Monday, September 28, 2015

Music Monday - "Lightnin' Strikes" by Lou Christie (1966)

I always say that I don't like falsetto voices in music - and then I have to amend and add that I really like Lou Christie and Frankie Valli.  "Lightnin' Strikes" was a number one hit in 1966, and was written by Lou Christie and Twyla Herbert.

Lou Christie was born Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco in 1943 and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  He was an aspiring recording artist since his teens, and had his first hit in 1962 ("The Gypsy Cried").

I remember this song from AM radio when I was a very little girl.  I loved it then and still do.  The recording is below, for your listening pleasure.

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Weekend Window Shopping at Birdhouse Books

Hi vintage friends!

I went a little crazy listing some retro goodies at auction last week.  As a result, I now have a record (for me!) 156 auctions running right now on eBay.   I hope you'll stop by and peek at them: 

Birdhouse Books on eBay

You'll find some unique items, including:

Cookbooks, like Savannah a la Carte and It's Dessert Time (a 1952 Jello cookbook):



Nonfiction, like Sojourn in Savannah (guide book with map) and Make a Merry Christmas (a 1970's vintage holiday crafts book from Current):




Unopened craft kits, like this project to embroider a Christmas angel ornament (Leisure Arts):




Vintage travel brochures, like the Fernbank Science Center (Atlanta) and Parrot Jungle (Miami):





Roadside Americana travel postcards - amusement parks, motels, restaurants, and more!    Pictured here:  Children's Fairyland (a story book land in Oakland, California) and the Imperial Motel (Daytona Beach, Florida).





I hope you enjoyed this peek into my shop.  I'll be back next week with more -- Halloween cards coming soon!

Book Spotlight and Giveaway - A Mastery Passion: The Story of Alexander and Elizabeth Hamilton

02_A Master Passion

A Master Passion: The Story of Alexander and Elizabeth Hamilton: Book One: Love and Liberty by Juliet Waldron

Publication Date: March 25, 2015 
Books We Love eBook & Print; 
428 Pages 
Genre: Historical Fiction
Add to GR Button     
THE MASTER PASSION is the story of the marriage of our brilliant first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, and his courageous wife, Elizabeth Schuyler. It begins with a whirlwind Revolutionary War courtship at Washington’s headquarters. Conflict, however, is built into this marriage. Betsy's passion is Alexander. While Hamilton adores his wife and children, there are times when he loves America more. “...And hence one Master Passion in the breast Like Aaron's serpent, swallows up all the rest..." ~~Alexander Pope

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

03_Juliet Waldron

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Juliet Waldron has lived in many US states, in the UK and the West Indies. She earned a B. A. in English, but has worked at jobs ranging from artist’s model to brokerage. Thirty years ago, after her sons left home, she dropped out of 9-5 and began to write, hoping to create a genuine time travel experience for her readers. Juliet’s a grandmother, a cat person, and fascinated by reading history and archeology. Juliet spends a lot of time visiting other centuries, but she’s also certain she doesn’t want to live there. Juliet gardens, bicycles and is involved in local advocacy groups. She and her husband of fifty years enjoy the winding backroads of PA aboard their Hayabusa superbike. For more information visit Juliet Waldron's website. Juliet also blogs at Possum Tracks and Crone Henge, and you can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, September 21 
Interview at Library Educated 
Guest Post at What Is That Book About 
Tuesday, September 22 
Review at With Her Nose Stuck In A Book 
Spotlight at Please Pass the Books  
Wednesday, September 23 
Spotlight at Svetlana's Reads and Views  
Thursday, September 24 
Guest Post at To Read, Or Not to Read  
Friday, September 25 
Spotlight at Raven Haired Girl 
Saturday, September 26 
Spotlight at View from the Birdhouse 
Monday, September 28 
Review at In a Minute  
Tuesday, September 29 
Review at Diana's Book Reviews  
Wednesday, September 30 
Review at A Fold in the Spine 
Spotlight at CelticLady's Reviews  
Thursday, October 1 
Review at Bookish 
Review at The Maiden's Court 
Friday, October 2 
Review at I'm Shelf-ish 
Review at Beth's Book Nook Blog 
Spotlight at Broken Teepee

