FOR THE LOVE OF JANUARY
LET LOVE GROW
“Let this coming year be better than all the others. Vow to do some of the things you have always wanted to do but could not find the time. Call up a forgotten friend. Drop an old grudge, and replace it with some pleasant memories. Vow not to make a promise you do not think you can keep. Walk tall, and smile more. You will look 10 years younger. Do not be afraid to say, I love you. Say it again. They are the sweetest words in the world.”
(Ann Landers)
HAPPY NEW YEAR, YEAR’S, YEARS!
What’s the deal with the apostrophe? Here’s how to get it right … It’s New Year’s when you’re talking about December 31 or January 1 resolutions you’re making, or other things that show possession. So New Year’s Eve is the eve of the New Year, New Year’s Day is the first day of the New Year, and a New Year’s resolution is something you want to do for the New Year. So New Year’s is the modifier for each noun. And New Year’s is capitalized because it’s referring to a holiday … We say Happy New Year (no apostrophe, s) at midnight and pretty much all of January, too, and when we’re talking generally about the year. Example: “I can’t believe it’s January already, let’s get together in the new year.” Used as a timeframe, no capitalizing … There’s no Happy New Years (no apostrophe) because only one year happens at a time. For many new years (plural), it is: “New years always give opportunities for celebrating and reflecting.” As the holiday, it is: “New Year’s always gives opportunities for celebrating and reflecting.” … Lastly, mostly New Year’s is a shortcut for New Year’s Eve, so the name of the holiday is the adjective. Example: “Every New Year’s I go to a party.” … Got it? Happy New Year!
I’M JUST MAD ABOUT YELLOW
“Sky of blue, sea of green.”
While Paul McCartney was writing Yellow Submarine, it was Donovan who came up with this iconic line. He explains how Paul “already had those words to the song, but he seemed to have a hole in the song. So I took his words and turned them around for him.” Although it was simply adding a line, this is Donovan’s best-known contribution to a Beatles song. In February 1968, he went with the Beatles on their retreat to India, where he helped John Lennon with another song written there, Julia, which John wrote about his mother. After the Beatles recorded Yellow Submarine, Donovan recorded his own yellow track, Mellow Yellow, giving Paul the opportunity to return the favor. Paul hollered and cheered in the song’s finale. These yellow songs were successful in the U.S. in the same year. Yellow Submarine hit #2 in September 1966, and in December, Mellow Yellow reached that same chart position.
FOR THE LOVE OF UNICORNS
So many people love unicorns. I do. I even have a few. He’s mysterious. He’s elusive. What is his enduring appeal anyway? The true “golden age” of the unicorn in Western European art was in the late Middle Ages, 14th and 15th Centuries. It was during that time that The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries were created. An elegant white unicorn appears in every one of the six tapestries, along with a richly dressed noblewoman and a lion who are all floating against a rich, red background full of flowering plants and other animals, including monkeys and rabbits. The set can be seen at the Cluny Museum in Paris … The tapestries were woven around 1500 when the unicorn was a popular element in heraldry. Did you know it is the national animal of Scotland?! There is also a set of seven Unicorn Tapestries at The Cloisters in New York, probably designed in Paris at the turn of the 16th Century … It appears that today we are in another “golden age” of the unicorn. They are everywhere, especially sparkly ones that are on everything! “While the existence of the animal has been debated by scientists since the 16th Century, the risk of extinction is not an immediate concern.”
MLK’S LEGACY OF LOVE
St. Augustine, FL, the nation’s oldest city, had a long history of racial inequality. In 1964 it became an important civil rights battleground as white supremacist mobs were attacking civil rights activists. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr went there to encourage and support the demonstrators, and create awareness so the country would see what was happening there … On June 11, Dr. King was arrested for trespassing as he entered one of the city’s segregated restaurants. He was placed in the back seat of the police car next to a police dog who was put there in an apparent attempt to intimidate him. Instead, as you can see, the two became friends! … Dr. King in fact did make the country take notice. And one month later, his extraordinary efforts in St. Augustine led to President Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act into law.
DOG NEWS
While we’re making our New Year’s Resolutions, why not make some for our best pals:
Leave the cell phone, take the dog … Try new activities like an agility class or going on a hike … Add fresh vegetables to his diet … Teach a new game you can play together: fetch, chase, or hide and seek … Give him more exercise … Set up play dates with a dog buddy … Take better care of his teeth … Put aside a little in savings each month for a medical emergency … Check out pet insurance … Go to new places together … Make plans in the event you die first: provide for your dog and name a guardian.
ENDNOTE: ROBERT INDIANA (1928–2018)
“Some people like to paint trees. I like to paint love.
I find it more meaningful than painting trees.”
One of the most recognizable works of art from the 20th century, did you know LOVE was originally designed as a Christmas card commissioned by NYC’s Museum of Modern Art? Born Robert Clark in Indiana, he adopted the last name Indiana to honor the American heartland that he loved. LOVE was created at the end of 1964, and in the late 1960’s he created a 12-foot-tall steel version (like the one on Avenue of the Americas in NYC). In 1976 he changed LOVE to VOTE for the Democratic National Committee and in 2008 he changed it to HOPE for the Democratic National Convention. LOVE became an emblem of 1960’s idealism and it has since only grown larger in stature and meaning. Robert Indiana took a plain word and turned it into art.
WE CAN HELP
Big smiles. Cozy naps. A wagging tail every time we walk in the door. (Unless you have a Westie who stays on the couch and clearly conveys, “So you’re home, what’s for dinner?”) When we adopt a pet, so many things change for the better, for everyone. We can help change an animal’s life! Consider welcoming the love of a pet into your life. Putting our love into action is what adopting is about. Let’s spread the word that adoption is a cool thing to do. Each of us can play a role in creating a better world for animals. Adopting a pet who needs a loving home will make a difference in their lives, and ours.
Soundtrack to this Issue
Edison Lighthouse
Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes
Start the new year with a big smile! This is one of those songs that just makes you feel happy. Take a listen. You’ll be tapping your feet and swaying from side to side in no time. You feel better already, right?
C’mon, sing along, you know the words:
She ain’t got no money
Her clothes are kinda funny
Her hair is kinda wild and free
Oh, but Love grows where my Rosemary goes
And nobody knows like me
She talks kinda lazy
And people say she she’s crazy
And her life’s a mystery
Oh, but Love grows where my Rosemary goes
And nobody knows like me
There’s something about her hand holding mine
It’s a feeling that’s fine
And I just gotta say
She’s really got a magical spell
And it’s working so well
That I can’t get away
I’m a lucky fella
And I’ve just got to tell her
That I love her endlessly
Because Love grows where my Rosemary goes
And nobody knows like me
Who rescued whom?
So grateful for Barkley coming into my life.
Thanks to Westie Rescue of New England.
Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l
“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)
Sources:
Donovan quote: Songfacts
Unicorn quote: wall text at the end of the Cluny Museum’s exhibition
Dog News pic: Agnes Harangoza
EndNote LOVE pic: Garden of Love (set of 6 works), 1982 Prestige Art, pub.; Domberger, prntr, pub.
Soundtrack Love Grows lyrics: Tony Macaulay, Barry Mason ©Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Copyright Admin Services Ltd
January 29, 2019
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