Happy holidays to one and all, “Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” Hamilton Wright Mabie (12/13/1846 – 12/31/1916).
Hello all and welcome to my penultimate weekly journal for 2021. Does that not sound impressive? Penultimate came into English in the 17th century from the Latin word paenultimus, a combination of paene, meaning “almost,” and Ultimus, meaning “last”. So if something’s penultimate, it’s “almost last” and more specifically, it’s next to last.
1. My featured photo is of the 2021 Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, NYC. This may be the most impressive decorated tree in the world. This week was spent exploring the world looking for the most awesome Christmas tree. The Best Christmas Tree Displays in the World.
2. My eye candy this week included some fun episodes of Japanese shows appearing on Netflix: ‘Midnight Diner‘ and ‘Samurai Gourmet‘. Adventure, fun and food in Japan.
3. Music this week; a fantastic documentary about Nnenna Freelon and the making of her new record Time Traveler.
I also enjoyed spending time listening to WBGO online, especially the ‘Blues Break’ show every weekday from 2 -4 pm.
4. Alice Munro is one of my favorite authors. Her books, short stories and prose are incredibly deep and profound. This week I have spent time with a book I found in my local used book store, ‘Read it Again‘ in Collingwood, On., ‘The Love of a Good Women’ winner of the Nobel prize in literature. And another book that’s all about laughs ‘Carry on Jeeves’, PG Wodehouse.
I completed an interview with awesome gang books this week. They ask some author type questions and I offer up some of my best authorly answers. Check out my interview as well as some of the other authors in this week’s interviews. If you’re looking for some great books I highly recommended the site.
5. I spent time learning a new program, well, new for me. InDesign, an amazing program for designing your book. And now the illustrator Joshua Miller is working on adding the illustrations to the book. Soon we will be able to share with you our new project, ‘Scratchy the Squirrel: A Time For Friends‘.
Thank you for reading. If you think someone you know would enjoy my newsletter please share it with them. If you are looking for a great children’s book check out my new book, Samba in Brazil; Paperback version, on sale for a limited time. And the Portuguese version, Samba no Brasil, now available as a set.
Or one of my other books, Samba on a Snowy Day or the Brazilian/ Portuguese version Samba em um Dia de Neve.
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong and keep going.
Copyright © 2021 Paul Yanuziello, All rights reserved.