GIVEAWAY

To enter to win a paperback copy of A Master Passion & $5 Amazon Gift Card, please enter via the GLEAM form below. Rules – Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on October 2nd. You must be 18 or older to enter. – Giveaway is open to US residents only. – Only one entry per household. – All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion – Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen. 
 A Master Passion 
04_A Master Passion_Blog Tour Banner_FINAL
 

Friday, September 25, 2015

Dear Abby: Social Media

Dear Friends,

I hope you are having a wonderful week!  I am so happy that it is Autumn.  The weather will be cooler and nice for longer walks.   Plus, there are fun holidays to look forward to in the next few months.  Hooray!

I have a great question today from my friends: Barbara, her kitty Zeus, and dachshund Oz: 

We have a topic for you to write about: your experiences with social media. We have made so many wonderful connections and even some lovely friendships. There are some things that we don't enjoy about social media (like gossip, shaming, judgmental comments etc.) but if you are careful and choose your connections wisely, we find Twitter & Facebook to be a really good experience. Do you have any tips to help people & pups with this? Looking forward to your next column. 

Barbara, Zeus, and Oz, thank you for the wonderful question!   My Momma and I love social media too.   It is a great way to connect with family and old friends, and we have made some wonderful friends on social media as well!

I like the way you worded this:  "choose your connections wisely."   I think that is a great point about social media.  It is very public, much more so than email or a phone call, so you have to choose who you want to connect to.  

With online time I believe it is important to trust your instincts and if people or pups do not seem to be friendly and kind, you can just disconnect from them.  We like nice people.

I do not have my own social media accounts (alas!), but I have still made friends with dachshunds, dog people, and animal lovers wherever we go. 

On any of the social media sites, you can search for words like: dachshund, dog rescue, etc. and come up with lots of great results.  That is a good way to find pages and groups on Facebook (those are fun places to interract with like-minded pups!).  On Twitter you can search by the words on their own, i.e. dachshunds, but you can also search with hashtags, like #dachshunds.   

We have learned that lists make Twitter a lot more fun.  For instance, you can make lists of your dachshund friends and click on that list at any time (or save the link) in order to read the latest doxie news.  Momma says you can do the same thing with blogger friends, eBay friends, etc.   We like the free version of Hootsuite to read our Twitter posts.  A neat feature of Hootsuite is you can display all your lists side by side.  Twitter can get very overwhelming quickly with the volume of posts there;  this makes it a lot easier to read. 

One of the biggest issues we have with social media is it is addictive!  Momma sometimes sets the timer when she is checking in on our social media sites for work.  That helps!

We would love to connect with all our friends on social media.   I help with these pages: 

Birdhouse Books on Pinterest (check out the Cute Dogs and Dachshund boards I helped set up) 

Birdhouse Books on Facebook (books, nostalgia, and links to my blog posts, too) 

Birdhouse Books on Twitter (mostly Mom's work but I love to chat with dachshund friends there as well!)

I would love to hear from you about your experiences with social media!   Please leave any comments below.

I'm also looking for questions for future posts, so welcome those in the comments section as well.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Love from Abby  xoxoxo


Thursday, September 24, 2015

Throwback Thursday - Comic Books

Did you know that September 25 is National Comic Book Day?   I just learned about this retro holiday, and it made me immediately think of comic books from my childhood.

My favorite was Archie, and the related Betty and Veronica comic books as well.  I thought these were really cool when I was little!   They were, of course, about teenage kids and as a little girl, I thought it was fun to read about their high school adventures.

Later I also discovered the Partridge Family comic books.   I was in elementary school when these were popular, and like most girls I knew, I had the biggest crush on David Cassidy.  So of course I loved the comic books, too!
Did you like comic books when you were growing up?  What were your favorites?  I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.