2010 Anti-Resolutions

Today is officially the last day of the year 2009. Some people are pulling out the party hats, hanging streamers and balloons, and maybe setting up some fireworks. Of course, I can't leave out the resolutions. I always make a few for the year and rarely ever keep them. So, I'm joining in the fun (as...

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Year 2009 Review

2009 is coming to a fast close. Time to review my yearly progress. I have to say I did better than I thought I would.Challenges: This year I participated in several writing/reading challenges.Page-a-Day - this was a goal/challenge I set out to complete this year. The goal was to write a page-a-day everyday (except for one allotted day of rest) for the entire year. I recorded each day I wrote and it...

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The Ghosts of Lone Jack - Review

Spinning Moon Press, April 2009Paperback, 255 PagesISBN: 978-0-9800369-0-9Tweens 12 and upAuthor Interview - Coming SoonOrdering Information:Amazon.com | Time Bandit BooksWhat do you get when you mix a piece of American history, ghosts and children? The Ghosts of Lone Jack By: Lance Lee Noel.Jared Milhouse...

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I'm Back...I think

So, I took the month off for National Novel Writing Month...sort of. I posted my write-ups via Write Anything. But let's face it. Four blogs is one too many especially when you're trying to keep up with the daily 1,667 word goal with the use of pen and paper. So here's the month in review:Wrote. Wrote....

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Give Thanks

Today, citizens of the United States celebrate a day to be thankful for everything you have in your life. Thanksgiving was historically a religious observation where the pilgrims gave thanks to God for surviving a brutal winter, a harvest festival that expanded three days. Our modern day celebrations are compared to this meal held in 1921. Although it’s not the first official Thanksgiving in this...

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Sinister Tales

Was it the ghosts? Or perhaps Simon found an entrance after all. Either way the noise rendered me frozen. No sound proceeded it at first. Then furniture tumbled over, sending a candle in a glass container rolling in to the hallway. The evidence mounted in Simon’s favor. Another crashing sound. Why was he in a spare bedroom? If the book was anywhere it was in Aunt Lilian’s room. He had been in this...

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Vocabulary for Charity

I know I’ve written concerning this before, but it’s something you can’t say enough about. National Novel Writing Month can be a stressful time. If you need something sort of fun to do and learn while donating charity, FreeRice.com is the website to visit. American computer programmer John Breen set up FreeRice in October 2007. In March 2009, he donated it to the UN World Food Program. The premise...

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What's Your Nano?

Last year, I decided to create a personal goal for myself. The minimum daily word count is 1,667 words (when it is all broke down). I set a goal to meet that minimum everyday in November. When I crossed the 50,000 word finish line, I also achieved what I set out to do.This time around I wanted to up the stakes. I'm still meeting the minimum but I also created my first Nano blog called Sinister Tales....

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VMAs

Did you see the VMAs? I have to admit I'm not one who just loves to watch award shows but every now and then I scope one out. The Michael Jackson tribute was great. Loved Madonna's speech at the beginning. I guess it wouldn't be a tribute without one Jackson participating. Glad it was Janet. Great performances by Pink and Lady Gaga. I have to say I like her music but Lady Gaga's choice of wardrobe...

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Revamping My Site

Looking at my website, I decided it was time to make some improvements. It's simple but it looks a bit bare. I realized just how much it needed revising when I reread my bio. Not only are there typos but WriterBuddy shut down years ago and I'm no longer in a critique group much less running one.I checked out some author websites for ideas. I'll be not only rewriting my bio but adding an author pic....

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Rejection x 2

Andrea,Thanks for your submissions to Tweet the Meat! We will not be using any of your submissions this week. They were both good, especially the first one, but we've published a glut of cannibalism-themed stories lately.We would like to encourage you to submit again.Theme for 8/29 submission period: Fetish (Use your imagination)(This week's secret tip: During our 8/22 submission period, we are...

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Submission

Submitted a couple short shorts to Tweet the Meat. Will know in a week or so if any were accepted. *fingers cross...

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History Saturday

Did ya know that Mary Surratt was the first female in the United States to be executed? In 1865, she was arrested and charged for conspiracy and with aiding the assassins and assisting their escape. Who was she accused of conspiring against? President Abraham Lincoln.After her husband died, Mary moved with her two kids, Anna and John Jr., to Washington D.C. Her Surrattsville Tavern was being rented...

