You know how all those annual awards shows keep getting longer and more extravagant each year? The Cleveland Park Listies is just keeping up with the trend, when we present the nominees for this year's coveted Listy in not one single post but in a series of NINE posts. There's this prefatory post, followed by one for each of the categories of nominees. That allows us space to give each nominated post the introduction it deserves -- but without creating a monster post of many megabytes, which might be well over what your email program may allow you to view, unclipped, in a single message or digest.
So expect seven more messages after this, one for each category of the Listies, with up to five nominees:
- BEST GIVEAWAY
- BEST ANIMAL STORY
- BEST QUERY OR ISO
- BEST ADVICE OR MOST CREATIVE WAY TO SOLVE A PROBLEM
- BEST LONG DISCUSSION THREAD
- PHOTO of the YEAR - New this year - videos included!
- POSTER of the YEAR - New Category! ...and our grand finale:
- POST OF THE YEAR
Then stay tuned for The Listies, Part II, next Saturday, December 31, when we open the sealed envelopes and reveal the winners of the Cleveland Park Listies, 2022.
The biggest change in the Cleveland Park Listies is not the presentation in a series of posts -- it's the award itself. This year, for the first time, we have an actual trophy to hand out to the winners! Something that can be displayed on the mantel with pride! (Or tossed in the recycling bin -- it's 100% plastic.)
Now on with the show!
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Nominations, first category: BEST ANIMAL STORY.
This category is always a crowd-pleaser. The first nominee shows why.
1. "My pup Annie is MIA!" That's the opening of Wendy's tale (tail?), begun on July 23 and ending happily on July 24 with "My pup Annie is found!" (Message #190443 .) Wendy also delivers the trenchant "Lesson for the day: yay for good neighbors!" Oh, and be sure to look at the photos of the star of the story, Annie, in Message #190440 .
2. Why did the snake cross the road? You gotta watch the video! It's in message #188575 posted on the Listserv by Andrew, sharing a copy of a Tweet he spotted by @DCCityGirl_: https://twitter.com/dccitygirl_/status/1531813733701386240?ref_src
3. What's that doggie doing in the bookshelf? Looking for a few good cookbooks! As Amanda tells it, she used to keep many of her favorite cookbooks on the bottom shelf of the bookcase in her kitchen....until her little dog found culinary satisfaction in "nibbling the bindings and page edges of the books on the lowest shelf. He was insatiable and I had to move everything up." You can see from the photo in Message #196158 that the cute little guy still likes to hang out in that cozy space.
4. Wasabi, the teacup Yorkie, lost and found. This story began with a missing canine report, asking people to be on the lookout for Wasabi, "a male 5 lb Yorkshire Terrier, gray and tan. He is wearing a collar and may come if his name is called." He was lost in the afternoon of May 29, Nebraska and Connecticut Ave." Go to Message #188396 to see him in all his cuteness. Not a long wait for a happy ending. The next day, May 30, Sandy, a friend of the owner, posted the happy news: " The Tea Cup Yorkie who was having a grand adventure running onto Connecticut Ave. without his owner is now back home. His mom emailed me that she had picked him up from DC Humane Rescue Alliance at Oglethorpe this morning. His name is Wasabi. I wanted to mention that three other people were helpful in getting him safe — a gentleman who works at one of the restaurants along the 5000 block of Connecticut, a lady who was just passing through DC with her family, and Faith, a lady who lives in the neighborhood who offered to drive me and Wasabi to the Oglethorpe facility. I managed to get the little guy off of Connecticut and out of traffic, but the first two people mentioned got close enough to grab him on Fessenden and, as I said, Faith took the time to get us to the shelter. They all deserve thanks for this happy ending." And they all deserve the honor of playing a part in this nominated post for Best Animal Story.
5. Have you seen this bunny? Take a look at the old gray bunny in Message #187711 . How could you not love a cuddly creature like that? He was a boon companion to the 3-year-old daughter of Silvia and Alex, until he was lost one sad day - May 10. But not for long! The very next day, Sarah posted to say he was back in his owner's arms again (Message #187749 ) - and he wasn't ever hungry or scared while he was away -- because he's not a real, live bunny but a beloved stuffed animal.
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Nominations, Part 2: In the Category of BEST GIVEAWAY....
1. Free: Poop emoji costume. Posted two week before Halloween, the poster Deb explains: "This is a homemade costume made of brown felt, suitable for a kid in the 6-8 year old size range" -- but in case that description is just too disgusting for anyone, she adds, sweetly, "Call it a soft serve ice cream costume if you like." (Message #193186 on October 13)
2. Free: Swedish Ivy from the Obama White House. Here's a giveaway of both historical and horticultural import. Marc was giving away potted Swedish ivy ivy propagated from a plant that has its origins in the Obama White House. Links included in Marc's message (#196017 ) provided this description of "The world’s most powerful plant": "There’s a life form at the Oval Office that’s outlasted staffers, presidents and political eras. It’s Swedish ivy, a gift to John F. Kennedy in 1961 whose progeny still, as far as we can tell, sits on a mantle beneath a portrait of George Washington. In 1983, Time magazine described it as one of the most powerful plants on the globe: “No other in history has been more photographed, more glimpsed in person by the world’s high and mighty, more privy (if a plant can be privy) to the portentous intimacies of world politics.”
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4. The Great Jigsaw Puzzle Giveaways: This nominee is actually a three-in-one bonanza, as two different listserv members gave away enough jigsaw puzzles in January to keep puzzlers piecing things together throughout all of 2022. It started off on Jan 8, in Message #182994 , when Vicky offered up a "free puzzle…however two pieces were chewed by our puppy. If you don’t mind that, like a challenge and are interested, let me know.:" But a little later that same month, Jeff upped the ante by giving away "a dozen high high-quality, fully-intact Ravensberger puzzles," including one that he described as the "granddaddy of ‘em all, the Sistine Chapel" of 50,000 pieces." (Message #183310 ) And then he topped himself with a giveaway of another two dozen, ranging from puzzles of 500 pieces to 1,500 pieces (message #183950) A puzzle-palooza!
5. Free Newspaper Sleeves and Other Plastic Bags for Dog Poop. Posted by Susan, Message #183696 . All our long-time listserv readers know that nothing energizes listserv readers like the perennial topic of dog poop. So how could we not bestow a Listy nomination on someone so generously offering to help neighbors keep up the good work of responsible collection of the iconic item?
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Still Life with Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays - and for this special occasion, it will be posted on the Listserv as an nine-message series today, followed by a post naming all the winners on New Year's Eve.
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