Friday Fun Facts- Inaugurations!

We all know it’s coming. No matter if you voted, or who you voted for in the U.S. presidential elections, we know it will be a moment to remember. Good or bad.

I’ll bet you didn’t know some of these wild facts about past inaugurations!

(Please. This is not for political commentary on current politics.)

1. George Washington’s inaugural speech came in as the shortest. The brief, and I mean brief, time at the podium consisted of 135 words. Boom! He’s done.
2. John Quincy Adams was fashion forward. He was the first president sworn in wearing long trousers.
3. Thomas Jefferson was the first to be inaugurated at the Capitol. He’s also been the only president to walk to and from his glory moment! (Jimmy Carter walked to it, but rode home.)
4. Abraham Lincoln was the first to include African-Americans in his parade-1865.
5. Women weren’t included in a parade until the 2nd inauguration of Woodrow Wilson- 1917.
6. Harry Truman’s was the first to be televised-1949.
7. Lyndon Johnson was the first and only president to be sworn in by a woman, US District Judge Sarah Hughes-1963.
8. All presidents until 1937 were sworn in in March to avoid potential bad weather. An amendment to the Constitution changed the date to January 20th.
9. Theodore Roosevelt has been the only president not sworn in with a Bible.
10. In 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower was lassoed by a cowboy who rode up to him on a horse! Bet that’ll never happen again!
11.  No one throws a party like Old Abe!!!! His inaugural party was so wild, they had to call the police in! Whoa- now that’s a party. 

Link Of The Week- Goal Setting!

 

“Beginning a new year is such a hopeful time. Whether we break out an unblemished calendar or merely scroll over to the month of January on our smart phones, there’s the sense of being given a fresh start every January 1st. We make notes, either mentally or on paper, of New Year’s resolutions we’re determined to accomplish. Yet, all too often, we stumble over the first steps of change and quietly retreat to old, unhealthy habits. Why not determine for this year to be different?”

“Resolutions that aren’t written down are destined to fail quickly. So write them out, and not just anywhere. Keep your list of New Year’s goals in a place where you will see them regularly, so you can review your progress and recommit on a consistent basis.”

 

http://www.signupgenius.com/home/new-years-goal-setting-tips.cfm

Link Of The Week- Ho Ho Ho

The guy in the red suit is about to take off! Track his progress around the world with friends and family. Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

https://santatracker.google.com/village.html

Link Of The Week- Accountability!

We all have problems from time to time to achieving our goals. Here’s a terrific site to help you do just that!

“stickK was formed by combining personal experience and scholarly research. Our story began at Yale University a few years ago when Dean Karlan (Economics Professor at Yale and Co-Founder of stickK) came up with the idea of opening an online ‘Commitment Store’.”

The Commitment Contract concept is based on two well known principles of behavioral economics:

1.People don’t always do what they claim they want to do, and
2.Incentives get people to do things

 

http://www.stickk.com/

Link Of The Week- A Getaway!

“The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow is an incubator for creative thought. Writers can come here to find their stories. Not only the stories they come here knowing they want to tell, but the stories beneath that. The stories that have an even greater need to be told.”

http://www.writerscolony.org/

The Writers’ Colony residency program is open to writers of every genre, artists and composers for short or long term stays. Quiet, sequestered, inspirational – and affordable – our individual writing suites are designed to make your stay productive. European style gourmet meals are served Monday through Friday in the WCDH dining room, where guests can share time with other resident writers from around the globe. Get away and write!

**** Rates are $75 per night, including food, and a one-time $25 cleaning fee.

“Till Death Do Us Part”

Melissa Ohnoutka is an author of romantic suspense and a close friend and writing buddy of MuseTracks. In honor of her latest release Sinful Secrets, we’ve asked her to be our guest. Because she scares us. And we love her. Take it away, Melissa!

“Til Death Do Us Part”

What a wonderful vow between two lovebirds on their wedding day. A promise to spend the rest of their lives together, giving and sharing all they have till the end.

That is unless you’re male, and about to marry a Black Widow.

I had no idea how far back cases of women serial killers went until working on my latest book, Sinful Secrets. For example, Belle Gunness from the early 1900’s was a real piece of work. Mysterious infant deaths. Heart attacks. Meat grinder accident in the kitchen. Weird disappearances. Yeah, she had issues all right. This six-foot, two hundred eight pound woman is suspected of murdering 25 to 49 people on her farm in La Porte, Indiana. The bodies, along with bones and personal items were unearthed on the farm after a fire. A fire? Really? Something sounds fishy here to me. LOL Wonder who collected the insurance on that one.

