Comfortably Living on a Student Budget

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Taking a crash course in financial reality - this is what it seemed for Anna, a new student, living for the first time on her own. Away from her parents, from free meals, free room and laundry service and car rides to school, sports and parties she had to learn how to live on a small student budget.  Which is often foreign to many post-secondary students. 
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What's for Free in Your City?
Anna, a smart journalism student at Carlton University, used her internet search skills to find solutions for her financial challenges. She started with the most common word: FREE and added Ottawa plus Furniture, Entertainment, Books and Sport.
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Save on Living:
As Anna had to furnish her student apartment, her first web search turned her to http://www.ottawa.craigslist > for sale / wanted > free stuff. 
She also searched and posted to http://www.kijiji.ca,  and to http://www.freecycle.ca.
Within three days she picked up a bed frame, two book shelves, lamps, an antique desk in need of TLC,  three wicker chairs, several indoor plants and a mirror - all for free!  She declined an offer for a free mattress and went instead to IKEA for a brand-new one and to check out their prices on cushions.  She was lucky: Every Wednesday  IKEA offers huge savings on selected items and this time it was by chance mattresses, exactly the size she needed. As she arrived a bit too early in the morning, she even was greeted with a free coffee and later she discovered the famous $1.00 IKEA breakfast.
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Save on telephone, banking and transportation:
Anna opted for the free Skype phone system through her computer. This way she could talk on her computer - not paying anything - with friends and family who lived 2,000 kilometers away. She choose free online banking and found reasons why NOT to use a credit card. Anna spared her money for a car, planed a long oversea vacation instead and uses OCTranspo. The Day Pass entitles her to unlimited same-day travel on the bus and the O-Train. At an OCTranspo unclaimed-items sale she found a bicycle for only $10, which helps her with grocery trips.
Anna also gathered information on car-sharing/car pooling and "hitch a ride" for trips in Ontario. 
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When ordering software she saved almost $100 on student rebate. And on her next Mac laptop she will save as a student as well. Textbooks are much cheaper or even free with textbookrevolution.org.
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Save on Nutritional Food:
Anna is a coffee lover, but also very smart and did not fall into the fast food/cafeteria coffee trap that would have added up to $500.00 /year. She makes her own coffee and brings a thermos mug to school. As bottled water is a real scam, she never buys it.
She compares the grocery flyers to plan next week's meals and find the best deals on produce (always seasonal), meat, fish or dairy products. If these specials are sold out, she asks for a "rain-check" and can buy it later at the same favorable price.
For nuts, cereals or peanut butter she goes on Wednesdays to Bulkbarn and receives a 10% student discount. Loblaws offers students 10% discount on groceries.
She also learned that volunteering at the City's free Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter Dinners will earn her a free meal and lots of food to take home.
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Save on Entertainment:
Renting books, magazines, movies and music from the City Public Library is a non-brainer. But who knew that most museums are free on Thursday afternoons or Saturday morning and generally on Canada Day? 
Anna likes art and visiting gallery vernissages are often an invitation for free wine & cheese. She also likes to attend concerts, movies, ballet and theater. Armed with a first-aid certificate, she got several volunteer jobs at theaters and concerts, seeing lots of premieres for free. 

For free in Ottawa, Canada: 

• Free Canada Day Concerts (the largest on Parliament Hill). 
• In spring Anna attended admission-free introductions to kayaking and canoeing. ........
• St. Pauls University, Carlton U and Ottawa U are offering international movies 
• The RA photoclub has great photo shows once a month. 
• In summer a free light & sound show is performed every evening at the Parliament.
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How to Make the Most out of Your Dollars.
Just as Anna shows, every student can learn strategies to spend less and still live well. Discover the best bargains and have fun saving for a nice vacation, new car or to keep education debt down!