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Reading Too Much

Even though I’ve been writing for years, I’m still fairly new to the publishing side of the field. What frustrates me the most is all the advice. The line between what’s right and wrong are blurred most of the time. I often feel confused. The latest confusion is reading too much. Writers tell you to read when you are first starting out. You can learn so much from those who have succeeded in writing:...

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Back to School

There's this scene at the beginning of You've Got Mail where Tom Hanks character emails Meg Ryan's about Autumn. That he would go out and send her a bouquet of sharpened pencils if he could. Every year in August, I feel like doing the same. All the stores have the Back to School sales. I just feel like going on a big shopping spree.Counting down the days til the season premiere of Supernatural, Sept....

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Didn’t Win :(

Page-a-Day WC – 1,233 words The results of the Authors By Design Horror Contest have been posted and my little story didn’t win. Oh well. The winning story will be published on the AbD blog. I’m over 10,000 words in to the AbDWriMo with four days left. Totally going to make the goal. Also found out that my step-grandpa passed out, threw up and had a mini stroke on Monday. The latest update reveal...

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AbDWriMo

Still haven’t heard about my submission to the Authors By Design Horror Contest. It ended last week. Don’t know when they will make the announcement. Unless there was a lack of submissions, I don’t think I’ll win much less place. Wrote my story in a hurry and edited it even more so in a hurry. Wasn’t totally satisfied with it when I sent it in but didn’t have time to mess with it anymore. Oh well....

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The Debate Begins

Soft vs. Hard lead pencils I don’t use regular pencils anymore. I made the switch to mechanical ones a long time ago. However, during my school days, I always preferred soft lead pencils. They were easier to sharpen. I didn’t have to stand at the pencil sharpener forever watching the pencil get shorter and shorter as the point breaking off after each round. That was so annoying. Problem is soft lead...

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A Lot Going On

So, I’ve had plenty to be occupied with lately. My step-uncle moved out in to his own apartment. Mom and step-dad didn’t waste any time turning his former room in to a guest room. Then they painted the living room with a cross between tan and peach with a sort of bronze accent wall. Doesn’t look all that bad. The next room they were going to tackle was the room my brother use to occupy. It is now...

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WTF?!

I started doing blog carnivals on Ghost Stories a few months back. In every edition, there is at least one spam submission. It’s no big deal. I just expect it. In the latest, a link was submitted supposedly for TinyUrl which is a site I use often for Twitter. However, the following remarks were added with it: "DON'T THINK YOU CAN HIDE UNDER YOUR NEW NAME TEDDY WU? SHAME ON YOU! DON'T YOU HAVE LOYALTY...

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Horror Contest

I know I’ve been absent for a while and no I don’t have a good excuse for it. So, allow me to get to where I am today. My writing home Authors By Design is working to get back in to the active role once more. AbD has a blog now. It’s taking the place of our newsletter. We have new private critique groups...

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When Do You Surrender?

Page-a-Day WC -Repost via Write AnythingTwo years ago, I learned of a writing friend’s acceptance to a horror anthology, a market which was still accepting submissions. I had a story that fit in the theme. So, I submitted it and of course, the waiting began. A writer headed up the project and posted...

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Another Rejection

Page-a-Day WC -I received word yesterday from Fear and Trembling Mag concerning the short story "Sealed With Anguish" I submitted. The decision was a no:June 8, 2009Sent via email to: sthrnwriter21@aol.comGreetings:Thank you for your submission of "Sealed With Anguish" to Fear and Trembling. We regret to inform you that we cannot use your submission at this time.This response to you is automatically...

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Write Anything on Twitter

Page-a-Day WC - 165 wordsWrite Anything is now on Twitter. Come stalk....I mean follow us! http://www.twitter.com/wawriters...

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Strange Dream

Page-a-Day WC - 180 wordsLast night I had this strange dream. Most I don't remember but my brain is fixated on this one. It starts out with me and a friend at the tail end of a keger. You know when most of the partiers are either passed out or on their way to it. So, I have a drink in my hand, laughing hysterically about something when this woman who looks like a young Holly Hunter comes up to me.I...

