Month: July 2017

Q&A with Lu Picard – Co-Founder of ECAD – Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities – Luis Carlos Montalván & Tuesday

On By MischenkoIn Animals, Author Interviews, Mental Health, Pets, Reads12 Comments

 

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In May I discovered a children’s book titled Tuesday Tucks Me In by Luis Carlos Montalván. After learning about service dogs and the relationship that Luis and Tuesdayluis-carlos-montalvo-600x400.jpg developed, I wanted to learn more. I went on to read every book I could find regarding Luis and Tuesday and learned all about how important service dogs are to our wounded veterans, veterans living with PTSD, people with physical disabilities, and even children with autism. If you’d like to see my original posts regarding these books which include videos and many pictures of Luis and Tuesday, you can find them by clicking the links below.

Luis Carlos Montalván – A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him

Tuesday’s Promise and Tuesday Takes Me There by Luis Carlos Montalván

An Interview with Bret Witter – Co-Author of Until Tuesday, Tuesday Takes me There, and Tuesday Tucks Me In.

 

In the book Until Tuesday, Luis discusses where Tuesday came from and explains a little bit about Lu Picard, the co-founder of ECAD, where Tuesday was trained. Lu Picard was kind enough to answer some of my questions regarding ECAD, and a few regarding Luis and Tuesday. I’ve included some information about ECAD below as well as my Q&A with Lu Picard and hope that everyone will enjoy reading and learning more about it.

What is ECAD? 

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ECAD stands for Educated Canines Assisting Disabilities and is a non-profit organization founded by Lu and Dale Picard. ECAD provides highly skilled Service Dogs to assist people living with disabilities.

How did ECAD get started?

After Lu Picard’s father suffered from a stroke, she discovered how she could train their family dog to help her father become independent again and more like himself. She decided that this was what she wanted to do: train service dogs for those that needed them. She started ECAD in 1995 and a year later her husband became involved full-time as well. They now have training facilities in Connecticut and New York.

Making a Difference

Here are two amazing videos from Marlo Thomas on her “The Hero Next Door” series which highlights Lu Picard’s story and gives viewers an idea of some of the training that goes on at ECAD and also how Lu Picard has helped children with disabilities get involved with training dogs.

 Continue Reading for the Q&A!

Continue reading “Q&A with Lu Picard – Co-Founder of ECAD – Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities – Luis Carlos Montalván & Tuesday” →

Award: Blogger Recognition Award

On By MischenkoIn Awards19 Comments

I was nominated by the ever so wonderful Nel@Reactionarytales.com for the Blogger Recognition Award. This is the first time I’ve received this award and I’d like to thank Nel for kindly mentioning me on her blog. If you haven’t checked out Nel’s blog, please do. She has book reviews, stories, tags and awards, endangered animal information and more. Nel is a fellow blogger that I truly appreciate and feel lucky to be connected with.

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The Rules

  • Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
  • Give a brief story of how your blog started.
  • Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
  • Select 10 other bloggers you want to give this award to.
  • Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

 

My Story

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I originally started ReadRantRock&Roll earlier this year to review books, do author Q&A’s, discuss health issues, and talk about the music that I love. I really wasn’t sure where it would go and I’ve sort of experimented with different posts since. What I really envisioned was sharing other people’s stories from the books that I’ve read and also talking about things that I feel passionate about. I also wanted to find people out in the world who are making a difference and share their story. I’ve done a few posts on films as well and eventually would like to add in some of my poetry and art. I have loads of ideas and hope that I can creatively express them all while maintaining an interesting blog.

So, here I am and I feel like everything is going fairly well. I’ve met an amazing group of people and feel super lucky to be here.

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My Advice

1. This is hard because I’m a new blog myself, but I’ll share two things that I think are important, and the first is to always respond to comments. I find it rude to not acknowledge someone who has taken the time to read and comment on your post. It’s an easy way to lose readers and I think this applies to any site that we use including Goodreads and other forms of social media. This is just my opinion of course.

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2. Another piece of advice is to take some time to check out some other blogs! There are so many amazing blogs out there and you can learn so much while meeting great people! I know its hard to find time with everything that we have going on in our lives, but it’s worth it.

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Award: Real Neat Blog Award 1 & 2

On By MischenkoIn Awards28 Comments

Recently I was nominated by two bloggers, Jo-Ann@inspirationpie.com and petrel41@dearkitty1.wordpress.com, for the Real Neat Blog award. I’d like to thank these two wonderful people for nominating me. I hope you’ll check out both blogs if you haven’t already. They are amazing and I feel very lucky to know them both!

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Here are the rules:

1. Put the award logo on your blog.

2. Answer 7 questions asked by the person who nominated you.

3. Thank the people who nominated you, linking to their blogs.

4. Nominate any number of bloggers you like, linking to their blogs.

5. Let them know you nominated them (by commenting on their blog etc.)

 

Petrel41’s Questions:

1. Where do most visits to your blog come from?

I think it depends on the post. The majority overall probably come from WordPress bloggers, but certain posts bring in a lot from external sites like Facebook. My recent post with Carol Buckley was viewed mainly by her followers being redirected from her sites.

