Showing posts with label April Fools' Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label April Fools' Day. Show all posts

Friday, April 1, 2022

Post No. 174: For April Fools' Day, Part 4 — "Don't Be a Fool and Get Ready Early!"


(Image by Paul Whiting)

Don't Be a Fool
and Get Ready Early!
(Or, "My Apartment Ready for an Inspection")

I try to always
"Plan Ahead and Follow Through"
with everything!

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

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My Writing About How I Try To Always 'Plan Ahead And Follow Through' With Everything That I Do In Life [April 1st, 2014 Update]: I try to always "Plan Ahead and Follow Through" with everything that I do in life, especially when it comes to important things like apartment inspections! And today, April 1st, 2014, I had an inspection for my Section 8 rental assistance! So, I started "Spring Cleaning" my studio apartment right after March 17th, 2014. That way, I planned to have plenty of time to get all of the cleaning done before the inspection... And, thus, the theme of my April Fools' Day post for 2014 is "Don't Be A Fool And Get Ready Early," because 'it's the early bird that only has to have his apartment inspected every two years, instead of every year!' –Paul Whiting (written on April 1st, 2014, then turned into 'my writing,' as well as turned into an 'update,' in addition to being revised, on October 4th, 2023)

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My Writing About Finally Being Back In My Studio Apartment After It Was Repaired For Flood Damage [July 20th, 2023 Update, Written On July 21st, 2023]: As of yesterday, July 20th, 2023, I am finally back in my studio apartment!

You see, I was out of my apartment for a while, since it was being repaired for water damage due to a flood, which ironically happened on Christmas Eve 2022 at about 5:30 AM—and that is why I watched "It's A Wonderful Life" that night! (I actually purchased "It's A Wonderful Life" on YouTube, quite a few years ago, so that I can watch it at Christmastime whenever I wish, which I do every few years.)

Therefore, it has been five months and seventeen days since I temporarily moved to another studio apartment—which is located fairly close to the low income apartment building that I live in—while the flood remediation was being completed. (I moved on February 3rd, 2023, so as of July 3rd, 2023, that's five months; then, if my calculations are correct, July 20th is 17 days in addition to that.) Thus, it's been quite a long time since I have been in my studio apartment.

And the really nice thing is that my apartment now has new floors throughout that look just like real wood, which are made of something called "luxury vinyl." In fact, the new floors look so much like genuine wood floors that if you didn't know they were made of vinyl, you seriously couldn't tell the difference, which is why I wrote the following two advertising slogans:

Slogan No. 1: "Luxury vinyl has the look and feel of genuine wood flooring without the expense and upkeep of real wood."

Slogan No. 2: "Luxury vinyl has the breathtaking beauty of real wood without the breathtaking price and maintenance."

Anyway, it's good to be back home again!

–Paul Whiting (written July 21st, 2023, revised July 22nd, 2023 and revised July 23rd, 2023)

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(Image by Paul Whiting)

(Image by Paul Whiting)

(Image by Paul Whiting)

(Image by Paul Whiting)

My Writing About The Way To "Be 'A Wise Old Owl' And Don't Be Afraid" By Always Planning Ahead And Following Through [October 4th, 2023 Update]: I truly think that the way to "Be 'A Wise Old Owl' And Don't Be Afraid" is by always planning ahead and following through! Because always planning ahead and following through—especially when it comes to important things like apartment inspections—is how you take the fear out of taking care of your life! For, at the age of 56 years old, I am no longer 'an early bird'; now, however, I am 'a wise old owl.' You see, I had an inspection for my Section 8 rental assistance today, October 4th, 2023! So, I started "Fall Cleaning" my studio apartment right after September 13th, 2023. That way, I had plenty of time to get all of the cleaning done before the inspection... And, thus, the theme of my October 4th, 2023 'update' is "Be 'A Wise Old Owl' And Don't Be Afraid" By Always Planning Ahead And Following Through! For, it's 'a wise old owl' who had all of the cleaning done in plenty of time for his apartment inspection! And it is also 'a wise old owl' who was able to get his apartment totally packed up in preparation for having flood damage repair completed over a five and a half month time period, starting February 3rd, 2023 and ending July 20th, 2023! (Please see my 'July 20th, 2023 Update, Written On July 21st, 2023,' which can be found above, that also appears as 'My Writing About Finally Being Back In My Studio Apartment After It Was Repaired For Flood Damage' on some of my blogs.) –Paul Whiting (written October 4th, 2023 and revised October 5th, 2023)

P.S.: In addition to that, please see the current photos above of "My Apartment Ready for an Inspection" from October 4th, 2023.

