March 2021 is here!

March 2021 didn't come in like a roaring lion or a docile lamb, at least in my garden, but it did come in with a visit from a Northern mockingbird which I always appreciate.

Throwback Thursday: "LIFE CAN'T WAIT" (Today's my video's one year anniversary.)

VIEW ON VIMEO
VIEW ON YOU TUBE

As of this blog entry, we only have ten more days left in the month of May, which happens to be known as Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month. I was born with this horrific condition and have attempted to raise awareness about it through postings here on Blogger as well as in my presentations (speaking engagements) including one I gave in December of 2018 at NYSEC (The New York Society for Ethical Culture).

Moreover, I've written a book, Imperfect Strangers, about living with Neurofibromatosis (NF) and today marks my one year anniversary of posting my video (the cover for it is posted atop this entry) about the book.

Rare Disease Awareness Day 2020

IMAGE CREDIT

Today is Rare Disease Awareness Day and as a way of paying homage to it, I've posted a "promo" image atop this entry.

This annual "holiday" was initially brought to my attention (through a 2018 Facebook posting by my acquaintance (Catherine C) and I blogged about it at time stating:

According to a number of sources, including NORD (The National Association for Rare Disorders), "In the U.S., any disease affecting fewer than 200,000 people is considered rare. This definition comes from the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 and is slightly different from the definition used in Europe. There are more than 7,000 rare diseases affecting 25-30 million Americans. In other words, one in ten Americans are suffering from rare diseases and more than half of them are children."

Tuesday's Truths WK 153: The Mandarin Duck May NOT have turned his back on NYC!

Welcome to my one hundred and fifty-third segment of Tuesday's Truths. Today, I feel obliged to share some disturbing news that I found in my feed: "New York, NY — Mandarin Patinkin, a duck best known for making New Yorkers happy, at least for the six months he resided in Manhattan, is missing and feared dead."

Today is NTD (National Teacher's Day) Tuesday's Truths WK 125

Welcome to my one hundred and twenty-fifth segment of Tuesday's Truths which is coinciding with National Teacher's Day (NTD). This unofficial holiday always occurs on a Tuesday during Teacher Appreciation Week, which takes place in the first full week of May.

On this day, I'd like to thank the those who have given me the opportunity to give my presentation (that is based on birds included in my book series, Words In Our Beak) to their students.

THE WORDS IN OUR BEAK BOOK SERIES

I spoke at about the topic of wild birds and bullying in our own lives and culture.

Studying the wild birds in NYC and surrounding areas has important implications for understanding the similarities of human behavior and the behaviors of members within the avian community. The topics I covered in my presentation included how birds teach us about the human race in such matters (to name a few) as finding our voice, ways in which we compensate our behaviors to meet our needs, accepting our physical appearances, and how bullying impacts our lives.

For Thursday in the 2019 Octave of Easter: "Fly Away" (An Inspiring Poem)

I went up to The Wild Bird Fund this afternoon and saw a poem about pigeons taped to a partition. It can be seen in the picture atop this entry. Supposedly the poet wrote it when she was only eight years old. Would love to meet her...

A Reminder from Pigeons + Emily Dickinson (On this World Poetry Day 2019)

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

It's World Poetry Day and a poem that I'm thinking of is one by the poet Emily Dickinson:

 “Hope is the thing with feathers, That perches in the soul, And sings the tune--Without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm, That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.”

Yesterday I read a mediation by Dr. James Campbell ("In Praise of Pigeons") on Dickinson's poem and part of it stated: "When I imagine that 'little bird' of which Dickinson wrote, I automatically think of the starlings and the sparrows of my Indiana childhood.  I might even imagine the colorful and aggressive blue jays or cardinals that I still enjoy watching.  But when I think of hope and birds and bird songs, I never ever think of a pigeon...."

Rare Disease Awareness Day 2019

It was brought to my attention (through a Facebook posting) yesterday by my acquaintance (Catherine C) that Rare Disease Day is being observed on February 28th this year.

According to a number of sources, including NORD (The National Association for Rare Disorders), "In the U.S., any disease affecting fewer than 200,000 people is considered rare. This definition comes from the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 and is slightly different from the definition used in Europe. There are more than 7,000 rare diseases affecting 25-30 million Americans. In other words, one in ten Americans are suffering from rare diseases and more than half of them are children."

She advocates for this cause due to the fact daughter has a rare disease (Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome AKA Fibro-Adipose Vascular Anomaly OR Kawasaki Disease). As it happens, before I saw Catherine's posting, I had a very unpleasant experience re my rare disease (Neurofibromatosis).

