Dear Twelve-Year-Old Me

 

Contributing Authors

I've had the opportunity to thank and congratulate the contributors to Dear Twelve-Year-Old Me: Anthology who actively participate on Twitter/X. Here, I want to thank and congratulate all the contributors, particularly those who have left this platform and those who were never active on it.

Many thanks to B.H. Arias, P.D. Austin, Jerome Berglund, Mike Bowerbank, Rocío del Mar, Holly Dobbie, Hannah Downey, Glenna Gill, Ilya Gutlin, Claude Inkwell, Althea Hogsett, Karen Hoffman, Margaret Lindsay Holton, Roberta Beach Jacobson, Heather Lynn, IA McCleery, Kelly Miller, Sallie Moffitt, Danielle Moody, Natasha Morningstarr, Chris Palmore, Diane Riley, Nina Romano, Gloria Worley Ruberry, Edward Selender, Claire Sheehy, Leif E. Slusher, Paul Spalding-Mulcock, Vicky Whedbee, Peter B. Williams, Charles Dan Worley, and Wanda L. Worley, whose contributions brought this book to life.

https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Twelve-Year-Old-Anthology-Afarin-Rava/dp/B0CC7D4Z4H/

Book Review

 

Shybiscus

Here's a photo of the actual hibiscus in "Emily and the Shy Hibiscus" by B.H. Arias in Dear Twelve-Year-Old Me: Anthology:

photo by B.H. Arias

Book Review

 

 

Dear Twelve-Year-Old Me

Over thirty writers hoping to make a positive change in the world have contributed their valuable life experiences and advice to children and adolescents. This book is a collection of priceless life lessons shared by random people, each of whom wished they could reach out to their twelve-year-old self and whisper their precious lessons in a way that their younger self would hear, believe, and learn.

https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Twelve-Year-Old-Anthology-Afarin-Rava/dp/B0CC7D4Z4H/

Many thanks to B.H. Arias, P.D. Austin, Jerome Berglund, Mike Bowerbank, Rocío del Mar, Holly Dobbie, Hannah Downey, Glenna Gill, Ilya Gutlin, Claude Inkwell, Althea Hogsett, Karen Hoffman, Margaret Lindsay Holton, Roberta Beach Jacobson, Heather Lynn, IA McCleery, Kelly Miller, Sallie Moffitt, Danielle Moody, Natasha Morningstarr, Chris Palmore, Diane Riley, Nina Romano, Gloria Worley Ruberry, Edward Selender, Claire Sheehy, Leif E. Slusher, Paul Spalding-Mulcock, Vicky Whedbee, Peter B. Williams, Charles Dan Worley, and Wanda L. Worley, whose contributions brought this book to life.
 

Anthology Back Cover

 

Melanie Muller

"Release your majestic mind, embrace your untamed inner spirit. Break free from captivity, avoid society. You were born to be free."
Melanie Muller

Countdown

The anthology will be released in three days! 

                                                                       3

Reflections

 

Partial Cover Reveal

 

Randy Pausch

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
Randy Pausch

Coming Soon...

Countdown to the release of the anthology: 

                                                                    7

Glom

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day is

glom

pronounced GLAHM

a verb meaning to take something...

or, as listed in the dictionary,

1 : TAKE, STEAL

2 : SEIZE, CATCH

It's often used in the phrase glom on to

: to grab hold of : appropriate to oneself

Apparently, Americans glommed on to glaum, a term from Scots dialect meaning to grab, and made it their own, changing it to glom. The word initially meant to steal, as in purse-snatching, but the meaning changed gradually and now has figurative uses. Today the word is used in phrases such as glom a short break or glom a weekend getaway. Also, the phrase glom on to means to appropriate for one's own use, as in glom on to someone's idea, or to latch on to, as in glom on to a prominent person. 

(Taken from merriam-webster.com.) To see it in context or listen to the pronunciation, check the link: https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day (July 18, 2023).  

Rumi

“Respond to every call that excites your spirit.”
Rumi

Hoppoo & Looloo

 

Robert Graves

A well chosen anthology is a complete dispensary of medicine for the more common mental disorders, and may be used as much for prevention as cure.
Robert Graves

Languages & Life Lessons

 

Outlandish

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day is

outlandish

pronounced out-LAN-dish

an adjective meaning strikingly strange or unusual
or, as listed in the dictionary,

1 : of or relating to another country : FOREIGN

2 a : strikingly out of the ordinary : BIZARRE

2 b : exceeding proper or reasonable limits or standards

3 : remote from civilization

The side-eye that skeptical sorts cast toward visitors from parts yonder is embedded in the history of the ancient word outlandish. In Old English someone described as “outlandish” came from an outland, i.e., a foreign land. Within a few hundred years, outlandish had broadened in use to describe anything unfamiliar or strange. It’s now commonly applied to things—especially things people do, wear, or say—that are strikingly out of the ordinary.

(Taken from merriam-webster.com.) To see it in context or listen to the pronunciation, check the link: https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day (July 13, 2023). 

Partial Cover Reveal

Marcus Aurelius

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.
Marcus Aurelius

Bon Vivant

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day is

bon vivant

pronounced bahn-vee-VAHNT 
(Of course, this pronunciation is anglicized: The French o has become ah in bon, and the t in vivant is silent in French but pronounced in English.)

a noun literally meaning someone who lives well (bon means good/well... and vivant means one who lives) or, as the definition of the phrase is listed in the dictionary,

: a sociable person who has cultivated and refined tastes especially with respect to food and drink

(Taken from merriam-webster.com.) To see it in context or listen to the pronunciation, check the link: https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day (July 10, 2023).

Book Review

 

Mary Oliver

“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.”
Mary Oliver

Dogs: Day & Night

It's all about the weather...
Whether you combine man's best friend with day or night, you talk about the weather.

The phrase dog days refers to the hottest time of the year, when it's so hot outside that you'd rather lie down in the shade like a dog than do hard work. The dog in this expression may be the dog star, Sirius, which has been associated with hot weather because it rises at the same time as the sun during the hottest days of summer.

The phrase three-dog night refers to nights so cold that you'd need three dogs with you to keep you warm. This is apparently an Australian saying used to describe bitterly cold nights that are difficult to survive without at least three dogs in bed with you.

Partial Cover Reveal

Charles M. Schulz

“All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. For after all, he was only human. He wasn't a dog.”
Charles M. Schulz

Independence Days

Today, on the fourth of July, the United States celebrates Independence Day. 

Do you know which other countries celebrate their own Independence Day?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_independence_days

Iran

 

Iran - circa 1976

David Allen

“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.”
David Allen

July

June is now behind us.
It's July.
Let's begin the second half of the year...
Wishing everyone joy, health, and productivity.