Women who kill for the sole purpose of financial gain, or even sympathy from others, are scary on so many levels. Think about it. They could be your neighbor, the sweet little lady down the street that makes cookies for all the kids after school. Or how about that new girlfriend someone you know, or love, just started dating. Talk about make you paranoid! And these Black Widows don’t just limit themselves to killing their husbands either. Oh, no. Their victims included children, the elderly, anybody who got in their way. Geesh… No one is safe.

So why do they kill? After scouring the internet for character traits to use with my female villain, I discovered women serial killers rarely kill for power, or the mere sick thrill of the kill. There were a few, but most have a more sensible approach to their madness.

Sympathy—the need to feel loved and accepted.

Money— a huge temptation too great to ignore.

Or revenge—never piss a woman off. LOL

Links in case you’d like to do your own research:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wicked-deeds/201501/why-some-women-kill-again-and-again

http://crime.about.com/od/female_offenders/tp/Black-Widow-Killers.htm

 

Boy, this research has given me such great material for future book villains. But today I’d like to share my newest release with you. A big thank you to the ladies of Musetracks for letting me visit!

 

Blurb:

 

Everyone has secrets. Some are deadly.

Event planner Joanna McNamee is scrambling to ensure her father’s company Christmas party goes smoothly, but one disaster after another has her convinced someone is trying to sabotage her career. With the help of a man from her past who she’s still not sure she can trust, she puts the pieces together and realizes her business is the least of her problems—a cold-blooded killer is out to destroy her father and take her as his prized possession.

 

The last thing Deputy Ryker Kane expects is for a simple truck hijacking to throw him back into the middle of the Black Widow case he’d been forced to abandon, not to mention right into the arms of the sweet woman he’d let walk away ten years earlier. When he finds Jo Jo kidnapped and drugged, he has to use all his wits and skills honed from years as a detective to save them both. Despite the secrets between them, Ryker’s bound and determined to give them a second chance at love.

 

 

Buy Link:

http://entangledpublishing.com/sinful-secrets/

 

Find out more about Melissa and her books:

www.melissaohnoutka.com

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Friday Fun Facts- Lady Liberty!

She is a piece of art. She was a gift. She means so much more.

See if you knew these facts-

1. She is hit by lightning over 600 times per year.
2. Her torch was refurbished in 1984 with a new copper base and then overlaid in 24 carat gold leaf.
3. The 7 spikes on her crown represent the 7 continents and 7 oceans of the world. Peace is a global desire that knows no boundaries.
4. The statue’s full name is Liberty Enlightening The World.
5. Lady Liberty has a size 879 shoe and a 35 foot waistline.
6. The face was said to be modeled after the sculptor’s mother, Charlotte.
7. Her feet are not easy to see but she is, in fact, standing among a broken shackle and chains. Her right foot is raised like she’s walking away from slavery and oppression.
8. In 1984 she was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
9. Two people have committed suicide by jumping of the statue. The first was in 1929 and the other in 1932. (I wonder if it had anything to do with the economic crash.) Many others have jumped and survived!
10. Andy Warhol painted this great lady as part of his “Pop Art” series in the 1960s. The painting is said to be worth more than 35 million dollars today!!
11. **I never knew this!** In 1916, the statue sustained damage when Germans saboteurs set off an explosion during World War I. The torch-bearing arm sustained the most damage with $100,000 in repairs! (That was a HUGE amount of money back in 1916) The stairs in the torch were closed for safety and has never been re-opened.
12. During a storm, once winds reach 50 mph, the statue can sway up to 3 inches while the torch can dance around up to 5 inches.
13. The most famous movie going shot of the statue was in Planet of the Apes. She’s broken and all we see is her head buried on the beach. Chilling moment.
14. In 1944, the lights in her crown signaled dot-dot-dot-dash. That’s Morse code  for V, Victory in Europe!
15. For many years she also served as a lighthouse with lights that could be seen for 24 miles.
16. She is 130 yrs. old this year.
17. If the statue were to be built today, it would cost over 10 million dollars. (Yet, a painting of it costs over 35 million??)
18. The statue was inspired by the pagan Roman goddess, Libertas.

Friday Fun Facts-Our First President!