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Join Amazon Student FREE Two-Day Shipping for College Students

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20 Common Mistakes When Writing for the Internet

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I admit, I am sometimes guilty of a couple of these mistakes in my blogs too, for example not getting out of the habit to use two spaces after each sentence.  Many of the 20 tips here in this article are valid for writing books or other print media as well.
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1. It’s Versus Its
This is a very common mistake that a lot of people make.
It’s is short for “it is”, so “it’s all relative” is correct while “it’s color is blue” is not. “Its” is a term of possession, so “its color is blue” is correct.

2. Overuse of Punctuation
Excess punctuation should be left out of most sentences on the web. If a reader sees a sentence with more than one comma, the sentence becomes harder to scan and therefore more likely to turn a reader off.
More advanced punctuation such as semi-colons and colons should be avoided completely by starting new sentences instead.
Example: “It is really important to keep three principles in mind, when thinking of the best shoes to buy; comfort, style, and eco-impact.”  It should be: “Comfort, style, and eco-impact should be kept in mind when thinking of the best shoes to buy.”  Short, sweet and no semi-colon.

3. One Space After a Period
This is something I struggle with daily. It was drilled into my head, especially during University, that two spaces after a period were needed.
The convention for web writing is now one space after a period.

4. Don’t Begin Sentences with “But”, “And”, or “Yet”
This is more common than you would think, and I have seen it from very established writers.
If you are challenging a concept from the previous paragraph or sentence, use “However” to start the sentence.
If you are trying to follow up on an idea from a previous sentence, don’t begin a new paragraph and just present the idea in the next sentence.
Your audience will leap with you without an introductory “and” or “but”.

5. Overuse of “Also” 
I go through all of my articles for what I call the “A Word” before releasing them into the wild.
“Also” has its time and place, but frequent use looks like a grammatical hiccup and is highly noticeable after a while to your reader.

6. Keep Sentences Short
While this was covered in the section on punctuation, it is important enough that it needs its own heading.
A sentence should never be longer than a line. If you need to list something, do it with bullet points or an attractive graphic rather than producing a long sentence.

7. The Serial Comma
The serial comma is used before a grammatical conjunction, such as “and” for the last item in a list of commas. Its use has been a topic of hot debate by writers and people in the publishing industry for a long time.
Since web writing aims to keep itself as simple as possible, the usual preference is to do without the serial comma.
Some clients will insist on its use, especially if they are in occupations where a more formal use of language is the norm, such as law.
Example: “She likes the films of Ridley Scott, Martin Scorcese, and Clint Eastwood.” Technically its use is never really incorrect, but it does serve as excessive punctuation that can trip up the reader.
You want your audience to read the sentence, not to pause on the comma and ponder whether or not it is being used correctly.

8. Capitalize Words in Headlines 
Excepting prepositions (of, to, for, is) and the words “and” and “the”, all major words in a headline should be capitalized.
I see a lot of copy where only the first letter of the headline is capitalized.

9. Their, There, and They’re
Their: Is a term used to illustrate possession, such as “their mitts were soaking wet”.
There: Indicates the whereabouts of something, such as “the statue is located there”. They’re: This is a contraction of “they are”. “They’re going to the beach today.”
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10. Use Lots of Headlines 
Ideally, any site page or blog posting should read much like this article, with a headline and then a paragraph or two.
Headlines act as important signposts for the reader to decide whether or not they want to read those paragraphs, so the headline should always describe the subject matter of the paragraphs which follow it.
This will look weird to those used to more conventional forms of writing, but the more you break it up, the more readable it is.

11. Use Spell Check and Your Eyes
Spell check isn’t always enough. If you spell “breakfast” as “break fast”, the typical spell check will not pick up on your mistake.
This is especially important for site copy. You can’t expect people to trust your brand or product if you have spelling mistakes on your page.
While a spelling mistake may be forgiven by your readers in a hastily written article or blog posting, it won’t be if it is present on a page that is trying to sell something.

12. Weasel Words
These are vague generalizations that are made for the convenience of the writer, not the audience.
If a writer is rushed for time, they may write something like “most people feel that juice is 100% tasty”.
The proper procedure is to find out the statistics and facts and work those into the sentence. The correct form would be “60% of people feel that juice is 100% tasty, while only 5% feel that it is only 10% tasty”.
Web readers are reading your site to get information, not opinions.

