A-Z: "E" is for Emelye from The Knight's Tale

Day 5 of A-Z here  "E" is for Emelye from The Knight's Tale in the Canterbury Tales.  

When Theseus married Hippolyta her young sister, Emelye, moved with her to her new home. Over time her beauty bloomed in full force and there were two brother/cousin prisoners (Palamon and Arcite) locked in a tower that spied and fell in love with her from afar.  They argued over who had the right love this incredible beauty, but then realized their arguments were futile since they were in jail. They agreed finally to both be in love with her. One day Theseus grants Alcrite his freedom but was exiled to areas not ruled by Theseus. After leaving, he became depressed because he didn't see his lovely vision Emelye. He cursed the world and longed for his old prison cell. Years go by with plotting on both sides to win the fair maiden as a wife. Neither have spoken and do not know each other's plans for Emelye. The long and the short of it is, the brothers/cousins meet and fight until Theseus appears with his wife and Emelye in tow. He empathizes with both their plights and decrees they each take 50 men and battle for her in judicial knight tournament. The winner would marry Emelye. Both Palamon and Arcite fought valiantly until the ultimate victor revealed.  The back and forth between the two was neverending.  Guess who won Emelye's hand? It seems like all these tales center around a fair maiden huh?  Whew...thank the gods that's over.

Healthy Writers Club by Shallee McArthur
I returned to my normal workout which felt great.  It really is a stress reliever for me. I try to rest on the weekend and do mostly lunges.  Oh those hurt like the dickens.  Anyway, I thought I'd share with you an iPhone app (Workout Mix) that I use for working out.  I like it because the music is upbeat and during the music sessions the DJ's voice chants some encouragement .."You can do it."  or "Go harder."  Here's a thought.  Wouldn't it be great if he cheered me on when I'm writing.  *sigh*

Friday with Fred

This is Fred's intimidating pose.  He tends to wear this expression more frequently since Spike.  I keep telling him he'll always be number one and then I give him a carrot. :)

How was your first week of A-Z?  I'm so happy for the weekend.  Have a good one.

Mina B.

Friday & Hoppy Easter Giveaway Hop

It's Good Friday and its also time for the Hoppy Easter Giveaway Hop.  We've got much to get through today so I'll do my best to be brief.  First off many people are celebrating Good Friday today (myself included) which I find kind of funny since I feel like every Friday is good.  That said, I'd like to get to my Friday Funny first...

Friday Funny - Peep Show
Bahahhaa!  I'm not sure if you can see the detail on this, but this is funny as hell!

The Healthy Writers Club

Thank you Shallee McArthur for another week of HWC.  I have two words that describe my progress with working out this week:  Spring Break.  My kids had off this week and although they had their Dad to hang with, it felt like I could barely get into the gym.  I've made it only three times this week and will shoot for a fourth over the weekend.  That's a must since it's Easter and I want my damn Cadbury egg! Mmmmm. YUM!

Friday with Fred

Fred's chill'n in my son's room.  Try not to step on a lego, Fred!  Spike is doing well except with the potty-training thing.  Yeah, that part sucks about puppies.  

Hoppy Easter Giveaway Hop

I'll keep it simple. I'm giving away to one (1) lucky winner a free $10 Amazon gift card.  My Free Sh** Fairy and I agreed that you can't go wrong with an easy-peasy GC like that.

And if you're also interested, I have another giveaway for Donna Galanti's THE DARK INSIDE that I'm running until 3/31 eod, so click here for details.

To enter my Hoppy Easter Giveaway Hop...
You MUST be a follower of my blog and MUST fill out this entry form.

Extra entries
+2 Like me on Facebook/AuthorMinaBurrows

+2 Adding me in  your circle on GooglePlus/MinaBurrows

+1 if you Retweet this on Twitter (limit 1 retweet)

Again, the giveaway starts at 12:01 AM EST on Friday, March 29th and runs through April 5th midnight. Contest is open to International participants.

Check out who else is participating. Visit http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/ and hop on by.

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Thanks for participating!  Enjoy your Easter!

Mina B.

Hilarious Friday!

Okay so this week was a wash for me so thank god it's Friday!  Anyway, I found this and just had to laugh.  Are you a Downton Abbey fan?  I watched the first three seasons and was hooked.   I adore Maggie Smith and her portrayal of Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham is pure brilliance.  I wish she was in every scene because for me, she makes the show.  Season three's finale was a disappointment.  Seeing this comic strip put it into perspective for me.

Video Friday
I'm sure by now you've seen Sweet Brown's "Ain't no body got time for that" memes plastering the web.  Well, here's the original video clip plus the remix.  You may have already seen this but seriously I had to share this video.  I nearly had me in stitches. 

The Healthy Writers Club

Shallee McArthur created this weekly meme which I normally would have more to report, but this week I'm having to shift things around since my family has been sick with the flu.  I had it too but not as much as my little guy.  Things like this nearly always kill the momentum but what can I do?  Not a lot.  I ran about 6 miles so far and hit some other machines early on in the week.  That's it, but I'll try to get to the gym tomorrow and Sunday. *sigh*    

Fridays with Fred

Fred likes to run out the front door and check out the front yard.  On this day I caught him sitting enjoying the sun.  He's a happy dog. :)

Be sure and stop by and visit Schatze over at Mary’s BookHounds too.

Have a great weekend.

Mina B.

Friday Musings

Hot Damn It's Friday!  This week flew by so much my brain thinks its Wednesday.  Ever have one of those weeks?  Anyway, I wanted to share a few things with you that have been on my mind lately.

Friday Funny
I saw this a few months back and every time I look at it, it makes me laugh all over again. I have not yet seen Skyfall. But I will soon. :) 

The Healthy Writers Club

I signed up to participate in the healthy writers group.  I notice that when I work out, it frees my mind to focus on plotting.  Working out helps with my stress and managing life.  I use to work out for diet and managing my weight.  Now I focus on releasing my stress which helps tremendously with writing.  My typical workout is four times a week and the majority of that consists of me running about 12+ miles per week.  My vices are chips, salsa and wine.  Damn!  Oh, well.  I'm trying.  Special thanks to Shallee McArthur for creating such an awesome meme.

Neil Gaiman - Calendar of Tales

Gaiman gets the notion of connecting with readers. I love this project he's working on. Gaiman says to click here to "download a free PDF of all twelve of the stories I wrote in three days of madness."

Fridays with Fred

Fred got busted on the my daughters peace bean bag and I had to laugh.  I guess it is kinda like a dog bed.

  

Be sure and stop by and visit Schatze over at Mary’s BookHounds too.

Have a great weekend.

Mina B.