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In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". _____________________________________________________________________________________________ rac·on·teur ˌräˌkänˈtər/ noun noun: raconteur; plural noun: raconteurs a person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way. synonyms: storyteller, teller of tales, spinner of yarns, narrator Origin early 19th century: French, from raconter ‘relate, recount.’ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the Word for the Day in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. Amuse me or enlighten me for extra...

For years scholars have debated what inspired William Shakespeare’s writings. Now, with the help of software typically used by professors to nab cheating students, two writers have discovered an unpublished manuscript they believe the Bard of Avon consulted to write “King Lear,” “Macbeth,” “Richard III,” “Henry V” and seven other plays. The news has caused Shakespeareans to sit up and take notice.

JUST A THOUGHT. PEOPLE WHO PLAY A GAME ARE MORE ETHICAL THAN GAMES PEOPLE PLAY. FOR INSTANCE, A GOLFER MAY TAP A PUTT AND MOVE THE BALL AN INCH. NO ONE NOTICED, NOT AN OFFICAL, NOT A FAN, NOT A FELLOW PLAYER. YET THE PLAYER STANDS UP AND ANNOUNCES THAT HE MADE A STROKE. IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO PLAY BY THE RULES THEN WORRY ABOUT WHO WILL WIN. THE PLAYER HAS ALREADY WON BECAUSE HE WAS HONEST. THE ANSWER IS NOT TO HAVE MORE JUDGES OR MORE CAMERAS ON THE BALL. THE ANSWER IS TO HAVE MORE PLAYERS WITH...

Moody Blues singer Ray Thomas has passed away after a battle with prostate cancer. The English rock hero, 76, died at his home in Surrey on Thursday, January 4. His record label have since released a statement confirming his death. In a statement, they said: 'It is with profound sorrow and sadness that Cherry Red Records and Esoteric Recordings regret to announce that Ray Thomas, founder member, flautist and vocalist of the Moody Blues, passed away suddenly at his home in Surrey on Thursday.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pennsylvania (CNN) — A Pennsylvania man had a creative solution to help clear his snow-covered driveway. Jonathan Schill attached a giant cardboard box from a flat-screen TV to his riding lawnmower to create a make-shift snow plow. His fiancée, Kaitlynn Toporzycki, captured the snow plow on video from outside their home in Chambersburg last week. She admitted it actually worked. “Snowplowing with lawnmower and 50” TV box! Gets the job done!” she wrote as the caption to the video. Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDqzQwKwvxo

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

Another year of war, and descriptions of the naval battles in the War of 1812. And a reuse of some of the 1812 New Years verse, as well as the appearance of the unusual, and now famous, Matter-Clatter rhyme from the Christmas poem. There's also an awakened narrator, but this time to work, not to be part of a nightmare. Pray may I ask what was the matter When you all rais'd such noisy clatter,

A recap of the news of the year which included The War of 1812. This is a far less cheerful recap of a bloody time. We will next take a view of BELLONA'S car, And Madison's new-fangled paper-shot war: -- Next turn your eyes to Queenston heights, And see how brave VAN RENSSELAER fights! Not in the modern mode, by writing, But plain old-fashion'd true blue fighting.

A Carrier Address found in the last year and identified as Henry Livingston's by statistical tests carried out with Emeritus Professor Mac Jackson. Identification was carried out by creating a set of unknown poems, which took the place of the body of Moore's poetry for comparison, and a set of known author poems used as a control, and subjected to the same statistical analysis tests, including small words, phonemes, rhymes and noun phrases. The 1812 Carrier Address is significant because it reuses the Christmas poem's night visitor, but here it's a nightmare sprite awakening the narrator. The Henry Livingston website...

What did you get for Christmas this year? The wife started out poorly by giving me socks. But, she redeemed herself with the next present which was brass knuckles. Well, not actually brass knuckles, but I can use it like that. Some kind of multi tool thing. Looks like an old protractor to me. Supposed to be able to cut diamonds and tune violins or something. I bought her a coffee cup with a photo of me on it. I think that makes an even dozen of em for her. The boy? We got him some of those Pikkachu slippers....

