The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

The good. Especially for DR:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_fitness_linedancing;_ylt=AhS2r2JZq522S.9yeULnmTms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNxbzR1OWh0BGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAxMjA2L3VzX2ZpdG5lc3NfbGluZWRhbmNpbmcEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM4BHBvcwM1BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDbGluZWRhbmNpbmdn

The bad:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101203/od_nm/us_tarantulas

The ugly:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101203/od_nm/us_germany_streaker

Between now and Christma, some days I will mention a name of someone that didn't give up. It will be hit and miss depending on the length of the post. Did you know that Margaret Mitchell's classic GONE WITH THE WIND was turned down by more than twenty-five publishers?

Comment at will, on anything, anywhere and in anyway!

WHO AM I?

I was born in 1862 and died in 1900. I was a writer and explorer. I was the daughter and oldest child of a traveler and writer and was the niece of two novelists. My parents were married just four days before my birth. My father was a doctor and was often away from home on his excursions. My father and a friend were offered the opportunity to join American General Custer and his men into Native American lands. Later reports describing the massacre of Custer's party left my family terrified. We were relieved to discover that bad weather had kept Dad from joining Custer. My father's views on the Native Americans helped shape my opinions on British imperialism in West Africa. I had little formal schooling but I had access to my father's large library and loved to hear my father's stories of foreign countries. I preferred books on the sciences and memoirs of explorers. When my mother became ill I was expected to care for her well-being. I was unable to leave my mother's side for more than a few hours and had limited travel opportunities. Then my father also became bedridden with rheumatic fever and died shortly. Mom followed a few months later. Freed from my family responsibilities and with an inheritance of £4,300 I was able to travel. After a visit to the Canary Islands, I made preparations to travel to the west coast of Africa. The only non-African women who dared brave the dangers of Africa were usually the wives of missionaries, government officials, or explorers. Exploration and adventure were not seen as fitting roles for a Victorian woman. Even African tribal women were astonished that a woman of my age was traveling without a man. I landed in Sierra Leone and pressed on into Luanda in Angola . I lived with local people who taught me necessary skills for surviving in the African jungles. I often went into dangerous areas alone. My training as a nurse prepared me for injuries and jungle maladies. When I returned to England I secured support from a prominent zoologist at the British Museum, as well reaching a writing agreement with a to publish my travel accounts. I longed to study cannibal tribes and their traditional religious practices, commonly referred to as fetish during the Victorian Era. I became acquainted with a Scottish missionary living amongst the natives with little company and no husband. I became aware of the tribal custom of twin killing. The native people believed that one of the twins was the offspring of the devil who had secretly mated with the mother and since the innocent child was impossible to distinguish, both were killed and the mother was often killed for attracting the devil to impregnate her. I would later travel by canoe up the Ogooué River where I collected specimens of previously unknown fish, three which were named after me. After meeting the Fang tribe and traveling through uncharted Fang territory, I climbed the daring 13,760 ft Mount Cameroon by a route not previously attempted by any other European. When I returned home I was greeted by journalists who were eager to interview me. I wrote two books about my travels that were best sellers. Upon a return trip to Africa while treating the natives I contacted and died of typhoid fever. If you do not know who I am by now should wonder how TRAVEL, GENDER, AND IMPERALISM are related? Who Am I?