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My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: I try to always "Plan Ahead and Follow Through" with everything that I do in life, especially when it comes to important things like apartment inspections! And today, April 1st, 2014, I had an inspection for my Section 8 rental assistance! So, I started "Spring Cleaning" my studio apartment right after March 17th, 2014. That way, I planned to have plenty of time to get all of the cleaning done before the inspection... And, thus, the theme of my April Fools' Day post for 2014 is "Don't Be A Fool And Get Ready Early," because it's the early bird that only has to have his apartment inspected every two years, instead of every year!

Also, on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog where this post was originally published, beginning in January 2013, I tried to create a post for virtually every holiday and special occasion of which I was aware, but I realized by September 2014 that I did not have enough time and energy to continue posting for every holiday and special occasion. And I decided to keep the poems in that series which were the most relevant to my "Small All White in the Forest" blog, of which this is one.

And this poem was also published on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" and "Small All White in the Forest" blogs (please see the hyperlink below for the blogs), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message I am trying to convey through "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" and "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was written in Portland, Oregon.

-Paulee

https://poetartistandphilosopher.blogspot.com

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

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April 1st, 2014 Update [My Writing About How I Try To Always 'Plan Ahead And Follow Through' With Everything That I Do In Life]: I try to always "Plan Ahead and Follow Through" with everything that I do in life, especially when it comes to important things like apartment inspections! And today, April 1st, 2014, I had an inspection for my Section 8 rental assistance! So, I started "Spring Cleaning" my studio apartment right after March 17th, 2014. That way, I planned to have plenty of time to get all of the cleaning done before the inspection... And, thus, the theme of my April Fools' Day post for 2014 is "Don't Be A Fool And Get Ready Early," because 'it's the early bird that only has to have his apartment inspected every two years, instead of every year!' –Paul Whiting (written on April 1st, 2014, then turned into 'my writing,' as well as turned into an 'update,' in addition to being revised, on October 4th, 2023)

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July 20th, 2023 Update, Written On July 21st, 2023 [My Writing About Finally Being Back In My Studio Apartment After It Was Repaired For Flood Damage]: As of yesterday, July 20th, 2023, I am finally back in my studio apartment!

You see, I was out of my apartment for a while, since it was being repaired for water damage due to a flood, which ironically happened on Christmas Eve 2022 at about 5:30 AM—and that is why I watched "It's A Wonderful Life" that night! (I actually purchased "It's A Wonderful Life" on YouTube, quite a few years ago, so that I can watch it at Christmastime whenever I wish, which I do every few years.)

Therefore, it has been five months and seventeen days since I temporarily moved to another studio apartment—which is located fairly close to the low income apartment building that I live in—while the flood remediation was being completed. (I moved on February 3rd, 2023, so as of July 3rd, 2023, that's five months; then, if my calculations are correct, July 20th is 17 days in addition to that.) Thus, it's been quite a long time since I have been in my studio apartment.

And the really nice thing is that my apartment now has new floors throughout that look just like real wood, which are made of something called "luxury vinyl." In fact, the new floors look so much like genuine wood floors that if you didn't know they were made of vinyl, you seriously couldn't tell the difference, which is why I wrote the following two advertising slogans:

Slogan No. 1: "Luxury vinyl has the look and feel of genuine wood flooring without the expense and upkeep of real wood."

Slogan No. 2: "Luxury vinyl has the breathtaking beauty of real wood without the breathtaking price and maintenance."

Anyway, it's good to be back home again!

–Paul Whiting (written July 21st, 2023, revised July 22nd, 2023 and revised July 23rd, 2023)

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October 4th, 2023 Update [My Writing About The Way To "Be 'A Wise Old Owl' And Don't Be Afraid" By Always Planning Ahead And Following Through]: I truly think that the way to "Be 'A Wise Old Owl' And Don't Be Afraid" is by always planning ahead and following through! Because always planning ahead and following through—especially when it comes to important things like apartment inspections—is how you take the fear out of taking care of your life! For, at the age of 56 years old, I am no longer 'an early bird'; now, however, I am 'a wise old owl.' You see, I had an inspection for my Section 8 rental assistance today, October 4th, 2023! So, I started "Fall Cleaning" my studio apartment right after September 13th, 2023. That way, I had plenty of time to get all of the cleaning done before the inspection... And, thus, the theme of my October 4th, 2023 'update' is "Be 'A Wise Old Owl' And Don't Be Afraid" By Always Planning Ahead And Following Through! For, it's 'a wise old owl' who had all of the cleaning done in plenty of time for his apartment inspection! And it is also 'a wise old owl' who was able to get his apartment totally packed up in preparation for having flood damage repair completed over a five and a half month time period, starting February 3rd, 2023 and ending July 20th, 2023! (Please see my 'July 20th, 2023 Update, Written On July 21st, 2023,' which can be found above, that also appears as 'My Writing About Finally Being Back In My Studio Apartment After It Was Repaired For Flood Damage' on some of my blogs.) –Paul Whiting (written October 4th, 2023 and revised October 5th, 2023)

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This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 174 was edited on October 5th, 2023.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

My poems that are Haiku in their style—within which one stanza is composed of three lines, where each line has words containing five syllables, seven syllables and five syllables, respectively—are a lot more like Senryū poems in that the topic of these poems is typically about people, rather than the topic of these poems being about nature, as is usually the case in classic Haiku poems. And that is why I call these types of poems "Haiku-style." –Paul Whiting [September 19th, 2023]

Post No. 173: For April Fools' Day, Part 3 — "Everybody Plays the Fool!"


