I personally love tragic stories, especially star crossed lovers. The sadder the better..lol. Beautiful happy stories are nice but we always remember the sad ones the most. It is perhaps in many ways cathartic. I have been working on a series of paintings that depict tragic couples in world history eg Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, Deidre and Naoise etc. They are still in the initial stages. Having said that, I actually didn't realize that Jude is a man. I always thought it would be a woman for some reason. I will try to read this book in the future. Overall, I think it is proper to have roses named after people or characters. For me it adds a certain depth to the rose. Thanks True blue, I will remember their stories when I do get a chance to paint them one day.

"Blow, Bugle, Blow" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The splendour falls on castle walls And snowy summits old in story: The long light shakes across the lakes, And the wild cataract leaps in glory. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. O hark, O hear! how thin and clear, And thinner, clearer, farther going! O sweet and far from cliff and scar The horns of Elfland faintly blowing! Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying: Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. O love, they die in yon rich sky, They faint on hill or field or river: Our echoes roll from soul to soul, And grow for ever and for ever. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.

Viruses vs. superbugs : a solution to the antibiotics crisis?-- Thomas Häusler

Deborah...I absolutely enjoyed The Widow's War. It is set in 1700's Cape Cod. Although I knew that women weren't allowed to vote, to own property...those were the facts. The effect on a woman, especially a widow - more than facts. The facts left out the human aspects of these restrictive laws...that a widow was entitled to be allowed to live in one room of the house that had been her marital home. The heroine of the book fights to maintain her property, her dignity and her friendships and loyalty. I read deep into the night, even when I had to get up at 5:30 to go to work.