Posts Tagged ‘undefined’

A Time To Speak – A Good Start

 I wasn’t going to capture the screen shot because I know this is only the beginning.  We have hardly even begun. My mother has written a worthy book, and I feel confident readers will agree.

Then I thought, this is a good starting place. Take the screen shot and let us see where we can go from here. Today her biography reached number 9 in the category of Southern Biographies and Memoirs on Amazon.

The listing will fluctuate a lot, even hour to hour based not only on the sales of this book, but the other books as well. Again, this is merely a start.   

My mother will be 82 on January 26. She started working on this book soon after my father’s death in 1995. She developed plenty of ambitious plans to help promote the biography. After all, she was a Sunday school teacher for 54 years, and is remembered fondly in several towns, particularly in Lakeland, Winter Haven, Lake Wales and Highland City. She knew she could spread the word quickly around Polk County, Florida.

Then, while she recovered from double knee replacement surgery, she faced some serous setbacks. Currently, she is recovering at a nursing home, which kinda makes it difficult to promote a book.

When you promote on a shoestring budget, and not much of a shoestring at that, it takes time to build interest through word of mouth.

So this is where we’re at. For those who know my mother, I’m sure you will agree that she has a story worth reading.

And it doesn’t hurt that Amazon currently has it priced at $10.17

For Readers of And The Dominoes Fall, info about Seismic Activity at Yellowstone

But before getting too alarmed, probably a good idea to read an Interview with Dr. Jacob Lowenstern of the U.S. Geological Survey, top scientist at  the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory:

No sooner is the novel available in print, we start hearing about earthquake swarms at Yellowstone. For interested readers I tried to collect some info and useful links

From the USGS YVO website:

December 2008 Yellowstone Earthquake And Ground Deformation Summary

Earthquake Summary:

Yellowstone seismicity increased significantly in December 2008 due to an energetic earthquake swarm that commenced on December 26. This swarm, a sequence of earthquakes clustered in space and time, is occurring beneath the northern part of Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park. As of this writing, the largest of these earthquakes was a magnitude 3.9 at 10:15 pm MST on Dec. 27. Through 5:00 pm MST on Dec. 31, the sequence had included 12 events of magnitude 3.0 to 3.9 and approximately 20 of magnitude 2.5 to 2.9, with a total of at least 400 events large enough to be located (magnitude ~1 or larger). National Park Service (NPS) employees and visitors have reported feeling the largest of these earthquakes in the area around Yellowstone Lake and at Old Faithful and Grant Village.

The hypocenters of the swarm events cluster along a north-south-trending zone that is about 7 km long. The vast majority of the focal depths are shallower than 5 km. It is not possible to identify a causative fault of other feature without further analysis.

Analysts are currently processing the backlog of seismic data from these events. The current analyst-processed catalog is believed to include all events of magnitude 2.5 and greater through Dec 31 at 5 pm MST, but hundreds of earthquakes remain to be processed. The total of more than 400 locatable events is based on automatically-determined locations and magnitudes for the swarm events.

The December 2008 earthquake sequence is the most intense in this area for some years. No damage has been reported within Yellowstone National Park, nor would any be expected from earthquakes of this size. The swarm is in a region of historical earthquake activity and is close to areas of Yellowstone famous hydrothermal activity. Similar earthquake swarms have occurred in the past in Yellowstone without triggering steam explosions or volcanic activity. Nevertheless, there is some potential for hydrothermal explosions and earthquakes may continue or increase in magnitude. There is a much lower potential for related volcanic activity.

The National Park Service in Yellowstone has been kept fully informed of the ongoing seismic activity via electronic means and by phone contacts with the University of Utah and the U.S. Geological Survey USGS). The Wyoming Office of Homeland Security is reviewing Earthquake Response Plans and monitoring seismic activity.

Earthquakes are a common occurrence in the Yellowstone National Park area, an active volcanic-tectonic area averaging 1,000 to 2,000 earthquakes a year. Yellowstone’s 10,000 geysers and hot springs are the result of this geologic activity. A summary of Yellowstone’s volcanic history is available on the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory web site (listed below).

The University of Utah operates a seismic network in Yellowstone National Park in conjunction with the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. These three institutions are partners in the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Seismic data from Yellowstone are transmitted to the University in real-time by radio and satellite links from a network of 28 seismographs in the Yellowstone area and are available on the web.

Seismologists continue to monitor and analyze data from this swarm of earthquakes and provide updates to the NPS and USGS and to the public via the following web pages.

Information on U.S. earthquake activity including Yellowstone can be viewed at the U.S. Geological Survey web site:

Information on earthquakes can also be viewed at the University of Utah
Seismograph Stations web site: http://www.seis.utah.edu/.

Seismographic recordings from Yellowstone seismograph stations

An article on earthquake swarms at Yellowstone

Ground Deformation Summary:

Through December 2008, continuous GPS data show that much of the Yellowstone caldera continued moving upward, though at a lower rate than the past few years. The maximum measured ground uplift over the past 53 months is ~23 cm at the White Lake GPS station, north of Fishing Bridge. An example

The general uplift of the Yellowstone caldera is scientifically important and will continue to be monitored and studied closely by YVO staff.

A discussion of the current uplift episode at Yellowstone and long-term ground deformation at Yellowstone -
The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) is a partnership of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Yellowstone National Park, and University of Utah to strengthen the long-term monitoring of volcanic and earthquake unrest in the Yellowstone National Park region. Yellowstone is the site of the largest and most diverse collection of natural thermal features in the world and the first National Park. YVO is one of the five USGS Volcano Observatories that monitor volcanoes within the United States for science and public safety.

Find much more, Geologic information, maps, and monitoring information from the  Yellowstone Volcano Observatory

Supervolcano FAQ

And if you still want more about supervolcanoes, I came across this YouTobe clip

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR1bg_Yf0T4

New Christmas Card

We finally have this year’s Christmas card available at our Christmas Store at WTGifts.

We offer two versions. My son John created the inspirational design. One includes a poem inside by me, Sarah Mankowski.

When stress or grief cascade,

Rushing, relentless, from every direction.

When shoulda-beens hammer at the head,

And worries overwhelm.

 

Be still.

Just be still.

You are not alone.

You are loved.  

 

When darker-thoughts pervade,

Hallow detachment, haunting disaffection.  

When coulda-beens clutter up the heart,

And sorrows overflow.

 

Be still.

Just be still.

You are not alone.

You are loved. 

                                    -Sarah Mankowski

The other version simply says Merry Christmas.

If you want the card, please look at the inside image and make sure you picked the one you want. Cards are also available in packages of 10 and 20.

And, remember, the Christmas Store  offers many gifts under $10.

Christmas Store Reminder

Looking for an inexpensive Christmas gift? Remember to check out our Christmas Store. Most items are under $10.

We haven’t completed this year’s Christmas card, but hope to have it ready to add soon.

Merry Christmas!

Two YouTube Videos from WordThunder

I gave my son the task of searching through our old videos for any of family that would compliment our books Art Of The Cube and A Time To Speak. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much, and what existed was 20-year-old VHS video.

Still, John was able to put together the following:

Fred Holly demonstrates Rubik’s Cube designs  

My grandmother talking to a bird.