September 22, 2008 – 11:41 am
Romantic stories are one of the best selling genres. They are mostly written and read by women. If a man reads romance novels, he’s not likely to admit it. The first ones were written by celebrated 19th century authors, such as Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice) and Charlotte Bronte (Jane Eyre). Emily Bronte wrote the wonderfully Gothic Wuthering Heights. These novels were of course, considered to be literary classics whereas most modern offerings are not.
The modern romantic book, as published by Mills and Boon etc., is pretty formulaic. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl and boy gets girl again. There is nearly always a happy ending and there are no graphic descriptions of bedroom scenes. The protagonists tend to be middle or upper class. There are often doctor and nurse scenarios and men have chiseled jaws and muscular arms. Historical romance is also popular, with opportunities for a lot of genteel courtship and brave fiances marching to war in their neatly pressed uniforms. It’s easy to poke fun but these romance novels give pleasure to thousands of people. Fans want a bit of harmless escapism at the end of a busy day.
The English writer, Barbara Cartland was probably the most prolific of all the romance novels scribes. She famously dictated thousands of words a day, with her little dog on her lap. She only dressed in pink and prided herself on chaste heroines. We shall never see her kind again.
More recent novelists have tried to keep the genre alive but brought it into line with contemporary values. This has been dubbed chick lit and its leading light is the Bridget Jones books. She is a character for a modern generation, an independent career woman but one who freely admits to wanting a man in her life. There are shades of the Pride and Prejudice story in there, which brings romance novels full circle. It’s probably what Jane Austen would be writing, were she alive today.
Fans don’t seem to mind that they can guess what’s coming. They find it comforting in an unsettled world. The setting and time period probably don’t matter very much. It’s the relationship between the man and woman (it’s always a man and woman) that counts. Modern standards of behavior have changed significantly but there is still a demand for old-fashioned romance novels with clearly defined plots. Mr. Darcy is alive and well.
September 18, 2008 – 3:08 pm
If you love to read, you know how expensive it can be. A good book, of course, is worth its weight in gold, but that doesn’t mean we can go out and buy every hardcover book that catches our eye. There are times I spend hours in a bookstore, and I cannot possibly buy everything that I want to, and many times, it takes me a while to choose because there are just so many great books out there. This is when I feel paperback books are a blessing. They aren’t as durable over time, but they allow me to pick more than one book, and they keep me busy exploring new worlds.
Paperback books are often in the back of the bookstore, but they are just the same as their hard-covered counterparts. You may have to wait a while for your favorite choice to come out though, as paperback books often come out months after the hardcover versions are released. If you really want something, you may not be able to wait for the paperback version. That’s why hardcovers are released first. If a series like Harry Potter is popular, they know they can generate more hardcover sales by releasing the paperback books months later.
A good place to get paperback books at a discount is by joining a book club. You can also get hard covers at a discount this way, and they can be mailed directly to your home, saving you time and energy. If you don’t enjoy walking around a bookstore like I do, this is a great and efficient way to get hardcover and paperback books that interest you. Just watch out for the clubs that send you a book each month regardless of your preferences, as you may end up with books you don’t want if you don’t pay attention.
Paperback books are even cheaper if you look for them at yard sales and in thrift stores. When you get them this way, you can get them for as cheap as ten cents. However, the selection will be extremely limited. Don’t let this stop you from reading these paperback books, however, because you may not realize what a treasure you are holding in your hand. I found one of my favorite authors this way. A few of her books where sitting there at a yard sale, and I picked them up without paying much attention, thinking I might give these paperback books to my mom. As it turned out, I loved them, and haven’t been able to part with them as of yet.
September 16, 2008 – 4:10 pm
How many films would you guess you view in a week’s time? Would three be an accurate guess? Or maybe you’re addicted like me and the answer is more like 6 or 7. Regardless of your movie habit, I know where you can acquire them with minimal fuss and hassle. No, it’s not the mom and pop store down the street. They’re typically out of every new rental because they only carry one of each. That’s lame! And it’s not the huge video chain that guarantees certain titles to be in stock. Trust me; I know this process and how it works. The videos are not ALWAYS in stock. They just say that so you’ll hit up their place first. However, if they’re not in stock, you typically get a voucher for it free the next time it’s in. Personally I would much rather go with he online movie rental business. This has the words “Convenience” and “Hassle Free” written all over it. Are you ready for the simple way of attaining DVDs?
I used to work at a video store. It was “mom and pop” joint. I actually stayed there for three years. Then it was off to another video store. This one was known as Blockbuster’s greatest competitor. I’m sure you know the one I’m referring to. I stayed there for three years as well. Anyway, I can’t say how stoked I was when they began the online movie rental concept. This was Netflix.com first, if I remember correctly. I honestly couldn’t believe that I would never have to enter another video store. This was a great thing in my book. After all, I had seen the crowds, experienced the chaos, and dealt with the anger on a regular basis for 6 years. You grow tired of it after a while. I definitely did! But, that didn’t matter now. I had my laptop handy and a cool new concept at my fingertips. I was ready to try the online movie rental business. In no time, I realized how much better it was. The DVDs I order arrive quickly and it’s a synch to mail them back. The postage is paid and there are no hassles with late fees or crowds. This is the way I like it!