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Horror Markets

Anthologies are excellent markets for short story writers. Here are a few anthology markets looking for horror stories.2012AD Anthology – This is an apocalypse themed anthology. Your stories must be based on the ancient Mayan prediction of the world ending on December 21st, 2012. Payment: 1-4.9 US cents per word. Deadline: June 18th, 2009The Blackness Within Anthology – This one is also themed. Your...

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Harper's Island

Page-a-Day WC - 192 wordsThe announcement was made. There will be no second season of Harper's Island. My question is how would they make a second season of this show? I thought it was a one time TV event kind of thing. After they kill a bunch of people off and reveal the killer, what comes next? A copycat?The funny thing is all these people are dying and the remaining wedding guests are going on...

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Spell Check Please

Page-a-Day WC - 237 wordsI think I got ahead of myself on my thoughts about Stalkers. The stories are pretty good. It's the spelling mistakes that are starting to frustrate me. I can understand one or two, but I'm barely passed the halfway mark and the count is up to like six. Spell check, anyone? Wait....did they have spell check in 1989?What's worse is the book's previous owner decided it was a...

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The McDow Hole

In the 1860s, Charlie and Jenny Papworth with their infant son Temple made a treacherous journey to what is now known as Alexandra, Texas. Purchasing a spread next to Charlie's cousin Jim McDow's, they built a cabin 200 yards from Green Creek a.k.a. McDow's Hole and got settled. About five years later, Charlie and Jenny welcomed their second son. Unfortunately, not long after the blessed event, Charlie...

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Stalkers Anthology

Page-a-Day WC - 230 wordsHas anyone read this anthology? It's kind of old, published in 1989. It contains novellas by Dean Koontz, John Coyne and F. Paul Wilson and stories by Rex Miller, Ed Gorman (who also edited it) and Robert R. McCammon.So far it's pretty good. I liked the novella by Dean Koontz called "Trapped". It's similar to his book Watchers which I loved. I live in the country. So, mice...

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Disturbed - The Night

Page-a-Day WC - 174 wordsI'm not a big Disturbed fan but I LOVE this so...

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History of Mother's Day

Page-a-Day WC - 174 wordsMother's Day celebrations date back to a Greek spring festival dedicated to the goddess Rhea, the mother of many deities. In ancient Rome, offerings were made to the Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Celtic Pagans celebrated the mother goddess Brigid. Here in the United States, we have Anna Jarvis and her daughter Anna for our celebrations.The first celebration of Mother's Day...

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Book Borrowing Etiquette

Page-a-Day WC - 150 wordsOne of my biggest pet peeves is when someone borrows something from me and returns it damaged in some way. It may be the control freak in me. I have this problem mostly with books.I don't care if someone borrows a book from me but I expect it to be returned in the same condition it left in. A lot of times people fold down the corner of a page rather than use a bookmark. Or...

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Ghost Stories Carnival May Edition

Welcome to the May 2009 edition of Ghost Stories Carnival.The purpose of this carnival is to gather articles about the paranormal from around the blog-o-sphere. If you would like to submit an article for the next Ghost Stories Carnival, please read the guidelines.So, without further ado, sit back and...

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PARA ABNORMAL

Page-a-Day WC - 151 wordsIf you haven't seen this web comic, you so should. It's be a guy named Dave Lowe. He depicts everything from Piglet turned zombie to an Easter basket full of skulls. Check it out!PARA ABNOR...

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Managing Time

Page-a-Day WC - 229 wordsI decided to monitor my internet time for the next couple of weeks if not during the entire month. I've noticed I spend about three to four hours a day on the net. I guess that may not be a lot compared to some people.Majority of that time goes to maintaining blogs or checking social networks. I hardly do any chatting anymore. I don't even bring up my yahoo messenger upon...

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Tweet Story

Page-a-Day WC - 168 wordsThis is my attempt at a tweet story. I don't know. Does it make sense to you?Footsteps paced outside her room. “Who’s there?” The air grew cold. She pulled the sheets over her head. “Why did you abandon her?” he sa...

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Drabble This, Tweet That

Page-a-day WC - 164 wordsRepost from Write AnythingAfter publishing last week’s post, I came across a new market. Tweet the Meat is a Twitter-based horrorzine. You have 140 characters to write something scary. How can anyone bring on the fear in 140 characters or less? I didn’t think it could be possible but after reading a few tweets, I guess it is. I’ve had a few people on occasion tell me the...