News boys would traditionally exchange a poetic summary of the year's news for a tip on New Year's. It was commonly a separately printed sheet, though it would occasionally appear within the newspaper, itself. Henry Livingston wrote these for local New York newspapers between 1787 and 1823. As always, his name is never attached to his work. In these cases, he always used the name of the newsboy.

First, what are your favorite Christmas songs? I would name Silver Bells, Do You Hear What I Hear, and White Christmas by Bing Crosby, Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel by Enya, Frosty the Snowman, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Second, what are some hymns, and other pieces of Christian music, that resonate at Christmas?

89 illustrations from 21 different vintage editions of "The Night Before Christmas," set to the original text from the Dec 23, 1823 Troy Sentinel. From Don Kidwell's (Top 1000 Reviewer) 5 Star Review: A Veritable Treasure! 1) Why I chose this book : Christmas grab with a cover that caught my eye, yet didn't realize what a wonderful surprise was in store! 2) Type of book : Part holiday children's book, part mystery behind whom really wrote "The Night Before Christmas" 3) Formatting/Editing : Superbly done 4) Best/Worst aspect of book : Glorious artwork from long ago, nice introduction to...

From my collection of antique editions of the Christmas poem.

14 Poems of Henry Livingston, the author of Night Before Christmas, illustrated with 174 vintage postcards in a comic book-like format. I'm making it free for the full 5 days they let me. Reviews would be GREATLY appreciated. From Easy Street's 5 star review: Nice collection of greeting cards and poetry from an elegant age gone by. Very nice to see all of these in an e-book. From Julie Pearson's 5 star review: A classic, and very classy. Worth reading to our kids and grandkids to broaden their horizons - there is life beyond TV! From Customer's 5 star review:...

A Kindle biography of Henry Livingston, the author of "The Night Before Christmas" based on statistical analysis by Emeritus Professor Mac Jackson. I'm making it free for the full 5 days they let me. Reviews would be GREATLY appreciated. From Bartleby's 5 star review: Very nice, concise treatment of the Livingston/Moore authorship question. The author does not hide the fact that she is a Livingston descendant. She is able to marshal a compelling collection of Livingston family archives to tell an engaging story, and then present the facts of the two scientific studies conducted to date on this question. Of...

News boys, who might be 50 years old and delivering their papers on horseback, would traditionally exchange a poetic summary of the year's news for a tip on New Year's. It was commonly a separately printed sheet, though it would occasionally appear within the newspaper, itself. Henry Livingston mainly wrote New Year's pieces, rather than Christmas ones.

Multiple fires sweeping through Los Angeles are creating nightmarish scenes that, for many longtime residents, may bring back memories of the Bel Air-Brentwood Fire of 1961—arguably the most destructive in the city’s long history. The blaze started the morning of November 6, and at at 8:15 a.m., a construction crew reported that brush was burning above Stone Canyon, just off Mulholland Drive. As former Los Angeles firefighter Frank Borden recalled in 2015, a “dark billowing cloud of smoke” soon began to appear above the canyon, making it clear before many fire crews were even dispatched to the scene that this...

Revelers braved the snow brought by Winter Storm Benji for New York City's annual pub crawl as SantaCon kicked off Saturday morning. Thousands took to the street as meteorologists warned that up to four inches of snow could fall in the Big Apple. Cheerful drinkers and Santa clones began their festivities at the Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue at 10am as flurries fell. While the event ends around 7pm, a weather advisory has been set in place until 1am on Sunday. The heaviest snowfall is expected between noon and 3pm, but wet flakes should be coming down into the...

The first interview related to the quest of Vassar Professor Don Foster and myself to prove "Night Before Christmas" was written by Henry Livingston, not Clement Moore. This followed our two page interviews in People Magazine and The New York Times. In 2014, a mock trial in Troy NY came back with a jury verdict that Henry Livingston was, indeed, the author and December 7, 2014 was named Henry Livingston Day in Troy NY, where the poem was first published. In 2016, following years of statistical research, Auckland University Emeritus Professor Mac Jackson came out with his book "Who Wrote...