(Image by Paul Whiting)

Everybody Plays the Fool

Each April Fools' Day,
"everybody plays the fool"
—just like we all do!

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

My Writing About Those Laughing At, And Loving, Themselves: Those who can laugh at themselves can love themselves for being flawed. –Paul Whiting (written November 4th, 2009 and revised August 29th, 2022)

My Writing About You Laughing At, And Loving, Yourself: You can laugh at yourself and you can love yourself for being flawed. –Paul Whiting (written November 4th, 2009 and revised August 29th, 2022)

My Writing About All Of Us Playing The Fool: At one time or another, we all play the fool! For, whatever is true about life is whatever is true for you (in other words, 'perception is reality'), because our beliefs are our truth, since Our Subconscious Self—or God—is an Absolutely Perfect Mirror and is simply reflecting our true beliefs. –Paul Whiting (written April 1st, 2012 and revised April 1st, 2022 and revised September 1st, 2022)

My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: "Each April Fools' Day, 'everybody plays the fool'—just like we all do!"

By the way, this poem was inspired by the song "Everybody Plays the Fool" written by J. R. Bailey, Rudy Clark and Ken Williams and performed by Aaron Neville. (Please see the hyperlink below for the video.)

Also, on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog where this post was originally published, beginning in January 2013, I tried to create a post for virtually every holiday and special occasion of which I was aware, but I realized by September 2014 that I did not have enough time and energy to continue posting for every holiday and special occasion. And I decided to keep the poems in that series which were the most relevant to my "Small All White in the Forest" blog, of which this is one.

And this poem was also published on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was written in Portland, Oregon.

-Paulee

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

Watch "Everybody Plays The Fool" on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/WS9Ky88P8KM

This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 173 was edited on September 19th, 2023.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

My poems that are Haiku in their style—within which one stanza is composed of three lines, where each line has words containing five syllables, seven syllables and five syllables, respectively—are a lot more like Senryū poems in that the topic of these poems is typically about people, rather than the topic of these poems being about nature, as is usually the case in classic Haiku poems. And that is why I call these types of poems "Haiku-style." –Paul Whiting [September 19th, 2023]

Post No. 172: For April Fools' Day, Part 2 — "I Believe That I Can Be a Fool"

(Image by Paul Whiting)

I Believe That I Can Be a Fool
(Or, "We All Play the Fool")

At one time or another, we all
play the fool! For, whatever is true
about life is whatever is true for you
(in other words, "perception is reality"),
because our beliefs are our truth, since
Our Subconscious Self—or God—is an
Absolutely Perfect Mirror and is
simply reflecting our true beliefs.

Thus, my beliefs are my truth! So,
I believe that I can be a fool, since I can
make mistakes; but I can learn from my
mistakes and can change my beliefs due to
what I have learned. So, that is why I believe
that I can be a fool...who learns from my
mistaken beliefs, since at one time or
another, we all play the fool!

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

My Writing About Those Laughing At, And Loving, Themselves: Those who can laugh at themselves can love themselves for being flawed. –Paul Whiting (written November 4th, 2009 and revised August 29th, 2022)

My Writing About You Laughing At, And Loving, Yourself: You can laugh at yourself and you can love yourself for being flawed. –Paul Whiting (written November 4th, 2009 and revised August 29th, 2022)

My Writing About All Of Us Playing The Fool: At one time or another, we all play the fool! For, whatever is true about life is whatever is true for you (in other words, 'perception is reality'), because our beliefs are our truth, since Our Subconscious Self—or God—is an Absolutely Perfect Mirror and is simply reflecting our true beliefs. –Paul Whiting (written April 1st, 2012 and revised April 1st, 2022 and revised September 1st, 2022)

My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: "At one time or another, we all play the fool!"

And this poem is based upon a quote from "My Posting Sabbatical, Part 1" that was originally published on my "Small All White in the Forest" and "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blogs (please see the hyperlinks below for the blogs), since I decided to publish some of "My Posting Sabbatical Writing" as blog posts when I republished my old blog posts on my new "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" blog, which I created in order to have "a place to place all of my best writing in one place!"

And this poem was only published on my "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" blog.

