Halloween or Samhain

Why I celebrate Halloween: It's the one holiday we encourage ourselves to look into the darkness and drag our fears into the light and hopefully see them for what they are: An opportunity to be brave and reclaim our power over them.

Shelley's "Frankenstein" explores the folly of men pretending to be God. Stoker's "Dracula" reveals the horror of those who live by taking from others. I can't imagine a world without Poe, and his willingness to expose the monsters within. We prevail when we choose good over evil.

The early history of Samhain, what would later become Halloween, was a celebration of the end of the harvest and the end of the year as well as the beginning of a new year. Leave in the past what no longer brings life and love. Welcome the opportunity to start fresh with the old and withered swept away, making room for the new. A time to seek God's protection in the coming winter.

For the record, I don't do scary. Growing up in it means it isn't entertainment for me. Dress up is fun. I've always had a fondness for jack-o-lanterns, the cheerful flame flickering inside. Not to mention my love of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. The promise of cooler weather, a definite bonus in the desert. The changing color of the leaves, which people generously share through pictures. The prelude to the coming triad holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year (gratitude, giving, and starting anew). Enjoy the day. Indulge in a treat. Laugh.

Some of my favorites to fit a Halloween mood:

Most people will recognize this piece of music but may not know the name. From Carmina Burana ~ O Fortuna by Carl Orff performed by André Rieu:

https://youtu.be/EJC-_j3SnXk 

Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRU1AJsXN1g

Gustav Holst's Mars from The Planets

https://youtu.be/Jmk5frp6-3Q

Hall of the Mountain King (Peer Gynt) by Edvard Grieg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLp_Hh6DKWc

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by J. S. Bach needs to be heard as an organ piece.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho9rZjlsyYY

Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEDfZgDPS8

Samhain is coming

Celebrate with a story.

Secondhand Samhain 

The seventh novella in the series.

Welcome back to Holiday, USA, small town America, where nothing happens, except holidays... and a little romance, if the hero and heroine trust God.

Jan Connor, the new manager of the secondhand shop Vintage Holiday, loves her job, her town, and her life. She doesn't need anything except a little bit of help. Her annual Halloween birthday party isn't coming together, and her antiquated computer system is only making it worse.

Trent McDonald, computer guru extraordinaire, is looking for a place to call home. His brother, Cowboy, suggested Holiday might offer what he needs but never mentioned Vintage Holiday's pretty shop manager.

Between one breath and the next, God changes everything...

http://www.amazon.com/Secondhand-Samhain-Holiday-USA-Book-ebook/dp/B01A0IBBQI/ref=sr_1_1

If you prefer paperback, Holiday, USA Anthology 2015

All four novellas published in 2015 are available in their entirety in paperback, including the covers on the back, for those who enjoy collecting a series.

https://www.amazon.com/Holiday-USA-Anthology-2015-2/dp/153018617X/ref=sr_1_22

Ready for Samhain?

Thank Goodness It's Sunday

~ Night temperatures are lovely. Fall is coming.

~ Gospel study with friends

~ Good food

~ Fun TV shows and movies

~ God's grace 

Brain Dump

For the first time, vaccine ads advise that if you're allergic to the process used to make vaccines DO NOT TAKE IT. Oh, that's me! All these years, and this is the first time I've seen this warning. Wow. Way to stay on top of things. If my eyes rolled any further back, they'd roll right out of my head. 

Despite the high temps this week...

Thanks to the cute puppy widget:

Rings of Power Season 2 Episodes 8

You can't drop lanterns like that and have them still burning. I wanted to like this series. Each season, each episode gives glimmers but overall is a disappointment. Over and over they steal from LOTR, without a proper storyline. It's more like they patched together a bunch of scenes that they either cut and paste from Tolkien or made up from other Sci-Fi-/Fantasy stories, with a nonsensical progression. They've pulled bits of the future and attempted to plug it into the past where it doesn't belong and fails to create any rhyme or reason. It's like a committee wrote it, each writing what they thought the story should be and then they glommed it altogether, like a modern artist throwing paint against the canvas and calling it art. The fan fiction writers clearly don't comprehend Sauron or his nature. Not a prisoner of the rings but a slave. Sauron's tears are crocodile tears. Sauron wanted to destroy not save. Tolkien clearly separated evil and good. He wrote characters that chose evil to the point of moving beyond redemption. Violence, as much as they could cram in. The writers give the feeling that they are so caught up in the world of surface living today that they have no comprehension of what Tolkien and those of his time endured, the depth of his understanding and insights, hard won. They want the easy way, and it shows. The sets and CGI is impressive. This is not Lord of the Rings. Only borrowed names and places for a story unworthy of Tolkien. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if they hadn't advertised it as LOTR. False advertising leaves a bad taste in my mouth. 

Men of the West, on YouTube, reviewed the show with more leniency and more details.

Thank Goodness It's Sunday

~ Blessed rain

~ Dinner and conversation with my younger brother

~ Successful unexpected adventure

~ Cooler temperatures: Fall is here.

~ God's grace 

Brain Dump

AI treats all information the same; it is incapable of making judgement calls. What does this mean? Fiction and nonfiction carry the same weight; neither is more important or valid than the other. Let that sink in. 

TBR 2024

136. The Secret Baby Rescue (Texas Hotline Series Book 2) by Jo Grafford romance. While each story is complete for the central couple, an underlying story threads through the series. 

137. Making a Texas Cowboy (Home at Last Texas Series Book 1 of 2) by Justine Davis contemporary romance. A return visit to Last Stand, Texas, an earlier series. Good to see old friends. Honor, courage, living life to the fullest, self-analyzing to become a better person, loved it. While it has a little premarital bedroom action, it is leading to marriage. 

