Pirate Julie

OK, if I can't post pictures of myself in pirate costumes on Halloween, when can I?

(Oh, I made all those clothes, by the way.  Just not the hat/headscarf/socks/shoes.)

Small Town Halloween and 1920s Halloween Candy

I was surprised when looking through my 1920s reproduction Sears catalog that there were adult-sized Halloween costumes. But yes, adults were wearing Halloween costumes and throwing Halloween parties in the 1920s.

Society

Aldwin Bertha entertained a number of his friends Saturday evening at his home at a costume party. Decorations were carried out in the Halloween style and a pleasant evening was spent in games….

Miss Ida Lampaugh entertained thirty friends at a Halloween masquerade party at her home Friday evening. Many clever costumes were worn by the guests. The house was decorated in the season's colors and a dainty lunch was served.

---

The Loyal Workers of the Christian church enjoyed a masquerade party Friday evening in the basement of the church. A round of Halloween games had been planned for the members and a pleasant evening was spent. Refreshments were served….

Miss Evelyn Leypoldt entertained the members of the Senior class and members of the North Platte and Bayard football teams Friday evening at her home at a Halloween party. The Leypoldt home was bewitchingly decorated in Halloween colors, cats and witches. An evening of games and stunts was enjoyed. At the close of the evening a Halloween lunch was served. Fifty guests attended the party.

--The North Platte Semi-Weekly Tribune (Nebraska), November 1, 1921, page 5

And some candy!



--The Evening World, New York, New York, October 31, 1921, page 8

I'm a Pantser? Really?

So I'm told there are two kinds of writers. One kind uses outlines and plans where the story is going. They are dubbed "Plotters."

The other kind makes stuff up as they go along. They have different names but one of the most common is "Pantsers," for "seat of the pants" writers.

I am the second type, though I find that name rather obnoxious. Why does one group get a name that sounds very writer-ly and the other gets a name reminiscent of grade-school humiliations? I don't know; "Improvisers" sounds nicer to me.

I almost wonder if these names are a way to imply that there's only one right way to go about writing, and that everyone should eventually graduate from that amateur-ish title and become a Plotter. I don't know....I'd be very interested to see statistics as to the percentage of Plotters that finish writing their books, versus Improvisers.

Tough Decision - Pegasus v. Unicorn

It's fun to blog when you don't have much to talk about.

Which do you like better? Pegasii or unicorns?

As a child, I used to like unicorns better. Unicorns were my favorite My Little Pony back in the day. Of course, the unicorns could teleport, which IMO is way cooler than flying.

Nowadays, I am partial to pegasii (or if you prefer, flying horses), probably because they are rarer. Or, at least, Google says they are.

Unicorn = 56,100,000 results

Pegasus = 13,700,000 results

Winged horse = 2,860,000 results

Pegasii = 761,000 results

Sometimes you are fortunate enough to find both combined into one creature.

The London Broil Show's DVD:


This might have been Big Lots? I forget.



Pinocchio's Daring Journey at Disneyland. (I do not like that ride! Even the flying unicorn looks mean!)

The new My Little Pony series even has winged unicorns.

What do we call it? Alicorn? Winged unicorn? Horned pegasus? Pegacorn? Pegaunisuscorn?

Football! - 1921

OK, so apologies to those of you who don't like sports and/or didn't grow up with a sibling or parent who likes sports. But I found this really cute.







--The Columbia Evening Missourian, Saturday, October 22, 1921

Not sure why they didn't draw one for the 4th quarter, but I'll admit, my eyes glazed over trying to read the rundown of the game.

If you were wondering, the Kansas Aggies won over the Missouri Tigers, 7 to 5. You can read the full rundown at the article above.

OK, and no offense anyone, but this sounds like the worst football game EVER.

DEPARTMENT GAME CLOSE
---
Engineers and Journalists Battle Before Crowd of 1,000
---
Final score: Journalists 0, Engineers 0.

Approximately 1,000 people attended the journalist-engineers football game at Rollins Field today…

--The Columbia Evening Missourian, Saturday, October 22, 1921

Thank God for Procrastination

Weird title, I know, but I mean it.

The fact is, when I write, sometimes I can get caught up in how "brilliant" I am, how "great" my story is, etc. (Which, as any writer knows, you may find out it is not be as great as you think it is when you share it with others. LOL)

But when it comes down to it, even though I LOVE writing, I tend to take the path of least resistance. Would I rather write, or goof off on the Internet? Internet wins almost every time. Heck, would I rather write, or chat with a co-worker at lunch? Kind of a draw, and once you know someone the chatting just comes so easily...

