"To-morrow is Saint Valentine's Day!" (REPRISED)

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day; and the text-image posted above features what Shakespeare's Ophelia had to say re the eve of this holiday. I discussed her speech in a prior post here on Blogger, back in 2010! And, now, with the soon to be 2017 Valentine holiday, I am thinking of Charles Schultz and his cast of characters re this event.

Perhaps this is on my mind because, yesterday, here on Blogger, I posted an entry as a way of paying homage to Charles Schultz, who died seventeen years ago on February 12, 2000. After all, this is a holiday that he embraced in many a poignant manner! One of the ways can be seen in the following picture;

and another way can be seen in the following image of Schultz's comic strip,

which is from the Facebook Page for The Charles M. Schultz Museum. Moreover, Schultz's Valentine's Day scenarios have been depicted in video format, and a number of them, including the one posted below,

can be seen on You Tube. This particular one makes me think of my figurine (pictured below),

that is rendered in the likeness of a mailman delivering valentines. Knowing how saddened and disappointed Charlie Brown was at his not receiving Valentines Day wishes, causes me to want to stress the importance of folks reaching out to the one, or the ones, that they love, by sending a gift or a card.

In terms of Valentines Day cards, I have designed three (postcard style) that would be very appropriate to give to love birds who love birds. My cards can be seen in the following pictures.

All of the images on the cards are from Cam's book, Words In Our Beak, Volume One.

This book makes a great Valentines Day gift! And, because it is available in iBook and ePub format, the book can be given to one you love immediately; which is a good thing, since, to quote Ophelia,  "To-morrow is Saint Valentine's Day!"

ADDENDUM FALL 2018: 

The non-hardcover version (or versions)  of Volume One within the Words In Our Beak book series that are mentioned in this entry may only remain available for a limited time, but hardcover versions of Volume One, Two and Three can now be found wherever books are sold. Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books.

MY BOOK SERIES

Additionally, I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available via Fine Art America (FAA). Some of my other photographs (Black & White Collection, Kaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.

Charles Schultz died 19 YRs ago today. (Tuesday's Truths WK 114)

The cartoonist, Charles Schultz, died nineteen years ago today on February 12th in the year 2000.

He was 77 years of age. Now, as a small way of paying homage to him, in this 114th segment of my Tuesday's Truths series, I've posted a comic strip (Red and Rover) by Brian Basset.

GOOD GRIEF! It's February 12th Again!

Last year, on February 12th 2016, my post here on Blogger featured the very same photograph seen here (above), atop that particular entry. The image is of a Macy's Ballon rendered in the likeness of Charlie Brown for one of The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades. On last year's blog post, this image was followed by pictures of other balloons featured in Macy's Parades. The ones I am referring to were designed in the likeness of Snoopy and Woodstock. And in that entry I stated: "The pictures posted atop today's entry, February the 12th of 2016 are in honor of Charles Schultz who lived on this earth between the years 11/26/1922—2/12/2000, but, to this day, lives on in the hearts and minds of countless people."

A year has passed since the aforementioned blog post; and the legacy of Schultz, as well as the cast of characters he created, continue to inspire and delight innumerable people! Moreover, the ballon rendered to look like Charlie Brown recently got a make-over; and, it was the leader in this past Macy's Thanksgiving Parade! The following pictures feature Charlie Brown's new "balloon look."

As you can see, he now carries his beloved kite. Charlie Brown's efforts to fly a kite were so heart wrenching! This is a topic, I covered in a post on Go Fly a Kite Day, which was February the eighth. 

Be that as it may, in terms of Charlie Brown's latest role in The Macy's Parade, he came close to side-swiping a lamp post (as seen below).

Now that's what I call a Good Grief moment! However, Charlie Brown did not give into his usual rhetoric of putting himself down! Instead he joked about giving those whom he was leading down the parade's route, a green light!

It was great to see him persevering in his role of parade leader. Often Snoopy and Woodstock bring up the rear when participating in the parade, but at this past November's event, they were no where in sight!

Draw A Bird Day 2019

Today is Draw A Bird Day, a longstanding holiday which was created in honor of the dearly departed, Dorie Cooper, who died when she was a child. In bygone years, I have written about little girl and her "role" in the  creation of the holiday. 

Within some of the aforementioned entries, I've included a a copy the photograph atop this post that features one of the ways I was taught to draw a bird by using my hand as a model. In any event, it seems birds learn to draw humans in a similar manner, as evidenced in the cartoon directly below.

That being said, in terms of humans drawing birds, Charles Schultz often comes to my mind.

Friday Follow-Up: Fredia, another PEANUTS's character, celebrates her debut!

IMAGE CREDIT

This past Tuesday, March 3, 2020, for my 165th segment in my Tuesday's Truths series, I offered my congratulations to Lucy van Pelt who is still going strong after making a debut 68 years ago!

Today as a Friday follow-up, I'm giving a shout on to another one of  Charles Schultz's characters, Frieda, who made her debut 59 years ago today.