13. Then and Than
These words are very commonly misused. “Then” is indicative of a place in time, such as “there was no internet back then”.
Than is a quantitative term, which can follow the use of “more”, such as “there is no more annoying thing than a writer telling people how to write.”

14. Apostrophe Use
When you are considering whether or not to use an apostrophe, look at your demographic.
Is it a blog like this one that would benefit from a more casual style? Is it a website for a financial adviser?
The web is usually home to a more conversational style, but where you feel the context is more professional, don’t use the apostrophe.
Examples: Personal Blog for a financial adviser: “You’re going to find the new SEC regulations difficult to navigate without a little help.” Website copy for a financial adviser: “You are going to find the new SEC regulations difficult to navigate without a little help.”

15. Obscure References
Think of these as in-jokes with yourself or your industry that your clients just don’t get.
“This new album is more explosive than the Tunguska Event!” would be a good example of an obscure reference.
Again, this is context-specific. Referring to an episode of Star Trek by name will go over just fine on a Trekkie blog, but not in a mainstream news piece on science fiction.

16. Acronym Use
It is a good idea to limit acronym use even if you think your audience will know the acronym.
The 10% who don’t know it will be annoyed and may click off of your site. If an acronym will be repeated throughout a site page or an article, it is only necessary to define it the first time it is used. Once again, this is context-specific.
You don’t need to spell out AJAX for the readers of this blog, while you would have to for a mainstream media article. Wrong Acronym Use: “CPIC, CSIS, and the PAO are running a joint venture to better educate the public about how hard drugs finance international terrorism.”
Right Acronym Use: “The Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and the Police Association of Ontario (PAO) are running a joint venture to better educate the public about how hard drugs finance international terrorism.”

17. Keep Person On Track 
If you are referring to yourself as “I” at the start of your piece, don’t shift to “we” in the middle. Keep grammatical person use consistent.

18. Use Hyperlinks
If you are writing for the web, you want readers to be able to interact with your page.
You saw this above with the “Tunguska Event”. It was linked to a definition rather than leaving it up to you to look it up if you were interested.
If you are writing site copy for a business offering a product or service, use links to other areas of the site here and there to make it even easier for customers to find what they are looking for.
Keep both inbound and outbound links relevant and don’t use too many.

19. Overuse of Literary Devices
This is just good advice for any writing, online or offline.
Overuse of metaphors, similes, or any other literary device will distract from the point of your composition and make you look pretentious.
Literary devices are meant to help you get a point across in a certain way, so use them if you have to sparingly and move on.

20. Words to Avoid: Just and Regardless
“Just” can end up insulting your reader by implying that an action is easier than it actually is.
Look at the difference between these two sentences: “She says that I should just learn the French language.” “She says that I should learn the French language.
The first example makes it seem like the person is being talked down to, while the second sentence reads as more of a suggestion. Regardless should be avoided as it is a nonsense word that really doesn’t mean anything at all. When included at the beginning of a sentence, the words are not necessary, as you can see in these examples:
Regardless, the show must go on.
The show must go on.
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How to write for magazines and newspapers, as well as about the structure and layout of "Writing for the Web" in SavvyBookWriters.com/blog.
What common errors did you discover when reading web articles?

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Million-Dollar-Question: How Can Bookstores Survive?

