Halloween Candy Exchange
musing minds
Fall Back
Book Review: The Forgotten Room
The Forgotten Room is a novel by Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig.
I really enjoyed the book and wouldn’t have known it was written by three different women. It’s the story of a love that spans three generations, the stories of Olive, Lucy, and Kate. Olive and Lucy’s stories are told third-person and Kate’s, the latest generation, is told first person.
What connects them all is a townhouse in Manhattan built in the early 1890s. With a five story central staircase topped with a domed skylight, kitchens in the basement, servants’ quarters on the sixth floor, and a room on the seventh floor perfect for an artist. A square room with a fireplace, large windows, and a skylight.
Stories of love found, and lost. Stories with a bit of mystery.
Disclaimer: I was provided with a review copy of this book.
Never Forget
The complete list of 2996. 
Paul Pansini:
From a profile published in the New York Times on 8/11/2002
Paul Pansini
World Trade Center
His Presence Is Everywhere
- Paul Pansini
Paul Pansini loved the excitement of being a firefighter in downtown Manhattan, but his days off meant a great deal, too. Firefighter Pansini, 36, took his son, Paul Jack, now 7, and his twin daughters, Anna and Claire, now 3, everywhere when he was not working. “He was brave enough to even take them to the store,” his wife, Janice, recalled.
Since Sept. 11, the family has, in turn, felt his presence everywhere. “I feel him definitely in my house,” Mrs. Pansini said. The family lives in his childhood home in Tottenville in Staten Island. When they moved there in November 1994, the couple almost tore the century-old house down.
Now she is glad they did not. In Tottenville, they are surrounded by family members who keep his presence strong, including his sister, Loretta Halpert.
Lake George was Firefighter Pansini’s favorite spot in the world. This summer, as Mrs. Pansini packed for their annual vacation to the lake, Claire asked if they were going to meet Daddy there. “I’m blown away by how much they remember him,” Mrs. Pansini said. “I don’t think he knew how much he meant to so many people. He was a very comical person. The love of my life. People keep coming up to me and saying, `I miss him so much.’ ”
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Our thoughts and prayers go out every day to Paul’s friends, family, and coworkers at Ten House. Six men were lost that day from that Firehouse.
Click either picture to embiggen.
Typos
Vox confuses the NRA with the NRA
Yes, in many cases acronyms stand for more than one actual entity. NBC can stand for the National Broadcasting Company, Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical in the military, the National Bank of Canada, and more.
NRA has just as many. Here’s a sample from The Free Dictionary.
| NRA | National Rifle Association |
| NRA | National Restaurant Association |
| NRA | National Recreation Area (US National Park Service) |
| NRA | National Roads Authority (Ireland) |
| NRA | National Register of Archives |
| NRA | National Recovery Administration |
| NRA | Normal Retirement Age |
| NRA | National Recovery Act |
| NRA | National Resistance Army (Uganda) |
| NRA | Non-Resident Alien |
| NRA | National Regulatory Authority |
Earlier today Vox tweeted:
Vox NRA Error
They’ve removed it now. When I was looking for it, I found another tweet by Vox, a little further down their page:
I thought that was pretty funny.
Lightning
We had a storm 2 August 2015. A local pizza place was destroyed. A local high school had it’s roof ripped off. Trees are down and power is out. Lollapalooza was cut short and evacuated in Chicago. In Wood Dale, IL a tent at a festival collapsed and killed one person and injured others. Here’s my video of the light show from my front porch. It was eerily quiet. Lots of light, very little sound, mostly wind.
Scam Calls
The phone just rang. Caller ID said it was 911 calling from phone number 1911.
The caller left a message. The automatic transcript follows:
“I guess your name and your social security number. Unless you receive this message I want you to call the attorney generals office State of Florida to attorney Sam Wilson. 1-850-308-6061. Repeat again it’s 850-308-6061. Don’t disregard this message. Now we got arrest warrant. I guess some fraudulent charges on you. You only got 30 minutes. If you want weeks for 20 samples inviting(?) 30 minutes today evening. You are gonna be arrested by the police officers of your local County Sheriff’s office and will be held behind the jail for six months. Goodbye.”
These types of calls are SCAMS. Don’t answer, don’t return the calls.
Amazon Prime Day
July 15 will be Amazon Prime Day. I love my Amazon Prime. It’s so worth it.
Cowhide Rugs: Versatile and Stylish
The words “feminine” may not spring to mind when you picture a cowhide rug. It’s time to reconsider. Cowhide rugs can add a needed boldness to a room that is otherwise quite pretty. Picture a room filled with light, crystal accents, flowers, and classically elegant furniture. Now picture a bold and beautiful cowhide rug tying it all together. It is one of the great design strategies: take a style that works on its own, and then juxtapose it with an unexpected piece to really give the room its own character. A piece like this can also serve to help bridge the gap between the different tastes of the users of a space, whether it is a home or business.
A cowhide rug is a statement piece that adds charm and warmth. It is exotic, and at the same time it is earthy and practical. The natural cow skin material is extremely durable and will hold up in even the most high traffic areas of your home or office. These rugs are exceptionally easy to spot clean. The durability and ease of use are just a few of the great qualities of cowhide rugs. It’s also worth noting that bold accent pieces such as cowhide rugs can be the difference between a boring room and an exciting room.
You need not feel compelled to surround your cowhide rug with decor reminiscent of the Old West. The ways in which you can incorporate this design concept are limitless. It can seem at once whimsical and sturdy. A cowhide rug would be adorable in a child’s room or in a cozy home library or den. A kitchen designed with very simple, clean color schemes and lines would only be enhanced by a cowhide rug in a corner, or in the entryway.
These soft and stylish cowhide rugs are just the thing to tie together a whole room. They can be used as traditional rugs under a chair or in front of a couch, or you can use your imagination and use them as you would any other tapestry or throw blanket. This extreme versatility makes a piece like this a much better choice than a traditional rug. A traditional rug would stay on the floor in its place. A cowhide rug can be moved around from floor to wall to the back of a couch, allowing you to really express your creativity and keep your space feeling vibrant.
Allergens can be a major factor when purchasing a rug, but rest assured that cowhide rugs are not likely to harbor mold or mildew or other allergens.
Whatever your design challenge, you cannot go wrong with a classic, versatile, and bold cowhide rug.