And in a way that makes me THANKFUL for procrastination. Because I've spent enough time goofing off on the Internet to know that when I just sit down and the words fly out, that is God helping me to focus and get some work done. When I actually turn or keep the TV off so that I can work on writing? That is definitely God helping me.

So if it weren't for procrastination, it would be oh so easy to think that I am the reason I'm writing, instead of realizing that--like in everything--I need to lean on God.

Old Man Shattered

Randomly got a couple songs from "The End of the Matter" by Old Man Shattered stuck in my head last week. Not sure why, since I haven't listened to that album in years. But I popped that 2006 album into my laptop...was surprised to find I'd never made any MP3s of it, even, which shows how long it's been since I've listened.

But the songs were even better than I'd remembered! One of those albums that may get better the more you listen to it. (A Rotterdam November's "Love Is" is one of those too, by the way; I was on the fence on it the first few listens, as you could tell from my dreadful review if you ever read it, but now I recognize it is technically superior to the first album, and on the balance, catchier too!)



Anyway, I cannot write a good music review (I've tried, and I failed). So just have a listen if you want. :)

Vocational Training and Saleswomen - 1921

Just one quick story today:

THE GIRL ON THE JOB

How to Succeed--How to Get Ahead--How to Make Good

By JESSIE ROBERTS

CO-OPERATIVE CLASSES
---
AN INTERESTING plan has been worked out by a certain high school in its commercial departments. This is a co-operative method by which the girl students get actual practical work together with the class work.

For instance, in the salesmanship course the girls work one week in school and one week in some large department store alternately. The stores are making their inducements to young women who wish to become saleswomen more attractive, and they are seeking a high class of employees. And it is the girls who have taken a course of training with the view of becoming expert in the profession who are sought for. They begin at the bottom, while they are still working in the school, and by the time they have been graduated they are ready for a good position with every prospect of steady advancement.

The complete course includes designing, color matching, house furnishing, etc. A girl will specialize later in certain types of the work, but she is given a grounding in all. If she has a good foundation she is going to know what to sell her customers. She is unlikely to make bad sales, and so suffer returns.

With such school work and such training as are offered by the type of high schools quoted, a fine class of women is going to be attracted to the work in increasing numbers. The stores realize the value of the expert. It is a thing that will pay looking into by the ambitious business girl.

--The Madison Journal (Tallulah, Madison Parish, LA), October 15, 1921, Page 6

Dedication

Gonna keep it short today too, but gotta mention my brother. He is a Bihn. Bihns are mostly good German stock, the type that is sturdy and good for walking, but running? Not so much.

I don't recall my brother's motivation, but he just decided he'd run a mile every day. He managed this for 370 days. Keep in mind we lived outside of Phoenix, Arizona, where it can be 100 degrees at 10 PM in the summer. But despite the rain or (more often) sun, he just did it.

I can't run a mile. I can kind of sort of jog a bit and then walk for a mile or two (and it HURTS!). I'm not even saying to write every day...but I know I need to have some sort of goal and dedication to work at it...that's the only way to have a chance. Just doing a little when it catches my fancy is not enough.

Better get back to work!

More Duffy in Prescott

(OK, so this one published earlier than I wanted, but ah well...it's Monday somewhere!)

I don't have time to say much and Duffy is just so darned cute! (More photos and an explanation of Duffy in last Monday's entry.)

Duffy's paws are magnets, so he can pose in some odd places, like this painting on the stairs of our hotel.


Or he can pose in front of nature! Noooooo, that is not a painting. Not at all. (shifty eyes)


I believe the Hotel St. Michael is the oldest hotel in Prescott, though there may be a bed and breakfast that is older.


Some of the shots made it look kind of stormy, but it really wasn't. Just warm.


OK, this is one of those places where the full-sized (19"?) Duffy would be cuter.




This is a timeline area out in front of the courthouse, that has a timeline of mostly Arizona (but some nation/worldwide) events. I'm sure the Arizona flags are for Arizona's centennial (our state will be 100 in February!).




No, Duffy is not a Mason.


In the background is kind of antique-store row.


He even has a magnet on the back of his head, so he can levitate. Kind of.




Blimpie is so much better than Subway!

Hit and Run, Hansel and Grettel (sic), Ice Cream - 1921

1920s Hit and…Stay? Or I suppose it could be a long way around a hit and run, depending on if the injured boy was right or not...

