Early Model Typewriters

Early model typewriters were often referred to as "Literary Pianos" because of a version designed by Christopher Sholes had just two rows of keys, the first row made of ebony, the second of ivory.

Big and Best Results (for me)

Which U.S. State Should You Live In?

Jump Into The Fire - Nilsson

What Brady Are You?

You Are Greg Brady

Outta sight! Suave and all American, you tend to be clean cut and upstanding. You're friendly with most people and a huge flirt (sometimes even with family members!).

What Brady Are You?

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At least I wasn't Jan, such a whiner.

"Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!"

ultracrepidarian

ultracrepidarian [uhl-truh-krep-i-dair-ee-uh n]

adjective
1. noting or pertaining to a person who criticizes, judges, or gives advice outside the area of his or her expertise

noun
2. an ultracrepidarian person.

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I saw this word in my reader feed earlier and thought it might be a good one to add to my vocabulary and especially to use in online arguments. What I really like about these esoteric words is that it shuts the other person up until they can go find out what it means.

Not but a few minutes after I read it, I went to a lottery forum I participate in and caught up on a thread I had been following about the recent Tennessee Powerball winners who gave a press conference even before they claimed their share of the jackpot. The arguments were getting heated when one guy said no one had the right to criticize them since he was sure no one giving their opinions had ever won. That led to a spate of replies with one person saying "one doesn't have to be a doctor to know they have a belly ache."

Thinking about the lottery reminded me I needed to go get a ticket for tonight's Texas Lotto.  I stopped at the dollar store on the way home and started to go down an aisle but two older men were talking and blocking my way.  I turned around and went down the next aisle and while looking for what I wanted to buy, heard one complaining he hadn't been sleeping well and the other said "The sandman hasn't been visiting you, huh?" and at that exact point the store radio speaker just above their heads started with the distinctive opening guitar rift of "Enter Sandman" by Metallica!

I love these coincidences that seem to happen to me a lot;  I'll be listening to online radio and reading something in another tab and the radio hosts will say a word I'm reading at the same time or reference a news story I'm scanning.  Freaky!  ("coincidence" is even a post label in this blog)

And speaking of freaky:  after those earlier two coincidences, I got on Facebook to see what's been happening since I last visited and noticed a FB friend had posted a video of the Top Ten Eagles songs.  #1 was "Hotel California" and I had to make a comment about it being one of the most overplayed songs ever...and after I hit "Enter" on the post, another friend's post showed up right below that one - check it out:

(click image for larger view)

Last Call for Alcohol

Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, asked for whiskey just before his death.

He was refused by his nurse.

Brain Freeze

The scientific name for "brain freeze" or Ice cream headache caused by eating something cold is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia

 
WorldArtsMe

You Belong to the City - Glenn Frey

R.I.P. Glenn Frey

Snape's Death Scene

R.I.P. Alan Rickman

Lazarus - David Bowie

Off of Bowie's last album "Blackstar".

R.I.P.

colophon

A colophon is a publisher's emblem, containing information on a title page about the book's publication and production.

A colophon printed in 1471

Of Oz The Wizard

The Wizard of Oz remixed in alphabetical order.

What Type of Festival Should You Attend?

You Should Attend a Book Festival

You are quite the introvert... in fact, probably too introverted for most festivals. You love solitude. You spend a lot of time with the written word - both reading and writing. And you appreciate books of all sorts. You have a great imagination and an unparalleled ability to dream. Anything is possible in your mind. You may not be the most adventurous person you know, but you are very curious about the world.

What Type of Festival Should You Attend?

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This one is spot on about me, especially being an introvert and loving solitude.

Dickens' Pet Raven

Charles Dickens had a talking pet raven named Grip and Dickens was devastated when the bird died from eating a paint chip.  According to Dickens, the bird's last words were "Halloa, old girl!"

Dickens had his adored pet stuffed and it now resides in the Rare Books Dept. of the Free Library of Philadelphia,

Rent-A-Typewriter

Ray Bradbury wrote some of his famous novel Fahrenheit 451 on a rented typewriter in a basement typing room at UCLA.

The charge? Ten cents per thirty minutes of typing time.

All the Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople

Does It Go Bad?

From the website:

DoesItGoBad.com is a place where you can find information about when (or if) a particular product will expire or will be unfit for consumption. If you have a product and you can’t use it in a couple of days, or simply you don’t know when it’ll go bad, DoesItGoBad.com is the place where you’ll get the information you need.

http://www.doesitgobad.com/

Shudder Time

Now, I know those spiders serve a useful purpose in the ecosystem and that we should respect all life regardless, but I can only think of one thing when watching that:

FLAMETHROWER!

To All

Auld Lang Syne - Josh Turner