The End of the First Week in 2019

Since this evening marks the end of the first week in this new year of 2019, I'd like to tell you that someone from the FB Chat Team re fundraising has made me aware (this afternoon) of how I could post an update to my personal fundraiser.

Soon (and very soon) it will be Christmas Day! Tuesday's Truths WK 106

The truth for this Tuesday is that in one week's time, it will be Christmas; and as I look at the photo atop this entry of me from many bygone years, I wonder, what did I ask Santa for?

This year has been a rough one health-wise and I am in deep trouble but am trying to remain positive, and I probably should ask Santa for some help.

It's Christmas Time in The City...

In two weeks time, it will be Christmas Eve and NYC is ready.

Here are a few examples: The Met's tree, a 20-foot-high blue spruce is hung with ornate Neapolitan angels, and the base of the tree is the setting for an elaborate Italian Nativity scene; the tree in close proximity (Dante Park) to Lincoln Center was lit on the Monday after Thanksgiving, November twenty-sixth (the same night as my presentation at NYSEC aka New York Society for Ethical Culture); and the in the evening of the Wednesday after Thanksgiving the tree at Rockefeller Center was lit (more of NYC's Christmas decor can be found on a web page for trip savvy).

Inside the AMNH (The American Museum of Natural History) a nondenominational holiday tree decorated with origami animals (800-plus folded-paper critters) is up and outside, at the building's entrance across from Central Park, is a topiary of two dinosaurs, facing each other as they hold a wreath; prompting my caption, "With this wreath, I thee wed."

Friday Follow Up: My Event at NYSEC

Just a quick follow-up for my well wishers re the speaking engagement (about birds and related issues) that I had this past Monday (11-26) at the New York Society for Ethical  Culture (NYSEC):

JG, the wonderful man who has been rehearsing my presentation with me for several weeks made himself available for a quick run through of my talk with slide show and to help me schlep some volumes of my Words In Our Beak series to the event, which was beyond helpful, since torrents of rain happened to be falling and I already had to carry my computer and other equipment.

Moreover,  he surprised me with a "bouquet" of Paper Whites, which can be seen in the photo atop this entry.

Tonight's THE night!

Tonight's the night of my talk at the New York Society for Ethical Culture (NYSEC) located at 2 West 64th Street. It will start at 6:30 PM and is scheduled until 8:00 PM.

Please see press release for details.

By the way, the photo atop this posting is a very partial of The Adler Study, the room where my event is to take place.

I hope the seats are filled to the max and that audience members will enjoy the presentation, which is mostly based on the birds featured in my book series, Words In Our Beak.

MY BOOK SERIES

But I will also include info re the now celeb Mandarin duck as he spends a lot of his time in the pond  that is located in the area of Central Park that is not too far from NYSEC...

SEE MY FAA COLLECTION FOR IMAGE DETAILS

... as seen here in my photo that NYSEC used to promote the venue.

Sunday's Suggestion: Mark your Calendars!

As I've been saying for the past three days (Thanksgiving Thursday, Black Friday, and yesterday) here on Blogger, FAA (Fine Art America), the place who renders my photographs on to greeting cards as seen in the examples below, including one of my many images of the now world famous Mandarin duck ... 

AVAILABLE VIA FAA

... as well as two of my many kaleidoscopic images ...

AVAILABLE VIA FAA

AVAILABLE VIA FAA

... and one from the number of images within my Words In Our Beak book series ...

AVAILABLE VIA FAA

... is offering free shipping on all merchandise through tomorrow, Monday, 11-26-2018 .*** (at midnight EST), so please mark your calendars. My cards are perfect for the many upcoming holidays as well as for any occasion; and people seem to always enjoy receiving a card through the mail.

Thanksgiving Day 2018 + November 22nd: JFK's Assassination + My Father's Last Words (PLUS AN UPDATE FROM FAA!)

On this Thanksgiving Day of 2018, I can hear the bands from Macy's Parade through my window, but have not gone outside to see it. The temperatures are some of the lowest on record for this day, and the wind gusts are abnormally high, which means the Macy's Balloons will be flying low to the ground, and not as easy to see, since people stand on ladders and put toddlers on their shoulders.

I'm not concerned re not seeing the balloons today, for I've seen them over the course of many years as they made their way down Central Park West ...