2. What is your favourite sport?

To play-basketball and frisbee. To watch-football. Go Patriots!

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3. What has been a special moment for you so far in 2017?

Since I brought up the Patriots, I’ll say Superbowl 2017. I was falling asleep to avoid the anguish. Then, the unbelievable epic comeback when I thought all was lost. Amazing!

4. What is your favourite quote?

Two that I love and came across recently…

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Don’t you ever let a soul in the world tell you that you can’t be exactly who you are.” 
― Lady Gaga

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5. What was your favourite class when still at school?

Art and music/band. I ❤ band.

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6. Anything you had wished to have learned earlier?

To appreciate others, live life to the fullest, eat healthy no matter what,  not worry about what others think, accept myself for who I am no matter what someone else says because it’s the way God made me and I’m unique.  We are all unique!

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7. What musical instrument have you tried to play?

I play a handful of instruments including piano, guitar, sax, and more, but I could never play a brass instrument or the flute. I tried flute and cornet, but it just didn’t work out.

Jo-Ann’s Questions:

1. What is your favourite genre?

Hands down, non-fiction memoir/biography.

2. What is the last book you read that you gave 5 Stars and what did you love about it?35655943

It Starts With L by Cassandra Fear. I loved it because it’s a good story that reminded me of something I would’ve loved reading in high school. I enjoyed it so much. It was almost nostalgic.

3. Who is your favourite author?

I can’t go with just one, so how about Jodi Picoult, Anne Rice, Jamie McGuire, Gary Paulsen, Winston Graham, Luis Carlos Montalván, Tolkien, Jack London, Roald Dahl, Diana Gabaldon, Stephenie Meyer, etc.

4. What keeps you from attaining your goals?

Family responsibilities and my health occasionally.

5. Where do you see yourself in five years?

I’m really not positive on that, but I do hope to have some writing done by then! 😉

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6. What do you enjoy most about blogging?

Interacting with all of you, learning, author interaction, etc.

7. How do you start off your morning?

I start my mornings with coffee or tea either outside with the birds and fresh air, or inside catching up with updates before the sun comes up.

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Continue reading “Award: Real Neat Blog Award 1 & 2” →

Q&A with Lew Watts – Author of Marcel Malone – Book Review – SIGNED PAPERBACK GIVEAWAY

On By MischenkoIn Author Interviews, Giveaway, Mental Health, Music, Poetry, Reads7 Comments

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I’ve had Marcel Malone on my TBR list since the beginning of the year and finally read it this past week. In addition to reviewing below, you can read my Q&A with author Lew Watts and learn a little more about him.

Marcel Malone by Lew Watts

31298354Blurb: Dr Vera Lewis has a difficult but intriguing patient, Marcel, whose symptoms result from multiple levels of rejection—from family, colleagues, relationships, and those journals that receive his poetry submissions. Desperate to achieve a breakthrough, Vera prescribes a very unusual treatment that begins to desensitize Marcel to rejection, albeit with unexpected side-effects. It is only when Vera brings poetry into their therapy sessions that Marcel begins to reveal his deeper problems, and is able to confront the demons of his past. As for Vera, she has her own problems…
Set mostly in Washington, DC, Marcel Malone is a story of how the love of poetry can lead to personal transformation.

 

  • Paperback: 282 pages
  • Publisher: Red Mountain Press (October 23, 2016)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0997310227
  • ISBN-13: 978-0997310221

 

You can find this book on:

Goodreads | Amazon

 

My review

I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this book. Marcel Malone is a first novel for Lew Watts and one that is definitely unique.

Vera and Raymond are a married couple living in DC. Vera is a psychiatrist who lacks attention from her husband as he places more importance on his job as a lobbyist. Raymond worries about his reputation more than anything and lacks the ability to pick up on Vera’s needs.

The focus in the story is mainly Vera and her life with her patients. A particular patient that she becomes almost dependent on is Marcel. Marcel enjoys reading and writing poetry which is something he and Vera have in common. They share their thoughts with each other and Vera looks forward to these conversations. The result of this relationship and Vera’s own curiosity results in a story with interlaced poetry which I thought was unique, and the poetry just might be what they both need to unleash the past.

“Near this rose, in this grove of sun-parched, wind-warped madronas,
Among the half-dead trees, I came upon the true ease of myself,
As if another man appeared out of the depths of my being,
And I stood outside myself,” – lines from The Rose by Theodore Roethke

As Vera learns more about Marcel, she learns that he’s had a hard time with rejection in the past and Vera prescribes a new experiment of paradoxical intervention and journal writing to see if it might help him as a sort of “rejection therapy.” This becomes comical at times, but the outcome she receives from this is unexpected and Vera finds that her own demons and life choices need to be addressed.

