Summer TV Update (with Vampires, guilty pleasures, cooking, movies, AGT, and more)

Juliette Kings's avatarVampire Maman

Fall is just around the corner. I know that because I am painfully aware that books for the fall quarter for two college aged kids will run around $1,600 – $2,000, maybe a little less if they are lucky enough to get used books. But on a good note, the summer TV season is still in full swing.

I know I’m not the only person on the planet who is NOT watching Game of Thrones. I was turned off the first season by all of the gratuitous doggy style sex in every single episode. Really? Come on folks mix it up. I think that is an HBO thing. Seriously it gets annoying after a while (like after the first five or six times within an hour.) There were also a couple of other annoying things. I tried to read the first book and couldn’t get through it due to the…

View original post 1,452 more words

Short Story Sunday: Motorhome

Everyone has a Grammy in their family…

Juliette Kings's avatarVampire Maman

Motorhome
An Austin and Elizabeth Story

Austin grew up knowing that Grammy didn’t have many filters. She’d say anything she wanted to anyone. Austin’s mother said Grammy had always been rude. Grammy said she was giving out good advice that might make people want to do something about their situations. Everyone was in a situation so everyone was told what they needed to do.

Grammy’s caretaker, a lovely woman named Kayla, had texted Austin the following:

“Just a warning, Grammy is in a mood today. Completely speaking with no filter. We talked to Tom across the street. Grammy asked how they were doing and before he could say anything she said, “well it looks like you and your wife have completely given up on loosing weight.” I nudged her in hopes she would stop but it didn’t work. She then went on to say, “I thought you guys were dieting…

View original post 1,064 more words

Alive

You’re one of my favorite short story writers. Had you not shared your personal story over the years I would have never have had any idea you had CP. I’m looking forward to many more stories from you, both fiction and personal.

R. James Turley's avatarmusing

The effects of Cerebral Palsy (CP) develop during pregnancy or childbirth or shortly thereafter, and caused by an abnormal development of damage to the part of the brain that controls movement. Mine was the result of a stoke at sixteen months old from a heart problem called transposition of the great vessel.

When I was around three, I had the Mustard Procedure. An operation first developed by Dr. William Mustard at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. It allows a total correction, and employs a baffle or tunnel to redirect blood flow. Replaced in the late 1980’s by the Jatene Procedure, in which the native arteries were switched back to normal blood flow.  Even after the surgery, the doctors didn’t see a long live for me.

After I had the stroke and the operation that went with it, I had to relearn everything I was able to do as…

View original post 674 more words

All the Crown Jewels. Part One

A new blog well worth checking out!

PD Sampson's avatarFlash!!

The entrance to the tunnel was his only way out, and it was filled with dwarves. He told her that this was a really bad idea and like always, she managed to wrap him around her little finger.

This was going to be an easy score, she said.

They won’t even know that they were there, she said.

Don’t be a coward, she said. This was going to be the heist of a lifetime.

Yeah right.

Now like always, he was left holding the bag, quite literally at the moment, and Kara was nowhere to be seen. Typical. One day he was going to learn that she was going to bring him nothing but trouble and that she was going to be his downfall. He knew this in his head, but damn it, other parts of his body disagreed and here he was yet again. All she had to do…

View original post 2,433 more words

Poetry Reading – “Let Your Soul Fly Free To Heaven”

aurorajeanalexander's avatarWriter's Treasure Chest

November 7, 2016, in a phase of deepest sadness and depression, I wrote and published a poem, “Let Your Soul Fly Free To Heaven”.

Until this day I’m very much convinced that this is probably the rhythmically best poem I ever wrote, and even though, its theme is heartbreak and sadness, I’m still proud of it. That’s why I submitted this poem to the Poetry Festival Page and had it read by a professional actor.

Today I was informed that the poetry reading had been published on their Website. I immediately clicked the link and found it, together with some information about myself.

“Let Your Soul Fry Free To Heaven” is performed by actress Becky Shrimpton and she does a fabulous job. Thank you very much, Becky! And thank you to “Wildsound Fest” who published it on their YouTube channel.

Watch it on the Poetry Festival Website:

Poetry Reading: Let…

View original post 13 more words

Life Beyond Raising Children

Great article, for parents of kids of all ages.

kathleen982's avatarSacramento Mortgage Lender

As a mortgage lender and mother of two wonderful boys, Bryan (18) and Josh (14), life can become both hectic and routine, depending on the day. I enjoy working with my clients and seeing their home ownership goals become a reality just as much as I love watching our boys grow and reach new milestones. It has been fun over the years learning to balance work and my home life and I know that my family has benefitted from my commitment to both. As our boys are growing up, I have seen a shift in my time management as they need me less each year.