INJURED BOY HAS FAITH
---
Says Unknown Owner of Car Will Pay for Damages Done Him.

Paul Lansing, 13-year-old son of Mrs. H. S. Lansing, 300 College avenue, has faith in the good will of man. Paul was riding his bicycle down South Ninth street this morning when he was struck by an automobile. The front wheel of his bicycle was smashed, and Paul suffered an injured knee.

After the accident, the man who was driving the automobile took Paul and the bicycle to a bicycle shop on North Ninth street, where the bicycle was left for repairs. The man told the proprietor of the shop to fix the wheel, that he would be in later and pay for it, and left without giving his name. Paul says that he does not know the man, and did not ask his name, but he feels sure that the damage done to his bicycle will be paid for.

--The Columbia Evening Missourian, October 8, 1921

THEY "BROKE BREAD" IN TRUE HANSEL AND GRETTEL FASHION
-----
Have you ever come in on the night train from Kansas City or St. Louis and, in the small hours of a chilly morning, arrived in Centralia to wait there until 7 o'clock to be taken to Columbia? Usually you go across the street to a hotel and sit huddled in sleepy groups in the lobby until train time.

Last week-end a student stepped off the Kansas City train, went into the hotel and found a friend off the St. Louis train attempting to sleep in a chair.

So at 3:30 o'clock they strolled over to th (sic) town. In the back of a shop on the main street, they saw a light. They knocked on the door and requested that they be permitted to come in. It was the warm back room of a bakery and so they watched the process of bread baking until it came out of the oven, hot and delicious. They bought a loaf of the hot bread and went to an all-night cafe where they ate it piping hot with coffee. The warm morsels verily melted in the students (sic) mouths and although it was rather early for breakfast they both agreed that it was decidedly good.

--The Columbia Evening Missourian, October 8, 1921

And a cute ads…mmm, delicious high-fat ice cream…


--The Columbia Evening Missourian, October 8, 1921

Shut Up and Write

Deadlines and goals are amazing things. I haven't done that much work lately so I decided to do another 2.5 for 40 (spend 2.5 hours a day with God and/or writing and/or editing Christian fiction).

When I first tried this back in May, I thought of this as a "time tithe" but that's not really the correct word for it, aside from the fact that tithe means "tenth" and 2.5 hours is roughly 1/10 of the day. But I can't say the 100 hours was completely about God. In fact, last time it worked out to mostly going to church on Sunday and then an average of 2 hours and 15 minutes of working on writing each day the rest of the week, with the balance of time spent in Bible reading/prayer. Doesn't feel terribly godly when you put it like that, though I did attend at least one church event I would have made up excuses for otherwise, and I think it really kick-started me into attending Sunday morning Bible Study weekly.

Anyway, I at least get a surge of energy when I start toward a goal. (Happens in NaNoWriMo too, though I don't think I'll be doing that unless The Healer and the Pirate is done November 1.)

And I do think if you actually COMMIT to doing something, you have a better chance of completing it. (Even better if you think God wants you to do it and you can put it in His hands.)

Astoundingly, I even TURNED OFF THE TV at 10 last night and got in the 1.5 hours that got me to 2.5 for the day! (Usually, I get ahead with church and writing on Sundays, and then slow down during the week before catching up again on Saturday with more writing or Sunday with writing and church.)

Anyway. I don't love being "forced" to do something, but it is great to be working on my writing (and yes, on my time with God) in earnest again!

Duffy the Disney Bear in Prescott

OK, I've been blogging since January...if this blog were a baby it would have been born by now! In all that time, I'm not sure you've all realized that I am at least a little silly. If you haven't realized that by now, well, I hope you can get used to it.

Pictures from Prescott with Duffy the Disney Bear. (It's the tiny magnet-pawed one. I made the sailor suit and hat myself!)

Duffy at Bashford Courts.




Like a bear in a candy store.



I live in a new city so you NEVER see fire escapes.


Parking garage:


View from parking garage:


Panda Express. Duffy likes to eat.


Tiny Blue Bunny ice cream.




Iced hot chocolate from Coco's (only 99 cents! and weird but good):


One of the nice things about having a bear for a friend is that they are omnivorous, so they won't get mad at you for eating their friends or think you are crazy for just eating vegetables.




And this is just outside one of the shops from Prescott. I believe a couple years ago they had a chalkboard that read "We'll all be just fine in 2009."