Y is for YOU

About a decade ago, TIME magazine named YOU as the Person of the Year. "In 2006, the World Wide Web became a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter." And as true as it was then, it's far more true now.

And YOU continue to matter to us at ABC Wednesday. Round 20 is ending under the direction of Leslie and me, and before that, Denise Nesbitt. Round 21 is about to begin at https://abcwednesday.wordpress.com/ under Melody's tutelage.

But it means nothing, NOTHING without YOU. Without YOU, there's frankly no point to it all.

The very first Bob Dylan song I ever owned was on a compilation album called The Best of '66. That was 1966, BTW, NOT 1866. The song was I WANT YOU [listen]. Somehow seems appropriate.
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Y is for Yuletide

Some folks get to December 26 and automatically stop listening to Christmas-related music. Of course, they may have been hearing it since late November, on US Thanksgiving, or even earlier. Whereas I don't even START until December 6, when and play it until Epiphany.

A dictionary definition of yuletide is the period extending from December 24 to January 6. Yule is a "a festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples, later undergoing Christianised reformulation resulting in the now better-known Christmastide."

Here's another description.

One Christmas song that use the word is Deck the Halls - "Troll the ancient Yuletime carol." What does that mean?!
"According to the OED, one of the meanings of 'troll,' in use since the 16th century, is 'to sing in a full, rolling voice; to chant merrily or jovially.'"

Another Yule reference is in The Christmas Song, perhaps better known as Chestnuts Roasting By An Open Fire: "Yuletide carols being sung by a choir."
You can hear and read about the song here.
This is a lovely story about co-writer Mel Torme.
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An InLinkz Link-up

The letter Y

Yogi was a yapping dog who would yap-yap loud and hard.
Yogi yip-yapped in the house, and he yip-yapped in the yard!



Yolanda had a yellow bird who would yodel her a song.
When Yolanda fed him yogurt, the bird yodeled all day long!



Now, here are two more popular y words. Come on and take a guess!
The answer is you, spelled y-o-u, and yes, spelled y-e-s!

I used all the words beginning with Y from my dictionary. I even used Dutch words beginning with IJ or ij. Now I am at the end of my imagination! Perhaps this? 

 

 

If you want to take part in the ABC Wednesday meme, please don't forget to mention this meme and mrs. Nesbitt's name, for she invented this meme more than 8 years ago. And the subject of your post must start with the letter of the week.

Thank you! 

Wil, ABCW Team

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An InLinkz Link-up

Yes Here Comes Y

Yuletide is over and now it is almost  time to cheer in the New Year with a glass or two.  The crowds have gathered and the letter Y is in town.  Time to link up.  Despite the early morning grey skies in the photo our yellow Y motoring down the road in Yorkshire would soon see the sun come out, once it had left the city of York.  Not far behind this Grand Depart car and the promotional procession would be the Yellow Jersey cycling through the streets, the Tour de France's first visit to the white rose county of Yorkshire.

Where they drink a lot of Yorkshire Tea. 

Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,
Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round
And, while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn
Throws up a steamy column, and the cups,
That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,
So let us welcome peaceful evening in.
(From The Winter Evening by William Cowper)

Whatever season or time of day it is with you be of good cheer for its the ABC Wednesday time of week

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An InLinkz Link-up

Y is for YEAST

YEAST makes bread rise, and beverages, such as wine and beer, ferment. From the Wikipedia:

The word "yeast" comes from Old English gist, gyst, and from the Indo-European root yes-, meaning "boil", "foam", or "bubble"'. Yeast microbes are probably one of the earliest domesticated organisms.

A friend of mine really likes the word YEASTY, meaning "marked by change; full of vitality."

It occurred to me that YOU, people of ABC Wednesday, are the YEAST of this project. YOU make it rise like a loaf of bread. YOU give it that YUMMINESS like a glass of wine.

Because YOU say YES to participating, YES to visiting others. Some of YOU say YES to writing these pithy intros or designing logos.

YOU make ABC Wednesday YEASTY. Thank YOU.

(Picture from HERE)

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An InLinkz Link-up

The letter Y and the letter IJ in Dutch

Kinderdijk is Children Dike, where the windmills are.