It's the Anniversary of the Peanuts Comic Strip

Here's a copy of a Peanuts comic strip that I love. However, many folks felt differently about it. Those in that camp sent the strip's creator, Charles Schultz, accusatory letters! Be that as it may, I love Charles Schultz, as well as his cast of characters. And since today, October the 2nd, marks the anniversary of the Peanuts comic strip, I'm offering a link to a post that I made (re the Peanuts comic strip) here Blogger (on October 2, 2012). 

You've got this! Way to go, Lucy van Pelt! (Tuesday's Truths WK 165)

IMAGE CREDIT

For this 165th segment of my Tuesday's Truths series, I'd like to offer my congratulations to Lucy van Pelt who is still going strong after making a debut 68 years ago!

Here's what Charles Schultz had to say about her: "Lucy comes from that part of me that's capable of saying mean and sarcastic things, which is not a good trait to have, so [she] gives me a good outlet. But each character has a weakness and Lucy's weakness is Schroeder."

I appreciate all of Schultz's characters as evidenced by the number of blog posts I've published about him and his Peanuts comic strip.

My First Comic Strip! A Fagus sylvatica's (Beech Tree) Romantic Evening

As anyone who has followed my blog can surmise, I "love" the comics! This is evidenced by my including strips from Dagwood's antics (from the comic strip Blondie); as well as Snoopy's observations (from Charles Schultz's Peanuts; and the beloved animal tales found in Patrick McDonnell's Mutts; in various posts here on TLLG.

I particularly enjoy the human traits, feelings and habits that Schultz attributed to Snoopy as well as Woodstock; and, McDonnell does this frequently in his cast of characters which include Earl, Mooch, Guard Dog, Woofie, and Shtinky Puddin'.

So, what's a comic-strip loving gardener, such as yours truly (who has little talent for drawing), to do when she observes emotions and human characteristics in the things she grows?

"If it's Tuesday, it must be tumblr . . . " Week No. 33 + also in Honor of Charlie Brown...

Today is Tuesday, so in TLLG's cyber venues, it must be tumblr! But it is also October the second, and, therefore, the anniversary, of the Charlie Brown comic strip, which is one of my faves (as evidenced by my previous posts here on Blogger), even though the strip debuted in 1950 — long before I was born!

Subsequently, in 1967, Woodstock was introduced by the strip's creator, Charles Schultz, a man I have admired here in cyber-space as well as "real life!"

It has been said that Charlie Brown was a character who was "possessed of endless determination and hope, but who is ultimately dominated by his insecurities . . . "

Reflecting On 01-01-01

Happy New Year to you and welcome to my blog, The Last Leaf Gardener. Since tomorrow is the start of not just a new year, but a new decade, I find that I look back to how the decade began. The year 2000 began with all the Y2K frenzy. The following year 2001, came in much more peacefully, as evidenced in the photo above of a snow sculpture of the Madonna with Child, which I saw in Central Park on 01-01-00, after a winter snow storm. 

Unfortunately, that peacefulness would ultimately be shattered within nine months and eleven days, on September 11th, 2001 when airplanes flew into the World Trade Center, murdering thousands of people.

Today as I return to this peaceful image snow sculpture image, I'm reminded of the freedom to create. Snow sculptures that often pepper Central Park after a snow storm are one result of that freedom. I imagine the snow sculptures bring joy to those who create them, and joy to those who, like myself, see them when they walk in the "winter wonderland" of Central Park. However, since snow melts, these are fleeting moments.

Monday's Musings: Remembering 2018

IMAGE CREDIT

Earlier today I published an entry here on Blogger which discusses that it now The Seventh day of Christmas.

Since it is also the last day of 2018, here's an entry looking back over the year that is ending and looking forward to a new one beginning. As you can see from the cartoon (by Charles Schultz), atop this entry, Linus is doing the same thing.

O Mio Babbino Caro

On Tuesday, August 7th 2012, when Juan V came to work with me in my garden (he comes every 10-12 days), he said, "we've got a real problem." 

The problem he spoke of was an infestation of spider mites on my beloved Actinida kolomikta and Actimida (Kiwi Vines), and, as many of my readers know my Actinida kolomikta has been busy peparing for the sequel to my first garden themed movie (which he narrated), titled The Kiwi Speaks! Fifteen Minutes of Fame . . . almost! 

As most gardeners know, by the time one can see spider mites, the infestation is already problematic. And since I'm visually challenged, by the time I would notice them, it would probably be too late. Even when Juan V showed them to me, I still couldn't detect them, especially on the back side of foliage.

In Honor of D Day...

... I've posted a strip by Charles Schultz atop this entry. There are few words for any anniversary of D-Day but Frances J. Turner found some and expressed them in a poem ("The Hour is Go") which is included in my in memory of D-Day post for 2017.

Sunday's Sentiment

IMAGE CREDIT

Upon my seeing this Peanuts Comic Strip of Charles Schultz's characters in a classroom holding their papers up to read them, I thought of a passage from my hopefully forthcoming book (Imperfect Strangers).

Honoring the (5) Great "new brand" Pumpkins (National Pumpkin Day 2019)

IMAGE CREDIT

Today is not part of my blog posting schedule for this week, but this entry is being published in honor of National Pumpkin Day!

