Sale-A-Bration Starts Today!

Stampin' Up! has a super-duper sale each year called Sale-A-Bration--an opportunity to be rewarded with free products.  Earn a free item for each $50 in purchases (including from our Occasions Mini and the Clearance Rack).  This sale only runs until March 31, 2012 so check it out soon for your Spring crafting needs!

And if you have been waiting to order the 2010-2012 In Color items, don't wait much longer...our catalog year is changing.  The current Idea Book & Catalog will be ending a month earlier than originally scheduled as we are lengthening the time frame for our Mini Catalogs later this year (and making them bigger as well!)

These are exciting changes, but it does mean early retirement for Blushing Bride, Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, and Poppy Parade :-0

On the other hand, the 2012-2014 In Colors will be available in June (and I can hardly wait to find out what they are)!

The Occasions Mini ends April 30, followed by the current Idea Book & Catalog on May 30 (rather than June 30).  The new Annual catalog will begin June 1, and will be valid thru May 31, 2013.  Our Holiday Mini will be released August 1, 2012 and run until January 2013 (concurrent with the Annual catalog).  Confused?  Please don't be--I'll post more details as they are available.  For now, enjoy earning free product with purchase during Sale-A-Bration!

One O'clock Jump by Lise McClendon - finished 1/17/2012. EB, HM. 3 stars

I really wanted to like this book.  I love the time frame (WWII), I love Kansas City, I love historical mystery, I love swing music, I love (most) cozy mysteries...but this book just cannot rate over 3 stars with me.

So, the question is--what did I not like?  Why only 3 stars (and that's generous)?  Maybe too many secondary characters that really contribute nothing to the plot but take up space.  Now, this is the first of a series, so who knows--could they take a bigger role in later books?  Perhaps, but why not introduce them at that time instead of having them walk in and out of scenes for no apparent reason?

I understand red herrings, and I think I "get" the reason to have characters interact enough to get a sense of the good guys versus the bad guys, but some scenes seemed unnecessary for the book--I don't want to post spoilers, but some of Dorie's "dates" felt like filler to me--like when we would write a lot of description (in big, loopy handwriting) in school to pad our word count or page count.

Don't get me wrong--this is not a bad book.  The main characters are somewhat interesting, although they each seem to suffer from a neurosis of one kind or another.  It seems all have something troubling in their past or something they wish to hide.  I was caught up enough in the mystery that I wanted to finish it to see "whodunit".  I may read the second Dorie Lennox, Sweet and Lowdown,  to see if the series improves, but I don't have the overwhelming desire to jump straight from one to the other like I do with other series.  And I'm quite glad it was a Kindle read because I certainly would not want it on my keeper shelf.

I did actually learn a lot from reading this book.  I learned my novel-in-progress has too many extraneous characters who take up space but don't help advance the plot...and that inserting either factual history or back story needs to be done very carefully to prevent the "big, loopy handwriting" syndrome.

Do These Books Make My Butt Look Big?

Okay...I've been an abject failure at the 100 Books Reading Challenge for two years in a row.  But I have read chunksters both years--actually, many of my favorite authors write books big enough to hurt you if you drop them on a bare toe (the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, anyone?)

So, in an effort to "FOCUS" my reading this year, I'm not signing up for multiple challenges.  Here's my only reading challenge for 2012:  The Chunkster Reading Challenge.  I'm going for the "Do These Books Make My Butt Look Big?" level, because I have several huge non-fiction tomes to read this year regarding the Civil War (as well as Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, The Scottish Prisoner by the aforementioned Ms. Gabaldon, and Rebels and Traitors by Lindsey Davis, and several volumes of the Wheel of Time series started by the late Robert Jordan and being completed by Brandon Sanderson).

I'll keep everyone posted on my progress and my 2012 Reading page will always denote which books count for this challenge.  If you love to read "big" books, come on over and join us! One note:  E-reads and audiobooks are not allowed unless a disability requires the use of adaptive devices (the rules are posted over at Chunkster, along with a great list of "big" books).

Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? - this option is for the reader who can't resist bigger and bigger books and wants to commit to SIX Chunksters from the following categories: 2 books which are between 450 - 550 pages in length; 2 books which are 551 - 750 pages in length; 2 books which are GREATER than 750 pages in length (for ideas, please refer to the book suggestions page for some books which fit into these categories).

