HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY 2022! As a romance novelist with the above tagline, the month of February and Valentine’s Day are quite important to me. Over the years, I’ve written a horde of posts about the holiday itself, history, floriography, and general themes of romance and love. A topical search on...
We are smack in the middle of the “Month of Love” and what better way to immerse oneself wholly into sappy sentimentality than with old-fashioned, silly love songs! I was going to attempt to come up with my favorite 20 or so, and maybe even rank them, but quickly realized...
Just how much of a romance movie aficionado are you? If you are as fond of sappy sweet movies as I am, then these will be a breeze to identify! The fun quizzes below are all about happily-ever-after romance movies and are of two types— The first quiz contains 10...
John Clare (1793–1864) John Clare is “the quintessential Romantic poet,” according to William Howard writing in the Dictionary of Literary Biography. With an admiration of nature and an understanding of the oral tradition, but with little formal education, Clare penned numerous poems and prose pieces, many of which were only published posthumously....
Conversation hearts, Necco hearts, candy hearts, Sweethearts — there are many names applied to these tiny heart-shaped chunks of candy stamped with short love-themed messages. Not everyone is a fan, Sweethearts ranked up there with Candy Corn and marshmallow Peeps for heated debates between the lovers and haters. Yet no...
Did I grab your attention with that title, thinking this was a blog about romance movies? Gotcha! While not about the movies themselves, this blog is related, so read on. . . If you visit my blog it is because you like romance stories, which means you are probably well...
The great Romantic poet John Keats was the subject of a previous biographical blog, which can be read if missed by clicking the link below. Keats’ literary brilliance was cut tragically short with his death of tuberculosis at the tender age of twenty-five. One portion of his life which I...
In 1828, British publisher Thomas Richardson provided the gentlemen of England a twenty-six page pamphlet full of Valentine’s Day samples to use in conducting affairs of the heart. As often seen with publications from the days of yore, the title is recorded from the whole front page and extraordinarily long—...
John Keats (1795-1821) John Keats was born in London on October 31, 1795, probably at the inn owned by his grandfather and where his father Thomas Keats worked in the stables as a hostler. His upbringing was humble, John one of four children with the most basic education available to...
With Valentine’s Day approaching,it seems fitting to share a collection of classic paintings of lovers in passionate embraces. “A man had given all other bliss and all his worldly worth for this,to waste his whole heart in one kiss upon her perfect lips.”~Lord Alfred Tennyson “A Kiss Under the Parasol” by...
Our modern impression of “romantic, romance, romanticism” immediately brings love and sentimentality to mind, particularly as it relates to other human beings. Indeed, that is one correct definition. However, when referring to the poetry written by the Romantic poets during the artistic movement known as Romanticism, which began in the...
FANS have been around for centuries, probably since the dawn of time if we include waving big leaves in front of one’s face. The first man-made fan is agreed to be the rigid type, like those in the collage below. Made of wood, thick fabrics, leather, papier-mache, or big feathers...
Just for fun! Below are 20 random movie quotes, all of which are fairly common I believe. I avoided the really obvious ones that everyone knows simply by being alive. LOL! Instead, I went for some of my favorites, the choices spanning from the 1960s to the 2000s. Try to...
From about 1773, the upper floors of the Exeter Exchange (a popular shopping arcade) took on a new role: a menagerie of exotic animals. It was formed by Gilbert Pidcock, and upon his death in about 1810, the menagerie passed to Stephani Polito. On his death in 1814, one of...
Today’s fashion plate choices for January are chosen from later in the Regency Era. Notice how far the waist fell from 1821 to 1824, as well as the increased puffiness of the sleeves at the shoulders. In both plates, the bonnets are much larger than typically seen during the earlier...
