It's May 17th! (World Awareness Day for Neurofibromatosis)

Today, May 17th, is the day designated for promoting WORLD WIDE awareness re Neurofibromatosis (NF), a medical condition that has affected yours truly since birth, please note the verbiage (referenced within the square) in the text-based image atop this posting.

Organizations seeking to promote awareness about this affliction are asking folks to wear blue and green as a sign of their being in solidarity with the plight of one's who have NF.

Additionally, buildings across the globe are turning on blue and green lights to to show their support; as evidenced in a posting by the Children's Tumor Foundation @ https://www.ctf.org/shine-a-light-on-nf/

Unfortunately, even though I have been traumatized by many consequences related to my having NF, I don't own blue and green clothing, so I cannot help in this manner, but what I am doing to raise awareness is working on a book which is tentatively titled, Imperfect Strangers, and its content describes some of the consequences of living with NF.

A video about "Imperfect Strangers" can be found within my Vimeo and You Tube channels. Here are the links:

https://vimeo.com/338407819

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt4SvgkRXuc&t=6s

And while I may not be wearing blue and green clothing, the European starlings who visit my garden, have blue and green features, as evidenced by the photos I'm including here in the images below:

This bird type is featured (along with many other bird varieties) in my books. You can find info re this matter within a post on my blog via this link:

https://www.thelastleafgardener.com/2018/10/one-sheet-book-series 

"Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't." [At long last: An Update re my unintended hiatus from Blogger]

I am well aware that it has been over a year since my last post here on Blogger where I spoke about the fate of the Autumn clematis which at that time grew in my garden. I also stated, "However, given my new battle with Neurofibromatosis (NF) and the limitations this brings, it may be quite a while before I can tell my flora's stories. Plus I need to concentrate on raising awareness about NF which I hope to do through my book project, Imperfect Strangers."

During this unintended hiatus from publishing posts on my blog, I have had one trauma after another non-stop, mostly related to my having NF (multiple surgeries and treatments for which I'll spare you the details).

Please know, I've missed working on my blog and am quite humbled by the fact that people have contacted me re when, and if, I planned to return to this endeavor that I've been involved in since December 2009.

At this juncture I don't know if I'll be able to fully return to my blog for my computer is no longer functioning as it should. I was able to use a computer to create this posting but that may be an only one time deal.  

Meanwhile, I've been very involved in finding ways to get a new machine and will continue to try and make that happen, not only for my blog, but for my book project, which has been on hold due to what is going on with my machine.

This situation has also disrupted my ability to procure assignments with the on-line publication that I had been writing assignments for: narratives accompanied my photographs. 

It also has prevented me from being active with uploading new work to my venue on fineartamerica. 

In any event, I’m not particularly superstitious, but now that I'm posting this update, please let me confess, that I did find it interesting that a little bird spent time in my garden (this past December and January) as I attempted to get through these new hurdles with Neurofibromatosis.

The creature I am speaking of is a ruby-crowned kinglet, "a small bird with a big spirit." An image of my visitor visiting my garden can be seen atop this posting as well as in the copies of photos I took of him that are directly below.

Ruby-crowned kinglets are known for courage, strength, as well as determination and have been considered to be a symbol of hope and renewal. Birders concur, the ruby-crowned kinglet reminds us that no matter what challenges we face in life, we can overcome them and they remind us to never give up on our dreams and to remain positive in the face of adversity, for this tiny creature sings (as do many birds) even in the darkest times, reminding us that hope and joy can be found.

Many weeks have passed since this creature visited me, yet I'm still hoping the truism re the presence of such a bird holds, and that I will be able to return to my project. 

It was a very recent encounter that I had which reinforced what I feel is a a need for my book project to come to fruition. Here is what occurred:

One of the sons of the owner of the building where I live pointed to my face and in an unkind manner (although I've been the target of much worse comments and questions) asked about my bumps. 

This is something I "should" be used to at this stage of my life, but there are days when encounters such as this get me down, while other times I can brush off them off. As an old candy bar commerical jingle (composed by Peter, Paul and Mary) proclaims, "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't."

In any event, a video of my book project's intent was posted last September on You Tube as well as Vimeo and the response was very encouraging as evidenced by copies of comments that are posted below:

                                   

With all of these testimonials, now, more than ever, I hope to move forward with my "Imperfect Strangers" project.

Thanks again to all my readers of this blog for checking in during my absence from posting.  

I hope to continue doing it again, but what with my health and technology issues, it may be sporadic, so feel free to check my smaller updates as well as my "stories" on Facebook.