It is important for parents to rebalance as their children grow and find ways to take the time to nurture our own lives. Often as parents our children are the priority which is a beautiful blessing. But there comes a time when we need to…

View original post 656 more words

Vampire Diary: Music to My Ears

Juliette Kings's avatarVampire Maman

Dear Diary,

When one is imprisoned in a crypt for three hundred years one misses out on a lot of things. The past three hundred years went fast and were full of wonders which I missed being hellishly locked in a dark damp coffin inside of an ivy covered crypt. I hate ivy.

There is so much that used to be that I have not seen. Entire centuries and now dead technologies, fashions, and ways of life have vanished before I could know what they were but everyone aside from me knows what these things are, even if they were not born before these things happened.

Two days ago someone said he sounds like a broken record.

What did he mean. Did his numbers not match up? I asked.

I was told that he repeated himself.

“What is this record of,” I asked.

“It could be anything, I don’t know,”…

View original post 1,424 more words

You are the love of my life

Beautiful

johncoyote's avatarjohncoyote

You are my love of my life.

My cherished love, I need to  kiss your lips hello, again  and again.

You are my September sweet German red wine and my endearing reasons to be alive.

I gave my love to you and you made my hope and dreams spin, around and around to perfect place in your embrace.

You made the river of love expand to the great valley of satin sheets, long nights and holding you close. Sharing lover’s secret words and caress.

I fell into your bosom and you sang to me.

“Love, sweet love.

Please dance, wild and free.

I love you more than the long Summer days and

I need your love upon my lips,

I want your  skin upon my skin and your sweet whispered deeply engraved into my heart.

You are love to me and I want to be love to you.”

Two lovers…

View original post 55 more words

Braised Beef Shanks with Tomatoes

This is beautiful. This is what is for dinner this weekend. Wow.

anotherfoodieblogger's avataranotherfoodieblogger

Braised Beef Shanks with Tomatoes Braised Beef Shanks with Tomatoes

I know this beef man from Ireland, and Conor Bofin is his name. He’s the closest I know to a connoisseur of any part of the damned cow that I know, even the unusual and sketchy bits. But he can cook the most amazing meals with that lowly bovine, so I jumped on the chance to sort-of copy-cat this wonderful braise of beef shanks with some nice meaty ones from our quarter cow.

While my photos won’t do it justice — and I wasn’t about to try and plate it for a shot — I think anyone who makes this will be satisfied with the most delicious gravy and tender beef. I served mine with some Parmesan risotto, but pasta or potatoes would work fantastic too. One of my deviations from the original recipe was to reduce the mushrooms (not enough on hand) and add a couple of…

View original post 363 more words

Save Our Schools


Please call your representative and ask him/her to vote NO on House Bill 610 (HR 610) 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
‘To those of you not in the education field, you may not understand a lot of the educational jargon and the foundation of the American education system. Having a school voucher system (proposed by Trump’s Education secretary Betsy DeVos) doesn’t just mean you can choose any school you want your kid to go to. It also means the public education program will be dismantled. Let me explain…
If your child has an IEP, frame it. Then kiss it good-bye.
If you have a job in special-education, meaning if you’re a: special education teacher, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech pathologist, a para, or a teacher’s aid, you’re in the same boat.
If you are in ESL teacher, you’ll go first.
House Bill 610 makes some large changes.
Inform yourselves.
This bill will effectively start the school voucher system to be used by children ages 5-17 and starts the defunding process of public schools.
The bill will eliminate the Elementary and Education Act of 1965, which is the nation’s educational law that provides equal opportunity in education.
ESSA is a big comprehensive program that covers programs for struggling learners, advanced and gifted kids in AP classes, ESL classes, classes for minorities such as Native Americans, Rural Education, Education for the Homeless, School Safety (Gun-Free schools), Monitoring and Compliance, and Federal Accountability Programs. Yes, there are all of these programs happening in our education system, in addition to just academics.
The Bill also abolishes the Nutritional Act of 2012 (No Hungry Kids Act) which provides nutritional standards in school breakfast and lunch.
The bill has no wording whatsoever protecting Special Needs kids, no mention of IDEA, and FAPE.
Some things ESSA does for Children with Disabilities:
-Ensures access to the general education curriculum.
-Ensures access to accommodations on assessments.
-Ensures concepts of Universal Design for Learning.
-Includes provisions that require local education agencies to provide evidence-based interventions in schools with consistently underperforming subgroups.
-Requires states in Title I plans to address how they will improve conditions for learning including reducing incidents of bullying and harassment in schools, overuse of discipline practices and reduce the use of aversive behavioral interventions (such as restraints and seclusion).’
Please call your representative and ask him/her to vote NO on House Bill 610 (HR 610) introduced by three Republican reps.