I’m just full of myself this week. Bear with me. LOL! I do truly think these are neat things, or I’d be hiding them under a bushel basket, right?
Today’s spotlight is on the Carnival of the Redeemed. This weekly carnival and it will be posted on Cass’s Midlife Musings. The dealine is Sunday evening for the issue that comes out the following Tuesday. I surely hope to see you there!
I’m not just talking about chicken here! I am hosting a blog carnival for Southerners. You know who you are, and I’d like to hear from you. You a can find more information at Southern Fried Carnival. The first submissions are due tonight, so hurry up! This is a weekly carnival so if you can’t make it today, don’t fret. I’ll leave the light on for ya!
Yes, I thought that might get your attention, LOL! We all like free money, now don’t we? This site promises to send you some, just for completing offers. I’ve dealt with several sites like this, and they do generally live up to what they promise. The key of course, is making sure you understand exactly what it is that they are promising.
Right now, there is a survey for cash with a worth $25 payout. That’s good money for a few answering a few questions..
This is a collection of animated educational websites for children. BrainPOP offers some free studies, and you can subscribe for even more. I think the subscription price is a bit steep, but you can enjoy the freebies for….well, free!
This site contains 34 optical illusions, including a few Eschers, and some classics. You may or may not choose to visit this site when you are tired. I found on my visit that tiredness added quite a bit to the level of trickery. Number 26 is especially amusing late at night 
Too busy for books? Read them by e-mail. I’ve given you Frankenstein to get you started, but there’s much more to read there. They mail them out in small sections, about 5 minutes worth of reading.
This site has many, many stories, sorted by genre. These are not classics, but frech, new writings. If you are a fan of short stories, do click over. And if you write short stories, check out the submission guidelines. The stories are searchable by title, author and keyword. You can read them online, print them or download them to your handheld.
Squashed Philosophers condenses the works that have shaped western thought into “something like readable”. Beginning with Plato and ending with Sir Karl Popper, you can click on each person on the timeline to get squashed readings. Each one has an estimated reading time as well. At the top of the page are links to “Squashed Divines” (which contains The Epics of Gilgamesh among others) and “Squashed Writers” (which contains way to much to even attempt to list).
I don’t know why it never occurred to me to look for this before, but Eric Carle has a website. There is a list of books, as well as a photo/video gallery. The book lists give you plot summaries. I do wish there was more of his artwork on the site, but I guess you can’t have everything, right?
The Writer’s Resource Center has good information for writers. Whether prose or poetry, fiction or tech or anything in between, there are tips here to improve your craft. Also included are articles on selling your work. Great information here for all aspiring wordsmiths.
Another fairly quick history read today. Human World is a collection of tidbits about the famous, and infamous, focusing on politics, religion and military. Lots of fun facts here. Click on “contents” in the upper left corner to get to other pages. All are worh a read.
Life’s not so bad, really! Compare your hardships to everyday life in the 1500s and then smile. How things used to be is a quick and fun read, and will surely make you appreciate the modern amenities.