George Washington was the father of our country. The first President. What do you know about him beyond cutting down his dad’s cherry tree? (Which wasn’t true- it came from a poem written after he had died.) Let’s find out…

1. He was unanimously voted in as our first president with all 69 members of Congress casting their ballots for him. No popular vote existed.
2. He was one of the largest presidents we’ve had. He stood at 6’2″ and weighed 200 lbs.
3. His favorite foods were peanut soup, mashed sweet potatoes with coconut, and string beans with mushrooms.
4. He had no children but had hound dogs that were treated like family.
5. He only attended school from the age of 6 to 15. He then became a surveyor because his mother couldn’t afford to send him to college.
6. He had chronic toothaches until at 57, he had all of his teeth pulled. He wore a set of dentures carved from Ivory and set on a silver plate.
7. President Washington may have owned one of the first goldfish in America! They were a gift from a naval officer.
8. He was the richest president. Ever. His assets today would have been valued over $500 million.
9. He had 2 stepchildren, but the girl died at 16 due to a seizure, and the boy died when he contracted a disease at a military encampment.
10. Washington was a military hero by the time he was 22.
11. He was also a distiller of whiskey and produced 11,000 gallons in one year.
12. Before fighting against the British, he actually fought for the British.
13. At 67 he came down with a bad cold and was dead within 48 hours. Researchers now say, he died of medical malpractice. He was subjected to 4 rounds of bloodletting.
14. It is said that he introduced mules to America. He received donkeys from the King of Spain and bred them to his horses.
15. He didn’t wear a wig! That hair we see in pictures is all his!!

Friday Fun Facts- John F. Kennedy

I’m not sure why, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the presidency of the United States. Call me crazy, I just can’t get it off my mind. (Note the heavy sarcasm)

I don’t want to talk about modern politics, but it sent me searching about Lincoln last week and Kennedy this week. Check out what I discovered.

1. John F. Kennedy was obsessed with his weight and traveled with a bathroom scale everywhere he went. Seriously?
2. This is a shout-out to the author, Will Graham who is a Bond aficionado and faithful MuseTracks follower! President Kennedy was a Bond fanatic and To Russia With Love was his all-time favorite book! He even tried writing his own Bond like book about a coup d’etat headed by Lyndon Johnson!!
3. He was the first president to dance with black women at the Inauguration Ball.
4. His last year in office is when his son, Patrick, died.
5. A month before his death, he created a “James Bond” movie about his own assassination! The grieving widow was played by Jackie and frazzled Secret Service agents were, indeed, played by his very reluctant Secret Service agents. Now that is creepy.
6. He spent time in the company of his mistresses, but after Patrick’s death, he never had sex with any of them. He drew much closer to Jackie and was determined to “keep the White House, white”.
7. On Nov. 11, 1963, he laid a wreath on The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington. He would be buried at that cemetery two weeks later.
8. The open top limo that he rode in on that fateful day was flown in from Washington. .
9. Lyndon B. Johnson became president 99 minutes after the shooting.
10. Jackie removed her wedding ring and put it on his finger to be buried with him.
11. One of his legs was shorter than the other which caused life-long back pain.
12. Kennedy desperately wanted to learn to speak French. Jackie was fluent and he often turned to her and their daughter Caroline for help. It was…a struggle never mastered.
13. President Kennedy bought 1200 Cuban cigars the day before he set a ban on them. Hmmmm…….
14. Taken from ABC’s article on President Kennedy: “Kennedy had been the target of at least four assassination attempts before Dallas, one barely a month after he was elected president, when a retired postal worker, his car loaded with dynamite, followed the president-elect from Hyannis Port to Georgetown to Palm Beach. “Brother, they could have gotten me in Palm Beach. There is no way to keep anyone from killing me,” Kennedy told a Secret Service agent shortly after the suspect was apprehended, recounted Thurston Clarke in “JFK’s Last Hundred Days.” Two more assassination plots — one in Chicago, one in Tampa, Fla. — were uncovered in the weeks before Nov. 22, 1963.”
15. President Kennedy gave his entire $100,000 salary to charity every year.

 

 

 

Link Of The Week-Throw Downs!

There was no one quite like the Bard himself to throw down the best insults ever. No matter what you write, this is a great place to get unique ideas about insulting someone.

http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/

“Thou puking pottle-deep coxcomb!”

“If you spend word for word with me, I shall make your wit bankrupt.”