Happy Halloween...

Happy Halloween!!!!

Drawing by Pamela Jo

Do you know the origins of Halloween?

Well according to History.com, it was a Celtic holiday. Check it out.

Ancient Origins of Halloween

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

The above article is from The history channel website at www.history.com/topics/halloween 

The also have articles of Famous American Ghosts...like the ones that haunt the USS Constitution. The history of the Jack-o-latern...an Irish folktale about a man named "Stingy Jack" and lots of other fascinating things.

Since I live out in the woods and don't get trick or treaters, we will be spending our halloween watching monster movies.

How are you out in blogland going to spend yours?  Let me know in the comment section. While your there see if you can guess who my pumpkins are...hint 2 of them will really crack you up and the other one could solve problem of who the mischief makers are.

I'm Back...

   So what does a blogger do when she doesn't have the internet....

Well, if your me you pull up your graphics program and get busy drawing.

drawing by Pamela Jo

I'm still not too happy with the surf spray. I'll have to work on that some more. But now it is time to catch up with everyone...

C is for creative cussing...

   First off I would like to give Giggle, Laugh, Cry credit for this blog. She had a B blog about ... are you ready “Butterfly butts”. Her daughter recommended it, saying its funny. She was right. Her mom said her daughter used “Butterfly Butts” like most people use “Oh, Shoot”. It got me thinking about cursing and the creative way we use it.
  When I was younger, I didn't cuss... at least not the words you hear today. Today, thanks to having to fill out multiple copies of government forms...I would make a sailor proud...but not my mom. So I am trying to clean up my act....again, and it reminded me of all the ways people cuss when they don't want to get caught cussing.

Some of my favorite examples are...

 

Yosemite Sam's  “Dag Nabit” or is that one word...

 

Ritchie Cunningham's  “H...E...double toothpicks”...

 


Marty the Zebra in Madagascar “Sugar...Honey...Ice...Tea” I had to hear this twice before I caught it.  (Okay, okay I like cartoons. Who doesn't? That and comedy are 2 more favorite C words.)

   So I have come to the conclusion that I agree with Mel Gibson's character in “Signs”. Curse words are not so much the word as how you use them. So why not use something that makes you smile and gets you out of the bad mood your in.

   I am sure you all have examples of creative cursing yourselves. Why not share them in the comments below.

Artwork by Pamela Jo

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone...

   I would like to wish everyone everywhere a Happy Valentine's Day.
I hope you enjoy your handmade (okay, computer made) Valentine.  This is from me to you all my family, my friends and fellow bloggers.

  

    Have you signed up for the BPB Blogfest yet.
If not why not join the fun just click on the badge on the
sidebar and sign up today.  Only 2 more day left.

It's coming....

Art work by Pamela Jo

©2010 Pamela Jo

Time travel on aisle 4...

   It's that time of year again.  The time when I walk through the store and suddenly out of one of the isles I get hit with those smells.  The smells that immediately transport me back in time.  Back to the time when  the only house cleaning I had to do was my bedroom.  The only laundry I did was pick up my dirty clothes and put the clean ones away.  Dinner was cooked by someone else and bills where a mysterious unknown monster waiting in the distant future.
   What a wonderful smell.  I find myself following that scent around the corner and down the aisle.  Suddenly there it is right in front of me.  The bright yellow and green box full of hope that all things are possible.  The box of Crayola Crayons...

Image via Wikipedia

    When I was younger nothing brought as much joy and pleasure as that box with its brand new never used crayons.  Inside that box where mountains to climb, rivers to swim, forest to explore, and space to conquerer.  There where all kinds of exotic animals and fantasies to be seen.

    They say a picture is worth a thousand words... Well, inside that little box there where unlimited words  and stories.  Where would you like to be... under the sea ... at the north pole... on a beach...a galaxy far far away ...  Grab a piece of paper anything would do and go.
   Nothing was imposable or too far away.  That little box is magic.  If you don't believe me buy one and hand it to a small child with a pad of paper.  Stand back and watch the wonder shine in their eyes and the magic flow from their hands to the paper.  Who knew that zebras were really purple and yellow, and ate red grass under a pink sky.




    Oh wow they now come in a box of 120 different colors... I really need that... For the granddaughter... so what if she is only one month old.  It's never to early to appreciate art.
 
   Wait.  What's that smell.  Can it be.  Yes it is... Play-doh.  I may never leave this aisle. 

 

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• Photos: The making of Crayola's crayons (news.cnet.com)

I must be crazy...