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Bookstores:  we all want them to survive, both, independent local bookstores and even big chains. It’s not an easy task for brick & mortar booksellers.  However, it’s the growing popularity of the “shopping local” movement, in which booksellers were at the forefront.” And further: “many consumers across the country find the grassroots accessibility of indies appealing”, wrote The Atlantic.
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My “wishlist” and ideas how bookstores could strive:

1. e-Book Order Feature
Since years I was wondering why bookstores did not offer their customers devices where they could order the e-book version if they liked what they found in print in the store. Or at least “bundle” print books with an e-book version. Amazon now tries to partner with bookstores (which might meet some resistance…) to offer exactly what I had envisioned.
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2. Carrying Author-Published Books
Trade-published books do not automatically mean quality. There are so many wonderful books from independent authors out there – and it would be a smart move to offer them as well. Readers don’t care who publishes a book, they just want a good read.
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3. Order Directly from Author-Publishers
This way, bookstores could circum-navigate the wholesalers and increase their profit quite a bit! As these connections are mostly with local authors, the bookstores could play the “local” aspect into their promotions to the communities around. Most people like to “know” the author who’s books they buy.
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4. Offer Book-Layout, Cover-Image and Editing
Why not band together with professionals and offer authors these services to make sure the books’ content and layout gets a great start and is prepared for the Espresso Book Machine. Many authors would be happy to get technical help in the book production and publishing process.
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5. Set up an Espresso Book Machine
Many authors (professional and hobbyists) struggle to create very small numbers of print books, e.g. for book signings, Goodreads Giveaways or as gifts. Bookstores would be the ideal place to offer this inventive book printing device. Motto: “Get your book printed while having your Java”, which brings me to the next suggestion:
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6. COFFEE!
Most chain stores, such as B&N or Chapters have a Starbucks in a designated area, but very few bookstores offer this pleasure. Independent bookstores need to give customers more reasons to come in!

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7. More Space and more PR for Author Readings
Supporting events such as readings and book signings should be a priority of bookstores – and organizing these professionally, including PR, should be a no-brain-er. After all it is a promotion for the store as well.
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8. Providing Space for Author Meetings
Charging a small fee (as libraries do) and renting meeting space for authors or even organize a writers conference could be profitable and at the same time a good PR for bookstores if they have the space.
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What is YOUR view, how do you think, bookstores can survive and even strive?

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One More Reason to Travel to Nova Scotia, Canada

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Beer on the Pier!  Is the motto of the upcoming Beerfest in Halifax on Friday, August 8th, and Saturday, August 9th, 2014.

Between the Halifax' VIA Rail station and the Pier 21 museum - or more precise between the Garrison Brewery and the new Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, one can enjoy sun, music and the world best brews. 

That doesn't mean only Labal, Molson or Keiths...  Many micro breweries from the Maritimes, Ontario Quebec, and even Ireland and Maine, USA, will introduce their best beers to visitors. More than 175 brews (and also ciders) are available for tasting, half of them not available in liquor and beer stores. 


Great Drinks Deserve Great Food.
Taste of Nova Scotia food partners offer delicious fresh-prepared snacks for hungry festival goers.
Tickets for $40 (advance) or $45 (at the door) include all the music entertainment, unlimited beer samples and a 4oz souvenir glass.


Here is the official Beerfest website: http://seaportbeerfest.com/

See a YouTube video about the Beerfest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQS6hxF67Hc#t=32

Atlantic Canada’s largest gathering of craft beer, imports & cider is worth the trip!  One of the top summer festivals in Halifax, this is an event not to be missed. A reason to travel to Nova Scotia!

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House-Boating along the Rideau Canal Waterway

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The oldest continuously operated canal in North America, the Rideau Canal Waterway  links the lakes and rivers between Ottawa and Kingston and is a boater's paradise.
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Huge pine, maple and oak shade trees to the right and left, peaceful, quiet surroundings, quaint towns, lots of house boats for rent, and friendly knowledgeable lock staff - it's the recipe for a relaxing vacation. 
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A Wonderful UNESCO World Heritage Site!

I traveled the Rideau Canal for several years at all seasons, paddled, cycled, skated, canoed, house-boated and went through each of the 24 locks along the 202 kilometer waterway, and it still seems to be a well-kept travel secret.
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Barely any businesses, no tour-coaches, souvenir shops or tourist hordes, very few restaurants, no highways or high-rises, just cottages along the way. 
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See how the locks work: 

Enjoy a Fall trip: 

Rideau Canal in Winter: 

Read "Along the Rideau" 

- or even better: come and see for yourself!