Mandarin duck T Shirts = 50% off! Today only! (Tuesday's Truths WK 103)

For my 103rd segment of Tuesday's Truths, I'm informing you that I received a notification (via email) late last night that Fine Art America (FAA) is offering a promotion that is only good for today, November 20th, 2018.

Here's the deal; Up until midnight EST, FAA is allowing me to offer my images of the now famous Mandarin duck (in Central Park) when rendered on their T shirts for folks to buy at a 50% discount!

The image atop this entry is an example of how the T shirts looks, but for a clearer image, details re fabric used, background color choices, Mandarin image choices, sizes; and pricing, please click here to view all within my collection on FAA.

These T shirts make perfect gifts to satisfy bird lovers — especially ones who have experienced Mandarin mania. They are also a great gift idea for the upcoming holidays of Chanukah, Christmas and Kwanza!

I will be featuring a few details re the Mandarin duck in my upcoming talk on the Monday after Thanksgiving, 11-26-2018 (which is six days from now) at NYSEC (The New York Society for Ethical Culture). Click here for details.

Mark your calendars for the Monday after Thanksgiving; It's one week from Today!

An event that I've been writing about here on Blogger and in other cyber venues is one week from today, which is the Monday after Thanksgiving. This is just a reminder during this time of hustle and bustle, to please mark your calendars and share the info with those near and dear to you: 

I will be the guest speaker at NYSEC's (New York's Society for Ethical Culture) Speaking of Science series on Monday, 11-26-2018. The details on the "photocopy" of the flyer posted directly above may be a bit hard to read, so I'm taking the liberty of copying and pasting the content below:

Studying the wild birds in NYC and surrounding areas has important implications for understanding the similarities of human behavior and the behaviors of members within the avian community. The topics I will cover in my presentation include how birds teach us about the human race in such matters (to name a few) as finding our voice, ways in which we compensate our behaviors to meet our needs, accepting our physical appearances, and how bullying impacts our lives.

Patricia Youngquist is the author of the three volume “Words In Our Beak” book series, published by Ingram Spark, in which stories are told from the bird’s-eye perspective of Cam, a female cardinal that regularly visited her rooftop garden located near NYSEC and is illustrated with her own photographs. Prior to publishing this series, Youngquist published an article on Google Mapping for Contribute Magazine as well as over a thousand posts on her blog (thelastleafgardener.com). It has been listed (by feed_spot) in the top one hundred urban blogs. Her earlier impressionist and kaleidoscopic photography has been exhibited in NYC which led to radio interviews with John Montone’s New York for 1010 WINS and The AL Lewis Show with Karen Lewis for WBAI. All of her work, including these radio interviews, can be found on her website, patriciayoungquist.com

Date: Monday, November 26, 2018 - 6:30pm to 8:00pm

Location: Adler Study, Room 514

Admission: Members $5, Guests $10

Also please note, copies of all the books in my Words In Our Beak series will be available for purchase after the event ...

THE WORDS IN OUR BEAK BOOK SERIES

... and if you'd like I can autograph any copy.

My talk/presentation at NYSEC is in 2 WKs! Theo plans to attend!

Yesterday I was invited to attend an informal event for a man named Theo who lives in my hood, he can be seen in the image atop this entry where he is being interviewed for a documentary film being made about him.

Ducks in a row and not in a row...

The "Ducks in a row..." seen in the picture atop this entry, where they are swimming in the pond  in Central Park, include a Wood duck, a Mandarin duck, and a Mallard duck (respectively).

And the set of images directly below feature other duck types, a Khaki Campbell (swimming in the Hudson River), a Bufflehead, (swimming in the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir), and a Muscovy, who is also swimming in the Hudson (respectively).

THIS MUSVOVY DUCK IS FEATURED IN VOL 3

The latter of these, a Muscovy, is featured in volume three of my Words In Our Beak book series...

Has the Mandarin has gotten out of Dodge?

I saw this You Tube video in my newsfeed and wanted to share it with you, dear reader, especially since I've blogged about the unusual avian visitor featured in this clip.

I'm very thankful that I got to see the now famous Mandarin duck while he was visiting Central Park, especially since it appears he is gone. If you'd like to read about my experiences seeing this duck pls chk out my blog posts where you will also find a number of photographs of this amazing bird.

Now in his likely permanent absence, I'm trying to heed the wisdom in a quote of Dr. Seuss, “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

ADDENDUM: Nearly a little over eight hours after publishing this entry, I'm happy to report that the video included here may have been unintentionally broadcasting fake news — or premature news — for I received a notification that the Mandarin duck has once again been seen spending time in Central Park!