JAN 13, poetic non-sequitur: bush plane

Our collection of "Non-Sequiturs" on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense", contains an admittedly bizarre assortment of nonsensical odds-and-ends, that don't quite fit into other topic-based offerings. But should you want to review the entire collection, click HERE.

JAN 12, birdlore: house finches

 

Authors' Note: The gregarious house finch, Haemorhous mexicanus,  originally an inhabitant of the western US and Mexico, was introduced into Long Island, New York, in 1940. Although the female is not showy, the male is distinguished by the rosy red coloration of its face, neck and upper breast areas. The species quickly spread across the eastern US and southern parts of Canada. A strict vegetarian, this bird is now the most common visitor to feeders in many parts of its current range.

For more titillating pics of the house finch at our feeder, click HERE.

You can view an encyclopedic collection of illustrated poems on this topic by proceeding to the post "Poems about BIRDLORE" on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. 

JAN 11, review of 'brief sagas' from 2023

 A NOTE from the EDITORS: 

 As readers may have gathered, this blogsite highlights several types of light, wistful and humorous reflections on current life, chief among them being short verses using the limerick format, more or less (see the blogpost "Limerick Variations"). But on occasion, we feel the urge to continue important themes through several stanzas worth of poetic ideas. So in this post, we highlight the previous years' offerings of 'lengthier' poems of at least 15 lines or 3 stanzas. We have been publishing these at the rate of once a month on this blog ("Daily Illustrated Nonsense"), but as they are found mixed with shorter verses of five lines, i.e. standard limericks, or even three lines, (palinku --palindromic haiku), you might have failed to notice and review them in their entirety. 

  This summary gives you a second chance to explore these lengthier creations that contain as many as 6 stanzas -- hardly lengthy enough to be considered a genuine saga, but we hope that they reflect the authors' sagacity.  

  The compressed mode in which our 'sagas' are displayed may enhance your appreciation of the range of topics covered; if you prefer to enjoy the details in a larger and more readable font, you can quickly access the posts on this blog devoted uniquely to their stanza-by-stanza display (as well as notes, related photos and videos), by entering their title into the search lines provided. And from there, you can, of course, explore further to enjoy the multitude of shorter verses.  

For the curious reader's convenience, we have sorted our treasury of 'brief sagas' by the year of publication on this blog. Altogether, you will find more than 40 whimsical poems that cover about 800 lines of verse. 

Click below, and enjoy!
2020
2021
2022
2023.

a flap at the Ibis Hotel

JAN 9r, Charleston garden: Loutrel Briggs

a) reprise from January 2020

JAN 9, the Charleston garden: Loutrel Briggs, garden designer

 

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Poetry Praising the Charleston Garden' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

b) current birdie-pic

goldfinch

goldfinch

b) Giorgio's Lexicon of Binomials

JAN 8, photo-collage: more attempted birdfeeder photos

For comparison, you might like to review our first attempts at photographing the birdfeeding clients, not to mention enjoying a poem to mark the launch of this activity on December 26. Click HERE.

Now, proceed to today's fare!

Eastern bluebirds

House finches

 male (above right), female (below, left)

 

Authors' Note: The house finch is the principal actor in an illustrated verse on "birdlore" published on January 12. Click HERE. 

American goldfinches

  

Woodpeckers

downy woodpecker

red-bellied woodpecker

Chickadees     

Titmice     

                                    

(the head crest may be less prominent
 when the bird has recently moulted)

Mockingbirds        

JAN 7r, waterfowl: pelicatessen

a) reprise from January 2020:

JAN 6, waterfowl: pelicatessen

Authors' Note:

fress is a loanword verb from either German or Yiddish implying eating heartily or snacking frequently.

delicatessen has been applied to both high-end retail food stores selling unusual and imported prepared foods, and to restaurants preparing German, Jewish or other ethnic cuisine (frequently, the two functions are combined). It may also refer to the products purchased in these outlets.

Sushi is not among the expected foods in such an establishment, so the analogy to a pelicatessen for waterfowl has been unexplored until now. At least in Canadian official documents, for the sake of gender-neutrality, fishermen are referred to as fishers.

After initially using this neologism (word-creation) as a descriptor on the blog "Edifying Nonsense", and misconstruing it as his personal invention, the author became aware, via the internet, that there is a restaurant located at a resort on Bald Head Island, North Carolina with that name. Although that fact is of interest, it is of limited relevance. Seabirds are apparently not served at the establishment, either as customers, or as menu-fare.

b) recent birdie-pic

 a post-prandial stroll

 

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.  

JAN 6r, American satire: Hillary pilloried

a) reprise from January 2020

 American satire(1)

Author's Note:   The results of the acrimonious U.S. presidential election in November 2016 caused despondency and resentment in some segments of the population. Donald J. Trump ran a successful campaign under the slogan "Make America Great Again", and won the electoral college majority. After the election, there was considerable distraction by unproductive disputes over the popular vote, possible voter fraud, and the size of crowds at inaugurations. 

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find more than 30 similar verses on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

b) recent birdie-pic

house finch (male)

JAN 5, Submitted Palindromes: K, targeted at "TIP-TOP POT PIT"

  On the 25th of each month you will find a slide-filling group of palindromic phrases submitted to the editors by a panel of 7 palindromists. These folks have all been working on this project since January 2020. Their profiles are indicated in panels published here at the start of things, and then, we have asked them to provide (palindromically, of course) their views on one of the iconic items in the classic literature, starting with "A man, a plan, a canal -- Panama", and continuing with other well-known phrases, such as "Dennis sinned". Otherwise, their contribution will be grouped in random piles (a phrase that you might recognize as an anagram of the word p-a-l-i-n-d-r-o-m-e-s). 

You can access all of this delightful entertainment by entering submitted palindromes in one of the two search bars at the top of this post and scrolling downwards through the wordplay posts that you will discover. 

JAN 4r, American satire: make-believe 2016

 a) reprise from January 2000

JAN 4, American satire(1): make-believe 2016

Author's Note: In the political swirl leading up to the US presidential election, a national convention is a meeting of party delegates to nominate candidates for office and to adopt party rules and platforms. In 2016, these gatherings proceeded in their conventional format, Note that in 2020, with restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, national conventions were held primarily as on-line events.

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 30 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start!

b) current birdie-pic

bluebird crossing yard, 1

bluebird crossing yard, 2

JAN 3, ambulatory verse: hasten

 You can review all our verses on this topic, accumulated for you on our companion blog "Edifying Nonsense", by clicking HERE.

JAN 2, postal places, Canada: Grande Prairie, AB

 

Authors' Note: The above verse combines three disparate plot-elements: limericks about bar jokes, our verses on North America's postal places, and the approach of Hallowe'en.

If you want to know more about the Canadian province of Alberta, consult our verse on Red Deer, AB, or ask speedysnail, author of the OEDILFian poem Alberta.

 At one swell foop, you can review all our postal poems about intriguing places in the USA and Canada, by proceeding to the encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE !

JAN 1, special events: New Years' Day concert, Vienna

 If today is January 1, we must be in Austria!

(PBS viewer's world-view)

Christian Thielemann, conducting the Vienna Philharmonic

    interior of the Musikverein, Viennese concert hall

              

dancers from the Vienna State Ballet,
 a fixture of the second part of the television programme