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Living or Traveling in Kansas City, Missouri?

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New Exhibition "Across the Indian Country"
Photographs by Alexander Gardner, 1867-68
July 25, 2014 – January 11, 2015, Bloch Building, Gallery L11
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - Admission is FREE
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The "Across the Continent" series was photographed first on the existing railroad line across Kansas (resulting in some of the earliest images of that state) and then along the proposed route to the Pacific Ocean. Gardner's photographs stress the benefits of railroad construction–once railroads were built, towns would follow–and suggest the possibility of successful Indian and settler coexistence.

By the 1860's the Plains Indians found themselves sandwiched in the middle of the country with white advancement (nice word for steeling their country) on both sides.  Rail lines cut directly through their hunting grounds–scattering the game necessary for survival.  

This exhibition highlights two rare bodies of work created by Alexander Gardner at this pivotal time: Across the Continent on the Kansas Pacific Railroad in 1867-68 and Scenes in the Indian Country in 1868.
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Admission is FREE - Open Wednesday-Sunday
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is located in the center of Kansas City, at 4525 Oak Street, three blocks northeast of the Country Club Plaza. Visit their coffee shop (free WiFi)

Find out more about this fantastic museum: http://www.nelson-atkins.org

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Painter of the Heavens

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Painter of the Heavens is a story that covers wide territory, geographical and emotional. The subtitle is "A Novel of Crime and the Heart." 

This is no police procedural; it is a literary journey into the psyches of our two main characters. Painter of the Heavens is the story of a newly divorced young woman, in transition in her life, who strays into the orbit of a charismatic con artist. He's not just an emotionally manipulative guy, though he is every bit of that. He is plotting a major historical forgery scheme that he hopes will net him millions. 
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She doesn't know any of this as she begins dating him. And we don't know if the inscrutable Lyle is bad news for Penny, or only for the victims of his ambitious, outrageous scam. How bad is this bad guy? Will he mean disaster, maybe death, for Penny? Or is this a crook with a capacity for actually loving someone? He needs an accomplice for his peculiar enterprise, and his eyes have turned to Penny. 

 You're going to find dark intrigue and surprises, humor and heartbreak, and two of what Dickens called "lives of quiet desperation" when you read my debut novel, Painter of the Heavens. Check out Bart Stewart's eclectic blog at http://www.BartStewart.com.

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11 Fun Websites to Improve Your Writing

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No matter how good you think your writing is, there’s always room for improvement. In some cases even plenty of room :  )   Check out these amazing websites that can help you to take your writing to the next level.

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1. The Grammar Girl — Get simple explanations for complex grammar questions

2. OneLook.com — One quick dictionary search tool.

3. Vocabulary.com — The quickest, most intelligent way to improve your vocabulary.

4. 750words.com — Write three new pages every day.

5. Readability-Score.com — Get scored on your writing’s readability.

6. YouShouldWrite.com — Get a new writing prompt every time you visit.

7. Word Density Analyzer   Avoid to over-use words

8. HemingwayApp.com — Simplify your writing.

9. FakeNameGenerator.com — Generate fake names for your characters.

10. Mini Thesaurus  — Synonyms for 95 Commonly Used Words

11. Write It Sideways   — Writing Advice from a Fresh Perspective

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More Websites With Writing Tips Can Be Found Here:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/06/28/50-free-resources-that-will-improve-your-writing-skills/

http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/10_ways_to_improve_your_writing_skillsquickly_46142.aspx

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Content Marketing is Growing - FAST

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Content is King:
When looking at some of the amazing statistics that Jeff Bullas just published, I am wondering why not more authors, publishers and other businesses are dropping everything - or advertisements they planned - and start creating more content. See for yourself the startling numbers, displayed in the info graphic below. It also means good news for writers as the demand on great content writing is dramatically increasing!
Here are just some of the facts that should be considered in your business decisions:

1. Social media marketing budgets will double over the next 5 years
2. Email with social sharing buttons increase click through rates by 158%
3. 33% of traffic from Google’s organic search engine results go to the first item listed
4. 73% of reporters think press releases should contain images
5. 72% of “Pay per Click” marketers plan to increase their budget in 2014
6. Customer testimonials have the highest effectiveness for content marketers at 89%
7. Videos on landing pages increase conversions by 86%
8. 65% of your audience are visual learners
9. Visual data is processed 60,000 times faster by the brain than text.

