Saturday, February 5, 2011

Blog Appreciation



The Devoted Classicist offers belated but sincere thanks to Helen Young of the Whitehaven blog, http://whitehaveninteriors.blogspot.com/ for recognition with the Stylish Blogger Award.  Along with her business partner Jane Douglas Reynolds, Helen owns an Atlanta interior design firm called Whitehaven.  Both live in a white clapboard house that was either renovated or built in the past few years, hence the name.  My favorite feature of the blog is the House of the Week;  every Monday, an interesting home, usually an Atlanta classic, is presented.  Like all of my blog followers, with the exception of two, I have never met Helen or Jane Douglas.  But it is fulfilling to have regular readers of the blog, people with similar interests, from around the world.

With the honor comes the request to provide personal facts that few people know.  My second post covers a lot about my background that would possibly interest readers, but here is a bit more:
  • A character on the long-running Soap "Guiding Light" was created, based on me and even given my name, to be the architect for a new house for the second-richest couple in fictional Springfield.  Unfortunately for the actor cast in the role, it was only a two day job.
  • My wonderful, found-long-abandoned-on-the-street, dog adopted an orphaned,sick, feral kitten with a broken leg and, literally, nursed her back to health.  The dog produced milk for the cat.  A veternarian taped the leg and it healed with no complications.  Today, after a number of years, the dog and cat are still loving Mother and Daughter.
  • A tree was planted and tagged in my name as thanks for my volunteer work in a conservation district to further education and appreciation of historic architecture.  The location of the tree is significant, and on a particularly beautiful residential boulevard.
  • I once had a brief conversation with a woman in an almost deserted, just open for the day, Nashville restaurant who looked very familiar but otherwise was a mystery.  Her hair and dress were very conservative, but not unattractive.  In fact, she was very beautiful in a quiet way, despite wearing almost no make-up.  We exchanged pleasantries and as hard as I tried to hide it, she seemed to know that I was absolutely clueless to her identity.  It was the next day before I realized I had a one-on-one with Dolly Parton.
Again, many thanks to Helen Young of Whitehaven for the Stylish Blogger Award, and thanks to all my Followers for your continued support.


17 comments:

  1. John J Tackett is either a soap opera or Charles Dickens name, probably both. Congratulations.

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  2. Terry, it would, undoubtedly, be more interesting to be portrayed as a Dickens character, but it is very flattering to be played by a Soap hunk!

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  3. Congratulations on your award! John it must have been truly rewarding to have worked in the conservation district of raising appreciation and awareness of heritage and historic architecture. Meeting Dolly .... fabulous!
    Have a great Sunday.
    Frances
    ps I am going to do a post on Vaux as when I was there I took some good pictures and talking to you made me realize how much I miss it!

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  4. Such lovely little tidbits of life and times...Thank you for sharing with us all!

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  5. Congratulations. Although all the tidbits are fabulous, my favorite is the one about your four-legged companions. We also had a feral kitten that showed up on a cold and icy night and grew up with our girl lab. They slept every night cuddled up. What a joy it was to watch those two and the love they had for each other. Unfortunately kitty passed on about a year ago. You are fortunate indeed to be surrounded by such loving friends!

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  6. Thank, you Julieta. We are a family, actually, albeit an unconventional one. Sometimes that is the way it turns out.

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  7. Thank you John, for your comments on Whitehaven, your vision and your unerring eye for beauty.

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  8. You are most welcome, Helen. The pleasure is all mine.

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  9. How could you not know who Dolly Parton was?? Dressed conservatively, is not possible with "the girls." Suicide blond takes 75 points away from 100, to garnish this description. However, I believe you. She must be quite disarming. Thanks for your comments!
    Best,
    Liz

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  10. Liz, the Page Boy wig and figure-concealing jumper, combined with the out-of-context location through me off. And I am easy thrown off celebrity wise. (Don't even get me started on Liz Hurley). But the voice was the same. She was with her (seldom seem accompanying) husband.

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  11. One of my dear friends was the set director for "Guiding Light" and my Dad just adores Dolly! I bet that Dolly loved that it took a day to have a deer in the headlights moment.
    How funny- not only are you witty, warm, but wonderfully talented.
    pve

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  12. Stopping in to say hello! Be sure to check out my latest blog post on picture frame ideas!
    Happy Wednesday.
    Xo,
    E&J

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  13. Congratulations! So yes, I see what you mean about the lion motif being a favorite. What a great graphic!

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  14. How did I miss this post? And so amazing about your Dog and Kitten.

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  15. John such intersting facts about you and I would love to hear even more!

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

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  16. Congrats to you!!! I have gone back and read through many of your previous posts and am so glad I did.

    Great stuff you deserve the attention.

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  17. Thanks, Jane. I am a fan of Empress of the Eye and all the good you are doing in South Florida.

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