Dr. Martin Luther King--What Would He Think of Politics Today?

(Warning--I'm getting political here, so if you want to skip this post, feel free.)

I love history, so I watch politics closely.  I'm a native Texan in my fifties, so I remember the Civil Rights movement, although I was too young to join in and my parents, staunch supporters of Governor George Wallace, would have murdered me if they had known I did not agree with their white supremacy (it was bad enough when I insisted George McGovern would be a better President than the aforementioned Governor Wallace).

As a student of the Civil War (1862 is the time frame for my novel-in-progress), watching South Carolina and other states try to revise voter rights and listening to Governor Rick Perry and others advocate states' rights makes me sometimes wonder if I have not traveled back in time to either the 1950s or worse yet, the 1850s. 

Maya Angelou, the noted poet, playwright, and civil rights activist, once said, "History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again." 

Karl Marx, the German philosopher, was once quoted regarding history:  "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce." 

George Bernard Shaw, winner of the 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature, had this sage comment on history:  "If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience."

Something tells me we are walking a tightrope between "doing what is right and doing what is easy" (that's Albus Dumbledore talking to Harry Potter after Voldemort's return).

There's no problem in my mind with states' rights, as long as the state does not marginalize its citizens on the basis of race, age, sexual orientation or religion (I am talking legal citizens here, whether born in the USA or naturalized--I'll save my thoughts on immigration for a future post).  HOWEVER--If the premise for removing government from the federal level and returning it to the states is a ploy to revoke our individual rights as human beings, I fear a regression in our country back to the days of "separate but 'equal'"(?), "Irish (or whoever) need not apply", back-alley abortions, health care only for the rich--okay, I need to stop now--if you have read this far, you see my point (even if you don't agree).

So, on the legal holiday celebrating the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I suggest we all take a long hard look at where we as a nation have come from and which direction we wish to move towards.  For me, personally, I choose to move forward, not backwards.

(Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking at the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C., in 1963. Credit: National Archives and Records Administration)

Honored By One of My Mentors

Liebster, in German,means "darling" or "beloved" but I gather that in the blogging world, it is an award given from one small blogger to another in an effort to spread friendship, knowledge, and readership.  I couldn't find the exact start of the tradition, but receiving this award is an honor.  It evidently is designed to be passed to bloggers with less than 200 followers and since I currently have less than 20, I feel even more Blessed to have been chosen.

My crafting mentor over at GottHeartArt for some unknown reason decided today to honor my blog.  Beverly, I appreciate the thought very much.  Watching you develop your blog and enter challenges and become a member of various design teams has been a true inspiration to me.

By accepting this award, I am to link back to Beverly's blog and thank her for choosing me. Now, I need to choose five other bloggers I follow who each have under 200 followers and provide them with their own Liebster.  I follow about fifty blogs on different subjects (although I tend to lurk on virtually all of them), and some bloggers I follow choose not to accept or pass on these types of awards.  I've tried to choose bloggers who have not published that restriction on their blog, but if any of my awardees choose not to pass this on, please know I have chosen you for your inspiration and there are no strings attached.

1. Sue at random.on purpose.  Inspiring crafting and more inspiring thought process.  She posts on many different topics and is truly a Renaissance soul.
2. C. W. Gortner at Historical Boys: Historical Fiction for Men and Women.   This is a great blog for readers of historical fiction--lots of guest posts from authors of the genre.
3. Kim at Jenkins Journal.  This is a super Stampin' Up! blog, and Kim barely makes it under the 200 followers wire (she's at 198 right now, LOL).
4. Neet, Von and Zoe at Just for Fun.  A UK-based artsy challenge blog with tons of inspiration (all three ladies also have individual blogs that are cool to read too).
5. Suzanne at The British are Coming, Y'all!  Not only does Suzanne write fantastic historical mysteries set during the American Revolution, but she also hosts other writers who discuss relevant history.

These five blogs are only some of my favorites and are listed in no particular order.  I'd love to honor more bloggers--writers, crafters,  historians, cooks, readers--check out the blogs listed on my sidebars if you want to see the many paths my mind travels (that is, if you enjoy eclectic LOL)