Diana Wynne Jones (August 16, 1934 – March 26, 2011)

I saw that a popular fantasy writer passed away the other day. Diana Wynne Jones (August 16, 1934 – March 26, 2011)

If  you or your child or grandchild has read "Charmed Life", "The Merlin Conspiracy" or "Howl's Moving Castle", then you are familiar with her work.

excerpt from her obituary

Her career began as a playwright, with three plays produced in London between 1967 and 1970; her first novel, Changeover (1970), was adult humour; since then her work has been written for younger readers. Besides the two series already mentioned, she wrote the Howl books, beginning with Howl's Moving Castle (1986; filmed in 2004 by Hayao Miyazaki), and two sequels, and the Dalemark sequence (1975-2003), dark-tinged fantasies set in that eponymous country.

Some of her best and most enjoyable books are stand-alones, in particular The Ogre Downstairs (1974), The Time of the Ghost (1981) and Fire and Hemlock (1985), each a remarkable blend of pathos and genuinely funny writing. Archer's Goon (1984), extravagantly mixing fantasy with science fiction, was serialised for television by the BBC in 1992. Her most recent novel, the light-hearted Enchanted Glass, appeared last year.

She died from cancer at age 76.

I also heard that the Pillsbury Doughboy died. You can read more about that HERE

Sentimental Treasures

I found this in my cabinet. I guess I had forgotten about it. What emotion rushed over me when I found it. It came from my first born grandson... he's now 15. It was just like getting it all over again.

Feel Like Exercising?

No. This isn't a Friday Funnies. Well, maybe it is, but if you can muster up the motivation, it might just be worth it when the time comes to put on that swim suit.

Zombies Ahead

In a town right on the North Carolina and South Carolina line, someone apparently tampered with the road signs. Investigators don't know if the signs were hacked remotely or at the scene.

One sign read "Zombies Ahead" and then flashed "Watch for Hunters." On the other side of the road, a sign warned motorists to "Be alert for Tanks."

There have been no reports of zombies. Or tanks.

Keep abreast of all current zombie news at Zombie World News

and for more indepth reporting and to get a better understanding from the Zombie perspective be sure to subscribe to the Undead Report

In the event of a Zombie attack in your town, are you and your family prepared?

What To Do in A Zombie Attack



How To Survive a Zombie Holaocaust

Youtubesday

So Much In The News

The Japan earthquake and tsunami and nuclear power crisis

The ongoing fighting in the Middle East and now in Libya.

It seems that no matter what or where, be it war or human tragedy, American troops are there. God bless them. We need to pray for our soldiers every day.

Ways to help Japan

    * American Red Cross
    * Save the Children
    * Doctors Without Borders
    * International Medical Corps
    * Salvation Army
    * AmeriCares

You can even help Japan by playing Facebook's Farmville! (bad habit to get into -- not helping; the playing is habit forming and time-consuming)

Dear Children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.     1John 3:18

Friday Funnies

Coke Spreader

World Cow

Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes. ~ Jim Carrey

"Many marriages would be better if the husband and wife clearly understood that they're on the same side."
~ Zig Ziglar

"Wall Street is the only place people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from people who take the subway."
~ Warren Buffett

Today, We Are All Irish

Shirley Muldowney

This past weekend, I was watching some top fuel drag racing with my husband; something I haven't done in quite a while. I used to love it! My husband took me to the Southern Nationals quite a few times. I admired Shirley Muldowney tremendously. She was always very generous and gracious with her fans and we knew her as the "The First Lady of Drag Racing".

At the race, when I walked up to her, she said, "Let me see your tickets". She automatically autographed them. I didn't even have to ask. She took my hand and introduced herself and as she moved me towards her car, she asked my name and where I was from. She told me all about her car(s) and her family and where she raced last week. She talked to me as if she knew me and was happy to see me. When I left, she hugged me. She loved her fans.

I am NOT a groupie in any way. It just does not fit my personality. I'm a true snot, but I was genuinely in awe of this lady. The sport just really isn't the same without her; which is probably why I haven't watched in a long time.

Please take time to visit her website HERE.

If you get a chance to see the movie "Heart Like a Wheel", you really should. It's called the story of Shirley's life. Muldowney herself said that the movie didn't really capture her life very well but that it was good for the sport. It's also factual and interesting, not to mention entertaining.

I can't find where you can currently buy the movie unless you want to pay a hefty price for a used one but you can rent it from Blockbuster. Check it out HERE



I found this little item of interest on ebay. (Click on image to enlarge)

There's a YouTube video with the song by The Steve Miller band and a nice slide show of Shirley racing photos HERE

Here's video of Shirley winning her first U.S. National.

Today, Shirley is 70 years old and lives in Detroit, Michigan.

When Should a Little Girl Have Her Ears Pierced UPDATE

This is an update to an older post which can be found HERE.


Okay. It's been four (4) months now since my 5 year old granddaughter had her ears pierced. She has been through so much pain and discomfort and trauma over those pierced ears.


The right ear was so oozy and bleeding and swollen all the time that my daughter had to take out the shorter Hello Kitty earrings and replace them with longer posts. They were just clear crystal stones. That was no easy task. The child has been so protective of her ears because they hurt all the time, that if you so much as brush against either of them, she screams. You can't brush her hair without her reminding you not to touch her ear. Obviously, she was not going to sit still for her mommy removing the earrings. She had be held down. It was just terrible, but it had to be done.


With the new earrings, it looked like things were going to get better but she still had oozing. Then this week, my daughter noticed dried blood in the child's hair and sure enough, her ears were bleeding again.


She finally just gave up and a couple of days ago, she took the earrings out. Now my granddaughter's ears are finally healing and she doesn't scream when you touch them.


For me, this just reinforces that you should wait until your daughter is old enough to make an informed decision and commitment, because she should be old enough to tend to her own pierced ears. My daughter still disagrees. Because some kids do fine, she still feels it's worth a shot. It just didn't work out for her daughter.


From my perspective, it's not even worth the risk. It's a gamble... and if it's a bad bet, it's the child who suffers most. I'm sticking with 13.

Youtubesday

Little Cartoon Web Treasures

A wonderful site for watching cartoons with the kids is Kids Movie Land

DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Cartoon Characters

Printable templates, birthday ideas and fan art for LOTS of your favorite cartoon characters HERE

Ever wonder who the voice of Dora The Explorer is? Her name is Caitlyn Sanchez. See her interview.


or go HERE

Check out all the videos at Web TV Hub Here

FREEBEE FRIDAY

Send a free sample box of Quaker Oats Squares to as many as 10 of your friends HERE

THIS WEEK'S GROCERY COUPONS: HERE

$1.00 off Olive Oil (a great deal for a pricy product!)
HERE

Check out the free music downloads at EZ tracks
HERE