This poem was written in Portland, Oregon.

-Paulee



This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 172 was edited on January 31st, 2023.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

Post No. 171: For April Fools' Day, Part 1 — "I'm a Fool Who Fell in Love"


(Image by Paul Whiting)

I'm a Fool Who Fell in Love!
(Or, "For All The Fools Who Fall in Love")

On days like this, I will often say with a sigh,
"What a fool am I!"
For, my heart used to be so strong, but now
I'm full of foolish song.
And I shouldn't yearn for him each day, since
I was a fool to fall and get that way
—which must be totally true, because
everyone says I'm a fool to be pinning the whole day through!
And, even though,
"he's a fool and don't I know it...but a fool can have his charms,"
I still feel so safe in his loving arms.
Yet, I will withhold my longing sighs, alas,
'cause I've been fooled in the past!
Which is why—when I see him—I will often cry,
"I'm a fool to want you..."

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: I wrote this poem based upon all of the songs from Linda Ronstadt's standard albums "What's New," "Lush Life," "For Sentimental Reasons" and "Hummin' To Myself," which include the words 'fool, foolish or fooled' in the song for April Fools' Day! Plus, the 'he/him' whom I am in love in the poem is allegorical. (Please see the hyperlinks below for the videos.)

By the way, there are two other poems that are inspired by Linda Ronstadt on my blogs. One poem is based upon her last album of standard songs titled, "Hummin' To Myself." The other poem is an homage to the compilation album titled, "'Round Midnight" from her first three albums of standard songs. Both poems are published on this blog. (Please see "Singer Linda Ronstadt-Inspired Poem" in labels for the poems.)

Just so you know, I revised this poem, as I often do with my writing! And I changed how this poem was written when I was editing it on my "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" and "Small All White in the Forest" blogs. So, I wanted to show you how this poem used to be written, before I revised it as above.

And it used to be written like this:

On days like this, I will often say with a sigh, "What a fool am I!" For, my heart used to be so strong, but I'm full of foolish song. And I shouldn't yearn for him each day, since I was a fool to fall and get that way—which must be true, because everyone says I'm a fool to be pinning the whole day through! And even though "he's a fool and don't I know it...but a fool can have his charms," I still feel so safe in his loving arms. Yet, I will withhold my loving sighs, alas, 'cause I've been fooled in the past! Which is why—when I see him—I will often cry, "I'm a fool to want you..."

Thus, I revised this poem to be written as it is above.

And this poem was also published on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" and "Small All White in the Forest" blogs (please see the hyperlink below for the blogs), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message I am trying to convey through "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" and "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was written in Portland, Oregon.

-Paulee

https://poetartistandphilosopher.blogspot.com

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

[Blogger's Note: It's October 30th, 2025, and I just checked all of the links for the songs below to see of they were still working, however, all but two of them weren't! You see, I recently happened to notice a playlist that I created on YouTube Music, in which I listed all of the tracks from the album 'Round Midnight in reverse order—which is a compilation of the albums What's New, Lush Life and For Sentimental Reasons—was no longer there either. So, I thought to check these links too, which is why I replaced all of the broken links with new ones that are working! -Paulee]

"What a fool am I" is a line from the song "I Get Along Without You Very Well," which is performed by Linda Ronstadt on her album For Sentimental Reasons. Watch it on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/EOj-0YUqdbI?si=lDquRzhqcDzE5hq5

"I'm full of foolish song" is a line from the song "I've Never Been In Love Before," which is performed by Linda Ronstadt on her album Hummin' to Myself. Watch it on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/OjbOGvoA21w

"I was a fool to fall and get that way" is a line from the song "But Not For Me," which is performed by Linda Ronstadt on her album For Sentimental Reasons. Watch it on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/zDDaWmQKeo8?si=dBybCeI93DXgS6uY

"Everyone says I'm a fool to be pinning the whole day through" is a line from the song "Mean To Me," which is performed by Linda Ronstadt on her album Lush Life. Watch it on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/KHV2L8JGAJ0?si=vfyTpd_0CwLdg36N

"He's a fool and don't I know it, but a fool can have his charms" is a line from the song "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," which is performed by Linda Ronstadt on her album For Sentimental Reasons. Watch it on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/bA1SU4oK7PU?si=dx2ID2Em7ASlp-Zu

"'Cause I've been fooled in the past" is a line from the song "I Fall In Love Too Easily," which is performed by Linda Ronstadt on her album Hummin' to Myself. Watch it on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/LmMh4_Ol71U

"I'm a fool to want you" is a line from the song "I'm A Fool To Want You," which is performed by Linda Ronstadt on her album Lush Life. Watch it on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/nvnqT7ToJNY?si=9lwH_zJiw9_9q5yd

This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 171 was edited on November 5th, 2025.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]