The story kept me interested enough to finish it and the ending was quite emotional for me. There were a few times where I became bored with the story as there wasn’t a lot of excitement, but then something would happen or a mystery would be introduced which would yank me right back in again. I’ve always enjoyed poetry, especially Haiku, and I think that anyone who has an appreciation for it will enjoy this book. Even those that don’t particularly care for poetry will more than likely enjoy it. I have a goodly amount of authors and books to add to my list now after reading it and I’d like to thank the author for sharing a complimentary copy of this book with me.

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Wednesday’s Breakfast and a Book – Egg Muffin Cups – Ready Player One – The Pull and Kick Murder

On By MischenkoIn Cooking, Crime Thriller, Reads, Science Fiction, Wednesday's Breakfast and a Book29 Comments

 

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Good morning everyone! I’m excited to share a new breakfast recipe and two new books that I’m reading this week. Last week my health took a little turn on me and I’m sort of catching up this week with posts, tags, and awards. I hope you’ll be pleased with this week’s post!

I decided to make something fairly easy this morning. I ended up with a ton of eggs and thought this recipe would help use them up. Let’s get started!

Egg Muffin Cups

Ingredients to make 24 muffin cups – Easy to cut the recipe down to half if this is too many. 

1 Pound of bulk sausage of your choice (I like farmland sausage because it’s MSG free)

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24 Eggs

Roughly 2 1/2 cups of finely chopped onion and bell pepper (I used green & red)

1/2 tsp of salt – less if your sausage is heavily salted

3/4 tsp pepper

1 heaping cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. I used convection because I’m cooking two trays and want them to be evenly cooked. Grease your pans or add liners.

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Cook your sausage in a skillet. Break up the sausage into small little chunks. While the sausage is cooking you can chop up your onion and pepper and prepare the cheese and spices. Drain the sausage.

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Beat all the eggs in a bowl and then add everything else in.

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Measure out into the muffin cups. I used a ladle and left about a half inch space from the top of the pan.

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Bake for 22-25 minutes in the oven, or until solid and can be removed whole.

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Take them out and let them cool just for a few minutes. Remove and serve.

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I would recommend using liners with a square pan as a few of mine were difficult to remove, even after spraying.

What I love about these is that you can add what you want to. I was thinking next time I might add in some tomato. You can omit the sausage and add something else. Experiment with the ingredients you like.

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Garnish if preferred. I used some chopped green onion and fresh cracked pepper.

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Super simple and yummy!

Continue reading “Wednesday’s Breakfast and a Book – Egg Muffin Cups – Ready Player One – The Pull and Kick Murder” →

Award: The Unique Blogger Award

On By MischenkoIn Awards, Fantasy, Movies39 Comments

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I was nominated by Claire@Brizzlelassbooks.com for this Unique Blogger Award! I was super excited as I haven’t received this award yet. I’d like to thank Claire for nominating me. If you haven’t checked out Claire’s blog yet, please do. She has many book reviews, tours and giveaways to explore. I feel very lucky to have met Claire and we have some things in common which I think is awesome!

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The Rules

  • Share the link to the blogger who has shown love to you by nominating you.
  • Answer the questions.
  • In the spirit of sharing love and solidarity with our blogging family, nominate 8-13 people for the same award.
  • Ask them three questions.

 

Claire’s Questions

1. If you could have any animal or mythical creature from a book as a pet what would you pick?

I admire horses so I’m going to go with unicorns. I truly lOVE unicorns and I’ve always been fascinated by them. I loved “Uni” from Dungeons and Dragons and also the movie “Legend” with Tom Cruise which had Unicorns in it. How awesome would that be to have a unicorn?

2. Which is one of your least favourite characters of all time?

Denethor from Lord of the Rings. I didn’t like the way he treated Pippin and I despised him for trying to kill his own son, Faramir. Ugh!

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3. Is there a supporting character who you liked far more than the main one?

Many of the characters in LOTR. Mainly Samwise Gamgee. I also loved Boromir, Gandalf, Aragorn, and others.

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Q&A With Bernard Jan – Author of A World Without Color: A True Story Of the Last Three Days With My Cat

On By MischenkoIn Animals, Author Interviews, Memoir, Pets, Reads10 Comments

 

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A few weeks ago I came across a book on Goodreads titled A World Without Color: A True Story Of the Last Three Days With My Cat and knew right away I needed to read it. It’s a memoir written by Bernard Jan pertaining to the loss of his beloved cat Marcel. Bernard was very kind to offer some of his time to discuss his writing and some other questions I had about the book. You can see my Q&A with Bernard Jan below.

If you’d like to see my previous post including my review for the book, you can click HERE. 

Click the cover to add on Goodreads, or pick it up on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Kindle Unlimited members can read this for free!

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Continue reading “Q&A With Bernard Jan – Author of A World Without Color: A True Story Of the Last Three Days With My Cat” →