and I will give more specific information when I have it.

Finally, in about one week, I will begin the first draft of Book 3 of The Investigative Paranormal Society, and my goal is to have that done by the end of the year.

I will give more updates in the future.

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

 

Available on Amazon

 

When Teachers Tell Their Stories – Part 8

Here is part 8 in Jennie’s wonderful series–When Teachers Tell Their Stories

A Teacher's Reflections

In Part 7, I told the story of the huge tree that almost fell over on our neighbor’s house.  The Fire Chief in his big red fire truck, and the Tree Man in his cherry picker truck added plenty of real life drama.

Part 8
My storytelling typically happens at lunchtime.  Children keep an eye on the clock, because they know at 12:30, Jennie will tell a story.  The complex act of reading an analog clock is a side benefit.  When the big hand on the clock reaches the 6, the chant begins: Jen-nie-stor-y.  Sometimes this chant is accompanied by fist-banging on the table to each beat.

While a Jennie Story, which is a true story, begins with “It happened like this”, occasionally I surprise children by starting a story with “Once upon a time.”  Typically I will then tell a fairy tale.  The Little Red Hen

View original post 674 more words

Quotations From Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream–A Play That Has Had An Enormous Impact On Me

(https://pixabay.com)

William Shakespeare has had a very large influence on my life. I have loved his work since the first time I saw this play as a 16 year old. It was performed by a traveling professional company at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. I was entranced by the physicality of the actors and the words of the production. Since that time, I have studied and seen as many of his plays as possible. Shakespeare was one of my areas of focus in graduate school at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare is one of my favorite plays, and I have had a life long connection with this work. I have read it, seen numerous productions, acted in it, directed it, studied it in college and graduate school, written about it, delivered a conference paper on it, and taught the play in college at the Wescoe School of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. So, you can see that I have had quite a relationship with this wonderful play.

If you ever have the opportunity to see a live production of this play, I hope you take advantage of it.

As a simple tribute to Shakespeare and this play, I offer a few quotations from A Midsummer Night’s Dream:

“Captain of our fairy band,

 Helena is here at hand,

 And the youth, mistook by me,

 Pleading for a lover’s fee.

 Shall we their fond pageant see?

 Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

                                             (Act 3. Scene 2. Lines 110-115)

 

“I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was.”

                                             (Act 4. Scene 2. Lines 203-204)

 

“If we shadows have offended,

 Think but this, and all is mended,

 That you have but slumbered here

 While this visions did appear.

 And this weak and idle theme,

 No more yielding but a dream,

 Gentles, do not reprehend.

 If you pardon, we will mend.

 And, as I am an honest Puck,

 If we have unearned luck

 Now to scrape the serpent’s tongue,

 We will make amends ere long;

 Else the Puck a liar call.

 So, good night unto you all.

 Give me your hands, if we be friends,

 And Robin shall restore amends.” (Act 5. Scene 1. Lines 418-433)

(https://pixabay.com)

Quotations On Nature

(https://commons.wikimedia.org)

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”

                                                                               John Muir

 

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.”

                                                                             Anne Frank

 

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”

                                                                  Henry David Thoreau

 

 

Writers: Trust Yourself and Keep Writing!

(https://pixabay.com)

Hello to all of the writers who read this blog.

I have a simple message for you.

Trust in your abilities.

Have faith in your stories.

Keep dreaming.

Keep working.

Keep writing.

Never give up on your dreams.

Never give up on your writing.

You can do it.

 

(https://pixabay.com)