One can hardly think of pumpkins without thinking of The Great Pumpkin made famous by Charles Schultz's Peanuts character, Linus, who can be seen with Sally (directly above) taking delight in a pumpkin patch, where they are awaiting the arrival of him/her.

This year I have five great "new brand variety" pumpkins and a few "standard" pumpkins, all of which I got from various farmers in the tri-state area who come to the Greenmarkets on the UWS.

NATIONAL READ A BOOK DAY 2019

IMAGE CREDIT

Today is not scheduled as a posting day but I would be remiss to not give a nod to the holiday which is taking place on this day: #NationalReadABookDay!

What a perfect "excuse" to get your copies of my three volume book series, Words In Our Beak.

THE WORDS IN OUR BEAK BOOK SERIES 

I confess that I'd forgotten about this holiday as I've been a bit pre-occupied since learning I need to have an MRI of the brain to rule out any possibility of a tumor growing on my optic nerve.

People who have Neurofibromatosis (as I do) CAN have a tumor develop on their optic nerve. CAN is the operating word here, at least it's not ALWAYS.

In any event, my pre-occupation with scheduling this procedure, nearly caused me to forget about today's holiday, but thanks to the FB Page for The Charles Schultz Museum, who posted a copy of strip seen below, I've been made aware of the day.

IMAGE CREDIT

I'll leave you with this info re National Read a Book Day, dear reader, and I'll see you here on Blogger tomorrow for my scheduled posting.

An UPDATE: Tweeting and Reflecting (Details on The New Direction for TLLG on Blogger)

Tweet! Tweet! (View One)
I also posted this image on WBU-MICH FB Page

Tweet! Tweet! (View Two)
I also posted this image on TLLG'S FB Page

It has been over a month since I posted here on Blogger, and I'd like to use today's entry as an opportunity to state what my intentions are for this blog in the days to come, for I feel I have gotten away from my original hope re this endeavor, an endeavor I began on the last day of 2009, when I set up this blog, stating:

"Now that I've gotten the setting up of my blog underway (and making my New Year's resolution to stick with a posting schedule, it seems I may be passée. I understand many people have moved on to Tweeting. It is my life story summed up in ten words: at the airport when the ship comes into the dock. Being a reflective soul, I'll probably stick to blogging over tweeting. Besides, as it is, while some of my posts will be snippets and captions, others may border on mini essays. My temperament reminds me of Herb Gardener, whom I happened to meet while working at a theater (but that is as 'they' say, another story), and he told me that before becoming a playwright, he was a cartoonist and when the 'bubbles of dialogue got bigger than the cartoon-characters, it was time to be a playwright.' Similarly, as opposed to tweeting, blogs let you generate more in-depth content. I see them having greater resilience in terms of perception. But they require what many people seem to consider long-term commitment today:setting aside 20-90 minutes daily, weekly or semi-weekly. Still some bloggers are providing insightful or informative blogs which I hope to do also. I am in it for the long haul, and perhaps the Charles Schultz cartoon posted below sums it up:"

Now, today, March 6, 2014, as I look back on my initial (December 2009) intent for this blog, which was at a time I knew very little about social media, I realize that in some ways, I've succumbed to the "pressure" of tweeting, albeit through my Facebook (FB) and Pinterest postings being automatically tweeted (it's rare that I compose a direct tweet from twitter), and I've neglected what is near, as well as dear, to my soul: generating more in-depth content.

Monday's Musings: MEOW!! MEOW!! Painted Cat Rock Reacts to Charlie Brown's FAMOUS "I got a rock" Lament!

Hello! Please allow me to introduce myself, I am one of the new painted rocks created by Phyllis and represented by Helen (at Gifts by Helen).  

Last November, one of my "comrade" rocks made her media debut on this blog, The Last Leaf Gardener, when it was allowed to come into Blogger and let readers know that the world as the novelty Pet Rocks were once known has changed! If you'd like to refer to that blog post, please click here.  

This particular painted-rock-spokesperson received such notoriety from her November 2010 blog post that a priest's cat, (named Ignatius), noticed it, and he implored the priest to have a custom rock made for him!

Friday in the Octave of Easter & Arbor Day

Today is Friday in The Octave of Easter; and because it is the last Friday in April, it is also Arbor Day. I've always appreciated Patrick McDonnell's (creator of the Mutts comic strip) "take" re this event and have posted a copy of it atop this entry. As you can see, McDonnell's characters Earl and Mooch seem to know how much birds appreciate trees as evidenced in their planting one, which is appreciated by an avian creature.

I have also planted trees in containers that are in my rooftop garden and have not only been blessed by the beauty they bring to my place; as well as by their often unspoken help to our environment; many birds have come to visit because of them...

February First

I confess that I feel that I don't have much to offer re the onset of February in this year of 2019 except to reiterate what Snoopy has to say re the date of 2-1 (in the comic strip that I've posted atop this blog entry). What I can do, dear reader, is to remind you that February is National Bird-Feeding Month.