Featured photo by Antonio Gabola on Unsplash Just a quick note to wish everyone the Happiest New Year. All of us at A Glimmer of Gold want the very best for you and your loved ones throughout the coming year. However you celebrate, please do so safely. I am not trying to lecture, but please take the time to plan the conclusion of your celebration. Arrange a designated driver or engage a taxi, Uber, etc. As for my wife and I, we…
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash Although it’s not Funny Friday, I’m in both a festive and humorous mood, so I decided to share some amusing Christmas cartoons I found on the web. the authors or sites are listed in each cartoon. I was unable to provide attriution for the few that do not contain that information.They are not side-splitting, but they tickled my funny bone and I hope they do the same for yours. …
In the spirit of Christmas, I decided to refresh my memory with regards to celebrations of the season in Jane Austen’s day. It did not take long to find a trove of information. To tell the truth, there are so many good sources that condensing it comes down to a struggle between what to include and which to leave for another article. Christmas in the early part of the nineteenth century was similar to the season now. For estates such…
Today I want to share three of what I think are the prettiest Christmas songs of the past sixty years. They are not carols, but they do bring the spirit of the season. The first is “I Believe in Father Christmas” by Greg Lake. A bit of interesting trivia about this song is he did not compose it as a celebration of the season, but rather as a protest over what he saw as the increasing commercialization of the holiday….
Image by Joshua Woroniecki from Pixabay In a previous post, I discussed the history of the printed word and the boon Mr. Gutenberg’s invention was to mankind. Today’s article is about computers and how they’ve changed the world. Did you know that the abacus is considered the first example of a computer? There is evidence of its existence and use in Mesopotamia as early as 2700 BC., where they used it to assist in calculations for their sexagesimal numbering system, which was based…
Featured Photo by SJ 📸 on Unsplash Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends. As it’s Trivia Thursday, I thought you might enjoy some trivia about the holiday. Pretty much everything we know about the first Thanksgiving was written in a letter by a colonist named Edward Winslow. Written to someone he refers to as a “Loving, and old Friend,” the letter is quite lengthy and he touches on Thanksgiving only briefly. Thanksgiving has been around for a long time. In fact, George…
Clem Kadiddlehopper, Sheriff Deadeye, Gertrude and Heathcliff, Freddie the Freeloader. These were characters created by Red Skelton, one of the finest comedians who ever lived. The Red Skelton Comedy Hour, which aired every Tuesday night at 8 pm, brought me home from whatever I was involved in. My family, all seven of us until 1969, when my brother Jann was born, all gathered around the television set to see which characters would appear on the show each week. I always…
“Hidden Desires” was one of my first published novels. I had written a short eBook before this, called “The Parson’s Rescue”, but this was my attempt at creating a full length story. I slaved over it for a few months, worrying over the plot, the phrasing, the correct vernacular, etc. Upon finishing the first draft, I ferociously edited, replacing words that weren’t in use in the time period of my story, correcting spelling and punctuation, and everything else I thought necessary….
Today, in honor of Remembrance Day here in Canada and Veteran’s Day in the US, I wanted to express my appreciation for all who have served their country in past conflicts and those who do so now. I thank you for your sacrifice and acknowledge the debt I, and millions of people living in freedom all over the world, owe you. My thoughts go to my father, who served in the South Pacific as a US Marine in the Second…
I stumbled across this a few days ago and had to share it. Delibes: Lakmé – Duo des fleurs (Flower Duet) is a duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano in the first act of Léo Delibes’ opera Lakmé, premiered in Paris in 1883. It is sung by the characters Lakmé, daughter of a Brahmin priest, and her servant Mallika, as they go to gather flowers by a river. While you may not recognize the name of this piece, you should be familiar…