   I am an overachiever.  I try to do everything.  So when I started blogging I started looking at other blog sites and decided how I wanted mine to look.
  Things always change so I kept looking and I found the cooking sites.  Hey that sounds good.  I have all my mother's handwritten recipes that I have been typing up.  So I started a recipe blog Grandmom's Recipes.  Now my family can go online and find a recipe from Momma's collection.  Since I only have to write the introduction for the recipe I should be able to do that and my original blog.
   So back online I go.  I start checking the blogs other people are looking at.  Wow look at all the writers that are on here.  This stories are great.  There are romance, science fiction, horror and mysteries.  There are Drabbles that tell the story in exactly 100 words.  There are flash fiction that tell a story in less than 1000 words.  And there are serial stories that have a new chapter everyday or every week.
   Then Rayna from Coffee Rings Everywhere did a horrible thing.  She dared her followers to write a drabble based on a photo of hers.
   I never could pass up a good dare, so I sat down at the keyboard and wrote.  This is fun.  I forgot how much I enjoyed writing stories for school.  Great, but the fiction just didn't quite seem fit into the format I had decided on for my blog.  What was I going to do with these.  I knew I had way to much fun writing them to stop ... so where to put them.  Then I noticed that little link on the blogger dashboard that says Create a Blog.  Oh well, why not.  So Books at Large was born.
   Now I have 3 different blogs.  What have I done.  Have I gone insane... That rhetorical please don't answer I don't think I could take it.
   Well as you can imagine I don't think I can just dash off something every single day for 3 blogs, though I did today.  So the story blog may not get posted to as often.  But I always wanted to write.  So of course I am overdoing it as usual.

                                       What the heck was I thinking?

Make My Day...

   I couldn't post this weekend.  I tried believe me I tried.  I sat down thought about what I wanted to say.  I brought up the dashboard and started typing.  I looked at the screen ... and could make out a thing. 
    My keyboard on my laptop was acting up.  The t, u, y and s keys where sticking and wouldn't type.  We cleaned it, sprayed it and dusted it.  We turned it over and literally beat the crap out of it.  Yuck!!!  How did all that get in there anyway? 
    Every time we cleaned on it, I would have to disconnect everything on the laptop.  Then to see if that worked I would need to reconnect the laptop.  Pull up a office program and type.  I felt like I was back in typing class.  AaBbCcDcEeFfGgHh....  Okay so far so good, until I got the Y.  No matter what we tried or how many times we cleaned...it would not work.  I never realized how many times you use the Y key.  Until I tried to get around it.
   I was getting so frustrated I had to leave the room before I did something drastic.

   Yesterday we finally had to pull out an old keyboard rewire it and plug that in.  Now I'm back in business.  I guess I really cant blame the laptop.  It was used when I got it.  And it was used by a serious, very excitable gamer.  The poor thing has more than done its duty. 
   While the laptop it self keeps going like the energizer bunny,, 
the keyboard is running out of steam.  I guess its time to take it in and have it professionally cleaned and serviced.
   But that would mean I would be with out it .... Oh no... can't breathe .... Relax.  Take deep breaths and think of my happy place.
 
   WHERE THE CRAP IS THAT HAPPY PLACE.

I use to hate my name...

   When I was a kid I hated my name... or at least my full name.  I had no problem with Pam or Pamela.  Jo was kind of cool, I was always a Tomboy. I didn't even mind my last name.  So whats the problem, you may say.
   The problem was the whole name together. It meant I was in trouble.  How much trouble depended on wether it was Pamela Jo or Pamela Jo H...
   The longer the name, the slower I came.  I knew I was going to get it.  I had to have time to find a good excuse ... or at least a way to switch the blame.  After all the proof was circumstantial.  There where no eyewitnesses, or at least no innocent eyewitnesses...I hoped.  Besides parents are old, maybe they would forget by the time you got there, right.  Wrong.
   The longer you took the madder they got.  And trial law has nothing to do with MOM law.  In the eyes of MOM law you were guilty until proven innocent.  The snitch was give a lesser punishment for being truthful.  Being the oldest, like I was, made it worse.  I can't tell you how many times I heard "Your older.  You should know better."  Dang how could you argue that one.  I did know better, I just did it anyway.  And in MOM law punishment was swift.  There was no appeal process.
   Yes when I was young I really hated my full name.  But, I know my Mom loved me and was only teaching me right from wrong.  She helped form my brothers, my sister and I into the people we are today.  And though she is no longer with us, she is still in my thoughts.  So if I even think about doing something I'm not suppose to I hear her voice saying quite clearly...Pamela Jo H...

                         I'm Sorry Mom....He did it... Help...anyone???

Original thoughts...

   Is there still such a thing as an original thought?  It doesn't seem like it when you are trying to find a blog name or web domain.  You think of something type it in.  Up pops those red letter that said name is already taken please try again.  You almost feel like your at a slot machine.  You feed it names...and wait.  Red letters again and again.  Name after name.  Then just as you are about to give up...name available.  Alright you feel like you just won the lottery.  Woo hoo.  Now you can finally get started with your blog.  Yes...

      Wait.  What WAS that name you just entered????

Just a few of my drawings...

As some of you know I have been using Xara Xtreme to make drawings.  I  can't remember who I sent what to...so here they are again.

              This candle was the first drawing I ever made in Xara.

                               I drew this one for our coffee website.

                Ditto for this one... I was trying out different patterns.

You might recognize this one.  I put it on the blog to invite people to grab a cup of coffee, relax and look around.


           And just in case coffee isn't your thing how about this one....

                Hey I was watching Deadwood.  What else could I draw...

Boy, I miss that show.  I was upset they killed off Wild Bill so soon, but I knew he died in Deadwood.  So it was just a matter of time.