In Remembrance of Donna De Solis

This post is in honor of what would be the seventy-fourth birthday of my dearly departed friend, Donna De Solis, who passed away on June 25th, 2015. In the picture directly above she can be seen at the bottom of image and I am standing directly behind her. It was taken in 2014 and we were on a pier at the Hudson River, celebrating my birthday. 

Little did we know it would be the last time I celebrated mine with her, for she died the following June two months before my birthday in the year 2015.

Donna was the office manager at The Church of the Blessed Sacrament (my parish).

Over the many years I knew her, I was honored and privledged to be a guest at a number of the Christmas parties she held in her home and to go with her to various events happening in NYC. 

Moreover, she came to a couple of exhibitions that featured my photography. In the next picture, Donna can be seen with a yellow sweater over her shoulders and yours truly is standing behind her. 

We are at an opening for a 2002 art exhibition that I was featured in (with two other artists who are not in this photograph) at The New York Gallery Building (on West Fifty-Seventh Street in NYC). The art piece which is behind us is one of my kaliedoscopic images titled Rocks By Strawberry Fields. 

At the time our picture was taken, my kaliedoscopic photographs could only be printed on photographic papers as wall art or rendred on to note-cards.

Howeover, over the years, with advancement in printing processes, my kaliedoscopic works (as well as all of my other photographs) can be rendered (by Fine Art America AKA FAA) in an aray of sizes on to various surfaces for wall art including, acrylic, art paper, canvas, metal, poster-paper and wood. FAA also has framed options available and they can render the images on to note-cards.

I think Donna might've found it cool that FAA can print my kaliedoscopic images (and my other ones) on to items for personal use such as totes, week-ender bags, pouches, note-books, stickers, cell-phone cases and jigsaw puzzles; as well as face-masks.

In any event, I'm certainly thinking of Donna as well as those family members who survived her including her husband Tony as well as her son, Bryan, who shortly after her death, requsted that I create a video in honor of memory, which I did and it can be viewed on Vimeo as well as You Tube.

Update on "BIRD TALES"

Last Sunday here on Blogger, I posted a copy of my flyer that describes how to find my latest book BIRD TALES... 

... within Apple's Bookstore. 

A copy of this flyer can be seen directly below.

I thought I'd been clear in pointing out that one had to be on an Apple device to find BIRD TALES, but I guess not, for I received an e-mail from someone stating this:

"I went to Amazon and punched in your name and book title, but Bird Tales did not appear."

I'm not clear on how someone thought I referenced Amazon but because the sender of this e-mail interpetted my flyer in such a way, I was motivated to create a short video that is a tutorial on how to find BIRD TALES. A  copy of it is posted directly above and it can also be viewed on You Tube and/or Vimeo.

Meanwhile, I have now received a third review from someone who identifies himself as Scott Amsterdam. It can be read below along with the two reviews I received prior to Mr. Amsterdam's one.

If the reviews are too pixalated to read in this image, please click here to read them as they appear within Apple's Book Store.

Rough roads BUT progress is being made.... (Tuesday's Truths Episode 221)

Image Credit

 

Checking with this 221st segement of my Tuesday's Truths series re an update from my last entry here on Blogger which was published on Friday, 8-6-2021 and where I stated, "I am fully aware that I haven't published a blog post in a little over a month but I plan to be back in the not too distance future. Thanks for staying tuned, dear readers."

The update is this: It is with great regret that I had to pull back on keeping up with my blog for I enjoy sharing my content with others (which I began doing on the date of 12-31-2009) and I've been humbled when hearing about the joy and insights my posts have given to readers.

At this juncture, I'm thankful to say that my physical therapy which I'm doing in an effort to avoid knee replacement surgery is going well...

... and I should be able to return to blogging soon!

On another positive note, I've been able to move forward on a digital, interactive book which is titled, Bird Tales.

At this juncture, I can only offer Bird Tales in digital format, but I’m still excited as I’ve been able to make it interactive, and I’ve included sound effects.

I’m having a few tech glitches in sending it off to Apple Books and hope to resolve them sometime between Thursday, September 2nd and Labor Day, Monday, September 6th.

I pray everyone in my Blogger community will stay tuned re this new endeavor, knowing I have not given up on making public educational presentations based on content in my three hardcover book series, Words In Our Beak.

My other book project, Imperfect Strangers (a project I've discussed in a number of entries here on Blogger) is complete... 

VIEW ON VIMEO
VIEW ON YOU TUBE

....and now that oportunities that were diminished due to consequences of the cornavirus pandemic are opening up again, I'm actively seeking agent representaion.