Hi, everyone.
It is good to be back on the air again. You will see before you an essentially new site -- all made possible by Maureen Nicolace, a site designer from Vero Beach, Florida. Maureen has done work for some notable firms in the South Florida region and she was recommended to me by a high school classmate, Louis Lawson, a resident of Vero Beach. Thanks, Louis, for your usual wisdom and thoughtfulness.
In addition to several technical enhancements, Maureen has introduced some other upgrades as well. We have changed the company that provides the website platform and, as you will have noted, the website name is different as well. The new version, www.tdpbooks,com is easier to remember and type than the previous name. The site itself has some new, added features. One of them is the Photo Gallery. As noted on the Welcome page, the gallery is a fun mixture of snapshots taken from the family’s travels over the years and favorite paintings – scenes of historic military actions. The pictures depict family events as well as scenes from military service. Images in this section will be changed periodically to keep it fresh, so please click on it occasionally to check on new material.
As you will have found, “Blog” now contains the Monthly Newsletter. We will begin labelling the newsletters by month so that, among other possibilities, those who wish to recall a previous newsletter will have an easier time identifying it. “About” is a title that tracks with frequent usage on current websites – it contains a brief author bio. The scroll across the top of the screen has been jazzed up and continues to provide snapshots of published books.
And, speaking of published books: if things go well, there will soon be another one to add to the screen. Barring unforeseen circumstances – always a possibility in this business – Fire in the North: The Minnesota Uprising and the Sioux War in Dakota Territory will be on the streets in the not too distant future. More news to follow in future newsletters (excuse me, future ‘blogs”).
As many of you know, the previous webmaster, my dear friend and high school classmate, Carl Knopf, passed away recently. Carl and I were both justifiably proud of the website. As Carl’s general health started to fail over the past several months, his eyesight began to deteriorate as well. Those who browsed through the site during that period may have noticed occasional small glitches with spacing and font size. Carl’s eye issues were at the point where I tried not to trouble him with anything but the monthly newsletter. He was slated to soon have some work done on his eyes and I was awaiting the outcome with positive thoughts. Anyway, with that as the backstory, I am especially grateful that Maureen has been sensitive to all that and has preserved the central features of Carl’s work while embellishing the site – and, at considerable effort, has fixed the small glitches. Carl would be very pleased.
In the months ahead, we will talk more in the site about writing projects underway and on the drawing board. In the meantime, we are about to enter one of my favorite times of year. Fall in Nebraska, especially late fall when there is a chill in the air, is a visual treat. The colors are beyond spectacular and the ‘nip” in the air makes a cup of tea and a good book in front of the fire just the right thing to do.
The sports fans among the website’s readership will especially relish the days ahead. The pennant races over the final 30 days are the most fascinating parts of the baseball season – and this year has some especially intriguing story lines. College football kicked off in a big way in early September. Lincoln is a college town and the colors and the pageantry are a sight to behold. It is always fun to be around, and be part of, the building excitement as the season draws near.
In response to the overwhelming demand (just in the last week or two another letter came pouring in) for a return of the website feature WHO SAYS THEY DON’T WRITE GREAT POETRY ANYMORE, it seemed appropriate to do homage to the upcoming football season by reprising a poem that originally appeared in the December 2011 blog (at the time is was called a newsletter, but that title is now archaic).
A DISCOURSE ON POPULAR TASTE AND VIOLENCE IN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS
The crowd at Mammoth stadium
Sat warmly captivated
By the rolling head of the quarterback
Who had been sacked
And decapitated.
Best wishes, everyone. Hope you have a great fall season.
Tom Phillips
It is good to be back on the air again. You will see before you an essentially new site -- all made possible by Maureen Nicolace, a site designer from Vero Beach, Florida. Maureen has done work for some notable firms in the South Florida region and she was recommended to me by a high school classmate, Louis Lawson, a resident of Vero Beach. Thanks, Louis, for your usual wisdom and thoughtfulness.
In addition to several technical enhancements, Maureen has introduced some other upgrades as well. We have changed the company that provides the website platform and, as you will have noted, the website name is different as well. The new version, www.tdpbooks,com is easier to remember and type than the previous name. The site itself has some new, added features. One of them is the Photo Gallery. As noted on the Welcome page, the gallery is a fun mixture of snapshots taken from the family’s travels over the years and favorite paintings – scenes of historic military actions. The pictures depict family events as well as scenes from military service. Images in this section will be changed periodically to keep it fresh, so please click on it occasionally to check on new material.
As you will have found, “Blog” now contains the Monthly Newsletter. We will begin labelling the newsletters by month so that, among other possibilities, those who wish to recall a previous newsletter will have an easier time identifying it. “About” is a title that tracks with frequent usage on current websites – it contains a brief author bio. The scroll across the top of the screen has been jazzed up and continues to provide snapshots of published books.
And, speaking of published books: if things go well, there will soon be another one to add to the screen. Barring unforeseen circumstances – always a possibility in this business – Fire in the North: The Minnesota Uprising and the Sioux War in Dakota Territory will be on the streets in the not too distant future. More news to follow in future newsletters (excuse me, future ‘blogs”).
As many of you know, the previous webmaster, my dear friend and high school classmate, Carl Knopf, passed away recently. Carl and I were both justifiably proud of the website. As Carl’s general health started to fail over the past several months, his eyesight began to deteriorate as well. Those who browsed through the site during that period may have noticed occasional small glitches with spacing and font size. Carl’s eye issues were at the point where I tried not to trouble him with anything but the monthly newsletter. He was slated to soon have some work done on his eyes and I was awaiting the outcome with positive thoughts. Anyway, with that as the backstory, I am especially grateful that Maureen has been sensitive to all that and has preserved the central features of Carl’s work while embellishing the site – and, at considerable effort, has fixed the small glitches. Carl would be very pleased.
In the months ahead, we will talk more in the site about writing projects underway and on the drawing board. In the meantime, we are about to enter one of my favorite times of year. Fall in Nebraska, especially late fall when there is a chill in the air, is a visual treat. The colors are beyond spectacular and the ‘nip” in the air makes a cup of tea and a good book in front of the fire just the right thing to do.
The sports fans among the website’s readership will especially relish the days ahead. The pennant races over the final 30 days are the most fascinating parts of the baseball season – and this year has some especially intriguing story lines. College football kicked off in a big way in early September. Lincoln is a college town and the colors and the pageantry are a sight to behold. It is always fun to be around, and be part of, the building excitement as the season draws near.
In response to the overwhelming demand (just in the last week or two another letter came pouring in) for a return of the website feature WHO SAYS THEY DON’T WRITE GREAT POETRY ANYMORE, it seemed appropriate to do homage to the upcoming football season by reprising a poem that originally appeared in the December 2011 blog (at the time is was called a newsletter, but that title is now archaic).
A DISCOURSE ON POPULAR TASTE AND VIOLENCE IN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS
The crowd at Mammoth stadium
Sat warmly captivated
By the rolling head of the quarterback
Who had been sacked
And decapitated.
Best wishes, everyone. Hope you have a great fall season.
Tom Phillips
RSS Feed