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Source:  webdam.com.

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7 Sites that Offer Audio-Books and e-Books for FREE

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Every day free e-books pop up on Amazon's Bestseller List for non-fiction and fiction. If you don't own a Kindle: there is a free Kindle reading app that you can download to your laptop, smart phone, or tablet.  After you've installed the app then you are all ready to get your free Kindle e-books.  However this is only a small amount of the hundred thousands of books that are for free on the Internet. Here is a short list of the great variety of audio- and e-books that are offered besides Amazon:


1. LibriVox
Do you like to listen to audio-books while driving or jogging? LibriVox offers thousands of free audio-books, even classics or out-of-print books.


2. Free e-Books
This website is a great source for all sorts of e-books, from mystery, to romance to drama. The show reviews and ratings for each book. Amazing variety of books in lots of categories.


3. Google e-Bookstore
Search for bestsellers, favorite classics and more from a variety of genres. Books in this free section of the Google eBookstore are available in several formats.  Check out ratings and reviews from other readers.


4. Internet Archive
If you need access to historical and academic books, the Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library is a great source. Books are available in different languages and formats.  

5. ManyBooks.net
Their e-books are compatible for Kindles, Nooks, iPads and most e-readers.  Browse by most popular titles, recent reviews, authors, titles, genres, languages and more. With more than 29,000 free e-books, you will sure find many you will enjoy. 


6. Open Library
This library catalog is an open online project of Internet Archive, and allows users to contribute books. You can easily search by author, title and subject. The Open Library consists of more than one million free e-books. 


7. Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to create and share e-books online.  No registration or fee is required, and a collection of more than 45,000 free e-books books are available in ePub, Kindle, HTML and simple text formats.
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There are many more sites on the Internet to download free e-books.  Reading them all would take a lifetime.  Stacy Fisher posted 25 Places to Get Free e-Books in her article The Best Sites.

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Looking for a Job in Media?

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Would you like to find a position in Media as Morning Radio Show Host?  Or Web and Social Media Specialist?  Video Journalist?  TV Writer/Producer?  Jobs in media offer exciting possibilities, but it is important to realize that this sector is very competitive.
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Media Positions in Canada
Media Job Search Canada.com was designed and developed to help all, who work in media related professions, search for new jobs and is also available for those looking to begin their careers in various media related fields.  At Media Job Search Canada.com our name states what we do best: announce media related jobs at companies across Canada.  MJSC offers the largest database of Canadian media related website and e-mail addresses than any other website on the net, which includes most search engines. 
Media Job Search Canada.com has posted over 100,000+ job ads and has helped 2800 companies from across Canada, to fill media-related positions. In development is a site fur the USA as well.  
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Find Media Jobs in America
For Media jobs in the United States one can search at The MEDIA Job, a specialist job site for both job seekers to search Media jobs and recruiters to advertise Media jobs and vacancies online in the United States and worldwide.

Media Match is specialized in entertainment, especially in TV and movie industry.  Check their site for the latest job posts, and an employer directory, sorted by type and location, and leading to the websites of these entertainment companies.

The key to breaking into this industry is experience, persistence and networking - and certainly professional Social Media accounts.