138. Guardian Hero (Born in Texas Series Book 7) by Jo Grafford romance.

139. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. I read the books out of order; the next book is The Princess and Curdie. Fascinating to learn that Tolkien admits to using MacDonald's goblins. Other elements of the story also made their way into Tolkien's work. Back when authors borrowed from each other as freely as composers did. 

140. Christmas in Love (Greenback Romances Series Book 1) by Karen Thornell sweet rom-com. I've read this before but don't remember, so reading again. 

Rings of Power Season 2 Episodes 7

Episode 7 starts with more gaslighting. Too often it's difficult to hear what's being said. I turn up the sound to hear the words, and then have to turn it down for the sound effects. Frustrating. A lot of telling when showing would be more effective and actually easier. Disappointingly, when they show they also tell, redundant. The "sets" are amazing. Gratuitous violence. Not nearly enough of the music score. Elrond! Do not kiss your mother-in-law! as Men of the West declared. I agree. It's creepy. Were the horse stunts real or CGI? Shades of Snow Mane. I hate when they kill the animals. RoP is incapable of creating a story truly its own and only presents a corruption of the original. Galadriel is a pathetic pale shadow of her namesake.  And out of the mess comes a blaze of truth: "It is not strength that overcomes darkness but light." And then we're back to weak, unclear stories. Why should I care about Rian? Great shot, but when did she become important? Not enough time to learn about characters to care about them. Sorry, but I could almost hear "They have a cave troll." That isn't what Elrond would do, just stand by while others fight. Disappointing. One high point: Reported by someone else, when the horse does the capriole, it wasn't CGI but an actual horses performing the actual maneuver. AWESOME. 

Thank Goodness It's Sunday

~ Chat with my sister

~ Yummy treats. Thanks, Sis! 

~ A/C and fans. Weather is cooling.

~ Gospel study with friends

~ God's grace

Brain Dump

Books are not being banned; they are being removed from school libraries because they contain p*rn*graphic material. They are stories that depict pictures in cartoon form of how to give a bl*w j*b and how to have an*l s*x. Those seeking to remove the books from school libraries, where parents are excluded, are seeking to protect the innocence of children rather than forcing them to deal with adult material before they are ready. 

TBR 2024

126. Royal Duty (Royal Series Book 5) by Traci Hunter Abramson suspense romance. An excellent addition to the series. Well worth the wait. 

127. For Real (Real Series Book 3) by Staci Stallings audio romance on YouTube. This is a link to the epilogue: https://youtu.be/maJ_wALPbvw?si=OOUSzJ3tABB--qti 

128. Mr. Not Right for Her (Cowboy Confessions Book 1) by Jo Grafford contemporary western romance. Several laughs out loud moments.

129. Her Pretend Billionaire Boyfriend (Her Billionaire Romance Book 1) by Bree Livingston contemporary romance. 

130. The Plus One Rescue (Texas Hotline Series Book 1) by Jo Grafford romance. Cried and laughed.

Rings of Power Season 2 Episodes 6

Gaslighting is insidious and evil. Considering all the times it was used on me, I dislike it exceedingly, which is appropriate for the character Sauron. I'm mystified by how people don't see it, but then I learned the lessons the hard way. Galadriel is among the wisest but is treated like she's stupid and too often acts that way, which fits the current writers but not the original character. Bombadil still reminds me too much of Hagrid. And "The Stranger" annoys me because he seems to be a shadow of Gandalf, but the story is all wrong if it's Gandalf, unless they've created a wizard for their own purposes. Quoting Tolkien out of context and so very un-Tom-like, gloomy instead of merry. The Balrog or at least a hint. What I disliked from the beginning: By and large, the women are strong and the men are weak. Tolkien created strong men and women. "Faith is not faith if it is not lived." Well done. Good enough to keep me watching, out of curiosity if nothing else. Ugh: orc are NOT peaceful! Some were elves once but tortured beyond their original nature forever unable to return to what they were. Tolkien recognized that as long as good remained there was hope, but if all good was gone, then evil must be destroyed. Still love the music most.

Thank Goodness It's Sunday

~ Gospel study with friends

~ Potato Bar with friends

~ Serving God's children

~ A/C and fans

~ God's grace

Brain Dump

Someone mocked the selling of items by a certain candidate for an outrageous price, complaining that said candidate couldn't fix inflation with those prices. Maybe the person complaining is unfamiliar with fund raising products. Maybe this will help jog their memory: Girl Scout Cookies and school fund raising products like popcorn, candy bars, etc. The prices are insanely high and yet people choose to buy them. Fund raising products are always priced ridiculously high because the product is the gold star to thank you for helping to fund whatever is raising money for other things. Inflation, on the other hand, is not my choice but forced on me by those who are spending ridiculous amounts of money on things not required by the Constitution and expecting me to pay for it. To clarify: The fund raising products I may choose to buy or not buy. Inflation gives me no choice whatsoever. 

TBR 2024

121. Cowboy Foreman in Love for Christmas (A Very Country Christmas Wish Book 2) by Jo Grafford contemporary romance.

122. Royal Target (Royal Series Book 1) by Traci Hunter Abramson suspense romance. Rereading the series in preparation for the release of the newest story in the series, book 5.

123. Royal Secrets (Royal Series Book 2) by Traci Hunter Abramson suspense romance. Funny how it doesn't matter that I've read it before. It's been long enough, I don't remember all the details. A challenge to put down. 

124. Royal Brides (Royal Series Book 3) by Traci Hunter Abramson suspense romance. Page turner!

125. Royal Heir (Royal Series Book 4) by Traci Hunter Abramson suspense romance. I'm ready to read the newest story in the series.