What do you prefer? Are you ready to battle the video store lines and crowds for yet another Friday night? Or, are you anxious to jump on the online movie rental bandwagon? One thing I can tell you is that it will save you gas, time and a whole lot of patience.
September 14, 2008 – 9:21 pm
Building a working plane from model airplane plans can be an exciting and rewarding hobby, but it can also be a lot of work. Model airplane kits can be hard enough. They often have wings built entirely of thin, balsa wood ribs coated in a plastic outer wrap, which are easy to break and difficult to assemble. But building a model airplane from scratch is just that much harder. A good buddy of mine says that you should not even pick up model airplane plans unless you really are a true fanatic. And he should know - he has been building model airplanes for a good fifteen years.
Before you get your first model airplane plan, you will need to set up your workspace. You will need a variety of equipment. In addition to the standard model airplane glue, X-acto knife, paints, and other supplies that you will no doubt be familiar with, you will need a variety of small saws and jewelers tools, such as files. The precise equipment that you need to build your model airplane plans will depend on the aircraft that you will be making. A good rule of thumb is that the smaller the airplane, the harder that it is to build. In addition, certain types of model airplane plans are harder to put together than others. Single wing models are the easiest, with biplanes and triplanes being progressively harder.
Above all, building model airplanes requires patience. When I got my first model airplane kit, I was no more than ten years old. At that point, I thought it was the neatest thing in the world, but I just did not have it in me to build it by myself. By the time my dad stepped in to help me, I had almost ruined the kit trying to figure it out myself. I did not even have the patience to look at the model airplane plans until my dad made me do just that. There was a lesson in all of that for me that I did not soon forget. When I got my own son his first model airplane kit, I remembered what it was like trying to settle down and spend the hours required to assemble mine. You can bet that I was right there with him, helping him read the model airplane plans and build the plane, piece by piece without skipping any steps.
September 8, 2008 – 9:17 am
To some people, there is absolutely nothing more relaxing than being in a boat that is in some body of water. Perhaps the waves are gently rocking the boat providing comfort or maybe the water is perfectly still, giving you a sense of complete peace. When you plan a fishing trip, sometimes that is what you may find. My parents used to take our boat out for a weekend and we’d spend the days and nights on the water. My dad considered them fishing trips but my mother and I referred to them as being a weekend escape. There were times in which I did attempt to do some fishing, but mainly I spent my time relaxing, napping and reading. My mother and I would lay on the deck soaking up the sun. My dad and brother took advantage of these fishing trips to lure the local fish onto their lines. Sometimes they were successful in catching some nice fish, but more often than not, they’d be throwing the fish back in the water or complaining that nothing was biting.
Fishing trips are a wonderful way to escape and spend some time either alone or with friends and family. Even if you don’t own a boat or live near a body of water, you can plan fishing trips in nearby states or destinations. There is a website called fishingtripsusa.com that can help you locate places that you can find fishing trips and enjoy your peaceful getaway.
There are always fishing trips to be found when you travel to the beach. They might just be fishing trips that last a few hours, or an entire day. Some places will offer excursions that last overnight as well. Of course, fishing trips that take you out into the deep seas provide a great deal of excitement since there are even more fish to be caught. There’s nothing more exciting than discovering that what is on the other end of your line is a swordfish, shark, or ray. I’ve watched my father reel in small sharks before and it seems like it takes forever to actually get them within reach. I can’t imagine what catching a larger shark or fish would be like. But, that’s the excitement of fishing trips - the peace and tranquility and the unknown adventures that are in store for you.
No matter where your fishing trip is going to take place, or who you are journeying on the adventure with, make sure you take time to breathe in the fresh air and enjoy your surroundings.
September 7, 2008 – 11:29 am
Each year when it comes time to see the Wiggles’ concert, my daughter has a certain costume in mind. I’m not sure where she got the idea of wearing costumes, but it is something that she loves to do. For a few years, she would not wear anything but a Greg Wiggle costume when she went, but this year, she requested that I make her a Wiggly Dancer outfit. This was not as easy as I thought it would be, because I was stumped at first about how to make the music notes that adorn their jackets.
We started out with a red tshirt because the dancer coats are red. I didn’t want to get her a jacket because we were going to the show in the middle of August, and I didn’t want to her to sweat a lot. I then had to figure out how to make the music notes. I could have bought gold and black colored felt, but I thought that would look too plain. The music notes on the Wiggly dancer coats are shiny, and she would want the same thing for her new outfit.
I wandered into the craft section of my local department store with the music notes on my mind. I wandered up and down the aisles but didn’t find anything. I didn’t really expect to find already made shiny music notes on the shelf, but I thought it never hurt to look. Finally I came upon the section that had ribbons, laces, and other adornments. What I found there was the answer to my problem. There I found shiny adornment that I could form into the shape of the music notes on her new shirt.
Once I got the adornments home, I had to truly think about adding the music notes to the shirt. I ended up using my glue gun and a lot of patience to get what I wanted out of the materials. Though I wasn’t sure a glue gun would be the best idea, it was the only hope I had. In the end, I was lucky that the music notes turned out as well as they did. If you would like to create something similar just take some advice from me. The shirt will look good, but make sure you never put it in the dryer. When it came out, much to my dismay, the heat has bunched the shirt up in odd places. That’s OK though; at least I know I can recreate the shirt if she needs another.