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Karma Cards

Page-a-Day WC - 189 wordsThanks to our upcoming garage sale I'm now the proud owner of a deck of Karma Cards. I've always wanted a deck of Tarot cards. I've heard some writers use them for character developing and whatever. Maybe the Karma cards could be used for a similar purpose. I haven't had a chance to read the book. I also have a set of Rune stones with instruction book. Unfortunately, I'm missing...

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Garage Sale

Page-a-Day WC - 164 wordsAll week, we have been preparing for our big garage sale on Friday and Saturday. Mos tof the junk we're getting rid of belonged to my step-grandparents. I know my step-dad is looking forward to it. He'll finally have room in his shop to do whatever. Though there were a few gems...

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Writing Again

Page-a-Day WC - 202 wordsGuess what.....Guess what.....Guess what??? I actually wrote today. After a twenty-three day hiatus, I put pen to paper and wrote something today. I probably should have done it sooner. Really doesn't matter now. I'm getting back in to the routine. That's all that coun...

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Wookey Hole Caves

In its 50,000 year history, Wookey Hole Caves has seen it share of inhabitants such as the Neanderthal man and Romans. At a constant temperature of 11 °C or 52 °F, the caves are a prime location for maturing Cheddar cheese. In 1935, Chamber 7 was the location of the first successful cave diving expedition in Britain performed by Graham Balcombe, Penelope Powell, and their cave diving group. However,...

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The Battle Continues

So, the last two weeks have been one techie battle after another one. I thought my computer was infected with that stupid conflicker thing, but I'm not so sure anymore. Every scanner I've used to remove it has come up clean, safe or normal modes. I've tried Ad-Aware, Malwarebytes, Symantec, McAfee Stinger, Avast, Microsoft OneCare. Always the same results, but my defrag (Windows and AusLogics) still...

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I'm Still Alive

I know I haven't posted all week. My excuse is I've been in download hell. With this whole Conflicker worm going around, I realized some of my software needed to be updated. Here's hoping next week is better...

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Ants on a Log

Page-a-day WC - 151 wordsUse to have this snack all the time when I was in kindergarten.Ants on a Log5 stalks of celery1/2 cup peanut butter1/4 cup raisinsCut the celery stalks in half. Spread with peanut butter. Sprinkle with raisi...

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Website Aids

Repost from Write Anything:Page-a-day WC - 161 wordsI noticed I haven’t done one of these in a while. This edition is themed. Sometimes, when writing, we find ourselves blocked. Can’t come up with a title, name, setting, whatever. Generators can sometimes help inspire you to push forward or at the very least give you a little chuckle. 1. Random Word Generator (Plus) - you choose a word type (noun,...

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WooHoo!!!

Page-a-Day WC - 146 wordsThe lawsuit against Ann Crispin and Victoria Strauss, the principal operators of the Writer Beware website has been dismissed! They were being sued by Robert Fletcher and his company, Literary Agent Company for defamation, emotional distress and all that jazz because they posted warnings against their business practices. The suit was dismissed with prejudice March 18 by the...

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The Terrible Wizard of Oz

Page-a-day WC - 290 wordsWe all loved Dorothy and her little dog too. But now you can send this fantasy world in to the depths of Hell. There is a call for submissions out for horror stories based on the world of oz. Take this fairy tale and turn it ugly. Payment is $20 and 1 contributor copy paid on publication.Deadline: June 31st hehehttp://jwschnarr.webs.com/submissions....

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Write or Die

Page-a-Day WC - 148 wordsThis is so cool. Check it out: http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.h...

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Apollonian and Dionysian Themes

Page-a-Day WC - 153 wordsWrite Anything has a whole new look! There are more new things to come. Check it out!I recently finished reading Stephen King’s Danse Macabre. It’s like the earlier version of his book On Writing except it’s centered on the horror genre: film, TV, books, etc. Throughout Danse Macabre, he discusses Apollonian and Dionysian themes, but what are they?The Apollonian and Dionysian...

