Blogger Patricia Youngquist is an author and a photographer. Her recent e-book, BIRD TALES, is interactive and includes the Blue jay featured above. Prior works include versions of WORDS IN OUR BEAK, where the stories are narrated by Cam, a female cardinal. Additionally, some of her photographs have been licensed by Fine Art America to reproduce as wall art and on to an array of surfaces for various products! Do view both side-bars for specific details on all of this.
Sharing a copy of a 1970's Peanuts strip (atop this entry) because the month of June, which begins today is known for many things, among them is bringing attention to aquariums.
In 1982, President Ronald Regan declared the month of June to be a time to learn more about them (as well as zoos) and this fact about the month of June, dear reader, is the essence of my 218th Tuesday's Truths segement.
BUT I do realize I don't have to "suffer these indignities," I most likely will have to be subjected to them over and over again...
And I will remind Snoopy, we don't have to "suffer these indignities," THAT part (suffering them) is in our control; as a friend of mine said to me upon hearing about my unpleasant encounter this past Sunday, "BE THE TEFLON."
With today being the last day of this month of May (which is the month set aside for NF awareness month) perhaps the wisdom of being the Teflon is truly noteworthy (at least for me).
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 still have Christmas cards to write because I did not finish them due to of difficult personal circumstances that required my full attention; but I did get a few cards out and the ones I still need to send are addressed as well as stamped — I just have to write notes on them.
Thankfully Christmas is a season — not just one day and with that thought, I best publish this post and get on to finishing my cards.
Meanwhile, dear peeps, hope you and yours have a chance to celebrate the holiday of your choice or celebrate no holiday if that’s your choice.
In one week's time, it will be Christmas Day and thanks to my gardening partner in crime (Juan V), unlike Snoopy, I didn't have to unplug anything to get my Christmas tree to be lit!
AND also thanks to David Denny (DD) for taking aerial shots of my garden!
It's the last day of September for this year of 2019 and I'd like to take this opportunity to announce a change in when I will be publishing entries here on Blogger from October 1, 2019 through the end of the year, December 31, 2019.
December 31, 2019 will mark my ten year anniversary of publishing this blog. I published my first entry on December 31, 2009.
My blog has gone in different directions since that time and on August 1, 2019, I announced in my blog entry the following: "Time continues to march ahead rather I do or not! I had planed to have submissions out as well as have videos posted by June 21! Now, today, is August 1st and neither are ready, although they are both mighty close. Therefore before any more time passes or I enter the state of denial... that I can do everything, I need to accept that I can only do so much in a day, especially if I want to do it well. In accepting this fact, I realize I need to free up some time. The only way I see to that at this juncture is to adjust my blogging schedule. As you may have noticed dear reader, for the past several months, I've published posts on a daily basis. However, during this time of my now being fully committed to the process of completing Imperfect Strangers as well as Steidl's proposal, I have decided to post every other day, except for Tuesdays (on that day I'll always post to keep up the momentum of my Tuesday's Truths series). I will stick to this schedule (with the exception of an occasional extra posting on a non-scheduled day) until the end of the month of September (2019)." Now, on this last day of the month of September in the year 2019, I am thankful to report my pulling back on my posting allowed me to accomplish my goal of finishing my book, Imperfect Strangers (and sending it to a publisher who requested it) as well as posting a video update about the book which can be viewed within my Vimeo and/or You Tube Channels.
That schedule adjustment also permitted me to finish a book of my photography (working title It's The Little Things) and submit it to a publisher.
Beginning tomorrow, and until at least until the end of the year December 31, 2019 (at which time I will reevaluate my blogging schedule), I plan to return to the schedule I've been using in order to meet the deadlines of projects related to my books.
However, because the time period of October 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019, coincides with many occasions and events that I've written about in bygone years, I may publish posts on non-scheduled days. At minimum, I will meet my commitment to the schedule of postings I laid out in August 2019: Every other day, except for Tuesdays (on that day I'll always post to keep up the momentum of my Tuesday's Truths series).
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.
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.