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How to Improve Photos for the Internet

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My largest visitor stream I ever got on any blog was via Google Image Search. People were looking for a certain image on Google and found my website. The photo had the right size, motive and it was named with the right keywords.
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Improve SEO Through Your Photos
There is more to it, than just placing attractive photos on your blog or website. Here are some tips how you can optimize your photos to improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and to get more traffic to your website or blog.
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Reduce the File Size of Your Photos
NOT the dimensions of the image, but the pixel size. When you re-size a photo manually in WordPress (for example) you only change the dimensions, and the amount of pixel stays almost the same. A file size of 1.8 MB can be easily reduced to 300 Kb without compromising the quality for the viewer. Adobe Photoshop or Adobe “LightRoom” software can be used to re-size the photo’s pixels – not the dimension!
IMPORTANT: Make a copy of your original photo BEFORE you re-size. Otherwise it would be lost forever and you would keep only the lower pixel version. There is no way back!
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Name Your Photos
File593730.jpg or DSC_8405037.jpg is not helpful to you and totally meaningless to search engines. Keywords in the photos name should be separated by hyphens, NOT underscores, and shouldn’t be squeezed into a single word, e.g. Antique-Leica-Camera.jpg.
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Always Use ALT tags
Wordpress makes it easy for you when adding photos to your text. The fields for Title, Description, ALT and caption are build-in, so you can fill them out easily. Search engines can’t “see” photos, but “read” keywords, that describes your image. Keywords that you use on your web page should work together with the keywords you use for your images.
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Where to Find Inexpensive Photos?
You might be an avid photographer, just like me, taking often several hundred images a month. However, from time to time the need for a certain motive arises, and the question is, where to turn to for inexpensive images for a blog or a web site? A lot of research brought up a handful of online offers that I like to share with you.
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You will find websites in these articles that provide good deals on royalty-free photographs or even free ones.  Don’t know the difference between royalty-free and free photos?  Take the time to read these articles:
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Where to find free photos and illustrations?

Why Steal When You Can Get it for Free ?

5 Laws Writers Should Know to Avoid Getting Sued

10 Rules of USA Copyright Infringement

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Sea Captain's Buildings in Lunenburg, NS

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Old Lunenburg has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Over 400 buildings are part of the designated area, an exceptionally well preserved example of a North American colonial settlement.
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Distinctive Dormer Windows
The building that best illustrates Lunenburg's distinctive style is the Morash house at 55 Montague Street. But there are many more in and around Lunenburg that display the "Sea Captain's Style".  It was built in 1876 and features Lunenburg's famous dormer windows, which are larger and finer than traditional dormers, attributed to Joseph and Salomon Morash.  Some dormer windows (called "bumps" by locals) covered two stories while others opened on to nearly a whole room.
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Greek Revival style
Captain William Boehner House consist of elements of the Greek Revival style and other elements of Victorian architectural fashion, including: 

• the location of the house at the street line with a large back yard 
• all elements derived from the Greek Revival style, including symmetrical windows, hipped roof, the decorative entrance with an ornately trimmed and bracketed front porch, transom and sidelight windows on the front door, and decorative bracketing at the corner boards and the eaves; 
• all elements of Victorian ornamentation, including the bracketing connecting the windows and the eaves on all facades, the period picture window with six small upper lights on the front façade, and a side bay. .

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Same Color as Fishermen's Boats
Other buildings in town have elements, derived from the Second Empire style. Most of Lunenburg's handsome residences are painted in the same colors as the fishermen's boats and some of their architectural features illustrate superstitions attributed to seamen.

Read more about the fascinating Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, on 96 pages in Brian Cuthbertson's LUNENBURG THEN AND NOW

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In this full-color book, historian and heritage expert Brian Cuthbertson takes his readers on a tour of the old town, examining the charm of its landmark buildings such as the Lunenburg Academy, and the eclectic blend of old and new on its iconic waterfront. Cuthbertson outlines the town's history, from its founding in 1753 by a group of German Lutherans and French-speaking Calvinists, chiefly farmers and tradesmen. He follows the course of economic growth in the fisheries, including the famous Grand Banks fishery and the building of the fastest, most famous and beautiful working schooner of them all, Bluenose. He tracks the town's enduring traditions and continuing prosperity today.
Illustrated with dozens of full-color photographs and historical visuals, LUNENBURG THEN AND NOW is an exciting tour of one of Canada's most distinctive and fascinating towns.
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