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I Know Who Killed Your Career

Page-a-Day WC - 161 words I watched I Know Who Killed Me last night. Everyone said this movie was bad when it came out but had to see it for myself. OMG! This movie soooo killed her career. Half the time I didn't know what the hell was going on. It was suppose to be about stigmata twins but turned out beyond bad. I think there should have been a warning label: "bury it in the back yard never to be...

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A Poisoned Contest

Catherine Gardner over at The Poisoned Apple has a little contest going. See her little werewolf friend WolfDude is having girl troubles and is now threatening to join the circus. The purpose of this contest is to convince him that circus folk are bad people. First prize is a copy of the Malpractice Anthology and a signed copy of an unknown novella. I have my fingers crossed for the Booby Prize. *grin*You...

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

I often write about holiday origins here. To be honest, I think I know less about St. Patrick's Day than any other holidays until now. So, who was St. Patrick?St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and one of Christianity's most widely known figures. Despite his popularity, a lot of what is known...

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Attention Artists!

Page-a-Day WC - 164 wordsMonster Librarian posted this bulletin on Myspace:Spring into Terror Art ContestMonsterLibrarian. com and a number of other horror fiction review sites are conducting our second annual Spring into Terror horror fiction review project. As part of Spring into Terror we are holding an art contest to celebrate reading horror this spring.Theme: Reading horror (books or graphic...

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Update

Page-a-Day WC - 650 wordsI thought I would update you all on my current writing status. Many people don't stick to their New Years resolutions. I have managed to stick to the only one I made for this year. You may have noticed my daily word count. On occasion, I take a day or two off but nothing longer than that.I started the year off finishing up a Nano story, "A Tale of Two Sisters 2", from two...

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Most Annoying

Page-a-day WC - 169 wordsI so hate renovations. My mom and Alan picked this weekend to re-do our bathroom. A certain someone took a screwdriver to our bathtub. Therefore we needed a new one. So instead of just replacing the bathtub and nothing else, they decided to work or replace some pipes, move the water heater from one end of the tub to the other and a few other things. This project is suppose...

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When Zombies Attack

Page-a-day WC - 912 wordsToday we should be wielding rabbit's feet and four leaf clovers. But furry limbs and plants aren't going to save us this time. Today is International Zombie Awareness Day 2009. That's right. On this day, zombies all over the world are organizing and we are on the menu. What are poor, helpless humans suppose to do?You could always hunt down a copy of Max Brooks book The Zombie...

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Rougarou

The Rougarou has various alternate spellings as well as being attached to several cultures: the French, Native American and English. This legend has a werewolf quality to it.Through the French culture, the Rougarou, or as it is sometimes known as Loup garou, is thought to appear with a human body and head of a dog or wolf. Some stories say it will hunt down Catholics if they don't follow the rules...

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Stories of Strength

Tornado season is pounding on the door and I feel the need to plug this. This project started out as a way to contribute to the aid of Katrina victims. In 2005, writers from the Absolute Write forum put together an anthology. Jenna Glatzer, author of the Celine Dion biographer For Keeps, headed up the...

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Read an E-Book Week

Page-a-day WC - 939 wordsIt's "Read an E-Book Week"! From March 8-14, download yourself an e-book and get to reading. Project Gutenberg has tons of free classics. If you're looking for something different, check out the Read an E-Book Week website for a list of sites containing free e-books: http://www.ebookweek.com/index.h...

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Boycott

Page-a-day WC - 139 wordsI have had serious thoughts about boycotting Wal-mart. They are abusing their power and it must stop. It seems like every time I need something they don't stock it for months or sometimes never again. It's starting to piss me off.For a while, they didn't have the toothbrush...

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Don't Be Selfish

Growing up, we didn’t have an abundance of money. My mom worked a multitude of low paying jobs. That and child support, we barely kept our heads above water. Don’t get me wrong. We weren’t homeless poor. We always had what we need which is more than what some can say.Back in those days, I felt guilty about a lot of things I probably shouldn’t have even worried about. For example, I hated asking my...

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McPike Mansion

The McPike Mansion MistBuilt in 1869, architect Lucas Pfeiffenberger crafted a home with sixteen rooms, a vaulted wine cellar, eleven marble fireplaces and beautifully carved banisters in Alton, Illinois. McPike Mansion was home to Henry Guest McPike and his family. A famed horticulturist, he perfect the McPike Grape and became well known across the country.It is believed the McPike family lived in...

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