Long ago the letter IJ  used to be the 25th letter of our Dutch alphabet, but it had to make place for the foreign Y which we call i-grec ( pronounced as ee-grec) and the IJ or ij had to be listed onder I or i. However we have so many names beginning with IJ or ij that  we cannot ignore this letter and have to treat it as one letter.

Y is for HAPPY NEW YEAR

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom 

that experience can instill in us. Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. 

Oprah Winfrey

Come, gentlemen, I hope we shall drink down all unkindness.

Shakespeare - Merry Wives of Windsor

 The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.
- G.K. Chesterton 

Welcome to the Year 2013! I can't believe it's been 13 years since we welcomed in the new millenium when we all waited on tenterhooks to see if the world would implode!  Well, apparently life goes on everywhere and we continue to try to "get it right," as Oprah says.   I don't make resolutions at New Year's, as I try to live my life properly every day.  However, sometimes it's good to reflect on the past in order to make improvements for the future.  The year 2012 had some good and some bad - at home and on the world front.  So whatever I might do personally - whether it be to pray, to contribute financially, to befriend others, or simply share my words - I will do it.   I also encourage YOU to do it, too!  Keep going even if you want to give up on your resolutions.  Make 2013 the best Year ever! 

What a year it will be!  Feel free to share your thoughts about 2012, yearnings for 2013, or your New Year's resolutions.



2013

Y ask Y?.... Y Not ask Y Not?

First of all, let me apologize to anyone who reads this blog in a language other than English.  My attempts at clever puns will undoubtable fall flat upon translation.

Because the organization I was in as a young man was identified with a Y, whenever I see the letter Y, I think of my YOUTH.

I have a YEARNING to be YOUNG again.

And speaking of young, anyone who has ever had a YOUNG child knows that "Y", or more accurately, "WHY", is their favorite word.

So, as I think of my YOUTH, I can't help but ask "Y ?"

Y did I do what I did?

Y didn't I do what I didn't do?

And of course, who can think of their YOUTH without seeing Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinnie, speaking about the "Two Utes"

Speaking of Utes, reminds me of Utah, where I spent my YOUTH.

What YUMMY, or YUCKY parts of YOUR YOUTH do YOU YEARN for?

And what does Y make you think about?

Y NOT?

YEAH, I could YANK YOU around with a YARN about a YELLOW YETI living in a YURT, eating YOGURT and wearing a YARMULKE.

But this YANKEE (just like YOGI) would rather have YOU YODEL about YOUR YESTER-ME, YESTER-YOU, YESTERDAY [listen], maybe YOUR YULETIDE. YAKETY YAK [listen] about YOUR YOUTH. YELL about YOUR YEARS. YOWL about YOUR YARD. YAP about YOUR YO-YO. Or YEARN for a YACHT.

Any YAHOO can join ABC Wednesday, made YEASTY by our wise-as-YODA Denise Nesbitt. Just say YES [listen], even while doing YOGA.
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And will YOU be say YES to ABC Wednesday, Round 10 this YEAR? As noted last week, TroY designed a nifty logo that looks a bit like this:

ABC Wednesday - needs YOU!

ABC Wednesday Team - needs YOU!

Are YOU aboard for another round?

Are YOU interested in being a member of the ABC Team?

Are YOU wondering what that involves?

Well we can tell YOU - it just requires time to visit a few participants and to write an introduction on a couple of occasions?

Are YOU interested?

Can YOU say YES?

Yonder lies the Y

Why a Y?  the yak might ask. 

Do you need to go to Yuma or the Yukon? 

Once I was a Yankee in Yugoslavia, I replied.

Do you celebrate the Yuletide with a lovely Yorkshire pudding?

Did a yeoman bring your Yule log from a lowly Yew tree cutting?

Did the new year make you yawn

Or yell, yikes! Where’s the time gone?

Did you yodel in your youth

Or yelp and yowl much when attempting yoga?

Did you ever yearn to be a yuppie?                             
Or a Yevgeni Yevtushenko?

Yield! cried the yak.

Cease and desist the yakety yak!

Like Yeats, I could not do without it.

I certainly couldn't yabber in New Zealand,

Nor yearn for Yiddish in New York,

nor yammer on about the yahoos and the yokels anywhere.

So I vote yea! Without a Y, I could not dare to be a yak!