Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing

Peace on Earth

Every year (with some exceptions), the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to those who have “done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

Tuning In

A quick stroll down the aisles of any bookstore will reveal entire sections dedicated to self-help. Defined as “the use of one’s own efforts and resources to achieve things without relying on others,” the self-help industry rakes in $11 billion per year in America. Beyond being recession-proof, this unregulated industry is also forecast for more growth—5.5% annually, according to marketing expert Brandon Gaille.

Flytings and the War of Words

Conflict breeds creativity, some say. It is the art of dispute, a sparring of words, a logical brawl. The old practiced medieval bards of the flytings knew this adage well, and tested themselves and others constantly.

History of Undergarments

From panties to bustiers to seductive corsets, flirty lingerie, boxers and briefs, undergarments come in a variety of styles, each embraced by the distinctive persons and personalities who wear them. While some yearn for the comfort of a cozy pair of cotton briefs, the silky touch of satin entices others.

Top Dogs

Dogs deserve their appellation of “man’s best friend.” Just ask the American Kennel Club.

Mary

Of the three great world religions, the Roman Catholic Church occupies the position of 800 lb. gorilla in Christianity. This is the religion founded by followers of Jesus Christ and which ruled much of the Western Hemisphere until the Reformation. Regardless of whether one is Catholic or even Christian, one cannot deny the importance of the woman who started it all: Mary.

Birth of the Library

“Books contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are…I know they are as lively and as vigorously productive as those fabulous dragon’s teeth, and being sewn up and down may chance to spring up armed men.”

Riding the Wind

Summer represents a sense of freedom for many people around the globe. In some countries, summertime marks the ultimate freedom—a reprieve from school commitments. It’s also the time of year that many take vacations. While some set sail for cruising the seas, others indulge in leisurely afternoons lounging on sailboats while listening to the mesmerizing lull of the sea.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Is a short and brutal implementation of total warfare preferable to a long, drawn out limited warfare which culminates in more casualties and greater economic strain? The bombings of Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the culmination of the Pacific Theater of World War II, which began in 1941 with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. But what if the Americans, or any country for that matter, had atomic bombs at the beginning of WWII? Would they have been justified in using them right off the bat if they knew it would prevent the high price of years of world war to come?

Volcanoes

In our age of nuclear armaments, one would think a holiday might be set aside for the act of eruptions. Holidays do not, of course, always celebrate joyous occasions. They also inspire solemnity, meditation, and reflection. As we remember this month the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so we should also remember the even greater forces that have loomed over us from beneath: volcanoes.

Baked, Boiled, Mashed, Fried

As said by Samwise Gamgee in The Two Towers, the second movie in The Lord of the Rings trilogy based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s famous epic fantasy: “Potatoes, mash ’em, boil ’em, stick ’em in a stew” after Smeagol complains of him ruining their supper of scrawny rabbit with vegetables. Despite its humble place, the potato remains a most versatile and beloved vegetable that occupies an integral part of the human diet as the world’s fifth most important food crop after wheat, corn, rice, and sugarcane.

The Opioid Crisis

The opioid abuse crisis has been devastating American communities for nearly two decades. Although opioids date back thousands of years, there’s been an upswing in use and abuse, specifically in America and Iran.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The famous young Werther once questioned, “What is a life without romantic love?”

The answer is classicism. It is the level-headed and crafted restraint that comes after the pitfalls of romance. But don’t be fooled; it is not a life of puritanism. It is, to Goethe, love by all other means.

History of Lighthouses

Lighthouses are used around the world to guide ships sailing in coastal waters. They dot coastlines from the U.S. to Greece, Gibraltar, Iceland, the Ukraine, and beyond. LighthousePreservation.org defines lighthouses as structures from which light is projected at night or which serve as markers by day to guide ships.

Knight of the White Elephant of Burmah

Doggerel is generally categorized as poetry with inconsistent or irregular meter, rife with clichés, and inadvertently funny. Or you can just call it bad poetry.

VJ Day

World War II, which began with Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 and ended in 1945, claimed more lives than any other war in history. Upwards of about 60 million people lost their lives during this devastating war. The aerial attack by Germany’s ally Japan on Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor military base on December 7, 1941, prompted an immediate declaration of war by the U.S.

Herbal Impact

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the caldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,

Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Cool it with a baboon's blood,

Then the charm is firm and good.

- Scene I, Macbeth by William Shakespeare

An Enduring Oral Tradition

The hot days and warm nights of summer lure adults and children to outdoor adventures. After a day spent hiking, trail riding, boating, or enjoying some other summer sport, people gather around the campfire to roast hotdogs and marshmallows and entertain themselves with improbable campfire stories. Ranging from scary tales to lessons in morality, the tradition of telling stories around a campfire goes back as far as humans have gathered around fire.

Songs Inspired by Literature

Great songs, ballads in particular, tell stories. Many songs employ poetic devices such as restricted line length, specific meter, and rhymes. However, songwriters, famous and not, find inspiration from literature. Wikipedia and other sites list myriad songs that retell in part or in whole works of literature. The vast list includes:

The Authentic and Aesthetic

Art, music, and literature experienced a change in emphasis in the late 1700s and peaked in the mid 1800s. Fatigued and disillusioned by decades of war and corrupt politics, European—and especially British—writers adjusted their focus from morality and instruction to entertainment. The movement coincided with the rise of the Industrial Revolution and the growing reliance upon the logic and rationality of science.

Peace on Earth

Self Improvement

Tuning In

Flytings and the War of Words

Undercover

History of Undergarments

Top Dogs

The Practically Perfect Woman

Mary

The First Shhh!

Birth of the Library

Riding the Wind

Remembering the Bombs

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Prayers for Pele

Volcanoes

Potatoes