Freaky Friday Features – Rosepoint Publishing

Cat Fanciers Get the Spotlight

Okay, I’ll admit it…

I’m more a dog person than cat. (Not that I haven’t had a cat in residence before, and if you own one, you know that she/he is not your pet–you are hers/his.) Continue reading “Cat Fanciers Get the Spotlight”

Cutesy Animal Picture Overload on Freaky Friday Features

I love cutesy animal pictures and have been known to post them before; especially dog pictures.

Well, dog and horse pictures.

But then these two came across the internet and I couldn’t resist downloading them to post for my Freaky Friday Feature this week. It’s Friday! Another work week is over. It’s time to relax and have chips, chuckle, and a ~~drinky~~–~~poo~~ drinkie-poo.

Okay, the lion isn’t really a kitty, but if you have a really cute one of your favorite feline, I promise equal time. Send it to me and I’ll post!

Which Side of the Oxford Comma War Are You On?

The Oxford University Press sparked a war back in 1892 that continues to this day with as many on both sides of the line protesting their side as the right one.

The Oxford comma (also referred to as a serial comma, or even the Harvard comma) is that “comma before the conjunction at the end of a list.” The Oxford University Press style guidelines touched off the conflict back when Horace Hart, controller of the University Press, organized a set of rules for the Oxford Press employees.

While the anti-comma faction would eliminate the second comma, the pro-comma faction would add it, sure that it provides clarity. The “pro’s” are more commonly found in the U.S. (I wouldn’t be without mine!) Only journalists forced to use the AP style generally omit it, but that was originally a bid to save space! The anti-comma people hold sovereignty in the U.K., except, of course, for Oxford University–go figure.

Why all the fuss over bell, book, and candle? Aren’t we invoking the Oxford comma for purposes of clarity? Click to Tweet

And doesn’t that really promote consistency of comma use? Apparently not in some scholars eyes. The article by Warren Clement to The Globe and Mail noted this example: “She invited her father, a tuba player and several ballerinas. It is clear that she invited her father, the musician and the ballerinas.(?Is it?) Now insert the Oxford comma: She invited her father, a tuba player, and several ballerinas. Suddenly the father has become a tuba player.” (Really?)

Hmmm…You say to-may-to and I say to-mah-to…

And we’ve been at this 125 years? So I’ll submit to you one final argument illustrated in riveting detail that you may or may not have seen before: “We invited the strippers, JFK, and Stalin.” I rest my case.

Illustration-Oxford comma — Illustration by AE Ferg-Offered by Stephen Tall

Exploration of Sunken (Treasure) Ships

What is it that attracts us to sunken ships? Whether treasure ships or WW2, the fascination seems endless and demands a search. If found; explored.

What happened to the ship and it’s crew? Was it a battle? Was it a hurricane like the one in which the Marguerite went down?

My grandfather, son of the captain, was first officer abroad the Marguerite about to cross the equator “some ten of fifteen miles west of Lagos,” (aka the gold, ivory, and slave coast) on a starboard tack when a typhoon struck the ship and she down, stern first. My grandfather always classified the Marguerite as carrying general cargo. No treasure there–we think! Continue reading “Exploration of Sunken (Treasure) Ships”

Budweiser is Still King of Horse-Dog Commercials

I was struck by the recent post on Twitter by Ellen DeGeneres of the charming little picture of a dog and horse friendship and the obvious appreciation by Ellen as she noted, “They’re so cute and they nose it.”

Not the first picture of an unlikely pairing of animals far out of their own species, but as amazing and fun as the friendships between canines and felines or mammals and avians.

Sitting Horse and Dog — Sitting companions courtesy of pawmygosh.com

I suppose the bond between horse and dog isn’t so unnatural as the two have a history of working together under domestic situations for their humans the world over.

It’s Friday and we love cuteness overload. There are possibly few videos of a horse and dog relationship better than those Budweiser has put out over the years. What is your favorite?

2017 Spring-Summer Fashions Are Here!

Once again, left in the dust when it comes to haute couture, I set out to see what kind of fashion Europe has cooked up for us this spring-summer and discovered they are not as heavily into the off-the-shoulder look as the home front would have us believe.

Thom Browne 2017 Fashion Collection — The Thom Browne 2017-18 Fashion Collection debuted in Paris in January.

The Entertainment Section of the Sacramento Bee, January 22, 2017, ran an impressive number of pictures that would set your heart aflutter; that is, before you noticed the price. But no problem–you’d definitely be in the “in” crowd with Thom Browne’s 2017-18 fashion collection that debuted in Paris the same month. It would appear they bought a huge bolt of this material though, as they presented two notable styles with the same fabric. Continue reading “2017 Spring-Summer Fashions Are Here!”

Winter May Be More Attractive South of I80

Just over 30 years old, Interstate 80 runs across the United States from San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey, which is actually in the New York Metropolitan Area, according to Wikipedia. The interstate is the second longest in the US (after Interstate 90) at 2,899 miles. Started in 1956, it wasn’t actually completed until 1986!

From California, the highway progresses over the Sierra Nevada range, through the barren, windy desert and over the Rockies, where it finally drops into the plains. This time of year that means everything from more rain in California, blizzard conditions in the mountains, and treacherous driving and flying most everywhere else.

More than half the country is expected to receive a major wallop in the next week with three successive storms. Meanwhile, there has been a wild variety of temps along the I80 corridor demonstrating what an expansive, topographically diversified country in which we live.

Around here they can’t remember a recent winter with this little snow (18″), but they are expecting small amounts from these systems. Meanwhile, it was 75 degrees in Goodyear AZ today. ©2017 Virginia Williams