I can relate, CB! When I was an elementary school student, I had bad experiences with pens too! In one of my for my hopefully forthcoming book (Imperfect Strangers) chapters, I state: "...The first day of school the teacher tells my class to write about our summer vacation. She hands out ruled paper and ballpoint pens. This is new for me. In prior years, my teacher had only let the students use paper with no lines and write with number two pencils. I don’t like lined paper because I can’t see well enough to keep my handwriting on the lines; my script is always spilling over into the spaces between them. I am not looking forward to using pens either. They make me uneasy because they are more permanent. Using ink makes it difficult to erase what I write. Now I am even more apprehensive about full-filling the writing assignment of how I spent my summer vacation..."
Gotta love CB's resourcefulness! It's easy to see why "they" say, "Your'e a good man Charlie Brown!"
This is the fourth Sunday for the month of July 2019 which means it is Parents Day. A number of web-sources (including National Day AKA ND) ) concur, "National Parents’ Day honors all parents on the fourth Sunday in July. No matter where our parents may be, this day serves to celebrate their important role in our lives.
ND (and other web-pages) also claim "President Bill Clinton established National Parents’ Day in 1994 when he signed Congressional Resolution (36 U.S.C. § 135) into law. The recognized the '…uplifting, and supporting the role of parents in the rearing of children.' Republican Senator Trent Lott introduced the bill. "
I am honoring the holiday by posting a copy (atop this entry) of a Peanuts Comic Strip which was published long before (8-1-1978) Clinton created a holiday for parents. The strip paints a picture of how a relationship between a parent and child can be.
But Parents Day is also for the birds, for when it comes to the avian community, both parents play a significant role in rearing their young.
Julia was a baseball fan (understatement), therefore, in order to have something to talk about a topic she would enjoy I listened to coverage of the sport on the radio, followed the newspaper headlines and watch a few games with her. I didn't keep with the the sport after she passed, but, I do know that a few teams have a bird as their mascot.
It's Monday; and so, anyone who follows Twitter, knows this means the topic #MondayMotivation is trending, but this is not just any Monday, it's the first Monday of a New Year and motivation might be a bit higher.
The image atop this entry is from a Peanuts' tweet on the subject of #MondayMotivation that I saw quite some time ago. When I saw it, my initial thought was what does this particular cartoon have to do with motivation?
This cartoon appears to be more about perseverance (which Charlie Brown seems to do on a number of occasions) than motivation.
Perhaps I see CB's drive to "kick it clear to the moon," as perseverance since I'm one who perseveres, as evidenced by the information re my fundraiser on Facebook.
By the way, for those who don't do FB but would like to contribute, please refer to the lefthand side bar of this blog. The information is posted below the Donate Button (which is the eighth item in that sidebar's list) and thanks.
We are far too early for the "leaves in a pile situation" since it's only the first day of Autumn, but Linus's advice is something to keep in mind as we enter the fall season.
Yikes! Sally's having another moment of anxiety re the onset of a new school year! Perhaps you know someone who feels the same way — be a student OR an educator?
This can be a stressful time, but hopefully made more bearable with my cool book bags (featuring designs which are based on my kaleidoscopic photographs as seen in the pictures below).
In any event, according to a web-page, "Every year in April Kite enthusiasts across North America celebrate the history and the future of the world’s favorite pastime by letting their kites fly. It is a month to celebrate the joy and happiness that comes from letting out the line, letting your kite catch the wind, and letting that kite soar high into the sky."
Of course if you are like Charlie Brown, your joy and happiness can turn into frustration, as evidenced in the Peanuts comic strip (which was evidently published on April 12, 1956) that is posted directly below.
Today, March 21st, marked the first full day of spring for 2018, the season "officially" began yesterday at 12:15 PM in NYC, but you would never know it from our weather, as I mentioned in yesterday's blog post.
And today, on our first full day of spring for the 2018 season, we are having our fourth nor'Easter since the new year began (a newspaper article re the event can be found by clicking here).
However, in spite of the inclement weather, I took a walk within nearby Central Park, and came upon a lone black squirrel (pictured directly above) nibbling on an abandoned snowball. On another side of the park, towards the lake, I came upon a snow-person holding a fishing pole.
The creation can be seen in the next picture (where the pole is indicated by a red arrow that I affixed to my photo).
Upon my seeing this snow creature, I recalled a Peanuts comic strip in which Linus had created a snowman standing on his head (and I've posted a copy of the strip directly below).
The Peanuts comic strip atop this entry was something I saw in my Twitter feed the other day. It came to my mind as I pondered what to share re yesterday's Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, which I attended as its route is less than half a block from my apartment.
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.
Additionally, I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available viaFine 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.
